"Soapmaking Made Easy" - A Reveiw

Recently, I had the honor of previewing the soon to be released "Soapmaking Made Easy-A Comprehensive Guide to Making Cold Process Soap" an eBook written by my friend Erin (of Inner Earth Soaps fame.) I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I was to check it out. Erin has long been one of my muses in the soapmaking world, and is quite known for her beautiful color combinations, gorgeous textured tops and her clean technique. I can remember when I first started making soap going to her blog almost daily just to marvel at her work. I guess I thought I might learn by osmosis or something, but now she is sharing many of her tried and true techniques with us as well as information on safety, formulas, oil properties, colorants, additives, suppliers and more.

Erin is known for her beautiful color combinations, gorgeous textured tops and her clean technique.

I found Erin's book to be very thorough and to have great information for both the new soapmaker as well as the more experienced soapmaker. New soapmakers will find important information they should know about before they even pick up a stick blender; such as the three different categories of soap (though the main focus is Cold Process), safety precautions (how to handle lye), oil properties, trusted formulas, how to create your own formulas based on the properties you want in your soap, how to tell when your soap is at trace, what "gel" is, how to rebatch and much more...

The beautiful cover

Erin even takes new soapmakers on a virtual soapmaking session where you will learn step by step what "trace" actually looks like, when to add scent and additives, what gel looks like and even how to cut soap you made only hours before.

 Raw soap a few minutes after adding lye solution starting to turn opaque

 Pouring the soap

Cutting the bars

Throughout the book, Erin gives tips and reminders that only a seasoned soapmaker would know, but a new soapmaker should take notice to. Her tips and reminders are invaluable morsels of experience. This example is very basic, but among one of the most important.

"Reminder-Only do one thing at a time. Cooking and making soap together do Not make a good combination."

While it seems like a pretty tongue in cheek sort of reminder-it is very important that you have a calm quiet area to work in. Multitasking is not recommended while attempting to use lye.
For the more advanced soapmakers Erin graciously unlocks the secrets behind several of her techniques (this is the moment I've been waiting for-somebody pinch me.) Erin gives step by step tutorials for techniques such as even layering, messy layering, hanger swirls, in the pot swirls, decorative textured tops and more. Woot with me now!

Messy Layering Technique - Spooning on the layers

Messy Layering- finished bars

To sum it all up, I would highly recommend Erin's eBook for beginners, as well as more experienced soapmakers who want to expand their repertoire of techniques and learn something new from someone with a vast knowledge of soapmaking technique. Look for Erin’s eBook "Soapmaking Made Easy-A Comprehensive Guide to Making Cold Process Soap" to go live Thursday September 12, 2013-for free tutorials and to get your hands on her eBook be sure to sign up for her mailing list.

Pick up your "Soapmaking Made Easy" ebook here.

Date Night Memories

Hollyhocks with sun coming from behind.

Hollyhock up close and personal-beautiful.

Sunflower in a perfect light.

Purple Fountain Grass in the evening sun.

So, one of the advantages to having one child leave the nest and the other one up old enough to spend time with friends is the resurrection of "date night." You remember that don't  you? The time before kids when you could go out for a meal together, have a conversation and just breathe for a moment. A couple of weeks ago the youngest was gone for the evening and so  we headed out for an impromptu date night, because this was last minute there really wasn't time to plan for too much. The evening was beautiful, so we decided to check out some of my photography haunts(my husband is such a trooper and very graciously indulges me once in awhile) and once it was too dark for pics we whipped up a lovely Frittata with bacon, roasted Hatch green chilies and plenty of sharp cheddar. Yep, it was an evening to remember.

What I've Been Up To Lately

 My project for the day  yesterday was getting some soaps stamped for my upcoming wholesale account.

I also have another batch or two of soap yet to make before the order is complete-this is a little floral goodie that is always a bit challenging to see if  I can race to get the swirl in before it sets up to much.

I'm still having so much fun exploring color.  I can totally see what the appeal is and can't believe I was so resistant to it for so long. The soap above is a bit of Ultramarine Pink that looks a bit more towards the Lilac really. Ultramarine Pink  is not quite a true pink (although if I had used more it would be more pink), but either way it sure is pretty. Quite subdued in comparison to the Ultramarine Purple in the top image. The top is an Ultramarine Purple that I am totally in love with-it looks great every time. I find that Ultramarines are easy to use too although the Ultramarine Purple above is not water soluble while the rest of them that I have are.

A New LIttle Lemon Number

I'm working on a fun little wholesale acct. and I came up with a fun little tone on tone Lemon number. I used Annatto to get the darker yellow and the eo's created the paler yellow. I am loving the subtle tone on tone they created together. As of now the Lemon soap is a soap with no name-I'm looking for something having to do with nature and not a foodie name-any ideas would be much appreciated. the scent is definitely tart lemon as of now-I think it will settle out into something not quite as tart.

Here Comes The Sun

This morning I was up before the sun getting my walk in, and thinking about the soap I'll be making today. It's a great day for  making soap!!

