The leaves are turning... and my thoughts are moving to Autumn

I have to say that I love Summer... I love the longer, brighter days, I love the sun, I love that everything feels warmer, happier, shinier even.  But, you know what, I love the change of seasons, feeling the colder mornings nip at your toes even though I'm still wearing my Birkenstocks.  And my thoughts move to Autumn and then on to Christmas.  Yep I said it, Christmas!!!

People have raged at me (tongue in cheek of course) on Facebook when I mentioned it ... but, you know what, soapers have to work a season ahead of where they are.  Like fashion designers or even educationalists, you have to work right now but you have to plan for the next season too.  I cure my soaps for a minimum of 6 weeks at a time which means that I have to work at least that far ahead of myself if I want to reach my targets.  So yes, in August, I began to think of the Autumn/Winter collection for this year.

Whilst on holidays, I had a fabulous jam (I am a big fan of toast and jam, it's an addiction)... this was Apricot & Vanilla and I immediately said that I just had to make a soap in this combination, it just screamed Autumn at me.

Below are videos of my Spiced Apricot Vanilla soap ... I made it using skin loving Sweet Almond & Golden Olive Oils with lashings of creamy Cocoa Butter. To this, I added Yogurt and Goatsmilk as they are natural sources of AHA's, vitamins and minerals and are so good for your skin. Then added White Kaolin clay which is one of the best clays for sensitive skin (but works really well with all skin types) and it helps to gently clarify and cleanse your skin. Finally I added Colloidal Oatmeal & Pure Silk to give that extra luxury touch!

The jam gave me the idea of the fragrance and I blended fresh luscious apricots and sweet juicy orange essential oil, gently spiced with cinnamon & nutmeg and drizzled with pure Tahitian vanilla .. its a warm, spicy, divine fragrance blend!

The colours were chosen to reflect to the fragrance and are also very Autumnal. I hope you like it!

Making Spiced Apricot Vanilla Handmade Pure Silk Soap:

http://youtu.be/LnJKx6nQcsQ

Cutting Spiced Apricot Vanilla Handmade Pure Silk Soap:

http://youtu.be/M6PalVf0Mp4

Here are the final shots of the cut soap courtesy of Titch Holland of http://www.facebook.com/takenbytitch

I really hope you enjoy the soapy goodness... Spiced Apricot Vanilla is available now to pre-order on http://www.iamhandmade.com/ourshop/prod_2203786-Spiced-Apricot-Vanilla-PreOrder-Cure-Date-1-October.html