Goat Milk Soap Colours

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

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

Experiments

It has been a while since I have written about my experiments! So much going on, but that doesn’t stop me from experimenting with new things...

I understand that some people have had difficulties entering the Jenora Soaps blog lately and others have had difficulty leaving comments. So sorry but I am just not sure why. And I am not sure what can be done about it? Could it be since I changed the background? I know one follower had to search for the blog again on google instead of clicking on her saved link. That worked for her. If anyone know how glitches like this can be fixed, please let me know!

I share some photos of experiments with you...

Beer Honey Shampoo (a fave of mine)



Goat Milk Charcoal Facial Soap
This was my first experiment with Charcoal & my first experiment with Titanium Dioxide. Charcoal was very easy to work with. Titanium however, was not… Notice the white streaks? After googling it, I found whole lot of advice about how to use Titanium Dioxide. I made another attempt which was much better. However, I don’t think it does anything worthwhile to my soaps to continue using it. Slight colour difference, but nothing wow. So for my soaps, for now, I will most likely not continue using it. Pure Spearmint Essential Oil…. This soap turned out very nice on my combination skin face.



Goat Milk Charcoal Facial Soap II
No swirling this time. But other than that, a similar recipe. More charcoal. Still waiting for it to cure before trying it out.



Honey Goat Milk (no added scent)

“Save a Dog” Doggie Shampoo Bar



Aloe Vera Soap
This did not turn out very attractive. Actually the scent is not very attractive either... I was trying to get a nice green in my Aloe Vera bar. I was not going for this odd bluey/gray/purplish and I was definitely not going for the chicken pox look. At one point I got this nice green by accident:


By adding a touch of indigo to really yellow oils. I was aiming for blue and this lovely minty green came about! So I tried again with my Aloe Vera soap and got that weird looking soap! Check them out next to eachother!



Hope you enjoyed some of my latest experiments! I know I love reading about all of yours!!!!!

Xoxo
Jen

Naturalmente Mediterráneo On-line Launch!!

I am very excited to invite you all over the new Naturalmente Mediterráneo blog at http://naturalmentemediterraneo.blogspot.com/, where I am beginning by offering 4 different types of fresh, natural, hand-made soap for purchase. I will be updating with new products regularly.

Thank you so much to all of the Jenora Soap followers… what a wonderful experience this continues to be and what a supportive and encouraging group of followers!

I would love to see you over at the Naturalmente Mediterráneo blog. Please let me know what you think!!

For anyone that becomes a follower of the new blog, I would like to offer a 10% discount on your first purchase.

Thank you, Happy Soaping & Happy Showering!!
Xo
Jen

Colours - Stamped Soaps

I had a few email requests as to what I had coloured the soaps with in the stamped soap pictures so I thought I would post about it.

The first one in the picture looks green/ grey... well, oddly enough this was supposed to be another lavender soap experiment. I thought why don't I try blue? I had only ever tried the Indigo powder in a salt soap. So I added a little indigo powder at trace, but as the oils were so yellowy, it turned greenish! It looks better in real life, more minty green. I have tried to repeat this same green colour in another soap (Aloe Vera) but no... once again controlling this natural colour alludes me...

The second soap has no added colour other than honey. It is a non-scented honey soap.

I achieved the pretty purple in the third soap with Ratanjot. It does not look this purple in real life (thank you photo!!) but it is still pretty nice. I infused Castor Oil with Ratanjot and add it at trace.

The fourth photo is of my white salt soap. There is no colour added to this. Salt soaps are fabulous to colour naturally as they seem to go vibrant colours. And the white is so easy. I simply, use the clearest oils possible such as Sweet Almond and the whitest butters like Coconut Oil (tons of it).

The fifth soap is my Orange Poppyseed soap. It is coloured with Annatto powder added both to the lye solution and at trace. I do have to mention that I will be toning it down slightly becuase there is a very slight yellowy/orangy tint to the suds on this soap and I really prefer really white suds.

The final soap here is my "Save a Dog" soap. It is a dog shampoo bar and with this soap, I am going to be collaborating with the local animal charity organization to help raise funds. They are overrun with dogs. As Spain has been devastated by the recession (we call it the Crisis here), so many foreigners have returned to their countries, many leaving dogs behind. I heard at some point that some days when the volunteers arrive at the shelter, there have been up to 5 dogs tied to the front door. So sad. I hope to help somehow. There is no added colour to this soap, just some white clay and I think the Citronella Essential oil has turned it a mild yellowy-creamy colour.

