Soapy Hollow

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The Soapy Hollow product line is available at SoapyHollow.com


For Soapy Hollow updates, batch notes, formulation notes and more soap chatter, please visit bubbles.vox.com, or
spiderfarmer.livejournal.com.

Thank you. And remember, everyone is happier when they're naked and wet.

Been busy, busy, busy.

Recent batches: Monoi Gardenia, Rice Flower and Shea, Tahitian Vanilla and Tangerine, tons of product for my wholesale accounts, big batches of Good Morning Sunshine, Wake Up, and Tea Hee.

Running low on Coffee soap, Gardner's soap, and I think both Chocolates may be at the restock point. Crazy! Hooray!

Have tried something different for pot swirling in the last few batches. Been mixing my ultramarines and other pigments in glycerin rather than oil. About a tablespoon of glycerin and an 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon pigment give me a really strong swirl color in a 6 pound batch. I find that a medium trace gives the best results. Then, using a teaspoon, (a real teaspoon, not a measuring teaspoon), I sort of dribble half the pigment on to the soap in a spiral pattern, stir just enough to make a pattern, then add the rest, again in a spiral pattern. Using a rubber scraper, I draw "lines" down and across the pot to distribute the pigment, then pour.

Great results, so far.

And now, orders await, so I'm going to try to convince my little helper to take a nap, then it's back to making stuff. :)

I made an Orange Spice Soap this weekend that may be the grooviest thing I've ever smelled. It was just a little test batch of whipped soap, in one of my little KitchenAid silicon loaf molds...but oh man, it may be my new favorite soap.

For scenting, I used 5fold orange essential oil (2 parts) and one part Clove essential oil. I added ground clove and ground ginger to the soap itself, just before pour.

Oh...so very, very good. :)

Pics soon.

Also pictures of the disaster show soon. Soon being a relative term which means, "Has anyone seen my camera? Hello?"

Whipped Soap Batches: Fire and Ice This was a small batch, custom made for a bespoke client. All of the oils are whipped, the lye bath added, and whipped again, then separated into two batches.  One section had brick red oxide and cinnamon bark essential oils added and the other had no color added, and peppermint and spearmint essential oils added. The batches were spooned into the molds in dollops, then lightly swirled together with a spatula.  Each bar has a different pattern.  I love how the one on the right sort of looks like a stylized rabbit and the one on the left has some volcano action going.
Bath Melts: Chocolate Madeline   Madeline refers to the shape of the bath melts.  Madelines are traditionally a small tea cookie or chocolate, but I just love the shape, and they foil beautifully.  The bath melts are made with cocoa butter, triple milled steel-cut oatmeal, citric acid and chocolate oil.
This is what they look like in the box:
This is what the box looks like when it's been labeled.  Gorgeous, aren't they?
Anointing Oils:  It was suggested to me, that since I was doing a very large religious convention this fall, that perhaps I should consider making anointing oils for the show.  I knew very little about them, but I figured since I could read the bible in Latin, perhaps I had a pretty good shot of coming up with recipes that stayed true to the source code. Each of these will come packaged with a little scroll that has the verse on it on one side, and the ingredients on the other.  It's totally a test product, although I do have bespoke clients who have requested to buy any remainders after the show.  (I'm holding off buying more bottles until we figure out if it'll sell.)
Three Kings:  This one was pretty easy. Based on Matthew 2:11, it's Frankincense and Myrrh blended with gold mica in a base of first fruit jojoba oil.  (Yes, I know olive would have been more traditional, but olive threw the scent off and just felt too greasy on the skin.)  This oil is beautiful in the dropper and leaves just a hint of shimmer on the skin when applied.
River of Life:  This one I'm pretty proud of creating.  Based on Revelation 22:1-5, it is a mix of Frankincense, Rose of Sharon, Spikenard, Cedar, Myrrh, Hyssop, Cinnamon, Cassia, Calamus, Aloes, Sandalwood and Styrax in a base of first fruit American jojoba oil.  It smells amazing.  I use it as a meditation aid.  I think I can probably sell it to yoga studios and my non-religious clients if I rename it something non-biblical...but nothing thus far has presented itself, name-wise.
Other Stuff: 8 oz Body Polish, 4 ounce lotions, and organic lip balm in honey.

