Hello Aloe!

#fragranceoiltesting #aloevera #coldprocesssoap

Tuesday, April 24, 2015

Today was another day set aside for testing.  Now that we have our great set of small molds, it is much easier to make just enough soap for 1 oz of fragrance oil.

In our recent burst of fragrance hunting, we chose 4 different aloe fragrances.  Now, to my (Alison's) way of thinking, if we make a soap that says "aloe" in the fragrance, it only makes sense to actually have aloe in the soap.  Along with the fragrance oils, we purchased a small amount of aloe leaf powder, so we used it in today's testing as well.

+Natures Garden describes the benefits of using aloe leaf powder by saying, "Aloe Vera leaf powder is known for its skin healing properties.  It is used for irritated, sunburned, or inflamed skin. Aloe vera powder contains salicylates, which are known to relieve pain.  It is also high in antioxidants, vtamin C, and other minerals which allow the skin to heal faster."  Sounds great to us!

All of the FO's today came from +Natures Garden. All fragrances had high ratings from reported users, and the testers all indicated nice strong scents with no ricing, no acceleration, and no discoloration. Their tests did not take into account the possibility of using aloe leaf powder, though. You can see below how the additive affected the color. The descriptions of the fragrances are as follows:

#1 - Aloe & White Lilac "is a fresh, complex fragrance beginning with top notes of petitgrain, Italian bergamot, and ozonic notes; middle notes of lilac, lily of the valley, and hints of tuberose; base notes of sweet vanilla, amber, precious musk, and oakmoss."

#2 - Green Clover & Aloe "is a terrific unisex scent. Green Clover & Aloe is a fresh, green fragrance that reminds us of wild summer herbs growing in a field. This fragrance is much more complex than its name sounds. A floral fruity combination of fresh citrus and jasmine petals on a woodsy, sweet musk background."

#3 - Watercress and Aloe "Unique blend beginning with subtle top notes of lemon rind and fresh palm leaves, followed by fresh watercress and aloe notes, and finishing with jasmine & eucalyptus.  Great Spa Type Aroma!"

#4 - Aloe Vera & Cucumber "is the scent of crisp, cool cucumbers, refreshing green aloe and a touch of fresh citrus blended together to create a scent as light as a summer breeze."

Nature's Garden has a recipe that includes Aloe Vera Leaf powder, and the directions say to use 2 tsp per cup of water.  Our recipe measures ingredients by weight, so I weighed the water and measured it to see how much powder to use.

Hmmm...this is how the water looked when I added the Aloe Vera Leaf powder to it.  Neither pleasant to see nor to smell.  I began to question my plan, but was determined to see it through.

Originally we had planned to have a different color swirled into each FO sample batter.  Given the dark color of the water, we decided that the whole batch would have to be lightened with titanium dioxide rather than just one of the samples.

Once the lye/aloe water and the oils had cooled, we poured the water mixture through a strainer as we added it to the oils.  We wanted to be sure that any particles that hadn't dissolved would be strained out.  As it happened, all aloe leaf and lye had completely dissolved as it was supposed to do.

Even before we began mixing, we could see how dark the batter was going to be, so we went ahead and added the TD from +Bramble Berry and Icicle Mica from +Rustic Escentuals.

This photo is just because we love the way it looks as we begin to swirl TD and Icicle Mica into the oils.

As we emulsified the batter and brought it to trace, the color lightened to a creamy coffee or light caramel color.  It really was a nice color, but not conducive to the beautiful greens and whites we had in mind.  Not a problem, we are flexible.

We divided the batter into four equal parts.

Portion #1 was the Aloe & White Lilac. 

We added  about 1/2 tsp of additional Icicle Mica to this portion.  We did not mix it with oil, but added the mica directly into the batter.  Then we poured it straight into the mold.

We made a couple of butterflies with the additional batter.

Portion #2 was Green Clover & Aloe.  Just as with sample #1, it mixed nicely, no ricing, no acceleration.  So far the scents are scents are clean, fresh, and really quite wonderful.  The smell of the aloe leaf powder did not seem to be affecting the fragrance of the FOs.

