Love

This is my first Valentine soap.  I will be making several more because my friend, Betty, visits the nursing home every week and we are going to fix some for the little ladies for Valentines's Day.  That will be so much fun.  I love a project.  

I'm so grateful the Lord has blessed me with a hobby that I can use to bless others.  I don't know who gets the biggest blessing me or the person getting a bar of soap.  I think....me.  :)

Midnight Rose

Boy this soap is primo if I do say so myself.  It is scented with essential oils of rose geranium, spike lavender, 40-42 lavender and lemon grass.

This is my tallow recipe and the essential oils tried to rice so next time I make this eo blend I will use my recipe "All the Things I Love", that I used the first time.  I love the IPS with the activated charcoal and pink.  Very happy with this soap and it is going to Gina's for gifts for her little old ladies.  Happy dance.

Four Thieves Essential Oil Soap

This soap came out so smooth and creamy.  It is a goat milk, oatmeal and honey soap using the Four Thieves blend of essential oils.  This soap is for Jane.  A late Christmas present since I didn't get my oils in time but she will enjoy it when it is ready.  

I used a small amount of the blend because I know that cinnamon bark and clove oil are very strong.  I will test in about 30 days and then if it needs more next time I will change recipe.

The Four Thieves blend includes the essential oils of:

34% clove bud
30% lemon
16% cinnamon
12% eucalyptus
8% rosemary

This will be a soap that I make over and over since it is the only soap Jane uses.

Sassy Lady

I made fancy oatmeal, milk and honey.  I scented it with two different rose scents, Fresh Cut Rose, Cannibas Rose and Lavender fragrance oil instead of essential oil.  It smells very nice.  I was going to do a pink swirl to complement the rose buds and decided to try and darken the pink with a tiny bit of activated charcoal.  Well, activated charcoal goes a long way so I got a nice black but I like it.  It is a deep rich black and so along with the rose buds on top, I sprinkled lavender buds.  I have some very nice organic lavender that I use just for the tops of my soaps that smells wonderful.

This is a full goat milk straight from the farm along with desert honey and colloidal oatmeal.  I think this soap is primo if I do say so myself.  I will be remaking this one.

Candy Cane

I was finally able to get some of those Wilton holly leaves and berries.  The do bleed some on your soap but it isn't a big deal.  I think they look so pretty on the soap.  This is scented with all essential oils and I used Byrdi's Tri-Vecta R1 recipe.  I got the smoothest texture I've ever gotten with any soap.  When I cut it the inside looked like it had been planed.  It is a very dense soap.  I did a hot process batch of this recipe to see how I liked it.  It was a little drying at the beginning but I believe it will mellow out and be fine.  It was a dream to soap.

Indian Pottery

I made another round of Prickly Pear because the first one turned out so nice.  The only thing I did differently with this one is to add candy pearls and glitter to the top.

Made this soap on Wednesday after Linda left because I wanted to stay busy so I wouldn't be sad.  I so enjoyed her visit and hope she will come back in the Spring.

This soap is scented with Herbal Essence from Brambleberry and it smells very nice.  I put milled lavender in the entire batch and you can see the speckles throughout the soap.  I left the main batter natural and did a hanger swirl with two shades of purple and white.  This soap puts me in mind of a painted Indian pot therefore I'm calling it Indian Pottery.  I added lavender buds and glitter on top.  Byrdi told me I should try this hanger swirl with some football colors because this swirl reminded her of a flag flying.  It does kinda.  I really like this technique because it is easy and you're never quite sure of the look you're going to get.

Follow His Star

This is my last Christmas soap.  I used vanilla bean powder for the dirt because I couldn't find my rose hip powder.  The rest is just placing the colored soap.  The stars are cold processed soap made ahead of time.  Very simple soap but I really like it.

Christmas Berry Version 2

I like this version better.  The berries are more realistic and I like the grated soap inside.  I discovered that if I grate the soap I am able to make the soap balls as small as I want.  In the other version I hot processed the soap and then tried to make berries by pinching off pieces and I wasn't able to make very small balls because the soap would crumble.

The green part that represents the leaf was a shaving from planing the bar of soap.  It automatic rolls itself into this shape so very little work is involved.  

I added a little over an oz of red grated soap and a little over an oz of green grated soap to a 32 oz batch of oils.  I piped plain white soap on top in order to have a bed to put the soap balls.  

I scented it with Frankinscense and Lily of the Valley fragrance oils.  I'm very pleased with this one.

Christmas Berry

I'm not really happy with the way this one turned out and it was a lot of trouble because I had to make a batch of hot processed soap to make the soap balls and then it took forever to roll all of those little balls and I really didn't get them small enough.  However, I learned a lot and when I make another Christmas soap.....next year.....I will do better.  These bars may look a tad better when they are cleaned up.  It is still too soft since I just cut it this morning.  Next time I will make my leaves ahead of time because I'm not very good at piping and they looked more like green blobs than leaves.  But, it is good soap.

70th Birthday Rose Petal Soap

I tried to match the pink in the soap to the rose petals but I couldn't be father off if I tried.  I will be making this one again since I have plenty of petals left.  Melissa, my youngest daughter, send me roses on my 70th birthday and when they wilted I saved all the petals.  How did I get to be 70?  The last time I checked I was still young.  Not really, but the years do go by faster than you can imagine.

This soap has all the normal good stuff inside that I always use plus hemp milk.  I'm on a hemp milk kick and I'm loving how it makes the soap feel on my skin.  The only place I've found it for sale is Whole Foods.  We have only one of those markets that I know of so I froze a lot of the hemp milk because I knew I couldn't use it all before it would go bad.  I'm supposing that it will freeze fine to use in soap but I don't know until I try.

I did a spoon swirl on this batch because I wanted thicker lines.  I've got to get my husband to make me a hanger to fit my silicone mold so I can do hanger swirls in them.....that's my favorite technique.

Cool Water

Byrdi Jean sent me a bottle of Cool Water fo and it smells so good.  This is the soap that I chose to make for the men and it turned out great.  I poured the blue into the white, swirled once and then poured that mixture into the plain batter and swirled once.  When I poured it into the mold I poured from one end of the mold instead of in the middle like I normally do.  I really don't think it makes much difference in how the swirls look but I wanted to see.

There is hemp milk, clay, silk, oatmeal and goat milk powder in this soap.  So I think the men will feel as pampered as we gals do when we use handmade soap.  I wish everyone could really feel the difference it makes in how their skin feels when they use something that isn't processed to death with chemicals and all the good stuff removed to use in something else.  I'm totally in love with handmade soap.  

Rosemary, Mint and Hemp Milk

I can hardly wait for this one to cure.  It is an all essential oil soap with no colorants added.  I used rosemary, peppermint, vetiver, patchouli, eucalyptus citriodora and spike lavender.  It smells wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!  I added 1/2 t. ground mint inside the soap.  This recipe looks so creamy I know it is going to feel good.  Oh, and I added hemp milk.  Dying to see what this brings to the soap.

Carrot & Chamomile

I made a carrot soap last year and I really liked it so I thought I would do another.  However, this is a different recipe and I also added chamomile powder to this one for extra benefits.  

It has buttermilk powder and heavy cream and, of course, pureed carrots. I put poppy seeds on top for a little contrast.  I scented the soap with frankincense fragrance oil.  It smells herbal which was what I was after.  

Pumpkin Patch

I made some soap for the kids, be you big or be you small.  I know a lot of people who love Halloween so for all of you here is a great Halloween goody.  

This soap is my avocado oil soap with lots of shea butter.  It is scented with Chocolate Nut Brownie and Vanilla Select.  It has a tiny bit of exfoliating properties from some vanilla bean powder. There is silk and buttermilk powder and oatmeal to give the skin lots of pampering.  I have tarragon and cosmetic glitter on top. This was a fun soap to make.

Prickly Pear Soap

Today I decided I would make Prickly Pear Soap.  The soap is still in the mold and won't be cut until tomorrow and I will post the finished soap then but here are the photos of the process.

Isn't this a beautiful specimen of a Prickly Pear Cactus?  It isn't actually mine but hanging over our wall.  I was going to ask if I could have some tunas but she wasn't home.  Don't worry she will be getting a bar of Prickly Pear Soap.  And this picture was taken after I picked the tunas so there are plenty to spare. :)

I found out from watching Youtube that these pods that are left after the cactus blooms are called tunas.  Don't know how they acquired that name but aren't they the most beautiful color?  However, to get to that beautiful meat you have to get past all those vicious stickers.

My left behind stickery peelings and the beautiful pulp from inside the tunas.

Next I pureed the pulp.  See the little black seeds that are inside the tunas?

These are the seeds that were left from the strained puree.

From five pods I got 2.25 ounces of liquid which is plenty enough for a batch of soap.  As soon as I added the lye water my beautiful magenta soap mixture turned an orange cream.  It is a shame that the color was lost.  Tomorrow I will cut and post a pic of the finished soap.

