I was delighted a while back to receive an email from Michelle from Two Blooms Design Studio who asked if I'd be interested in doing a swap with her. I've been reading her blog and following her on Facebook for a while now so I said YES PLEASE!!! So we agreed to swap two soaps, some soap samples, a body butter and a lip balm. She went one better and added in some of her foaming bath salts too.
I got them in the post last Friday I think but was only able to make the video about them last night and then ran out of time to put the video together fully. But it was the first thing I did after I got home from work this evening and here it is!
Love everything you make Michelle, a very high quality product and I was so honoured to swap with you. I can only hope you're as happy with my soaps and other things as I was with yours. Thank you SO much again xx
You might have read on some soaping blogs about a Friendship Soap Party that's being held - 9 of us, from Ireland, Spain, the US and Canada, got together and decided to make soap for each other. We found out a lot about each other by telling our stories .. most especially what we liked most about soaps, what our preferences were etc.
So, my hubby (you know, the movie star) and Titch and I made a video of hubs picking out the names of who makes soap for who (yeah, I know, that should be whom but that makes me sound like an English school marm!). Here's the video if you'd like to see ... as ever, hubs is nuts!
So, I got to make soap for Emily Shieh of Shieh Design Studio who set me a challenge:
1 - make a soap with one additional natural ingredient, over and above my usual silk
2 - use a combination of colours that I've not used together before
3 - use a new technique
Well, that's a challenge and a half, for sure!
So I decided to:
1 - out challenge Emily and use both goatsmilk AND aloe vera juice
2 - use purple and gold together .. colours I've used seperately but not at the same time
3 - try out a hanger swirl, no idea what I was doing but hey ho, I'll always meet a challenge
4 - I fragranced the soap with my own blend of Geranium, Lavender & Patchouli and decided to call it Intrigue
And here are the final photos ... Emily, this is for you!! xx
Still Photography courtesy of Ger Holland, www.facebook.com/takenbytitch
Hope you've enjoyed the Friendship Soap Party and hope you love Intrigue. If you would like to order, these will be available online (8 bars only) from early March.
I thought you'd like to see the cutting video we made this evening for Paradise Found - this is the soap I made on Saturday using the faux funnel technique.
It worked out really well, I LOVE the colours, the glitter, the pattern and, above all, the fragrance is just amazing.
Titch and Malky were involved too... as you'll see.... enjoy!!!!
Here's the link if you can't see the video itself.. just click HERE.
The soap will be fully cured in early March and will be available online from www.iamhandmade.com.
I thought I'd show you my new video made today of the new soap I made using my new mould.
Paradise Found is a floral woody type fragrance and is described as a luscious fruity-wood fragrance with top notes of bergamot and rose. Sweet, rich blackberries, dry leaves, and an amber-cinnamon blend round out this gorgeous designer scent. It's really lovely and very unisex I think.
I wanted to do a faux funnel swirl and was told this fragrance oil worked fine and gives enough time to play around so I thought I'd go with it. I found it thickened up a bit but, hey ho, I can work with it.
Despite the soap being a little thick, I still managed to get the swirl ok .. at least on the bottom half of the soap anyway! I love the colours I choose, a nice bright blue with sparkle gold and white. I can't wait to cut this!
Hope you enjoy the video .. Titch and I are chattering all the way through, just as ever. I'll show a cutting video on Monday or so.
Enjoy!
If you cannot see the video (subscribed by email etc) then just click "I wanna see your movie" and you'll be taken straight to You Tube.
I joined in with an Irish based soap swap recently - I've met two other soapers from Ireland (one in the East and the other in the South West) on a soaping forum and we decided to do a swap of our soaps! We eventually got round to it in January (after all the hard work we all put in over the Christmas period) and I received their soaps this week.
I have to apologise in advance if the photos aren't up to the usual standard .... they were taken on my mobile phone camera which isn't as good as my regular camera.
