New Year....New Ideas!!!!!

We have been working hard in the Soapy Lab the past few weeks to get all of our soap restocked from our busy Holiday Season.

As we restock bestsellers like; Mountain Man, Stormy Ocean Seas, Sparkling Sea Glass, and Lavender Goat's Milk. We also have some big ideas for a few new fragrances and styles to work on.

We played with some wonderful new RUBY RED Glitter (a freebie from one of our suppliers).  We used a basic white soap with a simple cocoa line (chalk line) for the design with a beautifully bright Gardenia fragrance.


We ordered in 12 new Soap and Bath & Body fragrances to play with this year.  Some of my favorites right out of the bottle are:

• Oatmeal Milk & Honey:  I have been meaning to order this one for ages....now I wish I hadn't waited so long.  It's absolutely incredible.
• Bamboo & Lotus:  This one will replace our cucumber & aloe.  It's fresh and clean; with just a hint of brightness that makes it oh so good.
• Cashmere & Silk:  This fragrance is a bit tricky to explain; it's soft, sensual, with just a touch of musk. 
• DeLish: I am in LOVE with this fragrance.  I am not going to give it away...but I promise it will be worth the wait!

We also have some new colorants to play with as well as a few new design techniques we would like to try this year.  I am dying to try a peacock swirl, but that one will have to wait until I can get my new mold that I want.  (an 18 bar flat mold with dividers).  For now I do have a few ideas up my sleeve for my standard loaf mods.

More Stripes are in our plans this year as well as playing more with squirt bottles, spoon swirls, and cocoa powder chalk lines.  I would also love to try out a Mica Glycerin swirl this year as well.

We also have a few other new things we can't wait to play with.  We will be experimenting with liquid and cream soaps as well as bringing our newly updated lotion back as well as a few Facial items we can't wait to share with you.

And that is just the beginning...we have many wonderful new Candle Fragrances that are currently in testing as well as a brand new Line of candles coming this year!

If you would like to keep in touch with us...you can also follow us on Facebook

Sometimes it works...and sometimes it doesn't

Ever have one of those batches that looks great sketched out on paper, and beautiful in your minds eye?  You've made a plan, sketched it out, readied your ingredients, have the perfect fragrance picked out..essentially everything is ready.  And then you make it, it's all going great, your fragrance behaves beautifully, you can see your idea coming to life, and when your done you look up and say "this is going to be awesome"...and right there...you've jinxed yourself. 

because the next day you unmold to find this horrid looking block of soap that just doesn't look good to you.  The colors are off, the fragrance turned into something that doesn't match the color scheme, or the entire project just didn't work.

Yep I've had a few of those...and just last week I had THREE in a row....thank you to those mischievous little soap pixies.

Wanna See...

I'll start at the beginning....It was a beautiful day...just kidding!

I got this amazing fragrance from one of my favorite Candle Fragrance suppliers called Pineapple Coconut.  It was so yummy OOB that I fell in love, it reminded me of the shampoo that really good salons use when you go get your hair cut, absolute heaven.

I tried originally to put it in a candle, but it has to much coconut in it and ended up smelling like toasted coconut/pineapple skewers...yuck. So in to the Soap fragrance bin it went (I love it when they are body safe too). 

My first plan with Pineapple coconut was to accent the pineapple with yellow and green colors.  I was thinking a yellow base with green top and make it spiky, or add soap curls for added pizazz. 

Wrong..bad...horrible idea...the curls looked terrible so I cut them off thinking that would help..nope wrong..still horrid. (well at least to me)

Once I cut the curls off I tried to bevel the edges and get it looking better.  By the time all was said and done they were not near the right size or weight that my soap should be.  Into my find something to do with these bin they go. 

 Then a few nights later I came up with a great idea.  So I shredded 2-3 bars of the above soap's yellow part only.  I thought how cool would it be to use the soap shreds in the bottom, with white on top.  Brilliant, I know I've seen it done before somewhere (sorry can't find where & I forgot to pin it) So There I went planning another experiment.  I had it all sketched out and ready to go. After pouring I had the hardest time waiting to un-mold..I was dying to see if it worked.

It did not...the layers did not stick together and some of the bottom portion fell off.  Maybe not enough alcohol spritz in between layers, or too much of the shreds? I don't know. 

]\

I was determined to at least try to save this batch the best I could.  I cut of the bottom portion, and just cut the bars much thicker than my standard bar so they at least where the correct weight.  It's going to be a bit of extra work making a soap wrap that is the right size just for these bars...but it was worth it to save this otherwise beautiful batch!

