Where'd all these ants come from?

So, who's ready for summer?  I am BEYOND ready.  So much so, that I've been working on a new installment of my soap "trios".  This being the summer edition.  BRING ON THE SUNSHINE!

One of the very first ideas that came to mind was watermelon.  Fresh, juicy watermelon on a breezy summer day.  What the heck is better than that?! 

I could've done a nice slab swirl or something, but I really want to try to do something extra special for this one, and maybe even replicate an actual piece of watermelon for this soap.  As we CP soapers know - you can do this all day long with M&P soap, but cold process requires a bit more planning and technique.  No disrespect to M&P soapers...I love all of those too!

So, the first challenge was seeds.  My first inclination was to chop up some soap bits & sprinkle them into a fresh batch, but I wanted to ensure that every single slice had a good, even amount of "seeds" in it, so I 86'd that idea.  Then, I decided on piped strips of soap made with activated charcoal, the entire length of the log mold. 

Bingo.

I poured a layer of titanium dioxide enhanced soap at the very bottom of the mold for the "rind", and the rest is watermelon colored mica with the piped "seed" strips.  I decided to brush on green mica to mimick the look of a mottled, green/white rind after cutting. 

Some lessons were learned with this first try, and when I make this again I know what I'd change.  I poured the first layer far to thinly and it didn't set up quite enough before I poured the second layer, completely killing any plan I had for a straight line, and I didn't end up liking the brushed mica idea.  It ended up being more of an arty suggestion of watermelon in the end, which I like anyway.  :)  But oh the plans for the redo! :)

Thanks for reading!  The Summer Trio goes on sale in May!

Synthetics shmynthetics...

I've been getting a lot more requests lately for soap with no colorants or synthetic fragrance oils.  So many people have sensitivites to these ingredients, that they search out soapmakers that will step away from the glitter and cupcakes for a second, and just make soap simply, and naturally.  I seem to soap in tangents.  One month, it's crazy FOs and colorants all over the place, and the next month I get on an essential oil kick.  Anyway - for soapmakers the natural stuff can be kinda boring, at times.  No hoopla, no crazy techniques - so....I thought I'd kick it up a notch by soaping in a funnel with natural colors.  Sure they won't be in-yo-face vibrant, but what the hizzy....I thought I'd give it a shot.   Come watch me make some frankinscense & myrrh soap....that is, if you can see in my crappy lighting and stand the new age Yanni track in the background...lol.  I'm new at the video thing.  I'm working on it..  ;o)

Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odZcRat9AjA

UPDATE!:  Pix added:

For Soapmakers and Appreciators!

I just wanted to blog about, and say thank you to a new Etsy shop called Miss Ravae's Creation Station, run by my friend Mia and her daughter.  Mia has been a customer of mine and she and her daughter, Alexis,  recently started selling really adorable mini soaps made from polymer clay.  You can get keychains, cell phone charms, necklaces and more.  You can imagine all the soapmakers went nuts over these.  They are based in North Carolina, and you really should check them out.

I just had to show off what Mia sent me today.  First of all, they came in the mail, lightning fast., and who doesn't love THAT?!  My items came in a cute amethyst organza bag with a pretty design on it, accompanied by a cute card in the shape of a coffee cup that reads: "Thanks a latte"...lol.  So cute...

The girls sent me the cutest keychain made with two soaps on it.  One is their "Fruit Punch" soap made with super cute layers and fluffy soapy top, and the other is their "Blueberry" soap which is a deep blue and white with a fluffy top.  Both have sparkly glitter too!  They also sent me an extra charm!  It's their "Raspberry Lemonade" soap, and all of them are just adorable.

I think their prices are $3.75 for one charm and $6.50 for 2, but you'll have to double check on their website.  So I just wanna give a big thank you to Mia & Alexis!  I just love these, you guys!  Thank you so much! 

Everybody, go check out their Etsy shop.  Alexis makes crocheted purses too!  You can find them at :

Miss Ravae's Creation Station

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MissRavae?ref=seller_info

You guys rock!  Good luck with your shop, Mia & Alexis!

Thinking INSIDE the box...

I've reworked my base recipe (yet again) and think I have found just the right balance between lather and skin conditioning qualities, finally.  Of course, if you ask me again in a month, I'll probably have redone it again...lol.  Too much coconut, palm kernal, palm (the latter two, I dont use anyway), and the stripping goes up...too little, the lather fizzles.  Too high a superfat, soft soap - too low, not conditioning enough.  It's enough to drive a soapmaker to drink.  :)  For now, I'm very happy with my latest results and the ideas are banging around in my brain so much that I can't stop working on things.  Some work, some don't.  My trash can has seen many a prototype.  Trust.