First up are soaps and a trial sugar scrub from Lí Ban Ireland - Rose has been soaping for quite a number of years (well, more than me!) and has huge experience. She uses essential oils in the main for her fragrances and is an expert blender. Below are pictures of her new Chai Latte and Mayan soaps and her trial sugar scrub (technically the Chai Latte isn't included in the swap, I'm buying that from her because I just loved the sound of the essential oil blend she used!).
Secondly, Hajni from Mianra Soaps sent me her Cedar & Patchouli soap and her Rose Clay as well. Her packaging was just lovely, but I sadly rushed in and opened them up before even thinking that I should take photos of the package.. stupid me!
I'm in the middle of testing them now - I always give things a long test, I don't believe in giving an opinion based on one or two uses but I will say that the soaps from both companies are just lovely and very lathery.
I also don't see my role as a public reviewer of other people's work ... there's more than just soap at stake but I know I won't be disappointed by either of these.
Hope you enjoyed the pics and I hope Rose and Hajni are both enjoying mine!
Picture 1: Lí Ban Ireland - Chai Latte soap and trial sugar scrub
Picture 2: Lí Ban Ireland - Chai Latte (left) and Mayan (right) cold process soaps
Picture 3: Mianra - Cedar & Patchouli (left) and Rose Clay soap (right)
Picture 4: Mianra Soaps
Picture 5: All the soaps together ready for testing
I've been using some boxes I got from a high street store as my moulds for the last 2 years or so and, whilst they have been absolutely fabulous, they are showing signs of wear and tear. Not last, when the dovetail joints almost gave way and raw soap began leaking out!!! Eeekkk!! I think I banged that mould once too often.
So I decided to take the plunge and get some moulds made for me. I wanted the same size as I really like my soap shape and size and I wanted to be able to put them in the fridge, if I needed.
I got in touch with a really excellent carpenter, Karl Kehoe, and gave him the dimensions I wanted and he said "No problem" which was great to hear! So, just one short week later, my new moulds arrived!
They are made with mahogany and are sturdy beyond sturdy, these babies are going to last a lifetime! They have hinged sides and ends so that it'll be really easy to take the soap loaf out. I just cannot wait to christen them!
This is a new fragrance I bought just after Christmas, with the Spring/Summer range in mind. When I opened the bottle, I thought "oh WOW, that's YUMMMM" and, after making it into a soap, I'm still thinking the same thought. This is just a lovely lovely fragrance, neither too fruity nor too floral but a hugely complimentary blend of both.
The fragrance is described as a fresh, fruity floral fragrance with orange and tangerine enhanced by mouthwatering fruits including apple, pear, pineapple and peach supported by a heart of freesia, rose, jasmine, osmanthus and plum all resting on a sensual base of white musk, precious woods and dry fruits. It is just delicious.
I worked with the faux funnel swirl again, I think I may be addicted! I wanted to get the colours of Spring/Summer in there but wanted to not use green again as I feel I've used it a lot lately. So I chose yellow, white and pink. The pink faded a little and turned into a peachy pink but that's ok, it's still beautiful.. actually maybe more suitable to the fragrance than a too bright pink.
I also changed up my formulation a little to include more cocoa butter (as I love it in everything) and more olive oil and take out the avocado ... I just fancied a change to be honest. Dying to see how it works out once fully cured but the suds test I do at the end of this video shows there's no problem with the lather, that's for sure.
So here is the cutting video of Asian Pear & Lily - I really hope you enjoy it!
The soap will be fully cured by the end of February 2012 and will be available on www.iamhandmade.com. Still photographs will be available on Facebook shortly and I'll post some here too. Enjoy!!!
Another new soap! This is made with my own blend of Peppermint, May Chang and Eucalyptus essential oils and it's just beautiful - fresh and lemony and delicious.
I coloured it with two greens and white and I think it really shows off the faux funnel technique really well. This is my own blend of soap oils including Sweet Almond, Avocado & Golden Olive with lashings of Cocoa Butter and, of course, wild silk (soap is just sooooooooooo much better with real silk in it).
