A pretty fragrance with a bad reputation ..

I'm talking about Black Magic, which is described as 'a truly divine fragrance with an enchanted forest feel - a blend of fresh Siberian fir, sweet spices and vanilla!'

I love the name and I loved the scent when I first sniffed it out of the bottle .. And despite it's being well known as a troublemaker (seizing) I had absolutely no issues while soaping it .. So keep your temps low and you should be good to go :)

I know this looks totally wrong for it's namesake, but we all know what Vanilla does to soap don't we?! So I sprinkled a little (cosmetic grade) glitter on top to liven it up when it does go dark ..

I took this today while bevelling
- excuse the green reflection, I do leadlight ..

On a personal note, I woke up this morning with a sore throat and swollen glands :( so I've been munching on childrens Vit C pills as it's all I have in the cupboard .. I've only recently got over months of pneumonia and I can't tell you how sick I am of being sick!

Anywho, hope you're all enjoying the last of the week-end, whatever that sees you doing ♥

The Vanilla Files (part 2)

Well I finally soaped the last of my Vanilla samples from Big Tree Supplies last night, and an unscented loaf for colour comparison .. Each was done using the following formula:80% Olive Oil
20% Coconut Oil
33% Lye Solution Strength
Fragrance: 3% of total oil amount (15ml FO to 500g oil)
It's a simple soap that used up what I had a lot of, but more to the point if left unscented gives me a nice light bar so we can see what the FO's really do colour wise .. Of course I'm just a kitchen hobby soaper, so this is no clinical trial under exact circumstances - there have been hot days and mild wet days, some where soaped at night and others during the morning, some gelled on their own while others didn't (all were left to saponify in the same location), and a couple were even put into the freezer (after fully setting & cooling) because they didn't want to release .. However I have done my best to keep things the same so the results would be valid ..

As far as my notes on each oil, I think I'm going to just summarise for now because there honestly wasn't much of a difference when it came to the actual soaping, other than slight colour variation .. That is until I did the unscented comparison loaf which took three times longer to reach trace! Oh I forgot to mention all were soaped with ROOM TEMP LYE & OILS .. With 80%OO & 33% LSS I really wasn't concerned about acceleration, this is how I like to soap .. OK then, here we go:

Very Vanilla - Bitter Creek North (soaped 8/2/10)
{cracking is my fault/impatience to unmould!}




Pink Sugar - The Candle Source (soaped 9/2/10)



Sandalwood Vanilla - Elements Bath & Body (soaped 10/2/10)



Vanilla Bean Noel - Daystar Supplies (soaped 10/2/10)



Vanilla Bean - Daystar Supplies (soaped 11/2/10)
{shine is just condensation as I had to freeze to unmould}



*Buttercream Frosting - Daystar Supplies (soaped 11/2/10)
I accidentally wrote *Butterscotch on this bar
{again condensation}




Vanilla Abricot - Daystar Supplies (soaped 16/2/10)
{this one Ashed on me!}




Marshmellow Fluff - Daystar Supplies (soaped 16/2/10)



Vanilla de Madagascar - Daystar Supplies (17/2/10)



Warm Vanilla Sugar - The Candle Source (soaped 17/2/10)


Drizzled Honey Vanilla - Daystar Supplies (soaped 18/2/10)


Musk Vanilla - Natures Garden (soaped 18/2/10)
{unmoulding issues big time!}


Black Raspberry Vanilla - Natures Garden (soaped 19/2/10)


* UNSCENTED * (soaped 19/2/10)


Gosh if you've made it this far then thanks for viewing - and if you can appreciate the effort I'm putting into sharing all this then please do take the time to leave a comment :D

I will take new photo's (in better lighting) & update with notes on fragrance each Monday; lather trials will start in six weeks (5th April - Easter Monday) and I'll take pics of that too .. {click for larger view}

And I just want to throw out the idea that if anyone wants to send 15ml samples of any Vanilla oils not mentioned here, I would love to soap them and add to this list!

I'd especially love to compare oils that go by the same name from different suppliers, so if you have any spare &/or are feeling generous, just leave a comment or email me: clear.marie[at]gmail.com for a postal address ..
Never hurts to ask right?!

~ Wishing you all a wonderful week-end ♥

Read My Lips ..

I know you're all waiting on the Vanilla pictures but I'm going to make you wait another day, sorry .. I only have one more oil (Black Raspberry vanilla) and my unscented loaf (for comparison) to soap, and then I can share them altogether and give weekly updates following that .. So sit tight!

So this post is all about the lips - Lip Balms that is ..

I've actually been using a tweaked version of Grace Fruits recipe for some time now, ((Click Here For Original - the one with Sweet Almond Oil)) but was wanting something a bit different .. I'm not that fussed on a glossy appearance, and I want it to do more than create a surface barrier from the elements .. What I really wanted was a balm that would sink in and actually condition my lips .. Yes that's what I'm looking to make, a Lip Conditioner ..

So I experimented with a few other recipes today, some Vegan, others certainly not (Beeswax & Lanolin), and like most experiments each taught me something new .. Of course they're all fresh so need a couple of days to show their true potential ..


Does anyone know the trick of not getting the dip in the centre of the pot?
Interesting how it's only happened to the Beeswax ones!

This last one I literally just finished .. It's an out of the box formulation I created with Sweet Almond, Beeswax, Castor, Cocoa Butter, Jojoba Butter Blend (Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil), Honey, Lanolin, Olive, & Wheatgerm Oil .. I even coloured it with a sprinkling of Mica, and scented with a Flavour Oil (the others are Essential Oils) called Bourjois; notes of black currant, raspberry, jasmine, orange blossom, and woody violets = it's light and sophisticated, and really lovely!


