Shoap

Two batches of soap in two days, pretty good. I've had this on the list for a while, and still have about 3 more planned. Yea!

 This is a repeat batch. Polly and I made some lemongrass, tea tree and lime last year, and I liked it so much I did it again with a few alterations. Coriander-steeped tea for the liquid and then henna infused for color. (It was a lovely orange-ish tone but obviously it turned tan, boo.) Ground coriander, calendula petals and a bit of oatmeal for additives, and I upped the oils and added grapefruit as well. Lemongrass is the perfect compromise for a citrusy bar. Citrus oils are so volatile, being top notes, and they dissipate quickly and the lye seems to eat them up. Very disappointing, but this blends cheers me right up! 

Coriander and calendula petal topping. 

This is some of the highly favored camo bar. It has oakmoss absolute, spruce and fir oils. I absolutely want to eat the oakmoss, it has such an amazing smell. This time I experimented with steeping tea and adding leaves to the batch. I used 4 bags of rooibos to about a cup of water, and added two of the bags to the batch along with a few bags of earl grey (bergamot) tea, also used to top. It's a nice medium brown color and smells yummy. This batch uses 2.5 oz of oils to only 40 oz of oils, so it's highly scented and more expensive to make. Still, less than $20 for the batch, and it makes over 30 bars, so the savings still justify the effort. You would spend about $3 for a homemade bar this size - you do the math. =-) 

Here's a good page that tells why homemade soap is so much better for you than commercial bars. It really is amazing how much better your skin feels when you switch. I even shave with this stuff and it doesn't dry out your skin at all. You should try it! Plus I should admit that making different blends can be quite addicting, heh heh. I'll give you a bar to try and that will deplete my stock giving me an excuse to make more. Sounds like a plan...