We Have A Winner!!!

Well, the day has come for me to reveal the results of the cupcake challenge! For those of you reading this blog for the first time, I previously posted about my frustration with my M&P soap turning brown when I use fragrances with a high vanilla content. I decided to conduct a little experiment using a vanilla stabilizing additive, a vanilla-stabilizing M&P soap, and nothing at all. Well, we have a winner, and while I'm a little surprised, I'm not surprised at all. The winner of the cupcake soap challenge is.........................the cupcake soap with the vanilla stabilizer added. Thanks Anne-Marie. You were right, but I somehow knew you would be (wink.)

I admittedly used 2 minute cubes (in comparison to the rest of the soap) of white M&P with no additives in the vanilla-stabilizing soap because it was just too transparent for what I was trying to achieve. That could have played a roll in the soap slightly darkening. The plain soap has darkened considerably. It's almost taken on a grayish hue. It's still perfectly good soap, but it's just not as pleasing to the eye as the original. The soap with the vanilla stabilizer added still looks yellow and beautiful after 3 days. I'm most pleased. I'll be using this method from now on. I can still use the vanilla-stabilizing soap for other projects, but just not this one.

BEFORE

AFTER

How To Line A Wooden Soap Mold

I love to make cold process soap, but I hate lining my molds because I can never get the corners quite right. The soap usually ends up seeping out of the cracks. Don'tcha just hate that or is it just me? Well, I've been scouring the web for some simple instruction, and I found one on YouTube that looks like it might be worth a shot. Check it out!

ps-I think I love the science of cold process soap-making more than the actual soap-making process because I never know how a batch is going to turn out. It's usually a 50/50 chance with me. Thank goodness for M&P soap!

Always Read The Labels!!!!

I'm ashamed at my recent blunder. I bought this whole apple mold with the intention of making these cute votives. They were so cute, in fact, that I decided to make soaps with them as well. That's all well and good, BUT, not all fragrances are skin-safe. I posted these cute little soaps in my Etsy shop last week and had to remove them a day later. Why? Because my pressed ass did not read the warning on the bottle of the Red Delicious scent I bought from Candles and Supplies. It clearly says not soap and body safe, yet I used it in my soap creation. Thank God nobody bought one of these, or I'd have been in deep doo-doo! I'm still gonna turn these into little apple votives though. I know a few school teachers who would get a kick out of these!

Lesson to self and to others: Always read the labels!