Solstice Full Moon Eclipse soaps

Just cut the last of the almost 30# of soaps made in the last day in 5 batches. Nothing really visual, except maybe the camp soap. I'm taking pictures to compare colors later when they're cured.



Clockwise from upper Left:
1) same as Camp Soap, no color. (lavendar and lavendar/cedar/patchouli)
2) Vegan; Green tea + powdered parsley and sage + a little green clay. (unscented, cedar/vetiver/patchouli and spearmint/peppermint/rosemary/sage)
3) same as #1 with 5% less CO and more OO. Molded in empty CO and Crisco containers. (unscented)
4) Same as Camp Soap but with only powdered Achlys triphylla (Vanilla leaf, a native here) at 2 tsp in 650g soap at trace. This is a color test, the herb extracts a very deep rich emerald green in alcohol so I decided to try it in soap. This batch also got accidentally microwave HP'd, thought I was warming it for 20 sec. to ensure gel in the small container, but it went for most of 2 minutes until I noticed the volcano in there. That's why it's all spotty. (unscented)
Ctr) Camp soap I posted earlier. (lemony bug repellent oils and cedar/juniper/patchouli)

The EOs are subject to change at a whim, but these are the planned ones for now. I usually scent after cure. It takes a few weeks longer, but I can do as many blends as I want with the same batch of soap, and the smells seem to stay truer. It also saves a little on EOs. The juniper berry might get cut, I'm out but it's $€£kr¥₪ƒ$.

I really wanted to do one more big batch of vegan soap before the Solstice date was over, but I ran out of lye... maybe tomorrow

Very nice!
I like the green one. I would be curious what that one looks like a couple of months down the road.

#3 isn't actually darker than #1, it's only darker in the picture because it was still pretty warm from the gel stage here.

And Irena, the darker green tea one should lighten and get kind of tan/green, I wanted some extra green to stay so I added a little clay I had. The experimental green one will be a surprise, but I have hope it'll be even better than parsley for staying power!

Wow ... impressive!

I'm still very new to soap making and would love you to explain how you ...

usually scent after cure.

Click to expand...

Thanks

very nice!

nice looking soaps

Dragonkaz said:

Wow ... impressive!

I'm still very new to soap making and would love you to explain how you ...

usually scent after cure.

Click to expand...

Thanks

Click to expand...

I would assume he aims to rebatch (hand mill) and add fragrance.

Sometimes I scent after cure by rebatching, but mostly I do it with the bars intact. I put the soap into a container and spray it down with EO, then seal it up, repeating once a week or so for a few weeks to a couple months. That's what takes all the extra time- you can't do it until the soap is mostly dried out, and then it takes a while for the EO to work its way to the center of the bars. Big heavy dense bars take a long time. If it isn't saturated, the scent goes away too fast.

I got the idea from reading about the enfleurage process to make attar of roses- I was planning to try it with dry herbs and soap but never got to it, so I got some spearmint EO and skipped that step. I've been doing it that way ever since.

All the EOs I've tried worked well, some blends took over a month to gain strength all the way into the middle.

Thick and dark EOs like vetiver, oakmoss, and patchouli always get mixed with a little grain alcohol in a small spray bottle so they go on evenly. Light thin stuff like lavendar, some cedars and citrus sometimes just get sprinkled right out of the bottle onto the soap. A little puddling in the bottom doesn't hurt anything, I just turn the bars a few times so the don't discolor.

I mentioned doing this some years ago on some other forum, but people didn't pick it up, I think because it really takes a lot more time and attention. Since I'm not a seller, but I am an experimenter, it works for me.

You should have seen the quizzical expression on the store clerk's face last time I bought 6 travel sized hairsprays LOL! Which reminds me I need to get more small spray bottles now. The hairspray just gets poured into my roommate's bottle in the bathroom. I wonder if she ever noticed she should have run out months ago.

I should mention that I've never bought any FO, so I don't know if they would work as well or not.

I can see how adding a little green clay would enhance the color. As far as scenting soaps your way, I tried adding scent to a soap after it was cut because I forgot to add it in the first place. The soap smelled ok when it was first used, but as the soap got smaller, the scent completely went away. I wasn't happy with the result, so I haven't made it this way again.

Yep, I think that's why most people don't. It takes forever for the soap to absorb it all the way through, and it has to be cured first or the drying process just pushes it all out. It doesn't really save all that much on eo, maybe 1/3 less, so the only reason I do it is to try several different things from the same batch of soap.

Wow Dirtmonkey- that is exciting. I have an unscented bar that I am going to try your technique on. I use mostly FO's. I have had some bars lose strength, and some scents have changed during the curing process.

I made some really cute peanut butter bars with an FO that smelled WONDERFUL OOB, but didn't make it through the process. What a letdown to have peanut butter bars that don't smell like peanut butter!

It sounds like you get the bars pretty wet. I guess I will keep it in a small tupperware container. Keep it closed up? and spray it once/week. Any other suggestions?

I'm a pagan soaper in a way... I take it these were made on the solstice? cool soaps

NICE soaps, I love the camo!