Jenora Soaps

Friendship Soap Video - Part 1

2012-02-18T06:06:00.000-08:00

My list of firsts for the day:

- First time I have posted twice in the same day! (Couldn't wait to post the video now that I have finally got Youtube worked out!)

- First time I have posted a video

- First time I have made a soapmaking video

- First time I have worked with my new Serif Video software (MoviePlus X5)

And there are so many more firsts going on in my life these days with setting up the soap studio... I have been so excited about everything that I can't seem to sleep much past 6am...

Let me know how you enjoy the video!

Happy Soaping Everyone!!!!

xoxo

Jen

Blog Books - Blog2Print

2012-02-18T00:49:00.000-08:00

Look! I wrote 2 books!!

My daughter got me a Blog2Print print out of the first year of my blog for Christmas. I felt so proud when I saw it!

The only thing I would have done differently is include the comments from people it it…

So I just got the second year print out, including comments, and I love it!!

Xoxox

Jen

This is IT!!!!!!!

2012-02-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

I have been working toward this moment for quite a while and it has finally arrived. This is going to be the Naturalmente Mediterráneo soap studio!

Spanish Health and Safety has very specific requirements for producing soap and natural skin care products and one of those is that a dedicated space is needed, which cannot be your own kitchen. The space needs to be divided in several areas including work space, packaging space and several different storerooms.

(My husband, removing the For Rent sign)

Next steps include, getting the inside renovations done and a nice artisan sign up front. Tomorrow I am getting the electricity and water connected and organizing insurance. There will be a small space at the front for sales as well, but I am not expecting a lot of walk-ins (yet!) as we are located in a little Spanish fishing village. I will open to the public possibly 2 mornings and 1 afternoon a week. Also if people call ahead for a visit, I will open for them. I will be aiming for visits from school-groups and tourists to see a local Artisan (me!) at work.

(As you can see, it used to be a little Mexican Restaurant!)

Will keep you posted and post photos of the progress on the Studio!!

Gratitude - I feel so fortunate to be where I am right now. Just two years ago, I spent most of my time working in a job I despised, and it almost broke me. I decided to DO WHAT I LOVE & LOVE WHAT I DO. Now, I wake up each morning, excited about my day. I give thanks every day for being where I am and being able to follow my passion. When I think too much about how thankful I feel, I get all teary eyed…

I suppose now is the time thank ALL OF YOU! So THANK YOU to anyone out there who is reading this and following my story. Thank you for your comments, help, suggestions and encouragement. What a wonderful supportive community Blogger has helped me connect with.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Revisit Water Discounted Soap...

2012-02-12T10:07:00.000-08:00

Remember this crumbling rock hard goat milk soap?

Well, it has turned into a fabulous bar!! The creamiest milk soap I ever made. Wonderful, rich, bubbly suds. The scent has stayed really well. It is also ROCK hard.

So, my questions to you are:

Do you discount the liquid & why? Or why not?

What differences have you found in the finished soap when discounting?

Maybe just maybe, I have found that the suds are slightly more difficult to wash off? But there may be other factors involved so I am interested in others' experiences with water/liquid quantity differences in soaps.

The soap was made with 100% goat milk and the water discount was 36%.

I wish the photo were better... but can you see how milky the bar is?

Eager for your comments!

Jen

Friendship Soap

2012-02-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

I have been invited to participate in an international Friendship soap swap! There are 9 participants each one of us has to make a soap for someone and someone else makes a soap for us!

I got to make soap for Amy from Great Cakes Soapworks!! I actually videoed the whole process from making, to cutting and stamping… but I can’t seem to be able to upload it to YouTube!! When I get that figured out, I will post…

All Amy requested was something natural from my area and she likes citrusy scents…

So…… I decided to make her a salt soap, try to colour it orange (as you can see, it turned out a muddy yellow…) and use bits of soap from my prickly pear soap, my pomegranate soap, my lavender soap and my rose hip soap.

I liked the result, except next time I would try another colour (as natural colours are such a mystery, the annatto worked differently in a salt soap!!), trace it thicker so the salt wouldn’t sink to the bottom so much and make a little more quantity so that the soap would be taller.

Other than that, I am pretty pleased. I like the smell – with Litsea Cubeba, Lemongrass, Bitter Orange and Bergamot Essential Oils.

Hope you like it Amy!!

Will let you know as soon as I get YouTube sorted out.

Xoxo

Jen

More Shampoo Bar Experiments

2012-02-06T02:15:00.000-08:00

(Rhassoul Shampoo with Essential Oils of Bay Laurel, Lavender, Ylang Ylang & Rosemary. The scent is a DUD but I love the Shampoo Bar!!! New formula - with borax.)

I used to make a beer shampoo bar that I really liked for my hair, and somehow lost it. Maybe my hair changed, maybe the water changed, maybe I copied something down wrong on the recipe, maybe I just became addicted to more suds in a shampoo bar ever since I exchanged shampoo bars with some fellow soapers last year. In any case, I have been experimenting with shampoo bars for a couple of years now… and experimenting extra hard since August last year.

(Goat Milk Shampoo with Rosemary Cedarwood and Thyme Essential Oils – This one was a DUD!)

Nothing seemed to work! My hair seemed to get “the greasies” from any shampoo bar I tried! It wasn’t the superfat, as I experimented from anywhere between 1% and 5% for my shampoo bars. Could it be too much Coconut oil that I was trying now? Could it be from water quantities? Types of oils I was using? I kept trying new oil formulations, different liquid quantities, various Superfatting…

(Goat Milk Shampoo with Patchouli and Cedarwood Essential Oils – Another DUD!)

I have come up with a new shape and size that I like for my shampoo bars and of all the different EO blends I tried, I have one I really like with Basil, Peppermint and Lavender.

(Avocado & Honey Shampoo with Basil, Peppermint and Lavender Essential Oils – Love the scent, but the bar is a DUD!)

(Beer, Egg and Honey, with Lemongrass, Cedarwood and Patchouli Essential Oils.This is an attempted repeat at my original favourite bar.Still curing so I haven’t tried it on my hair yet. )

One of the theories was that a shampoo bar needs a low pH…. So I tried adding a little borax and BINGO. I have a shampoo bar with a lower pH, that leaves my hair just as I like it. This bar has abundant lather, hair loving oils, and it leaves my hair lighter and fluffier than any other bar I have tried, and also the lightness lasts for days. (Photo of this bar - the Rhassoul Shampoo Bar is at the top of the page)

So if pH is the key, what other natural ways would there be to lower the pH in a shampoo bar? Suggestions?

(Avocado, Honey remake, with the new formula with borax. Curing. Note the honey didn't mix in well... but I think I kind of like the speckled effect.)

I am so excited with my new Shampoo Bar formula!!

(Goat Milk and Silk with Rosemary, Ylang Ylang, Patchouli and Bay Laurel Essential Oils. This time the scent worked! Slightly sweet but I like it. Still in the mould as you can see here. New formula. This was the first time I attempted any soap with silk, and as I was keeping the temps low for the goat milk, it didn’t fully dissolve! So I had to fish out little silk clumps. Next time I experiment with silk, I will use a different liquid so I can let the temps go higher!!)

By the way, although it looks simple... lining the round mould has been challenging! Any suggestions welcome...

Well, happy soaping everyone!!

xoxo

Jen

Sapunuri naturale

2012-02-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

I recently received this beautiful package from Alexandra at http://sapundecasa.wordpress.com/. We have been exchanging emails ever since she won the guessing game on my mysterious natural soap colour – Pomegranate Juice!

The thing that struck me most at first from the wonderful selection of soaps that Alexandra sent me was the difference between all of her products. Each one has so many different ingredients! The aromas come from Essential Oil blends and they are faint but lovely blends.

The first soap that I am using of hers, as I was most intrigued by it, is her soap with Pomegranate Juice and Hibiscus tea, and I am amazed at its smoothness and the way it leaves my skin feel – one of the nicest soaps I have ever tried.

I used to think that a good soap needed to have abundant, big bubbly lather, but that seems sort of superficial to me these days…. The real thing I look for in a bar of soap is how it leaves my skin feel. Although I still love scent, smoothness, and a manageable soap size. This soap, as it was cut as a smallish sample, was easy to use, the scent is quite faint, and it is VERY smooth, sort of reminds me of my pomegranate bar smoothness. Could it have something to do with the juice?

I started trying the soap out first on my hands for a couple of days. The lather is delayed but it slowly builds up into a thick and creamy (less bubbly) lather which is amazingly addicting. I love it. And the best part is the softness of my skin afterward. What an amazing soap!! I then used it in the shower and I loved it on my body as well as my face. Very moisturizing and softening. I am so in love with this bar that I will be upset when it is I use it all up!!!

But I have several more to try out. When trying out new soaps, I prefer to use only 1 type for a couple of weeks to really feel the effects on my skin.

Next I get to try out her beautiful shampoo bar, with castor oil, green and yellow clays, spirulina, basil leaves, rosemary leaves and rosemary, tea tree and ylang ylang essential oils, and several other soaps – one with shea butter & geranium & rose essential oils, another with Carrot Juice, “Catina” oil with a blend of sweet orange, bergamot and ylang ylang essential oils, another with Heineken Beer, Castor oil and Patchouli, lavender and ylang ylang essential oils.

I may have to post an update once I have tried the other soaps!!

Thank you SO MUCH Alexandra for sharing your soaps with me. So far I LOOOOOOOVE them.

Xoxo

Jen

Whole Lemon

2012-01-29T23:52:00.000-08:00

My first experiment using a whole lemon... blended up into the liquid portion of the soap... peel and all!

