Infusing Oils

One of the things I like, is herbs herbs, and MORE HERBS.

Herbs are nature's healers and comforters.  And if you haven't already guessed, my household is only Au Naturelle, from our cleaning supplies down to our medicine cabinet.

One of the most interesting things I have done is that I have began infusing oils.  I found this awesome wholesale company called Frontier where I was able to buy herbs in bulk.  They have a wide selection of herbs, and also coupons for repeat customers.

Infused oils can be used in soapmaking, but not just for their scent quality, but their benefits.  They can also be used as natural colorants, depending on the herb that is used.

You can liken infused oils to the making of tea.  When you boil regular water with a specific herb, what occurs to the water?  The herb infuses with the water.  So, let's take chamomile for instance. Both German and Roman Chamomile are wonder herbs, said  to calm frayed nerves, treat various digestive disorders, relieve muscle spasms, and to treat a range of skin conditions and mild infections.  In the same way you can transfer these same benefits to a carrier oil, such as olive oil or grapeseed oil.  From there, it can be used as a massage oil or in soap.

If you decide to infuse your own oils, it's best to use Grape-seed oil.  Why? Because the aroma is virtually not there.  I once used Extra Virgin Olive Oil to infuse Peppermint Oil, and although I could smell a lovely peppermint aroma, the olive oil aroma stuck around ( and I mean STUCK AROUND).  If you are going to use olive oil I recommend using a less virgin oil.

I also recommend using dried herbs because it reduces the molding factor.  And trust me, you DO NOT want to wake up one morning and see a mason jar full of fuzzy nasties.  Fresh herbs are great, but make sure that they are slightly wilted, washed, and dried before placing them in any oil.

So, now, you may want the instructions right?  I have made three batches of infused oils recently, so if you want to start, and don't want to use the herbs I talk about today, be sure to research the benefits and properties of the oils and herbs you are using, to find what's best for you.


Get three sterilized mason jars and get started.  It's sooooo easy.  Get some herbs, a carrier oil, and whatever amount you are using, make sure you use enough oil to cover them.

Rose Pedal Infused oil:

Rose Pedals are used for their skin softening and soothing properties.
In this batch I used dried rose pedals, and it's on what I call its second strength cycle.  When you make IOs, you can use solar infusion or heat infusion.  Solar infusion just involves placing the herbs in a carrier oil, and letting it sit in a sunny window for a while.  The more days you leave it, the more potent it will be. Hot infusion just involves sticking the mason jar (after you have your herbs and oil in it it) in hot water (kind of like how you boil tea).  You can also make the oil more potent by repeating the process every few weeks.  So I did the hot process, then let the roses sit for a few weeks.  Then, I strained out the roses, and put a new batch of roses in it.  I'll keep doing this until I get to the potency I want.



Peppermint Infused Oil

I started out with a fairly yellow carrier oil, and as you can see, after the infusion process, the oil turned green.  It has a very STRONG menthol aroma, but that's what you want.  I'm considering putting this batch through a second cycle to make it a little stronger.

The menthol leaves a tingly feeling on your skin and is said to help stomachaches, colic and gas. The menthol also increases blood flow to the area when applied to the skin.

Apple Cinnamon:

Once again, I started off with a fairly yellow oil and the cinnamon and apple peels turned the oil amber.  I will definitely be putting this one through another cycle.  The cinnamon aroma is strong, but the apple has slightly diminished since I first made this.  For the apple scent its best to use dried apple peels, or you could use dried apple peel powder.  Cinnamon can be a skin irritant, but I've only experienced that with Cinnamon EOs, but can be very beneficial, and I've even heard of it being used to treat Eczema and itching skin when diluted or made into a paste.

So far I'm digging the oil infusion...

All material on this post is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this information; instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

Joyous infusing!!!

I'm Feeling Knitty!!!!

Okay, it's been about two weeks since my last post.  I was on winter break (as well as I'm sure the rest of you were) and catching up on work and mommy time!  My daughter is talking more and more everyday!

But that's for another post...

So! I've been feeling a little bit, back-to-basics and have been itching to add another project to my 10,000 back-to-basics things I'm going to do before I die list. So, I took myself to Walmart, carefully strolled down each aisle, and when I came to the crafts aisle, I carefully inspected the merchandise.  Between the glitter-thing-a-gingies, and the ribbons whose-a-whats-its, there was so much to do, I could hardly decide!

Then, it hit me.  I stopped.  There was a pleasant looking woman dressed in a white outfit wearing a knit bolero and leg warmers.  She called out to me.  She said "I taught myself how to knit!"  The call was so strong that I picked up the magazine she was on, bought some knit needles, a HUGE ball of multicolored yarn and went home.

