One of my first soap projects I made, about 4 1/2 years ago, was a coconut soap. I used Coconut Lemongrass fragrance and thought, "real coconut would be a nice touch!" So I stirred some in (the sweetened kind for baking). It seemed like a good idea at the time.Of course, a week or so later it started going bad in my soap. Not very nice. And that completely scared me away from herbs and natural additives. I went full steam ahead with everything else (which has certainly kept me busy) - but now I realize I am woefully uninformed about natural soap ingredients.
Honestly, I'm really embarassed. I feel like this is a "true confessions" post or something. But it's never too late to learn, right?
When I went to the HSMG Conference in Palm Springs in May, I attended a great presentation by Kayla Fioravanti of Essential Wholesale about how to thrive in a sluggish economy. She showed some amazing projections about the bath and body industry. Kayla talked about how the organic and all-natural products will be growing in demand over the next several years.
This got me thinking. She showed me that people are taking natural body products seriously and are looking for this in soaps they're buying. I can certainly respect that and would like to address that in both my own soap line and in the projects I'm developing.
So... back to my learning dilemma. Soapylove's lesson #1: dried peppermint leaves degrade in soap, creating a brown bleeding effect. Dang. I thought that herbs didn't do that! Thanks to several helpful people on Twitter, I got their feedback about this. If I want exfoliation and those cool earthy flecks, I should go with seeds or ground up oats.
Do you have some favorite botanical or natural ingredients that you use in your MP soaps? I would LOVE to hear all about them!! And if you comment, please link to any soaps you have made in your shop, or pics online. I'd love to see what you make!
I'll keep you posted on my discoveries and mis-haps. I'm sure there will be lots! Thanks for listening to my confession. I feel so much better! :)
(Photo is of a beautiful spirulina soap by The Soap Queen.
7 comments:
Hey Debbie,
I've read that you can stop the mint from "bleeding" if you steep the leaves first. Haven't tried it myself... yet.
http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/tipstricks/qt/qtusingteasoap.htm
I like infusing annatto seeds in oil to create a nice orange color in soap, naturally.
And, if the mint stops the bleeding, let me know! =)
I've made a MP soap with lemon verbena almost 2 years ago, but I've not heard back from anyone regarding problems. We used up our bar quickly, so never had a chance to find out whether the herbs in it bled or browned.
For coloring I use cinnamon (as little as possible), tumeric-fabulous yellow, paprika, tomato powder, rosehip powder, parsley powder. I want to try spinach powder but haven't done that yet.
I use kelp powder more for the mineral content, but it also colors my soap a really nice seafoam green color.
BTW, I MP exclusively. I'm redoing the pics on my site-the ones I have now aren't that great.
I love tumeric, annatto and natural clays for color. Poppyseeds are great for exfoliation!
Here is an apple mint soap with them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naiadsoaparts/2237875731/in/set-72157603843053539/
They have never bled on me. Ground loofah and apricot kernel meal are two more of my favorites for natural exfoliation. Happy soaping!
Well I think I've shared this one before but cranberry powder does NOT work. ;-) http://www.flickr.com/photos/drflower/3406271149/
I'm taking notes on the tips!
You can add calendula flowers, they won't discolour. Cocoa for a brown colour but you will need to mix it with a little glycerine or oil first (but if not, it settles to the bottom of the mould [top of soap] in a very pleasant way. I add oils and butters to all soaps (M&P) as they really work very well. Finally I added toasted coconut and it worked very well - very nice scent too.
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