Green Soap 8 - Nettle 4

I know I said that I was taking a break from green for a while... but after the awesome tip from Cocobong, I just couldn't resist carrying out another experiment and OH MY GOD. I am in love with the green in this shampoo bar. Thank you for the tip! When I made the stong nettle tea this time, I blended up the infused leaves with my hand mixer directly into the tea and used this to make the lye solution.

Can't wait to try it out on my hair!

Next experiment: Part blended/mulched nettle tea and part goat milk.

Green Soap 6 - Green Tea 2

Aiming for green but getting brown... Well, it is an interesting brown with an unusual top! The top has turned a fabulous olive green which reminds me of Green Clay colour. One thing I have deduced for certain is that Green Tea adds POWERFUL natural colour to soaps, which doesn't fade much. I am currently infusing green tea leaves in Olive Oil and also in Castor Oil. I will leave these for about a month and try another experiment.


Scent - I must mention that I swayed from my usual Vanilla Mint scent in my Green Tea soaps and tried something new. I have had Petitgrain Essential Oil sitting around for a couple of months without trying it. I smelled it from the bottle and didn't like it AT ALL! They say it is a cheaper version of Neroli? I LOVE Neroli/ Orange Blossom Essential Oil but can't really afford it right now... so maybe, just maybe, the not-so-nice-smelling Petitgrain will come out nice in a soap? It didn't. It smells like weeds, bad ones.

Next Experiment: Nettle Rosemary Shampoo (using stronger nettle tea)

Green Soap 5 - Green Tea 1

What an interesting brown I got with this soap, when I first took it out of the mould! Aiming for green... but I like this brown. The liquid in this soap is mostly stong Green Tea (steeped for 2 days) with a little goat milk at trace. I also used Olive & Castor Oils infused with Green Tea. I think the little white swirls/streaks on the top are the result of soap left unmixed at the bottom which gets scooped/ poured on top. This leads me to believe that the Essential Oils I added at trace also affected the colour. The strange thing about this soap is that it is OOOZING oils. All I did to the recipe was attempt to lower the coconut oil slightly and increase the liquid quantity slightly. Of course I adjusted the lye accordinly. I think my non-precision scale might have something to do with it. As I am working with such small quantities in my experimenting, even 2 grams can make a difference.
Here is another photo taken 24 hours later of the same soap... the initial pretty brown is gone and it has turned into a dark chocolate brown! Not bad but not the initial warm & intriguing brown...


Another strange thing - this time I used loose green tea leaves steeped in water. In the past, when I have used green tea before, I used green tea bags in a package bought from the local supermarket. It produced a completely different colour!


I must admit that I steeped it longer than usual this time.

Although I love experimenting, I do not want to get tired of 1 experiment as I did with Alkanet, so I may do a couple more Green Experiments, then put it on hold for a while and possibly switch colours.

Next experiment: Half water, half green tea

Green Soap 4 - Nettle 2

My second attempt at Nettle is much nicer. I really like this green, similar to the Spiriluna but less olive. The only liquid in this is strong Nettle tea. I am not sure if I like the speckles which come from the mulch. For the mulch, I blended up the wet, leftover tea with my hand mixer and added some at trace. I will do a little more experimenting with nettle I think, to see if I like it with or without mulch. I may steep the tea for longer. But then, I think I will have a keeper.


Next experiment: Green Tea

Green Soap 3 – Nettle 1

This is my first experience in working with Nettle. I have heard from various sources that it can produce a nice green but more importantly, it adds qualities to the soap that help alleviate both eczema and psoriasis! My first try has not produced any shade of green, well maybe a hint... It is more like cream with some interesting streaks. The liquid in this soap is roughly 70% strong nettle tea (steeped for 24 hours) and 30% fresh Aloe Vera gel.

The Nettle was quite simple yet stinky to work with. I used Essential Oils that are recommended to alleviate skin problems like eczema.

Next experiment: More Nettle tea and nettle mulch.

Going for Green

I haven’t been doing much colour experimenting lately and when The Soap Sister reminded me recently how much she missed my suspenseful colour experiments, I decided to take on GREEN. I have a green tea soap & green clay facial soap with mild colours I am pleased with, but I want to carry the experimenting further.

Aloe Vera Soap


The soap in this photo has no added colour.

I have always wanted to create an ALOE VERA bar instead of one of my bars with a little Aloe Vera in it. So, the only liquid in this soap is Aloe Vera, half mixed with the lye and the other half at trace. I look forward to trying it and seeing if there is any difference from bars with just a little Aloe Vera added.

The Aloe Vera comes from my garden. I have been told by people from the area that know Aloe Vera well that for the plant to have any real value for the skin, it needs to be at least 3 years old, maybe 5. At some point, the plant begins to shoot tall stalks in the springtime with flowers on them. This is apparently when they are ready to be used for skincare. Only two of my plants sprout stalks with flowers. Those are the plants I use for my experiments. When I need larger quantities, one of the gardeners on the golf course where I work gives me lots.

To use, I cut off one of the oldest arms from the bottom, empty the gel (stinky, gloopy and sticky...) and blend the gel with my hand mixer so that it becomes uniform and not chunky. It froths up like a white mousse. I don't like to store it for long, but I will keep the excess "mousse" in the frige for a few days until I can use in another soap. I also like to use the excess in facial masks with green clay. The whole family has had a little bit of facial pampering this weekend!

Next Experiment – Half Goat Milk, Half Aloe Vera. Adding Spirulina Powder...