I wonder what it will do to the ph?

Fresh lemony EO blend of Lemon, Lemongrass and May Chang

Favourite quote of the day:

Do what you love - Love what you do!

Happy Soaping Everyone!!

xoxo

Jen

Failed customer service opportunity

2012-01-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

(... and some random photos)

I love feedback, especially when it is positive. Negative feedback usually makes me feel uncomfortable at first but it can be a great opportunity to improve something that isn’t quite right. I wish I got my reaction right every time… but I’m still learning.

I remember back to that majorly failed opportunity I had…

A lady came up to my stall at a market a few months ago and said, “Wonderful soap! I bought some from you at a Medieval market…” she hesitated. She was English and as they are often so polite I think it can be extra difficult for the English to offer negative feedback. She got up the courage to mention to me that although she loved the soap, she didn’t like the size of the small soap she bought (my half-size bar). She offered the suggestion of making them round.

Bingo! Opportunity to:

- thank her for providing her honest feedback

- say Great Idea, I think I will try your suggestion!

- offer her a larger bar for free to try out and see if she liked that size

- possibly win over a return customer…

But NOOOOOO! What did I do? I am embarrassed to admit it… Okay, I did thank her for offering her opinion. At least I got one thing right. But then… oh yes… I got into a defensive bit about why I prefer rectangular soap! Why oh why!!!??? Basically she got away. Probably won’t come back.

The funny thing is also that she was ABSOLUTELY right! Although I worked very hard to get my regular size bar to a size that I love, I had never fully tried out my own half-size bar. I have now and I don’t like it! It is nice and small but too thick to get any rotation. I would have to slice that in half to make it thinner or just scrap the half-size bar altogether. For now I have scrapped it.

(my new shampoo bar shape)

So, for me, the moral of my story is that I should listen more carefully to customers’ feedback, especially when negative, and get my response right the first time because I can’t do it over.

Anyone have any customer service experiences they want to share?

Jen

PS. I want to send out a huge CONGRATULATIONS!!! to my 15-year-old cousin Ronnie Remme who just won a silver medal this week for Canada in downhill skiing at the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria! Go Ronnie Go!! Her father (my first cousin) was my ski coach for a season or two, many years ago, but I wasn’t very good at racing. We are all pretty excited about Ronnie!

More Potpourri...

2012-01-18T00:34:00.000-08:00

I love playing around with my potpourri soap... and each batch looks so different.

The set things are that it is a goat milk soap and the scent combo is Lavender, Lemongrass, Fennel and Ylang Ylang, which I love...

Goat Milk & Activated Charcoal

2012-01-16T01:49:00.000-08:00

This is a repeat, at a customers request... she loved this bar for her adolescent skin... and I really enjoyed flinging soap with the spoon swirl tecnique!

with Spearmint & Patchouli Essential Oils

Happy Soaping!!

Jen

Orange Season

2012-01-13T02:37:00.000-08:00

Orange season here starts in December and is still on! Oh yeah... freshly squeezed local orange juice every day until we get sick of it and then we wait until next December to get sick of it all over again!

We don't usually buy the oranges, they get given to us by locals by the crate.

As you can see, we have almost finished the oranges in this crate! These wonderfully juicy local oranges are also the oranges I use for the grated peels that go into my Orange Poppyseed Soap and Scrub.

It takes about 3 to 4 oranges for a full glass of juice and before I juice them, I wash them, dry them, then grate the peels off.

Here are some of the peels drying at different stages.

It is also currently mandarin season, lemon season and olive oil season (the olives are usually gathered throughout December). Pomegranate season just finished. Almond season is coming up, then watermelon and lavender season. We recently got given local sweet onions and garlic as well. We seem to get fresh local tomatoes (my favourite food of all time…) all year long. I think if I had to choose 2 foods that I couldn’t live without it would be tomatoes and cheese.

There are definite benefits to living in an agricultural area!!

Hope you all have a week filled with passion and inspiration!!

Happy Soaping!

xoxo

Jen

Kinky Witch Soap

2012-01-11T07:02:00.000-08:00

The lovely Robin from Kinky Witch Soap http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kinky-Witch-Soap/202950419725552 participated in my Olive Oil experiment and as a surprise sent me a gift of some awesome soap she makes and a dreamy lip balm (not included in the photo as I believe my daughter has hidden it on me... we both love it!).

Not only does this soap look good and smell wonderful... This ROCK HARD bar produces AWESOME, sudden & lasting, big, fluffy, abundant suds. I find this bar rather addicting as well as the tasty, moisturizing lip balm...

Thank you so much Robin for the amazing gift!!

I only have one piece of advice I could offer you...

GET A BLOG!!!

xoxo

Jen

Be Careful...

2012-01-03T06:03:00.000-08:00

when playing with water discounts and reductions... that you don't go too low!

Broke the soap cutter with this one...

Oh well, this one will be grated for laundry soap.

Happy Soaping everyone!!

xoxo

Jen

Prickly Pear Soap - Follow Up

2011-12-30T15:19:00.000-08:00

I tried 5 different versions. All of them have juice that I made from local prickly pear fruit. The first two have prickly pear oil in them, then I ran out so I used Argan Oil for superfatting the the last three.

The first batch had the seeds from the fruit in it and I don’t like it. It is WAY too scratchy, not like the nice exfoliation from poppyseeds or coffee grounds… The ABRASIAN from the prickly pear seeds is Not my thing.

For the last of the 5 experiments I froze the prickly pear juice and the soap has turned out rougher, slightly bumpy, not as smooth as I like, and the colour runs. So basically, I really liked versions 2, 3 and 4. The soap is wonderfully smooth, I love the lather and it leaves my skin feeling awesome!

I will continue my search for Prickly Pear Oil that I can afford, maybe include some other things from the prickly pear cactus, and continue making this soap. I may try a shampoo as well as Prickly pear is supposed to be fabulous for hair.

Scent – still have not come up with a signature scent for this soap yet… tried various but not impressed. Will keep trying!

I have had great feedback so far from this bar. Except... one customer got it as a gift for Christmas for her not-well-loved step mother solely based on the word Prickly and the idea of cactus … and one person that tried it, did not like it for her skin. Haven't figured out why yet but something to look into and must have more testing…

Happy Soaping everyone and Happy Happy Happy New Year!!!!!!!!! xoxoxoox Jen

Pomegranate Soap - Follow Up

2011-12-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

I tried 4 different versions of Pomegranate Soap. Unfortunately, the scents were all duds. I have been very frustrated with my EO blending recently. I have decided that I don’t like Frankinsence or Palmarosa in soap. I have tried blending them in many different ways but I just don’t like either of them. In the last few months, I have only come up with 2 new scents that I have really liked. Oh well… it is all part of the fun! The colours were very interesting. They all have fresh pomegranate juice that I made from local pomegranates. They also all have some pomegranate seed oil in them.

The first photo shows them in order – Soap 1 (from left to right) has half water, half pomegranate juice. Soap 2 has all pomegranate juice, no water. Soap 3 has all pomegranate juice and madder root, as a colour experiment, and in an attempt to preserve the little pomegranate seed oil I had left, it is superfatted with both pomegranate seed oil and rose hip oil. Soap 4 is similar to soap 3 but without the madder root.

The soap is wonderful (except for the scent). SO smooth and rich and my skin feels wonderful afterward. This is definitely a repeat, but I need to come up with a great scent for it…

Also, I may not be able to continue experimenting with this one this year… as the pomegranate season ended suddenly. Right when the local pomegranates were at their ripest, there was a torrential rain storm which made most of the pomegranates crack, open up and fall to the ground.

hope you are all well and enjoying the holiday season

xoxox

Jen

Samples & Christmas Party Favours

2011-12-19T02:22:00.000-08:00

it has been a wonderfully busy month full of Christmas markets, orders, packaging, creating

i created these for a local business woman who gave these to everyone for her staff Christmas party

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope this week is wonderful for you!!

xoxo

Jen

Olive Oil Experiment Results

2011-12-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in reading about the results of my recent experiment with different qualities of olive oil in soap making, please come visit my other blog. http://naturalmentemediterraneo.blogspot.com/2011/12/olive-oil-experiment-results-resultados.html

Happy Soaping and Happy Holidays!!

Jen

Soap Making In Progress

2011-12-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

I will be adding some of these photos to a new “Soap Making” section on my other blog http://naturalmentemediterraneo.blogspot.com/.

I am lucky to have the chance to be working with a photographer lately. We are swapping services as I am giving him language classes. He is also a web-designer... hmmm... the possibilities...

equipment...

some ingredients...

measuring and pouring...

this time I was making a Pomegranate soap

some butters & hard oils...

mixing after melting...

mixing lye with oils...

awaiting trace...

adding the at-trace ingredients...

pouring...

cut soap...

I had experimented with madder root but unfortunately it didn't take too long before this colour (which I had really liked) turned dark because of the pomegranate juice...

There are a ton more photos but these are some of my favourites. Hope you have enjoyed a peek behind the scenes!

Which were your favourite photos here?

UPDATE: My recent olive oil experiment is almost complete. I am waiting for testing results from a couple of more people and then I can put all of the information together and publish, hopefully before Christmas!!

Happy soaping!!!

xoxo Jen

We Have A Winner!!

2011-12-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

Alexander of Sapunuri naurale http://sapundecasa.wordpress.com/ guessed correctly!

I was so hoping to give you some more clues, but Alexandra got it after only clue 2. . . My next clues were going to be:

Clue 3: It grows here in the Mediterranean region, both wild and cultivated. . .

