The Final Patchouli Orange Vanilla Soap!

The soap turned out great! The brown swirl will darken over the next few days due to the vanilla content.

I love the ground vanilla beans in the dark swirl  and on top! What do you think?

Making Natural Body Wash From Scratch

 There are many ways to make liquid soap, so I thought I would share how I made mine.
First, I add the hard and soft oils to a large stainless steel pot. Make sure you are not using an aluminum pot. I can't remember how large this pot is, but I think it's a standard stock pot.

 While the oils are melting, I measure the potassium hydroxide. This comes in flakes and  after measuring, it is added to distilled water. When the lye dissolves, it makes a loud "swishing" sound...sort of how a train sounds. Right after mixing, the lye/water is added to the melted oils. I do not wait for the lye to cool down.

 This is what the mixture looks like right after adding the lye/water solution. The pot is placed on low heat. I use a gas stove, so I use the simmer setting.

 After stick blending for a minute, the mixture looks like thick milk.

 Now this is the tricky part.  Stick blending  speeds up the reaction between the lye and oil, but you have to be careful that the mixture doesn't overheat. If it does, it can volcano out of the pot..a big mess....don't ask me how I know!

The trick is to stick blend the mixture while the pot is off the heat and hand stir when the pot is on the heat. I just rotate (on and off the heat) every min or so.

 Patience is the key! The mixture takes a long time to reach the next stage and how long depends on how much heat you use, and how long you use the stick blender.
At this stage the mixture becomes thicker and is similar to thin pudding texture.

 Now, this is the fun part! The "mashed potato" stage happens quickly! One second the mixture is thin pudding, and then it resembles mashed potatoes. Now, I stir and stir until I can't anymore.

Next I place my pot (with the cover on) into the over, which is set at 200F. Every 30 minutes I check on the mixture (now soap paste). The paste will turn from white to opaque when it is finished. This process takes between 2 and 3 hours.

 While I am waiting for the soap paste to finish, I measure out my Borax and distilled water. This solution will dilute the soap paste and help neutralize the soap paste.

 Don't forget your goggles! One tiny drop of lye in your eye, can blind you for life. The risk is just not worth it. Always, always, wear your goggles! Ok, I will step off my soap box.

This is what the soap paste looks like after just an hour. It is still quite white.

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This is what the soap past looks like when finished. The paste should be the color of Vaseline, a shiny amber color.







After boiling the distilled water, and dissolving the Borax in the water, I add the solution to the soap paste.

This part is not a fun part. The paste has to dissolve into the water. This takes lots of stirring, and stirring, and stirring. I usually stir the pot, and come back every half hour and stir again. Keeping the lid on, and a towel over the pot, keeps the soap warm and easier to dilute. Did I mention you have to stir and stir and stir?

After a few sessions of stirring, I put the lid on and wait until the next day. After a night of resting, the lumps are easier to dissolve.

You can add fragrance when you add the Borax solution, but I like to keep mine unscented. I add the fragrance as the body wash is ordered. Adding fragrances and essential oils can change the density of the soap. Some will make the soap thicker, and some will thin the soap. I like to keep my liquid soap a little thick in case the fragrance thins when added.

You can see the body wash in the above picture. It is a light amber color. I don't color my soap, but when I add a fragrance that contains vanilla, the soap will turn a darker amber color.

 Making body wash/liquid soap is not hard, but it is time consuming. I find it very rewarding after it is all finished. My recipe makes 6 pounds of liquid soap, so I make a pretty large batch.

I hope you enjoyed the process! Handmade body wash is made with pure fresh oils, and doesn't contain any additives or chemicals like store bought soap.

Learning how to take pictures

I have wanted a new camera for several years now, and I finally received a new one for my Birthday! It has many bells and whistles, which is fun, but it means I have to learn how to use all the bells and whistles!
I tried my hand at taking pictures off the auto setting.

We went to the Americana Music Awards in Nashville last month. I took this picture inside. I obviously need more time on the camera!

This is a better picture!

I plan to use this camera for product pictures and videos for YouTube. Here are some pictures I have taken using the camera.

I love how clear the pictures are. Now I just need to work on lighting and staging!
I have been quite busy lately. I am placing my product in another St. Louis retail shop, and between filling this shop, and keeping my other retail locations stocked, along with my Etsy shop, I can't seem to catch up!
I made quite a few hot process soap batches so I could stock up on soap. When everything slows down, I will get back to making my favorite cold process soaps!

The top green soap is Eucalyptus Mint and the bottom soap is French Blend (lavender, tea tree, and clove). They don't look as pretty, but they sure smell good!

A mistake I was willing to make

Last month I had a couple contact me regarding a soap they would love to have. They asked me to make a blend of lemongrass and patchouli soap. The shop was slow, so I thought, "why not?". The contact was made on Facebook and the couple said they wanted quite a few bars, and a friend of theirs even piped in and said they wanted a few bars too.
So, I happly made the soap. I let them know they were made and I would post the listing in a week or so. The soaps were made using the hot process method, so they were available much sooner than my other soaps.
Two weeks later I posted the link to the soap. It has been two weeks now and they have not ordered the soap.
So why did the mistake (of making the soap before payment) turn out well?  The blend is amazing, and because I used the hot process method, I was able to superfat the soap with lots of extra cocoa butter! The soap smells amazing and I am going to add this blend to my soap line.
Now, I did make a mistake by making a product that was not paid for, which you should never do. But....I knew ahead of time that I may not sell the soap to the person who requested the soap, but I was willing to take the chance.
Sellers are often asked to make a product on Etsy. It happens all the time and most sellers are happy to purchase the materials, make the product, and then list the items for sale. But what if the buyer doesn't come back to purchase? Can you sell the item to someone else?
I always make sure I have the buyers money before I even start making the item.
I guess I don't always follow my own advice, but I do have a nice batch of lemongrass patchouli soap now!

