What Does Egg Contribute To Soap?

After my holiday eggnog soap venture (if you have not read it yet, click here Eggnog Cheers), I started to wonder what egg really contribute to the soap.  It's not fat, I don't think.  Egg has lots of protein, and egg white is well known to help tighten and shrink our enlarged pores.  This time, I video myself making unscented egg soap, no other additives, well, except Annatto seed for coloring, :-P

  

Plain White Soap, Really?!

Last week we took a quick trip to Cost Plus World Market to buy my favorite German Gummy Bear in 3 lb. bags (oh I feel so guilty but I can't stop!), my DH saw a soap named Rosemary Spearmint and shoveled up my nose and said, why you never make me this kind of soap?!  So I rolled my eyeballs and promised him I will.  Apparently he wants the exact same scent and pure white, no nothing or colors added.  Wait, and you married me?!  Something is not right here!  What you did to my husband?!  You are killing me (to be exact, my creativity) honey!  As I complaint to him loudly he replied, hey, listen to your customer, your customer, me, I want white soap that smells like Rosemary Spearmint, period!  I'm teaching you how to listen to what your customer wants!  Oh~ !&^)$@^%_#*^%#_*^%)&@^  Can I not have this kind of 'customer' who doesn't even pay?
Anyway, I heard that adding a little Bentonite clay may boosts lather in soap so I added 3/4 tsp to my 2 lb. log.  I totally forgot how Bentonite clay can swell up by absorbing all the water you add to mix it and puff up to be like jello!  I was not having fun mixing it smoothly back into the soap batter.  It literally made the batter jello-y.  Oh well, glade that I was not making anything fancy, just plain old white soap!

I'm also experimenting soap cutting time.  This came about when a few soap makers noticing bubble texture when they use wire cutters to cut fresh un mold soap logs.  They were all wondering the uneven texture was due to the wire cutting through soft soap that is freshly made.  I have that happen to me all the time, except I never thought the wire cutter was the cause.  My first reaction to the bubble texture was that I trapped too much air when mixing.  To prove right or wrong, I started cutting a slice every 12 hours after I took this log out of my mold.  Well, let's just say, it make absolutely...  no difference!  

Eggnog Cheers!

How literal can I get?  Oh you will be surprised...

Introducing my holiday treat: Eggnog Soap

Made with REAL egg (organic), spiced rum, and fresh full fat cow milk!  Yum!

 I used heavy vanilla fragrance oil mixed with some amber and almond fragrance oil, cassia and cinnamon EO, oh so yummy!  The majority portion turned dark brown because of the vanilla content.  I poured out a portion before scenting and add a little titanium dioxide to whiten the color a little to get the contrast I wanted and it worked pretty well I must say!  I'm always fascinated to see how fast the soap turned color because of the heavy vanilla content.  This was how it looked like right after pour:

Fascinating isn't it?!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Peacock Swirl Challenge

Alright, this is my trial #3!!!  I think I'm stuck!  Am I going to get peacock swirl, EVER?!

First Public Holiday Fair

Nervous and stressed out was all I felt for the past couple weeks before my show.  I only got 2 hours of sleep the night before the big day.  There were just so much to do!  Now I can finally say, Thank God it's OVER!  I slept for 12 hours straight that night!

Can you tell I looked tired?!  ...don't look too close!

Luxury Cocoa butter Dead Sea bath salt

Emu cream and body butter

Cute M&P finch bird display

Close up on my CP soap bar display

Feel The Holiday Rush

I know I've been pretty quiet these few weeks with very limited blog posts.  I've been in this 'machine' mode, massive producing products left and right to fill the holiday rush demand.  It shouldn't be an excuse, but I'm feeling exhausted...  Massive production is what I hate.  As I mentioned in my blog before, I do not repeat my design, it is just not me.  But when it comes to the holiday rush, I have no choice but to force myself into acting like a 'machine' reproducing one after another.  Trust me, I'm not liking myself so much right now.  I kept on telling myself it will be over soon!  I only have one show to attend and a big quantity novelty soap order to fill, but I feel so beat up, started to wonder how everyone can do so many shows and wholesales?

Alright, enough venting, here are some soap I never officially show the photos:

Brown Sugar & Fig Coconut Milk Soap

 

Snow White (with the red poison apple)

First Peacock Swirl Trial

Is Butter Better?

It's winter, it's getting cold and dry, I can feel it, well, my skin can feel it because I've been putting cream on my arms and legs more often nowadays.  Stores have started to offer luxurious thick body butter again in addition to year round body lotion.  All that buttery creamy talk makes my mouth watery (yes, my mouth... my brain thinks body butter = whipped cream).

Here's a list of what's going into my body butter:

Shea butter

Mango butter

Cocoa butter

Apricot kernel oil

Sesame oil

Rosehip oil

Meadowfoam oil

Camellia seed oil

Optiphen (preservative in case someone drop liquid)

ROE (Rosemary Oil Extract for preventing rancidity)

Phew~ that is a long list.  Majority of the body butter offerings out there are done with high % of Shea butter, which to me might be a bit too greasy.  I personally like more of a dry velvety feel.  Therefore I chose to use Mango butter, the driest feeling out of all 3 major butters.  Then I also chose all skin loving oils that are quick to medium absorbing (noticing all of them are targeting at mature & damaged skin type?  I am getting OLD...).  Anyway, I slowly melted the butters, added the liquid oils then popped the whole pot into the freezer.  When the mixture became semi transparent, I took the pot out, beat it with my electrical beater for a few minutes.  Popped into the fridge again for few minutes, beat it again, repeated for another couple times.  

Wow~ it's thick, not like whipped cream I was imagining, definitely whipped butter.  I scooped some up with my finger and it started to melt with my body heat.  I rubbed some all over my arms and legs.  It gave my skin this light shinny shine, took my skin good 10 minutes to absorb all that, then the shine went away.  I have to say, it does form a protective layer on my skin, and very resisting to wash off, and actually makes me feel warmer!  Go figure!  But on the other hand, I do feel more greasy and slippery, especially on my feet as I like to walk barefoot in my house, my feet don't like socks, they like to be free!  There are pros and cons in both traditional lotion and body butter.  I'm not sure at this point I feel butter is better, what's your preference?