Beach Theme Soap

This is a soap I made for my big sister.  She has a bathroom all decorated in a surf/beach theme and I thought it would be cute for a guest soap.  It is scented with one of my new favorites - hibiscus and lemon...mmmm... smells good. 

Sugar Cube Scrubs

I love making bath products and I especially love the challenge of replicating/improving some of the items I see in the stores.  Recently I brought a great item at LUSH - a single use sugar scrub.   These little scrubs are fun to use and they smell like heaven!    There were only two drawbacks - the scrubs dissolve too fast so that the minute the scrub hit the water it dissolved and ran through my fingers AND the LUSH product contains baking soda and cream of tartar which stings a little when using the scrub after shaving my legs.  I did a little research and found some other recipes for single use sugar cube scrubs.  I tried a few that only used oils, cocoa butter and sugar but those recipes proved to be too rough when using on the skin.  Many of the recipes included melt and pour soap base as a binder and, even though I don’t want the scrub to become soap-like, I decided to give it a try.  It has taken quite a bit of experimentation and tweaking to make a final formula.  This is the process of developing the recipe for a single use sugar scrub.

Beginning Recipe:

• Soap
• Cocoa Butter
• Sugar
• Fragrance (I did two scents for spring: a refreshing lemongrass/coconut and a tart blackcurrent)
• Color (green for the lemongrass and coconut; pink for the blackcurrent)
• Jojoba

After mixing up the ingredients, the mixture was poured into a silicone bite size brownie pan and left for about an hour to firm up.  After unmolding the squares, I cut each into 4 cubes.   This batch set beautifully and looked and smelled amazing; however, when I tried to use them in the shower there proved to be too much soap and the cube did not dissolve in the water properly. Overall, it felt too harsh and didn’t really lather.

The melt and pour soap base should have added enough bubbles, however, with all the oils I added to make the scrub moisturizing  the overall lather was diminished.   I decided to add a surfactant called sodium lauroyl lactylate.  Sodium lauroyl lactylate is derived from milk and coconut oil and it is a safe, skin-friendly cleanser for both skin and hair.  I love it because it removes oil, dirt and bacteria without drying or irritating skin.  And it adds a TON of bubbles.   Vegetable Glycerin is a natural humectant that will draw moisture to the skin without having to use oil - so I added some.  In the end, I threw in some emulsifying wax in the hopes it would bind the mixture together better.

Rebatch 1

• Soap
• Cocoa Butter
• Sugar
• Fragrance (I did two scents for spring: a refreshing lemongrass/coconut and a tart blackcurrent)
• Color (green for the lemongrass and coconut; pink for the blackcurrent)
• Jojoba Oil

• Sodium lauroyl lactylate (a surfactant that adds lather to the product)
• Glycerin
• Emuslfying Wax (binds water and oil combinations)

This batch never set properly  and stayed too “wet” and oily to be practical.  However, it was great for use – it had a ton of lather and it felt smooth on the skin; not harsh at all.  Plus my skin felt so soft after using the scrub.  But look at that picture - there is no way I could pack these melty cubes up.  

Because the scrub worked well, the next formula is only tweaked a bit.  Natrasorb Bath is a modified starch that is designed to absorb excess oil and leave the skin feeling soft and silky.  Even better, when the starch comes into contact with water, it immediately dissolves which releases its load of oils and fragrances directly into the warm water.

  A few scoops will help to firm up the cubes. A little amount of clay was added to provide a slippery feel to the scrub when applied to the skin. 

Rebatch 2:

• Soap
• Cocoa Butter
• Sugar
• Fragrance (I did two scents for spring: a refreshing lemongrass/coconut and a tart blackcurrent)
• Color (green for the lemongrass and coconut; pink for the blackcurrent)
• Jojoba Oil

• Sodium lauroyl lactylate (a surfactant that adds lather to the product)
• Glycerin
• Natrasorb Bath

I just packed the mixture with a ton of Natrasorb and extra white sugar.  In fact, the resulting mixture was crumbly in texture - not pourable like the original soap mixture.  The dough was packed into the brownie pan (much like you would do with the bath bombs) and left for about an hour to set.  They popped out of the mold nicely and I cut about half of them into quarters, while leaving the other half to be a larger size scrub.  The finishing touch was a light coat of corn starch to keep the cubes dry .
I am very happy with the final product!  