I also wanted to mention something about another experiment of mine. I have been trying to get my Essential Oil scents to stick better. One of my experiments has been with Orris Root. I have concluded that in my soaps, Orris root has not really helped with scent-staying-power and I have decided I do not want it in my soaps as it is rough and scratchy. I have found other things that have helped but not Orris root. So, I wanted to let you know out there in case you were wondering about Orris Root.

I am very close to launching the Naturalmente Mediterráneo blog with a few soap soaps offered. As it will take some time to get official, I will be going ahead and offering some of my products "un-oficially". This launch should be happening within the next few days.... I am pretty excited!

New Packaging - Naturalmente Mediterráneo

I finally really like my packaging! Yippee!

I have played with a lot of different packaging, but when it came to Naturalmente Mediterráneo, it was easier than ever. I knew I wanted to play up the logo, because I love it and because that is what I want people to remember. I knew I wanted to ditch the ribbons, because they didn't seem to say Natural to me. They seemed to say cute and frufru. So here are some photos.

Originally, I just had the paper packaging band around the bare soap. You can see my half-size soaps in these photos.




I had wrapped the sea salt soap in the same paper I use for lining my moulds because they sweat...


but I had so many comments from people at a recent selling event that they loved the fully wrapped soap. Not only did it seem more hygenic and clean to have it fully wrapped but they thought it looked classier. They asked why were only the salt soaps wrapped like that?? So I have begun fully wrapping them all. This solves other issues as well. I think it keeps the Essential Oil scent in longer when they are fully wrapped.

Some other product packaging...







The packaging has really all stemmed from my logo... and I am so pleased!!!

Happy soaping! xo Jen

Soap Stamp - Naturalmente Mediterráneo

I am so pleased with my soap stamp!!! I knew I wanted my own unique soap stamp so as soon as my logo was finished, I contacted Anhoki http://www.etsy.com/shop/Anhoki, who was referred in a blog post of Lynn
http://lynnzartisansoapsandcandles.blogspot.com/2010/08/it-has-arrived-0.html.

I sent Anhoki the file to see if it were possible to have a soap stamp of my logo! I was so excited to find out that yes, she thought it would be possible. Her price was fair and working with her very easy and straight-forward. I am so pleased with the result!!! Now, I add soap-stamping to my list of favourite things to do.



One of my most favourite things to do is soap cutting… sometimes I look at those awesome soap cutters out there like “the tank” and wish longingly for a cutter like that, which would cut each bar uniformly, but then I would lose out on the pure joy of cutting each bar myself. I take advice from Sergio at Villa Fortuna when it comes to cutting soaps and now stamping soaps… put music on, take time, no rush and get into zen-cutting and zen-stamping…. all part of his “sapo-therapy”.



I asked Anhoki about stamp care and she sent back some advice as well from her blog which has helped not only with care but in getting the best stamp impression in my soaps as well. I found that the stamp comes out much more beautiful and clear if the soap is fresh, either straight after cutting or within a week. Once it is drier, it is harder to stamp. I also found that I am able to stamp my salt soaps (the white one in the group pictures above). They haven’t turned out perfect yet, but I will get better at it.

Thank you Anhoki!!

Happy soaping, cutting and stamping!!!

Xo
Jen

SAPOtherapy

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! The New Year is approaching and 2011 is going to be a fabulous year for me - I can feel it, and I am going to create it!

I was really excited to blog about my soap stamp but I can’t use my camera right now… my daughter took her camera and our only battery charger to Mexico with her… so I am photo-disabled until she returns… I also wanted to share an interesting colour surprise lately. I was doing one of my usual purple experiments when Voila! I got Green. Green? And it is a niiiiice mint green…. So 2 upcoming posts, as soon as I get the camera working again – 1) Soap Stamp & 2) Mint Green soap.

In follow up to Cocobong’s recent soap review of Sergio’s soaps at Villa Fortuna (Sergio has 2 blogs – http://enjaboname.blogspot.com/ & http://jabonesvillafortuna.blogspot.com/) , I wanted to share something with you that Sergio posted a few months back. I have finally gotten around to translating it into English for you. He has come up with something he calls “Sapotherapy”. (From http://enjaboname.blogspot.com/2010/09/sapoterapia-terapia-para-el-alma-traves.html– 14 September, 2010)

Here is what he has to say about it…

"SAPOTherapy” Therapy for the soul, though Soap
I propose that you experiment with something new that I want to share with you, through my latest soap-making experience at my Villa Fortuna laboratory. First, I would like to speak to you a little about Masaru Emoto. I am not sure if you have heard about this Japanese man, but if you haven’t, I will briefly explain about him and post a link if you want more information. http://www.oshogulaab.com/NUEVAFISICA/Mensajes_del_Agua.htm

