Thanks to honor435 and agriffin

Crockpot Recipe and Natural Colorants

Thanks to honor435 for the recipe and agriffin for the natural colorants and thanks for their patience - I finally made some batches.

Quite awhile ago agriffin sent me a Natural Soap Colorant Kits (http://www.etsy.com/listing/41640334/al ... color-your) which had 1 oz packages of Cumin Seed Powder, Mustard Seed Yellow, Paprika Powder, Rose Hip Powder, Turmeric Powder, Sage Powder, Rosemary Powder, Parsley Powder and Tomato Powder.

I told her I would post pics once I got some batches done. My life got very busy and I wasn’t able to do any batches until recently.

Also, I wanted to try HP and I told honor435 that I had Crisco with palm and cocoa butter. She sent me a recipe that she said would be “crazy bubbly and creamy”. She said it was okay to post it for other people.

honor435’s HP recipe

30% Coconut Oil, 76 deg
27% Olive Oil
16.5% Crisco, new w/palm
16.5% Cocoa Butter
10% Castor Oil

7% superfat
water as % of oil weight 33%

Woo hoo! It’s very sudsy and has lots of bubbles. I love bubbles!

I used beer in place of water because I had read a thread where some people had made soap with beer and I wanted to try it. Also, I had told my BIL about beer soap and he was interested enough to donate the beer.

I used Parsley Powder to color it and it turned a lovely soft green with specks of darker green in it. Obviously, I didn’t get the parsley blended enough but I liked how it turned out. I used Lime EO and WSP’s Mint Thyme EO Blend for the scent since I was making this for my BIL. But I’m using a bar because I liked the scent.

It was very easy to do in the crock pot and it traced very quickly. Because of my inexperience, I let the first batch cool too much and it was basically just clumps. Since it was still a little soft the next day, I squished the soap together to form bars. The soap ended up looking terrible so I didn’t take pictures. My BIL said the soap looked like “crap” but he really liked it and said it didn’t leave him feeling “slimy”. He also liked the scent.

Anyway, I tried a second batch of honor435’s recipe but this time I used turmeric powder and scented it with WSP’s Energizing Natural EO Aromatherapy Blend 605 (Sweet Orange & Ginger). I had used this scent to do lotions for a couple of friends but I had never cared for it. I thought it had a slightly bitter scent. Anyway, it smells fabulous in HP and I’ve decided I’m going to have to keep one bar for me. After all, I should “test” it before I give it to my friends, right?

I mixed the turmeric in some of the soap and then tried to swirl it. I’m not good at swirls but I was really pleased how the turmeric blended in producing varied tints of orange. I’m also not good at taking pictures.

http://img139.imageshack.us/content_rou ... 721818.jpg

The next batch is CP and is an experiment for a conditioning soap for my sister and myself. I used 32% babassu oil, 29% apricot kernel oil, 33% shea butter and 6% castor oil with 6% superfat. I added 1 1/2 tsp each of Avocado oil and Rose Hip oil at trace and used the Rose Hip Powder for color. I added lavender, clary sage and geranium EOs. It was very soft when I unmolded it yesterday but today it’s hardened up a lot. It’s going to be hard waiting 4 weeks for it to cure.

I added 1/4 tsp of rose hip powder into approximately 3/4 cup of soap and I wasn’t impressed by the color. It was pinkish beige. But the soap was getting thicker so I spooned it on top and swirled it in. (Yes, I keep trying to swirl…not very successfully.) Two days later the color has changed to a light purplish pink. The color isn’t really as bright as how it appears in the picture.

http://img718.imageshack.us/content_rou ... 412186.jpg

So I want to give a huge thanks to honor435 and agriffin for all their help. I know I wouldn’t have done this if they hadn’t been generous about sharing information and supplies.

Congrats on your success! The second one looks so pretty! It may not be as bright is person as you mentioned - but lovely I can say honor435 is a really great gal! Nice of your post to update her and agriffin and say thanks. Thank was really kind of you!
Much success with your next batches

They look great! Congrats on your success. Thanks to you and honor435 for sharing the recipe. I was just going to ask for a good "guy" recipe. My DH hates feeling "slimey" so I know he won't like my favorite recipes as I need very moisturizing soap for my dry skin. I've also been thinking of trying HP so this is all very timely!

Well, I thought it was very nice of them to share with me and I wanted to acknowledge their generosity.

loveit_latherit -

Yes, the CP batch color did turn out well. When I first mixed the rose hip powder in, I thought it wasn't much different in color from the uncolored soap and I was disappointed. So, I was pleased 2 days later to see that the color had darkened. I thought it complemented the rose hip oil, the lavender and geranium EOs.

Lesson learned - the powders change color while the soap sits in the mold. Is it the saponification process that causes the color to change?

NancyRogers -

I just realized I've been misspelling slimy.

If your DH hates "slimy" then definitely try this soap. It's not as moisturizing as the usual soaps I use (I have dry skin, too) but I really like it. It's great for this time of year when it starts getting hotter and more humid. I don't need as much moisturizer during the warmer months so this will be perfect for me to use through the summer.

LOL It's more likely that I'm misspelling it. I am not a good speller.

Nope, I was misspelling it. I thought it didn't look right so I looked it up. Then I went back and corrected it.

Hazel, good to see you!

I looove the way your HP soap looks, I bet they all just smell wonderful too. Congrats on your fabulous soap

I'll have to try those fragrances you suggested!

Hi tasha,

I think they smell great! When I come in the back door, I catch a whiff of them and it smells sooo good. You don't necessarily have to use these scents but I think they did work out well.

I mentioned the EOs and powders since I'm experimenting and I wanted the colors to complement the scents. agriffin sent a paper with the colorant kit which tells what colors the powders may become in the soap. For example, parsley powder can be green or brown. The paprika powder produce a peach, salmon, light pink or orange color. The rose hip powder could produce mauve, pink, light burgundy or a peachy cream color.

She also include usage rates, when and how to add and tips. I know most soapers already know this info but it's extremely helpful for me since I've never worked with herbal powders.

However, I've read discussions about how citrus based scents have a tendency to disappear over time. So, the real test will be how they hold up over the next few weeks and for several months. I'm going to keep some of each batch to test the EOs. Except for the first batch of the Lime & Mint Thyme. My BIL took that one so I'll have to make more.

honor435 had said to use .5 oz ppo for the HP and I used 1 oz ppo for the CP. Since the CP was a test batch, I only made 16 oz and I used 11 g lavender, 11 g clary sage and 6 g geranium. At first, I wasn't too sure about the scent because I could really smell the geranium. Now it's starting to mellow and I think it has more of a herbal scent.

I used more Lime in the first batch - approximately 2:1 ratio

your welcome. I love to help people, and soaping is my passion, as it is to many of you.
Try lemongrass if you like eos, its not too exp. and wsp has no shipping.

I have tried lemongrass and lavender in CP. I don't know if I didn't use enough EOs or what; but the scent has really faded since I made it 11 weeks ago.

Do you have any ideas why it would have faded?

how much did you use? hp or cp?

I used 1 oz ppo in CP.

Im suprised, those are both pretty strong smells.

It must be me. I asked my sister today about the bars I gave her and she said the scent is fine.

I've got 4 different batches curing on the dining room table. (It's okay. We only use the dining room table on some holidays. I don't have to clear if off until July 3. :wink: ) Whenever I walk into the house, I really notice the scent of them. Perhaps my sense of smell was overwhelmed by the other scents. By the time I use the lemongrass/lavender soap, my olfactory sense may have shut down from overload.