The Threee Faces Of Paprika

Here are the results of my three Paprika experiments.

1) (Far Left) A bit of Paprika added to lye water gave me a muddy pumpkin pie type color that was okay, but not what I was looking for.

2) (Center)  Infused Paprika used at 100% of my OO. Very orange and bleeds actually much less than I thought it would, but does bleed slightly with very pale orange bubbles. (not a look I am going for)

3) (Far Right) Dialed back percentage per my batch and hoping it doesn't bleed. Honestly, I was loving the color pre gel-the perfect "happy orange" but was really expecting the more sweet potato coppery orange post gel. The disappointing thing is that this batch bleeds also meaning I will need to dial back even more. Apparently Paprika is potent stuff and a little goes a long way, so for me this means one more adjustment to achieve an orange that doesn't bleed.

Me

So, as a rule I despise having my picture taken. I loathe it and avoid it at ALL costs. Today I got a wild hair and decided to let the dear daughter take some with my phone-you know for profile pictures and stuff and lo and behold she took a few that were actually quite good. So, for those of you who wonder what I look like-here ya go.

I think that this is a really good exercise for me because it is so incredibly uncomfortable for me. It hasn't always been, in the days before a few pounds and jowls, but now in general I go to great lengths to avoid having my picture taken. I'm trying to make peace with it and well, filters help. I'm really trying to wrap my brain around being curvaceous and not the thin gal of my youth. I'm trying to embrace a few wrinkles,extra chins, gray hair, and a changing body.

The PERFECT Orange

 Alas after much trial and error-The PERFECT orange.

After one more try, I think I've finally gotten to the right color. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Orange Clove 2.0 (from yesterday) will most likely bleed the color is just so saturated, and I think I'm even happier with this color.

It's important for the customer to see the effort that goes into researching and developing a product-it's not typically about just throwing a color in and hoping for the best. A lot of trial and error goes into getting color, technique and scent just right. It's about knowing what scents will accelerate your batch,what colorants are safe and friendly, preventing bleed,formula-so many factors play into a proper soap. It's safe to say a lot of care goes into a batch to ensure that the customer has a good experience with our product.
 
I guess some of you may be wondering where I am going with all of this. I am in the throws of developing a good solid line. Over the years I've spent much time self sabotaging my efforts(with the help of a couple of friends too), in the past I've had a consistent nagging that kept me from following through with things for one reason for another. I've been doing some work on that persistent and nagging negative voice, and now I'm getting ready for my debut. I am getting ready to take on the world. I have always been driven to equal some of my soaping heroines, and now I'm ready to "just do it." I'm on my way. I have a plan and I'm moving forward. These crazy experiments are not just because I'm killing time here. I'm ready to get out there.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends....

 Paprika infusion after stick blending a bit, this usually tends to modify the color some as the lye is integrated into the batch-excuse the tungsten lighting(ugh!)

 Eureka! The color I've been after. I am over the moon to finally get this color-now if there is no bleeding my life will be complete-or close to it. lol! Orange Clove 2.0

I've been on a mission to get a "happy orange" and finally with some  help from the very gracious soaping community, I think that I may have found exactly the color I've been looking for. If you've  been following along my " quest for orange"it all started here, with a sampling of Annatto seeds that ultimately led me down that path of THE most beautiful yellow. (although since all of this, I have learned a new technique(again thanks to input from one of my soaping buddies) to try that will hopefully result in a perfectly lovely peachy orange-I just haven't tried it yet.)

The willingness to help each other out IS one of the BEST qualities of the soapmaking community. So refreshing, the willingness to share and offer up suggestions. I would like to give a shout out to my friend over at Minis Seifen for her suggestion to try Paprika-Wow! It's just beautifully orange. 

Swirlin'

Ethereal Lavender swirls I'm trying out for a soap I'm dreaming up. Behind the scenes some changes are taking place that I think will be all for the good. The changes will take place over quite awhile so nothing will seem sudden or drastic. I'm kind of on the universal timeline with some things...sometimes things just happen in their own time I guess.

One Of The Girls

One of the three amiga's taking her siesta.

Switiching Gears

 Beautiful Cactus-one of my favorite photography subjects.

 Sweet white star shaped flowers..I love them.

 Passion Flower-such a curiously strange looking flower.

Yellow Zinnia-bright and happy.

So, after my epic soaping disaster/blooper outtake. My daughter and I went to lunch and decided to not go straight home. We went by a little garden where I like to photograph whatever is blooming. I didn't have the good camera, so I whipped out the phone. Wow! I'm impressed-it does a pretty good job. We both took a number of pictures and it was fun to come home and compare. 

