GrandmaArial

My husband gave me my Valentines Day gift early… $50.00 for soaping oil! The man knows the way to my heart!

Very NICE! Love the colors!

I just rinse it off. If also helps give the soap a nice polished stone look. Just rinse under warm running water rubbing the ashed areas gently then set on a rack to dry.

The first is a new soap, Creamy Vanilla Chai. Made with goat’s milk, finely ground black tea, spices and lots of vanilla, it will get dark. Smells almost like Bigalow’s vanilla chai, which is about my favorite chai. The second is the seaside done in the tray mold instead of the log. I think it came out particularly pretty. The swirls are kelp powder. It has some ash I will have to clean up, of course, but with the cold weather everything I do has ash, LOL. Thanks for looking

Spectacular. Can't think of anything else to say...

Busy busy busy! Nice looking soaps!

Beautiful soaps! Good job! Looks like you'll be caught up on your soaping in no time.

If I use enough, like one to two percent it holds great. Vanilla, like all flavanoids, is light sensative so keep your oil in the dark or it will discolor and/or fade. Fresh oil is stronger than oil that has set around, especialy in sunlight and/or open.

Maybe my colors are off... but when I saw it the thought "purple cow" popped into me head. I like!

Yes, I didn’t want to gel this one because of the milk. Although I do gel the Goat’s in the Garden soap and it doesn’t seem to affect the quality of the soap it just isn’t as pretty as the creamy white. As for the rest of your questions there are many threads covering them, though it will take a lot of reading to find answers, LOL. You really need to try a salt bar to appreciate it, also called spa bar. I love them for achy joints, when Arthur is acting up I take a bar to the tub with me and it’s not a magic answer but really makes a difference in making it bearable. Thank you for the compliment, I’m glad you like it! This was basically a joke, I just couldn’t get the name out of my mind so I went ahead and made it. this is the first time I have tried to make a soap to fit the name instead of the other way around, LOL. I think it’s going to be good soap. Meridith… I would so love to try one of your beautiful creations. It’s hard for me to find swaps that I can do. Most have conditions that just don’t fit my style of soaping. But if no one starts one I feel I can fit into by late spring I’ll start one myself just to get you in it, LOL. Thank you all for the compliments, keep encouraging me, it drives my husband crazy!

WOW! Pure drama! Beautiful, reminds me of Donna's Purple Rain soap.

I don't infuse my own vanilla, I get it from a lady that I know near here. What i get from her is very strong and yes, it does discolor my soap, though not as bad the vanilla FOs I've tried.

With all that best to wait. Not good to mess with lye with so much stress and distraction. I hope they figure out what's going on with step son soon, it has to be very hard on you right now.

I LOVE vanilla! And it goes with everything! Try infusing some tea, green tea goes wonderful with vanilla, and I did a batch of creamy vanilla chai today. It smells wonderful! If you make chai be careful, to much “hot” spice can be irritating to the skin and also accelerates the soap, sometimes really bad, so go light on pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc, and black tea will turn your soap a caramel color, how dark depends on how much tea you use. The batch I made today looks like butterscotch topping, LOL.

I’m thinking… definitely 3D mold, 2 halves set out and a layer of “chocolate” poured and allowed to set, mold assembled and “vanilla” poured in to form the sandwich effect and the stick inserted. Then topped with more “chocolate”. You would have to be very careful to not break the seal between the soap and the mold halves assembling it.

I like to swirl when the soap is at medium trace to get the 3D effect, but I’ve never had then raise on their own before. What is really odd is it looks like there are nice flat areas, like only some of it raised. Could it have anything to do with the coloring? Looks like the whiter areas are the flatter spaces. Still, it’s beautiful, the colors are striking and your swirls are always dramatic.

The soap is beautiful and if it smells half as good as the discription I want! I guess it's another thing to put on my must try list!

My hubby wants soap that looks like that. Now you have made my life difficult, cuz he expects me to make it. Thanks a lot! LOL. Really, it's beautiful, but your soap always is.

GOt lye Ginger? You can make soap just like this! LOL. Scented, my recipe always moves fast once it hits trace. I have no idea why, it shouldn't as it's 20% OO. Or maybe I just move slow.

I definitely need to get the light box set back up and stage this one, maybe with a bowl and spoon, LOL. Goat's milk and tomato and .5% "tomato vine" FO. That's all I added. Can you believe I was that restrained? I managed to not gel this batch. I froze the mold and the lye water (til slightly slushy) before adding canned goats milk (also slushy). As I have had serious problems with separation soaping in a cold basement I waited until I had a medium trace before I started pouring and it got thick by the time I was swirling so you can see where all the bubbles came up as I slammed it on the floor about 30 times. Then I stuck it in the refrigerator over night. So now I know how to not gel! Thanks for looking.

Now that’s just gorgeous! I love the way the brown goes with the green, I would never have thought that combination would look so organic. Ok, I guess you didn’t plan it, but it really works great. The swirls are, as always, spectacular.

Beautiful soap as always. I was going to order some Irish Tweed, but if it smells like Irish Springs then I’ve saved some money. Hubby loves Irish Springs but I don’t and I refuse to make soap I don’t like, LOL.

Very Pretty!

Beautiful, but when is anything you do not?

Wow what colors! The basil, sage, and mint look like a warm summer day, and I bet smell like one too so that’s my suggestion, summer day.