Sunday, March 13, 2016

She Lives! and a Soapy Roundup

     Hi y'all I kinda faded away from soap making, and this blog for almost two years. I am glad to say I am back after my extended hiatus and plan to be posting regularly in addition to keeping track of my new Etsy store IvyRoseSoap! My new post schedule will know be primarily on the weekends because sense the last time I've posted I moved from being homeschooled to a private school (the transition to be honest was why I stopped soaping for a while). Now that I am finally comfortable in the new environment and my migraines have decreased I decided I need to start following my passion again. Now that I have given you a quick update on my life, that I'm sure you'll end up hearing more of, I can share all the soaps I have made since we left off.



   First is my Grateful Dead inspired soap I call Ripple. It was a gift to my sisters boyfriend and is scented with Wholesale Supply Plus' Aqua Spa. I made the lightning bolt by using my 5 lb loaf mold from Bramble Berry with the multi-section dividers in so is was three sections and I poured white into 2 of the 3 sections. After they hardened I cut them into manageable 4-5 inch chunk and carved out triangles. When I made the actual soap I kept the multi divider in with tree sections and lined up the lightning bolts in the middle and red and blue on the sides. The reason I did that was just to keep the colors on their side and keep the embeds straight. After the mold seemed full I took out the dividers and as the soap got into the middle area it sank in so after that I poured the remaining red and blue in. Sorry this one's description was longer than I planed it probably should have gotten its own post! On a similar note my next post will most likely be about another Grateful Dead soap yet to be named so keep an eye out my fellow Deadheads!





  Next is what I'm calling Lavender and Chamomile. It is scented with Bramble Berry's Lavender Chamomile Huggies type which I love. It reminds me of the bubble baths I took when I was little so for me it is very nostalgic so I just have to have this soap around! On the top of this bar I decided to add lavender and chamomile buds for an extra effect, and mainly so I could remember the name of this scent...





      Keeping with the Chamomile theme is my Chamomile soap scented with Bramble Berry's Chamomile Cybilla fragrance oil which they claim to be close to the real deal essential oil but I cant speak to this because I have never smelled the real deal myself. I made this soap with Chamomile tea replacing my water and I colored it very subtly so I don't know of you can really see in the picture but it has a swirl of yellow, green, and cream. I also topped this soap with a line of chamomile buds along the center.



    This is my latest lavender EO soap and it is also happens to be my least favorite of the lavender soaps I have done. The design in my head was light green with big shreds of lavender soap throughout, but my shavings were to thin leaving me with plain green soap with barely visible hints of purple. The mica line was my last ditch effort to get some nice lavender color in the bar.


                                        


     The first snow soap I do every year after our first big snow. It is scented with Wholesale Supplies Plus's first snow and for the water portion I use filtered snow. This design is similar to my last one (here) but with the addition of little sugar pearls and snowflake sprinkles to the top.


     This is my Love Spell soap which I think is my favorite drop swirl I have done. It is scented with Bramble Berry's dupe of the Victoria's Secret perfume which I like but don't love. The only thing I wasn't happy about in this soap is how the white portion turned out speckled, my water soluble titanium dioxide seemed perfectly dissolved in the water but the bar tells a different story.

  
Next is my latest rendition of Wasabi soap, scented with Bramble Berry's wasabi FO. This design was just me experimenting with design. I tried to do a faux-funnel pour on both sides with a divider in the middle, it didn't turn out how I imagined it but i still think its okay looking.



   This soap is actually my most recent of this round up and it is scented with Bramble Berry's Energy. I have soaped with this once before so I knew it went slow so I decided to do a squeeze bottle design. Using squeeze bottles I discovered that they are a PITA during pouring (my hand was tired half way through filling my 5lb mold, and you know soap only gets thicker), getting the last bit out (again soap only gets thicker and thicker), and especially cleaning. While the results were pretty i think it will be a while before I do it again, maybe next time I will use disposable icing bags.






The next one is my Honeysuckle soap in a new design and color scheme. It is using Bramble Berry's Surplus Honeysuckle FO which is my mothers favorite. This is one of the first soaps I've done just plain layering with a I think my lines are straight enough. It is also my first soap in a long time I didn't color with any micas, unless you count the pencil lines. Speaking of pencil lines i used gold mica between each layer to add at least a touch of sparkle to the bar. Over all I think this is my favorite design I have done with this scent, it just looks so springy and fun! 



     Okay we are almost to the end, I'm sorry this post is so long! I just have so many soaps to catch y'all up on. This is my Grapefruit Bellini soap, which the scent was actual scent #8 from when I was on Bramble Berry's S.O.A.P panel eons ago.


  Next is a soap I made using WSP's Fresh mint, which I love btw. This was just a simple hanger swirl with different shades of green. On top I put crushed mint leaves and green glitter. This lead me to a question I want to ask y'all, how do you store your glitter? I may end up doing a little short post on how I store mine if y'all are interested.



       Finally we are onto the last soap of the day! If you have made it this far I very am proud of your accomplishment. I am ending with my Eucalyptus soap which had no real design except just pouring in a bunch of different colors. this soap smells so good and strong I used the EO which if you have smelled it before you know how potent it is. The smell didn't fade out of our whole house for a week!



 
   Well this is the end of today's post but stay tuned for more upcoming posts, and don't worry they will be shorter! I am happy to be back and as usual happy Soaping!
                   ~ Anna Rose

Monday, November 10, 2014

Floral Frenzy

     I know it may be getting cold out, but some nice florally scents never go out of season. These are my last two non-Christmas or seasonal soaps. This of course means that means several holiday themed posts are coming!!

     My first floral soap is a Baby Rose scented soap. It is a pretty basic design because most florals move fairly fast. I have soaped this scent before and it did just that! Well of course it soaped great this time around but still it was nice to go back to basics. Now that I had a short ramble on the inconsistency some fragrances we can get back to the actual soap. The light pink curls were shavings of my old rose soap batch. The toppings were my favorite part, originally I was just going to do the rose petals but I had just gotten the sugar pearls and it looks amazing!


     The second flortastic scent is a classic, lavender (essential oil). I am so proud of this one because it is my first successful drop swirl! I know the drop swirl isn't the most difficult technique but I tend to try that this technique with fast moving scents:(. But this time it worked and I think it looks great! What do y'all think?


Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!
~Anna Rose 





Monday, November 3, 2014

S.O.A.P Panel Results part II

 Hi again! Today will be the second half of the S.O.A.P panel results. I used the same set up for this as I dies with the last group, the post is here (and the initial S.O.A.P post here).


Mystery Fragrance #5
Trace speed- slow to average tracing speed
Color of Bar- a light beige
Post Soaping Scent Fade- stayed strong at 1/5 oz per pound of oil.
Summery- Its a very nice manly scent. It reminds me of the forest floor, it has a mix of green notes with maybe some some musky notes. I also think it may have a touch of damp dirt notes.

Mystery Fragrance #6
Trace speed- Average trace speed.
Color of Bar- light brown, maybe one or two shades darker then mystery fragrance #5
Post Soaping Scent Fade-stayed strong at 1/5 oz per pound of soap.
Summery- Also a very manly scent, similar to mystery fragrance #5. It is a bit sweeter than #5 tho, and it has more spicy notes. 

Mystery Fragrance #7
Trace speed-Average trace speed. it may have gotten a little ricey towards the end.
Color of Bar- off white, with a tinge of yellow
Post Soaping Scent Fade- stayed strong at 1/5 oz per pound of soap.
Summery- This is a very sweet fragrance. A sweet fruit type scene, not a sweet vanilla type scent. It reminds me kind of a strawberry baby bottle pop, but with a bit of added tartness maybe.

Mystery Fragrance #8
Trace speed- slow trace speed
Color of Bar-a light ivory
Post Soaping Scent Fade- stayed very well at 1/2 oz per pound of soap
Summery- Grapefruit. I am 98% sure it is grapefruit is is AH-MA-ZING. It is tart yet sweet and is it possible for a soap to smell juicy -cause this soap does! it is lake sticking your nose in a ripe grapefruit! (now that I say all of this the scent will be something totally different than grapefruit...)

Final rating for second half
1.   Mystery fragrance #8
2.   Mystery fragrance #7
3.   Mystery fragrance #6
4.   Mystery fragrance #5

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

S.O.A.P panel results part I



       Hey y'all! I just realized i haven't blogged in over a month (Yikes!).  If you have followed my blog long enough you know I was homeschooled for migraines for a year and a half and this is my first year back at a "normal" school. We started late August and it has been a bumpy ride. I have been at school but I also have stayed home with awful migraines at least once a week, but averaging 2 days missing. So as a result I have spent every waking hour doing home work, in bed sleeping off a headache, and/or making up missed school work. Long story short I am so sorry I haven't blogged in a while, and I missed y'all so much! On to what you all are here for, my test results for the SOAP panel scents! (HERE is my first impression post)
      I will start us off with the recipe I used for each test, all the variables are identical except for the fragrance oil and the mica swirl on top (which corresponds to the fragrance use).

via brambleberry.com
     All the bars are gelled but the little pumpkins are not gelled, Sadly not all of my tests got a pumpkin (don't ask what happened to them, even I am not sure where the went) also all the batches had .5 oz of the sample fragrance added into it, with nothing else but lye, water and oils.
                                                       
  Mystery Fragrance #1

Trace Speed- Slow to average, very easy to work with.

Color of Bar- Tan to light brown.

Post Soaping Scent Fading- stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.

Summery- It is a defiantly a sweet, vanilla, bakery type scent. In the soap it developed more and into a snickerdoodle-y scent.


Mystery Fragrance #2

Trace Speed- Average, easy to work with.


Color of Bar- a light beige


Post Soaping Scent Fading- Stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.


Summery- It still rings Christmas forest to me. Not as christmas tree like as it was out of the bottle but just a nice pine forest, maybe with a touch of sugar.


                                                             


Mystery Fragrance #3

Trace Speed- Average, again easy to work with.


Color of Bar-  a very, very light yellow.


Post Soaping Scent Fading- stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.


Summery- I still think is ylang ylang, it has lost some of its herbal-iness and the floral notes are more upfront.









Mystery Fragrance #4

Trace Speed- Slow to average, very easy to work with.


Color of Bar- tan to light brown,just a tinge darker than mystery fragrance #1.


Post Soaping Scent Fading- stayed strong at 1/2 oz per pound of soap.


Summery- This is a very sweet, fruity type fragrance. It has mellowed out in to a b=much more pleasant scent than it was out of the bottle. I would guess it is a cherry candy inspired fragrance.

Final rating for the first four fragrances

1.   Mystery Fragrance #2
2.   Mystery Fragrance #3
3.   Mystery Fragrance #1
4.   Mystery Fragrance #4

     Tomorrow I will post the second set of data and the final ratings. Can you I really am trying to make up for my absence? Three posts in two days and hopefully a post at least once a week from here on out as long as I'm not making up 50 different assignments! Then coming this week the Soap Queen blog should have a post combining pertaining to the SOAP panel! 

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!




Tuesday, September 23, 2014

S.O.A.P Mystery Fragrance No. 1

   Hi guys! I finally made my first test batch a few days ago and now that has discolored some I thought I should share my results y'all. By no means has the soap reached its final color, I will do another post when I am done with all the scent and they have cured, Any way now on to the fun part! I will be testing all the fragrances the same way, short, sweet and to the point. Today I am doing mystery fragrance #1 and to refresh your memory here were my initial thoughts "It is a very sweet bakery type scent, I get a hint of vanilla. Maybe its a vanilla cake type scent?"




The color of the fragrance oil is, as you can see, a light golden color. I originally assumed it would change the batter color yellow. I used it it at .5 onces per pound of soap, and you will see how it turned out in a second.




     For all the test batches I am using the same recipe. To make the process go faster I am using Bramble Berry's basic quick mix oils. I am doing a simple one pound batch (I think I will put the recipe in my final round up post). This fragrance soaped wonderfully! It did not speed up but it did turn the soap a nice pink!

the soaps color in the pot

    I put most of the soap into my one pound silicone loaf mold and did a color coordinated mica-oil swirl (Black= mystery fragrance #1) and wrapped it up to gel. The last little bit I put into a seasonal pumpkin mold and set it aside to see how the fragrance acted in non-gelled soaps.

