savoy052

So many choices and decisions to make when soaping - size, shape, properties, colour, scent, packaging etc. etc. So, for those of you who use exclusively essential oils in your soaps and skincare products, do you create your blends based on how it smells or what it will do for your skin? (My latest Potpourri Soap - with Lavender, Lemongrass, Fennel and Ylang Ylang Essential oils, a blend I created for the scent...) I usually aim for therapeutic value…. But try to blend nice scents.   For example, our oily skin soap has a nice blend of Tea Tree with Eucalyptus.   Our sensitive skin soap has my favourite blend – Patchouli, Geranium and Lavender. Sometimes it is more difficult… so many things to think about.   In creating our Rose Hip facial serum, as we are aiming this product at mature skin, I had a blend in my mind before ever smelling one of the essential oils I wanted in it… Then it arrived… I opened the bottle with so much anticipation (I am like a kid in a cand...

The cut soap from the other day (scoop glob)... turned out okay.   I tried a new one.  Used up some cut offs from my super accelerated wine soap and experimented with Titanium Dioxide... surprisingly pleased with Titanium Dioxide!   Happy Soaping Soapers!! xo Jen

  My ideas for a Christmas spoon-swirl soap did not go as planned this morning...     Romantic visions of a fulfilling soap-flinging soap-making session this morning were thwarted.... and I had to resort to scoop-glob...   I have a re-found respect for you soap swirlers out there!!   Happy Soaping all!!   xo Jen

The answer to the guessing game was guessed by Mika at http://savonnerie-mika-english.blogspot.com.es/ I was making soap with Wine and it accelerated too fast.  (New batch of Red Wine Soap - I am so pleased with this one!!)   I am still trying to come up with something to do with that big batch of wrecked wine soap I made earlier this week... i will most likely be cutting or grating it up for a potpourri Christmas soap.... then if there are left overs, I grate it into my laundry soap but onto the happier story....   I continued with wine soap and bravely made another batch that turned out wonderfully.  I used to make wine soap but in smaller batches and had no problem, did not need to boil the wine down as seems to be recommended.  This is a private label soap, that I had been making for a local Winery.   I tweaked the recipe slightly this time, adding a little silk, and new essential oils. Curiously, upping the batch size, changed everything.  heat h...

  Another guessing game for you....   What do you guess I was experimenting with in this soap?   What do you think happened?   The game is on!!   xoxoxo Jen

  I am so excited to be experimenting again after a summer focussed on producing and sales.  I feel like a mad scientist with my lab coat on!   This time I didn't use Citric Acid, but tried Sodium Lactate for the very first time.  Again, strange streaking... unusual looking.  I believe the Sodium Lactate didn't mix in properly for some reason.   Can't wait to see how these bars differ from my normal bars after the cure period!   Happy Experimenting!! xo Jen

  Although I am okay with the pH in my handmade soap bars as it is , I am still experimenting with bringing it down in my shampoo bars.   I read a very interesting post recently on Soap Queen http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/sudsy-shampoo-bars/ claiming that they achieved a pH of 7 in a shampoo bar recipe using Citric Acid, so I decided to try it.   I am not sure if the quantity I used was correct but I got some strange seeping… won’t know for another 6 weeks about the pH!   Will update! Xoxoxo Jen