With Valentines Day just two weeks away, I am very happy to announce that the pirate-themed Valentine soaps are now available: For the girls: South Seas Siren is a combination of a Michael Kors type fragrance which is comprised of white florals, warmed with delicate top notes of bergamot, apricot, peach, and plum, finished with [...]
As I was looking through my stash of fragrances the other day, I re-discovered a one-ounce sample of Strawberries & Champagne fragrance. It’s only enough for a six-bar batch, but after thinking about the Sweet Pea & Rhubarb soap I made last year for Valentines Day I came up with a plan. Using a similar [...]
Missed part 1? Check it out here. After Kendra finished making her soap, I was ready to start mine. I had picked out four different micas to create my latest favorite method: faux funnel pour soap. I had re-heated my oils using Kendra’s hot plate, and overshot the temp I was aiming for, so by [...]
Last year I met Kendra of Amathia Soapworks who lives about 20 minutes from me, after she found me on Facebook via Celine of iamhandmade in Ireland. This is how the internet works for us!! We’ve been to lunch at Panera several times, talking soap for hours on end. Right around Christmas time Kendra suggested [...]
This is just a quick post to let you know that I updated my tutorial on How to Make Goat’s Milk Soap yesterday. I’ve changed my method slightly, plus the photos were all skewed in the original post so I fixed that too! I added links to other pertinent posts as well. I use fresh, [...]
This is mostly for my customers who may or may not have an idea of how soap is made. I use the cold-process method, which means there is no heat applied to the soap. The visions most people have of their grandmothers or other people “in olden days” making soap in a huge kettle over [...]
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard other soapmakers say they just hate to line their soap mold! I find it pretty relaxing, and thanks to the lesson from my soapmaking friend April McCart, there’s a method I use that is leak-proof and turns out beautiful soaps every time. I use wooden log molds [...]
A couple weeks ago, Erin at Inner Earth Soaps posted about the problems she had with her new soap cutter causing what looked like air pockets in her soap. As I read her post, I realized that my soaps had experienced the same problems, but I hadn’t linked it to the soap cutter (we have [...]
Today was a marathon soapmaking day, mostly in preparation for the holiday season. I made four batches of soap and each of them was a different recipe. I had melted all the oils last night, and cooked a bottle of beer, but everything else I did today. The first batch was another shampoo bar tester, [...]
This is for Donna who asked how I swirled the Winter Rose soap! With comments like “it needs its own museum,” and “If I made that I would be putting one on the mantelpiece and spend all day gazing at it,” how could I refuse? I wish I had a video of the whole process [...]
