The Soaping Continues
The next major step in my being able to sell soap is to actually make the soap in question! My first batch being done, it was on to more colorful (and scented) batches. At this point I’ve made three more for a total of four of the five starting batches. I love every one of them and I can’t wait to share them with the world!
Scrubby Spearmint
My second batch was a perenial favorite: Scrubby Spearmint. It’s obviously scented with spearmint essential oil, and it has colloidal oatmeal added for gentle exfoliation. The original recipe (beloved by friends and family alike) used green zeolite clay for the scrubbiness, but my supplier isn’t offering that anymore. I thought the oatmeal made a good substitute, as it’s nice on the skin and easy to get.
This batch got some soda ash on it (a harmless artifact of the saponification process), but I steamed it off, which added a beautiful gloss to the soap top. The swirl is nice on this batch and it smells great!
Lavender
Lavendar is such a classic fragrance for soap, and it was a no-brainer for me to include it in my base line-up. It’s colored with lavender mica, so it has a pretty, subtle sheen.
This batch smells so good! It’s also a great example of how fun it is to cut into a batch and find out how the swirl worked out. This one thickened kind of fast when I was working with it, so I was a little worried about how it would turn out. Looking at the underside of the batch once it was out of the mold, I felt better because I could see a little of the off-white swirl showing.
When I cut the batch, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!
Coconut Mango
My most recent batch is the deliciously tropical Coconut Mango. I love the sunny color of this one. It, however, thickened even faster than the Lavender, resulting in some gaps in the soap when I took it out of the mold. I’ll cut it tomorrow and see how bad it is. These soaps may end up being sold at a discount.
All in all, I’m delighted with my batches so far. I have one more standard batch to do, then I’ll start working on some limited edition bars and making this website into something that will sell. Check back for more, and look for all these soaps to be available in late July, 2022!