A blog for a soapmaker

I love soap-making. I go through the supplies far too quickly for my own good, but I can't help it! As soon as one batch is curing in the mold I start thinking up half a dozen new batches I want to try out, and I simply don't have the patience to wait until I've sold items before grabbing in new supplies. Unfortunately I am going to have to force myself to be patient for a few days as I managed to use up the last of my lye! I do have some lovely, soft MP soap bases I can play with in the meantime, so I'm going to try making some cute novelty soaps over my usual rustic items.

Yesterday's hard work and soap experiments almost ended in disaster! The first batch of soap set oddly with unpleasant, crumbly bits in and the second formed a strange, crystalline mass of soap floating in a vat of unconverted oil. Not pretty! Fortunately I was able to rebatch both lots and convert them into lovely items after all.

I'll be adding in a batch of oats, honey and mandarin exfoliating rustic soap, some rustic men's shaving soap blocks and hopefully a nice, clean and simple pale cream soap in herbal scents. The soaps all lather up really nicely, and the aromas are subtle. I don't like heavy fragrances at the best of times, and with the hot weather we've been having I cannot imagine wanting to smell of anything too strongly.


Speaking of which, my newest batch of moisturisers came out really nice. I've tried making whipped moisturisers and thicker, creamier ones like you can buy on the highstreet, but I wanted to make something lighter and cleaner feeling for the hot weather. I cannot stand mositurisers that sit on the skin and leave you feeling sticky.

With that in mind, these are somewhere between a set cream and an liquid oil. The fluid set means the moisturiser soaks in really quickly, and because they are almost entirely pure shea butter and almond oil, with just a tiny bit of beeswax and fragrance, they are a lot richer than most store-bought options. I've made options in cucumber, ylang ylang and jasmin so far. Might make some other ones soon, but first I need more shea butter!

One for the menfolk, here. My other half cannot stand the sort of over the top, sickly aromas in commercial men's toiletries. He's 28; he doesn't want to smell like a locker room full of teenage boys! In that vein, I've been making some men's shaving soaps in masculine, mature aromas. Nag Champa and Woodland Spice are the only options up so far, but I'm planning on more soon.