I'm getting the hang of working with shaving soap and such. Daddy has always used shaving soap, and when Gram stopped making her's it was hard for him to find any that he liked. Now that I'm following in Gram's footsteps that was the first thing Daddy requested. I made him a batch of castile, and he liked it, but it wasn't his favorite. Tonight I used a new formula that eliminated palm kernel flakes from the recipe. I used olive oil, palm oil, hempseed oil, castor oil, and European green clay. It seems to be doing great! Of course, I won't know until Daddy actually uses it, and I'm not letting him use it for at least 24 hours. Now hold on... before you worry that I'm letting my dad use caustic soap on his face, it's hot processed. I've made 3 batches of hot process soap tonight. Well, technically two, and the third batch is in the crock pot as I type this.
I didn't get a chance to take pictures of Daddy's shaving soap before each bar was cut into quarters for it to fit in his soap cup better, but I've taken pictures of the second batch and want to share it with you. It's beautiful and I'm very proud of it! It will be available on the Etsy shop soon! Now I know the pictures aren't the absolute best because they were taken in low light, but I'll have better pictures tomorrow (hopefully) when I have sunlight (hopefully!).
Meet Balsam & Cedar soap. This is a wonderful masculine scent, but I have to say, I only used very little for a one pound batch, and it's already giving me a headache. It has some gorgeous deep brownish red swirls all throughout it. I'm very proud of how this batch came out! And the swirls were a major surprise. I was worried about this one because I hadn't been able to add color to it, but the fragrance discolored it like this and it's amazing! Even prettier in person! I'm gonna let these cure for a little while, and then they will be available on the shop!
The next batch is Country Christmas, and I can't wait to share pictures of it with you guys! I did it in red and green, but the red came out a little pinkish, which isn't a problem to me. The color combo looks very, very country Christmasy! This will be the soap that comes with the gift set offered in the giveaway. It's sitting in the mold right now, but I'll take pics of it as soon as I cut it, so I can share it with you guys. I had planned on making one more batch of soap tonight, but it's a little bit late for that.
I've started making my soap at my mom's house because she has a MUCH bigger kitchen than I do, and it gives me the room I need to work, so working late in the night isn't an option. That's okay with me though. I've made 3 batches of soap today and I'm proud of all of them! I'll be making more tomorrow. I have a large handful of fragrance oils that need to be put into soap! I also need to get some more soap in stock in the shop. I'm really enjoying making HP soap, and I think I'll be offering more HP than CP, but who knows lol! I just enjoy making soap!