  

I do plan on trying one more batch of this fragrance.  I know I am a sucker for punishment.  However this time I will go basic, no fancy footwork or experiments just a nice plain, but elegant batch.  My goal this time is to try and get it whiter and more whipped texture on the top...and of course some glitter.  I am really loving this new glitter I got from Bramble Berry I am quickly becoming addicted, because, well every girl likes a little sparkle every now and then!

Thanks for taking the time to read this unusually large blog post, sorry it was so long.  I hope that if you were not inspired, you at least learned from my mistake, and if anyone has done the soap shreds with desired results; my hats of to you!



It's been a bit quiet over here...

I have been quiet lately, and I am very sorry!

Not a whole lot going on over here..I did get all of my spring soap finished and all of my new spring candle fragrances tested and ready for production.  I thought I would share with you the new spring soaps and bath & body stuff, as well as a few other things I'm working on.

New Spring Soaps



White Ginger





this is what it looks like from the side..pretty huh!





Energy



I love the white ginger and energy they are both so refreshing, and perfect for spring.  The White ginger ended up just how I wanted it (which as we know does not always happen).  The energy was supposed to be a swirl, but somehow I did not pour it early enough and it was too thick for a good swirl, it still turned out nice though.






Sweet Pea

 

Sea Glass

 

The Sea Glass is so pretty, the colors ended up very beachy, which was exactly what I wanted.  This fragrance moved fast so it's not really a swirl or a spoon pour, more of a mash up of both.  I started with spooning it in and had to move quick so swirled it also.  I think it turned out great.



 

White Lily & Amber

The white lily did not turn out as expected at all.  The fragrance on this one heated up like no other and did not hold up very well in CP.  It's still very nice and you can smell it, but not as strong as I wanted it to be.  I added a lot of Titanium Dioxide as it was supposed to be bright white with a pink top.  This fragrance dc to a light tan.  I love working with curls, and my customers love them.  The Spunky Violet is no exception! It's a beautiful fragrance and the soap turned out great!  The soap has three color layers: purple, green, and white.  I am happy with the way this one turned out!

 I like the plumeria too, it's always a good selling fragrance.  It morphed a little in my soap vs my candles, but is still a nice fragrance overall.

These are my new lil' freshies..."Fragrant little fresheners for just about anywhere" aren't they super cute?  So far they are doing great at shows, everybody loves them.  I am working this week on getting more fragrances into the fresheners, and am hoping to eventually have every one of my candle fragrances available in a freshie.  They come packaged in a recyclable plastic ziplock bag to keep them fresh.  I use them in my car, and in my closets...I love them!

We are also working on Fragrant body oil.  It will come in one ounce glass bottles for now.  I am working on some fragrance blends as well as some essential oil blend.  These are not stocked yet..I am working on it though!  My other project this week is Fragrant Body and Room sprays, I don't have a pic yet, but they are my project for this week as well as stocking all the spring candles. 

So there is what I have been working on.  I have a lot on the calender this week including stocking up on all of the Spring Candle Fragrances..I'll post a list of the new scents next blog post!  I am also working on a new candle collection inspired by my love of magic and enchantment! Next week it's on to some more soap projects as well as working on votive candles to add to our collection!

I hope you are all keeping busy also...I for one can not wait for the spring shows to begin! 

Have a great day!

S.O.A.P. testing: The Adventure Continues

And Last but certainly not least...Mystery S.O.A.P fragrance #6

My last mystery fragrance, a sad moment for me indeed as I have been having more fun than I ever thought possible!  A Gigantic thank you to everyone over at Bramble Berry for this amazing honor.

The Fragrance:  My initial thoughts on this one was earthy and sweet, but that's about as far as I could figure out right out of the bottle.  I really like this fragrance, it's sophisticated, moder, and yet you can still plainly tell that it's a holiday type of scent.  I'm just having a really hard time identifying all of the different notes, it's really quite a complex fragrance.

The Plan:  A Swirl, because well, I just love swirling.  For colors I thought I go with a more modern holiday color scheme.  I for one LOVE the rich purples, peacock blues, and lime greens that have been popular in recent years.  Yes, my yearly Christmas tree is decorated every year with bright purple bows, teal glass ornaments, lime green beads, and peacock themed ornaments.  Wouldn't it be awesome to decorate a tree with bars of soap!...hmmmm now I'm thinking.  Anyway I decided to use my Christmas tree colors as inspiration for this soap design. I went with Bramble Berry's Ultramarine Blue, Green Chrome Mica, and Ultramarine Violet. 

