Simple white soap, cake soap, and cupcakes

[seven]

my latest soaps...

eucalyptus swirls... for my dear mother, who like really strong scent on her soaps. the scent is obviously: eucalyptus eo. and i was using french green clay, oxide, and TD for the colors.

scented and unscented castile, or creamy castile as i like to call them. used gm to replace water. the scented one is using lavender eo. now i just gotta wait 6 months before i can nib on them

i made this one weeks ago actually. was using part aloe vera gel, part water, and some poppy seeds for mild scrubbing. the scent is cucumber lemon. smells very refreshing this one is.

 

[Tienne]

The swirls in the Eucalytus soap look absolutely fantastic, Seven! Are those little green leaves on top M&P? They look really cute! ALL your soaps look wonderful. Nice job!

Do you mind me asking where you buy your green clay? I really like that subtle green colour you've achieved along with the sharper oxide. I've bought some french green clay and I mixed some in water and it seems to me to be more brown that green, so I don't know if I really want to be putting THAT in my soaps, but if only I could find a green clay that was actually green!

 

[seven]

Thank u Tienne

Yes, the lil leaves are mp, forgot to mention that. The green clay i bought online when i was in aussie last month, from a place called new directions. They have all sorts of clays there. The oxide was from coastal scents in the US. They were having a 50% off their entire website 2 weeks ago, so i jumped at the chance.

You're in sweden, right? How's soaping supplies over there? Lots of varieties or do you still gotta order from overseas? I'm originally from indonesia. Yes, lye, palm oil, coconut oil are cheap, but the rest is pretty minimal. There are a couple of suppliers of EOs/FOs with imported goods, but the choice is limited.

Off my soap box now

 

[Tienne]

You're in sweden, right? How's soaping supplies over there? Lots of varieties or do you still gotta order from overseas?

Soaping supplies suck! LOL There are more things I CAN'T get here, than I can. I can get the usual grocery oils; corn, canola, sunflower, lard and olive, but pretty much everything else is a hassle to find. I can get coconut oil at xmas time (and boy, do I stock up when I can!) but pretty much everything else, I have to buy overseas and that goes for milks, oxides, micas, clays, molds, ROE, FO's, EO's, everything! Even things as simple as palm oil or soybean oil aren't available her. You'd think I was the only soaper in Sweden, the availability of supplies is so bad. Life just isn't fair... but as long as there's online shopping, there WILL be CP soaps "Made in Sweden"! (Even though I do usually have to spend more on *shipping costs than on the products themselves) BUT... where there's a will, there's a way.

*(Example; Wanna guess at what it costs to have two ED red molds sent to Sweden? For just the shipping.... -> $ 168.00 !!!! (USD) That's not even including the price of the molds themselves and the import taxes! It's insane... It's a wonder I can afford to soap at all! LOL )

EDIT: I usually drive to Denmark to get lye. Most places won't ship that. Many places won't ship EO's either, so I mostly use FO's.

 

[seven]

Soaping supplies suck!

i feel for you A LOT, as i am in the exact same boat. Indonesia is pretty much non existent for soaping goods. i jumped at the chance when my darling mother asked me to accompany her to melbourne last month. boy, was i in soaping heaven while i was there, LOL! they have pretty much everything, although the US still wins (i think). i can't begin to tell you how jealous i am with the US soapers.

hell yeah for online shopping, although shipping still hurts a lot, but what can you do? and to make matters worse here, we have a bloody stupid rule that counts the shipping cost into the tax calculation. and everything over USD 50 IS taxable! GRRRRRRRRR %^##P*FTT!! i lost count on how many times i have to beg a seller to lower the amount of the actual invoice. fortunately, some were pretty understanding.

how's the ED red silicone mold btw? is it any good? like the idea that you can stack it with the wire basket thingy, real space saver. actually, just yesterday i was toying around with the idea to buy a couple myself. i went as far as putting them into my cart but found out that they won't ship to my country. am currently looking for a tall, loaf silicone mold. haven't find one so far.

