Friday, 24 January 2014

Milk Soaps

I have to be honest, I love milk in my soaps. So far, I have tried goat milk, cow milk, coconut milk, soy milk, buttermilk, fresh cream, and yoghurt. Which one is my favorite? Hmmm, this is so hard coz I practically love them all, but if I have to choose just one I will go with coconut milk. I love the feel of coconut milk in soap so much, it makes the lather so extra creamy and my skin is loving it. I once made a 100% coconut oil soap with a high superfat and substituted the amount of water with coconut milk. It is amazing! I can stand in the shower for hours and play with it.. okay, maybe not hours, but you get the picture.

My first try with milk soap was with goat milk. It was a pretty basic recipe, with only three oils (palm, coconut, and olive), and I substituted half the water amount for the milk (coz I kept scorching the milk while trying to add the lye into it! patience is not my strong virtue I must tell ya). After that, I moved on to coconut milk, then soy, cow, cream, etc. My fave so far is the three milks soap, which had goat, coconut, and yoghurt inside. Overkill? I don't think so. I've seen others do up to five milks in a batch.

Making milk soaps has an art of its own. It can cause overheating if you aren't careful, and when you HP it, it often gives you separation. But that's easy to tackle, you just gotta utilize the stick blender one more time till everything is nicely blended once again. You also want to make it as creamy looking as possible, and it can be hard with gelled soaps. Not a problem, a dash of titanium dioxide will take care of this problem nicely :D Yeah, I do cheat sometimes, ha!


One of my unscented goats milk soaps done in a fun, rabbit's head


Since patience is not my strong virtue, I rarely substitute the full amount of water with the milk. Half is enough for me coz it's more practical. Some say it's not a true milk soap if done this way, but I chose to disagree. We all have our own ways of doing something, and as long as the customers like it, then you must be doing something right with it.


Wednesday, 22 January 2014

Dontcha love sudden orders?

A customer is having a birthday party this week, and she just told me she needed 250 soaps as party favors last night. She gave me only 1,5 day to prepare, wrapping each and every soap, putting labels, etc. I am lucky I have that many stock lying around, and double lucky that I just made a few HPs lately, which does come in handy in times like this.

I slept for only 4 hours this morning. I am cranky and tired as hell... yet, I am happy :D Soap God has been very kind to me lately with good offline orders.


Doing it candy style

70 down.. 180 more to go!


My online store is practically non-existent coz it rarely has stocks, LOL!

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Tiger Stripes Galore!

I looovvveeee tiger stripes soaps! I really do. I like making them, and I like looking at them. Yes, the process can be a tedious one, as you gotta pour each color layer by layer, bit by bit. But when you succeed, the beauty is there in front of you to enjoy.

Here are a couple of soaps I did lately..



The above screams bright, fresh, and colorful. It is scented with the equally fresh sex on the beach fragrance (one of my fave!)





A different story with this one, where the colors are more muted, with the exception of the contrast of the black and white stripes. I really like this soap, and each bar is different. Thinking of adding some gold mica on top as it is very plain looking at the moment.

Scented with a blend of eucalyptus and peppermint EOs.

These soaps are currently curing and will be ready soon in my online shop.

Monday, 13 January 2014

Totally unrelated to soaping...

But, I just miss my dog so much today it ain't funny :( Bhobho passed away on November 2012 from kidney failure. He was 13 yrs old, and was adopted when he was only 2 months old. It was love at first sight for me when I saw him. I knew at that moment that he was THE one.

I can still remember his last days, when he was sick, IV on his paw. He would not eat at all, and was drastically losing weight. It took only a week, and at the end, we brought him to the vet to be put to sleep since he was already breathing so heavily, like each breath was difficult for him.

I'm crying as I'm typing this. I miss him so much...

He's buried in our backyard. I really want to have another dog, but honestly, I can't bear the heartbreak of losing another one.

When Bhobho was around, I haven't started soaping yet. I can just imagine if he's still here, he will be my best friend to accompany me in the wee hours, alone in the house, enjoying myself making some soap. I always soap after everyone is asleep. I prefer to work alone in the dark, without others bugging me this and that.

Okay, nuff with the soap box. I just had to let it out. I feel better now.





RIP Bhobho (1999-2012)