Handmade Soaps

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Merry Christmas

It has been a while since I posted and this has constantly been on my mind.  After all, this blog and soapmaking are my babies – born one month apart.  It’s just that it is much faster for me to post pictures and updates primarily on Instagram, and secondarily on Facebook.  I hope you follow me there! Last Sunday was my last day to make soap for the year.  It’s nice to see my kitchen free of…

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Luxe Naturals

Citrus Cypress – This is the same as the Japanese Indigo Soap I made earlier this year, minus the indigo, and with the addition of Australian red clay and bamboo charcoal for a new look.  I still plan on doing more experiments with indigo but using clear-colored essential oils.  This soap has cypress, petitgrain, lemon 5-fold, orange 5-fold, cajeput, and basil – too yellow to use in an indigo…

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Triple Mint Dead Sea Mud

I love all things minty.  Inhaled, I find it soothing, comforting and at the same time energising. My taste buds have a thing for it, too.  I was in mint heaven when I visited Australia a few years ago.  They have a mint version of almost all their chocolates!  Have you seen mint KitKat before? I was so thrilled to discover it, and of course, I had to have my stash to take home.  :) I already…

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My M.I.L.'s New Favorite

My M.I.L.’s New Favorite

Since I’ve known my my mother-in-law (nearly 8 years), her all-time favorite scent has always been lavender.  But ever since I gave her Honeysuckle soap last year, she has declared it as her new favorite.  Poor lavender.  She hasn’t given it a second glance since she fell in love with the heady and sexy honeysuckle. I have never smelled the real flower, so I don’t know if what I have is the real…

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Something Blue for Father's Day

If my father were still here today, I am sure he would have enjoyed my soaps.  He loved smelling nice and clean.  I remember he would buy a lot of bath and body products during his travels, and he had a row of cologne bottles and after-shaves on his bathroom counter.  He also liked designing and fabricating things, like the mini island in our kitchen which also served as a huge chopping board.…

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Soap Favors for a June Wedding

Have you ever wondered why June is the most popular month for weddings?  Perhaps most of you already know, but I didn’t until I read The History of June Weddings. In essence, it was all about practicality in the olden days.  June meant warmer weather and a good time to take one’s annual bath.  Since people were at their cleanest and least smelly during this month, it would logically be the best…

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Glorious Spring

Yesterday marked my 2nd blogsary, and I am sorely reminded that I have not posted anything the past 6 weeks. It’s not an excuse, but my husband and I were on holiday in Japan last month, and it takes me a while to get back to the swing of things.  I didn’t have problems getting back to soaping, but I haven’t picked up my camera since arriving.  I did take a lot of photos in Japan, so that is what…

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Rice Water Fil-Castile

A friend of mine introduced me to making glutinous purple rice porridge, and ever since then, I would buy a small pack whenever it makes its sporadic appearance in the supermarket. The high amount of amylopectin is responsible for its sticky quality –  yielding a thicker and richer porridge compared to one made with regular rice.

As I was preparing to cook some glutinous purple rice last month, I…

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Shikon and Bamboo Charcoal Soap

Stored in a dark corner of my pantry, I had shikon roots sitting in olive oil since November. It was huddled together with my collection of various infusions: calendula, mugwort, chamomile, stinging nettle, guava leaf, papaya leaf, moringa, and turmeric.  Some of them have been there for over a year, but I was most curious about the deep rose-burgundy shikon infusion.

Shikon is Japanese for Litho…

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Japanese Indigo Soap

Last October, I had the pleasure of meeting Maya of Infusions (you can read about it here). She gave me some precious gifts and soaping ingredients, and one of them was Japanese indigo.

Japanese Indigo: raw powder and in soap

I love the colour of indigo and have always been curious to try it in soap, but had never been in possession of it until I met Maya. Now that things have quieted down after…

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Moringa Infusion with Charcoal Swirl

I have been making Moringa Tea Tree soap regularly but it has always been a plain solid green from infusing powdered moringa in oil. A lady who always orders it requested for something with design. Wanting to keep it all-natural, I chose charcoal for the contrasting color of the swirls.  I must say I really like the new look and I hope it pleases her, too. :)

I had 4 batches of moringa powder…

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Meeting Ecoviolet

One of the best things about blogging is getting to meet people one would normally not have the chance to meet in this life.  Last October, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Maya of Infusions in Tokyo (cross fingers, we may meet again this April!)  And just last Sunday, I met Janet of Ecoviolet Soap and her husband in Manila.

Janet already wrote me months ago about her plans for a…

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Soap Photography

Compared to my soaping activities the last quarter, I have been slow since the start of the New Year.  This has given me time to finally learn the fundamentals of photography. I have been interested in photography for the longest time but my technical know-how was shaky.  I just wanted to compose and shoot. I mean, that’s the fun part, right? :)

Fortunately, and conveniently, hubby is intensely…

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Soap Rocks

I used to collect and save all the shavings and trimmings from bevelling my soaps with the intent of rebatching them or making them into confetti soaps.  More often than not, I lack the desire, or maybe it’s laziness, to repurpose them.  Knowing this about myself, I immediately make them into soap rocks – when they’re still fresh and soft, and easy to squeeze/compact and shape.  They’re all for…

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Patching Up Soap

I have been meaning to do a tutorial on how to patch up the inevitable holes that appear on soaps every now and then. To show you how overdue this post is, the pictures below were taken last August 6, 2014. The photos were hastily taken using my camera phone and not in the best possible light.  I will confess that I don’t like taking pictures of soaps that have not been cleaned up, and the only…

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Black Vetiver

Looking at my empty racks, I jumped right back to soaping on January 2.  But this time, it’s at a much leisurely pace. When I don’t soap for a couple of weeks, I feel rusty and my hands and arms seem heavier!  And it’s the same with blogging for me. Consider this my New Year blogging warm-up. :)

Here is Black Vetiver, a dupe of Jo Malone’s Black Vetyver Cafe, described as “a bitter coffee bean…

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Wispy Swirls

I have been doing a lot of hanger swirls so I felt it was time to try something a bit different.  My goal was to make wispy swirls and my plan could only be executed if the soap stayed fluid.  I honestly don’t have a definite approach for this technique. It’s all trial and error.  I have tried pouring colors alternately straight into the mold, sometimes tilting it ala dandelion zebra swirl; I…

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