Spiced Chocolate Nectar Pure Beer Soap

This is the second of my Pure Beer soaps, Spiced Chocolate Nectar.

The soap is made made with Sweet Almond & Golden Olive Oils, Irish Chocolate Stout, Rhassoul Mud, Colloidal Oatmeal, Cocoa Butter & Pure Silk.

Rhassoul Mud comes from Morocco and has been used for centureies as a natural beauty treatment.  It's rich in trace minerals, is highly absorbent, attracting oil, dirt & pollutants and helping to clarify the skin.  It is very gentle and excellent for sensitive skin with its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial qualities.  Studies have shown that it helps to reduce sebum production, improves the texture and tone of the skin, reduces dryness, helps improve elasticity and is gently exfoliating.

Within it's dark chocolate and cream colour swirls, it's fragranced with the natural scent of the creamy Irish Chocolate Stout blended with an infusion of rich Warm Spices and Dark Patchouli, drizzled with luscious sweet Chocolate. I cannot tell you how good this smells... it's neither just warm spices or patchouli or chocolate but a combination of all three, working together to draw you in and capture you forever... utterly divine!!!

It's available for pre-order on http://www.iamhandmade.com/ourshop/prod_1993072-Spiced-Chocolate-Nectar-PreOrder-Cure-Date-30-June.html and, as the link says, will be fully cured by 30 June (so any pre-orders received, will be sent out after then).  Huge thanks to Titch, yet again, for her fab photography .. make sure to check out and like her Facebook page.

Enjoy!

Blue Belle

Another new cold process soap... I cannot get to do enough soaping!

This is fragranced with the scent of Bluebell and Wildflower woods, dappled in the sunlight, after the rain.  It's a beautiful floral with a lovely green background.  I looked up images of bluebell woods and tried to recreate them in this soap.

I used my usual blend of Sweet Almond & Golden Olive oils along with lashings of creamy Cocoa Butter and also added Goatsmilk, Kaolin Clay and Pure Silk... a sheer treat for your skin.

This is available for pre-order on http://www.iamhandmade.com/ourshop/prod_1981933-Blue-Belle-PreOrder-Cure-Date-21-May.html.  The soap will be posted ASAP after the cure date (21 May).  Enjoy!!

 

Cutting Asian Pear & Lily

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!!!