Well, tried a batch of whipped orange vanilla that didn't work at all. A week into cure and it's still squishy. Lye guesstimate must have been way off, I dunno.

Did a batch of Whipped Fire and Ice for a bespoke client that turned out magnificent...pictures soon.

Got lip balms made, poured into tubes, labeled and shrink wrapped. They're packed and ready for the show. Only did honey flavor for the show, starting to think I'm going to run out of space soon. :)

Anointing oils for the big Christian show done. When showing them off to one of my spa clients, she ordered a bunch and her mom's spa in NC ordered a bunch. Need to order more bottles. I did a ton of research for one of them...actually breaking out pre-English bibles to try and accurately discern what the herbs in the "recipes" were. The one I'm most proud of is a Revelations one that consists of Frankincense, Rose of Sharon, Spikenard, Cedar, Myrrh, Hyssop, Cinnamon, Cassia, Calamus, Aloes, Sandalwood and Styrax (Storax, Stacte) in a base of first fruit American jojoba oil. It smells incredible. I'm packaging them in gorgeous green glass bottles, and tyeing a rolled parchment with the scripture that it's from to the bottle with a green ribbon. Retail price point will be $10.00. I think it will sell well. I think it would sell well to all my pagan friends too, if I can come up with alternative names. The scent is truly wonderful. It makes a fantastic meditation/yoga aromatherapy oil.

Most everything but the new batches are labeled, wrapped and ready to be packed. I've decided against taking Spritzers with me to the show...again, just too much inventory, and spritzers are heavy. I really prefer doing those on a customer by customer basis anyway. I prefer them to be fresh, and I don't want to have to toss stuff that doesn't sell at the show.

Down to only a couple of bars of lavender. Must do an oven-process batch this weekend so I have some to take with me.

Need to do mini-brochures with available scent lines, and must do a price list, so I can remember what I'm charging...since the prices at the show will be higher than the web site prices. (It's costing me money to be there, and a percentage of what I take in goes back to the charity that's organizing the event. I have to cover those costs.) I wouldn't have thought of doing that, but almost every other person I've talked to has said that's how they do these shows...raise prices by 15% or so, to cover the 10% payout and the initial booth fee. Which makes sense.

Also need to make more sample packs and sample soap bars. Trim guest bars and package. Gold foil the 3 kings soap. Figure out how in hell to package these chocolate bath melts that are plaguing me with their refusal to cooperate.

Busy, busy, busy. :) You realize, that if this show sucks, I'm going to cry for weeks, don't you? Cause I've spent *so* much time and energy getting ready for it. If the promoters lied to me about how many people attend...I swear, they will never find the bodies. I have an 80 pound dog, a large pond, and 50 pounds of lye...I'm just saying...

Another batch of Gardener's Delight made today. Except this batch turned out much, much darker green than the previous batch. Very odd. It's a gorgeous color though, so I don't mind. :)

Also caved and bought a Commercial Soap Cutter of Dooooom. I'm so excited. :) I held off for a while, but I'm just doing too much volume to cut it one bar at a time. Plus, I really, really wanted it. ;)

 

So, I decided to try and give whipped soap a try.  Because, I'm silly that way.  I've spent so much time lately filling orders and doing production for shows, that I wanted to have a little silly soap time.  So, I made Whipped Strawberry Cheesecake Pastilles.  The process is really pretty fast and easy.  Rather than having to melt all the hard oils and get everything to the right temp before doing any of the process, this entire process pretty much happens at room temperature. 