The latest item I am so geeked to bring to my store, is a new range of soap gift packs I'm calling TRIOS.  As the name slaps you over the head with - they will be cute gift packs of three goat milk soaps, all featuring a theme.  I'm beginning with the seasons and running with it from there.  The possibilities are endless.  Just choosing suppliers and boxes was enough to make my eyeballs melt.  My initial gift pack is for (what else?) spring.  It's wishful soaping, ya'll.  If I never see another flake of snow, it'll be too soon.

The soaps included in this pack are sweet pea, spring rain, and grandma's lilacs.  Makes ya just wanna  spring open a parasol and kiss the easter bunny, doesn't it?  Just me?  Okay.

I've packaged and repackaged a hundred times but I'm happy with the final presentation.  These will be available in the store (http://www.alifedeliberate.etsy.com/) for $14.00 which is actually a deal because normally three soaps are $15, AND you receive it gift wrapped and ready to give to someone, or just give a little treat to yourself.  I've worked really hard on them and I hope everyone likes them.  The inside flap has a little graphic and quote because I'm a card-carrying word nerd.  :P  I'd love to hear your feedback.

Even more new gift packs and ranges coming very soon!  Stay tuned! ;o)

I'll stop the world and melt with you....

If you live in the midwest like I do, you're probably dealing with itchy, lizard skin during the windy cold months.  If you live in hot, arid regions, you may also be fighting dry cracked skin, pretty regularly.  That's why I just love these little things!

I've been busy formulating bath melts.  If you don't know what they are, simply explained, they are solid bath oils; made with butters, citric acid and baking baking soda at their base.  You pop one into a running tub of water and they quietly float to the bottom, gently bubbling, releasing and dispersing lovely skin conditioning ingredients that make your skin feel luxuriously soft.  There are many ingredients you can include in a recipe such as butters like cocoa, mango, aloe, shea etc.  One might also choose to add milk powders, botanicals (if all the floaties don't squick you out in the bathtub), oats, glitters, scents, essential oils...the list goes on.  You are only limited by your know-how and creativity.

Today, I've decided to make some with an essential oil blend that is at first heady with patchouli. Hold on, don't get scared!  Even sworn patchouli haters like me love this, because the fragrance then mellows into a delicate mandarin orange with hints of refreshing lemon and seductive ylang ylang. This blend also includes cardamom, sandalwood, vetiver, and jasmine absolute. No kidding, it is the sexiest scent ever!  But first lets get our ingredients together...

The basic butter concoction I'm going to use is cocoa butter and aloe butter, today.  Then of course, you need citric acid, baking soda and a mold. These are the basic necessary ingredients.  The rest is up to you.  I have a silicone multi-cavity heart mold I'm going to make these in, because it was handy.  I'm also using an emulsifier to help disperse the oils.  I don't care for the oil slick on top of the bath water, so I like to use about 5% liquid emulsifier like polysorbate 80 or any high HLB product.  I happen to have Planta Em.  I haven't tried this in bath melts yet, so you're testing with me on this one.  :)  I also have some colorants (more on that in a bit) and some embellishments for later.  So let's get started!

First, combine your butters in a microwave safe container and nuke them in 30 second bursts to avoid crystallization in the cocoa butter.  Mango and shea will do this to your formulations too.  I prefer this method, but you can also use a double boiler.  Hit it with 30 second intervals until liquid and set aside.

Next mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, taking care to get all the lumps out.  Set aside.

Now go back to your liquid and add your fragrance oils or essential oils (about 2% FO, but I eyeball it), your emulsifier (if using one), and your colorants.  Now if you try to use water soluable colorants, you are about to be seriously bummed out.  You're gonna get balls of color that won't mix in no matter what you do.  It will look something like this:

Not too cute, right?  So all those neon colorants you see on the counter are worthless in this application. LabColors?  Nuh uh.  I recommend sticking with micas. 

Much better, right? 

Okay, so now you can combine your dry ingredients with your liquid ingredients, and stir until blended really well. 

Pour the mixture into your mold, and I like to stick them in the refrigerator to help them harden up.  Once they harden, you can pop them out.

