I Done Made Soap

The unsliced logs. Top is Indian Chai with cardamom (ground and whole), and all the chai'y essential oils (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger and black pepper). It smells just like a warm creamy mug of its namesake -- mmmmmm! Bottom is coconut which is made using extra virgin coconut oil, and it smells very toasty and beachy.

Love both of these. I will be listing them in my Etsy store when they cure at the start of October.

Next in line is a mint-aniseed blend which is the freshest most energising scent I think I have ever smelled (can't wait to make it, and more so, use it), and the classic springtime scent of Lily-of-the-Valley. I am May-born, and that's my flower. Another divine scent. Yummy yum! I love soaping!

Welcome to Eastcape!! (Or I'm On Etsy!!)

I have finally bitten the bullet and started up my Etsy store!

Woohoo!

Head on over HERE and have a quick look!

New soap

Here it is ready to cut. It's a special order for a lovely fellow craft blogger. Earthy heady blend of patchouli, lavender, cedarwood and sandalwood. Now I have to think of a name!

I have decided to set up an Etsy shop to sell my handcrafted soaps, lotions, and bath goodies. I have had a few requests lately, and it's something I love making, so I thought I'd plunge in! Stay tuned...

Soap-a-rama

Another text-light, pic-heavy post of the soaps I made a few weeks ago.

They all turned out lovely in the end, and the cranberry-fig one only ran into the sandalwood one a little, so most of the bars were fine.

I LOVE this (new) recipe! Lots of yummy shea butter -- feels great.

I should have brushed the soap crumbs away before I snapped the pics...

Soapin'

Made more soap tonight. On the menu were: lavender & patchouli, and tea-tree & blue cypress.

The last lot turned out a mess, albeit a lovely smelling one. One batch broke through the divider and ran into the other batch, then the cranberry fig batch developed a fatty layer on top, and both took daaaaaayyyyyys to firm up, blah blah blah... By some miracle they both turned out okay in the end. I didn't learn from my previous mistake and soaped them too cold again.

Tonight I turned up the heat, and they look much healthier (at this stage) compared to the last lot. Thank goodness. I even got excited and ran a purple swirl into the lavender batch.

Hopefully by tomorrow they will be firm enough to cut, then I will take snaps of the lot.

They are for a special Christmas order for a buddy who is sending them as gifts for relatives overseas.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble....

Made soap today! Yippee! The house is filled with the scents of sandalwood, vanilla, cranberry and fig...mmmm.

Pity my home-made divider failed and the sandalwood-vanilla batch swam into the cranberry-fig batch. *Wince* Will post pix soon. Meantime, enjoy the Corbis offerings.

Soap and a Ladybird

...because there is no clever way I can combine those two in a heading!

Here is a picture of the soap I made on the 27th of May. It finally hardened enough to unmould and cut a few days later.

After running it by the very clever women on my soaping list, I realised what the "problem" had been: I had soaped at cooler than usual temperatures, and so saponification took longer. The resulting soap is just fine, and here is how it (pardon the sort-of-pun) scrubbed up once wrapped and labelled.

Oh, and here is the ladybird costume I made for my 3yo girl's dress-up day at kinder.

Hmhmhmhmhmhm (Marge Simpson style)

The soap's still soft.

I jumped on the "lower SAP value for coconut oil" bandwagon and it did not work for me. Because I "discount water" I usually have hard soap within hours, but two days later I still have playdough-soft soap.


So no pix....yet.

Saponification...

...happened at my house today.

I made soap. It is a herbal mega-mix which I think I will name "Scarborough Fair" on account of it containing parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

I hot-infused the above herbs as well as peppermint into olive oil, and added coconut oil. I made the lye solution using pure lavender hydrosol, and also added the essential oils of pine, grapefruit, lime and sandalwood to add to the herbal scent.

I will post pix tomorrow when I cut it.