Back to the soap studio

I made my first batch of soap of 2011 last week, over a month since my last batch. December was such a busy month for me that I didn't have a chance to miss making soap. Over my "break," I made some changes to my soap room--moving things out that I rarely use, rearranging supplies and storage areas to be more efficient, preparing a new cabinet to store my curing soap, and so on. But it's good to get back into my soaping routine. And since it's been a long long time since I shared any pictures, I thought I'd show you a few recent batches....

Scented with Lovespell, a dupe of Victoria's Secret. I've had a sample bottle of the fragrance oil for a long time and thought I'd finally give it a try. I love it! It was my first attempt at adding the black soap curls. I like the idea, but it needs tweaking.

Rain, a clean (soapy?) kind of scent. I'm trying out some new formulas, increasing the olive oil. I'm beginning to favor high OO soaps.

And finally, Black Raspberry Vanilla. My lovely dark pink, made with pink kaolin clay, turned orange with the yellowish fragrance oil. Aren't the swirls crazy? And every bar is different. I've mapped out an idea that I've been mulling over for some time, so in the next few months I'll be making and testing a lot of soap. This will be fun--I'm excited!

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Soaping with Madder

I know that any color added to soap can morph into a surprise, but there is an added element of unknown when using botanicals to color my soap. Some people jump out of planes or ski off mountains, but this is how I live on the edge these days. Hmm. If I weren't having so much fun, I'd be embarrassed. I recently had my first go with madder. So....whatsa madder? It's a root--the root of the madder. Ahem. (I love puns...) I infused 8 oz. of olive oil with 2 t. madder root powder for almost a week. This amount worked out to be 20% of the oils in my batch. I wanted something in the way of embeds to add visual interest. I dearly love my soap balls but I don't want to over do a good thing. I've recently done square-shaped embeds, so this time I cut a bar of white soap into slices. I panicked a little that it wouldn't get dark enough--it was kind of a dusty peach--so I added 1/4 t. dried powder right before pouring. Madder powd...

Loofah--from vine to soap

If you've followed my blog for a long time, you've already seen a post on one of my favorite things to grow--loofah, but I think it's time for another one. People are often surprised when they learn that loofahs are grown. No, a loofah isn't a sea sponge, but the mature "skeleton" of a zucchini-like plant. Everyone knows they are good for the bath but they also make great natural pan scrubbers in the kitchen. They are so popular that I have to remember to tuck away any that I want to keep myself. I raise three or four plants every year. Like a zucchini or a cucumber, it likes to spread out with little regard to another plant's personal space. Here is last year's crop. Early in the summer, the loofahs remained neatly on the trellis: But then they wandered over to the basil: Cozied among the tomatillos: And hung out with the butternut squash: Harvest time was a regular treasure hunt. But I ended up with about 20 loofahs fr...

Soap Challenge--Dandelion Swirl

This Great Cakes challenge started off, well, challenging for me. I had internet problems (a lack of it) and something went rather tragic in my attempt to cobble together a recipe without access to my online lye calculator crutch or a good saponification chart. Obviously, I need to work on this skill, since my first batch of soap is still not firm enough to cut. I've seen firmer marshmallow cream. I'm estimating that I'll be able to cut it in a week or two or maybe three. The top came out pretty, though, didn't it? Sigh. I wonder what the inside looks like. On to batch number 2. I went for a winter/snowy theme this time, scented with BB's Fresh Snow fragrance. I made a small 6-bar batch. I kept noticing that my divider (a dollar store cutting mat) didn't stay in the center but kept migrating toward the edge with every pour. I was concerned that it would ruin the design, but it held well enough. I know this challenge was all abo...

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