Clue 4: The actual colour of this ingredient is beautiful and vibrant but so different to the resulting soap colour. . .

Clue 5: We eat it.

And well, so many more ideas for clues but the correct guess is. . .

POMEGRANATE JUICE

Can you believe it?

This photo is the same soap, just taken later the same day. It has been difficult to capture the true colour with a camera. The actual colour is a beautiful deep greeny brown.

Congratulations Alexendra!!! Please send me your address to naturalmentemediterraneo@yahoo.com and I will send you a bar of the soap!

Here are the rest of the creative guesses. Thank you everyone!

Pumpkin

Tomato Juice

Brown Sugar

Kelp/ Seaweed Powder

vanilla paste

Dark Chocolate

Almond milk
Fuller's Earth
Ghassoul

Avocado

Green tea

Rosemary Powder

French green clay

Bentonite clay

Spinach

Cucumber

Pureed banana

cocoa bean infused olive oil

rosin, pine tar

Olive Pomace

Vanilla absolute,

vanilla c02,

honey

Laurel (bay) in olive oil

Laurel butter

Patchouli

Madder Root

Basil
Cilantro
Cucumbers
Wheat

xoxoxo Jen

Mystery Colour - Clue # 2

2011-12-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who submitted guesses yesterday! There were a lot of awesome guesses but no one has guessed correctly yet...

I suppose this second photo is a clue in itself. When I first took it out of the mould, it was dark on the outside but very light on the inside. It didn’t take long before it darkened all over. It continued darkening all day long...

Clue # 2 – This colour was a complete surprise. I have never worked with this ingredient before and I had no idea it would produce any colour at all.

Here is a list of the wonderful guesses so far:

Coffee

Dead sea mud

Olive pomace

Bay laurel leaf oil

Prickly pear fruit

Dark cocoa butter, the kind that smells like chocolate

Dark chocolate

Cocoa powder

Kola Nut (don’t know what this is…?)

Brown clay

Beer

Hibiscus

Hemp oil

Honey powder

Tea

Aloe vera gel

Milk

Vanilla

Vanilla Fragrance

Something I found next to my Aloe Plant

Peanut Butter

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Olive Green Clay

Walnut Shell Powder

Good luck and happy soaping!!

Jen

Can You Guess the Source of the Colour? Clue # 1

2011-12-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

Would you like to play a guessing game?

The first person who guesses what the source of the color is in this soap, wins a bar...

Clue # 1: The colour comes from a natural source.

I will coninue to post a clue each day until someone guesses correctly...

Good luck & happy soaping!

xo Jen

Another Potpourri Soap...

2011-11-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

Each batch of Potpourri soap is so different…

as all of my cut offs are unique.

I colour coordinated this one with only left overs from alkanet and pink clay soaps, both shavings and soap balls…

These tiny, curly shavings are made with my IKEA cheese grater, the same one I grate my soap rejects with, which I normally use to make my laundry soap.

The EO blend is Lavender, Lemongress, Fennell, Ylang Ylang, a blend I love and repeat, altering quantities slightly each time, until I get it perfect.

Happy and Passionate Soaping Everyone!!

xoxo Jen

Wonderful Gift from Nubes de Jabón

2011-11-24T02:58:00.000-08:00

What a surprise! I received unexpectedly a gift of two beautiful soaps from Julia at Soap Artists & Nubes de Jabón http://soapartists.blogspot.com/ & http://nubesdejabon.blogspot.com/

Wonderful wonderful soaps! The texture, feel, and suds are lovely and so very different from mine, the most different from mine of any hand-made soap that I have tried!

White, milky, light, fluffy & bubbly suds…

Sweet and floral scents that last and last…

Soft conditioned skin that stays that way long after using them...

Thank you Julia for this lovely gift and opportunity of trying your soaps!

Also, for anyone who is interested, check out the soap photography contest she is hosting on her Soap Artists blog! http://soapartists.blogspot.com/2011/11/concurso-fotografico-en-soap-artists.html

xoxo Jen

Olive Scrub Soap

2011-11-15T02:30:00.000-08:00

An attempt at another exfoliating soap...

This one with olive pit bits in it. I got the olive bits from the mill where I get my organic extra-virgen olive oil from. Apparently these are used to burn for heating, as are almond shells here, and also making pillows!

I tried two experiments. The first one with vanilla 10 fold oleoresin, Patchouli & Sandalwood EOs...

and the second one with EOs of Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, Pink Grapefruit, Patchouli & Peppermint...

Neither have any added colour. The EOs did some pretty intense colour work!

I like the idea of the olive bits, although these are VERY scrubby soaps. Next time I think I would add less bits, maybe sprinkle some over the tops and also bring the soap batter to a heavier trace so that they are more evenly dispersed throughout the soap.

So far, this has been a wonderful Autumn full of experimenting and producing. I have some great new soaps on the way, a new facial cream, and have learned a ton. I even tried making a liquid soap. My first attempt was WAY too liquidy... but my goal is to have a great liquid soap recipe perfected before the summer season.

Happy soaping... happy experimenting.... happy blogging... and happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Jen

Soap Experiment - Want to Help Me?

2011-10-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

If you would like to participate in an experiment of mine, come on over to my other blog and read more about it!

www.naturalmentemediterraneo.com

xo Jen

Soap Experiment - Prickly Pear Soap (Jabón de Chumbo)

2011-10-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine gave me a little bottle of Prickly Pear Oil from Morocco and told me that was supposed to be even better for the skin than Argan Oil.

Then on the way home from the farm where I get my fresh goat milk, I was captivated by these… so I began creating a Prickly Pear soap in my mind.

Difficult to work with! I didn’t realize how many invisible little cactus pricklies are in the fruits! They even went right through the rubber gloves into my fingers! Next time I will soak the fruits in warm water first… as I have now been told.

Blended up the fruit with some water to make the juice and used the juice as the water part of the soap...

Superfatted with Prickly Pear Oil. I have since learned that the most valuable Prickly Pear Oil is Prickly Pear Seed Oil. Trying to buy some of this valuable oil, the best quote I got so far was €650 per litre!! I don’t think I will be able to work with that oil any time soon…

Batch One

The first batch has an interesting Essential Oil blend (haven’t decided if I like it yet… but it intrigues me) of Rosemary, Frankincense, Cedarwood, Fennel and Grapefruit. This batch ended up with the seeds in it, which might be kind of exfoliating.

The seeds all settled to the bottom. If I wanted do re-do this batch but have seeds throughout, I think I would bring the soap to a thicker trace. Not sure if I like the seeds yet as I am still impatiently waiting for the soap to cure to try it out!

Batch Two

The second batch I strained the juice, and it turned out a really nice colour, rich and thick almost like a milk soap. The Essential Oil blend is Bergamot, Cedarwood, Frankincense.

Can't WAIT to try them out!!!

Happy soaping and experimenting everyone!

Jen

Pictorial Soap Story Continued... Packaging

2011-10-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

My Orange Poppyseed soaps are finally ready for packaging!

First I cut the paper in strips...

I line up the soap and start folding to size...

Rotate...

Crease...

Cut..

Remove and crease again... EXTRA crease... I love sharp lines... (please excuse the thumb bruise)

Tape up the bottom...

Check out my super-duper automatic tape-cutter! This was a Christmas present from my daughter and I use it almost every day. It takes any size tape-roll and cuts the peices automatically to the size I want.

Fold the ends like gift wrapping...

Tape them...

Cut the cigar bands...

crease, crease, crease...

Stick ingredient label sticker on bottom to hold cigar band together...

Would love to see how you all go about your packaging! Hope you have enjoyed the series on my processes.

Jen

Soap Experiment - Potpourri 3

2011-10-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

I wanted a coloured soap, and I wanted to try something new, so for the liquid I used half water/ half coffee.

This time I also threw in some soap balls made with left over soap.

The scent is a dud. Sounded great – Lime, Sandalwood, Vetiver, but unfortunatlly I can only smell Vetiver, even though it only made up 8% of the scent blend.

I must say that Potpourri 1 is still my favourite, but when I make it again, I will add the scent from Potpourri 2 and soap balls.

Happy Soaping to all!! xo Jen

Soap Experiment - Potpourri 2

2011-10-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

I remembered the Castor Oil and I remembered to put the Essential Oils in this time. The EO blend is a nice one I have used before (Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Fennel and Lemongrass).

Instead of dropping the shavings into the mould and pouring the batter over them, I dropped the shavings into the batter. I think visually, the first Potpourri turned out nicer.

I realized that a lot of my soap shavings are very light in colour so maybe they would stand out better in a darker soap?

Potpourri 3 will have a darker colour and some of those soap balls that Holly at Missouri River Soap http://missouririversoap.blogspot.com/ has been teaching me to make...

Happy soaping and Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians!!

xo
Jen

Soap Experiment - Potpourri # 1

2011-10-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

In trying to use up my soap shreds, I created "Potpourri". This is the first attempt. In the background you can see second attempt which will be another post.

pouring soap batter... Please note the little stainless steel pot behind the mould which contains my Essential Oils and Castor Oil. Yes! I forgot to include them. Didn't realize until too late. So this batch turned out to be odourless and Castor Oil-less! Ooooops.

adding soap shreds...

topping up...

straight out of incubation...

Happy Soaping!! xoxo Jen

Soap Experiment - Eucalyptus & Aloe Vera

2011-10-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Eucalyptus & Aloe Vera... a 3 oil soap (olive, coconut & castor) and 1 essential oil (Eucalyptus). It has Aloe Vera from my garden, and a little white clay. Simplicity.

This was a request from a friend who adores the Eucalyptus scent and I am pleased that she loves the result.

