Friday, July 26, 2013

Soaping Indian Amber Resin

My knowledge of the amber resin (for scenting) before I had the chance of getting some was some kind of harden thousand year old piece of stone like jewelry.  I was wondering how perfumist uses it to make those warm sexy exotic base note in the upscale perfume, grind it into powder???
Last month I had joined an online co-op and got some to try.  Boy is it expensive!  It's sold by gram, GRAM, singular digit!  This is the information I got from the coordinator of this co-op about amber resin:
"Amber is a composite of many natural resins and herbs, created in India by one of several master formulators.  Each has their own secret recipe which is handed down through the generations and is guarded as a family trade secrete."

When I first open the little zip bag I received I was very very impressed with the intense exotic incense like scent.  Makes me want to rub it all over my skin.  It is very hard to explain how it smells like, it has many different notes of spice and musk and woods and so much more!  And it does not look like jewelry... surprise!  This is the photo taken by the co-op coordinator:
I was not sure if all the lovely complex notes would survive cold process soap saponification, I desperately hope it does!  I tried 2 different method, 1st time I directly melted the resin with a small portion of my soaping oil and added into the soap; 2nd time I melted the resin with soaping oil and let it infused in warm heat for 3 hours before soaping the whole pot. 

First try: Dare Me Soap
I mixed a duplication of Truth or Dare perfume with the amber resin.  This is a white floral amber musk blend sweeten by vanilla, classic yet modern and sexy.

Second try: Mayan Gold Soap
I mixed a fragrance oil called Mayan Gold and the amber resin.  This is an oriental type scent with rare woods, spices, amber, musk, chocolate, with a kick of vibrant citrus.
They are both warm and sensual blends, preparing for the Autumn season, it's never too early!

9 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful!! I love to see your experiments. I learn so much from you. What are the white balls on top of the Dare Me soap??

    Rhonda

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    1. It's sugar pearl bakery uses to deco ate cakes and cupcakes, made with sugar and eatable.

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  2. Both of those soaps turned out gorgeous! The mica swirl is so pretty, I wish I could smell the amber resin, you have made me curious now!

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  3. Your soaps look so sophisticated! I especially love the autumn colors of the Mayan gold. Wish too I could smell the soaps and the amber resin!

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  4. goodness, your soaps are stunning. They sound divine too!

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  5. Wow your swirls are gorgeous!! Too bad there isnt scratch and sniff, the amber sounds wonderful!

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  6. Beautiful! How is the amber scent holding up? Also, how much amber did you use per lb of base oils? I'd like to try this myself but am unsure of the proportions.

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  7. can you please tell me where you got the indian amber perfume block from? pleae reply

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