Yesterday’s test batch consisted of Hawaiian Lei Flowers.  Seems to be quite comparable to Gardenia, and I have already decided I like it a lot, based on scent alone.  It’s totally fresh though, so I’ll need to keep my eye on it and see how it cures and hope it doesn’t fade.  Next test batch will be Gardenia and Tuberose.  Anyone who knows me knows I’m not much of a floral person…they remind me of little old ladies, but I’m really enjoying them right now.  I suppose it has to do with a need for spring. *shrug*

Anyway, I will also be doing batches of Green Irish Tweed and Dragon’s Blood this week.  If I can remember, I’ll take the camera out to the shack with me and take some pics of the process.

Salt bars. They are the new obsession. The addition of salt provides gentle exfoliation in a sea of creamy lather. Best suited for body use, they polish your skin leaving a healthy glow. The 5+ oz. bars fit nicely in the hand due to their half-round shape.

Tranquil Waters has already been listed on Artfire as a single bar purchase, with many more to follow. Check back soon for more new listings!

I have a friend who makes exclusively vegan soap, scented with essential oils only, colored with only herbs/clays/botanicals. She’s a bit of a soap-snob, but it’s ok, I love her anyway.

She participated in a swap, where she received a bar scented with Sandalwood Rose. To her utter shock and dismay, her hubby decided it was a wonderful scent and promptly claimed the bar as his own. Then the bar was gone.

Again, to her utter shock and dismay, he asked how he might procure more of the wonderful scent that lingered on his skin, and left him smelling, in his mind, “clean”.

So she asked me, her heathen (animal fats and fragrance oil) soapmaking buddy to acquire the scent and make him a batch, for which she would pay by giving me oddles and oodles of gloriously white, creamy, beef tallow…free of charge. Who could resist? I’m weak, love beef tallow for the creaminess it adds to my soap, and hey…the fragrance was easy to find.

So, this is that soap (not really…he got the whole first batch, and this is a new batch). As homage to her…or as much homage as I can pay considering our different styles…I left the soap to color itself. A wonderful mauvey tan that fits the scent well.

Herein lies my problem: I love the scent, and will probably carry it regularly, but I don’t really think the name “fits”. Rose implies feminine and floral…which this soap is not. It makes a wonderful unisex scent, but I don’t want male customers to be turned off by the thought of slathering themselves in rose petals either.

So…we’ll consider THIS my very first blog contest. Offer up a name for this soap and if we choose yours, you’ll win a bar for your very own (probably some samples, too). Decision will be posted Jan 17 at 10:00 a.m.

In the mean time, if you just can’t wait, or don’t think you can come up with a winning suggestion, you can purchase a bar on Etsy or Artfire.

A Lavender I can live with! The bars are a bit “sunburned” from their time on the curing rack, purely a cosmetic flaw. Mmmmmm! They smell wonderful!

Large 5+ oz. bars available exclusively at Etsy!

Stopped by the local coffee shop/internet cafe/used bookstore the other day to see what was new. I spoke to the owner about possibly carrying some soap, and she seemed all for it. Soooo, here is the first batch of soap specifically for them. Scented with a mix of Chocolate Frappuccino and Evening Mocha, with a bit of cocoa sprinkled on the top. YUMM!!

Just cut it a few minutes ago, and I’ll post pics once it’s had a chance to brown up on the inside.

Here is the loaf freshly unmolded. It was
beautiful!! Kind of like Irish Spring, but better. The scent is strong, and I’m so tempted to use the end piece. This is made from my new recipe, and I’m going to have a hard time waiting for it to cure. I desperately want to try this out!

I melted the oils and prepared the lye solution the night before, so this was actually my first attempt at fully room temp soaping. It was a very smooth batch, that took all of 10 minutes to accomplish. Usually soaping stresses me out a bit, but this may be a way for me to get more accomplished…make my lye water ahead of time, have my batches weighed out and ready, and just go for it.

Just spent the evening pouring candles in fall scents…Mac Apple, Spicy Apples ‘n Peaches, Cinnamon Stick, Harvest Spice, Ultimate Vanilla and Creme de la Creme. My workspace smells so yummy!

But alas, I’m out of jars now until UPS delivers tomorrow. Think I’ll spend the morning making soap…I have a new recipe I want to try, using tallow and soy (with coconut, of course!). I’ve found that my hard country water doesn’t like high Oleic soaps, so this one is pretty fairly balanced with Linoleics.

During my recent hiatus from blogging, one of the things that kept me busy was attending the TN Soap and Candle Social. This was a first time event for TN soapers and chandlers, and the turnout was AWESOME! I got to meet up with old friends and make some new ones, while learning to milk goats and felt soap.

I was also gifted with products from some very talented soapers, like the one you see here. Celtic Circle is a vegan bar, scented with an exquisite Essential Oil blend including Spearmint, Lavender, and Lemon. This is a nice sized bar (I like them big!) that fits well in the hand, and the price just can’t be beat!

I’ve had the pleasure of using some of Connie’s other products that I’ve received in swaps in the past, but I just can’t wait to get this beauty in the shower! If you’d like to purchase a bar, please visit Connie at The Herb Way.

This is Mango Tango. I have oodles of sample scents that need to be used up and something about mixing Majestic Mountain Sage’s Tangerine & Tulip with Mango Sorbet just appealed to me.

The real test came with the colorants. I was recently gifted with (more) sample scents, and at the bottom of the box I found bottles of liquid dyes from Aztec. They’re water based, but there isn’t much info on the site as to their use…so I tried them. Was very pleased with their ease of use, but you see the white stuff? It was like a vein through the entire log. It doesn’t zap, but it just detracts from the whole thing. Figures it has to show up in my best in-the-pot swirl to date.