Alkanet Experiment 8

DIFFERENCE: About 30% of the liquid is Coconut Milk, the rest distilled water as per usual, using Alkanet Experiment 1 as the base recipe.

PROCESS: I removed about 30% of the water and substituted it for Coconut Milk which I added, warmed at trace.

RESULTS: The colour is definitely leaning away from blue. I would describe it as a Purplish Gray. For some reason, this soap traced quicker, and almost seized on me. I think I had not heated the coconut milk sufficiently. So I scooped instead of poured into the mould. Then I did my messy swirls on top straight away, topped and incubated. This way it was not exposed long to air. As an interesting side-line in my Alkanet experimenting, I have been wondering why the white stuff (soda ash?) has been forming on some of the soap and on others no...? Amy at http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/ has pointed out that it may be due to air getting at the top? So this time, I topped right away, and didn’t open the mould for 24 hours... not even to peek... You see, I have a confession... sometimes I have gotten so excited and curious that I have actually peeked and opened the mould even a few times during the experimenting. That may have been causing the white stuff?? Also, can you see specs in the soap? I am not that keen on them and am never quite sure why they form.

CONCLUSION – Coconut Milk DEFINITELY affects Alkanet colour in soaps. It would be interesting to try 100% coconut milk.

TEASER... Next experiment will be lowering the Shea Butter and changing the recipe slightly, adding the Castor Oil and Alkanet at trace...

41º in the Shade...

What were we thinking going into the interior of Spain during a heat wave?! Searching for my father in law’s long lost ancestors... His father fled Spain when he was just a boy with all of their close family and went to Argentina – the new world – in search of a better life. Ironically, two generations later my husband fled Argentina and came to Spain - the old world - in search for a better life. His father is visiting us in Spain now and it has been quite and adventure for all of us!

This weekend we spent in sweltering Jaen & Granada... Jazz festival... tapas... flamenco in the Sacromonte caves... Cathedrals... the Alhambra... Castillo... Gazpacho... Arabic Baths... photography... and heat heat heat.

Ever since getting more into taking better photos of my soaps... I have been really enjoying photography. Many of the memories I have of my mother throughout my life, she is snapping shots with her Canon. She is a wonderful photographer. Funny it should have taken me this long to enjoy photography myself. I was on a windows and doors kick this weekend. All of these photos I have not touched. I suppose I could chop and play a little but for now I am sharing as is.

Windows & Doors... and a Rose... (These are for you Mum!! You are my inspiration! Xoxo)

Alkanet Experiment 7

DIFFERENCE: About 15% of the liquid is Apple Cider Vinegar, the rest distilled water as per usual, using Alkanet Experiment 4 as the base recipe, the one with Almond oil.


I substituted about 15% of the water content with Vinegar and mixed with the lye. It stunk!

These last three soaps have come out very different shades... this one is rather non-descript... Purply Blue Gray? I loved the blue best in Alkanet Experiment 5! But could this colour here... in the vinegar soap... actually be leaning toward Lavender????? Of course I would prefer PURPLE... a nice Lavender Mauve.. but there is something about this soap that does say Lavender to me... What do you think? I have not achieved exactly what I wanted yet, but I have an interesting start. However – who wants soap with Vinegar in it??? How will the Vinegar affect the finished bar? We will have to wait 4 to 6 weeks to find out! Also, if you look closely, that white stuff is creeping in again. I was beginning to think it was the Almond Oil, but then I got Alkanet Experiment 6, without hardly any! So, mysteries continue all around...

CONCLUSION – Vinegar DEFINITELY affects Alkanet colour in soaps.

OTHER IDEAS for experimenting:
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Coconut milk
- Avocado Oil
- Cocoa Butter

TEASER... Next experiment will be with either Coconut Milk or Baking Soda, haven’t decided yet... However, we are going away for the weekend so it will be a few days before my next experiment.

Happy soaping in the meantime & have a great weekend!