Elemental Swirl

I participated on Amy Warden's soap challenge this week using the Elemental swirl I think they turned out great!
The top part is outer space and the bottom represents the earth. The soap bottom is scented with a citrus blend, and the top is scented with Watermelon.

Thanks for looking!

I can't believe it's December!

My, the time has flown right by. It's hard to believe it is already December, especially since it's in the 70's today! I had the doors open and felt very warm putting the ornaments on the tree.....only in the Midwest!

For the past few days I have been working on new pictures. I have a 6 year old camera, but sadly, I don't think I can blame the age on the pictures. I have a light box downstairs (that I made out of a cardboard box) that I use sometimes, but I prefer the light from my sliding glass doors.

Here is what they looked like before I edited the picture. You can see how bright the sun was by the upper left hand corner. I used a piece of white paper to cover the light coming in.

 I often get a blue cast around my picture.

Here they are after editing.  The colors are pretty accurate, but the pink is more vibrant than what is showing in the picture.

Another problem I have is bright colors. I can make the background light, but it makes the object too washed out.

 Here is the picture right after I took it.

This is right after editing. It is so bright, that you can't really see the details.

This is my new Koi soap.

Any suggestion on how to solve this problem?

Hot Process Handmade Gingerbread Soap From Scratch

It was a cold and damp day, so I thought it would be a great day to make more soap. I'm running low on basic soap, but I also need some holiday soap....so I'm made Gingerbread Soap!
In the above picture you can see the hard oils melting. I have coconut, palm kernel, shea butter, and palm oil. Off to the side (which you can't see), I have my carefully measured lye/water solution and my soft oils. My soft oils are olive, rice bran, and castor.
While the oils are melting, I got my mold ready to go. I put oats on the bottom of the mold. This will actually be the top of the soap.
I also added ground oats and cocoa powder. The oats are great for your skin and the cocoa is for coloring the soap.
This is my favorite part...right after I poured the lye/water mix into the melted oils. In the above picture I just turned on the stick blender.
This is what it looks like one second after blending.
Here you can see a light trace. If I were making cold process soap, I would stop at this point, separate the mixture and add coloring. Since I'm hot processing, and I'm using cocoa for color, I'm skipping this step.
This is what it looked like after it came to a medium trace and I added the oats and cocoa.
Now the soap is "cooking". You can see the outside of the pot starting to gel.
About 20 min. later. It cooks from the outside in, and when the white spot in the middle is tiny, or disappears, it's finished!
This is a crummy picture, but this picture was taken after the soap had cooled to 170 degrees and I added the Gingerbread oils to the soap.
I added oats to the top (bottom of soap), but most of it fell off after taking it out of the mold. Hot process soap is ready to use as soon as it's finished with the "cook". It takes several hours for the soap to cool.
All set to go! See the oats? This was the bottom of the mold.
All cut and ready to go! I like to let my soap sit for a week or so before using. You don't have to, but the soap will last a lot longer if you do.

Now you know what it takes to makes soap!

POLL: Name This Soap

I'm having a hard time with the name of this soap. Will you please help me out? I have some choices above, but if you have another name in mind, post it here!

Here's the description I have for it:

Tomato Leaf Herbal Handmade Soap is a light, fresh, airy and herb-y scent. It is a blend of all kinds of melons and tomatoes with lemon-lime top notes, fresh leafy herbaceous middle notes and a wonderfully rich and earthy base. My Tomato Leaf Handmade Soap is made using the freshest ingredients, including Tomato Paste!

Tomatoes are a wonderful source of carotenoids like lycopene, beta-carotene, and vitamin E, which have been know to be effective antioxidants.

My Husband Just Doesn't Get It!

I was having problems finding Lye a few months ago. It's not sold in many stores due to the Meth labs that keep popping up here in Missouri. My husband was out running errands and I asked him to stop at a hardware store that I had not checked out yet. I told him I needed lye to make my soap. Well, he tried and I'm now a proud owner of LYE SOAP! LOL! It's a large bar and already has DOS (dreaded orange spots)....yuck!
Next time I need lye, I'll pick it up myself!

Smoke! Cold Process Swirled Soap

I just love how this soap turned out! It's scented with Black Tea Fragrance Oil, but it reminds me of Smoke....so that's what I'm going to call it!
Here is how the company describes it: "This smoky, sexy and sophisticated fragrance is reminiscent of roasted tea leaves with strong overtones of tobacco. With surprising top notes of Italian Bergamot, Sicilian Lemon and Southern Orange, the blend winds down with Black Tea Leaves, Star Jasmine, White Cedarwood, Amber Crystal and a rich musk. This is a bold and unusual scent sure to intrigue."
Now, how can you not want to try this!! It won't be ready for several more weeks, so stay tuned!