Here are some fun bars from our swirling class last Saturday. The top soap is scented with Pineapple Cilantro and colored with hydrated chrome green oxide, yellow mica, electric bubblegum, and tangerine wow pigment. The bottom bars are scented with a blend of Black Pepper, Litsea, and Rosemary essential oils and colored with rose clay, activated charcoal, and safflower powder. Thanks for another fun class, ladies!
We had the pleasure of hosting a soapmaking birthday celebration for Ella of Joy of Pilates, and her friends and family. They were such a fun and creative group. Just look at this incredible party loaf they created!
Thank you for choosing to spend your special day with us!
Earthy, eye-catching, and easy! This project can be made by the most novice soap makers. The trick is to line your mold with bubble wrap before pouring. Here’s what you need to make 4 bars:
1 Pound Honey Melt-and-Pour Base
4ml Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Fragrance
1 Mini Scoop Honeyed Beige Mica
Bubble Wrap and Scissors
Paper Towel and Gold Sparkle Mica for rubbing over the surface
Step 1. Cut your bubble wrap into squares that fit in the cavity and line your mold.
Step 2. Melt the soap base and stir in color (just the yellow and honeyed beige) and fragrance. Pour into lined mold.
Step 3. Let harden, remove soap from mold and peel back bubble wrap to reveal the textured surface.
(Optional) Step 4: Tap a mini scoop of Sparkle Gold Mica onto a paper towel and rub it lightly across the surface to create shine that reflects in the light, enhancing the pattern.
Gift ‘em or keep ‘em. This is a great project to do with the kids!
We LOVE coffee butter. One whiff and you’ll be in heaven. I add it to my cold process soap, lip balm and lotion bar recipes. My next experiment with it will be to make another cold process batch but sub out my water for cold coffee, which should darken the color of the soap and hopefully add even more fragrance. Yum! The soap in the photo also has ground coffee beans in the top for scrubby action.
We had the pleasure of hosting another birthday party at Otion on Thursday and even the dads made soap!
There is time for cake and presents while the bars harden in the freezer.
Everyone’s favorite part! At the end of the party, we cut the party loaf and share it among the group.
Groups of up to 12 people can reserve the upstairs loft of our store to make two bars of melt-and-pour soap each, plus a party loaf (one big loaf soap with a mixture of everyone’s colors and scents). Cost is $15 per person, you get the space and privacy of the upstairs and can bring cake/presents/etc. We provide all materials and instruction. We host parties for kids and adults!
For those of you who are going all-natural and are looking for some colorant options that aren’t dull gray, green or brown, try these! You’ll be surprised how vibrant some natural pigments are.
Activated Charcoal: Creates a solid black without having to use much pigment. Mixes in easily like a mica. Works great in melt-and-pour and cold process.
Kaolin Clay: More typically used in mineral makeup than as a soap colorant, but I tried it anyway. Very clumpy unless you break it down in a liquid first. Notice it looks slightly pink in the image; that’s because I had a little rose clay left on my spoon! Oops. Titanium dioxide is another great whitening agent.
Rose Clay: Lovely pink in both cold process and melt-and-pour. Needs to be broken down in a liquid first or you will be fishing for clumps. Rose clay is a mild Kaolin Clay.
Safflower Powder: Makes a gorgeous yellow in cold process and melt-and-pour. Another pigment that should be broken down first in liquid because of its clumpy nature. I like the little flecks that are visible in this clear base!
Spirulina: Also known as Kelp and smells very fishy. I add a strong essential oil (like peppermint or lime) to this layer to mask the scent. Needs to be broken down in liquid and tends to leave flecks of pigment. Try pouring your colored melt-and-pour soap through a sifter or strainer to catch lumps of color.
For even more colorant options and infusing tips and tricks, make sure to read Anne-Marie’s fantastic book:
I love this recipe because everything about it is natural, including the gorgeous pink color! The bars are a generous size at about 4.7 ounces after 24 hours, and will continue to shrink slightly as they lose water weight during cure time. The pink salt provides a beautiful surface texture and lovely scrub for those rough spots.
What You Need:
2 oz Natural Hawaiian Synergistic E.O. Blend
12 oz Palm Oil
12 oz Coconut Oil
12 oz Olive Oil
12 oz Distilled Water
5.2 oz Sodium Hydroxide
1 Tablespoon Rose Clay
2 Tablespoons Aloe Vera Liquid
1 Cup Pink Himalayan Sea Salt Fine or Coarse
Feel free to adjust the recipe by adding some healing butters such as mango, cocoa, shea, or avocado. Just be sure to run your recipe through a lye calculator to get the correct amount of lye for the new oils. This very basic recipe of palm, coconut and olive oil is simple but makes a great bar of soap that lasts long and lathers big.
