Can You Believe...?

Christmas is just around the corner!  It always seems to sneak up on me, which sounds silly I know.  I have a busy month in October each year ... then suddenly (it seems) it is November with December looming ;)

My thoughts have turned to food as inspiration for soap, but not your usual Christmas fare.  Living in a country that celebrates Christmas in Summer we tend to eat salads and cold compilations at Christmas time.  Why did I start craving fudge?  I have been eating sugar free since February so that may have something to do with it.  I have found several wonderful blogs dedicated to healthy eating and discovered that you can make sweetly indulgent treats without sugar, and fudge has been enticing me for a while now.

This craving has transferred to my soaping creations, so please welcome my new range ~ Delightful Fudge Soaps.  These soaps have moisturising olive oil and creamy cocoa butter with luxurious colloidal oatmeal added too.

Raspberry Fudge soap ~ scented with a black raspberry and vanilla fragrance

Honey Fudge soap ~ scented with a honey and vanilla scent

And Vanilla Fudge soap ~ scented with a rich dessert vanilla in the brown and a sweet milky vanilla in the white

Are you feeling hungry yet? *grin*

Have an awesome day xxx

Spring has Sprung!

Or so it seems in my little corner of the world.  My jasmine is blooming and freesias are opening up right now and as for the daffodils ~ they are practically finished!  Who said Spring has to start on 1st September anyway?

To celebrate Spring I have been busy in my kitchen creation station with these new lovelies....

Introducing 'Springtime'.  This is scented with a delightful fragrance reminiscent of fresh spring days ~ a blend of soft florals and juicy citrus; teamed with gentle olive oil, silk and with shea butter added for extra creaminess...

'Freesia Delight' is another new one.  Scented with a soft and creamy spring floral fragrance ~ sweet freesia top notes settling on warm white musk...

I also have re-made my 'Frangipani Holiday' in new, softer colours.  This is scented with Bramble Berry's Plumeria fragrance, which takes me away to a tropical island holiday in my mind...

My most nostalgic memory from my childhood is walking along the lakefront, picking freesias from the grassy banks and inhaling their gorgeous scent.  What is your most precious childhood memory?

Enjoying My Swirls!

Hi there!  Today the sun is shining (when they said it wouldn't) and a very cool breeze is blowing my washing line dry.  Here on the East Coast of Australia we have been blessed with frequent rain (frequent rain...) over the past two years.  We are usually a very dry continent, so all this extra rain has been either a bonus for gardens and lawns, or havoc waiting to be wreaked via floods.  Still, today it is not raining and my washing is drying nicely so I am thankful.


I have been making soap for a new wholesale account and actually thought to take a couple of pics of a new batch in the process of being swirled in my mould.  Would you like to see how I create my swirls?  It is such a simple process with a lovely result.  I use the 'In The Pot' method to colour my soap and once it is poured into the mould it swirls itself. 


Here you can see the soap batter has been poured into my Nizzy mould and I have drizzled the last drops of coloured soap over the top in diagonal lines (sorry for the blurry photo). 

Now you can see it after I have used a chopstick to pull through the soap diagonally back and forth across the mould, starting at the top right corner and finishing at the bottom left.  I then swirl in the same manner across my first lines, starting at the top left corner and finishing at the bottom right.

Lastly, I place my dividers into the soap batter and now you can see how each final bar will look once unmoulded and trimmed.

I have lots of new soap photos to take on our next sunny day, so until then have fun and I will be back with fresh soap bling *smile*

I'm Sorry!

.... really, really sorry.  I am having trouble believing how long it has been since I posted here.  To me, it feels like only a few weeks.  

What have I been doing you ask?  I have been spending time catching up on soap re-stocks as well as spending time on more mundane things, like work.  Hubby and I have also been 'spring cleaning' in winter.  

It is winter in our part of the world..... brrrrrrr.....

The reason?  A really, really good one ~ we have had quite a lot of our interior rooms re-painted (for the first time in more than 18 years!) so it was very well worth scrubbing walls, ceilings, skirting boards and architraves for that.

To make up for how long I have been neglecting you all I am sharing some quick pics of new creations (click on the pics to see them better).  I will have some prettier 'staged' photos very soon, I promise!




