Wednesday 3 October 2012

Salty Surprise


 
  This one turned out better than expected!  My clients have been asking for a special Christmas soap, so I have been slowly designing one in my mind. As I use only natural colourants, I don’t have bright green or red.  I decided to cut up some of my silk soap and green clay soap and add it into the whitest soap I can make… my salt soap without olive oil.
The process did not turn out as expected though… it set very quickly.  I didn’t estimate enough soap either so I pushed shoved and spread the soap into the moulds.  One of the moulds wasn’t even half full.  I ended up loving the result though!
I have been making a lot of salt soap lately.  It sells quickly and I love making it.  I even have some clients with eczema who will only use the salt soap.
Lemon Sea Salt – with organic extra-virgen olive oil and coconut, castor & carrot tissue oil. A lemony blend of essential oils.
My original Sea Salt Bar – with avocado, coconut and castor oil, coloured with indigo, lavender, rosemary and spearmint essential oils.
A new salt bar, which I will make with goat milk next time.  It has my most addictive essential oil blend – patchouli, lavender and geranium.
Now this one – my Christmas salt bar.  Straight up peppermint essential oil. 
I am so pleased with how my salt bars are stamping lately…. And with just 1 simple little adjustment… fine sea salt instead of course sea salt. Note the difference in stamping in the photos - the lemon and plain white one have course sea salt.  The other two - fine. I have never found that course sea salt makes much difference in performance anyway as my salt bars get very smooth and hard when using, regardless if fine or course.
If you are making salt soap… be careful when adding the fine sea salt to make SURE that it all mixes in well.  If not, you may get salt clumps…
Happy Soaping!
Jen xoxo

21 comments:

Zwerg said...

Yeah....I love saltsoaps as well....and as you said, some people with skin trouble would never use something else....
Your bars are so nice...

Tara said...

love the christmas soap, Jenn. Before i even read your description, it reminded me of christmas. I haven't yet experimented with salt soaps but it on my list. let's hope mine turn out as pretty as yours.

I-Create said...

Loving your work with these soaps Jen! I have just recently attempted my very first salt soap - and I agree, need to mix well to avoid salt clumps! I'm looking forward to trying more of these. If they look anything like yours, I'll be thrilled! They're gorgeous! Pauline :)

Unknown said...

They are all lovely, the christmas salt bar definitely has me going 'oh wow' here though. xx

Anonymous said...

Hello Gen!

The pale blue soap is beautiful! I should reconsider my way of using indigo in soap.
The Christmas soap makes me think of Christmas cookies and snow-covered pinewoods...
Maya

Donna OShaughnessy said...

Stunning Jen, as always

Unknown said...

I love all of them!! especially blue one!! my salt bar "Plage No29" is blue too, but gradations :)
bisous
Mika

Connie said...

Hello Jen, you simply amaze me. I hope that your business is going well. You certainly have goreous products. You are so busy with making soap . . . that I wonder if you are finding time to relax with your guitar. You know what they say about all work and no play.
All my very best wishes, Connie :)

Natalia said...

Jen,your new salt bar with green and brown is very nice, it suits very well your Naturalmente Mediterraneo world :).

Unknown said...

Such a nice Christmas soap design. I can imagine how challenging it was to make it!

Tanya Livings said...

Your salt bars look amazing!

Lisa said...

Stunning soaps, Jen. I have just started makign my first lot of salt soaps last week and find they set up very quickly. Yorus are cut so beautifully - mine had the dreaded crumble. How soon do you cut - 4-5 hours whilst they are still warm? I left mine 8-10 hours and they were still warm, but crumbled quite a bit.

Nitya said...

Great looking soaps Jennifer! I really love the Christmas special salt bars. The colored soap cubes are so pretty!

Jennifer Young said...

Zwerg, I am glad you enjoyed the photos of my salt bars!! Thank you for commenting. xo Jen

Tara, Thanks for your comment! Where have you been!? So nice to hear from you. Hope you are well. Salt bars are very special. I love them. xoxo jen

Pauline, Thank you so much for your nice comment. Glad you enjoy salt bars too. Waiting for your post on your salt bars!! xo Jen

Jennifer Young said...

Cynthia-Rose, Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the Christmas salt bar... it wasn't easy to make but I am really pleased as well. My husband saw them last night and said - Wow! You gotta make more of those as they will go quickly!! I am going to make more... xo Jen

Maya (Infusionblog), Thanks for your comment! I am so glad that my Christmas soap reminds you of those Christmasy things.. that is what I wanted. good luck with indigo experiments and look forward to a post about them!!! xo Jen

Jennifer Young said...

Donna, Thank you so much!! xo Jen

Mika, Thank you for your nice comment! I love salt bars! xo Jen

Connie, Great comment and thanks for the reminder to take a break... at the end of the summer, at a BBQ, I broke 2 guitar strings... and need some work on my beloved guitar (the acoustic guitar that my father gave me for Christma when I was 17 years old...) and I realized it needs some work, so I need to take it in for some repairs soon as I have really felt like playing lately. Especially with the sadness of losing a friend. My guitar always helps me express emotion and work through my feelings. Thanks for the reminder!!! xo Jen

Jennifer Young said...

Natalia, I am glad you liked my latest salt bars!! XO Jen

Moj Sapun, Thank you for your comment. Yes, this latest bar was definitely a challenge but an enjoyable one!! xo Jen

Tanya, Thanks for your great comment!! Xo Jen


Jennifer Young said...

Lisa, Thanks for your comment and question! I use the CPOP process for my salt bars. I pour in the moulds and pop them in the heated oven for about an hour (AND TURN OFF THE OVEN, found this out the hard way...), then I take out. They are still softist. I cut and stamp straight away. Let us know how you get on with yours!! Nice blog... when are you getting photos on there!!? xo Jen

Nitya, Thank you so much for your comment. So glad you like my salt bars!!! xo Jen

Lisa said...

Thanks for the hint, Jen. My camera has just been returned to me after holiodaying in Europe with my mother! so I will post pics soon ;) Lisa xo

Jennifer Young said...

Lisa, Looking foward to it!!! xo Jen

Coco said...

Gorgeous, as always. That last one almost looks like a geode!