Waiting, Waiting, Waiting, Finally They’re Ready

Saturday is fast approaching with the holiday boutique I will be doing with my daughter.  With that deadline only days away my final batches of soap are finally ready to use and in my Etsy shop.

One of the hardest things about making soap for me is the waiting. It takes four weeks for my soap to cure and harden. I was really anticipating this beautiful gray bar, which contains active charcoal. I was worried that the sweet anise I had blended with sweet orange, lavender and vanilla would overpower the mix. I had used only a little but as it sat on the shelf it seemed to be the dominating scent. I was delighted the other morning when I took it in the shower with me and the wonderful smell of sweet oranges with an undertone of vanilla and lavender and just a hint of sweet anise hit me. It was heavenly! I’m tempted to keep it all for myself. So glad I wrote down my blend exactly. 

 During this process I’ve turned the downstairs bathroom into my soap room. My son helped me install wire shelves to set my soap on while they cure. We all love to walk into this room.  It smells glorious! I love to go in there and just pick up a bar of soap and breathe deeply. My patchouli spice is a favorite. The sample bars are a bit rustic. I had a near soap disaster with this one. It seized on me before I got it all poured. Needless to say I learned a lot that day. Not the least of which was the for some unknown reason there is a crockpot under the sink in the downstairs bathroom. Prior to my boys moving out and it becoming my soap room, only my boys used it. I asked all of them about it. No one claims to know where it came from. But fortunately for me it was there and I was able to reprocess my soap in it.

 Finally I made this for my two children who struggle with acne. I call it my blemish buster. It contains French green clay to tighten pores, active charcoal to detox the skin and tea tree oil to kill bacterial.