Of course I've been trying these all day, and the good news is that if I'm not there already, I'm very close to what I wanted to achieve :D

The Vanilla Files .. (part 1)

As I mentioned in an earlier post Vanillin in fragrance has a way of discolouring soap .. This is something a soapmaker has to accept, unless they choose to use a new product called Vanilla Stabiliser .. The disadvantages of this is that increases the cost of the soap, add's more chemicals, and may not work with all fragrances (results are varied) ..

So before I go that route I've decided to test a number of Vanillin based Fragrance Oils in the same recipe (80%OO - 20%CO), and take notes/photo's of each over the following year to determine:

• Colour of Cured Soap (soap needs time to cure/mature just like wine & cheese, this could be 6wks - 6months depending on the formula)
  
  
• Colour of Lather (white is good, brown is unacceptable)
  
  
• How Scent holds in bar (over a year)
  
  
• How Scent sticks to skin (can you still smell it after leaving the shower?)
  
  
• The Fragrance itself!

The Oils I will be testing are all available from {{ Karen @ Big Tree Supplies }} whom I highly recommend!

• Very Vanilla*
  
• Vanilla Bean*
  
• Vanilla Sandalwood*
  
• Vanilla Bean Noel*
  
• Pink Sugar*
  
• Marshmellow Fluff*
  
• Vanilla de Madagascar*
  
• Black Raspberry Vanilla
  
• Vanilla Abricot*
  
• Butterscotch Frosting*
  
• Warm Vanilla Sugar*
  
• Musk Vanilla
  
• Drizzled Honey Vanilla Creme
  

Names with an * means I have already soaped these and photo's will be uploaded asap :)

Warm Mahogany Spice

~ The rich, exotic fragrance of African mahogany wood, warmed by a unique blend of Tunisian spices takes your mind to far away places ~






I'm so happy with how these turned out!

Karma Kazi ..

A blend of patchouli, sweet orange, lemongrass & hints of musk and amber ~

In the Mould:

Cut Bars:



It's overcast so this is the best I could do to show the true colour (dusky pink):


Love Love LOVE this scent!

Energy Bars ..

~ Energy is a stimulating blend of Citrus, including Grapefruit, Lemon and Lime, with hints of fresh Cucumber and Jasmine, and a touch of Pineapple, Blackberry and Champagne ~




These bars have my whole house smelling great!

Science or Soap Gremlins ??

Things don't always go to plan when making soap, so here's some photo's from batches that I chalk up to experience ..

The most worrying to any soapmaker is DOS (dreaded orange spot), which is when the free oils turn rancid .. This seems to be most common when working with oils that have a short shelf life, or when soap is exposed to heat for periods of time, like being left in a car etc ..


Ash is purely an aesthetic issue creating a thin surface layer on the soap .. It can be washed off or left to naturally dissolve during use - it won't harm skin! As yet we don't have a definite understanding of why this occurs on some bars, though there are a number of theories about Lye, Salts, specific Fragrant & Essential Oils, &/or Exposure to Air ..


Partial Gell is also an aesthetic issue where the centre of the soap gells during the saponification process (*gelling is when the soap turns transparent and a Vaseline like consistency in the mould)but the outside edges don't, causing a 'picture frame' look on the bar .. Some soapers prefer to fully gell their soap and thus insulate or even cook their batches, others try to reduce any chance of it gelling by putting their moulds in the freezer ..


Goats Milk soap is very popular for it's luxurious creamy lather and gentle cleansing ability, however when making it precautions need to be made to make sure the milk doesn't burn when the Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) is added, or it will turn a dark orange colour and give off the horrible smell of Amonia .. It's common practice to freeze the milk and sit it in an ice bath as you slowly add & stir in the NaOH .. 90% of the soap I make uses Goats Milk for the total liquid, and I've not had a problem with it before this particular batch .. I showed this picture to a number of soapers and our best guess is that it's burned milk solids .. On reflection I was using up the last of the GM I had in the freezer (which had been in there for a couple of months) and had some lumps of fat/cream on top ..


Discolouration is another issue soapers must face when using specific fragrances, especially those containing Vanillin as this will darken over time, sometimes even causing the soaps lather to be brown! Other fragrances will turn the bars yellow, and some have no effect on colour at all .. This picture shows the same bar of 'Very Vanilla' soap and was taken over a week:


Weeping can be caused by poor or unbalanced oil choice when formulating a recipe, or high humidity .. It is not generally a dark colour such as in this image, but as I mentioned above this soap used a vanillin rich fragrance that caused discolouration and thus the weeping too is brown ..


Salt bars often show this weeping/sweating too due to the humectant quality of the soap combined with humidity:


Wet cracking is not that well known in soaping circles, so from my limited research I've discovered it can be due to formulation (My experience was with a high Tallow/Coconut blend) and occurs when bars of soap dry rapidly after a good soak ..


The following two photo's were sent to me by Sharon of { Platypus Dreams Gourmet Bodycare } - Thanks Heaps for sharing these and allowing me to post them Sharon! {{hugs}}

Lye Spots/Streaks – soap not being mixed enough in the soap pot or mixed in properly .. (pictures taken 03-2007 used with permission from Platypus Dreams)


Overheating can occur with certain fragrances (FO's & EO's), if Honey or Milk soaps are insulated, or when the soap gremlins are just plain feeling mischievous! The result can be anything from darkened looking soap, crust and cracks on the surface of the soap, or even a volcano like spewing out of the mould!


So these are just some of the challenges soapers face .. Most are purely aesthetic issues and with a bit of creative thinking can be played up to look like they were meant to be (discolouration/ash etc) .. Yet others, like the Lye Streaks, well blame it on the Soap Gremlins and consider it a lesson learned ;)