Too Blessed To Be Stressed...Soap

Up next in my new Naturals line is Too Blessed To Be Stressed. It's spicy and tangy all in one, and I can't stop sniffing it. Neither can Pepper although she. I colored this one with white clay because I wanted a really white soap without having to use titanium dioxide. I'm obsessed with lines now, so I used pink clay to line this one. I love how it's a lovely, dark shade of pink-almost burgundy. Enough about the aesthetics, here's the skinny on how it aromatizes. I used all essential oils, of course:

• Lavender 40/42: Not really therapeutic but provides a delightful, floral aroma and takes some of the edge off the patchouli
• Palmarosa: The "anti" EO-antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic, antiviral...also a wonderful stress and fatigue reliever. I like inhaling this one right out of the bottle!
• Patchouli: Most people think of hippies when they hear "patchouli", but it's also heavy in "anti" properties as well as relieving stress and exhaustion. Did you know that patchouli was traditionally used as an insect repellant when shipping fabric?
• Sweet Orange: Uplifting and guess what? Stress relieving!

An All-Natural Soap

 

I L-O-V-E this soap...fo' real! I've decided to do an entire line of all-natural soaps. "Well, aint that what you already do?" Not entirely. I use synthetic fragrance oils (until you can prove to me that Lemon Chiffon comes from a plant, then it's synthetic), and man-made oxides in many of my products, but I think I should get some extra credit for using only pthalate-free fragrances. Anyway, here is my first official soap of the "Au Naturale" line. I call it Naturale 1106, but it smells so....natural and clean-like you would really expect a soap to smell if-you-know-what-I-mean. I can definitely say that my olfactory senses are becoming much more sophisticated and accustomed to the aroma of essential oils. At first, I could not stand the smell of any essential oil! They smelled like, well, plants! Duh! They are derived from plants, and pure essential oils are expen$ive as hell! I have to really budget for pure essential oils. The good thing about them is a little goes a long way. This batch was almost 3 pounds, and it only took 1.7 oz of pure essential oils to scent it-and it's strong! To the unsophisticated palate, it will smell very medicinal and plant-like. But the more you inhale the aromas, it sort of brings a calm to your overall senses. I'm smelling this one constantly. I cannot wait to try it!

Oh, I forgot to mention exactly which essential oils I used for this batch: rosemary, lime, and bergamot. The soap is uncolored, and the little brownish streak you see throughout is actually rhassoul clay-mined deep beneath the Atlas Mountains in Eastern Morocco*.







*source

Sweet Feets Creamy Foot Scrub

I had a crapload of pumice laying around and had no idea what to do with it. I think I won it in a giveaway, but I can't remember. Anyway, I got the bright idea to make a foot scrub because sandal season will be here in a few short months, and if I see another crusty foot this spring, I'm going to hand out samples-seriously! It's one of my most pettiest pet peeves...

I scented this scrub with all essential oils: tea tree to deodorize, peppermint to refresh and energize those tired, weary tootsies, and lavender to cut some of that medicinal smell of the tea tree. I know some folks love the aroma of tea tree-I aint one 'em!

This scrub looks kinda purplish in the pic, but it's really grayish. I added no color to this as I wanted to keep it as natural as possible. The base is unrefined shea butter and avocado oil so it's scrubby and mucho moisturizing at the same time. I would not recommend this for the face-it's really made for crust-busting: feet, knees, and elbows....

In The Lab...

Well, technically not. I've always had this love/hate relationship with essential oils. They both fascinate and terrify me at the same time. The geek in me is captivated by the way these oils are produced and all the many uses and benefits just one essential oil generates. For example, did you know that sweet orange oil is an antibiotic, anticoagulant, antidepressant, antigenic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, bactericidal, calmative, carminative, cholagogue, choleretic, depurative, digestive, diuretic, fungicidal, humectant, hypotensive, sedative (nervous), stimulant (digestive and lymphatic), stomachic, and tonic? And the benefits of using it are said to help relieve the effects of anxiety, bronchitis, chills, colds, constipation, dull and oily skin conditions, dyspepsia, flu, helps eliminate toxins, intestinal gas, mouth ulcers, nervous obesity, palpitations, spasm, tension and stress, and water retention?*

