Sunday, April 1, 2012

Bubbly News

We're happy to announce that our handmade, natural soaps are on the way! 

Soapmaking is absolutely addictive!  It's relaxing, it's creative, it's fun and challenging all at once. We've had such a pleasure experimenting with both MP (melt and pour) and cold process (CP) soapmaking. Though MP soaps are easier to make and shelf ready immediately, there's nothing like soap made the old fashioned way using the CP method.  In the CP method, you get to control the ingredients, you get to truly build the product from scratch and we love that.

So what soap will we be offering?  What yummy scents do we have cooked up?  (Glad you asked! lol)  Initially, we'll be offering CP soaps in our Yum E'scentials body care scents Mango Colada, Plumeria Aloe and Black Raspberry Sage.  All are formulated with ingredients like olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter and palm oil... simple, ingredients for simply wonderful, lather-ful (we made that word up) and natural bars of soap!

We thought we'd show you an early picture of our Mango Colada (left) and Black Raspberry Sage (right) soaps. Mango Colada looked so pretty but it didn't stay that way.  Over time, it discolored to a milk chocolate color.  Why?  Our fragrance contains vanillin (think vanilla) so overtime it browns naturally.  Our Black Raspberry Sage soap stayed just as you see it however.  It's such a pretty bar!  You can't see them very well, but blueberry seeds were used in this batch for gentle exfoliation.



Below are pics of other soap loaves we made as we learned the CP method of soapmaking.  Some came out wonderful... some, not so wonderful. (lol)


Hombre scented soap made with green tea gunpowder.  Palm oil free! This batch didnt come out as moisturizing as we care for, but it smells really good.




Champagne Pear made with real California champagne! We can't wait to try it.




Zen-fandel soap made with a white zinfandel fragrance oil and green tea leaves. This one didn't come out so well. It crumbled when we cut it... A sign of too much lye.


Cantaloupe Cucumber smells fresh and clean and the bars are so pretty. We love this batch!



Our handmade soap will be available at the end of April/early May. (Soap has to cure for a few weeks before it's ready for use. This allows water to evaporate from it and for a little more pH reduction.) Product testers have given us awesome feedback on them so we look forward to making them available for all to enjoy!

Have a yummy day friends!