Time for a spot of indulgence...

         Well, it's full steam ahead here at Oakwood Soaperie. I have been developing some all new recipies and re-vamping some not so new ones. As you may know I was revising the recipie for 'Buttered Rose soap' recently. I must say, I am delighted with the results so far.

Buttered rose - before...pale and interestingly floral

and now - Kapow!!  - in a new guise...

 

        
        I have been experimenting with a new ingredient for me...Madder root. this is traditionally used in dyeing fabric and wool but works very well in soaps too. Instead of infusing in the base oils, it goes straight in with the lye solution and turns it a vivid berry red...

Dried and ground madder root in lye solution.

          Once this has cooled, it gets filtered and mixed into the oils as normal. I had initially intended to make the red only as a swirl through the soap but loved the colour so much went for the whole bar.
I have also added a silkening ingredient in the form of Hydrolised Oats, a vegan alternative to tussah silk fibres, this should give the soap a gloriously soft feel and silky lather - I hope.
          I have also tweaked the essential oils too making them a slightly stronger and more exotic blend of Rose Geranium, Benzoin, Cardamom and black pepper, this mix is wonderfully aromatic, floral and spicey and a bit turkish delighty...my workshop smells divine. The change was such a big one I've also had to think up a new name...so, here we have, introducing her on her debut...

Turkish Rose Madder...I think I'm in love.

           After the success of this one, I also had a think about some new bath melts now that autumn is just around the corner. I have 2 new ones specially made for when the night start to draw in...Beddy Byes and Aahhh....
            Beddy Byes bath melt is specifically designed to pack in as many pampering and sleep inducing ingredients as possible, as well as being an indulgent treatment. It is crammed with cocoa and shea butter to moisturise and lock in the goodness (also one less step before you can collapse into bed), fragranced with calming and relaxing oils of Lavender, Sweet Orange and Tangerine to comfort and soothe. There is also a scoop of tapioca starch in there as this helps soften the water and give a silky feel to it and you. These just go straight into the bath where they melt and realease their magic.

Beddy Byes Bath Melt

   
        Aahhhh..... bath melt is named after the noise we all make on climbing into a well deserved bath. It is a little nugget of pure pampering wonder. The main ingredients again are cocoa and shea butter with a touch of bicarb for a gentle fizz and to help disperse the butters as well as a water softener. The essential oils are the same blend I have included in my Ylang, Sweet Orange and Patchouli Sugar Shower Scrubs. I love this combination and the fragrance lingers on your skin really well. I'm undecided as to whether I should paint the tops with gold mica for extra luxury...what do you think?

Aahhh...bath melt

Once you're in the bath you will have trouble getting back out - I speak from experience, this one is a keeper, I'm loving it.

Well, I have a tonne of soap to get wrapped, I'd better be off, I couldn't resist sharing these little lovelies with you...TTFN xx

Phew what a busy day making goodies...

Well for some of us anyway. My 'helper' was good for nowt today, I had to everything myself! Todays makes include a new batches of specially requested 'St Clement's Bath Bombs', a huge loaf of 'Jasmine & Ylang ylang' soap, some Lavender & Chamomile' Cocoa Butter Bath melts and two variations of two new products...

'Lemon & Lime' & 'Jasmine, sweet orange and patchouli' solid sugar scrubs...
and 'Orange Blossom' and 'Sweet Pea' bubble bars. I can't decide if these will go in my Folksy shop or into my new 'WowThankyou' shop which has some exclusives...hmm what to do? Well I think I'd better get tea sorted as the cat is sitting on my keyboard making typing very tricky, I think this is a protest at not having any where near enough attention today.

Keep your eyes peeled as to where these goodies end up, don't worry, I'll let you know where and when, ta ta for now x

Today's makes...

I love tea...well who doesn't? I really wanted to make a tea soap, so today I made an Earl Grey based creamy one. I infused the water portion with a strong blend of Earl Grey then mixed in the Sodium Hydroxide. I had a pan of oils and butters to one side ready to receive the tea mixture and begin it's transformation into beautiful gentle tea fragranced soap. I wanted to incorporate a nice blend of essential oils but wanted something a bit more complex than just Bergamot alone.

My blend ended up being bergamot, neroli, clove and patchouli giving the characteristic Earl Grey fragrance but with more complex spicey (from the clove) and earthy (from the patchouli) notes. I topped it off with tea leaves and calendula petals for prettiness et voilà, Earl grey soap was born :o)

Continuing on the 'me time' theme from yesterday, I decided another walk was in order so off I went further along the river. It turns out they were sand martins I saw yesterday not swallows, they were flying so fast I could not tell the difference. 4 horsies and about 12 toads later I came to a huge nesting area for sand martins, made note to self to come back in a couple of months and see their frenzied to-ing and fro-ing. I decided to turn back as a cup of tea was calling and I was starting to get a bit weary, I must have walked about a hundred miles (slight exaggeration maybe) in the last 48 hours. Well tea is in the oven and wine is chilling in the fridge, settling down to the end of another lovely day, toodle pip for now xx.

Pics below are some lovely early flowers in my Mum and dad's garden.

Ohh, the sun she is a shinin'

and the birds are a tweetin',
Today's makes are a huge loaf of Honey buns soap,  (creamy caramel in colour, smelling sweet as honey) and all new Sweet Pea artisan soap creamy base colour, swirled with pink and purple) looks just like a bunch of sweet pea flowers in bloom, the fragrance is a blend of  violet leaf and bergamot grounded with hints of patchouli and musk.
I think I'll get out in the garden for a bit as a break from making more goodies, I have told myself that this year I will take a bit of time out for myself and put proper effort in to my outside space. I have plans for a small veg patch and raised herb beds amongst other things, we shall see how it goes.