New Soaps!

Ok, I've been a busy little bee this weekend. First, the soap above is ready for sale. This is a salt spa bar called Beachy and that's exactly what it smells like: clean, salty ocean waves and sand between your toes! To me, this is the perfect scent for a salt spa bar.

Now, my best friend's son loves to come hang out while I make soap, but cold process is not for children because of the dangers associated with sodium hydroxide. He stays out of the kitchen when I'm working with it. So, I decided to give him another option for soapmaking. He made the above soap using a great melt and pour base. This is Champagne & Honey and smells so bubbly and good. I think he did a fabulous job! Don't you?

I made two batches of new salt bars along with a batch of my Spa Rocks salt bars as well. The above bar is Pomegranate and smells delicious! It has notes of dark pomegranate, juicy apple slices, and slights hints of vanilla and musk. A perfect summer soap!


This final soap is also a great summertime fragrance. I call it Sorbet. A stimulating blend of Citrus, including Grapefruit, Lemon and Lime, with hints of fresh Cucumber and Jasmine, and a touch of Pineapple, Blackberry and Champagne. Very fresh!

Sorbet and Pomegranate will be available for sale on May 10th!

Ok, it didn't quite work out like I expected.

But, I'm still kind of pleased with the results. Below is a photo of the salt bar disaster cooking in a crockpot. It is a lot smoother than normal cold process soap would be. In fact, though I do rebatch cold process, it can be a bear.

Once I got it in the mold, the top roughened up a bit because this soap starts to harden quickly. This is my first salt bar rebatch and I had to glop it in the mold and spread it out like regular CP. Then, I smoothed it out and put my dividers in.

The finished soap. While she's not beautiful like her sister Amazonia below, she's still a great bar. I washed my hands with her and was very pleased with the lather and feel. I really love salt bars! They are such a nice change from regular soap.

I'm not sure what to name her though. Any ideas? She has a clean scent with soft floral notes. Very spa like. Spa Rocks? ;) I'll have to think about it. Ideas are appreciated.

Amazonia out of the mold. A lady of the jungle whose fragrance reminds one of exotic herbs, rainwater, and floral gardens. She will be ready for sale around February 10.


A little more about salt bars... You'll find that they are very hard, like rocks literally. People assume they are rough and exfoliating, but this is not the case if fine salt is used. Salt bars start becoming like smooth pebbles after the first wash. Depending upon how they are made, they can have a light, thin, creamy lather or a fabulously, bubbly lather that turns more creamy as you wash. If you haven't tried a salt bar (also called spa bars) you should. I highly recommend them!

A Different Kind of Soap.

Today, I have been totally into making soap. My favorite soaps to make and use are salt bars. These are fabulous bars of soap that contain some form of salt like sea salt. They make hard, luxurious, creamy lathering bars of soap. I also get the satisfaction of unmolding them much, much sooner than a regular cold process soap.

My first batch of salt bars turned out perfectly! Here she is, lying in her mold, waiting to be cut into perfect, gorgeously fragranced soaps. I can't wait to try this one out. Her name is Amazonia. She'll be ready for sale in about 4 weeks.


My next batch was a terrifying mess! But, I have managed to save her and I'm thrilled about it because this soap has a fabulous scent also. If you can't tell, I am a lover of fragrance...

The particular fragrance I used cause what is known as acceleration. This is where your soap (which is a liquid consistency before being molded) turns very hard while still in the pot. It makes it nearly impossible to get in the mold. This being a salt bar, it just became very crumbly.

Not a good thing... This soap will fall apart if I don't do somthing about it. So, I'm throwing it in the crockpot to cook (which is more of a hot process for soaping).

I'll cook this for a few hours to complete the saponification process and then put it in the mold. The color may change a bit, but not much. Since the process is sped up by the heat, I expect this soap to be ready in about 2 weeks. I'll post the finished soaps in my next blog update.