I tried to match the beautiful color of the tunas with micas. This soap has a smooth finish and smells wonderful.  I used spiked lavender essential oil, neroli fragrance oil, sensuous sandelwood fragrance oil, and fir needle essential oil.  It smells wonderful and I will be using this blend again.  I cannot wait for it to cure because I know it is going to be a really wonderful soap.

UPDATE:  I tested this soap at two weeks since I could wait no longer and it is wonderful.  It is soothing and creamy on the skin and the scent is heavenly.  There are enough tunas out there to make about 3 more batches of soap but I don't think I will since the plant isn't mine....unless my neighbor, Elke, begs me to use them.  :) We can only hope.

Designed for People

I wanted to make some soap that is designed especially for certain people.  I want to add the oils they prefer, the colors they like and the scents that are their favorites.  The first two are finished and they are named after my daughter Regina and Melissa.  This one is Gina:

She loves purple so I made two shades of people divided by white and did a hanger swirl.  I put glitter and candy pearls on top and scented it with essential oils of lavender, dark patchouli, and juniper berry.  It smells wonderful.  She is going to love this soap.

The next soap I'm calling Missi:

Melissa loves pink so I made her's pink and white IPS in a natural base.  I put pink heart embeds on top with pink and white candy pearls and glitter.  I scented it with Black Linen and Amber which is her favorite fragrance.  

Two daughter's.  Two soaps.  The soaps fit them.  Both of the soaps are made with my new avocado oil recipe that I just love.  

I want to do the same thing with other family members and friends.  I think it is a neat idea.

H13

This is a new recipe.  I am so excited because I think that this one could be it.  I didn't formulate it because I don't know how. This is a gift from my sweet friend, Byrdi.  She is a whiz when it comes to making recipes.  The outside of this soap is as smooth as satin.  The recipe gives you all the time in the world to design.  In fact, if you want a textured top you have to wait on it to thicken up.  You could paint pictures with this soap recipe if you wanted.  It is going to be hard to wait on this one to cure.

Birthday Cake

I think I will call this one Birthday Cake since that's what it makes me think of.This is my canola oil soap with the exception that I added more sodium lactate than usual.  I love this recipe but I don't make it that much because it is a soft soap. However, since it bubbles so much I wanted to see if I would like it better if I added sodium lactate at a higher rate than 3%.  I will have to wait at least two weeks to see if it makes the grade but I think it turned out so pretty.

Tea Tree Soap

This is a tea tree soap I made for Caitlin.  I haven't named it yet but I love the swirls that look like little flowers.  There is oatmeal, clay, silk and goat milk powder in here.  It is made with sunflower oil so it should be very mild and gentle on her face.  She told me that the previous tea tree soap I had sent her totally cleared up her face and she needs more.  Of course, that makes a soap maker's heart sing.  

Summer's End

This is a full goat milk soap with all essential oils.  It smells a bit like there is anise oil in here but there isn't.  I added colloidal oatmeal and silk, beeswax and love.  

I divided my soap into three equal portions and alternated the pour as if I was making a tiger stripe. After I used all the soap I took my hanger and went down into the soap and moved it back and forth as I came up.  I did this across the soap about 3 times.  I dolloped the soap that was left on the top and did a diagonal swirl with the skewer across and then back across the other way.  Finished off with glitter, of course. I most certainly will try this one again....while holding my breath.

Gold Dust

I wanted to make a white soap but I didn't get there, however, my cocoa line turned out good.  This is a nourishing tallow soap.  It has gold glitter on top that looks like gold dust.  So that's what I will call this one.  Since I live in Las Vegas I should call it "The" Gold Dust but I won't. :)

Happy Soaping, Girls.  If I can do it anyone can do it.

Orchid Rain

I wanted a soap to go in my bathroom.  I've made plenty of lavender colored soap but I didn't have any orchid.  This soap has cornflowers and poppy seeds on top for decoration.  It turned out exactly like I wanted.  

Lavender and Old Lace

 I left the base natural and did a swirl in a swirl for color.  This soap was made for Vanessa because she wanted oatmeal soap.  I added plenty of oatmeal with whole oatmeal on top.

Lemon Verbena

This fragrance oil smells so nice and it is a dream to soap.  No acceleration and, as far as I know, no discoloration.  The only disappointment with this batch was that my new yellow mica was not strong enough to give me the contrast I wanted.  I thought I had used enough but I see now that you have to use more with this mica.  I left the base uncolored.

I added marigold petals, tarragon and poppy seeds.  This is a new recipe so I won't know for a few weeks how it is going ot bubble but it was a pleasure to soap.  I had all the time in the world.

