Welcome!

This is just a quick post to welcome my new followers!  I will have some new pics up soon so you will all have something to look at ;)  I am running in a new (for that, read 'borrowed') camera since my old one died and once I work it out I have several new batches to take pics of.


Meanwhile, I do have a couple from recent batches to show you.  I posted about a 'Bloke's Soap' I created on March 2nd here and this is the cut pic -

I am calling it Guys'n'Dolls because every girl who has smelled it loves it too, so definitely not just for blokes!


Dreamy Apple was made using a scent I have been longing to try in soap for ages.  One of my favourite smells in the world is a crisp, juice apple and I found the perfect fragrance oil to use.  This scent sticks so well and it is all I can do not to take a bite out of my soap!

Have a wonderful day people *smile*

A Wonderful Information & Resource Website......

Soap Making Essentials is an excellent site, created by Cathy Winsby from Canada.  I first happened upon Cathy's site when I joined a soap making forum where she is a member. 

Cathy has pulled together some wonderful information about the process of soap making, materials, methods and formulas for the beginner and advanced soap maker alike. 

To browse her wonderful site, please click on the link button on the right hand side of my blog page and enjoy!

Have a wonderful day :)

I Love Surprises!!!

....so imagine my delight when a parcel arrived the other day for me from my good soaping friend Clear Marie of Artisan Soaps in New Zealand.  Clear is an extremely conscientious soapmaker who makes beautiful soap, creams, balms and a range of bath and body products - all of which are tested carefully and scented divinely!


left - Desert Rose Castile soap; centre back - Orange Creamsicle Body Powder and Chocolate Orange Lip Balm; right - Aussie Surfer soap; centre front - Coconut Coffee Bastile soap. 
Aren't they wrapped beautifully?  I love the coreflute card and colourful paper or thread ties....earthy yet elegant at the same time:

Here they are with the soap wrappers removed -

You can see that Aussie Surfer has a cut line down through the middle.  I was planning on cutting each bar in half to use in my shower, with a half bar to keep.  I cut it before I remembered to take some pics, so here is a look at the inside of this bar *smile*...now I can say I did it on purpose....what a perfect mica line!

I will be using Aussie Surfer in my shower first and I am so looking forward to trying each of these lovely soaps!  The body powder is so silky soft and light - it is already a favourite - and the lip balm is perfectly moisturising without being heavy.


Thank you Clear!!!

Soap Spa Parties.....

My soap table seems to be taking longer and longer to set up for my Soap Spa Parties.  I decided to display my soap at home and take some pics to study in the hopes of streamlining what I do....lol.

Gift Sets......

Normally I just unpack each box of soap onto the table in any order.  What do you think of my colour palette set up?  This will be easier to remember at least!  Of course, I had hardly any body butters or salt scrubs left, so I will need to rethink distribution again!

Have a wonderful week everyone *smile*

In the mould......

I made my Eye of the Tiger soap today and ohh...it smells sooo good!!!  It has a lovely, mysterious and oriental scent with creamy base notes that perfectly compliment the tiger colours I use.  I add macadamia nut oil for its moisturising properties as well as cocoa butter.  Cocoa butter is considered a skin softener in skincare as it adds a protective barrier which holds moisture to your skin.

Here are a couple of pics of Eye of the Tiger in my Nizzy mould.....

If you would like to see pics of this soap unmoulded you can visit my facebook page for Titania's Dreamy Delights HERE

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Australia Day Soaps ready for labelling.......

Last month I posted some 'in the mould' pics of the soaps I made on January 26th (Australia Day) and as they are now ready to be labelled I thought I would take some pics before doing that :)

 

Bay Avocado, with pureed avocado and banana

 

9ct Gold, with carrot juice and mustart seed oil

 

Unscented Goatsmilk, a mostly Olive Oil soap - gentle and mild

These soaps are ready in time for a Soap Spa Party that one of my customers is hosting for me on Sunday.  I am really looking forward to sharing these!

Have a wonderful weekend :)

Soap for Blokes......

Recently I have been asked by several guests at my soap spa parties to make soap for 'blokes' (guys in US vernacular).  My reply was "I have several soaps that men like", and I do.  My Lime in de Coconut, Eye of the Tiger, Very Vanilla and Dreamy Coffee & Cream soaps are all popular with my male customers.  However, several ladies have menfolk who want soap that doesn't have too much 'stuff' in it....you know, like butters and milks and fancy oils and fruit.  So here is my first attempt, still in the mould.  I scented this with an essential oil blend of lime, lavender and patchouli and it smells gorgeous!  Uhhh...I mean 'masculine' *wink*

(I will admit that I couldn't stop myself from adding silk....shhhh, don't tell on me!)

Lotions and Potions....

I love making my soap and feel that every single batch is an amazing and magical experience, even the ones that don't turn out as I expect....or perhaps especially those batches *smile*.
 
Something I haven't really be drawn to do and have even been a little afraid of up until now, is lotion making.  Why?  Well I certainly worried that I wouldn't be able to keep my area as sterile as I have read it needs to be; I am a kitchen soaper and know that, for soapmaking, as long as my bench and utensils are clean I am good to go.  I also didn't want to get involved in having to add preservatives to products (soap doesn't need any!) -  Which preservative to use?  How much to use?  How can I know the ph factor of my lotion so the preservative works.....?  You can see how my mind was working.  Thinking on all the negatives I could conjure up.

Well, yesterday I finally bit the bullet and made my very first emulsified lotion.  Basically, creams and lotions are an emulsion of oil and water, you see.  I decided to use my favourite soaping oils as a starting point and created Nourishing Skin Nectar featuring cocoa butter as well as rice bran, avocado and camellia tea seed oils combined with aloe vera juice.  I added a small amount of carrot tissue infused oil for its skin properties too....an added bonus was the lovely colour it added to my lotion.  Have a look:

I learned that lotions are rather easy to make and keeping my work area sterile is much easier than I expected.  Now I am working on a Balancing Skin Nectar recipe *smile*.

Enjoy your weekend!

Busy Week!

I have had a rather busy week - and not making soap!

My Mother-in-Law was taken ill and required emergency surgery, which she was not expected to survive....but survive she did.  She is tough, but we didn't realised just how tough!  Although she is still in her hospital's high care unit, she is slowly improving thank goodness *smile*.

So, now that I feel I can make soap I have made a batch a day for three days - Lime in de Coconut, Island Coconut and Creamy Fruit Salad.  The latter is one I will be introducing to my range as a teen facial soap, tailored to suit the oiliness and hormonal outbreaks of pimples that all teens dread.  Extensive testing by my own teens and their friends have shown that is really help clean, balance their skin and minimise the appearance and redness of these outbreaks.  Pics will be up very soon!

Have an awesome weekend and and even better week ahead......Tanya

New Body Butter recipe.....

I have been playing with my Whipped Body Butter recipe and love how this turned out!  Ingredients include avocado oil and cocoa butter.  I scented this with Rice Flower and Shea fragrance and it smells so soft and fresh *smile*