Cashmere Silk

Well I have a little news! During the Christmas holidays, my fabulously kind safety assessor sent me my Safety Assessment for cold & hot process traditionally made soaps (if you're a regular reader, you'll know that those selling any form of cosmetics in the EU, need to hold safety assessments for all their products).  So now I can legally sell these!

I had a very lazy Christmas and did very little indeed but, in the last few days, the bug seems to have bitten again - starting with this soap, Cashmere Silk.  It contains Sweet Almond Oil and Golden Olive Oil along with a generous dose of Pure Silk (I've used this recipe before and it was recently reviewed on a forum I belong to by a very experienced soaper who raved about it... I was chuffed!). 

The soap in its mould

I've coloured the top layer with a camel coloured mica and a very light dusting of an irridescent glitter - I tried to get the impression of soft, warm cashmere. 

You can see the golden creaminess given by the Golden Olive Oil in the base colour and the glitter gently sparkles

This looks so delicious - like the best, golden, creamy fudge

I think I have captured the feel of cashmere in this soap

I just adore the gentle glisten given by the mica & glitter which really shows the gentle swirls on the top of the soap

The soap is fragranced with essences of Moroccan jasmine, lily of the valley and bergamot with warm undertones of sandalwood, amber and musk - it smells like a very top end perfume, not too floral with a warm basenote. 

The soap will need to cure for 6 weeks and so will be ready by 13 February - it's a limited edition and there will be 8 bars available for sale then. 



Vanilla Anise

Yet another adventure in cold process soapmaking.  This one is Vanilla Anise which is described as a blend of rare vanilla orchid blossom with the spicy accent of anise and the warmth of vetiver, amber and clove, creating an unexpected, modern vanilla story. To my nose, the aniseed comes out first and foremost, which is a very good thing as far as I'm concerned, as I love, love, LOVE it!

This soap is made with Sweet Almond Oil, Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter with added pure tussah silk.. a totally divine combination! It is coloured using titanium dioxide for the base to whiten it (for the vanilla aspect) and Blackstar Blue mica to give it a dark, midnight feel to match the aniseed fragrance. 

In the mould, full of lovely swirlies!

First cut - cut too early, not quite ready (but how beautiful is that top?!!)

 Lovely swirls but not cut on it's side so the dark colour is dragging through the white

  

This one has a tinch of titanium dioxide not quite fully mixed in

Ohhh this one is just beautiful - cut on the side and just lovely

A group shot!

Hope you liked these pictures, I really enjoyed making this - it should be cured by mid to late November and I cannot wait to try it out; really hoping the fragrance will have stayed because the whole curing room smells of it now and it's divine!!