A bientôt!

Who doesn’t like challenges? Even if they take time and energy, challenges are something I do with pleasure: there is always something to learn and you can never get bored of them.

When Amy announced her new idea of having each month a challenge, I was really content. The bad part was that I will not be here for the first challenge as we are leaving on holiday (which means no pc, no soap etc). But still I wanted to make this peacock soap as I have never had the time nor the chance to try it. So instead of preparing my luggage I made my peacock soap. The only problem was that I had no special bottles home for this challenge nor that cardboard  but with some imagination, I quickly found the replacements. So instead of those bottles, I used bags ( as used for the leopard spotted soap) and instead of the cardboard with pix, I used a comb which I use when I cut my husband’s hair .

For the colors I used: pink Australian clay, spirulina, yellow ochre and black Australian clay. I was so surprised by this blue shade given by the black clay.
The photo is not the best, I know, but this soap was made in the evening so I had no natural light.

Homemade Chocolate

Homemade chocolate bars are simple to make and  they are wonderful gifts. All you need is raw and good quality ingredients and a little bit of imagination to make your own chocolate according to your taste.

Recipe:

50 gr virgin cocoa butter

30 gr  virgin coconut oil

50 gr raw cocoa powder ( if you want it more bitter, you can add more of it)

Honing/agave syrup/coconut sugar

Cut the cacao butter into small chunks and then melt the cacao butter and the coconut oil over a double boiler. Once these 2 have melted entirely, add the cacao powder and honing/coconut sugar. Stir well. Pour into molds that have been sprinkled with cacao nibs or goji or nuts etc and let harden in the fridge.

Pure pleasure!

The Universal 2013 Soap Challenge – May

Perfect and natural, clays are my favorite soap ingredients. Used to hydrate, cleanse, improve skin tones, or to restore moisture imbalances for hair care, but also to heal digestion problems, their list of benefits for our health is endless.

Pink clay is very gentle, helping to clean the skin by gently drawing out the impurities in the pores. It helps to give the skin a firm and toned look.

Australian Black Clay is a non toxic mineral which contains iron and oxygen properties.  It helps to draw out impurities and detoxifies the skin. It nourishes the skin and helps to clean and to condition.

This is my soap for May made of coconut oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, walnut oil, olive oi, cacao butter, lavender essential oil, bergamot essential oil,  Australian pink clay,  Australian midnight black clay and thus inspired by Australia.

For the top I used Himalayan Pink salt and Hawaiian Black Lava salt.

The Universal 2013 Soap Challenge – April

I had almost forgotten about this challenge but then I discovered in the shop where I use to buy my lye an ingredient which drew my attention: yellow of Cambodia (Gutta gummi), a natural colorant. The color, named after the gamboge tree, which is known for its yellow resin, is a yellow pigment which comes from Cambodia, where in the 12th century painters used the color as a watercolor paint.
So here my Cambodian Soap made of: coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, litsea cubeba essential oil, eucalyptus essential oil, yellow of Cambodia and nettle powder.

Dandelion Soap

If for some people the humble dandelion is only a garden-variety weed, for me this plant represents the spring, a green delicacy marking the end of a looong winter.

Called Dandelion from French ‘dent-de-lion,” or lion’s tooth, it grows in temperate climate zones all over the world. Mostly the dandelion leaves are known to treat conditions affecting the liver but its composition makes from it a healthier plant than that, being rich in vitamin A, C, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and phosphorus. It is a good place to get B complex vitamins, trace minerals, organic sodium, and even vitamin D. Dandelion contains protein too, more than spinach. It has been eaten for thousands of years and used to treat anemia, scurvy, skin problems, blood disorders, and depression.

Soap made of coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, sesame oil,  St. John’s Wort oil (Hypericum perforatum) infused in Corn oil, dandelion tea, green mandarin essential oil, lemon essential oil.

Soap Challenges 2013: Leopard Spots Soap, Week Four

This fourth week was the most challenging for me: really impressed by the leopard spotted soap done by Cee and so happy when Amy announced this technique,  I didn’t expect this week to be so difficult. I tried three times: for the first soap I didn’t calculate well the quantity of the main pot soap, for the second one I was sure I was doing  well until I cut my soap and I realized  that the spots are really too thin.  So yesterday evening I made the third soap  and it was worth it, I would say.

Made of coconut oil, sesame oil, palm oil, calendula oil (infused in corn oil), olive oil, coconut butter, indigo and annatto powders,  I wanted this soap to be a spring one so I scented it with rosemary and lemon essential oils .

I would like to thank Amy for putting all these challenges together and please make sure to visit her Greatcakes Soapworks Blog  and see all the beautiful soaps artisans made during this challenge!

Couleur Savon

Some months ago I discovered  a French forum where every 3-4 months we organize a challenge around a special soap technique. It’s a very nice place where we discuss about everything, not only soap. Of course, this is a good way to learn some new techniques, but what is more important: through this forum I met some very nice and talented people. I want to thank Jazz and Baloochou for letting me in and for all the participants for everything I learnt though them.

Soap made of coconut oil, castor oil, sesame oil, olive oil, cacao and shea butter, geranium essential oil, clary sage essential oil, alkanet.