First near soap on a stick (picture added)

[chibilightangel]

Well, I can say that I've lived through my first near soap on a stick experience. My regular recipe (65% olive oil), low temps.... but new UNTESTED FO.

Not quite sure what got into me to decide to just throw the FO directly into the oils before adding lye (normally only do that with proven FO's, and only very rarely). As soon as I started the stick blender, the sound was off and I knew I'd better get it out and get the whip out. I think I got it all blended together fairly well (a few lumps here and there from starting with the stick blender). Poured it in at very thick cake batter or thick custard consistency and it's in the oven to induce gel.

For those interested, Maple Sugar from new directions... smells heavenly out of the bottle though, can't wait to see how it sticks in soap. Last maple fragrance I tried turned the soap dark brown, almost like dark chocolate when exposed to air. Anxious to see what the vanilla content in this one will be.

 

[soapbuddy]

It's always a good idea to start out with a whisk with untested FO's. I always add my fragrance to my melted oils first.

 

[JackiK]

It's always a good idea to start out with a whisk with untested FO's. I always add my fragrance to my melted oils first.

I just recently started using this method and really like it.

 

[chibilightangel]

Yeah, the whisk is the way to go. I'm really not sure why I threw the stick blender in before testing, I guess I was distracted.

I should have time to run 2 or 3 batches today, with a body lotion or two thrown in there also and tons of new fragrances to try, so I think my whisk will be getting a bit of a workout.

The soap is now a light fudge color, so apparently this maple sugar fragrance has less vanilla than my first maple syrup FO I'd tried. I should be able to cut this afternoon so I'll try to get some pics (along with a ton of other soaps that I've done and never posted).

 

[soapbuddy]

Would love to see pics when you're ready.

 

[chibilightangel]

So here are the updated pics. First and uncut, then cut. Last time I did maple, the cut pieces turned all dark within hours of cutting, but this batch is holding onto the inner light color for longer (you can see a difference between the pieces as I cut 2 to test how long they'd take to change, but 10 hours later, they're still quite light). Yes, there are air bubbles due to near soap on a stick and glopping into the mold.

Did a bit of a photoshoot today, so will try to post those in the coming days (though no promises as they're calling for nice pool weather)[/img]

 

[serfmunke]

Mmm, they look like some sort of scrumptious chocolate peanut butter dessert, or is it desert? I can never spell that word