So for all you wives out there, here's where you may laugh because you may know what I'm talking about.

So after my Knitty adventure, I come home and my husband is there.  I unload the groceries.
"Look! Honey! Look what I got! I'm going to start knitting!"

Moment of silence.

"Ahhh, here you go again with this 'do-it-yourself'' stuff." 

He and I begin to laugh (after I prove my case on why I should knit).  And besides, he may just be thankful when it's time for him to have a new sweater.

So, I got started THAT NIGHT.  And I am very pleased to say that with reading Boye's I Taught Myself Knitting book, and watching the instructional DVD (more than once), I mastered the hand movements in two days.  As you can see, I need to work on making the knits tighter, but hey! I'm an amateur.

This post will kind of turn into a review. While the Boye's book helped, and it came conveniently with knitting supplies (with the exception of the yarn), the instructions were a bit confusing at times (maybe that was because of my brain).  It was much better to watch the DVD (even though the woman showing you how to knit, doesn't really slow down while she's "showing" a beginner to knit, then she laughs saying "I don't know how to go slow")  But after watching it a few times, then I was able to understand some of the instructions in the book.  The book comes with a lot of knitting ideas and instructions, and I can say that I have fun doing this now.

It's been a couple months since I started this, knitting is a slow process depending on your skill, but well worth the satisfaction you get (if you're like me) when it's finally completed, or even when it starts to look like a sweater.

So you maybe wondering what I'm making...I wonder that too.  Maybe a scarf I'm thinking, or maybe going to make a sweater.  But one thing is for certain, I hope I finish before winter is over.

Joyous knitting!

Beyond Soaping: Taking it One Day at a Time....

 So, I been thinking this week.  Pushing back the date which I had set for myself to start my business...great idea or no?

I was reading a post on Wahmtown and it only confirmed my thoughts, ummm...maybe you should.


I hit this startling revelation when I realized that I was jumping into this whole soaper thing head first....off a steep cliff...

I have a lot of research to do.  And I have to be honest with myself about what I know.  I want my product to be unique and fresh, and I'm really wanting this business to turn out right.  But I need to expand my soapy mind database.  And besides, being a wife, a mommy, and not just a wife and a mommy, a STAY-AT-HOME, wife and a mommy who goes to university...leaves not that much time with soaping.  And plus

ummmm...yeeeaaaahhhh


My daughter is growing up so fast, and I find myself setting aside a few play dates with my lab/kitchen just to make sure I don't miss not one  moment.  Between soap, hubby, house, more soap, and little papeechka (her nickie)  I don't know where my time is coming from!!!!

So I've written re-written, my business mommy plan:

Take it one day at a time...


Making money is great, but without the proper knowledge and skills, as a business, you will lose your integrity, honesty, and overall quality of the business itself and the product.  So my new plan, is to stop, remain level headed, and do my research first.

BUT WAIT!

That TOTALLY doesn't mean I'm gonna stop making soap!! It just means, I'll totally be on top of my reasearch while making soap (and totally still posting it).  And the Etsy opening date will most likely be pushed back.

It's alive!!!!!

So aside from making soap for Etsy customers, I make soap for my family.  I made a basic lye soap recipe that didn't require much work or too much time. These were technically experiment batches.  But they worked out well for my husband and daughter.
I had:
6 cups of Lye soap flakes
3 Tbsp of water (for my daughter's soap)
1/2 cup of water (for the big guy)
1 oz Olive oil
1 oz Shea butter

So as you can see, this was a pretty simple rebatch recipe.  I wanted to test out whether I could get great soap using less water or using more:








I made two separate batches, using 3 cups each.  I used the "boiler bag" method where I just put the soap with the ingredients in a plastic bag and boiled it.  This method works fast if you have small amounts of soap.
I then added all shea butter to my husband's batch, and olive oil to my daughter's.  As you can see, the big guy's soap is OILY.  Simply because I totally didn't mix the batch up right.  The one with less water came out superb, save the fact that the Lye flakes didn't melt all the way.  But even so, it still added a nice little look to it.
The soap on the right eventually did dry, oil and all, and is very smooth and creamy.  The one on the left got my daughter's seal of approval and is hard, but has a very creamy lather.

So overall, my experiment came out great! And with each experiment comes new ideas for the actual customer soaps. I didn't add any fragrance, or smell, just regular functional soap, and I was actually suprised at the turn out.

See, mad scientists have all the fun.

Joyous soaping!!

Review Time!!!: Zum Bar

What is part of the inspiration of my crazy soap ideas?

