Pumpkin Spice Puree

My first experiment into our 'Garden Fresh' soap.  Pumpkin Spice Puree-a deliciously creamy Handmade Soap made with REAL pumpkin puree and a sweet fragrance blend of Pumpkin, cinnamon, and clove.  The above picture was taken at 2 days after pour.  I am sure that this particular soap will deepen in color. 

'Garden Fresh' you ask..yes!  We have been brainstorming ideas for a line of soaps made with Fresh Fruits/Vegetables.  Yummy ingredients like Avocados, Cucumbers, Pumpkin Puree, Carrots, and more.  Soap that is filled with Good for you Vitamins and Minerals, or what we like to call Skin Food.  You can begin to look for our Garden Fresh Soap starting in September with our Pumpkin Spice Puree Garden Fresh Soap.  (a limited edition fall soap-available mid-September)

This picture (right) was taken a few weeks after pouring.  As you can see it has darkened up some, but still retains it's creamy orange pumpkin look.  A sprinkling of Cocoa Powder adds just the right touch.

Ingredients:  Olive oil, Distilled Water, Coconut oil, Palm oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Pumpkin Puree, Shea Butter, Castor oil, Cocoa Butter, and Fragrance Blend.

We look forward to sharing our new soap with you at the next show!

 We have been busy in the workshop brainstorming more Garden Fresh ideas! Our ultimate goal will be to make our Garden Fresh soap with Locally sourced fresh ingredients during the growing and Harvest Seasons.  We have also found a fantastic local Goat farm that we will be getting Fresh Goat's milk from for our Goat's milk soaps!  Every little bit we can do to support other small businesses in our local community. 

We also have some great news coming your way that we look forward to sharing with you!

As always have a happy soapy day!

My Re-Batching Experiment

Re-Batching...oh how I dislike you. 

I've never been much of a re-batcher, I don't really like to do it, it never turns out right, and it just irritates the crap out of me, but sometimes it's inevitable and must be done.

I made these cupcake soaps with one of my mystery fragrance from the Fall S.O.A.P panel, and if you kept up with my testing posts you know that the fragrance morphed into a floral fragrance that doesn't at all go with a cupcake.  My plan was to leave it, but as it sat the floral got more pronounced.  I realized that I didn't even want to give them away, so re-batching was my only option.

I usually re-batch with a boil bag, but I scored this fantastic little crock pot at a garage sale for a dollar...that's right a dollar!! 

I have never used a crock pot for soap, so I thought it would be a great experiment for me.  I grated up all the soap (resulting in a chance to catch up on some of my shows for a few hours, and one very sore elbow)

Then I stuck the lid on the crock pot, and let it go.  One thing I liked about the crock pot vs the bag method, I didn't have to check it near as often.  I was able to work on other things while the soap was cooking in the pot. 

It was definitely easier to do than the bag method.  I decided to use my small wood log mold, very simple and easy to plop the soap into.  Once it was all melted and clumps where gone, I plopped it into the log mold.  I did see some clumps that didn't get melted all the way when I scooped the soap into the mold. 

It's rough, but better than some of the re-batches that I have done in the past.  I had so much going on that I forgot about it and waited way to long to slice it up, it was as hard as a rock when I tried to slice it, but I finally managed to get it sliced up!

So not a terrible experiment, and it turned out OK.  I was happy to notice that it didn't loose any of it's scent during the re-cook.  It does have some chunks that didn't get melted as you can see, so maybe next time it needs to cook a bit longer.  All in all it was a great experiment, and I am super excited about my $1 crock pot!  I also got a bunch of silicone molds at the same garage sale for $5!  Looking forward to more practice with soap cupcakes!!

For today...Have a Happy Soapy Day!

The Not so Beautiful...

Black Canyon is making me want to pull out all of my hair. 

I love this fragrance it's masculine and soft at the same time, and I really think it will be a great seller in soap (especially for the guys).  It was requested by a customer to put this scent in soap (I prev only had it in candles), so I made a batch right away.  I did a black, uncolored, and red.  At first I thought, wow this is going to be awesome, until it came time to test it out.... so sad when you make your hubby use it only to find out that the black oxide didn't get mixed in all the way thus resulting in nasty black bubbles. 

