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Goat
Buttermilk & Honey Soap
A lot of people use goat milk
in their soap or butter milk and I happened to walk into some goat
buttermilk at the supermarket... That I had to try! For this soap I used
57,5% beef tallow, 25% sunflower seed oil, 12,5 % coconut oil and 5%
castor oil. I froze the goat buttermilk till it was slushy and added the
lye to that. The milk did get a bit yellow so next time I will also use
an ice bath to put the container in. The rest of the preparation I did
as usual.
After cook I added a bit of warmed honey (microwave) at 2.5 % of the
amount of oils. Some shredded calendula petals finished it off quite
nicely with the resulting yellow and green specks. The combination of
the buttermilk and the honey made the soap a very warm golden yellow. I
didn't use any coloring or scent, the honey made it quite sweet smelling
though. Lather is really great and leaves my skin very soft.
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Cream Soap
I bought this wonderful "dove body silk" knockoff
and I was dying to try it out in soap with 40 % tallow, 40 % olive 15 % coconut and 5 % castor
oil. But the only
supermarket here in town that had wonderful cheap 100% beef shortening
took it out! And I so loved it as tallow in my soaps....
The next best thing the store offered was their cheapest shortening
which contains animal and vegetable fats, partly fractionated. I used
the SAP values for lard. Just before pouring I added 25% of the amount of oils in cream
and I scented it
it with a summerflowers-lavender blend.
The soap turned out a very creamy white and smells great. The lather
isn't with as much large bubbles as usual but with lots and lots of
small bubbles. It feels so creamy! no need for a body lotion after this.
I even think I'm going to keep this entire batch for myself: much to
nice to give away! Perhaps even make a peppermint version of this for my
boyfriend.
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Shaving Soap (improved version)
I made a shaving soap before from a recipe I found on the web, using
grated castile soap. That one didn't do it for my boyfriend who has a
rather heavy beard and sensitive skin. This is my improved version:
50% lard, 15% coconut oil, 10% olive oil, 10% castor oil, 8% soybean
oil and 7% cacao butter. This recipe is high on castor and coconut for
lather and the cacao butter to make a very stable lather. Soybean oil in
these quantities should be very conditioning. After cook I added 1T clay
per 450 g of oils and glycerine at 5 % of oils. The glycerine
should make the bubbles longer lasting. To make this shaving soap extra
luxurious I also used a bit of powdered milk and some coconut milk in
it. I scented it with peppermint, lavender and rosemary, not too much
just enough to actually smell it.
My boyfriend tried it out with a 5-day beard and had no complaints
about it! Smooth as a babies butt without irritation. I'm also going to
give a bit to my brother and brother-in-law to try. But I think this
puppy is as good as it's going to get.
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Carrot Soap - HP version
I've heard so much talk
about the supposed differences between CP and HP that I wanted to put it
to the test personally. There aren't much homesoapers
where I live so I've never actually had a good CP bar in my hands. One
half of this batch will be finished with CP and the other with HP. I'm
planning on doing a swirl in both with mashed carrots.
I used a basic
recipe that I've used with good results before: 31.5% beef shortening
(SAP of lard), 30% olive oil, 12% coconut oil, 10% soybean oil, 8.5%
tallow and 8% castor oil. As you can see on the pic the HP soap worked
out just fine. I scented it with bergamot & lavender with a bit of cedar.
As for the results of the CP half, take a look below... |
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Carrot Soap - CP version
I made the CP according
to most instructions and tips I read: put plastic on top and insulated
the mold with some towels. It started to
went wrong when a layer of liquid started floating on top... I was told
that it was probably overheating and so I removed a bit of the
insulation. The liquid got absorbed back in though so I hoped for the
best.
Next day when I unmoulded the soap it had gaps filled with lye! So I
still couldn't conclude
this comparison of HP versus CP without satisfying results...
Rebatch time!
