More Soap Porn and Musings

I have been posting my soaps up on Facebook for quite a while. It was only recent that I pulled a Facebook page together for the business side of things. I never believed (after other business pages of mine have never sold a thing) that I would start selling soapy goodies almost straight away. Three gift baskets later and a custom order for lemon myrtle and goats milk. Wow, hopefully I am on the right path and I can leave this soul destroying job.

Also, I have made so much soap, I am quickly running out of base ingredients!

Soapy hugs
Kayla xx

...And It Just Keeps Coming...

I feel blessed over the last month or so to have friends who are happy and willing to support my business. In the last month I have been offered 3 opportunites to sell my soaps as well as friends who would like some themselves or for their friends. I only hope that the markets I have been invited to will get some sales!

On anothr note, the ugly brown duckling from last week has set and finally cut. Below is the magnificent purple that the Brazillian purple clay gave and there is a little boost from some purple mica also swirled in,

Next in the mould is an all natural soap with essential oils, I have bath truffles of the same Goddess scent and will also have bath salts with hibiscus and rose petals.

Soapy hugs
Kayla xx
  

Ugly duckling now beautiful lilac scented soap

Goddess blend with Australian pink clay and hibiscus petals

 

So many soaps wrapped and more to come!

 

Bath truffles all wrapped, awaiting swing tags 

2kg Mould Soap Cut

These are finally cut and now curing.

Himalayan black tea will now be called High Tea, as for black raspberry sugar... Still out for debate...

Also, since I am running low on base oils and butters, I am scraping together a couple of simpler recipes. The most recent is lilac scented with Brazillian purple clay (ouch, went brown because of the olive oil but will hopefully come good) with a little purple mica swirl and pink Himalayan rock salt. This one will be cut on the weekend.

Soapy hugs
Kayla xx

New Moulds in Use

I bought two moulds second hand and put them to use today.

Himalayan Black Tea and Black Raspberry Sugar.  No idea what their new names will be!

Soapy hugs
Kayla xx

It's Not Just Soap Now!

It has been a VERY LONG time coming. I haven't made bath products in over 10 years, but I have returned with the beginnings of something that I loved doing - happy bath time goodness!

That's right, I am retuning with baths goodness and starting off with bath truffles! A lovely blend of bath bomb and bath melt. To please all senses I will make EO and FO blends and to start with I have made a batch of raspberry and violet of and bergamont, lemongrass and rose geranium EO. I will also be looking at other lovely blends along with shower tablets for those who prefer or only have showers. Stay tuned for 'Breathe Easy' and 'Hump Day' EO blends.

Soapy hugs
Kayla xx

Soaping & Mini Haul

Below are my four most recent creations. Alas, I keep forgetting the camera to video how I made them and give a running commentary on how the recipe is and how the scents are reacting.  It certainly doesn't help when I have half of my stuff in one house and half in another. Hopefully this will be rectified soon enough.

Lastly is of a mini haul from China with 4 silicone moulds that I am going to use for bath melts.just need more money and hours in they day to pay for everything so I can get up and running! Anyone know the winning lotto numbers?

Green Man

Ice Man Cometh

Lemon Goat

Girly Girl

The Perfect Man Soap Video - Hello YouTube!

I really hate having my photo taken and even more being on video but I am braving my fears and putting myself out there. So, albeit a little late thanks to the slow upload speed to YouTube, I present my first ever YouTube video for soapmaking... Black Peacock Soaps - Making of "The Perfect Man".

Soapy hugs

Kayla

No More Sneaky Soaping

So, most of my soaping stuff has moved to the other house. In between cleaning up and stripping walls of 50 year old undercoat, I am now allowed to soap.

No more hiding that I have been making soap from the other half. He is currently chunking through the first batch of soap I made, scented with Love Spell and since then I have bought him his own scent and about to make up something just for him, with something purple... I am thinking a purple ITP. I need any excuse to start working on my techniques.

So yay for being allowed to soap, but still have a while until we move. I am moving in more bags every time we go over and hopefully will have everything moved over soon enough that I can tell the estate agent where they can shove themselves for all the years of NOT repairing this place and have a home that is all my own, with my soaping shed and hopefully see the beginnings of getting away from working in a job that I loathe and into making soapy goodness.

Soapy hugs
Kayla

Soap Swap: Natural

Scent: Hairloom Goddess blend (ylang, ylang, white grapefruit, sweet orange & patchouli)

Oils: EVOO, coconut and macadamia

Colour: uncoloured batter, Australian pink clay and red mica swirl

Whilst not perfect, it is made with love and good intentions. I bought a cheese cutter during the week as trying to cut a loaf of soap with a knife or the mitre box method was just not working. Today I produced 10 nearly uniform little bars of soap the are now happily curing in the kitchen of my new old home. 

