I haven't posted since April about my own products mainly because I have been attending a bi-monthly market in my area. I have been soaping and such. Now I know that I have previously stated that I am more of a body butter gal but when the soap itch starts you have to just keep scratching until it is gone. That is what I have been doing. I also have started a channel on YouTube where I will post videos of my cut soaps and when I am in the middle of making a soap loaf and want to just share my process. These will be sporadic but I will post.
I have also been purchasing some fragrance oils and swapping soap making materials with fellow soapers. I started making notes at the bottom of some of my posts about fragrance and essential oils. Well, right now I am in the middle of packing up my townhouse and moving into a 3 bedroom house so I cannot go through my oils on the shelf and give you a play by play but what I can do it show you some pics and review the soaps.
Up first is Very Cherry Kamikaze. My original plan was to have a Neon Orange and Black domino look to it. Didn't work out that way. So then I decided to revisit it and this time just add Orange, Blue and White. Well, the soap batter didn't like that idea. Japanese Cherry Blossom from thechemistrystore.com has to be soaped cool. (Will do next time.) And it will accelerate trace so be prepared to work quickly.
Yeah, these were supposed to have been 7 oz bars but by the time I cut down all that was wrong with them most ended up being only 4 oz. Ugh!! So. not. happy!! But I am consoled by the fact that alot of people love this soap so ...
Also, Japanse Cherry Blossom super heats your batch so be sure to pop it in the cooler after you have spritzed your top your you will end up with cooked soap.
Up next is from my Coffee Shoppe Line. This is another revisioning gone south. My first 2 designs for Coffee Shoppe: Chocolate Almond Biscotti had people wanting to nibble on the bars. So I decided to make them look more like soap than what biscotti normally looks like. Yeah, Almond Biscotti will accelerate trace so soap cool and be ready to use it as a bottom layer. Oh, and you can forget about getting a decent swirl to it.
My other Coffee Shoppe scent is Strawberry Chocolate. This was such a hit as a Melt and Pour soap that I decided that I wanted to make a CP soap with it. So I foolishly trusted the word of the seller over what the actual FO review said and used it in CP. Seller: "You can CP with it and it will be okay." Manufacturer says, "For M&P only!" So what do I do? I attempt to use it in CP.
You can see for yourself that the Strawberry FO (MP only) looks more like blood splatter at the bottom of this soap. The Strawberry FO not only causes the CP batter to decelerate, it will also cause all of the other FOs to go wonky. So, Lebermuth I will believe your next FO review when you say to NOT use it in CP soap.
However I did find this in one of the bars I cut. I don't know about you but I always feel a sunrise in every cup of coffee that I drink. I am so glad that my Coffee Shoppe soap bears that out. :) :)
My newest addition to the Coffee Shoppe line is Chai. Now, I know that I did a review of another Chai soap last month but I promise you that I was already planning on adding this one when I received the other soap in a swap. This Chai FO is also from thechemistrystore.com. I love this fragrance!! For the lye water solution I made Black Tea at 3x strength because traditional Chai is made with Black Tea, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Clove, Allspice, White Peppercorn, Cardamom, Whole Milk and Sugar. I soaped cool with it and it behaved beautifully. In fact, I had to stick blend it a little more than I normally would in order to get it to thicken up on me. I only made a 2 lb batch with this FO since I didn't know how it would discolor and such. Well, I can tell you that this one will find a permanent home in my Coffee Shoppe line. I don't like the brown so much because I already have 2 brown soaps in the CS line. I am thinking that I will make it green next time. But I am planning on making a Green Tea soap as well so we will have to see what inspiration hits me.
Plain Jayne soaps are a hit amongst the older gentlemen that purchase my soaps. I have been told that they smell like Octagon. Have no idea what that smells like but, okay if you say so. I call them Plain Jayne because I don't add in an fragrance or colorants. Just Olive, Coconut, Palm and Grapeseed Oils and sometimes Shea and Mango Butters for extra nourishing qualities for the skin.
Speaking of men, I can't leave them out of my soaping portfolio so I created a soap just for men: Kentish Rain for Men. I have to say that I love this FO. I was first introduced to it by Bramble Berry in one of their masculine fragrance sniffy bottles. Oh whoa!!! I sold out of shower gels and MP soaps with this one. So then I said to myself, "Hey, make a CP bar with this FO.!!!!" I was hesitant to do so but I did. Now the FO that I used also came from thechemistrystore.com. It is a wonderful FO to soap with. I have soaped at 120 degrees F and I have soaped cool and either way they come out great!!!
One complaint about TCS's gel lab colors is that those suckers will morph on you and stay wonky unless you force gel.
This a re visioning of what I had previously made. The colors were supposed to have been Aqua and Bright Blue but Bright Blue turned Pink and then Purple. Not happy because I wanted 2 shades of blue! UGH! And I was going for the raindrop look from last year and it didn't happen. Not happy about that but what can ya do, right?
Kentish Rain for Men, the original.
Cucumber Melon
What inspired me to attempt Cucumber Melon is the fact that my significant other absolutely loves this fragrance. So as a surprise to him I purchased this Bath and Body Works dupe from TCS and made him a soap. I will say that I soaped cool with this one and had about 20 minutes of play time with it. I also used 2 oz of Coconut Milk. I was concerned that the sugars in the coconut milk would cause the soap to super heat but, nope!! Not at all!! I used Lime and Canary Yellow gel lab colors and Titanium Dioxide from TCS and the colors didn't morph on me at all. The lather is creamy, lush and criminal. The scent sticks to the skin oh-so nicely.
This is an inside pic. Can you see the face?
This is an outdoor pic with
white poster board hiding my shed and grill.
Last but not least is Baby Rose. Now I know that Bramble Berry has a Baby Rose FO that is a mix of Rose and Baby Powder FOs. This is my own personal blend using White Grapefruit, Rosemary Essential Oils and a few floral fragrance oils. The scent is so delicate. I love it!!! I have seen soapers post about not liking a blend but soaping with it because others love it but not me. There is only one FO that I hate with a passion but only soap with it because my best friend loves it and that is Vanilla. I have the smell of vanilla. I hate the taste of vanilla and I hate vanilla because it will discolor any soap to brown. UGH!!!
I posted this pic on the Soapers Anonymous page and have had some interesting opinions of what people see in the picture. I love it.
This another bar from the same log. I was even able to swirl the top of the log in two different manners.
So, I have 3 other soaps to blog about but not today. I think that I have inundated you enough.