I immediately thought, OK I can re-batch this right?  So I cut off all of the black, shredded up the plain and proceeded to re-batch. Did it turn out...of course not.  Don't get me wrong, it's usable and no longer bubbles black, but man is it rough looking not to mention way to small.

So into the freebie pile, or the sample pile these go and on to try it again, because I really wanted to get this scent in soap.  This time I opted to leave out any black, used just a little UM blue to give it some color, and did a swirl. 

I was excited the next day when it looked like this.  I thought yes, now this one will turn out!

Wrong...upon cutting, the fragrance or something affected the edges in a weird way and some of the bars were crumbly and yellowing, while others were fine.  I'm thinking the lye/water amounts were off, but I'm just not positive what went wrong.  It could have been the fragrance as I have used this soap recipe many times, or I could have had a brain fart moment and mis-measured something.

After a week, it has discolored pretty bad.  I was able to save about half of the soap in this batch, but I have yet to test the pH levels for safety.  Just in case I made a mistake and it wasn't just a bad reaction with the fragrance.  It also has these funky flecks..so I am thinking that this batch is a throw away batch...we'll see what the pH testing shows. Sigh...am I ever going to get this fragrance to work right?  After all these years of soaping...this is my most puzzling batch so far.  It just went all wonky (yes, wonky is an official soaping term..LOL..)

On my list for the next batch of soap is to try this fragrance yet again, maybe I will do no color and leave it plain.  I figure third times a charm, right?

Needless to say my week in soaping hasn't been the best.  I attempted some more cupcakes too....nope..still need some more practice.  Sorry folks I am not sharing my ugly little cupcakes, trust me, you do not want to see them.

Since all of my soap is ready for my shows in October, I have been taking this time to finish up Winter stuff, work on candles, get the displays ready for the shows, and play around with new ideas (because I just can't turn that part of my brain off).  Thanks for reading my latest soap nightmare....next time It WILL turn out right!!

S.O.A.P-y Round Up!

My S.O.A.P testing for Bramble Berry is all finished, it's been a blast and I am so incredibly thankful to Bramble Berry for choosing me to be on this very Talented Team of Soapers!  I have a few final thoughts to share, and thought I would show some final pics now that the soaps have had a couple of weeks to settle.  

I have chosen my personal favorite and it is # 7.

Mystery Fragrance #1

Mulled Wine

On the Left is 24hrs later on the Right is 3 weeks.  As you can see the color has lessened some, but not much.  The Scent has lightened a bit as well, but the grape has settled and has let the spice notes come through more.  In the Sugar Scrub it is a much more grape/sweet scent with no hints of spice at all.

Mystery Fragrance #2

Autumn Harvest

(note pic on right is wrong bottle..oops)

The colors are great and have stayed very well.  This scent has not lessened at all and is still nice and strong.  It's a great blend of all the scents of the Fall season.

 

Mystery Fragrance #3

Blackberry Marmalade

(again wrong bottle in pic)

The colors stayed well in this soap, but the scent diminished quite a bit, the fragrance now is barely discernible.  If I was to use this one again, I would up the fragrance oil usage.

Mystery Fragrance #4

Santa's Workshop

As you can see the colors are more muddy, and the green did get warmer and loose that 'brightness' I was so concerned about.  This scent has rounded out nicely as it has aged and I like it a little more each time I smell it. 

Mystery Fragrance #5

Still Un-Named

I'm having the hardest time naming this scent, as it has turned into a very sharp, floral fragrance to me, and I can think of nothing that fits right.  So for now it's remaining Un-Named.  No discoloration after a few weeks, and the scent is remaining very strong in the soap.  I personally do not care for this scent, it's a little to sharp for me.

Mystery Fragrance #6

Frosted Spruceberry

This fragrance has lightened up a lot, which is a bummer because it's one of my favorites.  It has had only a little color change (purple came through more) after a week or so.  This is one I really hope Bramble Berry decides to keep as I still LOVE it, I would just up my fragrance usage rate a bit to compensate for the loss of scent.

