See I kept my promise...I'm back! So like I told you all yesterday I made 3 batches of soap: Chamomile, Oceanfront, and Lavender Eucalyptus. I was so excited to be back in the kitchen soaping after a little hiatus I did all my prep work the night before so I was ready to go come 6am.
My first batch came out wonderful! That was the Chamomile.
Isn't it pretty and soothing looking?! I put chamomile flowers throughout the entire batch and then sprinkled a few flower buds on the top. I'm pleased with the way this one came out so we'll see how it looks when I cut the bars down to size. It smells absolutely wonderful, I love Chamomile Tea and this smells just like it! Very relaxing. I'm not sure what to call this one so any suggestions would be welcomed! I wanted something more than "just" Chamomile. Maybe "Relaxing Chamomile Tea"? I don't know...let me know what you think. Either on Facebook or below in the comments section.
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OK those are lovely so on to my second batch. "Oceanfront" was inspired by my love of the beach. Especially Myrtle Beach, SC -- if you've never been you should go it's one of the best beaches IMO....but I may be a little partial :o)
Anywho back to my soap...I had a great soap planned. It was suppose to be White with blue swirls throughout (kind of ocean inspired) with a blue/white swirl on top. Not too fancy but pretty ya know. As I mixed my oils, fragrance, and lye solution together the mixture STARTED TO SEIZE!!
Now for all of you who are not soapmakers and you don't know what that means. The best way I can describe it is the soap begins to thicken up quickly (really almost instantly in this case) and it's more like the consistency of applesauce or thick mashed potatoes. Everything started to immediately separate and not blend together. You should have seen me screaming!! "Drama Queen" I know! I immediately poured it into the mold and pushed it down in there trying to smooth the top to make it look decent. Went back to check on it like 15-20 minutes later and it literally was like a mold full of oil...all separated. As you will see below I then dumped the soap out of the mold and into my crockpot. I decided to slow cook it and then put it in a round mold with the hopes that it can be salvaged somewhat. We'll see later when I unmold it how it turned out.
LESSON THAT I LEARNED: When working with new fragrances or essential oils remember to do a "small" test batch so that you don't waste your ingredients if all doesn't go as planned. :o)
I will make an attempt at my dream "Oceanfront" soap again. I may need to find another combination of scents though.
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So now on to my 3rd batch. I was a little nervous about mixing this one up even though I've made my Lavender Eucalyptus soap TONS of times! But I was beginning to doubt my skills. I waited about 30 minutes and then attempted it. This one came out beautiful as usual. I tried to leave most of it cream colored this time and only a small portion on the top is lavender, so I'm also anxious to see how this one turned out once the bars are cut!
So those were my soaping adventures yesterday. I will unmold and cut these down today and report back to you all! Thank you for reading and listening to my soap rambles! Until next time...