My pictorial soap story "from opening mould to ready for selling" will be continued once orange poppyseed is cured, then I will do a post about packaging.

For now, I will begin a new series about my recent experiments with new recipes and soaps.

Happy Soaping & happy experimenting!

xo
Jen

Stamping Orange Poppyseed Soap...

2011-09-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

I love stamping soaps almost as much as I love cutting them. . . This stamp I had made by Anhoki http://anhoki.blogspot.com/ and have been very pleased with it.

Green Clay soap with all stamping equipment, ready to begin stamping. . .

I use a toothbrush to clear the left over soap bits out of the stamp. . .

Happy Soaping, Cutting & Stamping!!
xo
Jen

Cutting Bars of Soap from Logs…

2011-09-25T01:29:00.000-07:00

I found my wonderful soap cutter through sweet Ayu from Tokyo Soap Factory http://www.tokyofactory.net/. I loved the perfect size and shape of her soaps so much that I asked her how she cut them so perfect... She sent me to the link to Café de Savon or Rakuten in Japan http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/cafe-de-savon/item/f3090601/. For a very reasonable price, even with the shipping, I got this fabulous cutter & cutting base.

soap cutter and base, with potpourri soap log

lining up soap log for size (Green Clay & Aloe Vera with Tea Tree & Eucalyptus Essential Oils)

I LOVE cutting soap!

xoxo
Jen

From Trimmed Soap Slab - The Story Continues...

2011-09-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

loving using the soap log splitter dad made for me...

not all easy... when tensing the wire (guitar string) it sometimes breaks...

need to be extra careful about bits getting on the cutting wire...

lining-up the soap slab so that it cuts straight...

my mould produces 4 10-bar soap logs and an extra strip which I use for cutting up and giving out free samples.... but I could do without the extra strip...

so will alter size on the next mould I get made... not sure if it will be for just 40 bars or maybe 50 bars... but it is already rather heavy when full...

Happy soaping everyone!

xo
Jen

From Opening Soap Mould... A Pictoral Story

2011-09-18T02:39:00.000-07:00

just opened my 40-soap mould with orange poppyseed soap in it... I will leave you with some photos...

i have been collecting the corner shavings from logs and slabs for a while... and will be making a "pot-pourri" experimental soap one of these days...

happy soaping everyone!!!!
xoxox
Jen

Evening Market Finished, Production Mode and Shampoo Bar Disaster

2011-09-13T00:50:00.000-07:00

Eucalyptus & Aloe Vera Soap (New experiment - only 3 oils: Olive, Coconut & Castor...)

Whew! My evening market finished on Saturday night and I am almost out of soap!

It has been a busy month selling. Sunday I woke up and re-organized my work space, or rather just organized it well in preparation for going full-on into production mode to catch up for the fall and Christmas markets.

Yesterday I made 40 bars of my Green Clay soap, which has been 1 of the top 3 sellers this summer. Today I will experiment with a new soap. I enjoy producing and selling my regular soaps, but also love experimenting with new ones, so I think I will alternate back and forth. I am experimenting with simpler soaps, focusing more and more on ingredients from as nearby as possible.

Mediterranean Shampoo Bar (new recipe... 3 oil soap with local goat milk, honey & aloe vera, scented with Rosemary Essential Oil)

As for Shampoo Bars – unfortunately the Shampoo Bar Exchange that I was so excited about didn’t work out as planned because suddenly I am not able to use Shampoo Bars at all! My hair is getting greasy from ALL Shampoo Bars, including my own, even my Shampoo Bar that I have been using for ages, that used to be wonderful. Amy from http://tenthavenuesoapworks.blogspot.com/ mentioned in a post comment that time of the year affected how the shampoo bar worked on her hair, that the summer humidity affected it negatively. That must be it? So unfortunately for now, I am back to commercial shampoo and won’t be able to fairly review the AWESOME shampoo bars that were sent to me...

As for the two shampoo bars pending my review – I will try them again late fall after confirming that mine works well again. For now I must report that the scent of the Soap Sister’s http://thesoapsister.blogspot.com/ shampoo bar is incredible, floral and fruity, like a combination of jasmine and grapes and it stays and stays!

Please note the slimmed-down size - yes I have been using this as a body bar!

Tierra Verde’s http://tierraverdesoaps.blogspot.com/ bar is super citrusy... tangy... I also adore the scent. There is something so lovely about the perfect roundness and silky smoothness.

Before getting the greasy hair problem, both of these bars lathered brilliantly and the comb-through was wonderful. Much better than my shampoo bar. I look forward to trying all of them again in the fall, including Great Cake Soapwork’s http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/ bar.

Happy soaping everyone!!

Xo
Jen
PS. Leg update - Mostly healed and so greatful!! As of last week, I can actually fit into running shoes again and am walking along the beach most mornings. Slightly weaker than the other leg but fully operational and no limp!! xo

Night Market

2011-08-16T08:21:00.001-07:00

Here is the night market I have been at for the month of August, 5 nights a week, from 8pm to approximately 1am. It is across from the Hotel Zimbali, on Vera Playa if anyone wishes to come visit!

Some of the stands...

Leanne at her book stand

Tina, Jewllery maker. Hers are the only earrings I wear! http://bluetinajewellery.blogspot.com/

Me, excited for the night to begin!

I have a system that works well for me when it comes to selling at markets. I say hello or good evening to anyone passing by whose eye I can catch. I try to make eye contact with everyone I can. If they slow down to look, I give out free samples, small centimer squares of my best smelling soaps. Then I get chatting if they have time to listen. I tell them about the soaps in general, that I make them with natural and local ingredients. I explain the different properties of each one. Sometimes they purchase right away. Often, they return to purchase after once around the market. Other times, they return another day after trying the sample.

I find that if I don't make personal contact with them, I don't sell that well. Once I have met them and they have purchased from me, they often get in contact by email or through my site to purchase more.

So, I love being on the front line and meeting the potential customers. I love when they return after sampling...

I may be taking more pictures of some of the other artisans stands and posting.

Happy Summer Soaping!!

xoxo
Jen

Great Shampoo Bar Exchange – Great Cakes Soapworks

2011-08-12T05:34:00.001-07:00

The first shampoo bar, other than my own, that I have tried for the Shampoo Bar Exchange was the lighter soap sent to me by Amy of Great Cakes Soapworks. It is called “The Original Opus”.

Impressions before using it – beautiful natural colour & texture,nice size and I LOOOOOOVE the scent.

The ingredients list: Saponified Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Lard, rice Bran Oil, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Beer, Aloe Vera Juice and Essential Oils of Lemongrass, Lavender, Rosemary and Peppermint.

When I began using it, I was sooooo surprised at just how different it was from mine. It lathered instantly and abundantly. Wonderful, thick, sudsy lather. I just kept washing & lathering and lathering... like I didn’t want it to end!! I also adore the scent. It smells wonderful dry but even better when washing!

I used a simple Vinegar rinse (1 part Apple Cidar Vinegar to 10 parts water) after each wash.

My hair combed through very nicely after Amy’s shampoo. Not like the slick chemical & silicone-loaded commercial shampoo and conditioner comb-throughs... but much nicer that with my shampoo bar.

So, for the first few times I used this shampoo bar... I was in love!

Unfortunately, it didn’t last as my hair started getting greasy after about 5 days, then on day 7, I washed with it for the last time as the whole back of my hair was greasy.

What factors are involved? The four of us - Becky from The Soap Sister, Amy from Great Cakes Soapworks, Michele from Tierra Verde and I - have all agreed that we think there may be many factors that affect the Shampoo bar when using - Water type, hair type, scalp type, and rinse or conditioner type.

I have extremely hard water - full of Calcium. Most people here have dry itchy scalp dandruff because of the water. I have medium thick, totally dyed hair. (I wish I could get away from dying my hair as I know it is not good for it, but I am not prepared to leave it grey...) My dandruff has gone away since I began using shampoo bars about a year ago, and for the most part, my scalp isn't itchy any more.

So, as for Amy's bar:

The good? The Abundant Suds, the Awesome Scent, the Wonderful Comb-Through.
The not-so-good? The greasy hair. Unfortunately this is a biggy - and I can't continue using this bar. Could this be improved by simply lowering the superfat?

Great Shampoo Bar Exchange

2011-08-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

Rosemary Nettle Shampoo Bar, with Basil and Green Clay

Beer Honey Shampoo Bar

Carrot and Coconut Milk Shampoo Bar

A few months ago, when several of these soapers with blogs that I follow began posting about their Shampoo Bar experiments, I got an idea....

A SHAMPOO BAR EXCHANGE!!!! This way, I would get to try out some different shampoo bars, get feedback on my shampoo bars and do a soap experimental exchange/ challenge which I have been dying to do since I began soaping.

So I contacted:

Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps http://tierraverdesoaps.blogspot.com/

Great Cakes Soapworks http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/

The Soap Sister http://thesoapsister.blogspot.com/

and invited them to participate. They all agreed! It took a couple of months to get things ready for shipping and recently we all shipped off our shampoo bars!

We are now going to be using one soapers bar at the same time and blogging about them...

Can't wait!!

Please forgive the repeat photos. The photos in the blog are the shampoo bars I sent, and I don't have new photos as I don't have my camera back yet!!

Leg update: I am walking better and better and enjoying physio-therapy! Leg, foot and ankle still get pretty swollen, so I put the leg up for rest sometimes as well....

Happy Soaping and Shampooing to everyone!

xo
Jen

Packaging when Immobile

2011-07-31T04:51:00.000-07:00

I have had lots of time lately to get caught up on packaging...