Masaru Emoto became very popular a few years ago with his investigations and taking photos of water crystals, once frozen. In other words, water, when subjected to very low temperatures, produces the most beautiful hexagonal crystals also found in snowflakes. However, what this man observed was very interesting. Apparently not all types of water crystallized in geometrical forms. He observed that water from natural springs, rivers and water that was in contact with nature without negative influences crystallized in beautiful geometrical forms, while water from city taps or some city rivers, or simply polluted water did not crystallize in this way. But Masaru Emoto got even further with his interesting investigation when he carried out various experiments on tap water. In one experiment, he wrote the word “LOVE” on a piece of paper and stuck it on a container with tap water. The result one day later is that the water crystallized in geometrical forms. In another experiment, he placed various people around the container with tap water and he instructed them to think loving and peaceful thoughts. After only a few minutes with the water subjected to these positive thinking vibrations, the water crystallized in beautiful geometrical forms.

Neural Therapy – Water Crystals

These interesting experiments were carried out in a thousand ways, even with food and the result was surprising. For example, 2 bowls with white rice in each one – in one, the word “THANK YOU” was written and on the other one the phrase “I HATE YOU”. The outcome was incredible. The rice in the bowl with “I HATE YOU” started to turn dark and rotten while the rice in the other bowl stayed in perfect condition.

After all this and following various investigations, many serious scientists backed by big corporations are coming to the conclusion that everything in life is “Vibrations” and everything is alive. Each element emits a sort of music, if it can be described that way. This music is not decided by someone else. We decide this music with our emotions and feelings in every moment of our lives. This is why we have to be very conscious of how and what we feel, because we are either creating LOVE or we are creating SADNESS and HATE.

Contemplating Maseru Emoto’s experiment, don’t you wonder that if emotions and feelings affect water and we are made up of 70% water, how would they affect our body and health?

Now I will tell you about my experience and Secret. Lately I have been experiencing levels of peace, love and happiness through making soap that I didn’t feel at the beginning. You could say that it is a type of creative “Ecstasy”, nothing like religious ecstasy, but where I reach these feelings I mentioned. It may sound strange to you, and even farfetched, and I am not really bothered if you believe me or not. I just want to share this with people who can at least partially understand and who have the opportunity to feel it too – what I am calling “SAPOTHERAPY”. These experiences can be subtle for some people and stronger for others, however I have felt the need to share it.

For the ingredients in my soaps, there are two that I never list, but that are basic – Love and Happiness.

A good idea so that the ingredients are filled with positive vibrations would be to write the word Love on all of the oils… but you don’t have to….. hee hee hee. People would think you were crazy. And as we have seen, the important thing is your emotional state and how you are feeling in the moment you are making your soap, as that is what you are going to transmit to the ingredients in the moment you are making them. (Can you imagine soap made by machines?)

Now I will detail what is needed, based on my experience, for “Sapotherapy”:

- Time- Music (It can be modern or classical. The best is if it takes you back to your youth or childhood)

- A peaceful place without noise or people. (Alone, as it is like a Yoga or personal meditation.)

- All of the ingredients and materials to make soap.

And nothing else.

Steps to Follow:

First Step

Before starting, take 10 or 15 minutes to relax, sitting in an armchair comfortably and close your eyes.Think about the project that you are about to undertake, but nothing else. Don’t think about how you are going to do it and how you are going to mix the colours. Forget that. Just be relaxed and think that you are going to create a fabulous soap and give thanks for having all of the ingredients and time to do it. Thankful attitude.

Second Step

The music selection is very important for getting you magically into that “creative dream” in such as way that your hands and body dance, guided by your inspiration. Calculate the time that you are going to take and record a CD for that amount of time, including the clearing up (if you do that right away.)

Third Step
Don’t forget to keep an open attitude in case you need to improvise. This is very important, so that you don’t get blocked in case things don’t go as planned. Don’t forget something: your mind may want one thing but your heart may be wishing for something else, and if you are not open to these subtle messages, there will be no magic. After all, you are the instrument, the intermediary, the channel through which the message is being codified, coming from… God knows where.

Fourth Step

Enjoy in harmony the ritual of the moment and communicate with the ingredients affectionately and familiarly, as they can hear you. Remember that the process of Saponification is pure magic for the alquimists from other times and chemical reactions are being produced constantly and you and your intention are carrying out a very important role, you are playing God. If alter making the soap, you clean all the utensils with the same intensity and enthusiasm, it is because you have done good work and you have been inspired with high levels of concentration.
You will not always reach the same level of concentration, but that doesn’t matter. Your soap will vibrate with two more ingredients: Love and Happiness and because of that, it will be magic.


