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.