Soap Lily: May 2015

#lavenderandmint #hotprocesssoap #handmadesoap

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Alison is still feeling crummy, so today I was solo in the soap kitchen. She was with me in spirit and via telecommunication - thank goodness for texting!

I was still working on the order for Glen Ella Springs B&B. They prefer to sell hot process soap, which is pretty easy for us as it's ready so quickly. The soap that my granddaughter Sage had designed, a cold process soap using Spearmint and Lavender EOs, was one of the soaps they had chosen. That is what I made today, but using hot process rather than cold..

The Lavender 40/42 I used today is from Camden Grey. We've been looking at their site for a while and finally decided to replenish some of our EO's with their products, We are very, very happy with their shipping (fast), and the quality of the lavender is terrific....but I digress.

The Spearmint EO is from +Bramble Berry and as always it is of exceptionally good quality. The blend of these two EOs is amazing, Sage picked a winning combination of scents!

I used colorants from +Rustic Escentuals and +Bramble Berry - Purple Passion will be the "lavender" and Green Chrome Oxide mixed with a bit of Icicle Mica will signify the "mint".

Since I used the hot process (HP) method this time, it wasn't possible to replicate the intricate heart design we did on the original soap (see above). I decided to do an in the pot swirl using white batter for the base color then swirl with purple (for lavender) and green (for mint).

This picture was taken before I added 1/8 tsp of Icicle Mica to the Green Chrome Oxide.

I used the old faithful recipe of Coconut, Palm, Olive and Castor oils. For a little flair I added silk to the lye water, straining it as I poured it into the oils. Once all the oils were melted and the lye/water had cooled, I combined them and stick blended until I had a medium/heavy trace.

With HP soap you either stir or you don't. We are stirrers. Our usual method is to let the soap cook for the first 30 minutes w/o stirring, then every 15 minutes stir well, cover and continue cooking. With our crock pots (and remember every crock's temperature is different), we usually cook the soap 1-1/2 hours give or take 15 minutes.

The picture above shows what the soap looked like after an hour and 45 minutes. I did a zap test and it was fine - just very hot!

I had to wait over an hour for the soap to cool down as the flash point on both the EO's was about 150F, in the picture above I had stuffed two potholders under the edges of the crock so air could circulate under it and hopefully speed up the cool down.

I pulled out about 2 C of batter colored it with the green.

Instant "mint" color!

Next I added 2 C to the purple

giving me instant "lavender".

To the remaining batter (still in the crock) I added almost 2 TBSP of TD; I want the base soap to be really light.

Once all the colors were mixed I plopped them into the white batter and gently swirled the colors until they were moderately mixed.

Next I spooned the swirled batter into the silicone mold.

Once it was full I slammed it pretty hard to release any potential air bubbles.

I inserted the 18 bar dividers (from +Bramble Berry) and put the soap into the curing room for 24 hours. I will un-mold the soap on Wednesday.

********************************

Wednesday May 27

I really like how this soap turned out, I hope when Sage sees it she will like it too.

The rustic look will be perfect for Glen Ella Springs, and the scent is sure to make their customers smile.

The perfect blend of white, purple and green for our Mint Lavender Soap.

Once the soap cures for a week it will be ready to use.

#coldprocesssoap #homemadesoap #testingnewfragrances

Friday, May 8, 2015

On this particular day (and yes, I realize that I'm very past due posting this...), I - Alison - was flying solo in the soap kitchen, as Kath was out of town. We have several 1 oz. sample bottles of different fragrance oils - too little to do a whole batch, but we really didn't want to spend money on a huge bottle until we found out if we liked it. Some might say we're frugal, others might say cheap. We're cool with either...

The FOs and the colors that I chose to go with them are shown above:

Watermelon Punch from Aztec and Ooh La La Mica from +Rustic Escentuals

Light Blue (my favorite cologne) and Cornflower Celebration Mica both from +Rustic Escentuals

Amazon Mist with Pistachio Mica both from +Rustic Escentuals

Sherlock Homie from +Natures Garden and Toffeelicious Mica from +Rustic Escentuals.

