Preparing for the Winter

Yay, my foam insulation box has arrived....keeping the soap warm or in room temperature is very important after you finishing making the soap, so it will keep hardening itself. The drastic change in temperature will worsen the quality of the oil, or if the humidity is too high, it will change the texture of the soap. Of course, I don't just order the foam insulation box, it comes with my favorite Omaha steak(which I only get when I have a gift card from Discover :p) I was worried the box might not be big enough since I didn't order a lot, but wow, my soap mold fit in it perfectly even with my soap cutter sitting on top :) now I have a peace in mind for upcoming winter now.

Just Keep Trying....Just Keep Trying.....

I learned that the less amount of kinds of oil I use, the more the nutritious value becomes effective in soap using, therefore, I reduced down to only 5 oil this time. I tried the swirling technique again and I think I got it this time, but still not pretty enough >< Here's what I got:

Name:

Shea Butter Avocado Lemongrass Soap

乳油木酪梨香茅手工皂

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Avocado oil

Palms oil

Coconut oil

Shea butter

NaOH

H2O

Essential Oil:

100% Lemongrass essential oil

Other:

Red natural mineral clay

New Oils, New Adventure!

I'm going to keep trying the swirling technique till I get it right, this time I tried with two new oil, Avocado oil and sweet almond oil. I didn't know avocado oil is consider higher grade than olive oil, however it is a bit more pricy than olive oil, that is why using olive oil is more common in soap making while give good amount of nutrient that you need. There are two type of avocado oil, refined and unrefined, unrefined is cheaper but MORE nutritious, the natural green color will also give soap light green color. The one I got seem to be refined as my soap didn't turn out green like I wanted, and I really want to get unrefined avocado oil if I can because of it high nutritious value. I was able to mix the color in this time, but the swirl didn't turn out good because I swirl it too many time. My friend was able to show me a couple of video how to make the color propertly, I was grateful for my friend's constant support and encouragement.

Name:

Shea Butter Sweet Almond Rosemary Soap

乳油木酪梨甜杏仁迷迭香手工皂

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Avocado oil

Palms oil

Coconut oil

Shea butter

Sweet almond oil

NaOH

H2O

Essential Oil:

100% Rosemary essential oil

Other:

Red natural mineral clay

Care Package

I received a care package today from my friend in Taiwan. The box is packed full of soap materials and ingredients that I can't easily get here in US, there are two natural mineral powder for coloring, two essential oils, a lot of design stickers, some flowers and herbal plant for soap making, it is so sweet of her. Inside the card she wrote: "Although these aren't very valuable as individual, but hopefully you can use your creativity and turn it into something even more valuable" I can't thank my friends enough for their constant support and encouragement, thank you!

She also bought bunch of soap stamps for me since there's a big sale going on, she paid everything up front, I really feel bad, I wish there's a good and efficient way of getting the money to her. (picture courtesy by 想想魚) however, I told her feel free to use my stamp before I go back to Taiwan and get it, I think it's a fair trade for now :)