Spice up the Myrtle

Myrtle and spice and all things nice!! That's what I kept saying all the while I made this soap. The soap gremlins were not too nice to me though. Just before making this soap, I was thinking of how it had been a while since I had any soap disasters happening in the kitchen. And with the kind blessings of Mr. Murphy, we had a soap volcano.

Lessons learnt during this soaping session:
- Try to keep it cool in the kitchen. Use a fan.
- Clove can not just spice things up, it can heat them too...especially soap. I knew this, but wasn't prepared.

Right after pouring the soap into the mold, I was trying to get things a little organised and I saw it happen right before my eyes. The soap was slowly rising and bubbling. All I could do was go WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!! Like that was going to calm the soap down. Then I ran with the mold (Note to self and others: DON'T DO THAT!! The hot soap could bubble out and fall on you) to the dining table, under the fan and tried to stir and release the heat. That wasn't working, so I WHOAED my way to the kitchen, grabbed a big pot and WHOAED all the way back to the table just in time to get the soap into the pot, before it bubbled onto the table. After a few moments of stirring and singing a 'Please don't separate and ruin the mold' song, the baby calmed down. I carefully tucked it into a blanket to catch any leaks just in case it decides to wake up and get angry again and tucked myself in for the night too. Thankfully nothing happened. I guess, I am one good singer!! ;)

Rustic looking Myrtle soap

Scented with Myrtle and Cypress essential oils

This was my first soap volcano, but not the last. Will share about another adventure soon!!

Lavender again

Last time the lavender soap was made with Alkanet powder added directly to the soap at trace. I did get a purple, but not one I liked. Plus the soap is speckled quite a bit. 

This time around the alkanet powder was infused in castor oil for some days. This castor oil I used along with the base oils (about 3%). Outcome:

I whipped up some air into the soap

I like it a lot more than the previous lavender soap, but I'll try again. After a few weeks of curing, the color is more greyish than purple and there is a layer of soda ash. Grrr!! I cling wrap the soap after pouring it into the mold and when it is time to cut, there is absolutely no ash at all. But a few days later it magically forms on the top. I wish there is some way to avoid it altogether.

Have a great day everyone!!