Jessica picks some soap colors (May 29, 2011)

SO my sister Jessica is staying with me for a few days, and I have been wanting to use a couple new FO's, so we made some soap.  She picked the colors.  She went with a perfectly respectable Emerald Mica and a Yellow Oxide.



I sort of hogged the mixing.... but I guess I didn't want to be blamed for her lying a toe off or something.  And by lying I mean "lye" not "lie."  Yes, I know how awesome I am.

Here's a 3 second video of me mixing lye and water!!!  Okay, 23 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9OG-rPMvq8

But she DID add the French Pink Clay at trace.  GOOD JOB, JESS.  The yellow looked fine, but the emerald mica....turned olive.  It was a little scary at first, but it grew on me.

Soap Update (April 12, 2011)

Okay, so I unmolded the soap and cut it up.  While the top of the soap looks cool (with the exception of my noob air bubbles), the inside didn't end up nearly as fancy.







I'm a little let down by the inside, but they smell nice....a woodsy scent.  It's not super strong....because I have no patience, if you remember.  I placed the bars on a drying rack where they will sit for a couple of weeks to dry out.

YAY NEW HOBBY (April 11, 2011)

I made my first batch of cold-process soap!!!!!  It wasn't too bad at all.  The worst part was trying to get the SOLID palm kernel oil out of a 2 inch opening.  I ended up sitting the 7 gallon jug in a pot of hot water....and also shoving a knife in there trying to get it out.  I am going to have to look for a giant tupperware container....because that was possibly the most annoying thing I've done in the past year.  That way, I can melt it all at once, and then just scoop it out.

Working with lye was a little scary... I was scared to death that some of it would fall out and I wouldn't see it.  I pretty much sprayed the whole area in vinegar to neutralize it.  I mixed the lye into the water outside....and totally wore this:





I totally forgot to add the fragrance when the soap was still in the pot.  I tossed it in once the soap was in the mold and whisked it through.  I added only half the recommended fragrance....not because I was afraid the scent would be too strong, but because watching the fragrance oil come out drop by drop was excruciating.  It will be interesting to see if the fragrance holds.

I didn't get my color pigments yet....but I didn't want to wait any longer.  I pulled out the Hershey's baking powder, and used that to make some of the soap brown.  All of the books recommend not trying to use color in your first batch...but why would I listen to that?  My swirl was far from perfect...there is definitely an art to it.  Unfortunately, I tried to move the mold immediately, and the soap shook a little and messed up the twirls a bit.  Blah.  Whatevs.  OMG PICTURES.