Zum Bar!!!!!

My mind first started sparking when I found this baby!  I was walking down the isle at Whole Foods and I see a huge loaf of all types of colored, crazy, and unique blends of ingredients.  Not to mention, its main ingredient is goat milk, said to do wonders on the skin.

So what do I do? Cut a piece and take it home with me.  I used it that night and all I have to say is WOW!  I used Lavendar-lemon and loved how the scent just stayed on your skin, not to mention it didn't dry my skin out.

Pros:

• Ingredients are safe and Au Naturelle. I cannot tell you how much I can't STAND ingredients that I cannot pronounce.  Like hey, do you have to insult my intelligence? Just put the word chemical and that'll be enough for me.
• Uses pure essential oils and mineral pigments, as opposed to dye and fragrance.
• Easy on the skin.  I have VERY sensitive skin, so sensitive that I'm allergic to the cold (yes, there is such a thing...called Urticaria lol) So that's a plus for me.
• And finally, the scent is AMAZING.  Lavender lemon was the one that caught my attention and I loved how it stayed on my skin.

Cons:

• For a penny pincher like me, 6 bucks for a 3oz bar doesn't really do it.  BUT, what do you expect when its all natural?  I guess you can't penny pinch on everything.
• Doesn't really specify if the ingredients are organic or not.  

So the pros outweigh the cons.  I haven't used zum bar since I started making my own but I remember the experience like it was yesterday:
Ahhh...Lemon-Lavender

So overall, this is a great soap.  Easy on the skin and natural. Not easy on the pockets though.  I'd say just dabble in your own personal Zum Bar (but maybe I'm just biased because I'm a soapmaker.)

Joyous Soaping!

Cinnamon Swirl!!!

Okay bloggers, I am sooooo excited about my new soap!!
Why?
Because an experiment went right!!! (On purpose)

 Eh em, pardon my bathroom...

WOOT!!  I was worried about the fragrance since I absolutely REFUSE to use fragrance, due to the fact that I really want my soaps to be Au Naturelle. Typically fragrances are made from chemicals produced in a lab.  So I had been experimenting with herbs and infused oils, boosted with Essential oils.  For this batch I used:
5lbs soap base
3 tsp of ground cinnamon (to create the swirls! AH! I finally got the swirls after hours of google-time)
Apple cinnamon infused oil
*Theives essential oil (very little, but it's said that Thieves has wonderful antibacterial properties, and a nice cinnamon aroma)
4 oz shea butter
3 cups of water (a part of my experimenting with rebatch, adding much more water)


Let the soap melt, add the ingredients (not the scents, I waited until I took the soap out of the double boiler to add them so that the scent and EO wouldn't evaporate)
ANNNDD WALLLLLAAAAA:

Soft, smooth, swirly cinnamon.  My husband tried it out and no complaints.  Cinnamon can be harsh on the skin, so I diluted the Theives quite a bit, but I like the light hint of cinnamon; not to strong, not invisible.  Now that I've figured out the swirls you should be seeing them a lot more!  What will I come up with next??? hmmmmm....maybe you should decide, would love to try my hand in something completely custom made and original (wink wink)...well, on second thought, lemme get myself out of the "amatuer" category, and into the "semi-amatuer" one...

Joyous Soaping!

Review Time!!!: Brambleberry

So a friend of mine referred me to a website called Brambleberry which is all about soapmaking.  You can also order oodles of supplies if you care to dabble into your own soap batches.

So of course I tried it out.  Although i only ordered about two things, I'm pretty pleased with the package!

I will be reviewing only one.

One thing you all will get to know about me soon is that I am cheapy cheapster.  I'd rather not put a lot of  money where I don't have to.  So of course when I buy something, you'll probably see me looking for the best priced item (not Essential Oils, cheap essential oils can mean BIIIGGG problems.  I'll get into that later.)
This was easy on the pockets at only 20 dollars (plus a little shipping and hangling).

It works well. Its lightweight but seems to be very sturdy.  Small and compact for easy storage, and it runs on AAA batteries. (which is convenient, no cords to muss with).  The only thing I don't like about using the batteries is that I have to buy more, but most likely the batteries will take a long time to run out, unless you have the scale on 24/7. 

  It only has two measurements but if you are selling items such as soap, you only need oz, however, this can measure in grams for the soap makers using Lye.  It has a simple design which is what you would expect from a scale costing 20 bucks but it serves it purpose.  I have my measurements for my soap bars and that's all I need.

Brambleberry has some more expensive scales with additional features for all you fancy soapmakers, but if you're looking for simplicity in a penny pinching package this scale is great.


Joyous soaping!