Stay tuned for the next installment which will be the results of the 'anything goes' soap swap loaf...

Soapy hugs

Kayla

Soap Swap: Anything Goes - Fail No. 1

Scent: Pink Jasmine FO
Oils: EVOO, macadamia & coconut
Colour: black oxide
Embeds: clear M & P with opal white glitter

Well, the soaping gremlins have hit me. Whilst the soap itself turned out fine, my design didn't. What I had in my head and saw in a photo, did not translate into reality. A black mess with barely noticeable embeds. Yep, one for the use at home and never try again file...

In the words of many a fail meme...NAILED IT!

Soapy hugs

Kayla 

This is how I wanted the soap to look! Ahhh, yup...nailed it!

Mini Haul: Week of 1 June 2014

Nothing major. Just a mini haul from Big Tree Supplies on fragrant oils. I am very happy with the pricing, speed of delivery and the beautiful smells that are probably going to suffocate me! I will be starting to build back up my aromatherapy/essential oil collection as money allows. They are so much more expensive!

Soapy hugs

Kayla

Graduate Soap Making Course & May the 4th Be With You...

Today was the graduate soap making course with Remington and Emmett. I love learning with these ladies, it is so much fun and they are an amazing wealth of knowledge. Theses ladies are my kind of crazy!

Back to the familiar workroom...

Batches already put to bed and what the heck are we making in those moulds?

Funnel swirl and colour choices...

Before mess...

During mess...

We've been playing with white powdery substances...

Funnel swirl, can't wait to see it after it has gelled and has been cut...

After mess...

Oooooh, little salty bars of goodness...

Post mess...

Nicki and Cheryl cleaning up our mess. There was a LOT of washing up.

Again, a huge thanks to Nicki and Cherly for a great day spent soaping, talking and laughing. Bring on August!

Soapy hugs

Kayla 

The Longest Two Day Wait Ever!

May the 4th be with you!

Yes, that is the day for my next soaping course and I am hanging for it as this will be my first Sunday off in weeks (working a normal job and renovating/moving on the other days constitutes work). I am looking forward to catching up with a friends' Mum, the chickens, the food, new friends and amazing hosts.

Now, I know that I am not supposed to soap until I move homes, BUUUUUUUTTTTT..... if I take my soaping stuff over now, I could  make soap when I am there... Only a couple of batches through as I only have 3 moulds and my days off are split with either 2 or 3  days in between and I want to be able to cut after 24hrs. I can be so impatient!

So here's to another 4 batches of soap on Sunday and some sneaky soap making in a couple of weeks!

Soapy hugs
Kayla

Soaping Haul 4 April 2014

Yes, this is a soapy haul! My sealing waxes and stamps are for my soap wrapping. I finally managed to get a cheap laser thermometer gun. So happy that I have bath bomb moulds and my clear M&P to be used in a cold processed soap idea that is rattling around my head. 

I have a little bit of Tussah silk and glitter coming. Now the temptation to go ballistic on Ebay, Etsy and all the Aussie suppliers is overwhelming, but, I - MUST - CONTROL.

Soapy hugs

Kayla 

SPORN, Yeah You Heard Me!

Yep, you saw right...sporn...

OK, I can see your faces contorting with a chorus of  'what the.....???'

SPORN - soap porn (noun) - copious amounts of photos, video and literature about making soap, displaying soap, wrapping soap or generally just drooling over what other have made.

Now, off you go and look up some 'sporn'! BUT, please ensure that you look it up the proper way. I will not be held responsible if you look up 'sporn' and get something else! A great starting point is 'soap porn' on Pinterest.

Sudsy hugs
Kayla

Sorry, I have no sporn to share, but I have many ingredients coming for eventual sporn...just need to learn to photograph them goodly...

Houston, We Have SOAP!

After a very painful 24 hours of waiting, my first ever soaps have been cut and are now drying in of all places, the bathroom window! My new soaps join my purchased handmade soap, where it resides after my daily rituals.

I now present to you, my soaps!

Orange, Ginger and Poppyseed

Australian Pink Clay and Lemon Myrtle

This turned out a little dryish and cracked instead of cutting.

Goats Milk Soap with Lavender and Patchouli

Honey, Almond Meal and Cinnamon with Patchouli EO

The (dirty) bathroom window ledge