savoy052

  (Olive Scrub Soap) My mum arrived on Wednesday for a two week visit and I am cherishing every moment with her.   She has come to two markets with me and seen me in action, selling my soap.   She has also been able to see the soap studio right at the moment when the workmen are doing the major works… My fantasies of having a huge open work space won’t happen for now as Spanish Health and Safety require very clearly defined and separated work spaces for Raw Materials, Production, Packaging, Quarantine (Curing) and Finished Products. So it is all being divided up now.   Then after the production space is tiled, and fitted out, my husband and I will get in and paint.  ( Packaging room) (One of the storerooms – I think this is the Quarantine Storeroom.) As an early birthday gift, Mum has brought me a new camera … such a wonderful camera, it makes me teary eyed, thinking about her support and generosity… a Canon PowerShot SX40 HS. She has also been here for my d...

Thanks everyone for your awesome guesses!   The colorants that were actually used to naturally colour these four different soaps were: From left to right: Soap 1) Pink Clay – fairly simple.   Added at trace.   Maybe could have mixed it in a little better and avoided the specs…. Or maybe not… maybe I like the specs? Soap 2) Madder Root – I infused olive oil with Madder Root and used that olive oil in the main portion of the recipe.   I really like this colour and the soap is so smooth. Soap 3) Madder Root and Alkanet Root – These are both infused in oils.   As mentioned under soap 2 – the Madder Root was infused in olive oil and added to the main part of the recipe.   The alkanet root was infused in Castor Oil and added at trace, but I don’t think the alkanet came through.   Didn’t add enough?   I was hoping for an interesting unique shade… and what are all those white specs?   Bubbles?   Not sure why this happened. Soap 4) Red Clay – I w...

Thanks for all the marvellous guesses!  You have come up with things I haven't experimented with yet, but would now like to! Here is the list so far, with guesses from yesterday added: paprika rosehip powder ratanjot pink or rose clay beet juice rose dust cinnamon madder root coffee   rhubarb   strawberry   aloe juice   turmeric/ curcuma   wine   alkanet root   raspberry   Okay, I will give you number 1, which most of you guessed - Pink Clay.   Today's Clue:  Soap Number 2 is coloured with a root.  Soap Number 3 is coloured with 2 roots.  Soap number 4 is coloured with a clay.

Thanks for all the wonderful guesses and ideas!!  Most of you guessed one of these correctly (the obvious one...).  Here are the guesses from yesterday: paprika rosehip powder ratanjot pink or rose clay beet juice rose dust cinnamon madder root coffee Clue for today:  One of the soaps is coloured with a combination of two of the guesses from yesterday and another of the soaps is coloured with something that has not been mentioned yet. Keep the guesses coming!!!  What we'll end up with is a fabulous brain-storm of natural colourants for these shades!! Happy Experimenting!! xo Jen

Four different interesting shades in naturally coloured soap… Can you guess the 4 natural colourants? I bet that most of you can guess at least 1 of the colourants, possibly 2 but all 4?   Good luck. Let's number soaps 1 to 4 from left to right. If anyone can guess all 4, they win a bar of my soap – the soap of your choice! I will be posting daily clues Let the games begin… Xoxo Jen

Amidst the hustle and bustle, I continue to find time to experiment… which I adore. In follow up to my whole lemon experiment, here are some photos. This soap contains the entire lemon - juice, pulp, peel and all, blended up into the liquid portion. It looks unique and smells very citrusy… as I have finally achieved a nice lemony EO blend that sticks nicely in CP soap. The pH may be slightly lower than some of my other soaps – however, I don’t love it. It’s a nice soap, don't get me wrong, but not fabulous. I can’t always explain why. Some soaps I fall in love with as soon as I try them and I keep going back to wash my hands over and over and over… then I take them to the shower and spend longer in the shower than I should, reveling in the rich lather… I keep touching my skin afterward, amazed at the feeling. Those are the soaps I repeat… but this one didn’t even make it to the shower. Maybe it’s the texture, maybe it took longer than I like to get the suds off… I am just...

I post a link to the local newspaper where I appear in this weeks issue!  Go to page 10. I guess I have become the "Vera Soap Lady"! http://www.euroweeklynews.com/virtual-papers/costa-de-almeria/91677-costa-de-almeria-15-21-march-2012-issue-1393 Happy Soaping Everyone!!! xoxo Jen

The sweet, sweet Mika from Savonnerie Mika  http://savonnerie-mika-english.blogspot.com/  sent me some of her wonderful soaps as a gift.   As you can see, their appearance is lovely and represents what Mika’s soaps are all about – truly and elegantly natural. Using them has been a treat for my skin.   The scents are subtle yet nice. Both soaps are mild and gentle on the skin but produce beautifully rich lather.   I love them both, however the round soap was a totally new and awesome experience for me as it has primarily sunflower oil!   I continue to use both of these lovely soap in the shower. Like me, Mika has also been carrying out experiments with different Olive Oils in soaps and Castille soaps.   She posts a lot of great information about her experiments on her blog. She also sent me 5 pieces of different castille soaps she has made with different olive oils and I will be trying those out as well.   What a treat! Thank you for ...

Amidst the wonderful busy-ness, I continue to experiment, create, produce and sell soap.   I have been creating various options for soap favours - for business events, special occasions, weddings, communions, parties...  (the insert, describing the soap) So many ideas for upcoming posts, so little time... - a post about some wonderful soaps I was sent from Mika at http://savonnerie-mika-english.blogspot.com/ - a post about follow up to some experiments (whole lemon, silk, castille, water discounts...) - a post about another wonderful soap gift I received from another fellow soaper living in Spain at http://mygaliciangarden.blogspot.com/ - another studio update - olive oil quality soap update - castille soap on my face... - soap pricing Happy Soaping!!! xoxo Jen