 

Mystery Fragrance #7 

Winter in the Pacific Northwest

This one is my favorite of all of them.  Sadly it has lightened up quite a bit in the final soap, (one of my customers stated:  "it smells like soap" ) so I would up my fragrance usage on the next batch.  (crossing my fingers that they keep this one)  The colors have stayed nice, maybe a bit more muddy now, but still pretty.

Mystery Fragrance #8

Witchy Witch

The Orange top layer has lightened up quite a bit, but the scent has remained not only strong, but seems to be getting stronger.  Sadly the black layer on this one will have to be cut off, and the rest made in to a smaller hand soap size bar because It has way to much color, thus resulting in grayish/black bubbles.  (which is not good)   Lessons learned when playing with my new Black Oxide pigment. 

So that's my final thoughts on the Bramble Berry S.O.A.P testing fragrances.  Again I was very honored to be a part of this amazing team, and look forward to Bramble Berry's announcement of the winners. 

Thanks all for following me!

Fall Is In The Air SALE!

I'm ready for Fall, and because it's my favorite season I have lots of new Fall inspired Candles and Soap.  To make some room for all my fabulous Fall stuff Green Lady Creations is having a SALE!

Select Spring/Summer scented Candles and Soap is On Sale Now.  Save 30% on Spring and Summer Scented Soy Candles, and 20% off select soap. 

Stock is limited, so hurry and stock up now, Sale ends September 18th.

7oz Soy Candles: 

Reg $8.99  Sale $6.30

Selected Sale Scents include:

Gardenia

Grapefruit & Mangosteen

Jamaica Me Crazy

Honeysuckle & Jasmine

Kiwi

Lilac

Mango Papaya

Plumeria

Rain Water

Sea Mist

Watermelon

Violet Lime

Grapefruit & Lemongrass Purely Natural Soap

$4.50 Sale $3.50

Seceret Garden Purely Natural Soap

$4.50  Sale $3.50

Cottage Garden Purely Indulgent Soap

$4.50  sale $3.50

Lilac Purely Indulgent Soap

$4.50  sale $3.50

Cucumber Melon Purely Indulgent Soap

$4.50  sale $3.50

You can find all my sale items, plus lots of other wonderful creations at the Green Lady Creations online store.  Go to http://www.greenladycreations.com/

The SOAP testing continues...

My adventure continues with mystery fragrances #4 & #8, I skipped to number 8 because frankly it was not my favorite scent of them all, and I just wanted to get it done.  

First I worked on Mystery Fragrance #4

 The fragrance: #4-First impressions right out of the bottle was of something sweet, yet tart like orange or cranberry; mixed with something earthy and crisp like balsam. Sort of like the holiday potpourri they have this time of year.  The idea:  Another swirl to help me practice my swirling abilities, I marvel at some of the beautiful swirls I see from fellow soapers, plus I just love the creative part of swirling soap!  The Colors: Think Holidays, so I went with Green, Red and Black.  Would have liked to add white, but realized I am completely out of titanium dioxide (now how did that happen).

The Recipe:  A slight variation on my basic recipe from prev posts, but with more olive oil.  Since batch #2 accelerated so fast I thought I would tweak the recipe just a little to give me time to swirl. 







The Results:  A very beautiful swirl with crisp lines and an amazing scent.  The fragrance did have some discoloration, it turned the soap base yellow, thus resulting in muddier colors than expected; and the fragrance had a little bit of acceleration.  The green color however, ended up much brighter than it normally is.  Is this green morph from the fragrance or the oils?  I do not know the answer, but I am going to find out.  Will the green settle down into the more deep green that it's supposed to be?  Maybe, we will see as the soap cures.  If it doesn't, that's still OK, I like how it turned out anyway.  Even thought the base was a bit thicker when poured the swirls still came out fantastic.  I am very happy with this one!

So success #3 in my SOAP testing adventure. 

Monica: 3  SOAP Fragrances: 1

The second Batch I did was Mystery Fragrance #8

The Fragrance:  #8-Not my favorite, I usually love earthy fragrances, but this one was a little too earthy even for me.  It's a very smoky type of fragrance that reminds me of Frankincense or Myrrh, similar to Witches Brew without any note of sweetness.  I wasn't going to put this in soap, because lets face it, I'm not sure anyone would want to smell like that; but I could not think of anything else to use it in, so into soap it went.  The Idea:  In my effort to try and make something fun out of a fragrance I didn't like (which is harder than you would think), I immediately thought I could pass this fragrance off as a Halloween fragrance like Witchy something or Fright Night.  3 different Halloween themed layers was the idea that came to mind first.

