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Sunday, January 27, 2013

December / Early January Soaps

Wow - I can't believe I'm writing two blog posts today!  Since it's been so long since my last one, I guess there's a lot to catch up on.

First things first - here are pictures of the cut spa-type soaps I made in December.  They both smell so lovely (the purple is an EO blend my friend and I made and the green is a Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena).  They turned out great, and I can't wait to get them into my shower rotation :)


I really loved how the swirls turned out on the sides of the soap on this one.  However, there is no yellow on the actual bar of soap - I think the lighting is just wonky today with all the snow we're getting...



My parents went to a brewery a while back and bought a bunch of fruit beers (apple, cherry, raspberry, etc) and decided they didn't like them very much.  So, into the soap they go!  I didn't stick blend this one, because I wanted to keep it as smooth as possible.  I used the apple beer they gave me, added some silk, and a little cinnamon EO to round out the scent a little bit.  The apple scent from the apple beer comes through pretty strong still.  However, I think I broke my BB column mold on this one...

I was also inspired by the blogs by Great Cakes Soapworks on rebatching soap and decided to rebatch some scraps I had around as well as my first hot process disaster.  For the soap I made using the oil-heavy lavender hot process, I did not add any extra oil to the shavings, as it was still pretty soft, but I did add a half cup of castor oil to the "other" scraps.  They turned out pretty well - see below:
This rebatch was scented with a China Rain FO, and it's probably one of my favorite scents that I've soaped with so far! Love it. And even my husband loves it, too, which is odd, because I expected him to be more partial to the one below. 
This rebatch was scented with the Green Tweed FO from NG, and I love it, but I scented it a little light.  Would add more FO next time - it seemed to fade among the scents already in the scraps.
I really enjoyed these soaps, and I'm looking forward to making more beer soaps with the other beers my parents gave me.

~Chrissy

6 comments:

  1. Nice Chrissy, you've been busy! Love the beer soap, that's great that the beer smell came through! Your rebatches came out great too, I really appreciate Amy sharing that method, it's so easy!

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    1. I agree, Cee - I had no idea rebatching would look this nice! In Amy's tutorial, she had some beautiful marble-looking soaps, but I am still happy with how mine turned out.

      And it only looks like I've been busy because I haven't posted a blog since early December... Time sure flies!

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  2. Beautiful soaps, Chrissy! I love the swirls, and the rebatches look great, too. I especially like the China Rain rebatch. And beer is so nice in soap!

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    1. I really enjoy beer soaps, I'm finding. I made a Guinness beer soap for my wedding guests, and I've gotten a lot of great feedback. It was also made with lard, which I think made it nice and hard, while the beer helped with the lather and bubbles!

      And honestly, that scent I used in the purple rebatch is so lovely. I smell it every time I walk by the curing rack :)

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  3. They are gorgeous! I think my favorite has to be the beer soap, the color is just so earthy. =)

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    1. Thanks, Anne-Marie - I think I neglected to mention above that I put some Rose Kaolin clay in that beer soap to give it a little orangey-pink color. I really like that one, too! Can't wait to use it!

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