Did you grab some?
Did you grab some?
No, because I gave up on Big Lots and bought a giant bucket!Did you grab some?
Happy to help with inspiration! Your slurry recipe is what started this experiment. So it’s come full circle. I had some chai tea that had too much of *something*, maybe ginger, for me to drink but it smelled so good. It was tea in the teabag and is called Bengal Spice. I cut the tea bags open and added them to a slurry with orange eo, kaolin clay and castor oil. The cavity molds are unmolded and I will unmold the loaf mold later this afternoon or tomorrow as it’s still slightly soft. Hoping the spices aren’t scratchy. So far, it smells really good. I added orange mica to half and left the other half natural, did a wall pour with a chopstick swirl. Not crazy about the color as the natural became yellow-ish, from olive oil and the spices.Thank you for the inspiration I needed for my next batch of pull-throughs & smaller loafs! I have been hemming & hawing about this for over a week now
I sincerely hope to be in Hawaii next winter for a conference, so am very much looking forward to checking out all of the local plants, traditional plant medicine, spices & so on. Super exciting!
My pudding ended up staying home with me because once made, I didn't think that most Western people would like or appreciate it very much. The coconut sugar turns the coconut milk brown & caramelized looking, which tastes beautiful, but for the 'uninitiated' who are used to everything like that being white, they wouldn't have gotten it...at all
Oh well, more Indonesian spiced tapioca pudding for me
Happy to help with inspiration! Your slurry recipe is what started this experiment. So it’s come full circle. I had some chai tea that had too much of *something*, maybe ginger, for me to drink but it smelled so good. It was tea in the teabag and is called Bengal Spice. I cut the tea bags open and added them to a slurry with orange eo, kaolin clay and castor oil. The cavity molds are unmolded and I will unmold the loaf mold later this afternoon or tomorrow as it’s still slightly soft. Hoping the spices aren’t scratchy. So far, it smells really good. I added orange mica to half and left the other half natural, did a wall pour with a chopstick swirl. Not crazy about the color as the natural became yellow-ish, from olive oil and the spices.
I really need to add some botanicals to my collection but become overwhelmed in finding a supplier. Any recommendations are appreciated. The orange spice slurry sat for 3-4 days and I didn’t get any drag marks when cutting with a knife so that’s encouraging.I would suggest taking anything in a tea bag & whizzing it in a coffee grinder, sieving that through a very fine sieve, and then adding that to your slurry & allowing to sit at least overnight. Otherwise yeah....sharp stuff that doesn't feel good on the skin. Doing this also helps to avoid drag marks when cutting your soap. I do the same for all of my botanicals. Some become smaller in particulate size than others, but even the 'larger' bits end up very much softened by the castor oil, preventing those marks. They're also much softer when you go to wash with the soap.
Since you're not happy with the color of your soap, maybe try picking a natural colorant based on the scent next time....in this case, citrus spice....smoked paprika / annatto seed added to your overnight-slurry, or heat-infused in the olive oil portion of your soap batch. It takes some experimentation, but you can end up having a very beautiful color
I really need to add some botanicals to my collection but become overwhelmed in finding a supplier. Any recommendations are appreciated.
Thank you. I have some calendula petals. Will have to get them infused and plan a soap around them. I appreciate the recommendations.https://www.herbco.com/
As a purveyor of herbs and spices they cater mostly to herbalists and the culinary crowd. They are tops for quality, variety, customer service and shipping. I order at least four different 4oz. sizes at a time to get the best pricing.
Since they are not geared to the soaping community, you will need to educate yourself on coloring soap with botanicals. Jo Haslauer is the best! You can also use the Search feature in the upper right corner of this page to find more tips and tricks about using "natural colorants".
That being said, I also stock up on their yummy teas, bay leaves, parsley, cinnamon, etc. in bulk for my spice cabinet for cooking and personal use other than coloring soap.
I have used some of their tea blends and Herbs de Provence Spice Blend infused in oil to make soap. I do NOT add the spent tea/herbs to the soap. Even powdered paprika and tumeric (lovely in soap) can be too scratchy for my sensitive skin. I strain them out through a re-purposed, clean, piece of pantyhose placed in a strainer before using the oil in soap.
NOTE: Calendula blossoms infused in oil are one of the most popular natural colorants. Trust me on this, you DON'T want to invest in a pound. It's a HUGE amount that will take a life time to use up. Don't ask how I know.
