Sisterhood of the Traveling Soap

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again now: making handmade soap would not be half as much fun without the internet.

Exhibit A…

Recently, Julia from Cocobong (one of my favorite soap blogs) came up with the clever idea of sending some soap around the world, a sort of round-robin for soap bloggers. Each soapmaker receives 3 bars, takes one and replaces it with one of her/his own. Then each participant agrees to blog about the whole process. What a great way to share our soap with each other (and the world) through our blogs.

Lovely soap package

First Julia sent 3 soaps that she had from different soapmakers to US soapmaker Joanna of The Soap Bar. From there they went to Serbian soapmaker SenMi, and now they are here at my house in California.

What a treat to have 3 different soaps to handle, smell, admire. But I had to choose only one to keep, and after much thought decided to keep the one from Mianra, all the way from Cork, Ireland. I love the way her soaps look, with the paisley stamp. But the deciding factor is that this bar has silk in it. I’ve never tried a soap with silk before. Although it seems to be quite popular with European soapmakers, it doesn’t seem to be so with the soapmakers that I know around here. I’m looking forward to experiencing it soon!

I’m replacing that bar with one of my Honey Bee Mine bars, sending a little bit of Valentine’s Day back to Europe. And now I say, “Bon Voyage” to this little soap trio: it’s off to France next! Look out Soap Session, some globe-trotting soap is heading your way!

Faux Funnel Fruitopia!

And here are the bars from my first Faux Funnel pour. I am SO happy with them. I love when each bar is unique but beautiful. And this is the kind of design that will change as the bar is being used and new layers are revealed. Bonus!

These bars were cut not in the usual way, like a loaf of bread. They were cut horizontally. Here’s how that works:

Here’s the whole loaf, along with my miter box, wire cutter (a hacksaw with a guitar string instead of a blade) and my ruler. I marked the soap log so that I could cut chunks of the log the width of a bar of soap, about 2 and 1/8 inches.

Here is my first chunk. You can get a peek at what the bars would have looked like if I had cut them vertically. Not bad, but I wanted something different.

Next I flipped over the chunk, so that my cut surface is facing up, and sliced it down the middle.

And there you have them, two bars per chunk. These bars will be available on the Sirona Springs website in about 4 weeks. I’ve decided to call them “Fruitopia”. (Attention “Fruity Bits” fans: this is the same scent and will be replacing that bar in the collection.)

I can’t wait to try this with other color combinations. The bright colors really work for this fruity scent, but I can see using shades of the same color for a more subdued scent. Or just 2 contrasting colors for a really dramatic look. In any case, I’ll definitely be doing this again!

A Fruity Faux Funnel Pour

It’s been catch up time for me lately. Many of my most popular soaps sold out this holiday season. So I’ve been hurriedly trying to remedy that situation.

And in the midst of restocking, I got the itch to try a technique that I first saw on the Soap Queen blog that Anne-Marie calls the Faux Funnel Pour. I’ve used the funnel pour technique lots (and even teach it during the Soapmaking Boot Camp at The Nova Studio). But here was my chance to use 4 colors, lose the funnel and still get a funky, layered look! This version looked so much easier and forgiving, that I had to give it a try!

I also decided to take this opportunity to redesign a soap in my line that has had various looks: Fruity Bits. It’s a bright, tart fruity scent, with lots of pineapple and melon. Many people like it, but I was never happy with the look. If I picked the right colors, this technique could really fit the bill.

So I choose 4 bright micas to color each layer: green, yellow, purple and Merlot Sparkle mica from Bramble Berry.

Once I made up my batch of soap, I split it into 4 parts, colored each one and then stirred in the fragrance oil by hand. I was trying to keep the soap as thin and “pourable” as possible. (Oops! I almost forgot to add the fragrance, something that I’m known to do when I’m excited about getting right to the design technique. Caught myself this time!)

I poured each color in the same order, over and over until the soap was all poured. I set the cups on either side of the mold to make it easier to remember the order as I went back and forth, left and right, yellow, purple, green, red, yellow, purple, green, red… (Since it was just me and my two hands, I was too busy to get photos of the pouring.)

As the tutorial suggests, I poured in different areas of the mold. I’m so happy with how it turned out! It’s a messy technique (at least, the way I did it), but that’s just a sign of fun soapmaking!

This batch is setting now, and I’ll check it on Saturday to see if it’s ready to cut. I hope it is. I’ll be cutting it not in the usual way, like a loaf of bread, but rather, horizontally. Never cut soap like that? No worries, I’ll explain more when I cut and share more photos of this fruity batch!

UPDATE: See photos of the cut bars and an explanation of how I cut it here.

Enjoying December 25th…

For all my readers who celebrate Christmas…

Merry Christmas!

For all my readers who don’t celebrate Christmas…

Happy Sunday!

Holiday Gift Sets for 2011

Whew! It’s been busy around here lately. Not surprising since it’s Holiday Time, but every year I seem to wait a bit too long to get ready. Next year, next year…

For this season, I have several Gift Sets and a new lip balm flavor, Chai Tea. It smells wonderfully spicy with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and vanilla: perfect for this time of year!

And the Gift Sets come in various combinations, with really great accessories, like soap dishes and a soap bag. Each set is packaged in a shimmery organza bag and includes our exclusive Sirona Springs gift tag. These make great gifts for anybody since everybody loves handmade soap! And they’re available to order right now on the Sirona Springs website.