Hi, this is Jen talking again…. I felt this was an important addition to the Cocobong post, in order to understand Sergio and his soaps better. Hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you Sergio for your theories on Sapotherapy! I know my soap always turns out better when I am in the right frame of mind.

Happy Soaping!!!

xo

Jen

Naturalmente Mediterráneo

First Step – Come Up With the Company Name

It took me ages to come up with the name for my company. I wanted to shift away from Jenora. I knew the focus was natural soap and skin care with ingredients from the area where I live: sea salt, aloe vera, honey, oranges, lemons, olive oil, goat milk, wild hand-picked lavender, rosemary, thyme, etc. As I am passionate about this part of the world, I want to share that through my products with others!!

I finally thought of Mediterranean Natural Skincare... But Skincare does not translate nicely into Spanish and nothing else seemed to fit. So I came up with Naturally Mediterranean. Since we are here in Spain, I decided it should be in Spanish – Naturalmente Mediterráneo. It is a bit long and maybe not that easy to pronounce for people who don’t speak Spanish, so for those who wish, then can simplify it to NM.

Next step – Branding & Logo

Shannon at http://cascobaysoap.blogspot.com/ was raving about the designer: dRE at
Solid Art Collective on Etsy ~ http://www.etsy.com/shop/SolidArtCollective,
who did her new logo, so I checked out some of her other designs and loved them so much, I decided to contract dRE to design the logo for Naturalmente Mediterráneo!!

dRE offered a great service at a reasonable price. She promised all the edits needed until I got a logo that I was in love with. And she did it! It must have been really difficult for her because I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted... but she brainstormed based on my basic ideas. She sent me a ton of initial drafts. Then I picked the ones I liked and we narrowed it down. Once we had the basic idea we tweaked and tweaked. It was actually thrilling to work with her. Can you imagine telling an artist what you like and they create what you are describing? And then take it further when you don’t know exactly what you want? So, thanks to the tip from Shannon at Casco Bay Soap, the wonderful design work of dRE at Solid Art Collective, a little decisive help from my husband, the Naturalmente Mediterráneo logo is born.

Coming soon – Next steps... getting a soap stamp and blog banner...

Angel Award - Passing It Along

Thank you so much to Maggie at http://betweenfriendssoap.blogspot.com/ for honouring me with this Angel Award...

In the spirit of passing along the award, giving and honouring some other bloggers who have inspired me, I will pass this along. Some of the blogs I would pass this along to have already been awarded by Maggie at Between Friends and Jan at http://pureandnaturalaromabeauty.blogspot.com/. I wish I give this to ALL of the wonderful blogs that I follow but as I feel I must choose a few, I award the Angel Award to:

http://madelinebea.com/blog/ To Maegan I honour you with this award for your amazing, heart-felt, nakedly honest, motivational and inspirational blog. Your words have touched, helped and guided me through some dark moments over this past year. Your refreshing approach to those "slippery-slope" moments is such an example to live by. I loved the look of your soap & skincare... and only wish I had had the chance to try some before you moved out of skincare and into photography. Your photos are beautifully creative, unique & full of feeling. Thank you Meagan.

http://cascobaysoap.blogspot.com/ To Shannon at Casco Bay Soap, I am honouring you with the Angel Award for your upbeat, colourful and ecclectic blog as well as your help and guidance to my multitude of questions/comments! Your positivity and passion for what you do and the area you live in shine through. Thank you Shannon!
http://pureandnaturalaromabeauty.blogspot.com/

http://crnest.blogspot.com/ To Courtney, I pass this award along to you because of your sweet, personal, informational, diverse and interesting blog. As you have pointed out more than once, what wonderfully supportive connections we have made through blogging. Thank you, my blog-buddy.

http://futureprim.blogspot.com/ To Tiggy, clearly a master artisan soap-maker with some of the most unique looking soaps around, I love your blog and your open sharing and help with fellow soap makers. Your tutorials, guidance & response to questions have been wonderful help! Thank you!!

http://www.soapsnbubbles.com/ To my very sweet blog-friend at Soaps & Bubbles, I honour you with this award for your refreshing spirit & eagerness which shines through in your blog. I send you well wishes in your move to Israel. Thank you!!

There were many more I wish to honour but am afraid I would be hear all day writing this blog. I simply got to F on my alphabetical list of blogs I follow (then jumped to Soaps & Bubbles).

So, thanks to all of the bloggers out there that I follow for sharing your wonderful stories about soaping, your businesses, your lives and inspiring me in some way.

xoxoxo
Jen