Pink Lavender

Pink Lavender

This is a blend of lavender fragrance oil, lemongrass essential oil, and eucalyptus essential oil.  1.50 oz lavender, .25 lemongrass and .25 eucalyptus.  

It is an easy technique done by doing two In the Pot Swirls.  Pour your pink into your darker pink and swirl once with your spatula.  Then pour that mixture into your cream colored base and swirl once with your spatula.  Pour into your mold. Drizzle a bit on top, glitter, and you have a very pretty, easy to make soap.  

Something Old, Something New, Something Blue

I had a soap that I forgot to add the fragrance and I also tried doing the mantra swirl and cut it the wrong way.  It is good soap but I really wanted fragrance so I grated up two bars and chopped up one.  I made a 30 oz. batch of soap but added a full two ounces of fragrance and dropped in the grated soap.  Then I put the chopped pieces on top.  It really loved the way it turned out.  I have 4 pieces of the old soap left so I'm thinking I will do this again.  Wouldn't kids absolutely love this cheerful soap?
Now I need a really cute name that would capture the imagination of a child?  

New Soap Cutter

How do you thank someone who spent a ton of time making you a soap cutter?  You can't.  Everyone's time is precious to them and when someone shares their time it is a gift.  So thank you Byrdi and Z for my soap cutter.  I absolutely love it.

And I can thank Byrdi for the recipe also.  This is made with two of my favorite oils, rice bran and canola.  I called this Summer Lemonade and it smells nice.  I used all essential oils of pink grapefruit, Argentina lemon, sweet basil, sweet orange and a few drops of rosemary and patchouli that were left in the bottom of a bottle.  The texture on this soap is wonderful and it is two days old and making bubbles like crazy.  It gives you plenty of time to design.  This is definitely a ***** star recipe.  Thank you.

H8

This is a new recipe.  There is cream, silk and oatmeal in it.  I can't wait for it to cure so I can see how it lathers.  I like the colors but I sure got a crazy swirl.  You never know!

Year Anniversary

Next month will be one year since I started making soap.  I can really tell how much I have improved when I look back at some of my earlier soaps.  They were good soaps but just not as pretty and they didn't have all the good ingredients that I add now.

This is Juniper Jasmine.  The fragrance oil does accelerate but since I know that, I worked quickly and did a simple swirl.  I love the smell of this fragrance oil so it is worth the bother.  I put jasmine flowers and juniper berries on top.  You may not be able to see the purple swirled with the blue in the pic but it is there.  I left the base the natural color.  This is a sunflower oil recipe.

I call this soap Magic Carpet Ride because the colors remind me of that.  The base has no added color.  The color you are seeing is from Rhassoul clay.  It gives an earthy look to the soap.  These colors  in the swirls are deep enough that they fade on a light-colored washcloth but I really like the effect so I will have to live with that.  This could be called "ole hippy soap" because, for whatever reason, that's what came to mind when I was trying to name it.

I'm loving this hanger swirl technique.  It is easy, quick and effective.  I put calendula  petals on top.  The fragrance is patchouli, lavender and rosemary.  I know these essential oils do not fit the colors but I didn't plan it.  This soap sorta evolved but I like it.  I think it turned out very pretty and it bubbles like crazy and is so nourishing for the skin because this recipe is tallow and lard.  

Three new soaps

I saw this design on a Youtube video.  Her's was prettier but I did find out from Roberta how to get a great red.  You use brick oxide from BB and add a hot pink or florescent pink.  This soap overheated on me so I took it out of the mold trying to push the crack back together so I got ugly shaped bars but the crack isn't noticeable.  I guess I got the lesser of two evils.

I've never used these color combinations together before but I kinda like them.  I love the hanger swirl.  Such an easy way to get a pretty soap.

Now this soap is a whole different story.  My soap was too thin when I poured it so my activated charcoal ran into my coral so much that it wiped out the coral all together.  I put black and silver glitter on the top and all it reminds me of is salt and pepper.  I used Bourbon Geranium in this soap so it has a hint of rose to it.  Shame I lost all but the faintest hint of color.

Lavender Inside and Out

This came out so pretty.  It is scented with lavender fo, patchouli eo, ginger fo, rosemary eo, and eucalyptus lemon eo. 

The color was obtained from mixing fluorescent blue violet and fluorescent light pink from TKB trading.  It is a nice dense lavender with no specks.

The top is sprinkled with purple jojoba beads from Brambleberry.

I'm happy.  :)

These are all different recipes.  I will know in a month which ones are my favorites.  I