Okay, I seriously don't know what your vision was, but those soaps look totally awesome! You rocked it! Great color choices on the left one. Keep us posted on the scratchiness of the orange one. I like how you are noting the lessons learned and not beating yourself up. Great attitude.I really need to add some botanicals to my collection but become overwhelmed in finding a supplier. Any recommendations are appreciated. The orange spice slurry sat for 3-4 days and I didn’t get any drag marks when cutting with a knife so that’s encouraging.
Here are pictures of my last two batches. The grey in the grey, green and white bars was supposed to be purple but I didn’t use enough color. It was also my first hanger swirl and I didn’t swirl enough. Bonus, two lessons in one batch.
The second batch is the orange spice. The tea was in tiny bits. I will take your recommendation next time and pulverize it to powder. If it’s scratchy it will be hand soap only. It is possible to see the swirls but more contrast would be better. Another lesson, if I make this again I will color one portion with charcoal to create an orange and black pattern.
Thank you for sharing this, Zing. It's what I needed to read.I MADE SOAP TODAY! Wicky wicky what?! Yeah, you heard me, I made soap today! In recent months my work/life balance has been seriously out of whack and I've made some recent decisions to get back on track for the sake of my health and relationships. I made a double-batch of Spring Clean using a spoon swirl -- hey, I didn't miss the deadline for the Spoon Swirl Challenge, did I? Everything is tucked in and cozy for the night.
My inventory is down to just a few bars and I've got a coupla special orders that I need to tend to. It felt good to be in my soap shop!! I just got off the phone with an acquaintance who also has bought a bunch of my soap. We spent an hour talking about professional stuff. She ends the call saying "Zing, this may be too intimate for you but I literally think of you every day. In the shower. And my husband won't shut up about using your soap to shave -- "it's so creamy" -- and all the soap in our house is exclusively yours." I share this, not to brag, but because it was so affirming to hear that there is sooo much more to life than employment and workplace politics! It was good to get that verbal boost on the day I made lifestyle changes. Soaping is coping!
Thanks! No matter what happens there’s always a lesson. Sometimes what not to do. Thanks for the compliments too. I can get hung up on what I meant to do and sometimes it’s hard to appreciate the result.Okay, I seriously don't know what your vision was, but those soaps look totally awesome! You rocked it! Great color choices on the left one. Keep us posted on the scratchiness of the orange one. I like how you are noting the lessons learned and not beating yourself up. Great attitude.
Yay!!!I MADE SOAP TODAY! Wicky wicky what?!
Best complement ever!" -- and all the soap in our house is exclusively yours."
I really need to add some botanicals to my collection but become overwhelmed in finding a supplier. Any recommendations are appreciated.
The orange spice slurry sat for 3-4 days and I didn’t get any drag marks when cutting with a knife so that’s encouraging.
The second batch is the orange spice. The tea was in tiny bits. I will take your recommendation next time and pulverize it to powder. If it’s scratchy it will be hand soap only. It is possible to see the swirls but more contrast would be better. Another lesson, if I make this again I will color one portion with charcoal to create an orange and black pattern.
Hi, does the tea infused oil retain properties of the tea after the lye mix? The scent, or other characteristics? Thank youhttps://www.herbco.com/
As a purveyor of herbs and spices they cater mostly to herbalists and the culinary crowd. They are tops for quality, variety, customer service and shipping. I order at least four different 4oz. sizes at a time to get the best pricing.
Since they are not geared to the soaping community, you will need to educate yourself on coloring soap with botanicals. Jo Haslauer is the best! You can also use the Search feature in the upper right corner of this page to find more tips and tricks about using "natural colorants".
That being said, I also stock up on their yummy teas, bay leaves, parsley, cinnamon, etc. in bulk for my spice cabinet for cooking and personal use other than coloring soap.
I have used some of their tea blends and Herbs de Provence Spice Blend infused in oil to make soap. I do NOT add the spent tea/herbs to the soap. Even powdered paprika and tumeric (lovely in soap) can be too scratchy for my sensitive skin. I strain them out through a re-purposed, clean, piece of pantyhose placed in a strainer before using the oil in soap.
NOTE: Calendula blossoms infused in oil are one of the most popular natural colorants. Trust me on this, you DON'T want to invest in a pound. It's a HUGE amount that will take a life time to use up. Don't ask how I know.
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