Xo Jen

Alkanet Experiment 6

DIFFERENCE: Half of the liquid in this soap is lemon juice, the other half is distilled water as per usual. I am using Alkanet Experiment 4 as the base recipe, the one with Almond oil.


I can’t really tell the colour of this because it came out too dark, too much Alkanet this time. It is definitely blue... but with a purple tinge? Since I am working with such small quantities, even just a small movement of my hand and a little more coloured oil can drop into the mixture... I may try lemon juice again with less Alkanet to see what shade of blue it goes.

CONCLUSION – Lemon Juice DEFINIETLY affects Alkanet colour in soaps.

OTHER CONCLUSIONS
- I am beginning to feel that it is the liquid in the soaps that affects Alkanet colour more than the oils?
- The Benzoin I used made my soap trace too quickly and go chunky. Not sure if it is Benzoin in general or the brand I have. Most likely will not be using again.

TEASER... Next experiment will be with Vinegar...

Xo Jen

Alkanet Experiment 5

DIFFERENCE: I added a teaspoon of seasalt at trace, using the recipe from Alkanet Experiment 4 (with Almond Oil).


I really like this blue! I couldn’t capture it exactly on camera, but we are definitely moving away from purply grey. This is blue blue. I actually removed about 15 percent of the water from the recipe, added a teaspoon of chunky seasalt and let it sit overnight. I expected the sea salt to dissolve, I even tried heating the mixture a bit, but it did not dissolve. Then I added the water-seasalt mixture at trace. I think that is what the speckles in the soap are... I am LOVING it. Also, strangely there is a texture to this soap that is so wonderfully smooth... I just can’t stop touching it! I will have to further experiment with salt quantities and maybe adding to the lye mixture? The strangest thing is that my full-on Sea Salt bar is purple purple... so I was expecting the teaspoon of Sea Salt in this soap to turn it purple and it went the opposite way! Alkanet is laughing at me again...

CONCLUSION – Seasalt DEFINIETLY affects Alkanet colour in soaps.

TEASER... Next experiment will be with Lemon Juice...

Future Ideas for Experimenting
- from http://pureandnaturalaromabeauty.blogspot.com/, increase amount of Alkanet
- from http://thesoapsister.blogspot.com/, try testing the PH

Keep the ideas coming!

Xo Jen

Alkanet Experiment 4

DIFFERENCE: I substituted some of the Olive Oil for Sweet Almond Oil. (If Alkanet Recipe 1 had 50% Olive Oil, Alkanet Experiment 4 has 35% Olive Oil & 15% Almond Oil)


CONCLUSION - Alkanet colouring in soap IS affected by using different oils, but I am not sure how. The base colour looks much the same but whitish streaks have appeared throughout. Could this really be from the Almond Oil? This has never happened to me in any soap before.

I could get sidetracked to other experiments here such as... Why the White Stuff on the top? I have hardly ever had it before but if you notice that from experiment to experiment, it really varies!! I will continue to focus on my objective - Master Alkanet colouring in soaps in pursuit of the perfect Mediterranean Lavender colour...

TEASER... Alkanet Experiment 5 will be adding a pinch of salt...

Alkanet Experiment 3

I think I may be getting somewhere! The change in this soap is that I reduced the water content by about 14% from Alkanet Experiment 1. There is clearly a change. An odd change... It looks like that for whatever reason, there are some parts that are the same colour as the other soaps and then some nice blue streaking? Look at the top and the sides... Nice teal baby blue?

This soap actually has 1 other difference as well - The Essential Oil blend - one of the three oils is Benzoin, as per Alkanet Experiment 2. As I suspected with the Benzoin, once again this soap traced so quickly that it got chunky. You can see it clearly on the top this time. However, just like Alkanet Experiment 2, the chunkiness is only on the top! The inside is beautifully smooth. I will not be using Benzoin again, at least not for my Alkanet experiments. I cannot figure out what caused the streaking??? Another of the oils - Vetivert - I have never used before... and could have caused the streaking? I will go back to a simple EO blend, without Benzoin and stick to it for these experiments.