The Recipe: I used a recipe with Lard because I was trying to achieve a whiter base. 

The Results:  As you can see it ashed pretty bad on me (even after I spritzed with alcohol).  This fragrance behaved beautifully there was no acceleration or discoloration what so ever and I had a ton of time to play with it.  Note to self:  this one would be great for a column pour or funnel pour technique.  Once the fragrance was in the soap some of the fragrance notes where easier to pinpoint, although it still remains very complex.  To my nose it has sugar, some sort of plum/mulberry, and crisp blue spruce.  I'm naming this one Frosted Spruceberry, not the most original name, but I think it fits perfectly with the fragrance. 

It turned out fantastic, and I couldn't be more happy with the results.  This one goes on my re-order list,  if Bramble Berry decides to keep it. 

  So my last S.O.A.P fragrance goes to me, making the final tally:

Monica: 6 Mystery fragrances: 2

All of the S.O.A.P fragrances where fantastic, although I must say I am not surprised in the least because Bramble Berry is pretty awesome.

So there we have it for specific tests, I look forward to doing a Soapy round up with pics of all of the soaps now at least a week old to show any color changes as it aged.  Then we will look forward to Bramble Berry's announcement of the actual fragrance name (can't wait to see how close my nose was) and which fragrances they decide to add to their fragrance line.  

Thanks for keeping up with my first ever S.O.A.P testing, I hope at the very least, that you got some soapy inspiration!  Once you start making soap there is no going back, you will become an addict!

I look forward to more soapy fun, and someday becoming a part of this amazing team again. For Now Happy Soaping!

SOAP testing fragrance #7...Winter in the Pacific Northwest

And Another one Down...Mystery Fragrance # 7 was one of my absolute favorites.  My first impression out of the bottle was crisp, clean, and earthy.  Like fresh snow, mountain air, and pine trees after a hard rain.  Exactly like winter in the Pacific Northwest.  

I had some curls from a previous soap project that had a similar smell to it, and decided to put them to use.  I wanted to go with a more contemporary blue color scheme (Ultramarine Blue from Bramble Berry.com), think fresh, clean, and wintry; a refreshing blue color scheme that doesn't exactly scream holiday.  In my area we love our pine tree smells, so this one may work as a year round soap.  (plus I am not a huge fan of the traditional holiday colors anyway) I also wanted to do another layered soap...loved the layered soap (see SOAP frag #8) from a few posts ago. 

I went with a basic recipe again, but with the addition of yummy Mango Butter that I got on sale a while back from Bramble Berry Recipe is:  30% Olive Oil, 30% Coconut oil, 20% Palm oil, 10% Safflower oil, 5% Castor oil, and 5% Mango Butter.  I am loving mango butter!

This fragrance stayed true to it's scent in the soap and did not morph into anything unexpected.  I pine notes came through more predominately, but did not overshadow any of the 'brighter' notes that I detected OOB.  This fragrance did discolor the base into a yellowish tone, and therefore the non-colored portion ended up a bit on the green side (with the addition of the U.blue).  I also indicated a slight acceleration, which of course made layering a breeze as long as your prepared for the acceleration.  It probably would have gotten to thick for a good swirl, or something that requires more time for play. 

 I thought the colors would come out a bit muddy, but I was pleasantly surprised to note that they did not. As for the curls, that part was pure fun;  after I poured the last layer, I let it set up slightly and slowly pushed in the swirls at different places and various depths.  This one took 48 hrs to harden up before I could cut it, maybe from the mango butter..not sure.  I usually am able to cut within 24 hrs, it was so hard to wait!

Overall I LOVED this fragrance and it would be on my list of fragrances to buy more of if Bramble Berry decides to keep it.  (which I hope they do..please..please)  While it moved fast, it didn't move so fast that it was unbearable to work with.  The scent is strong and true in soap at a 3% usage rate, and the bars turned out Beautiful. 

This one goes to me!

Monica :  5  Mystery fragrances:  2

 Stay tuned for the next installment of the SOAP testing saga, Fragrance #6, the last fragrance to test.

SOAP testing...cupcakes anyone?

Bramble Berry's Mystery fragrance #5 is next up; right out of the bottle my first impression of this fragrance was fruity, tart, and spicy, similar to Apple Jack & Peel.  A punchy apple cider with strong citrus and clove notes, with a pretty big bite to it.  It wasn't one of my favorites, but wasn't one that I disliked either. 

