Author: bluesun

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Coffee & Cocoa results

I cut the soaps that I made yesterday.  Overall good news!   Like all new soaps they smell of lye but I can also get a bit of coffee and chocolate in the coffee soap and the warm ‘graham cracker’ scent that I like in the oatmeal honey.

Now for the science!

Both batches have some vanillin powder in them which will turn soap dark brown.  I mixed it in uniformly in the coffee soap, but I made a swirl of it in the oatmeal.  Today the swirl has already started to darken.  The dark specks in the brown patches are vanillin, the dark specks in the light part are oats.

I expect the dark swirls to go much darker than they are right now.

 

 

Unexpected results: The coffee half heated up more than the oatmeal and the areas that fully gelled have this ‘crackle’ effect. I’ve never seen that happen before in a soap that didn’t have titanium dioxide and I wonder if I have just managed to create something new. In a soap with oxides, this is called ‘glycerin river’ it’s harmless, but rather interesting.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Sunday Soaping

Three new batches of soap today.

The first was a special request for unscented ‘hotel bars’ and then I decided that I wanted to experiment with two more unscented recipes.

Here’s the first, a nice white coconut soap with coconut milk at ‘trace’.  This is what the soap looks like when it’s ready to pour.  It’s fully emulsified and has started to thicken up.

I can’t take photos of the pour because I’m working by myself but here it is again all nice and tucked into the mold.

The next two are a coffee-scrub recipe and a honey-oatmeal recipe.  Both contain some vanillin powder which will darken the soap over time and I’m hoping that a bit of the scent comes through into the finished product.

Here they are right after the pour.  Over time I expect the colors on the oatmeal honey to reverse.  The swirls that are lighter colored on the right contain vanillin and the darker areas do not so as it dries the light areas should turn darker than the rest.

A few hours later, as the chemical reaction progressed, the soap started to heat up and go through the ‘gel phase’

The coffee soap has gelled all the way to the edge, while the oatmeal is a little behind and only the center has darkened.  Once gel starts I keep it insulated so that it will gel all the way through.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Blue Sun Art

I’m going to need a business card and a label template for 1oz soap samples, which means it’s time to play with logos.

This is fun, although I’m glad I don’t have to try to please anyone else with my designs.  I am going for an Art Deco look.

New Facebook cover & business card background
Potential logo for soap sample labels

 

 

 

 

#33-34/365

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Soap Soap Soap Soap Soap

That’s what I was thinking about all day today.  First I fiddled with the settings on the Etsy shop and moved on to ‘what should I make next?’

The only oatmeal-honey soap I have left is from an old tallow batch and I’d like to make a non-tallow version to sell. Cocoa butter would be a good choice and I reviewed my notes about how much honey and oatmeal to use. The hard question: should I add a fragrance or not?  Unscented, the oats and honey give the cured soap a faint graham-cracker smell that I like.  There is also a very popular fragrance called “oatmeal, milk and honey” that I know is a big seller and I have enough on hand for a batch.  The problem: I don’t really care for it.  It’s a very almond-vanilla-foodie smell and just a bit too heavy and sweet for my tastes.  Leave it out?  Use it but go lightly?   I haven’t decided but I’ll need to make up my mind before Sunday.

What else?  The oatmeal reminded me that should make another exfoliating soap and my household has been after me to make a coffee soap. It will turn dark anyway so this might be a good chance to try my vanillin powder to see if any of the vanilla scent comes through. Add some cocoa powder and a bit of orange essential oil. This is starting to sound more like a cake than soap.

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Lavender Aloe Soap

My most recent soap that I just got around to photographing.  This one is designed to be especially mild but still lather well and I used aloe juice in place of water as something of an experiment. Even though it has a high percentage of olive oil, I took a bit of a risk and tried to get a purple swirl in it.  (Purple is a challenge because the olive oil is a bit greenish, which can make purple turn gray.)

I think it came out quite well.  This one will be ready for sale in another two weeks. I think I would like to re-do the outline of the text on the label.

#32/365 Creative somethings.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Etsy shop is live!

I could spend all my time writing copy and trying to get my photography just right, but at some point, done is better than perfect and I promised myself I’d have this running before the end of the month.

Blue Sun Soap Etsy shop is now live!

Only five items are listed so far but I should have another 5 up before the end of the week.

Edit:  Now 6 items and a coupon.  Use the coupon code “ETSYLAUNCH” for 15% off.

 

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Hobbit Fest

What makes a great holiday?   For me it’s friends, food and low-key social interaction.  Thus this new holiday was born.  Sometime after the frantic pace of the winter holidays have passed but before you’re ready for outdoor BBQ it’s time for Hobbit Fest.

The plan:  watch all 3 LoTR movies (or all 3 Hobbit Movies, your choice) back to back in a single day while enjoying all 6 hobbit meals:  Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevenses, Lunch, Tea, Dinner, Supper.

The first year we tried to make authentic meals mentioned in the books (think rabbit) but that turned out to be too much work, and this holiday is about food and hanging around.

This year we are doing a potluck and my contributions will be coffee, eggs, bacon, tiny pancakes with strawberries and cream, hard cider, fresh-baked bread with jam and butter and, during a lull in the movies, potato latkes with sour cream and applesauce.

I think this should become an official holiday.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

More snow photos

These are the rest of the images from our hike that I think are not-bad.  They at least capture the setting well.

Frost

Looking across the Pond

I had high hopes for this one but the depth is just not there.

If the light isn’t good, the photo isn’t going to be that great.

#28-31/365

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Sneaky fox

I’ve been trying to come up with a very stylized fox to fit with the tree & owl and so far that’s not been working out so great.  I may need to go back to some sort of ancient technology like paper and pencil to get the sketch done first!

Instead I made another color-block fox.  This time I tried to use simpler lines, but I may need to ‘cartoonify’ him even more to get him to fit the scene.  Still, I like him.

#27/365