Leg update: I walked the 4 blocks from home to the beach and back yesterday afternoon. I sat for a while with my leg in the sea. Oh that Mediterranean healing... bring it on!!!

Trip to Canada - Part 2

2011-07-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Beer & Honey Shampoo

Wild Lavender

Dog Shampoo

Activated Charcoal, Goat Milk, Spearmint Essential Oil

This is just a teaser... they are some old photos of soaps I made... but the great news is the Doctor unwrapped my leg yesterday and blood tests say that there is no more Thrombosis! Yippee. So I am to begin walking on it again... does that mean soaping? Oh yes I think it does!!! And walking!!! And full-on Showering!!! I have a lot to organize here (still need to get unpacked etc etc...) but I think I may be able to make soap tomorrow. My daughter (still in Canada, at camp) has the camera so I am searching for our point and shoot... will find!!

So, back to Canada... A little more Collingwood. My cousin organized (Thank you Eden!!) a big BBQ for Canada Day and a rubber duck race down the creek on my uncle's property. Everyone had to decorate a rubber duck and they were all numbered. Then people bet on the winners to raise money for Cancer. A lot of fun... and I think about 600$ was raised.

Dad watching the Duck race finish line

Another shot of Georgian Bay, Collingwood... looks like the Ocean doesn't it!?

Dad took Aurora and I camping in Arrowhead Park, Huntsville.

I have always left a little piece of my heart in Huntsville as we used to have a cottage there. Most of my memories of family get togethers when I was younger and Christmases and Easters were there. Then during university, I lived there during the summers and worked at a bar in town to pay for university. Although I grew up in Toronto, I would say that Huntville always felt more like home to me. My haven. Dad sold the cottage several years ago. Whenever in Huntsville we always stop by the property to check it out but this time when we arrived, the cottage WASN'T THERE. We found out it had burnt to the ground in April. Wow. I shed a few tears.

More photos of Arrowhead park and Huntsville:

So... Trip to Canada - Part 3 is yet to come and progress leg reports and back to the markets and swimming in the sea and soaping - Oh yeah!!!!!

Trip to Canada - Part 1

2011-07-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

Ontario summertime countryside (drive from Toronto to Collingwood)

I would love to post some glorious photos of a new soap I made... But I haven’t made soap in over a month because I had been travelling and now I am immobilized with Thrombosis. Can you imagine being immobilized and not being able to do anything other than what you are able to do on a sofa with your leg up in 40º weather with no Air Conditioning... for weeks? No matter how difficult it all is I can't get down about it because I feel so lucky. I feel so fortunate. I feel so blessed to be here. I should not have flown with Thrombisis.

So, please bear with me as I post about non-soapy things until I can get back to my passion...

Toronto Racoon, a family of them live under my old friend Leigh's porch

I almost called this post Trip Home but I have lived away from Canada for 8 years now... So what is home? The place you are from? or the place you are now? Can you create home wherever are? Or maybe it is not about the place at all but about people?

Canola Fields

I almost didn’t go on the trip as I had injured my leg, torn part of my calf muscle shortly before we left... and during the entire 3 week trip I hobbled around on a cane but this trip was mostly about the people so it was okay.

Collingwood, Canada Day, July 1st:

Dad, my daughter Aurora and Mum, at that great Canadian icon - Tim Hortons

My stepmum, back porch, Collingwood

Georgian Bay, photo taken by my daughter

Dad & I

Me, hobbling and happy at Georgian Bay

I will continue with my Canadian journey in another post...

Most nights, ever since my grandmother died in March 2010, before going to sleep, I write a list of the things I am thankful for. Today I am thankful for:
1) the wonderful people in my life
2) my husband who has come through and is looking after me better than I could have imagined
3) being alive and getting better
4) the wonderful smell in my house... with my Essential Oil soaps
5) the enjoyment I get from reading and writing
6) the followers out there who enjoy my Blog

xoxo Jen

The Versatile Blogger Award

2011-07-20T02:20:00.000-07:00

I am flattered to have been given "The Versatile Blogger" award by both Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps http://tierraverdesoaps.blogspot.com/2011/07/paying-it-forward.html and Soaperstar http://soaperstar.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-have-been-given-versatile-blogger.html

Thank you both!!!

Here is the information regarding the award.

The concept behind the Versatile Blogger Award is to follow a few rules and then pass it on to whatever blog you think deserves it. The rules are:
1 – Make a post and link it back to the person who gave you the award (and include their website address)
2 – Share 7 random things about yourself
3 – Award 7 recently discovered bloggers with this award and contact them to let them know they have won

So here are 7 Random things about myself:

1) I grew up in Toronto at Yonge Blvd and Yonge Street and my last name is Young. So I was a young Young at Yonge & Yonge.
2) I learned to knit and crochet when I was 7 years old from my aunt who is a fabulous knitter and quilter.
3) I wrote a novel when I was 12, entered it into a competion for young authors and didn’t win anything. Reading it now, I realize it wasn’t a great literary work but the accomplishment of finishing a novel still feels wonderful.
4) The greatest thing I have ever done in my life was having my daughter Aurora… she was a big surprise as I lived alone in a tiny 1 room apartment, was not in a healthy stable relationship at the time, had no money as I was a starving Grad student but none of it mattered because from the moment I saw that positive pregnancy test I knew she would be the best thing in my life. And she is.
5) When I was younger I wanted to be an actress. The constant competition hurt my self-esteem and I finally left acting behind.
6) I have written many songs over the years on my guitar but finally recorded a CD of my originals 8 years ago and felt very proud. The guitar sounds great, the voice not-so-much but it is mine and I cherish it.
7) My very favourite foods are Tomatoes and cheese. I can't go a day without either.

Now who to give this award to? Well, re-reading the instructions I notice it said Recently Discovered blogs, so I will try to choose new blogs I have been enjoying and pick blogs that have not already been nominated although I would love to nominate you all!!!

I nominate the following blogs.

http://www.tokyofactory.net/
http://restingonabranch.blogspot.com/
http://mygaliciangarden.blogspot.com/
http://skruben.blogspot.com/
http://biancahewson.blogspot.com/
http://www.bodygoodiesonline.com/blog/
http://handmadesoapblog.blogspot.com/

Pending... a post about my recent trip to Canada!!

Happy Soaping everyone!!

xoxo
Jen

Soap Log Splitter

2011-07-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my Dad!!!! Look at the beautiful Soap Log Splitter that he made from scratch for me!! Now I just have to get it back to Spain and try it out!!

And Happy Belated Canada Day!!!! This is a photo of my cousin's backyard just before the Canada Day celebration bonfire and fireworks.

xo
Jen

Carrot & Coconut Cream Shampoo Bar

2011-06-21T03:05:00.001-07:00

Made another Shampoo Bar, this time with pureed carrots and coconut milk. I kept the oils as simple as possible. I am leaning toward using more and more olive oil in all of my products as that is what this area offers, instead of importing more exotic oils from elsewhere. Well, all of my bars also have Coconut Oil and Castor Oil in them, and most also have Shea Butter as I am in love with Shea Butter. So, I am not giving up importing entirely...!!

This shampoo bar has: Olive, Coconut, Castor, Carrot & Jojoba Oils. The liquid is a 50-50% split carrot purée and Coconut Milk. The essential oils are Bay Laurel, Lavender & Ylang Ylang. Sounds like a beautiful scent combo. Right? Wrong. It is a really odd scent. Not pretty. Won’t do this one again. Oh well, it’s all part of experimenting.

I like the colour. Must come from the carrots and carrot oil although it is not a carrot orange. As you can see, it is more yellowy than orange.

I loved working with the Carrots (first time!!) and coconut cream. The only thing is the soap seems a little dry and bumpy, like this. Do you see what I mean?

I prefer a sleek soap that you just can't stop touching... like my spoon swirl soap...

I love when you slice it and you get that sleek, smooth cut, like Sparklebrooks soaps. I get it more often than not. However, lately I have been getting these odd bumps sometimes. Could it be the climate? Does anyone know why this happens? Somehow I think maybe Guru Cocobong may know...

Also want to take a moment to talk about the “messy swirls” on top. I have had to do these on both of my recent Shampoo bar experiments as the mix got thick real fast.

Although I am a big fan of looking at photos of beautiful swirly-top soaps, when it comes to using a soap or shampoo bar, I much prefer a perfectly smooth bar. I know we all have different priorities in our soap making… some soap makers put scent first, others put appearance first. Our different priorities and focuses is what makes us all so unique!! My main focus, by far, is functionality, feel and result on my skin. So I try to get the tops as smooth as possible now, but when the soap gets thick? I swirl!

Can’t wait to try this one!!

Xo
Jen

Tierra Verde – Fabulous Soaps

2011-06-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

I have been admiring Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps for some time. I go over and over the wonderful photos on the blog http://tierraverdesoaps.blogspot.com/ and on the website http://www.tierraverdesoaps.com/ . They are just my kind of soap… all natural, simple, skin loving, Essential Oil soaps. The packaging is beautifully simple and ecological.

So, recently I got some!! Here is the package I received!!

From left to right - Sweet hand-written card from Michele, Warm Cedar Shaving Round, Orange Honey Drizzle with Oats, a sweet heart sample of Patchouli Vanilla, Creamy Coconut with Lime and Clove.

The truth is I love them all!

As I have yet to perfect a shaving bar, I was most intrigued by the Warm Cedar shaving round... so I tried it first and it is awesome to shave with! I love the scent. Cedarwood with Patchouli... I am a Patchouli addict so I adore this one. Subtle yet lasting.

