From My Soap Kitchen to Yours

I used to feel kind of proprietary towards my soap recipes. Not because they were/are anything special or unique. More because it really is a pet peeve of mine to see novice soapers asking other people for their recipes with no intention of starting at the bottom. If you really, really want to make soap and have fun with it you should create a few recipes. SoapCalc is so much fun to play in, the combinations are nearly endless! It's cool to try some weird combos that you may not have seen (100% palm anyone?) but that doesn't mean they are bad or can't teach you about how each oil works!I can't see why anyone would just want someone else's recipe to do forever till the end of time without trying anything new. BO-ring.

Finally, FINALLY

I now have a curing rack for soap. I have wanted a real designated spot for curing soap that is airy, cool and, frankly, out of my personal space. I was very tired of them taking up my kitchen counter space, closet space and even floor space (they were in boxes, never fear). Now that Nate and I live in a larger place with a guest room, I carved myself out a little craft corner. It's not a big house for two people and one cat, but it has enough extra seldom used space to fit this area in. I seriously envy those who have large basements with curing racks and whole dedicated craft rooms. Someday.

Almond Crunch Soap

The last few soaps I've made have been fresh or citrus scents so I did a warm fragrance this time. Oh man... this Almond Cybilla from Bramble Berry makes my mouth water. The Bramble Berry fragrance calculator suggested only .30oz for 30oz of soap! Since I can't follow directions, I added .70oz. Spoiler, nothing bad happened! I didn't have my design plan worked out until just before. I super like how it came out.

Misty Forest Soap

I did another palm-free recipe here, same as the one for the Margarita Lime soap. I got a little acceleration, I assume from the fragrances. I have so many little amounts of fragrance that are not enough to make a whole batch from. Some that I don't really think are actually good enough to want to make a whole batch from! I combined all three of these Crafter's Choice fragrances. 1.73oz Frasier Fir, .99oz Clean Cotton and .40oz Abalone & Sea (I only used 1.40oz of this mix) . The fir needle was kind of a wild card in this trio, the other two smelling fairly similar and clean. It came out nicely! Like a clean fir tree, not overwhelmingly fir needle smelling.

Margarita Lime Soap

This is a Wholesale Supplies Plus fragrance that is supposed to be lime, tequila and orange. It smells like lime only out of bottle and only a light lime once soaped. I'm surprised by the reviews who say this smells like straight tequila... I don't think they know what tequila smells like.

Sparkling Ginger Soap

SOAP!!! I got the urge to make some. One of Nate's favorite soap fragrances is Bramble Berry's Ginger Ale. I had a decent amount of this unused and it's just so fresh and wonderful. I love it too.

Where's the Soap?

S.O.A.P. Panel Scents: FINAL THOUGHTS

S.O.A.P. Panel Scents #7 & #8

These smelled similar OOB and in soap. #7 was sweet, fruit smelling. #8 was a citrus and earthy 'pumpkin' smell. The earthy wet gourd smell did dissipate when they were soaped. I really couldn't figure out what fruit sweet smell #7 was. I don't think I have a nose for fruit (or perhaps any smell...) since I found those hardest to distinguish from each other.

I used these at 7%. I didn't notice any significant scent throw from either of these. Both were similar in color and viscosity. I forgot to take a picture of them next to each other, but they looked very similar.

S.O.A.P. Panel Scents #5 & #6

Wow these smelled really different to me when I smelled them a second time. My nose must have been fatigued when I got to them in the scent line up last time!

I still couldn't figure out what #5 was. It seemed like the first smell wasn't that great, but then just as you stopped smelling a sweet (frustratingly!) familiar scent came through. I couldn't work it out OOB, so I called this one Bubblegum. Since it smelled sweet and nostalgic, like a big dusty cube of pink bubblegum. After soaping it, more of a warm vanilla came through. Like fruit and cream or butterscotch and raspberry. #6 smelled TOTALLY different to me OOB. I smelled a hint of citrus at first but then a really nice herbal smell, perhaps some lavender and mint? Totally -hands down- smelled herbal. Yet when I unmolded it, I got more of an Old Spice-ish clean smell. Still unisex and really nice. These smelled nice and strong out of the mold, I hope they stay that way (especially #6)!

S.O.A.P. Panel Scents #3 & #4

Before soaping these I was calling them Cough Medicine(#3) and Candied Flowers(#4), buuuut they revealed their true selves during saponification. Let's just say I wanted to hug them, and might have kissed them. They really just grew up so well *tear*.

While soaping these #3 smelled truly awful to me. Like thick syrupy cherry cough medicine. No joke, when I unmolded this it became my favorite so far. I hummed 'A Whole New World' while I peeled away the freezer paper lovingly. It turned into a sweet, warm smell. Not overly sweet like candy. Almost like baked goods with a subtle spice smell. Complex and 100% huff-able. #4 smelled sweet, sort of flowery, powdery OOB and I liked it fine. When I unmolded this one. Blueberries. Right away it hit me. Not a true blueberry though, more like a fresh baby in clean clothes with blueberries all over their little face. 