Now, they are perfectly adorable and useful just as they are, but from here you can decorate them in many ways.  Here is my finished product:

These really smell incredible.  No more winter itch for me, tonight!  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  :)  I'm going to be bringing melts of some form to the website in the future, so keep an eye out for them!

Thanks for reading!

New product!

Who doesn't love a bath filled with big, fluffy bubbles?  I've been wanting to add bubble bath to my product line for a while now, and haven't taken the time.  I've goosed it with a foam booster so hopefully the bubbles will last a good long time.  I'm probably going to start with a scent limit (but we all know I can't resist having every scent known to man available, eventually) and throw it out there to see what customer response is.  My daughter and I liked this very much.  I'm back and forth on the opaque/pearlized colors or clear colors but for right now, we're going with these. 

I have Blueberry, Cucumber & Melon, Yuzu (omg!), Cherry Almond, Green Apple, Beach (the Bobbi Brown dupe), Strawberry & Vanilla Bean Noel.  By the time they're listed in my shop tonight, there will probably be 100 more.  ;o)

I'm super excited about these and and I think you'll like them too.  Available in 8 oz. size bottles.

What do you think?

There are lots of other new goodies coming soon as well.  Stay tuned!

Let's talk colors...

It's been a very long time since my last blog post.  In the last few months I've moved to the country and began a new chapter.  Looking forward to what the Universe has in store for me...  :)

I thought I'd blog a little bit about soap colorants.  There are many ways to color cold and hot process soap.  You have natural colorants which are, not usually, as vibrant as synthetic colors but lovely in their own right.  You can achieve beautiful shades of pink, violets, browns, greens, oranges, yellows and many others, from plant materials, clays, minerals etc.  There's always been a certain romance to the idea of 100% natural soap, made of nothing but what mother nature shares with us, stirred with a wooden spoon in our grandmother's worn apron.  For years a good couple of spoonfuls of cocoa  or allspice was what soapmaker's used to get a lovely deep brown, or some alkanet root to get muted shades of violet.  These natural elements are still used and often preferred by today's soapmakers.

One can also utilize a vast array of pigments such as micas, ultramarines and oxides.  Until the FDA stepped in and took issue with the purity of mining these pigments, they are now manufactured in labs.  Iron oxides, in nature, are often filled with toxic metals like lead, arsenic, mercury, antimony and selenium so safety warranted a change.

And lastly, you have the many differen't types of FD&C colorants which are not natural and manufactured in a lab, as well.  They provide a very wide range of colors and are really easy to use once you get the hang of it.

Is your head spinning yet?  How then, does anyone choose?  A lot of it comes down to preference, ease of use, and stability.  What do I mean by stability?  Well, often times in soapmaking, the chemical process soap needs to go through -  called saponification - creates reactions in alkaline environments that do all sorts of wacky things to colors.  You may start out with a beautiful royal purple poured into your soap mold, and when you come back a few hours later to check on it, you have something that closely resembles a greenish gray vomit.  Ew.   You may mix your little heart out to find that "perfect" shade of red, and end up with hot pink.  This is why colorants require testing testing testing!

Let me give you an example.  Tonight, I poured a soap with two separate colors, and did a simple slab swirl.  I used a shamrock green mica (which is gorgeous in my lip balms, by the way!), and a small amount of a cellini red mica.  Take a look  at  the photo below...

As you can see by these photos taken just after pouring, I have a medium shade shamrock green and a dark pink.   Everything looks like it should and all seems to be right in the world.  Here's a closeup:

Now take a look at the soap in the mold, just a couple of hours later:..(there is also some microfine blue glitter on top if you're wondering what the specks are :)

No more shamrock green!  What happened is that this particular mica is not stable in cold process soap and went through a color change commonly known as "morphing".  Now we have a very light tan color instead of green.  Sometimes the color just plain disappears altogether!    Don't even get me started on the havoc fragrance oils can wreak on colors too!  So you see...much planning and testing goes into soapmaking, which can be very frustrating...but never boring.  Sometimes you just have to roll with the outcome and adjust your "vision" to meet your soap reality.   So, the next time your dark pink and shamrock green soap turns light pink and tan?  Remember these 5 little words...

I meant to do that.  :)

Until my next post...thanx for reading!

UPDATE!  The color change continues!  This morning, after a full 20 hours, the colors have morphed again, back to green and pink.  They are softer and less pronounced now, but this just goes to show you once more, that colorants have all sorts of surprises in store. :)

Happy soaping!