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Making Soap with Milk and other Alternative Liquids

As promised, here is a little peek into yesterday’s new classes that I taught. I am always impressed with not only the quality of students that come to The Nova Studio, but also how far they have to travel to come and learn all about making their own bath and body products. Yesterday’s students came from all over California, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Hampshire and Mexico! I demonstrated how to use liquids besides water to make cold process soap. I covered using all kinds of milks, juices, beer & wine, and coffee & teas.

While it’s true that I was teaching them something new, they were also so willing to share their knowledge with me and each other. There was a lot of soapmaking wisdom in that room!

In goes the beer/lye to mix with the oils.

Beer soap gets poured into the mold. It was a lovely butterscotch color.

I also made soap with tomato and carrot juice.

This is the trickiest part of the class: pouring the tomato and carrot juice soaps at the same time!

Here are the soaps that the students took home with them: made with beer, coffee and carrot & tomato juices.

Besides the soaps that the students took home, I brought in some other kinds of soaps that were left unscented to pass around. The oatmeal stout one was the favorite by far!

Is this your idea of fun, too? I’ll be teaching these two classes again in 2012. You can read more details about the whole 2-Day Soapmaking Boot Camp Part II and register on The Nova Studio website.

Ready for 2 New Classes!

I’ve been super busy lately getting ready for not one, but TWO brand-new classes at The Nova Studio tomorrow. In the morning I’ll be teaching how to make soap with milk. And in the afternoon it’s going to be soapmaking with other kinds of liquids, like juices and beer. I have the car all packed up and I’m so excited to get started!

Both classes are sold out so I’m sure that it’ll be a lot of fun with the Studio full of soapmakers. I’ll be demonstrating 6 different kinds of soap in the course of the whole day. It’s going to be a soap marathon, and I’ll have to keep a good pace to get it all done in time!

These are the soaps that I made ahead of time and that the students will be taking home with them. From left to right, they are: goat milk soap, coconut milk soap, soy milk soap (the color comes from the orange essential oil that is scenting that batch), coffee soap, tomato & carrot juice soap, and beer soap.

I have my camera packed, too. So I hope to share with you some photos of the day. That’s probably the only thing I’ll have the energy for on Sunday!

Inspiration: Andrew Myers

I consider soapmaking an art, and soap just an unusual medium for artistic expression.

That’s why I am always drawn (if you’ll forgive the pun) to artists that also express themselves using media that aren’t traditionally thought of as artistic.

Meet Andrew Myers and his Screw Art.

Each screw is attached and then painted individually.

And there’s also a sculptural quality to his portraits, since the screws don’t all sit flush with each other. I would love to see one of his portraits in person.

You can also find Andrew and more photos of his work on Facebook.

Speaking at the 2012 HSMG Conference

“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” Emily Dickenson

I saw this quote recently on the Indie Business Facebook page and it really caught my attention. It describes exactly how I’ve been feeling lately.

Soapmaking may have began as a hobby for me, but it has evolved into so much more. It has opened doors for me. It has brought me new experiences and new relationships. And it has forced me to be “newer” everyday.  I have learned so much about soapmaking (and myself), that I do indeed feel that I am a new person. As a woman in her middle years (with a son who will all too soon be leaving the nest), I like feeling “new” instead of old!

And here’s the latest experience to make me “newer”: I have been invited to speak at the 2012 Annual Soap Conference of the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild in Portland, Oregon! I’ve always enjoyed my time at the Soap Guild Conferences (you can find evidence here and here). So I’m thrilled to be talking to attendees about making cold process soap with alternatives liquids, like beer, juice and coffee.

I’ve never done anything like this before. But I’m already looking forward to discovering the “new” woman that I will be at the end of that day!

Interested in the Conference? There’s info on the HSMG Conference Page.

There’s Nothing to Fear from Bar Soap

As the maker of bar soap, I often get asked by customers if I also make liquid soap. Many folks believe that bar soap is somehow unsanitary. I’ve even read that bacteria can grow on soap bars, and that people shouldn’t share bars because it can spread disease. Ick.

So I went looking for some evidence that bar soap is this vector of contagion. I found several studies that show that bar soap, especially when left to sit in a puddle of water or in a wet soap dish can harbor colonies of bacteria. It makes sense since bacteria love to hang out in wet places.

But one study in 1988 went a step further and asked the question, “Can the bacteria found on soap get transferred to someone else?” That’s really the issue, isn’t it? What happens to the bacteria that is living on a bar of soap?

So the researchers took some bars and spread a whole lot of bacteria on them: 70 times more than anyone had ever found on any soap bars before! Then they asked the volunteers (brave volunteers) to wash their hands with the soap. When they tested their hands for bacterial contamination, there was no detectable bacteria on any of their hands. So they reason that it’s very unlikely that germs that are present on soap bars will be transferred to someone using the soap to wash their hands. It makes sense to me, since that’s one of the great things about soap, that it dislodges bacteria and makes it much easier to just rinse it away.

I don’t make liquid soap, by the way, because I believe that handmade bar soap is better overall for the environment. It doesn’t contain any detergents or petrochemicals that can get into our waterways. And there is much less packaging involved with a bar of soap: some shrink wrap (like mine) or maybe a paper wrapper or box. While plastic pump bottles may be recyclable, I still like the idea of trying to make less of the plastic stuff to begin with.

And you can’t beat handmade soap bars for variety! You could never get bored with all the scents and colors and designs…

So fear not! Use your bar soap, keep it in a draining soap dish to let it dry out between uses, and enjoy!