 The Colors:  What immediately comes to mind when you think of Halloween; why Orange, Black, and Purple of course!  I would have liked to add a little glitter to give it some fun pizazz, but I didn't have any skin safe glitter in my cupboards.  (Don't worry I put it on my wish list for my next Bramble Berry order)  The Recipe:  Again went basic with Olive, Coconut, Palm, Shea Butter, Castor oil, and Sweet Almond Oil.  With this one it was OK if it traced quickly; when it comes to layers the thicker the better.  This one had no acceleration whatsoever, in fact, I had to wait a little bit before pouring each layer. 

The Result:  The layers turned out fantastic, and the colors are awesome.  I still don't like the scent any better than I did before, but the colors and the look have given it a bit more appeal.  This fragrance would have been great to use as a column pour because I actually had to wait a bit for it to get to a thick enough trace in between layers.  Overall I like it, but would not make it a part of my soap line, it may have appealed to the guys if I would have left it uncolored.  But that is not quite as much fun, is it?

The layers are great and the colors came out super pretty.  I have noticed no discoloration from the fragrance, and overall it performed well for me.

So overall another success, I plan to get some input on the fragrance from some of my trusty tester people and see what they think, because while I may not like it someone else may LOVE it!

Monica : 4 SOAP Fragrances: 1

Stayed tuned for the next batch of SOAP testing fun!  I'm thinking Mini Cupcakes with Fragrance #5 (Have been dying to try those cute cupcakes that people make), and some embeds with Fragrance # 7

More Wonderfully Fun SOAP Testing

My adventure in SOAP testing continues with Mystery fragrance #3. 

The Idea:  I need more swirling practice..love swirling.  I am going to do a regular 2 color swirl, nothing exciting, just a chance to practice my swirling skills.

The Fragrance:  My first impression of this fragrance was mulberry, plum, tart cranberry, and just a whisper of spice.  My husbands first impression was grape and plum.  It is very fruity and one of my FAVORITES!!  This is a fragrance that if Bramble Berry decides to keep it, it would become a regular part of my Purely Indulgence line year round, yes it's really that good!!

The Color:  Continuing with the Fall/Holiday theme, I decided to do a puple and black swirl.  I wasn't sure I would like using Black Oxide in soap...but I love it!  It really goes with any color/theme and makes the other colors really stand out.  I went with Ultramarine Violet mixed with Red Oxide for the purple part, both from Bramble Berry of course.

The Recipe: 

Olive oil-30%

Coconut oil-30%

Palm oil-20%

Grapeseed oil-6.67%

Castor oil-5%

Shea Butter-5%

Sweet Almond oil-3.33%

Becaue I used Extra Virgin Olive oil instead of Pomace, the Purple turned a bit muddy.  I noticed no color change when adding the fragrance oil.  I like it though, it's more of an earthy purple.  I was going for a plum color, which I think I managed to get.

I practiced a different sort of swirl, instead of a pattern I just looped it with a flick of my wrist to give it a more contemporary/elegant look.  I have been struggling with my swirling abilities, so with all this testing I figured it was the perfect time to get in some swirling practice!

The Result:  This one turned out GREAT.  The fragrance was fantastic to work with and didn't accelerate or discolor at all.  The tartness came through in the soap a lot more than out of the bottle, and it's a bright fragrance that I really like.  It is on the light side, so if using again I would increase my fragrance usage just a little, maybe up to 4.5-5% (I used 3% fo).

The color combination turned out super pretty!

As always I will keep my eye on it and watch as it cures.  I am looking for any color discoloration, and scent retention.  I decided to call it Blackberry Marmalade, this Limited Edition Fall/Holiday soap will sell out fast I think!!

Success #2 This one goes to ME!!

Monica: 2 Fragrances: 1

Keep on checking back, next post is going to be numbers 4 and 8.
Make sure you check out my favorite blog The Soap Queen, if you are looking for more soapy inspiration, and instructions for making your own wonderful soap.