Saturday 23 June 2012

Meet Honey Lavender! I lost my purple...



I lost my purple… Well, I kind of left it behind.  Sadly, I am retiring my Wild Lavender soap for now.  I really liked it… and it sold well too.  Problem?  Short shelf life.  Something that didn’t make me proud to sell it any more.  I have never had this problem with any of my other soap, which all have a lot of Olive Oil in them, anywhere from 30 to 100%.  By short shelf-life, I mean that it gets that rancidy oil smell, something that has never happened that I am aware of, to any of my other soaps.  I have had soaps last for years without it…



Retiring "Wild Lavender"



In order to get the purple colour (from Alkanet or Ratanjot) in my Lavender soap, I had to leave the Olive Oil out.  I love olive oil in my soaps and it is one of the main agricultural items we have in this area of Spain. It is so much a part of the Mediterranean identity.  I decided I don’t want to make soap without it right now.  I am not willing to compromise quality for aesthetics, in other words performance for colour.
So I tried several Lavender soaps again with varying quantities of Olive Oil...





... until I made another decision – scrap the colour for now.
Meet Honey Lavender.  Same Essential Oil blend.  Now with fresh local Honey.
I am really enjoying it!!

18 comments:

bluetina said...

Hi Jen! Shame about the lavender. It is a lovely colour but it's better that it smells good! Honey Lavender sounds delicious!

Jabones Aromas del Campo said...

Una sabia decisión!!! Y siempre que la miel sea obtenida sin sufrimiento de las abejas, para mí el jabón perfecto. Enhorabuena, todos tus jabones son bellos y sostenibles, me gusta mucho tu manera de pensar.
Un beso muy grande!

mical said...

Hi Jennifer! glad to have a chance to try this new Honey-Lavender soap.
I'm usind this, the mild lavender aroma makes always me being relax:)

That's pity that Wild lavender soap is retiring, but I love your challenge!

xo
Mika

Natalia said...

I have recently discovered this powder and I also tried some experiments, curious to see how the colour changes. I believe that the light is also a problem, the less light, the more the colour last.
But I really like your milky colour for your lavender-honey soap.
Have a lovely we!

Natural Aroma Handmade Soaps said...

Your new Lavender Honey soap sounds and looks lovely! have you thought of doing lavender swirls instead of a solid colour Jen? I use alkanet for the colour in my goat's milk soap too and it seems to work, you get a darker colour and not that pretty purple you had before, but just a thought:)

Sonya said...

I've also been trying to get a purple with natural colorants for a lilac soap--no true successes, yet (and olive oil is my main oil in soaps). If you make any discoveries, please let me know (and I'll do the same)!

Jennifer said...

Have you tried orris root powder? It helps to anchor EO scents and I also find that if I use the Orris, my Lavender and Star Anise soaps have a longer shelf life. Just an idea!

Two Blooms Design Studio said...

Jen,

I'm going to enjoy the Wild Lavender you sent me. Your new version looks great but here is an idea (but maybe you have tried it). Make a small sample batch with the alkanet and maybe only use some olive oil in the batch like 10-15% with other oils mixed in. Wonder if it would last longer and still retain the colour. Either way the new one works too.

Michelle

Unknown said...

I really understand it. I am currently making a new lavender & lavandin soap of Privence and I prefer olive oil as the main oil of this new soap. so I have tried several new formulations and ideas, and it will be completed soon ;)

Your decision has been guided by the beliefs and passions always, and I love that :)

bisous
Mika

Patti said...

I love your new honey lavender!

Jennifer Young said...

Tina, Thanks!!!!! I will give you a sample next time I see you. Are you doing any of the markets? xoxo Jen

Yohanka, Thank you for your comment!!! Muchas gracais!!! xo Jen

Mical, Thank you so much for your comment. i am glad you are enjoying the aroma of the honey lavender!! xo Jen

Natalia, Thanks for your comment. I didn't have any issues with light really. When I made my Wild Lavender soap, the purple held pretty well, but shelf-life? Didn't work for me... Glad you like the new colour which simply comes from the honey. xoxoox Jen

Jennifer Young said...

Natural Aroma Handmade Soap, Thanks for your comment and suggestion. I have thought of doing swirls (but that would meen two different types of soap in my case, one with olive oil and one without) or inbeds, cutoffs... once the busy season is over, I will probably experiment some more with this. Thanks for your suggestions! xo Jen

Jennifer Young said...

Jennifer,
I have tried Orris root to anchor scents before and I had a problem with a scratchy feel in the soap. It just wasn't as smooth. So I used to use it in my exfoliating bars, but then really couldn't tell the difference and wasn't sure why I was using it. Maybe my orris root wasn't great quality? xo Jen

Sonya, Thank you!! I think using cheap, bottom of the line Olive Oil, helps with colour, as it is muche lighter. This is an outstanding experiment for me. Keep me posted on your experiments!! xo jen

Michelle, Love the idea... actually the last grey/blue photo here in the post only has 10% Olive oil. So, I have tried it. It is possible that this soap turns more purple in the cure but i don't think so. I WISH natural purple were easier!! But then, I suppose if it weren't challenging, I would get bored!! THanks for your suggestion! xo Jen

Jennifer Young said...

Mika, Thanks for your comment!! Look forward to seeing posts about your lavender lavandin soap. xo Jen

Mila, Thanks for commenting! xoxo Jen

tanyas image said...

It so sad that you are retiring your wild lavender soap. I actually love that soap.. But I guess, Hoeney Lavender is quite interesting as well..

Anne-Marie said...

I know it can be a bit of a bummer when you have to retire something you really like, but the new soap looks gorgeous as well!

Amy Warden said...

Well, shucks! I know you made the right decision here - it's just too bad that one soap wasn't cooperating!! Honey Lavender sounds wonderful as a replacement!!

Jennifer Young said...

Tanyas Image, Thank you so much. I will try to get back to a similar purple lavender soap at some point, but for now, enjoying the honey lavender!! Thank you, Jen xo

Anne-Marie, Thank you so much for your positive comment!! xo jen

Amy, Thanks for your lovely comment!! xo jen