For this batch, we used Pistachio Mica from +Rustic Escentuals.  We mixed it with safflower oil and poured the colorant into the batter for a gentle "in-the-pot-swirl."

The green did give us some differentiation from #1, but the color of the batter did mute the shade of green from we would have liked to have had.

The leftover batter went into the ladybug molds.

Portion #3 was the Watercress and Aloe FO.

By this time, the batter was getting rather stiff.  Probably partially my fault because I used a recipe that contains some hard oils like cocoa butter and palm oil.  It was getting cool as it sat waiting for me to mix and pour each portion.  Once we stirred in the FO, though, the batter loosened up nicely, so it really was no problem.

For this FO we used Enchanted Forest Mica from +Rustic Escentuals plus a bit of Chrome Green Oxide from +Bramble Berry to create a darker shade of green. We mixed them with a bit of safflower oil then 

gently swirled the color into the batter.

Most of the Watercress and Aloe batter went into the mold, 

and this leftover bit went into a couple of bumble bees.

The final portion of the batter had really gotten stiff by this point.  We stirred in an ounce of FO sample #4 - Aloe and Cucumber, and the batter loosened up nicely.  This FO was stronger than the other 3.  Usually I (Alison) love any fragrance with cucumber because it is so light and clean, but this was a bit stronger than I typically like.  It isn't bad, just stronger than I expected.  It will be nice to see how it is after curing.

We used the leftover green colorants and also used Sunshine Sparkle Mica from +Rustic Escentuals. This time rather than pouring the colorants directly into the pot, we took a bit of the batter out and mixed it into the colors before added them back to the pot.

This looked a bit like a few diapers we have changed in the past...

After swirling the batter, we filled the 4th mold plus a couple of dragon flies.

Group shot of all the soaps we created today.

Just before placing the molds in the curing box, we took a picture of them.  The colors were growing on us, and the fragrances are so fresh and clean.  The aloe will be very nourishing for the skin, too.

After 1 1/2 hours in the curing box, the colors were looking really interesting.  We closed the box to wait for 24 hours before removing them from the molds.

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Wednesday, March 24, 2015

And now the pictures of the soaps after curing for 24 hours.

First we show the soap in the mold, then out, and then finally after we sliced it into bars.

Yes, it looks a bit ashy here in the mold, but wait until you see it out of the mold.

Here they are out of the molds.  Aren't they pretty?  We were very surprised by the pink, but just because we were surprised doesn't mean that it is a bad thing.

The Aloe and White Lilac is a soft pink with a hint of caramel.  The fragrance is mild and clean with a hint of soft floral mixed with the green.  We like this one. 

Green Clover & Aloe is probably Alison's favorite of these 4 FOs.  It is a very lightly sweet clean, green fragrance.  She can't wait to take that ladybug home to give it a try.

Watercress & Aloe is really quite pretty with the darker green swirl.  The fragrance has that same green freshness to it, but this one has a sharper layer to it with a pungent bite.  Hope that description makes sense.  It is a nice fragrance, so don't take the description negatively, but it is a noticeably different smell.

The Aloe Vera & Cucumber looks really pretty with the additional colors in it.  After curing for 24 hours, it is still not my (Alison's) favorite.  I'm really surprised by that!  I usually LOVE fragrances with cucumber in it.  This one just seems to have an "after-smell" that I'm not crazy about.  

Kathy doesn't smell it the same way I do, though.  She doesn't smell whatever it is that I'm criticizing. This is actually Kathy's favorite of the four FO's.  She describes it as "a very fresh herbal scent with a little tailspin of sweetness." 

And here they are - the members of the aloe family.

A little different perspective.

We can now say that we have used aloe leaf powder to add some wonderful elements for the skin, and we have tried some new FOs.  A few color surprises added some fun to the process, but overall we consider this to be another successful test day.

These will dry on the curing racks for 6 weeks and will be ready to use on 

May 5.