I won't lie to you and tell you that I know what carminative and cholagogue mean. Okay, now I do. Carminative is a fancy term for gas reliever and cholagogue is an agent that promotes the discharge of bile from the liver and gallbladder. This is serious stuff and not to be taken or handled lightly. For that reason, I am studying like a chemistry student and taking meticulous notes-what can be tolerated by pregnant women, those with hypertension (like myself), pets...It's an exciting yet daunting venture, but I love to learn, and I cannot wait to start creating with essential oils!


*Taken from the product description from Mountain Rose Herbs

A New Lavender Soap

I have a confession to make: I don't like lavender. Well, I don't like straight lavender. When mixed with another fragrance, I can tolerate it. A very good friend of mine who's from Dominica (please don't call her Jamaican-she'll kill you!) is in love with lavender. She pronounces it la'venda. It brings a smile to my face each and every time. I decided to give lavender another shot, but I could not make a straight lavender soap. I'm going to catch hell for this, but it's too "grandmotherly" for me. I needed to punch it up a bit, so I added some orange and ginger essential oils to it. While it's still primarily lavender-scented, I don't get that EWW feeling when i smell it. I'm actually loving this one. I forgot to mention that the lavender is also an essential oil. I'll be reserving one of these for my la'venda-loving girlfriend.

I Took The Plunge: Essential Oil Soap

About a month ago I blogged about how hesitant I was to use essential oils in my soap making. I don't know why. Part of it was ignorance and the other part was fear. Essential oils are not the same as fragrance oils. For one, true essential oils are not synthetic or man-made. They are derived from plants. They're called "essential" because they are the essence or the makeup of the plant from which they are derived. Essential oils should also not be applied directly to the skin in its purest form. They should always be blended with a carrier oil such as grape seed or sweet almond. More importantly, pregnant and/or nursing women should not handle or use certain essential oils as they could be toxic or irritating. Click here for more info on which essential oils to avoid if pregnant.

Okay, school's out. Let's play! This is my first soap scented with only essential oils. I haven't come up with a snazzy name for it yet, but it's scented with patchouli and bergamot essential oils. I'm loving the patchouli more now that I'm "cutting" it with sweeter EO's. The contrast is very striking and alluring. I've had this plastic tubular mold for about two years that I've never done anything with until now. Let me warn you: Un-molding CP soap from a plastic tubular mold aint no joke! You can line it with a piece of silicone liner or line a pvc pipe with a silicone liner, but that's too much work for me! I let this soap set in the mold for a full 24 hours until it gradually pulled away from the walls of the mold then I pushed it out with the end of a water bottle. I'm still thinking of names.

Silky Smooth Shave Soap

You may or not remember an old post of mine called "Conceal Your Outer Sasquatch" where I touted my shaving soaps. They were okay, but they weren't anything to brag about. I can admit that now that I've made some vast improvements. I'm really getting into essential oils now. I love them, but I never quite know how to use them. I decided to give my shaving soaps a major makeover, this time scenting them with essential oils and adding the magic ingredient (IMO): bentonite clay. Bentonite clay has a grayish hue, and a fine, powdery, almost dusty, consistency. Whether you're using it in cold or hot processed soap or melt and pour (which I'm using for this soap), I find that using a teaspoon of clay per pound works best. I must really say that I am loving this soap! The clay gives the soap a smooth consistency thus providing a better razor slip. I've also been using this soap as a facial cleanser after working out, and again, I'm impressed. The clay acts as a sponge to absorb excess dirt and oil-just what I need after a hard workout with Leslie Sansone (yes, Leslie can kick your butt!) I love the aroma of my EO blends used to scent this soap (Patchouli and Orange). It's not overpowering, but subtly aromatic and a little sensual dare I say?! This dual-action soap is currently on rotation in my shower along with Citrus Bouquet and Honey Baby.

Up next: my first cold processed soap using only essential oils to scent the batch. Stay tuned....