I was glad to hang out with my girl on her last few days of summer. :-)

Epic Disaster

It was a day like any other, the grams were playing one too little, one too much- just before settling on just right. The colors were lovely and behaving nicely, my daughter was home to help me pour two colors in unison and all was well...until I picked the pvc up to give it a tap,tap,tap and (someone who shall remain nameless in order to protect the not so innocent) had not secured the bottom. Oh dear! I could have cried, but instead I chose to mark this moment in time with a soapmaking blooper shot,and after a few pics I proceeded to pic up my epic mess to see what I could salvage. Lesson learned-double check the security of your bottom cap and then check again. In the end, the daughter and I had a huge guffaw over the whole incident and decided to call it a day and go to lunch. THE END.

A Change Of Heart

Raspberry, lemon yellow and the palest of greens...

Sea Foam, pale green, violet, lemon yellow with a splash of raspberry...

Violet, Sea Foam and the perfect pale green....a cool soothing palette

For years I've been resistant to color other than clays,herbs or oxides. I really wanted to keep my product as close to natural as possible, and so color has been a bit of a conflict. Upon returning from the Conference in May, I decided to give color a whirl and as you can see I have been having an amazing time with color. Oh my gosh! I am loving micas they are too much fun.

 I've also had somewhat of a change of heart in terms of my soapmaking. I think that perhaps I was putting too many parameters on what I thought my soap should be, and I was really squelching the joy that IS soapmaking. I was taking it all way too seriously-I'm so glad I decided to add a little color to my life-what fun! Making soap should be ALL about fun-if it's not... relax and try a little color.

Follow Me

Can you believe that I finally got my very first smart phone? Sadly enough, up until now I've only had a very practical flip phone. I was quite content with it-it made calls and had a texting feature. I didn't really care if I had a smart  phone or not really,but now that  have one, I wonder where it's been all my life. lol! I can't tell you the fun I am having with it. Just this morning I walked and used the "stopwatch." Yay me! I didn't even have to have a full blown tutorial from my 13 year old. Anyway all this to say- now you can follow me on Instagram-hop on over and say "hey!"

Baseline

Yep, I've been playing with color yet again. I had a disappointment that ultimately spurred me to work towards a baseline of all the micas I have. I should have done something like this in the beginning. duh! I'm doing each test with the same amount of mica mixed with a bit of water from my lye water in 16oz. batches to see if I then need to adjust color from there. The next step will be to cut and see if any of them bleed so that I can see if I need to adjust down a bit. I have a mini rainbow of colors that I will show you once I have them all soaped. I am love, love, loving this green.

Micas are a bit tricky because there are no definitive usage rates out there. It seems that learning them is sort of a trial by fire, but if you are persistent you will soon get the hang of them. I've also heard through the grapevine that Amy over at Great Cakes Soapworks is working on a video that addresses the proper use of micas- I can't wait, this is a gal that has lots of experience with micas and is sure to have lots of useful tips to share.

When Color Fades To Gray

This was baby blue

So disappointing, to have a pretty color and then poof just like that it's gone. It really didn't have  much with gel as the color was disappearing right before my eyes even before I could pour it up.This was a new mica that just didn't hold-too bad, they would've been so coastal like and pretty-now they're just a shadow of what was...oh well, they smell nice anyway and at least it's a pretty gray.

Hello Handsome!

Hello handsome!

The Mister recently made some shave brushes for a custom order, and sometimes the wood reveals a surprise inside. Now, some people might find this to be a flaw, but I consider it more of a "beauty mark." I love it, and think it gives this guy such a handsome character.  I have loved our adventure with wood, it's been an interesting lesson 1) the sticks of wood you start with are not a true indication of what's inside-the beauty is on the inside 2) Peeling away the outside layers, a little tlc and a nice polish brings out the innate beauty the wood had all along 3) what some might see as a small imperfection typically equals character, interest and beauty to a piece.

Presto Chango

 Presto Chango-I made a small packaging change. It was time to order more labels, and I thought I'd try white this time. My thinking was that the white might make things pop just a bit more. What do you think? I'm committed to these at least until I use them all, but was just wondering. ;-)

The Quest for Orange

Before gel

Once again a nice shade of buttery yellow-that I looove, but it's not orange..

 This is yet another try at Happy Orange with my Annatto infusion. You know Happy Orange, that sort of yellow orange pureed carrot color.. I am on a mission to get that color for a soap I have in mind. I know I've seen people get it with Annatto, however admittedly, I tend to be light handed with color so maybe the next try I'll nail it. I thought I had it this time for sure-or maybe I need to switch over to the powder so the color is not so diluted as in an infusion. Oy!

Yellow or Happy Orange? What do you think? The Mister says yellow, I say almost Happy Orange.. help solve the debate. or maybe it's just wishing on my part.. I do think I'm getting closer though-don't you?
 
The results are in...buttery yellow I'd say. So, either I'm still not using enough Annatto or I need to try the powder (maybe my infusion is too diluted to get orange) I am loving the yellow and think I will use it in another soap I have planned for sure. If you want the perfect buttery yellow-an Annatto infusion is the way to go.

Question to those of you who get orange with Annatto-what am I doing wrong? Is it because I am not using the powder? Heeeeeelp!! Okay, someone gave me the scoop on how they do it, so once my Annatto seeds get here-operation "happy orange" is on.