Soda Ash

Soda ash... the saddest thing to see on a decorative soap top. 

I've read several different methods soapers use try to prevent soda ash and then try to remove it if those fail. If you Google 'soda ash' you will find TONS of info from more experienced soapers than myself. The following is what I tested personally!

S.O.A.P. Panel Scents #1 & #2

I'm affectionately calling these Carmex (#1) and Jellybeans (#2).

While soaping these #1 smelled more smoky, earthy and herbal. It's probably a men's scent or unisex. I'm not partial to camphor personally but I know Carmex has been around for ages, so I bet some people would dig it! #2 smelled sweet and spring like. My first thought was a handful of jelly beans at Easter.

S.O.A.P. Panel Scents (First Impression)

CPOP

Something I have been wanting to try since I started soaping is the CPOP or cold process oven process method. This means you soap like normal, but then put the poured soap into a 170°F oven and force gel. I periodically fight overheating, especially in beer or milk soaps, so putting a soap batch in a warm oven sounds scary. But once upon a time making soap at all sounded scary, so there is no way to find out what can or can't be done without doing it.

Huzzah! Success! 

I not only CPOPed a soap, I did a milk soap, with CITRUS fragrance. Oh yeah I'm wild. I used about 40% whole milk yogurt and 60% goat milk. I did a Bastille with 10% castor and 90% olive oil. Added kaolin clay and colloidal oatmeal as well.

Snuggly Nights Soap

Peacock swirl in a loaf mold? Yes you can!

My good friend's fiancé named this soap! 'Snuggly' because clean cotton, and 'nights' because it reminded him of Van Gogh's Starry Night. What a compliment! Also what a perfect name <3

The S.O.A.P. Panel Plan Proposal

(Say that five times fast) 

Ok, I've thought it through. 

I have a couple of one pound silicone molds that seem perfect for testing the 1oz fragrances (they are!) However it would use up the whole bottle. I'd like to perform a consistent study and have some of the fragrance left over for  some wild cards if I desired. Shampoo bars, salt soap bars, etc. I want to stretch these as far as they will go.

Coconut Soap

Coconut scented. 

I love the smell of coconut, real stuff or the fake sunscreen stuff. All great to me. I've read that coconut scent in CP soap is pretty tricky. It can morph to a plastic smell or just fade away to nothing. After reading reviews on Wholesale Supplies Plus for their Caribbean Coconut and Exotic Coconut I decided to just get some 2oz bottles and try it. I was really excited to smell them when they arrived and they did not disappoint. While they are both very different, they both smell coconutty. However, don't kid yourself, neither of these smell like REAL coconut. The only thing I have ever smelled that smelled like real coconut is, yeah, a coconut (or virgin coconut oil).

The Caribbean Coconut smells more sweet and reminds me of Bath and Body Works Coco Cabana. The Exotic is more mellow and while still sweet, almost drier or more musky? More grown up I suppose. I saw one review on Caribbean Coconut that says to use much more than the standard amount. It has 10% vanilla which means it will turn quite dark (Excellent article for judging how brown the percent of vanilla will make your soap: "Why Did My Soap Turn Brown" on the Soap Queen Blog).

The only colors I thought of with coconut were brown and white. Not very inventive, but assuming anything fragranced would turn brown anyway, I just embraced the simplicity.

Secret S.O.A.P. Panel

GUESS WHO JUST GOT FAMOUS!??!?!?!?!?! (I'm so modest right?)

Golly, I didn't even have time to prepare an award show style 'thank you' speech. 

I have a couple ideas for these 8 little babies! Mostly CP soap, but if any are just to-die-for they might end up in something else too... like shampoo bars, lotion, hair conditioner or sugar scrub. I know cold process is really the harshest test for a fragrance, but anyone make shampoo bars? I've actually found it quite hard to find a scent that sticks around and transfers to your hair and stays there all day making it smell good at >2%. (Bramble Berry's Amber is one of them if you were curious).

So get your reading hats, or typing gloves or internet jacket on and follow along!*

*I didn't think 'party pants' applied? Haha I'm just too excited to make sense right now.

Bee Meadow Soap

Another crack at layers! After Foamy Waves went so well I wanted to try again. I bought Bramble Berry's Wildflower Honey fragrance oil and have been really excited to use it. Oh man, it smells like a fresh bouquet of wildflowers. This is the best and truly most transporting (it reminds me of something in my childhood) floral I have smelled yet. I don't get any honey notes, but if I were a bee I would be all over that smell.

I thought it would look very sweet with pastel colors, so I went the other direction! I used some bright colors instead since it seemed like the less obvious thing to do and therefore more fun.