Butterfly Swirl Gallery

And something quite unexpected...instead of a butterfly I've got a Happy Feet :)

Soap Adventures of last couple of months | Photo Gallery

Here are some pics of my latest soap adventures that I still haven't had time to write about. Coloring soaps using Alkanet root is definitely something worth writing about and I intend to explore this more. I've already experimented with different alkanet oil infusions and got some interesting results that vary among light green to dark purple, but more about it in some future post.

Using Alkanet root to color soap

This particular soap was named "Lavender Crocus" by my friend Carolyne because of some interesting swirls that resulted in something resembling Crocus flower in her opinion. It was colored with Alkanet root infused in Almond oil and TiO2. More about it later.

This soap was inspired by Lemon Poppy Seed soap by Soap Queen, except instead of using Lemon fragrance for this project, I've used Silk Melon Fragrance and Spearmint EO. My friends said it reminds them of Lemon Merengue and we ended up calling it Melon Merengue. The bottom half is colored with just a few drops of Carrot infused Olive oil and I added TiO2 to the upper half. The final touch were poppy seeds which I added for exfoliation as well as esthetic reasons. 

First Time Making Whipped Soap

Couple of days ago I decided to try making whipped soap. I read all about it on Nizzy's website, figured out a recipe that had 75% sold oils and had my old hand mixer ready. Because it was the first time I used that technique, I had my hands full and I didn't dare taking time to get my camera, so I had my 7 year old daughter come and take a couple of photos with my cell phone. I think she did a marvelous job, all things considered :) 

About the Recipe 

I Used 101 g. of NaOH and water 2.5 times the amount of NaOH. I added Strawberry FO and Coco butter FO for fragrance and used white Kaoilin and pink French clay for colour. I was going for light, dusty pink and I used one table spoon of pink clay and one tea spoon of white clay for aproximately 1 pound of soap. This was also the first time I used pink clay in my soap and I must say I liked the results.

Lemon and basil soap with white clay

Hi there, it's been a while since my last post, I've been away from home for more than a month, then I rediscovered crochetting and got a bit addicted to it, but we eventually ran out of my homemade soaps so I ordered some lovely oils and decided to make a couple of batches before it got really hot here in Greece.

I've found some lemon essential oil and white (kaolin) clay in a new local store and wanted to add some grounded dry herbs into it so I came up with basil, since I think lemon and basil are a true love match. 

Before you start making soap

Research, research, research

I've decided to start my soap making adventure by learning how to make a cold process soap. Along the way, some friends have asked me for a tutorial and although I don't think of myself as someone who is ready to write tutorials just yet, I started this blog as a diary where I describe my soap making experience in plain words and hopefully - some might find it useful. In this first post, I will try and point out a couple of things you need to do and buy before you start making your own soaps.

If you're like me, you have probably done lots and lots of reading on the subject of soap making before deciding you want to give it a try. When I say a lot, I mean months and months of searching the internet, watching video tutorials for everything from soap making basics to soap wrapping ideas. Finally, my husband told me: When will you start making it already?

That got me going. Now I just had to: