MoonShadow

Gorgeous!

Amazingly beautiful swirls!

We use Patch alone and we also do a blend with Orange EO. Both sell very well for us. You just can't go wrong with Patch!

I finally had a chance to soap last night, and I did a blend with 2 parts Orange EO, 1 part Patch and 2 drops each of Litsea and Lime.

OMG...I thought I had died and gone to heaven as soon as I added the EO's to the soap.

I now fully understand soycrazy's comment about marrying Patch is her husband let her. Me too!

I'll post some pics in the gallery tonight when I cut it.

If you look on the right side of her blog she has an E-Book section with 4 books she has put together for sale. The proceeds are actually donated to a youth group. One of the books is on Shampoos and Conditioners. Jam packed book with lots of info on surfacants, humectants, and how shampoo, conditioners and the ingredients work together. There is also a lot of recipes including shampoo and conditioning bars. I bought it last week and think it is worth the cost. She has a link to browse the table of contents to get an idea of what the book covers.

Moonshadow, if you are talking about the original Clairol Herbal Essence from back in the day, I'm with you! That was my favorite.

That's what I was talking about. That wasn't just shampoo, it was almost a religious experience!

This is pretty serendipitous. Just last night I was searching for info about shampoo bars and stumbled on Swift's blog. I color my hair with henna and cassia and have been using baking soda for shampoo and apple cider vinegar to rinse. I went searching for something I could scent. I miss my Clairol Herbal Essence.

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2011/01/shampoo-bars-long-hair.html

Patchouli and CP are a match made in heaven. Patch also blends very well with the other EO's you have on hand, so double bonus!

Depending on the strength and age of your patch you'll use anywhere from .5 oz PPO to 1 oz PPO. Usually the lower amount works well for the aged dark I generally buy. It's a strong base note and should stick for ages.

Litsea is very strong on its own, and helps to anchor other fleeting scents, such as lime, lemon or orange. Patch will help anchor the scent of your Lime in blends (and any other citrus).

You just made my day!

I wanna try some Patchouli in CP with some calendula petals. Anyone have any experience with it? Does it stick? Should I blend it? I don't have a lot of other EO's on hand, some lime, litsea and some eucalyptus...I may have a tiny bit of a lavender blend.

Very nice!

Thanks Irena!

Is this the one you used the Goya coconut milk in? Did yours turn out soft at first and take longer to harden up? Yours came out so nice. Looks like you didn't have any problems with it.

Yes, that's the Goya batch. It was soft at first, in fact I didn't cut it for 48 hours. I froze the coconut milk in ice cubes trays and added the lye VERY VERY VERY slowly directly to a few frozen cubes at a time for my lye solution. It didn't discolor at all.

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Thanks all! tlc25, if it passes the "family" test I might put it in my Etsy shop.

Thank you MoonShadow. I was wondering if you had the same problem with the Goya I had-- my batch has a strong chemical smell like saloon hair dye gel? I'm hoping the chemical smell goes away. The good news is out of the 3 brands I tried the Goya hardened the soap up faster than the others.

I didn't notice anything like what you described. It had a slight "milk" smell the first day, just like the Goats milk smell, but it's totally gone now.

I dont think you need to change a thing! Limes are dark and that's near perfect enough!

Thanks. I think we are all our own worst critics.

Amazing!

And your Lavender, Cucumber, and Sage batch in the gallery RAWKS!

Beautiful! I hope someday I can swirl like that!

Thanks everyone for the compliments! I'm going to keep playing with the natural colorants in the recipe to see if I can get it a bit more "limey" green. But all in all, it came out better than I really expected it to.

I made my first loaf of CM soap the other day and used the Goya brand. Ingredients :Coconut Milk, Water, Potassium Metabisulfite. (as a Preservative) Potassium Metabisulfite is also used in Wine making to inhibit bacteria and yeast growth. I can get it a Publix.

LOL It's from Back To The Future III

Oooohhh yeah! THANKS!

Ok , is that CP ? Was wondering, with the "natural colorants" , did they leave an odor at all ?

Yes, it's CP but I didn't gel it. I can's smell any of the "grassy" scent of the herbs yet, all I smell is the lime. But it's only been two days...so...who knows. Like I said, it was a "leap of faith loaf." I can't remeber what movie the quote is from, but every time I make CP soap, hubby walks by it and says, "It's a Science Experiment."

Beautiful soap!

That is absolutely gorgeous !!!

Thanks! It was a real leap of faith loaf. LOL First time using coconut milk, first time using essential oils, and first time using herbs as natural colorants.

hahaha I kinda thought so too, MoonShadows........... UNTIL I JUST SAW YOURS OMG ! LOL well I had a few minutes of doing the happy dance lol Seriously, yours is stunning!

Nah, your is a work of art. I think I just sorta lucked out. LOL

Niiiiiice loaf!

Scented with essential oils of lime anchored with litsea cubeba. Colored with nettle leaf and parsley.

Nice swirls!