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Rebatch Carrot Soap: Cream Soap for my
boyfriend
I chopped the soap up and melted in my double boiler until ready.
Because I had promised my boyfriend to make him a more manly version of
my devine Cream Soap, I thought I might as well use this batch. After
cook I added lotion as I did before. I scented this soap with peppermint, eucalyptus and rosemary: so good!
The stars on top I did as following: I filled the mold for the carrot HP to above
the mold level. Once it was hardened I cut of the excess and took my
cookie cutter to it. I pressed those stars with the smooth side up in
the rebatched soap.
I do think the result would have been even better if I've saved them
for a darker soap; more contrast would have made it even nicer. But I
like it anyway. |
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Milk & Honey Soap
I got a kilo of the nicest smelling beeswax in by mail so I thought it
would be nice to make a milk & honey soap with it. I also tried my
luck with CP again.... The recipe I followed was 57% lard, 12% coconut
oil, 10% sunflower seed oil, 10% soybean oil, 8% castor oil and 3%
beeswax.
I melted the beeswax
with the lard and added honey at 3% of the amount of oils to the mixture
before trace. Powdered milk was mixed with a bit of water to a thick
paste at 4T per pound of oils.I didn't insulate this soap because honey
as well as beeswax are prone to overheating. I even tossed it in the
fridge when it started to rise in the middle.
Alas! Another botched CP batch...
I rebatched it with a bit of coconut milk and decided that I might as
well add all the scraps I had collected. The result is this brown
chuncky soap. Not the prettiest soap I've ever made but sure is nice in
the shower: I scented it with lavender, rosemary and cedar.
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Sesame Soap
I really wouldn't know whether sesame has special
properties... Just saw a jar of tahin at the eastern store and thought
it would be nice to soap it. It's a very oily paste and I like the
smell.
This soap is made with 100% coconut milk
as liquid. I used tallow, palm (the red kind), soybean, sunflower,
coconut and castor oil. I added ground sesame paste (tahin) just before
pouring and scented it with orange, vanilla and cedar.
The soap turnt
out a lovely golden caramel color. The
orange is still very over powering... really hope it will wear of a bit
so the sesame and vanilla will come through a bit more.
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Pandan Soap
I've been shopping in
the eastern store again and this time I came home with a little bottle
(30 ml) of pandan aroma paste. It smells like pandan leaves and is a
bright green. The ingredients say: pandanus extract, sorbitol, glycerol,
gum arabic and colors E 102/131/142 I didn't know whether the scent
would come through so I decided to do a marble. The uncolored part was
scented with a bergamot -
cedar - cinnamon blend in 3 - 1 - 2. Somehow really fits the pandan
scent. Also to stay in eastern spheres I did this soap with 100 %
coconut milk.
The recipe I used was with 37% beef tallow, 30% olive oil, 12% coconut
oil, 10% sesame seed oil, 8% castor oil and 3% beeswax. I really like
the way this soap turned out, it smells just like an Indonesian dish
called "spekkoek" or "lapis legit". For a recipe click here. Yummie! The
pandan flavouring does give a slight green tinge to the lather, but
nothing to worry about.
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Lavender -
Peppermint Soap: first succesful CP!
This is the very first CP batch I did that turned out like it was
meant! It's a blend with
40 % tallow, 40 % olive 12 % coconut and 8 % castor oil. I scented it with peppermint -
lavender - rosemary in this combination: 4 - 3 - 1 I've topped the soap
with lots of lavender flowers. Haven't tried the soap yet but noticed a
couple of remarkable things.
First the structure of the soap is indeed very smooth compared to HP.
Only with certain recipes I get this with HP. Second: I finally know how
ash looks! There is a bit creeping down the sides from under the
flowers. Kinda like how it looks, like icing dripping of.
For now it really smells great, hope it sticks so it will still smell
nice when it's ready to use. The great advantage with HP for the
impatient like me: no curing times!
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