The bar is hard, the suds are thick and abundant and it makes shaving a treat. It is also the PERFECT size. I have put it into one of my mugs and it fits devinely. I love the thick shaving lather!

Then I went for the heart sample which was luring me, unopened with the patchouli... Great soap, awesome scent and lots of creamy bubbly suds.

Next was Orange Honey Drizzle with Oats – A beautiful bar to look at.

Sleek and hard to hold. Conditioning and lightly exfoliating when using. There is something subtle yet clearly orange about the aroma. Addicting. I keep smelling again. When I use oats, they always turn out harsher in my soaps, but this bar is soft on my skin and the oats are mild. I love it. Currently I have it in my kitchen.

Lastly, Creamy Coconut with Lime and Clove. Another wonderful soap! This one is the creamiest and sudsiest. Nice hard bar, sexy addictive scent, soft on my skin and creamy, silky lather. Love it!!!

All in all, wonderful, beauiful, amazing smelling, all natural soaps.

Thank you Tierra Verde!!!!!!

xoxo
Jen

Lorca Market on Sunday

2011-06-15T00:34:00.001-07:00

Here I am at the market in Lorca on Sunday.

I still have not had a proper cover/ shade/ toldo made for the stand. Just threw a bedspread over it and clipped with clothespegs. I was actually on my way to the seamstress yesterday who will be making the cover when I injured my leg. I am rather incapacitated for a few days (hopefully that is all because I will go CRAZY if I can’t move around). So, I can’t drive and couldn’t make it to the seamstress.

Some other images of my stand on Sunday.

My car with the stand loaded on the roof-rack!

I did want to tell you a little about Lorca though…

Not sure if you all know that there was a bad earthquake there about 1 month ago. Lorca is only 45 minutes from where I live but I didn’t feel the earthquake at all.

Anyway, one thing is to see images on the web or TV but it is another thing entirely to be there and see the devastation caused by the earthquake. There are over 8000 people without homes now because so many of the buildings have been at least partially damaged, cracked and need to be torn down. It felt like a ghost town. So many people have had to leave and look for apartments in the surrounding towns or moved to the country or moved in with friends and/ or family. There is rubble all over the streets, at least after a month they are mostly organized rubble piles now. Here are some images:

This is the rubble behind my stand. To the right, outside of this photo is a school that children can no longer attend because the building suffered damages and is unstable...

I snapped this shot on the way for a coffee from my stand and was later told that it is a mini shrine for 3 men who died in the quake by a piece of falling building...

So why am I writing about this...and posting pictures...? because I am morbid? No. Because of how I was reminded of a lot of important things that day. There were barely any stands that Sunday, not like usual. This market is every second Sunday and usually the whole Plaza is filled with stands. There were not many passers-by because so many people have left Lorca. My car also broke down on the highway on the way home...So, why the heck did I have to go all the way to Lorca that day? Well, as a reminder of how beautiful life is, and how wonderful Spaniards are and how lucky we are to be alive and healthy. That's why.

Each person that stopped to chat, I asked if they had been affected by the earthquake. And EVERY ONE had some marvellous story. They all said that the actual moments of the quakes (there were 2, a few hours apart) were scary and eery. Those who were outside said the ground rippled like waves. But all of the people that I spoke with that day have moved on positively and see the great things that have come out of this. Many have been reunited with family, having to take family members in to live with them. Landlords all over the area have dropped rents to rock-bottom prices to help out the earthquake victims. People are taking in neighbours, friends. And they all said, it took the earthquake to realize what is really important. That things were getting out of hand materially and in fact, they can live on very little. It is the people in your life that count and our health. They all said they felt lucky to be alive.

And so do I....

xoxo
Jen

My New Market Stand

2011-06-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is the market stand a friend of ours built for me and I am SOOO pleased.

The table goes underneath and I still need cover to go over it, to provide shade. I hunted down material for the shade. It is not easy to find things in the collection of little villages where I live. The first quote was 20€/ meter!! Finally I found some good cloth in "Naturalmente Mediterraneo" green for 6€ per meter (2.80m width) and I have someone making it for me. In the meantime, I just throw a colourful cloth over the stand and secure it on with clothespegs.

I have had a few people request more detailed photos of it, so here they are.

All the parts, disassembled.

The tall parts on my roof rack. The rest fits into the car.

The feet.

The main supports, the "legs". They go into the feet.

Nuts & Bolts

Support Cross Pole

Top - (the cat you can see in the photo is Selena and yes she has a crooked lightening tale like a witches cat)

Hooking the legs into the feet and top

Securing the legs onto the top

Upright but not fully opened yet

Opening

Opened

Adding and securing cross support pole.

Another photo of the mounted stand in my garden.

The angle of the top can be easily shifted from the back to the front, to shift it with the sun.

As you can see, it is quite small. My table is only 1.2 meters accross. Keeping it small gives me more opportunities for markets. If the stand is bigger, it is more difficult to find space at a market.

Once the shade is ready, I will post pictures with the shade... maybe even operational at a market!

Hope this has been useful for those of you who wanted to see more detailed photos.

Happy Soaping to all.

xoxo
Jen

No Mosquito Soap

2011-06-07T04:06:00.000-07:00

I made this soap because so many clients have been asking for a natural soap that will deter Mosquitoes. I used the base recipe that I like the most, and added Essential Oils that deter Mosquitoes. Just waiting for it to cure but I have a feeling it will sell out quickly!

Really at a loss for a name here… I am not interested in cutsy or comical names. Just want a simple straight-forward name for this soap? There has to have a simple translation into Spanish as well… any ideas?

Xo
Jen

Yesterday - Busy Market Day

2011-06-05T01:32:00.000-07:00

Market Arch at Sunset

Long, wonderful day yesterday with 2 markets in the same day! Arrived at my regular Saturday market super early to fight for my spot. Last Saturday someone had taken my spot and instead of being cooperative about it, he had been rude! So yesterday, I arrived 1 hour earlier and was all set up by the time he arrived. I was actually shaking as I stood up to him and his “bodyguard” (not-literally a bodyguard, but rather the market supervisor that just puts his cousins and their cousins wherever he likes). No-one usually stands up to them as it is a bit of a family mafia there… but I don’t know what came over me. The market supervisor tried to kick me out of the market when I said I wasn’t moving my stand. I said I wasn’t going anywhere and I moved CLOSER to him when I said it. I still can’t believe it. Anyway, it all worked out. All the neighbouring stands were rooting for me! I stayed. I ended up actually working things out with the guy-who-stole-stand-spot and squeezed over enough so he could get in on one side. Something that if he had done for me the previous week, this whole thing would not have errupted.

After my morning market finished at 2pm, I packed up and headed straight to the afternoon market. This one is a yearly town fair in Sierra Cabrera.

A friend of ours has built a stand for me, all out of wood and it is so beautiful I just can’t believe it is mine! It is easy to put together, light, and fits easily on my little car roof-rack. I already had a table and a bench. Now I have the stand to go around it, to put the shade part over top. It gets seriously hot here and I can’t have the sunlight on my soaps when they are displayed or the Essential Oil scents evaporate. So this week I will get the shade made and take photos!!! Yesterday was the first time I used it. I just threw a blanket over top. I didn't get a good photo of the entire stand set up but here is a close-up photo of the wooden details.

Some more photos of the market for you...

Stilt Jugglers

Sherry Pourer

Ham cutter, sharpening his knife

Cutting the ham

My friend Street's shoes. Yes her name is Street. Cool eh? She and her mother make and sell shoes. Aren't they lovely? Street and I go to various markets together.

Peeking out from under my stand at the Andalusian horses

Andalusian horses at Sierra Cabrera Arch

So started my day at 6:45am and finished at 11:30pm. I did well. Enjoyed it all. My body is aching today from being on my feet all that time. But I am not complaining. It is a good aching...

Wild Flower

2011-06-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

I realized recently that in my attempt to create unisex scents, I don’t actually have many feminine scents. Well, I do have 1 pure lavender soap. But I wanted to create another sweet feminine floral. I would LOVE to create a natural Rose or Jasmine soap, especially Jasmine as it is one of the scents I love about this area.

often, deep summer, i am walking along some street and suddenly get hit by the mystical and luring Jasmine…. i look around… follow my nose and seek it out…. finding the bush/plant, i stick my nose deep in and inhale……….

Well, basically it would be too expensive.

So, I combined the florals I have & love – Lavender, Geranium & Ylang Ylang and included pink clay.

You see, I am on a quest to recreate a wonderful scent I already had! Has this ever happened to you?

Over a year ago, I had accidentally created a wonderful EO blend with leftover Eos…… It was the type of scent that I just could not stop sniffing. A Ylang Ylang, Geranium and Lavender blend….

I sent one of the bars to Cocobong in a Soap Swap and she seemed to like the scent too!!! Here was her awesome post about it…

http://cocobongsoaps.blogspot.com/2010/05/soap-swap.html

In attempts to recreate the scent though, it has never been the same! I even wrote down the quantities but I must have changed suppliers along the way.

This one is not bad, a little heavy on the Ylang Ylang but it is no “Lady of Leisure”…

The quest continues.

Happy Friday!!!!

Xo
Jen

New Shampoo Bar

2011-05-30T04:59:00.000-07:00

Shampoo Bars seem to be the thing lately, so many people blogging about them!

I will gladly join in since I LOOOOOOOVE Shampoo bars. As I have previously posted about, they didn't always work for me. But I have developed a base recipe that I love now. This time, using my base shampoo recipe, I experimented with something new.

This latest shampoo creation has Green Clay, Aloe Vera, Nettle Tea, Nettle Infused Olive Oil and Rosemary and Basil Essential Oils.