My Idea-I'm jumping on a soaping bandwagon a bit late in the game, but I've been dying to try those cute little soaps that look like cupcakes, so realistic that you want to just take a bite out of one.  You know the ones, you see them and you just can't resist them.  So you buy the cute little buggers knowing full well that you will probably never use them, and they will just sit and look cute.  It's one of those "I bought it cause it was adorable" types of purchase.  Don't lie...you've made those purchases too, I know you have!  Anyway, I am not a baker type of girl, I do not make cupcakes, nor do I bake anything that doesn't come out of a box or without complete instructions; and I am even known to get those wrong on occasion.  So here I am thinking OK, I can do this, it's soap right?  It's not like I have to bake it right?  I might as well live a little and give it a try.

The color-I was thinking fruity apple punch cider here so went with a no color base for the cake and Burgundy oxide for the frosting part, and I used a silicone mini muffin pan for the mold (which I scored at the used store for $1).  For the recipe I used my basic recipe with the addition of Lard.  

The Results: Once in the soap base this fragrance morphed almost instantly into a much more floral fragrance.  I immediately thought of changing the whole design idea because it became way to floral to work with a cupcake/dessert design, but I already had everything ready to go and had zero time to alter my design idea.  (I didn't have a loaf mold ready to go).  Note to self:  be better at having a backup plan if something doesn't work out.  This fragrance didn't accelerate trace, but did discolor my soap base to a bright yellow color.  As for the cupcakes themselves, well lets just say that for now I will leave those to my fellow soapers that have way more patience than I do.  Out of 2 dozen cupcakes, only 3 looked decent enough for a photo shoot.  As you can see I need a lot of practice.  

See the frosting, it looks brown right?  Nope that's ash.  Yep these little buggers ashed up on me like crazy, the color is more of a mauve (see below).  This was a great learning experience for me though, and I did have enough left overs to make some mini soaps, and some soap curls for a future project.  So not a total loss, and while the cupcakes are sure not perfect by my standards, everyone seems to love them anyway, and of course can not resist them because "they are so darling".  I am thinking that these are worth a little practice in the art of Frosting cupcakes. 

Overall, while I did not end up liking this fragrance, it performed well and was perfect to work with.  It is a very strong fragrance (3%), and has really stuck in the soap so far.   I am giving this one to the fragrance, since it changed so much for me once I stuck it in the soap. 

Monica:    4     Mystery fragrances:  2

So on to the next challenge, Fragrance # 7 which is one of my absolute favorites OOB!  Can't wait for this one. 

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.

SOAP Testing Continued...

Mystery S.O.A.P Fragrance # 2

I am having quite the experience testing these fragrances for Bramble Berry.  I can not believe how much fun this is!

The Idea:  I love the Column Pour method, and have been wanting to try it again.  I put it on my list for a technique that I should NOT use with a new Fragrance, and then of course totally disregarded my own advice!  If you want to see this method in detail, here is a tutorial from Lovin Soap.  You can also check out soap fantastic Column pour soaps at The Soap Queen Blog.

The Fragrance:  OOB (out of bottle) this fragrance smelled like ginger, some sort of musky base like patchouli, and a sweetness that was not candy sweet, but rather floral/earthy sweet.  It's a hard fragrance to explain, and has proven even harder to name.  I figured it would be a perfect canidate for 6 color column pour since it had so many different notes in it.  In the soap the fragrance turned a little more sweet, and lost that ginger note that I had detected. 

The Color:  Since we are doing fall I decided to go with reds, oranges, and a green.  I had the most fantastic helper when mixing up all the colors:  my 5 year old Trenton loves to help Mom as much as he can.  We used:  Burgundy oxide, Ultramarine violet, Ultramarine pink, Coral Mica (which turned orange), and Green Chrome Mica.

The Recipe:  Again I kept it simple, I wanted a recipe that wouldn't trace fast so I would have time to pour all of the colors and get clean lines.  I used:

Olive oil-35%

Coconut oil-30%

Palm oil-20%

Castor oil-5%

Avocado oil-5%

Lard-5%

The Results:  This fragrance traced way too fast on me and because the soap was too thick it did not pour well at all.  The top came out lumpy rather than smooth, and some of the colors disapered entirely.  The orange came out bright as did the green.  I will be sure and remind myself to use a fragrance oil that I KNOW will not accelerate next time I try to do a column pour.  Lesson Learned.

As you can see the top is not satin smooth, and there are no nice clean lines.

Cut it looks like this:

As they cure I will of course be looking for any color changes, and scent retention. 

I'm giving this one to the fragrance, since it didn't come out perfect (even though I am still happy with the results).

So Monica: 1  Mystery Fragrances: 1

Stay tuned for Fragrance #3