Soap: Jasmine & Lemon Poppyseed

Yesterday was a very fun soap-making day -- I made two new scents. I used Adam's large enamel pot for the first time, and it worked well. I never could find a large stainless steel pot at a junk store, so enamel will have to do for now. My digital scale STILL has not arrived in the mail. The company notified me that it finally shipped yesterday. Don't we hate to wait??  My generous neighbor again lent me her scale, so I could get on with the soap-making.

Here is the jasmine batch.  I used the new wooden block mold Adam made -- the one with the cutting slot.  Can't wait to try that!  And I poured soap into the PVC mold also. This morning, I went ahead and removed the cap on the bottom of this mold, and slid the soap and waxed paper out.  It's crinkly, and looks cool.  Still a bit soft though.

And the aroma?  Ahhhhh -- Anna is in love with the jasmine.  She's desperate for a bar :)  It makes the kitchen smell like a heavenly flower garden, strong and heady and sweet.  I put a little paprika in this batch for light coloring.  I'm not much into heavy coloring. The deep pink, blue or green soaps don't appeal to me. I prefer a more natural look. The paprika should give it a faint pink/orange tone.

And here's the second batch:  lemon poppyseed.  Both these fragrances are happy, upbeat. The lemon is cheerful. I used the other wooden mold, and the four mini-loaf molds.  I already removed the loaf molds this morning-- they look good. This batch has poppyseed for a light exfoliant, and I sprinkled some turmeric in, to give it a lemon color.  The turmeric seems not to have had enough time to dissolve in the soap before it poured, so next time I think I'll dissolve the turmeric into the oils beforehand.  Turmeric is wonderful.  Have you ever put it into your rice?  Just the smallest sprinkle will turn a pot of rice a wonderful yellow, like Mexican rice.  Too much will turn it orange.  Right now this soap has a sprinkling of orange and pink dots, which is also nice, with the poppyseed dots.

I have several friends already who've bought my first batch of lavender soap, and I'm giving some away as Christmas presents.  I've already recouped my expense for the soap-making I've done thus far!! Isn't that fun? That means I can make MORE :)  I also have a meeting tomorrow with a lady at a local artisan store, where they are hoping to sell my soap on consignment.  I hope that goes well, because I really enjoy making this stuff.