I also decided to play with shape a little. For my regular soaps, I have a shape and size that I love. But with the shampoo bars, I felt like I wanted something a little more hearty. So I tried cutting them more squarish, chunkier than my regular bars. Here one is on my hand.

I am really liking this one already. How am I ever going to wait 4 weeks to be able to try it on my hair??!!??

My Very First Soap - EUREKA

2011-05-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

The very first soap I made & first soap photo I ever took

I cuddled under the duvet one Sunday night, and read till the wee hours of the morning even though I had to be up for work early the next day… I was reading a non-twilight Susan Meyer book – The Host.

Earlier that day I had accompanied my husband on his weekly golf foray…. I can’t say it was a golf game because at that point, he was greener than green and would spend more time swearing at lost balls than actually hitting them… (since then he has learned a lot and plays much better now!) I don’t play, I just go with him sometimes, support him, take photos etc. I lasted about an hour or 2 with him that morning, left him there with his golf buddy and came home to my plants. My daughter must have slept over at a friends’ because she wasn’t there that day although I can’t remember exactly why.

I had bought some new pots and soil and was very eager to get to work on my Aloe Vera plants. They were multiplying at quite a rate. There I was pulling out the little off-shoots and replanting them… when I realized just how many plants I had! I had been given 1 Aloe Vera plant as a gift a couple of years earlier and here I was with about 20 plants now! What was I going to do with them all?

My very first soap packaging of that very first soap

I remember fantasizing about enjoying a profession where I could use them… and getting out of the job that I didn’t love. What could I do? Start a proper Aloe Vera farm? Learn how to make Aloe Vera Gel? Cream? Juice? Could we drink this stuff? At that point in my life, I fantasized a lot about jobs I would enjoy…

So there I was, late that night, cuddled under the covers. I had just turned off the lights and was drifting off to sleep when WHAM. EUREKA. SOAP! That’s it. I want to make soap!!!! I sat bolt upright in bed, turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed my book. I went back over the passage where the characters had to invent some sort of soap to wash themselves inside the underground hide-out where they were living. It was pretty basic, but the idea of it sparked something in me. Soap – THAT’S IT. What the heck is soap made of? I am going to make it!!! Maybe I could even use my Aloe Vera!!

I don’t think I got much sleep that night. I was too excited. I went downstairs before my husband, my daughter and the sun got up and got on the internet. I looked up soap making and at a quick glance realized that YES, I could make this at home! I got into Amazon and read a ton of reviews on soap making books before deciding on “The Soapmakers Companion”, by Susan Miller Cavitch. I was so excited about starting that I paid more for the super-duper-speedy shipping than I did for the book!

My very first market, selling my soap

I received the book within a couple of days, read it from cover to cover and began the ingredient hunt. I had lots of Olive Oil locally, found Lye easily, had a couple of cake moulds and found some “Essences” for scent which I naively thought were purely natural, simply because I got them at the health food store. Coconut oil was going to be a challenge… So I began without it.

My very first soap was a one-oil pure Castille soap with Vanilla “essence”. I loved it. It took AGES to trace. I wasn’t even sure what trace was at that point. Just started getting thicker and looking like pudding. My stick blender actually over-heated a couple of times and I had to carry on mixing by hand while it cooled down.

I don’t know how I waited the 24 hours before uncovering the mould. My daughter, my husband and I hovered over as I pulled the blanket off. And oooooooohhhhhh…. Ahhhhhh…. Wow. We lifted it out of the mould. Cutting it was pure heaven. I had done it!

Making one of the early soaps

Waiting the month for it to cure was unbearable. There we were again one month later hovering around the tap washing and washing with that first bar of soap…. No suds really, just soft goo…. Slightly disappointing but wonderful all the same. We lined up for the shower. My husband kept telling me how amazing he thought it was.

It brings tears to my eyes right now as I remember back to my family’s support in those early days. Soap stuff all over the kitchen. Soaps drying all over the house. Gooey sudless soap. Money being spent on moulds, materials, equipment – a money pit. Forgetting to make dinner…. Forgetting to eat… lost a ton of weight. Just total obsession.

Eventually my recipes got better and more and more uniquely mine. With a lot of experimenting. I began to make the personal decisions toward my soap identity. All this artificial colour and glitter and fragrance that I saw other soapers using was cool but not where I wanted to go. I also decided to try to focus on as many local ingredients as possible. Why use green tea and dead sea salt if I had aloe vera and Mediterranean sea salt on my doorstep!?

Now, I no longer work in that job I didn’t enjoy. I make soap almost every day. I am doing what I love. Don’t have the cash I used to have but somehow we are fine without it. Supplementing with some English classes. And business is growing. I feel very fortunate and blessed to have found my passion… !!

Another early soap making photo

I would love to hear your first-time soap-making stories. How did you discover soap-making? Why did you start? What was your very first bar like??????

Happy Soaping everone. Today is my 41st birthday and I am feeling great!

Xo
Jen

Sharing some photos

2011-05-24T01:12:00.000-07:00

Some recent pictures for you...

My coffee soap

I love the difference a few hours makes. The soap in the forefront had just been cut and the soap in the back had been cut a few hours before. Too bad it couldn't stay the forefront brown... oh well.

I know I have asked before... but what essential oils or essential oil blends do you like in a Coffee soap? I am not so sure about the pure Coffee scent any more(C02 oil)...

My Aloe Vera soap

My Aloe Vera soap goes fast. I can't keep it in stock! I continue to tweek with each new batch though, as I would like a more unique look. In this latest batch, I added some of the Aloe Vera plant peels as well.

Some of my Spa products

I have been collaborating with a local Spa, providing them with unique products to use in their therapy sessions and massage, like massage oils, masks, body scrubs. They will be offering my products to the public soon. We are collaborating on a label for them. Tomorrow I am givng their staff a training session.

I decided right from the beginning that if other people were to be promoting my products, I wanted to make sure that they were well trained. I would much rather have 2 people promoting my products who have personally tried each one, and know ALL about them than 200 people who I don't even know have tried them.

I am loving the weather here lately. Spring is my favourite time of the year.

Happy soaping everone!

Feeling like an Artist!!

2011-05-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of my attempt at the Spoon Swirl that my last post mentioned using Deep Russet Mica given to me as a gift by Jamie at Sahara Supplies. Thank you Jamie, for the opportunity to experiment with something new!

I had a ball making this soap! I felt like a true artist.... I envisioned myself with a Wall of Soap, flinging different coloured soap at it... what a fantasy! I was laughing while flinging into the mould and didn't want it to end!

Although I don't normally use non-natural ingredients in my soaps, I enjoyed experimenting with Mica. As I understand Micas and Oxides are not really natural colourants. As reported by Sirona Springs "They are chemically the same as the pigments that were once extracted from the Earth (minerals, rocks and such), but manufactured in a laboratory. In a way, they are better than using natural pigments because those can be contaminated with heavy metals (mercury, lead, etc). But still not natural. Mica is a colorless mineral that breaks off into flakes that are great at reflecting light, making them shiny. Colors (pigments or dyes usually) are then attached to them. So while the mica itself may be natural, the attached color is not. They are used not only in soap, but also mineral makeup." So, although I have had fun experimenting with Mica, I will leave it at that.

I think I may have overdone it with the colouring because even when cutting, the knife got coloured and the paper that wiped the knife.... I will report back on the colour of the lather once the curing period is finished.

I also think that when I experiment with this spoon swirl tecnique again, I will bring it to a heavier trace. The flinging at the bottom was a little too liquidy. Then by the time I got to the top it was much better.

As for scent, as this was an experiment, I tried something new! How about all of those little EO bottles hanging around my aroma drawer? I wanted to use some up. Also, I have been wanting to use up my Sandalwood EO for a while. I don't feel great about using Sandalwood (as I understand the trees are almost endangered!!) although I ADORE the scent... but I had purchased it a while ago and there it was staring at me from my aroma drawer, begging to be used up... So, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vetiver and Ylang Ylang. The scent is intriguing... pick up the soap again and again, sniffing to see if I really like it... I would say sensual, intriguing, dark, and smoky (not cigarette smoky but camp-fire smoky). I think the smokiness of the vetiver overtook the blend a little. I have to remember how STRONG vetiver is and use less next time. Like Geranium for me, a little Vetivert goes a LONG way.

So, there is my Deep Russet Mica, spoon swirl experiment! I have one more Mica colour to experiment with. Not sure what I will do with that one...

Happy Soaping everyone!
xoxoxo
Jen

Sahara's Supplies

2011-04-27T03:48:00.000-07:00

Look at what I just received in the mail!

I had been contacted out of the blue by Jamie at http://saharassoapmakingsupplies.blogspot.com/ and she offered me some Mica to play with and blog about. Yippee! I love the recipes she posts on her blog.

My mind is whirling with the possibilities!! I am thinking about trying out the spoon swirling that Ka fée http://soapsession.com/blog/2011/04/07/recette-du-savon-spoon-swirl/ and then Soaperstar blogged about... http://soaperstar.blogspot.com/2011/04/adam-eve.html

I have never used Mica before. Any advice?

Will post as soon as I have played......

xo
Jen

Minty Green Surprise

2011-04-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

I had a request recently for my Green Tea soap. I had been focussing so much lately on producing my main Mediterranean soaps and keeping them stocked, that I have not been experimenting as much. Also, my older, non-Mediterranean focussed soaps have almost been forgotten! So how pleasantly surprised was I when I made my Green Tea soap, with a few modifications and Voila! A soft minty green that I really like. It may be the nicest green I have ever achieved and without painstakingly trying.