I worked out a recipe that I thought would be a good blend of oils. It included Olive, Coconut, Palm, Grapeseed, Avocado, and Castor.

The above photo just gives you an idea of how many times I reformulated my recipe until I had it the way I wanted it. I LOVE soapcalc!

Above are the colors after I mixed them with a bit of safflower oil.

No silk or other additives in this batch. I just wanted to test the fragrances.

I knew I would be dividing the batter into four parts and would need time to get each fragrance ready without having the batter get too thick. So, I wanted a light trace, but I think I went more to medium. No biggie! It still felt fine to me at this point.

I developed the recipe so I could divide it into four equal parts with each part needing one ounce of fragrance (since we had 1 oz bottles of FO). Yay, Math! And I know kids who say they'll never use math. HA!

I added the Watermelon Punch to the first 1/4 of the batter. Aztec describes the fragrance as follows: Fresh orange adds fruity pop to this classic summer fruit scent. Sugared watermelon gets natural sensations from a blend of green tones for the fragrance signature. A hint of berry finishes the blend. Top - orange, fruity, juicy; Middle - watermelon, green; Bottom - berry, sugary.

Seriously - YUM!!

I poured a small layer of non-colored batter into the bottom of the mold (because I wanted to see if the FO would discolor the soap), then I colored a portion of the batter with the mica, swirled them together and poured the swirl on top of the uncolored batter. I used this same process with each fragrance.

Into the next 1/4 of the batter went the Light Blue Type FO. Rustic describes it as follows: This scent was introduced by Dolce & Gabbana in 2001. A sparkling, lively scent with juicy Granny Smith apple, Sicilian citron, jasmine, white rose, Asian bamboo, cedar wood and amber.

I will tell you that straight out of the bottle I was not excited. It really did not smell at all like the cologne that I love. I shouldn't have judged it too quickly, though. Once I mixed it into the soap batter, it was divine. I really love this fragrance.

In the background you can see where I poured a small amount of non-colored batter into the mold. In the foreground I am pouring the blue batter back into the white to swirl them together before adding it to the mold.

By the time I got to the 3rd 1/4 of the batter, it was getting stiff. See how the spatula stands straight up in it?

Not to worry. Once I mixed in the FO, the batter loosened up just great and it was very easy to work with. +Rustic Escentuals describes Amazon Mist as follows: Amazon Mist transports you to the depths of the jungle of adventure and excitement. The moist fragrance of fresh dew, alive with hints of flower gardens, exotic herbs, green grass, rain drops and light earthy tones. Reminiscent of Herbal Essences. This truly is a transporting fragrance.

LOVE it!

Again, small amount of uncolored into the mold first, then color a portion of the batter before swirling it and adding it to the mold. The Pistachio Green Mica is so gorgeous!

By the time I got to the final 1/4 of the batter, it had truly thickened up. But again, once I stirred in the FO, it loosened up just great. No troubles at all.

Into the last portion went the Sherlock Homie FO from +Natures Garden. I have images of Benedict Cumberbatch dancing through my mind, but Nature's Garden describes the FO as follows: a mysterious blend of watery notes with secret spices surrounded by precious woods. Top: Cucumber, Lemon, Lime, Ozone, Grapefruit Mid: Neroli, Cumin, Coriander Base: Musk, Patchouli. It is a yummy masculine scent - really! Mr. Cumberbatch can continue to dance!

Above shows the batter with Toffeelicious Mica added to it just as I am swirling it back into the uncolored portion of the batter.

Leftover batter went into our silicone molds. Ladybugs for Watermelon Punch, Butterflies for Light Blue Type, and Bumblebees for Amazon Mist. I couldn't bear to put Sherlock Homie into some cutsie bug design, so that left over batter went into the small square shapes. Much more masculine, right?

The above photo shows all four soaps in their molds. Love the colors! Love the fragrances! Today was a homerun! It will be interesting to see how they progress as the soap cures.

Now the fun part (NOT!)

************************************************

Saturday, May 9, 2015

I really should have waited one more day to take the soaps out of the molds because they were still a bit soft, but Kathy was still out of town, and I knew I would not be able to get back to the soap kitchen, so I went ahead and unmolded.