Orange Pippin Nectar - Pure Beer Soap

So, four down, two to go in the six pack of Pure Beer soaps.

The penultimate soap is called Orange Pippin Nectar.  Made from Kilkenny beer which is a reddish colour pale creamy beer, I instantly thought of a fragrance blend of oranges and apples.  I then needed to find something that'd tie them together and thought of the warm colour of the beer and what would warm both fragrances and immediately thought of ginger and cinnamon.  I thought how would this work with the beer and what would I call the soap, and I came up with Orange Pippin Nectar ... there is a type of apple called a Cox's Orange Pippin, the pippin in the name would illustrate my apple note, the word orange worked with the 5 fold orange essential oil I used plus the name was just damn cute too!

I had recently ordered some new clays I'd not worked with before and when I saw the Australian Red Reef clay, I just knew I had to use it! What a luxurious colour it is and boy, does a little go a long way! I added my usual white clay as it's soooo good for all skin types and colloidal oatmeal as it's so soothing and has so many skin loving qualities.  Of course, I used my favourite silk because it really adds a smoothness and luxuriousness to the final soap.

I am very very happy with this soap... my little tester bar produced a massive amount of lather and that was from a freshly made soap, imagine what it'll be like when it's fully cured.

The soap is available for pre-order right now on http://www.iamhandmade.com/ourshop/prod_2017608-Orange-Pippin-Nectar-PreOrder-Cure-Date-11-June.html and will be fully cured on 11 June.

Huge thanks, yet again, to Titch for her fabulous photos - make sure to check out her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/takenbytitch.

Beer Soaps... Oh Yeah!

Well, it's all Amy's fault.

Yep, she started the whole challenge about soaping with booze.  Beer is big in Ireland, there's no doubt about it.  I couldn't find how many were actually sold in Ireland last year but I suspect it's lots... and lots, and lots and, probably, even more lots.

I don't beer, I never liked the taste of it at all.  But I found myself becoming very interested in beer in the last few weeks.  Again, it's all Amy's fault.  I made a beer soap and then realised how much fun it was ... from prepping the beer to actually making it.  Loved the bubbleage from the little tester soap balls I make from my trimmings, love the creaminess of the soap, just so much fun.  So I decided I'd do six beer soaps, a six pack.. geddit? I wanted to make them with only Irish beers (cos I'm in Ireland, seems fair) and I wanted them all to be a bit different.. from each other and from other beer soaps you can get out there.

So here's the first one, Lemon Nectar.  Oh I decided to call them all somethingsomethingsomething Nectar... it was the drink of the God's after all, seemed fitting.  So this is made with Beamish Irish Stout which is my hubs favourite pint and it's from Cork, which is where we want to live one day.

I decided that I'd add some extra goodies in all these soaps so all the Pure Beer soaps have colloidal oatmeal that helps to calm sensitive skin, silk that adds an extra level of luxury and either clay or Dead Sea Mud for their skin lovingness.

So Lemon Nectar is made with Beamish Irish Stout, colloidal oatmeal, tussah silk and kaolin clay with Sweet Almond & Golden Oil Oils and tons of creamy Cocoa Butter and is fragranced with my own blend of zesty citrusy May Chang and deep and earthily sexy Patchouli.  It smells incredible!!

Pics below... I'll show you the others in the next few blog posts.  This one is available for pre-order right now http://www.iamhandmade.com/ourshop/prod_1993049-Lemon-Nectar-PreOrder-Cure-Date-28-May.html.