This soap is made with Green Tea and Goat Milk. It also has flecks of the Green Tea itself in it. Then I also added some Spirulina powder. I know Spirulina usually fades. We will see how this one goes. Check out the Spirulina glob on the top of one of the soaps! Oooops.

The odd thing is that I scented it with Peppermint, Spearmint and Vanilla EOs.... so it smells and almost looks like Mint Chocolate-Chip Ice-Cream (Sabor After Eight en Español), my favourite!

Also, please note the cut... no crumbling! Yippee! Lately I have been cutting earlier, almost straight out of the mould. Cutting when it is softer has helped the crumble I think.

Happy Soaping!

xo Jen

Aloe Vera Cream & Suppliers’ Differences

2011-03-31T23:42:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning for a while to post about how I use Aloe Vera in my products. I make an Aloe Vera soap with 100% of the liquid being Aloe Vera gel from the plants in my garden. Recently I also tried using the Aloe Vera gel from my garden in my moisturizing hand and body cream. I scented it with Spearmint and Lavender Essential Oils. I have posted about Grandma Aloe Vera before but here she is again, and she is just about to blossom!!! Grandma Aloe Vera was the very first Aloe Vera plant I had here. She was given to me as a cut off/shoot off from another plant about 5 years ago and was quite small at that point. Now, as a size reference for you, the top of the tallest stalk in the phot comes up to my nose!! I call her grandma because she has offered a lot of shoot-offs which I have re-planted and now the shoot-offs offer shoot-offs. She may be a great-grandma soon! Take a look in the photo at the two stalk-like things. Excuse the lack of proper terminology but most of what I know has been passed on to me by people in the area, rather than from books. If I understand correctly, in order for the Aloe Vera plant to be good for the skin or for our bodies (yes, people drink it too!) the plant needs to be a few years old. Apparently, as soon as it begins to sprout these stalk-like things which eventually blossom into small red flowers, then it is good for the skin. Here are some of Grandma’s new shoot-offs. I will take these out and re-plant them. I have about 25 Aloe Vera plants now and 7 of them have produced the stalks this spring. Here are some of the other plants, Grandma’s first shoot-offs which are now offering stalks. First Step – I cut off some of the bottom branches/ arms, which look nice and full of gel. Next Step – I cut off the prickly edges. Next Step – After cleaning it off well with water, I cut it open. Next Step – I cut/ scrape out the gel. Warning!!! Aloe Vera gel is gucky, gooey and stinky!!

Next Step – I put it all in a mixing bowl and blend with my hand mixer.

I blend for quite a while, making sure that all the lumps are smoothed out. It can get frothy.

This time I substituted ½ of the water for Aloe Vera Gel in my moisturizing cream and it is really special. It has a very unique texture, almost slippery but cooling and pretty nice.

I want to try a soap one of these days with not only the Aloe Vera gel, but the skins blended in as well. Will post when I do.

SUPPLIER ISSUE – I recently received an order of beeswax from a different supplier than usual. Both of the products I have made with the new beeswax (a Cream and a Salve) have turned out much harder than previously, using the very same recipe.

So, my conclusion is that the hardness of beeswax varies from supplier to supplier. This Aloe Vera cream for example was thick when I scooped it into the pots, but then it almost hardened into Butter!! So, I re-mixed, adding in more liquid and it turned out nicer.

Basically I think changing suppliers can drastically change the recipe and result. I have found this with Essential Oils as well. Quality and strength varies drastically from supplier to supplier.

Questions for you:

Have you had similar issues?

Can you add any experiences or knowledge about Aloe Vera?

Happy Soaping!!

xo Jen

Blog Award

2011-03-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

I feel honoured to have been awarded a Blog award by Sonja of Purali http://purali.blogspot.com/ Thank you Sonja! It is called the Liebster Blog (Nicest Blog) award and has been created to give relatively unknown blogs a spotlight.

So now I would like to pass this blog award onto some new bloggers I have discovered and am really enjoying:

Soap is Beautiful http://www.soapisbeautiful.com/
I recently discovered this delightful blog and am amazed at her showcases and photos!!

Briny Bar soap http://brinybarsoap.blogspot.com/
I am not sure what I enjoy most about this blog - the photos of her innovations? Her wonderful and comical writing? Or hearing about her enthusiastic soap-making escapades...

Sahara Supplies http://saharassoapmakingsupplies.blogspot.com/
I love this blog for the simple yet awesome skin care recipes she offers. I have tried out several and loved them!!

Happy soaping and Happy blogging!!

xo
Jen

Lemon – Sea Salt Soap

2011-03-12T03:13:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to create a lemon soap for a while (Essential Oil combination of Litsea Cubeba, Lemon, Lemongrass & Citronella) and have also wanted to try varying my salt soap recipe with different salt quantities and oils so I tried both at once.

The whole soap room smells fresh and clean and citrusy right now, as I have just cut and stamped these. Not easy to get a clean-cut stamp with a salt soap.

I love the colour FOR NOW. I made a Lemon Poppyseed soap a while back (http://jenorasoaps.blogspot.com/2010/06/lemon-poppyseed.html) which was coloured with Carrot Tissue Oil. It was a stunning yellow straight out of the mould, but after a few months it had faded almost completely. See recent photo of the same soap.

So... I hope that the luscious yellow of the fresh salt soap stays more this time. Will let you know!

Any other suggestions for natural bright yellow?

Xo
Jen

Rich Honey Colour

2011-03-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

I did it! I got a great honey colour I love! It may not be as deep honey brown as I might have liked but I am really pleased. Wow.... I am on a roll!

To get the richer honey colour, I simply soaped at higher temps and incubated lightly! You can see the richer colour when you see the lighter soap next to it.

I loooooooove honey. In my tea.... in my coffee... in my Breakfast Oats Bake... on bread... on toast... in soap!

I would love to see some examples of other honey soaps! Can you post links to photos in comments? Maybe someone would like to take on a honey soap showcase?

Happy honey soaping!

xo Jen

Wild Lavender, Honey Goat Milk & Question

2011-03-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

Wild Lavender Soap - fresh out of the mould

I have finally achieved a Wild Lavender soap that I adore, although for some reason I am getting some serious bubbles! I don't really mind them but will work on getting this soap smoother in the future. For now, this is my soon-to-be-launched Naturalmente Mediterraneo Wild Lavender soap. In the end, I use Ratanjot instead of Alkanet but as I understand, they are basically the same. The wonderful thing about working with Ratanjot or Alkanet is the colour evolution during the curing period! This is the soap fresh out of the mould... I will try to remember to post a picture after 4 weeks curing.

Honey Goat-Milk

In my attempts to get a nice dark rich honey colour, it seems each batch of my honey goat-milk soap keeps getting lighter! As I have been soaping at lower temps lately (28º both oils & lye) I think that maybe that is what is having an effect on the colour of the honey soap. Usually when I make any soap with goat milk, I freeze the goat milk the night before, so when I mix the lye in, the temperature never goes over 30º. So instead, this morning I let the lye mix get up to 55º by half un-freezing the goat milk prior to mixing in lye! Then I mixed the oils and lye at 35º instead of 28º. Additionally, I have covered the moulds with a thin blanket. I usually do not cover my goat milk or honey soaps.

See what a rich colour the lye mix got! (without curdling the milk...)

So – I will unveil tomorrow and reveal if all of this has had an effect on the colour! Fingers crossed for a deeper, richer honey coloured soap!!

Question:

1) How can I stop the "crumbling" at the bottom of soaps? I do not mean salt soap. Sometimes when I cut my soap, as the knife gets to the bottom, it takes off a bit of soap. This happens if I cut same day I remove from the mould or even if I leave it for a week. Any thoughts? Here are some examples of what I mean. I would LOOOOVE your input and ideas!

Happy Soaping everyone! Have a super weekend!

xo
Jen

Goat Milk Soap Colours

2011-02-22T04:38:00.000-08:00

I am really pleased with the lastest creamy whitish colour I got with my goat milk soap. No added colour. Simply kept temperatures low during the soaping process and left it in the mould without covering it with a blanket, in a non-heated room.

This is one of my all-time favourite soaps, simple yet luxurious. Patchouli & Geranium scent. Mmmmmmmm....

Here you can see a little sample piece of my previous batch laid on top of the more recent batch, so that you can see the difference in colour. The previous batch had Orris Root in it. Can you see it? The soap is slightly darker but also has specs. Those Orris Root specs are scratchy too!

It is possible that the scent is slightly more intense with the Orris Root, but I don't like the the scratchy specs enough to use it in my soaps anymore. I am getting great staying power in my aromas lately anyway, without the Orris Root. Finally!!

Naturalmente Mediterraneo update - I am excited to report that business is going really well!! Oh yippee... yahooo!!!! I am running out of products quickly and have to make bigger and bigger batches. I am finding new suppliers who ship quicker as I am running out of ingredients as well. I absolutely LOVE what I am doing and feel so privileged to be living my dream!!!

For those of you in Spain - Jabonarium ROCKS! http://jabonariumshop.com/ I needed some Geranium and Rosemary Essential Oil urgently and they shipped them too me in less than 24 hours!!!

Aloe Vera Soap - New Green Attempt - Stevia

2011-02-07T03:03:00.000-08:00

Another pure (no other liquid) Aloe Vera soap attempt, this time with a new green - Stevia powder!!

An interesting green - kind of a deep muddy army green?

Not quite the green I would like for an Aloe Vera soap as Aloe Vera has such a fresh crisp bright green...

but I may try again just softening it a little.

xoxo Jen