An Old Favorite

My all-time favorite scent...ever? Me think so...

 Black Raspberry Vanilla

I wish they made bubblegum in this flavor

I shall expand this scent throughout my product line

Gittin' Down With The Swirl!

Funneling, funneling through the town, soapy bells are ring-ing…LMAO!

Okay, here are the next new batches I’ve made: Verbena of My Existence and Melting Pot, but for you plain folk: Lemon Verbena and Sandalwood and Musk.

When I make soap, there’s always a story to be told. It’s never a matter of choosing scents solely based on the description of the supplier. I must inhale and FEEL something. I don’t just make soap to sell soap. Okay, in part, but I make soap mainly because it’s cathartic and the scent I’ve chosen has or has had some type of impact on my life. So let’s get started:

Verbena Of My Existence:

I love all things lemon. Lemonheads, lemonade, lemon squares, lemon cake (my grandmother’s specialty), Mike’s Hard Lemonade… but this lemon is special. It’s so sophisticated and feminine and…soft for lack of a better description. I first became enamored of this scent when I visited a L’Occitane shop many moons ago. It blew me away. It smelled like paradise and transported me to some upscale resort on a private oasis.

Melting Pot:

This soap got its name because it’s scented with a modge podge of international flavors. Soft, powdery Indian musk, alluring African Sandalwood, and cedarwood. Swirled like Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key of Life, this soap is how I envision a world with no prejudices, no wars, no political strife…One can only hope…

I utilized the funneling technique to achieve the design these soaps. I discovered an easy peasy technique from The Soap Queen’s blog. You take an old plastic container (I used a margarine tub) and poke a hole through bottom.  The key is you have to have a container that’s wide enough to rest on the walls of your soap mold or it’s basically fruitless. You could have someone hold the funnel for you while you pour or try the chopstick method where you criss-cross them then tape them down and let your funnel rest in the middle. You could also do the faux funnel pour. Been there. Done that. Don’t work for me… You also need to have a very thin trace in order to achieve this swirl. Really you only need to emulsify your oils to the point where everything is mixed. By the time you pour your last or next to the last bit, your soap batter is beginning to thicken if it hasn’t already. Ask me how I know these things…

So this concludes batches 4 and 5. Next up…Black Coffee.

 

Funneled Soap-A Botched Soap Tale

If you're a soap maker or a fan of handmade soaps then you've probably heard of the funneling technique. I'm not sure who created it, but it's the perfect way to make swirls for the swirl-challenged like myself. I got the original tutorial here from Lomond Soap. It's a very simple concept, but realistically, you need two people to do this neatly. You should have seen me trying to tie these wooden skewers all criss-crossed so I could get my funnel to stay in place. I'm still laughing my ass off at the mess I made.

Anyway, the scent I used was Cranberry Fig from Sweet Cakes, and I'm not a huge fan of cranberry or fig (but I love cranberry juice and Fig Newtons-go figure!) I mixed a little Blackberry Grapefruit in to try to take the edge off the fig, but it didn't work. The brick color is red oxide and the violet is ultramarine violet. I went a little too heavy on the red, but getting back to the story, I only added my fragrance to the red batter. While I had my funnel nice and centered, I began to pour both mixtures simultaneously. I had a good flow going (literally) til the dang red batter seized on me mid pour. Can you believe this sh$%!? It clogged my funnel all up, so I had to move with the quickness! The bottom and middle parts look okay, but the top is botch-y. I had to spread it like cake icing, but it's not bad. It smells really wonderful-if you're a cranberry and/or fig fan. I used the last of my palm oil (from Columbus Foods whom I've learned uses sustainable palm oil. Thanks, Joanna for the knowledge) to make this one. It also has avocado, castor, and soybean oils. I think it's a keeper. Tomorrow I'll post yet another new soap!