Skip to main content

the suggestive banana

I knew that finishing Amy Warden's soap challenge this time of year would be difficult, but I didn't realize that the pace of my life would speed up to the point of it being impossible.  But it has, although I will be finishing the challenge soaps on my own time.

I've noticed that in the middle of all the glitter and faux funneling the soap itself often gets lost somewhere.  Every time I get into a foo-foo soap phase I end up balancing myself by swinging to the other side of the pendulum with simple, naturally colored soaps.  And then I wonder why in the world I ever bought that jar of glitter in the first place....

I had some oils measured and ready to be soaped about a week ago but I just couldn't decide what to make since I'm caught up on my staple soaps.  As I write, I'm pretty sure that I overlooked something, but I'll pretend for now....  I saw a mention of banana soap on Facebook (thanks Amy!) and that was just the inspiration I needed.  I dashed down to my workshop with my polka-dotted banana and here is my result.


























Check out the weird blurry effect on the end slice.

Isn't it just the coolest soap?  I love the freckles and even the frosty, ashy tops.  It's made with mostly olive oil with banana and oat flour for additives.  I used homemade kefir for the entire liquid amount and I can only imagine how good it will feel.

Comments

  1. Love banana too, I think it will be delicious on the skin.
    And it's true, nature has a lot to offer for soapmakers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks wonderful and I've seen a few soapers do this technique. I'll have to try it at some point.

    Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  3. the freckles are from the banana? cool!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yep! I increased my banana puree this time; I put 1.5 oz. of banana in my 18 oz. batch of soap.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the banana soap! very simple and elegant beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely soap, I will have to try it also:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love it!! I am kidding you not, I have been staring at this lonely banana that I put in the fridge a couple days ago and kept telling myself to soap it but I didn't have the courage. Your soap is fantastic! I love the freckles :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. How did the kefir work with the lye? That is quite interesting, and I would have never thought to incorporate it into a soap. Beautiful!
    Caitlin

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ok... so I was watching a video on youtube on a teach soap series and she made banana soap. Hers came out really brown but yours isn't. Wondering what you did differently. Want to share?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Obviously life has taken over my ability to keep up with my favorite blogs...your banana soap looks fabulous! I am happy to inspire. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Caitlin--my kefir was a little grainy and I thought I might have trouble getting it to dissolve, but when I added the lye it turned as smooth as milk...it worked perfectly!

    @Kim--I add the lye very slowly when I make 100% dairy soaps. I set my bowl in an ice water bath and take 10 min. or more to add the lye so it doesn't turn that gold/bright orange color that sometimes happens. I also didn't add any fragrance that could cause discoloration. Maybe those are the reasons? I'll have to look up the video to compare the differences.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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 powder can get a little

Last Chance Sale...at least for now

 Hello all! In preparation for our big move from our rental next month, I've put my entire Etsy shop on sale now through Friday. I'll re-open as soon as I'm able but I'm not sure exactly when that will be! So much is up in the air right now.  In the meantime, help me make my move a little lighter!! And for my local shoppers, I'm restocking several of my stores next week with my remaining inventory. Thanks to all of you for your business the past 12 years and I'll see you on the flip side!

Soap Challenge--Piping

I'm jumping into Amy W's soap challenge here in week 3--piping soap.  I chose to make a version of a batch I made last year--my Sweet Pea scented soap.  It was really popular for me last summer so why mess with a success? Some soapers assume that piping soap means that it must be whipped, but it's not necessary to whip it first.  When I don't want the whipped look (or more frequently, don't want to clean beaters) I just let it sit until it thickens up on its own.  (By the way, don't you adore these itty-bitty dishes?  I just bought them a few weeks ago. A set of four cost $1 at the Dollar Tree!) I used a Wilton tip #3 to make the little squiggles. I added tip #103 sweet peas and made leaves with a # 352 tip. One thing I love about piping soap....it never leaves even a trace of ash to spoil the design.   And then I took lots of pictures (it was a rather photogenic batch).  Here are a few-- These will be cured enough to have them at t