In the mold right after pour


     Two days after the cutting and I am now ready to judge the scent and share with you what I think of the scent now that is is in the soap! I still get the sweetness and a now thinking it is a butter cream frosting type scent, with maybe an under note of a really light spice? *update* I now am thinking it is snicker doodle! Like all the scents it smells so familiar it is just so hard to figure out what it reminds you of, I just thought of another thing it could be, a cake maybe? I don't know but I like it more now that it is soaped but still it is a food/bakery scent (the one thing I am 100% sure it is) and they aren't my favorite scent family so it still isn't my favorite.  Soaping wise and for other people I am sure It is great!

bars are gelled pumpkin is not gelled

     These are only three days out so I am sure they will discolor more but I will keep you updated, probably after they are all cured and I round them up!

Thanks for stopping by happy soaping!

Saturday, September 13, 2014

S.O.A.P Fragrances First Impressions

     
     This morning to my surprise I got my S.O.A.P Panel mystery fragrances in today! It was wrapped in yellow tissue paper with the S.O.A.P logo. The package was completed with a Soap Queen notepad that excited me a little to much. For my first installment of my SOAP series I am just giving y'all my first impression and my which are my favorite by ranking them from 1-8 1 being my favorite and 8 being my least favorite. I will try to feature a post on each scent as they are made and a cumulative post at the end with all my findings. Sadly I have to wait for my lye and oils to come in before I start but as soon as they are here I will start soaping! 



  • Mystery Fragrance #1- It is a very sweet bakery type scent, I get a hint of vanilla. Maybe its a vanilla cake type scent? Ranking-8
  • Mystery Fragrance #2- Christmas. That was the first thing I thought when I opened it. This smells like a christmas tree yard it is one of my favorite FOs of this batch. Ranking-2
  • Mystery Fragrance #3-This is a fairly heavy floral I am thinking ylang ylang with some other underlying floral/herbal notes. Ranking-3
  • Mystery Fragrance #4- It smells like a tart candy. I think it smells like chewy sweetarts or maybe a cherry or strawberry laffy taffies. Ranking-6
  • Mystery Fragrance #5- It smell reminiscent of a forest floor. It has some green musky and maybe some earthy spices. To finish it off it may have some dewy, moist soil. Ranking-5
  • Mystery Fragrance #6- Very manly. It is similar to #5, but less sweet (even though 5 wasn't sweet). The main note is SO familiar but I cannot place it! Maybe it is similar to tobacco and bay leaf, but what ever it is I like it. Ranking-4
  • Mystery Fragrance #7- This also has a candy type smell to it. It reminds me of a strawberry baby bottle pop, remember those things?  it has been ages since I had one but this scent just made me think of them. Ranking-7
  • Mystery Fragrance #8- My favorite scent! I am 90% sure it is grapefruit an its amazing 'nuff said. Ranking-1
Thanks for stopping by and look out for my testing, it should start this coming week!

Saturday, September 6, 2014

I'm a S.O.A.P panelist!!


 I was chosen! I am so excited and I can't wait to get the FOs!!! I am so honored and my fellow panelists look super talented and great. I should be getting my package in the mail by the 16th and will share my first impression as soon as I get it. Finally I am open to any suggestions on how to test them I already have a good idea on how I will do so but any ideas would help me 1,000,000%! here in the link to my original post on the S.O.A.P panel and the SoapQueen post with the links to the 7 other panelists.

Thanks for reading and happy soaping!

Friday, September 5, 2014

Wine Soap- Spring Soap Crafting Club Part III

     Hey y'all! Sorry I haven't Posted in a while but I just finished my second week of school and to say it has been a big adjustment would be an understatement. And yes I am very behind with the soap crafting club, I already have two unmade summer SCC in my soaping room but I just signed up for new designs not for the private message board thing.

     The last installment of the Soap Crafting Club was a wine twist soap. It was scented with wine berry fragrance which was a bit sweet for me and sped up a little bit but besides the it all went according to plan. I used some old, past its prime red wine made by my grandfather (love him but the wine is usually not good... at all) so no fine wine was killed in the process. Before mixing the lye with  the wine I boiled it down then froze it in a plastic bag and then crushed it up into manageable chunks.

    The design itself was pretty basic, in the vertical loaf mold (with divider in) I poured the red on one side and white, well more of a beige, on the other side. Then before I took the divider out I twirled it 180 ̊ and pulled it out. My only issue was my batter got thick a bit to fast so the swirl wasn't as crisp as I wanted.

     As you can see I got glycerin rivers all though out and the circles aren't centered but besides that I like the results and will try this technique again!

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!!


...and happy birthday to my little Bee, who has had more than her share of experiences in her first year



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