I start by adding the hard oils, and beating them at high speed until fluffy.  Much like making frosting.  This part of the process is pretty forgiving.  I actually had to stop because it was Boy naptime and I didn't want the mixer to keep him awake.  So, I put the oils in the fridge, and then came back to them later.
Next, I added soft oils (castor and olive) and gel color.  I beat at medium speed for about 5 minutes, then high speed for 5.  (The mixer is a bottom rotary that I picked up for about $30.00 because I didn't want to use my KitchenAide for soap and lotion projects. )
Added the NaOH and whipped, whipped, whipped.  Note the color change from the sodium hydroxide.  That was a bit of a surprise.  You can also see how the volume has increased from the first picture.  The soap "rises" to about double its unbeaten volume.  (Maybe a little more.)
I spooned/stuffed/pleaded the fluffy soap into a cake decorating tube, and using a large star tip, made "cookie-size" pastilles.  This batch, which used about 19 ounces of oils, made 40 cookie size pastilles and about 20 small pastilles about the size of a 50 cent piece.  (I ran out of baking trays for the big ones...thus the little ones that I could fit in the empty space. Hee.)

Theoretically, they should be dry in about 10 hours, and I'll be able to test them.  The fragrance is holding beautifully, and it's a fragrance that I've never been able to use in CP soap because it seizes like a mad dog.  

Recipe:

Oil	weight
Palm	270 grams
Coconut	135 grams
Castor	70 grams
Olive	70 grams
NaOH	77.11 grams
Water	190 grams

New Products! 

Chocolate Mint
Orange Chocolate
Tea and Cookies
Tea Hee Guest Bars (untrimmed)

I haven't gotten them on the site yet, it's on the "to do" list for the weekend. I still have to figure out pricing for the Tea and Cookies. I also still need pictures of gift baskets and gift wrapping options and figure out where to put those on the site without forcing myself to redo the entire information map. ;)

The chocolate orange will cure a lot darker than it appears right after being cut, but boy do I wish I could get it to stay that color. Isn't it gorgeous?

Pictures of 3King inna Pot, Field of Dreams, Gardener's Delight and some of the novelty shapes and an example of the gift box/wrapping that is being added as a service to the site. None of these are really great pictures. I need to set up the lights and tripod to get pictures for the web site. But for them whats interested in the batches that Paul and I made this weekend...here ya go.
(xposted to personal page)

So, my friend Paul (sclerotic_rings) came over this morning to watch and learn about making soap. I figured that since I had extra hands, I'd get ambitious and make 3 batches.

For all, I used by standard recipe of :

25% coconut, 19% Palm, 19% castor, 28% Olive, 9% palm kernel

The three kinds we made were: Gardener's Delight, Fire and Ice, and Field of Dreams

Gardener's Delight includes fine grain Mt. St. Helen's volcanic pumice and is scented with:

Lemongrass EO
Clary Sage EO
Bergamot EO
Tangerine EO
Dirt FO
Cut Grass FO
Colored with Chromium green, and a small amount of Green beeswax pearls.

Fire and Ice is scented with Peppermint, Spearmint and Cinnamon Leaf essential oils...and is theoretically swirled with brick red oxide...but the batch went to heavy trace much faster than expected and started to seize...so the swirl didn't work at all. I'd forgotten that I'd originally designed the recipe for a hot process, and so had a 15% water discount...oopsies. So, it won't be a swirled soap, but I think it'll still be a pretty soap...only time will tell. I always run into problems with cinnamon batches, I wonder why that is.

Field of Dreams, I decided to change up a little this time. Well, color wise. I have a lot of green soaps, so I went with blue on the FOD. (Sort of a Delphinium blue.) I think it's going to be gorgeous. It's scented with the following Essential Oils:

Bergamot
Sweet 10 fold orange
Lemon
Rosewood
Pettigrain
Tangerine


All are poured, and under wraps. Hopefully I can unmold them tomorrow and get pictures. :)