CONCLUSION from Alkanet Experiment 3
- Alkanet colouring in soap IS affected by water content. I will need to continue to experiment how it is affected. My first assumption appears to be – the less water, the bluer?

Getting back to the list of advice for altering Alkanet colour in soap:
- Changing water quantities (keep experimenting)
- Using different oils
- Using oils in your recipe that produce a relatively white soap
- Avoid fragrance or essential oils that will drastically change the shade of your product
I am adding 3 new ideas myself...
- Add a pinch of salt (because my salt soap is VERY purple)
- Add some lemon juice or vinegar (because it would make it more acidy?)
- Using different types of water? (I am currently using Distilled water... maybe I should try tap water, sea water, rain water, regular bottled water...)

TEASER... Alkanet Experiment 4 will be using different liquid oils...

Happy soaping everyone!
Xo Jennifer

What the beach offered me this afternoon

Sometimes I forget why I choose to live so far away from my family... and then I get little reminders... I prefer to keep this blog focussed on Soap but here's a small personal slice of my life... We had a lazy Sunday around the house... soap making... reading... puttering... organizing... didn't actually wander down to the beach until 8pm! It was lovely... xoxo Jen

Alkanet Experiment 2

The only change in this soap from Alkanet Experiment 1 is that it is superfatted at 15% instead of 8% - almost double. As you can see, the colour is very much the same. So, if I can make a conclusion based on only having carried out 1 experiment - alkanet colour results in soap are NOT related to superfatting.


Ah, there was actually 1 other difference in this soap. In the Essential Oil blend, this time one of the three oils is Benzoin, as fellow blogger mentioned that Benzoin may be a good fixative for Essential Oil scents. I have not used Benzoin before... and I have also never had this chunky thing happen before. This soap traced so quickly that it got kind of chunky. Can you see it on the top? I am blaming this on the Benzoin but I suppose it could be related to the high superfatting?

CONCLUSION from Alkanet Experiment 2
- Alkanet colouring in soap is not affected by increasing Superfat content

Getting back to the list of advice for altering Alkanet colour in soap:
- Changing water quantities in the soap
- Using different oils
I am adding two new possible suggestions from Michelle at http://soappixie.blogspot.com/
- Using oils in your recipe that produce a relatively white soap
- Avoid fragrance or essential oils that will drastically change the shade of your product

TEASER... Alkanet Experiment 3 will be lowing water content...

Alkanet Experiment 1

After all my attempts, I have still not mastered Alkanet soap colouring... but in my quest for the perfect Mediterranean Lavender soap I will not give up!

My past experiments have been rather haphazard, randomly trying anything. I have now decided to experiment with 1 recipe, just altering 1 simple thing each time, and will post pictures of my experiences.

Reading up on the Internet, I have found various tips (even conflicting!) but nothing concrete. Apparently, it is the alkaline value of the soap that makes it either purple or blue (some say you can even get red from Alkanet?!?) and if I understand correctly, the more alkaline the more purple, the more acidy the more blue.

So, how do we make soap more alkaline? Tips welcome!!!

Some of the advice I have found on line is that you can alter the Alkanet colour result in a soap by:
- Superfatting the soap more
- Changing water quantities in the soap
- Using different oils

I am prepared to experiment with these tips and post my results.

This first soap is a no-palm recipe with lots of Shea butter, superfatted at 8%.

The colour result is odd. At first I thought it was blue, then I thought it was gray, then I thought it looked purply... Maybe it’s a gray-blue purple? Or a blue-purple gray? Rather non-descript and non-exciting. I do not look at it and think – Wow! I gotta try that soap!! I would say it is interesting looking but not enticing.

It has been difficult getting a decent picture since my daughter took the good camera to Canada with her for the summer and I am working with a digital point-and-shoot... after 40 or so blurred pictures this morning, I finally found the close up mode!

Hopefully tomorrow I can post pictures of the next experiment.

Happy Weekend & Happy Soaping!!
Xo
Jen