My Very First Soap - EUREKA

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

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!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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