New soap 'Rooibos & Lychee' using rooibos (red tea) for the lye liquid and sprinkling rooibos powder on top.  This is scented with a Bramble Berry fragrance oil called Lychee and Red Tea and it smells totally yummy ~

Here is a new version of my 'Kiss Me' soap, using cubed soap embeds on top rather than soap balls.  It still has lots of sparkly glitter on top and soap confetti inside ~

Another new soap 'Vanilla Sunshine' - using vanilla bean powder and tolu balsam essential oil for the swirl and folded orange essential oil for the main scent, this soap smells very orange zesty with a vanilla base note.  It also has almond milk and kaolin clay added ~

I have also been playing with lovely body creams.  Here is my newest emulsified body butter, called 'Beautiful Butter' because it is.  It has lots of lovely moisturising ingredients and was originally created for my niece to use on her pregnant belly.  We soon discovered it to be totally excellent for dry, chapped winter skin anywhere on your body ~

Lastly, I have been creating and testing facial moisturisers.  My favourite so far is 'HoneyBee Cream'.  I add royal jelly and a modified beeswax called cera bellina and it is perfect for my normal to oily facial skin.  It makes a very nice light body cream too ~

I will be back very soon with some polished up pics to share.  Thank you for being patient with me and have a lovely day!

My Really, Really HAPPY Soap!

Hi everyone!  Oh, I so love looking at... and sniffing... this lovely soap.  It was quite simple to make and it truly makes me smile to see it.  I created it to be a companion to my 'Lavender Fields' soap, using the same basic recipe yet changing the scent and colours.  Called 'Orange Grove' ~ I used a Bramble Berry fragrance oil of the same name to scent it and it smells fantastic!  

The fragrance is an interpretation of the Elizabeth Arden perfume Sunflowers ~ "this is what sunflowers would smell like if they were placed smack dab in the middle of a orange grove in full bloom! With some unique middle notes of jasmine, cyclamen and peach, this fragrance has nuance and charm. Subtle musk and vanilla notes hold up the fragrance making it a beguiling sunny floral".


The fragrance is teamed with one of my personal favourite soap recipes including silk, lashings of olive oil and a generous amount of sunflower oil added for a moisturising boost. Shea butter is also included for added creaminess and this recipe has a lovely silky lather.

...and here is my favourite photo ~ 

Orange Grove will be ready to use in two weeks and I can't wait to pop into the shower with a bar!  Have an awesome day *smile*

Swapsies with a Farmwife....

Hello lovelies!  Have you met Donna from the Midlife Farmwife blog?  I love reading her blog for she covers such wide ranging topics as raw milk, saponification Sundays and insightful glimpses in the life of a farmer on a certified organic dairy, beef and swine farm in Illinois USA.
 (which is for sale if you would like to buy it - have a look HERE)


Donna most generously agreed to a soap swap with me recently and promptly sent me three lovely bars of saponifed goodness, together with a beautifully embroidered handkerchief from her collection.  I say 'promptly' as I hadn't even posted my parcel to her!  I was waiting on a soap to cure ~ that's my excuse and I am sticking to it :p


I was surprised when several days later another parcel turned up from Donna.... I thought "oh my goodness, she has forgotten she already sent me one and did it again!"  Yes, I know, not. very. likely.  
Imagine my delight when I opened the second parcel to see this ~

What gorgeous, rich colours and smelling of all things spicy and warm... mmmm.  Donna tells you all about its creation in this blog POST. 
Okay, here are all the lovely soaps she was kind enough to share with me (click on the pic so you can see them better)...

From top to bottom ~ the cute tree shape is Eucalyptus soap and smells so refreshing; Peppermint Polly, Cinnamon Coffee Cake and Once In a Green Moon (don't you love that name?). 


Here they are labelled (I tore the wrapper of the tree one so it didn't get a pic) and my apologies if it is still viewing sideways when you read this.  For some reason it looks perfectly fine in my photobucket account, but not here? ~

And now I want to share how lovely these all are to use.  Donna puts much thought into the creation of each of her soaps and it shows, even if she then tends to multitask while she is actually making them... lol.

