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.
No comments:
Post a Comment