Begin by making a slurry out of the Rose Clay and Aloe Vera Liquid. Rose Clay is extremely absorbent and will suck the moisture out of your soap if you don’t make a slurry first. Plus, it is was easier to incorporate the clay when it is wet. Notice how dark the color is. The clay ends up drying a nice light pink in your finished product. You can use water to make the slurry, but I love aloe liquid for it’s added moisturizing benefits. If you feel like you are adding too much liquid to your recipe, discount your water to 10 ounces for a faster cure time.
Prepare your batch like normal (if you are not familiar with cold process soap making and handling lye, learn how here) and add your fragrance at a light trace. Then separate half into a second dish and stir in the Rose Clay, leaving the other half uncolored.
Pour your rose colored soap into the white soap in a circular pattern. Try not to stir the two colors together too much or you will be left with one blended shade.
By pouring the soap, gravity and the actual pour creates the swirl pattern for you. No stirring is necessary! You should be able to fill the entire mold (12 bars).
Top off the bars by sprinkling the Pink Himalayan Sea Salt on the top while the soap is still wet. Let it sit 24 hours, pop the soap out of the mold and set the finished bars on a drying rack to cure for 4 to six weeks. I love this mold because you don’t have to line it and the sides of the soap come out perfectly smooth. Enjoy!
Our Pink Himalayan Sea Salt is such a gorgeous natural pink color that you don’t need to do anything to it except add some scent and oil. Packaged in organza bags, they make the perfect personalized Valentine’s Day gift.
For melt-and-pour soapmakers, the Candy Heart mold is a must. I love using a white soap base for the lettering and adding pink to the base for the background. It’s simple and sweet!
Here’s a look at the soap we made in our Advanced Swirling in Cold Process Class last Saturday. Students split into two groups and were responsible for color and fragrance of each batch. By the looks of the finished soap, they did an excellent job!
Above is a 4.5 pound batch made in the popular 18 bar Birchwood mold. The fragrance is a blend of Ylang Ylang, Litsea and Grapefruit essential oils. For the colors, they chose ultramarine blue pigment and a blend of cellini red and yellow mica to create this gorgeous orange. The white is neutral, uncolored soap.
Below is a three pound batch made in a custom log mold. The scent is a blend of Yuzu Cybilla fragrance oil and Litsea essential oil. Colors used were activated charcoal, hydrated chrome green oxide, yellow mica, and electric bubblegum. The white is uncolored soap. You’ll have to take my word for it, the scents in both batches are amazing! If you would like to sign up for one of our classes, check out our schedule here.
In keeping with our Valentine’s Day themed projects, this bath fizzy tutorial is easy enough for the absolute beginner. Drop a fizzy in the tub and it bubbles and foams, emitting a lovely aroma while softening the water. Feel free to change it up with a different mold, color and fragrance.
What You Need:
2/3 part baking soda
1/3 part citric acid
5 mini scoops of red-blue mica
Dried rose petals (about a handful)
Romantic fragrance of choice (English Rose, Champagne, Strawberry, LoveSpell, Rosehip Jasmine, etc.)
Witch Hazel in spritzer bottle
Milky Way Guest Simple Hearts Mold
Begin by sifting together the citric acid and baking soda, making sure to crush all lumps that would appear in your finished product. Grind the rose petals in your hands and sprinkle into mixture, and incorporate 5 mini scoops of red blue mica pigment for a subtle pink hue. Add fragrance to your liking (I used about 4 ml per pound for a strong scent), and stir well. When everything is thoroughly mixed, begin to spray witch hazel while stirring with the other hand.
Be careful not to over spray to the point where the batter is wet and foamy. The point you are aiming to reach is when the batter holds its shape after you squeeze it in your hand.
Compact the mixture firmly into the soap mold using the heel of your hand. The firmer you compact it, the longer your bath fizzy will last.
When you are done filling your mold (s), put a flat piece of cardboard on top, and then holding both the mold and the cardboard, flip the fizzies over to release. Let them continue to harden for another 30 minutes or more before use. They make really cute gifts when wrapped in a little organza bag.