The first one that just begged me to try it was Once In a Green Moon.  I love the soft green tones and crisply white topping.  Its scent is fresh and bright with essential oils of Clary Sage and Eucalyptus and it has been coloured with wheat grass powder.  That is definitely going on my list of natural colourants to use in the near future.  I love the embedded 'moons' too.

After that Peppermint Polly was grabbed greedily ~ such pretty pink tones! ~ and smelling sweetly with nicely balanced, light mint.  The Eucalyptus tree shape followed with its fresh and uplifting scent and mottled green patterns.  

All of these soaps create abundant lather from the very first few turns on my washcloth, building very quickly into thick, creamy lather with a very silken feel that lasts all shower long and then some.  The lathers of Green Moon and the Eucalyptus tree feel very soft and almost slippery on my skin and Peppermint Polly also is very soft with a silky feel.  I haven't yet used the Coffee Cake soap as it is just nearing its curing time (I like to try a soap after it has reached four weeks of age).  It will be a special treat for my very next shower!  Oh, and here is one more pic because I am very happy with it ~

Have a wonderful day!

Waste Not, Want Not....

You may remember I recently posted pics of my Valentine's Days soaps here.  Well, I am sad to say that Love Dust lost its scent entirely within a few days of cutting *sad face*  Never mind - the fragrance oil is soooo lovely and I will still scent my lotions and scrubs with it!


I have been pondering what to do with Love Dust as I know from experience that unscented soap doesn't sell well at my market stall unless it also uncoloured and targets sensitive skin.  Here is the first soap I have made using shavings and soap balls.  It is scented with a fragrance oil from Natures Garden called "Kiss and Tell" and is still waiting to be cut....


Love Dust reincarnated (aka Kiss Me) - just out of the mould this morning

It smells so pretty!  The scent includes notes of purple passion fruit, burgundy Tuscan grapes, sun-kissed yellow peonies, fragrant vanilla orchids, and just a hint of fresh greenery.

I will post cut pics just as soon as I can!  Have an awesome day *smile*

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day everyone ♥

Valentine's Day soaps ~ now cut :)

Hello everyone!  I have some new pics to share with you of my Valentine's Day limited edition soaps.  I am thrilled with Hello Handsome ~ my first successful hanger swirl and he smells gorgeous too...

Love Dust is softly pretty and the colours make me smile!

Soft Kisses smells so warm and inviting...mmmm...

I have three more to share once I take some pictures today.  They have been made in my divider slab mould and need trimming to be ready for their closeups ;)

Here is a quick pic of Sultry Rose in the mould...

Have an awesome Day! xx

2012 Is off to a Busy Start!

Okay, we have just finished Christmas and New Year (did you have good ones?) and, wait..... oh my goodness..... Valentine's Day is coming!  Really, that soon?  How does that happen? ;)

As I sold quite a lot of my soaps in the run up to Christmas I have lots of re-makes to do.  However, Valentine's Day is taking precedence in my soap kitchen creation area.  I have some limited edition soaps just made and not yet cut.  Would you like to see some 'quick and dirty' pics?

On the left is Love Dust ~ using an interpretation of Fairy Dust fragrance. This one set up fairly quickly so I didn't get the pretty, wispy swirls I envisioned.
On the right is Hello Handsome (corny, yes I know) ~ using an interpretation of Very Sexy for Him fragrance. They are both still gelling here.

Here is Love Dust just out of the mould. I still love how it turned out ... air pockets and all!

 

Hello Handsome and my other new Valentine's Day soap ~ Soft Kisses ~ sitting on my curing rack waiting to be cut. These are my first 2 ever hanger swirls and I think they worked! I will know more when I actually get them cut. They are still a little soft for that.
Soft Kisses is an interpretation of Cashmere Mist fragrance and smells gorgeous!

I realised after posting these pics on my soaping forum that there is a spider web residing on the wall behind my soap racks - you can see it in the photos. LOL! I actually just looked and I can't even see it with the naked eye (even wearing glasses) yet I could feel a wisp of web when I brushed at it. You do know that Australia is full of spiders - all year round? Especially in summer.
I try hard not to think about it....



I will put up some photos of the cut soaps once I am able to.  I love cutting into a new soap design/colour/fragrance to see just what I have created with the magic of saponification!


Have an awesome day xxx