 

[Tienne]

i can't begin to tell you how jealous i am with the US soapers.

You don't even have to, I know exactly what you mean. Not only can they get any and all supplies their hearts desire, they're cheaper than dirt and they even get free shipping half the time! If I could get supplies as cheap, heck, I would be making ten loaves a day! LOL

how's the ED red silicone mold btw? is it any good?

Yes, they're really nice and sturdy and with the wire basket, the mold is fully supported so you don't get any bowing of the sides at all. They're easy to clean, they stand up to CPOP'ing, you don't have to line them and all that jazz and they seem like they're a good quality too and I'm expecting them to last for a long, long time. (They HAVE to, because I won't be able to afford buying new molds again for quite some time!)

I would have liked the molds to be a little bit narrower, though. The dimensions are 8.5 cm wide and max 9.5 cm high and if I fill the mold up, that's a little too much for me. The soaps end up waaaay too wide and square-ish for my liking, so I usually only pour in 6 cm, so I end up with soaps that are 8.5 x 6 cm. That's a size I like but then the soaps are turned on their sides, if you know what I mean. Therefore, I've also just invested in the dividers you can get that fit the mold. They'll make it easier to do mantra swirls, but I also have an experiment I want to try and that is putting just one of the outside dividers in and that way making the whole mold a little narrower. I don't know yet if the divider will leak or bow or if it can even be done, but it's next on my "I won't know unless I try it" list. LOL I'd love to have soaps that are turned the "right way" up. If it works, then the mold will be able to double as a tall mold! If it doesn't work, then a tall mold with a silicone liner is next on my wish list.

But would I invest that much money in ED molds again? Probably not. I think I would just make a wooden mold myself and line it. I don't mind lining all that much. It's part of the whole soaping ritual and I get in my soaping "zen" while I'm doing it, so no matter. It would be a heck of lot cheaper, too! LOL

 

[seven]

I would have liked the molds to be a little bit narrower, though.

i ended up asking someone from my house to make a simple tall wood mold for me today. it was easy peasy for him and it took only an hour to make. it's got nails though, coz it was a sudden project. next time, i would want to use screws, so i can take apart the mold when unmolding.

last night i wanted a tall mold sooooo much i was browsing and did find one i like. 2 molds (3 lbs and 2 lbs) + shipping, roughly it came to almost $160. i was this close to buying, but then i thought, wait a minute, let me at least try making one 1st, and if it fails then i'll go buy from overseas.

i am glad i didn't buy

the only minus is, i still got to line the mold, but it's okay.. not the end of the world..

anyway, you should def try using your red ED mold as a tall mold by cutting the soap sideways. there was a video about it by soaping101 on youtube, and she did quite a good job.

or better yet, just ask someone to make one for you. i'm pretty sure any guy with a saw can do it

this is my new tall mold.. it's a small one.. all lined up and ready to soap..

 

[Tienne]

Aww, wow, that mold looks perfect!! You lucky thing, you!

I went looking at molds too and I've found the exact one I wish for on a co.uk site. It has a liner and all, but it's £49 and then comes shipping. (Ugh.) It has the perfect dimensions though and man oh man, was I sighing over it. I could hardly bear to close the webpage and walk away, but I have to let it go for now. This time of year is not the best time to be splurging on things I don't really, really need, so it'll have to wait. I think I'm just going to make a wooden mold, too. I just hope mine comes out half as nice as yours.

Congratulations and I can't wait to see all the wonderful soaps I just know you're gonna be making in it. Merry Christmas!

 

[Derpina Bubbles]

I'm just gonna sit here and Oooooo and aaaaahhhhh while looking at your work for a bit.

 

[seven]

Tienne,

you def should try and make your own wood mold. merry christmas to you too



Derpina,

thanks for dropping by

 

[Neve]

I am getting weary of my ten dollar Canadian Tire 'mould' already. It's ok I guess but my soaps are pretty square so they look smaller than they really are. Now kinda wanting a real mould.