Soap

Soap Challenge Club: Teardop Swirl

/ definitelynotafarmer / 8 Comments

teardropswirlsoap

I loved this month’s Soap Challenge Club with Great Cakes Soapworks, the Teardrop Swirl. It was definitely a challenge, but I’m pleased with how the bar pictured turned out. The rest of the batch… not so much. It cracked badly and tore when I cut it. Luckily I got one good one to enter for this month’s challenge, plus I’m really happy with how the colors turned out. A palette I’ll definitely try again!

I used coconut oil, canola oil, palm oil, rice bran oil, and hemp seed oil. I’m not sure why it ended up cracking, but I suspect it was because I froze the batch before I took it out of the mold. The soap is scented with Sensuous Sandalwood fragrance oil from Brambleberry and I used activated charcoal, titanium dioxide, yellow oxide, brick red oxide, and purple mica for the colorants.

Next month’s challenge looks tough, but I think it will be fun to tackle. A special thanks to Amy at Great Cakes Soapworks for hosting these challenges and for all the encouragement shared by the participants.

Soaping

/ definitelynotafarmer / Leave a comment

 

soap pic for blog

Calendula and Rose Clay Soap

 

Soap making is my newest obsession. It started as an idea for homemade Christmas gifts and has spiraled into infatuation. Crafts that are math and science heavy have always attracted me (lookin’ at you sewing) and soaping definitely satisfies that urge.

So far I’ve made 10 batches, each a little better than the last. The blog The Soap Queen has been my go-to guide for recipes, ingredient info, and so many “why the heck did that happen?” questions.

soap2 pic for blog

Layered Clay Soap

I’ll admit I’m also a little obsessed with the blog writer, Anne-Marie Faiola, who also is the founder and CEO of the soap making supply company Bramble Berry. I’ve gotten all of my supplies from them so far and have read pretty much the entire blog. I greatly admire women who have started their own business and Anne-Marie has written quite a bit on the blog about her business ideas, challenges, and experiences.

The idea of starting my own bath and body product line has bounced around in my head for awhile. The thing about soap though is there is a lag time between when you make a batch and when you can fully evaluate it. Cure time is 4 to 6 weeks, and then the soap can change- sometimes for the worse- over the course of the next year. Dreaded Orange Spots can appear months after the soap is made. So recipe development is slow by default.

Can’t wait to share the results and some recipes too!