GrandmaArial Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I am experimenting with tomato this week. Only two batches, the first with one oz ppo of tomato paste (I used commercial canned paste for this) started out looking like cream of tomato soup but has lightened the last few days to a deep reddish orange. The batch I made last night was one tbs per PPO and is a significantly lighter shade, though still strong) yellowish orange. The first is the one oz tomato paste ppo. It was made with my favorite hard bar recipe and seems to be curing well. Very well behaved baby soap at this point, doesn’t seem to have lost any lather even with the high percentage of fiber from the tomato. The herbs used are basil, rosemary, lemon and orange peal with 1 ml ppo honeysuckle FO. I think it smells very nice now though when I first cut it (at 24 hrs after pouring) it smelled like orange cleaner. This could turn out to be one of my favorite scent combinations and the herbs all add good stuff to the quality of the soap. The herbs are not as finely ground as I like… my old grinder gave up the ghost, I’m hoping Santa will fill my stocking with one. This batch moved fast, could have been the honeysuckle (WSP’s honeysuckle hallow) though I wouldn’t expect it at such a low dose. I also have my soaping area next to the furnace now so ambient room temperature could have done something to do with it (it’s the coolest place in the house in summer and the warmest in winter). The second is the batch with one tbs ppo. This was made with chai tea and rose petals. I added 1 ml ppo of rose FO to supplement the rose scent. The soap recipe is an experiment with soy wax. 30% each soy wax and soybean oil, 15% ea coconut and PKO with 10% castor oil. It’s (at this point) much softer than I thought it would be. But has nice lather and already feels nice on the hands. If anyone decides to duplicate this recipe I’ll warn you… it moved like a runaway train. I’m surprised the swirls came out at all as it was less than ten minutes between pouring the lye and I was glopping everything into the mold. I have used the same portion of rose in other recipes with no problem before anyone says that’s it plus it started before I added the infused oils (which I mix together before I pour the lye. Anyway, back to subject, color. In person the second looks much lighter than the first, with more of a yellow tone. I expect they will both lighten… I’ll just have to wait to see how much. I do suggest if you are going to use vegetables that you use a hard recipe to help dehydrate the produce so reduce the possibility of it developing mold. Also cure in a very dry space. High humidity could cause problems I think. I have read of people adding preservatives with produce too, but I didn’t. I did notice that the first batch isn’t quite as hard as usual and I think it may be the acids in the tomato neutralized some of the lye. Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBE Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I LOVE the color it came out!! I bet that first one smells ~DELISH~ with the addition of the honeysuckle. I love mixing and mingling scents together, especially the "off the wall" scent combos. Something you think might smell horrendous together usually combines well, I've surprised myself with some of the scent combo's I've done. I'm sure the Tomato/Herb/Honeysuckle combo smells wonderful!!! The second one looks like the texture of your Jade soap. Do you find the addition of the soy wax inhibits the lather? I'm very interested with this one!! Chai Tea!!!!! I'm becoming a Chai Tea freak lately. I think this one has my name on it.... As always Cheryl... your soaps are beautiful! Natural... earthy.... makes me wanna run naked in the woods. *faint* LOL:laugh2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaArial Posted November 24, 2007 Author Share Posted November 24, 2007 Well, I’m hoping it’s a lot warmer there than here if you’re going to run naked… you’ld get a nasty case of frost bite here! LOL.I can’t smell the tomato at all now. When I added the paste to the first batch for a couple moments there was a strong smell like scorched tomato but it quickly dissipated. Now nothing but the herbs and oil. I like it. It is very earthy… rich with a sweet top. Although it smells very green, which is usually a summery scent this smells like the holiday season to me… it smells like I feel when the kids are coming to visit. The sweet anticipation and warm satisfaction. I like it. I will have to work on more combos like this one. I don’t know what the soy wax one is going to do yet. It was slightly tacky when I cut it. If I hadn’t made it yesterday I would have waited to cut it as soft as it is but with hard oils I have in it I was afraid it would get hard fast and not be able to slice it neatly (I wasn’t sure I would be able to get down to check it regularly today). I did test a tiny slice and it lathers nice, but I put 10% castor so it darn well better lather! LOL. Not as much bubbles as I expected but I’m not ready to complain. Of course it’s new and soft and new, soft soap will lather faster than well cured hard soap… so we will see what happens.You actually inspired the scent in this one, Donna. Always going on about Earl and Lady Gray teas. Earl Gray has rose petals and bergamot in it. I didn’t have any bergamot so I decided to go with spices and made it a chai. And yes, I know traditionally chai should be made with milk… but I didn’t want to feel like I was making cream of tomato soap! LOL. hmmmm… seeing it in print… now… maybe that’s an idea… tomato milk soap… named cream of tomato soap. Just might be really nice soap. Ok… now I have to figure out what herbs… I was going to take tomorrow off but now… oh well, you know you have chosen the right career when work feels like play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Darn it all, where is smell-a-vision when you need it! Your soaps always look so beautiful - I too love the natural look of everyone of them, and your scent combos sound like they would smell heavenly. :drool::drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBE Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Well, I’m hoping it’s a lot warmer there than here if you’re going to run naked… you’ld get a nasty case of frost bite here! LOL.Nope... it's not warm here at all!! It's cold and rainy. I guess it's about in the high 40's... but feels like in the lower 30's... Gumbo weather. Run naked in the woods... then come home and eat gumbo to warm up. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbuddy Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 It looks interesting!Irena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwahlton Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Very cool. Great job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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