The Soap Nut

Soapnuts

Is anyone else having problems with blogger?? I am just not able to leave comments on many lovely blogs. The drop down list which enables you to select the profile.....well, there is no drop down list for me. If I try Internet Explorer, no matter how many times I sign in, it doesn't log me in. This happened before too, but it automatically corrected itself out...but not this time. :( I use Chrome by the way. Does anyone know what to do?

On a more soapy note, some of the 'Everfresh' soaps I had poured into individual molds. The colors didn't turn out like I hoped and the soaps were still a little soft when I took them out of the molds (Yes!! Impatience can be my other name). So I cut those up and tried to re-batch. I called them 'Fuglies' for a few days before grating them up.

Now I call them Soapnuts!!

Ohrange lav

Immediately after trimming the last soap, I rolled up the leftover scraps into balls. They look nice and I really don't know why I couldn't think of doing that before (I threw away many a scraps...yikes, not knowing what to do with them). So as I was rolling away, ideas kept rolling in my head and then....BAM!! This soap was created that very afternoon.

Made on 21.06.2011

Oils: Coconut, palm, olive and canola buttered with Shea. I don't know why, but the soap had some white specks. I remember reading someone else had the same problem (guess it was Cocobong)...must be the Shea butter??

Trimmed one, but later decided to keep them curvy

Scented with orange and lavender essential oils, it smells heavenly and perfect for summer. Every time I walk into the room, the beautiful fragrance allures me to pick up the soap and smell it.

And....we're rolling again!!

Oh how I luv this orange and lavender scent!!

Everfresh

Made on: 20.06.2011

After many weeks I made soap again. The original plan was to make a green soap with nettle tea but who sticks to original plans anyway?? Definitely not me!! It's not like I didn't try though. I made a strong nettle tea (dried leaves) over the weekend, but when I looked at it later, the tea was more brown than green. Not wanting to take a chance I made the lye solution with distilled water and added a green color towards the end. I still want to make an all natural green soap. It seems spinach makes a green soap, so I will try that out sometime.

For now here is the soap that got made:

Slices of soap

Coconut, palm, olive and canola oils with extra cocoa butter loving...topped with Calendula petals.

My pics getting any better at all??

Scented with Lemon Eucalyptus, Lemongrass and Rosemary essential oils. The evergreen Eucalyptus and amazingly fresh Lemongrass....Everfresh!! :P

I like these molds. Perfect guest soaps I think

And I stamped them too!!

Stamped!!

Now a patient 4 week wait!! By the way the nettle tea is still in the fridge...should I go ahead and make some soap with it or is it no good anymore?? And, is anyone else having a problem with blogger? I have not been able to comment on many blogs (the ones where the post comments is embedded in the page itself). Hope it gets fixed soon...

Pass me the butter, please!!

I finally moved to Austria on Saturday and am waiting to make some soap. Still have to get settled in (it's a pain looking for clothes and other things in suitcases) and get all the oils I want, so my soap experiment has to be put off for another few days. I have an idea as to how I want this soap to look and have also decided on the essential oils that I will be using. Hope it turns out well!!

Here is a body butter I made some weeks back:

Body butter scented with orange and lemon grass EO's

The Graz climate is drying my skin out (it's literally cracking up and flaking too) :( This butter (though a little greasy) is what I am using many times during the day, especially on the hands. I used about 70% Shea butter and 30% hazelnut oil. Scented with orange and lemon grass essential oils for a fresh summer feel. It smells and feels nice, but I find it a bit greasy (which is fine here in Graz). I read somewhere that cornstarch is used to decrease that greasy feeling. Maybe I should try that next time.

It's a wrap!!

I am not making so much soap these days, as I have a lot from the previous batches (like that ever stopped me before). Actually, the husband and me are in the middle of being whacked around like a badminton cork between Austria and Germany. The last time we left Austria my soap supplies (NaOH mainly, oils and distilled water) had to be left behind. *sob*

But not wanting to wallow in self-pity, I ordered the bite-y base again. Now that it is here, guess what???? We will be moving to Austria again!!! My dear friend Mr. Bite-y can't fly along with us, so I might have to ship it. Thankfully I won't have to pour anymore distilled water down the drain here, coz I didn't buy any. So for the time being 'It's a wrap' as far as soaping is concerned. BUT WAIT!!!! That is not the reason for the post title. This is: