Milk and roses



Finally I made the rose soap I had been planning to make for a while. Most of my soaps these days are made with the same amount of palm, coconut, olive and sesame oils. One thing most observed by all the people who tried my soaps was how soon they vanish. So I decided to try a higher percent of palm oil, which seems to be fine on my skin because of the high humidity factor. My normally extra dry skin (in European weather) is doing well without a moisturizer. However I wanted to make this soap a little special so I made it with buffalo's milk and superfatted it with shea butter.

Buffalo's milk is known for it's high fat content so the superfat is 2%. The sink was filled with ice cubes to keep the frozen milk from getting hot, but it did turn a bright yellow and then a pale orange with the lye. The hand blender was kept away because of the seize situation with the earlier batch of soap but somewhere after 10 minutes of hand stirring I gave in. In spite of stopping the blender way before the soap traced, the second the essential oils went it, I could sense a panic attack in the offing. The spirit of Speedy Gonzales kicked in and the essential oils got stirred in by hand at a pace even the hand blender couldn't beat. In a flash the entire soap was in the mold, decorated with petals waiting for the gel phase to arrive.

Small soap blocks ready to be sliced up
The scent blend was Rose, Geranium, Palmarosa, Peppermint, Clove and Black Pepper EO's. I like the blend, but wish it tones down a little during the curing period. It smells really rosy! Maybe more spicy and woody EO's next time.

The soaps are darkening as they cure

Just have to keep that blender out of my sight!!

7 comments:

Bobbins and Balms said...

your soap looks amazing :)

Mopsfidel said...

Very nice soapy! But when I use Rose petals for a topping, they are getting brown.*unhappy*

Patrice-The Soap Seduction said...

Beautiful soap! Question for you: Where does one find buffalo milk? I'm truly intrigued...:)

Jennifer Young said...

Hi! I love the look of these. Such a soft delicate colour... beautiful. And where do you find Rose EO that you can afford? I would LOVE to work with a truly natural Rose scent but can't affort it here. The scent sounds wonderful. xoxoxox Jen

Nitya said...

@Bobbins and Balms: Thank you so much!

@Mopsfidel: Thank you! I thought only fresh roses turn brown...does it happen when one used dried rose petal too?

@Patrice: Buffalo milk is very easily available here in India. That is the milk we use daily. :)
Thanks for hopping over to my blog!

@Jennifer: Thank you so much Jennifer! I ordered my EO's from here:

www.falconsessentialoils.com

I think he ships internationally too. Rose essential oil is expensive compared to the other ones here, but it is definitely affordable. :)

Alegria Mediterranea said...

I LOOOOOVE this feminine soap,is adorable !
It is my favorite!
Well done Nytia,
Love&Bless,
Claudia

Nitya said...

Thank you Claudia!
Warm greetings!!
~Nitya