But now I am not sure I needed the melt and pour base after all.  If anyone wants a creamy sugar scrub in a convenient single use cube - let me know.

Introduction to some of my own perfumes

I started to create perfumes when I was just a child, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I started studying the history and methods of perfume making.  As I studied, my passion for perfume grew and I began to use the components of perfumery (both natural and aroma molecules) to create “scent stories”.  Some of my scents are designed to simply evoke a mood or memory of a person, place or time.  Others are blended to using the principles of aromatherapy to shift and adjust mood, emotion and physical issues.

The Shore Series: designed to evoke memories of the beach….
Growing up on the beach made a lasting impact on essential "me" - so it is only fitting that one of the first series of scents I created was based on the beach.  All of these fragrances may be used as a perfume or blended into soap, lotions, massage oils or bath products.

After the Sun Sets

The sun setting through vivid shades of orange, pink and blue until it sinks calmly behind the dark of the ocean.   A scent designed to whisk you away to that magical moment of time when the sun winks out for the night.   The scent of  juicy Florida oranges, coconut milk and creamy vanilla are blended with a touch of sandalwood and musk for an after dark sexiness.      

Beach House

Memories of relaxing in a hammock listening to the waves crash on the shore while the kids jump off the porch steps.  The scent of star jasmine on an ocean breeze mixed with sand dunes and the warmed wood of the porch floorboards.  

Ocean Waves

A perfect day at the beach.  Vivid blue waves crashing on  pure white sand.  A salty sea breeze gently blowing across skin.  Ocean Waves is a fresh ozone scent with sublte hints of sun-beached driftwood, hot sand and salty sea algae. 

Sur la Falaise
A solitary walk along the rocky cliffs of Northern France.  Romantic and haunting.  A heart of aromatic cistus, lavender, thyme, juniper and rosemary are blended with hints of marine algae and sea salt.

Today's Soap

 

Using a simple technique, I was able to create this ocean inspired soap.  It is scented with a mix of an watery white floral and coconut.  Very relaxing.

After doing the water soap, I decided to try out an earth day type design.  

Using the same method of cutting shapes out of a thin layer of soap and embedding them in a clear base, 

I was able to make a soap that had a leafy motif.  It is scented with a crisp green leaf fragrance.

You can't see it in these photos, but the top layer is lightly colored with an iridescent green which adds just a bit of shimmer to the soap. I am really excited about the outcome of this design 

and I am going to try to do some more soap with slight variations.

Bok in Bloom

I thought it might be fun to display some of my before and after editing shots.  This is my first photo shoot with my new Canon Rebel.  I don't know how to use the camera yet, but the auto focus modes made it easy to still get some good pictures.  The after photos are edited using Picasa.  The before shots have such vibrant color that they didn't really need tweaking - however, I liked the idea of turning the photos into surreal snapshots.

 

I took these pictures at the Bok Tower - it is about 3 weeks from the full peak bloom season, 

but already the flowers are so beautiful.   The scent of camillas and jasmine and the sun shinning 

brightly made it a simply lovely afternoon. 

I can't get over the detail visible when I adjust the tuning to include deeper shadows, it makes the flowers pop.  I am taking a class in a few weeks and I can't wait to have a little more knowledge of my new camera.  I am also scouting out places with great architecture so I can get some interesting shots.  

Floating Dots Soap

This was such a fun soap to think up and create.  To make it, I mixed the color with a little glycerin and added it to clear soap base.  Then I poured a thin layer of the colored soap into a baking sheet.  When the soap cools - it stays flexible because of the addition of the glycerin.  Simply cut shapes out of the sheet of soap.  For this soap I punched out two sizes of circles in blue and green.  After pouring one layer of clear, I added a few of the dots; then poured another layer and added more dots.  I repeated this process a total of 4 times. This technique allows the dots to overlap at different depths, thus - Floating Dots. 

The scent is a fruity mix of pink sugar and cranberry.