going organic

I've had the organic oils for months and even ordered the very pricey organic essential oils (lavender, mint and tea tree) but I just wasn't ready to dive in and create an organic soap. Something wasn't sitting right with me about it that had me excited to do it. I knew there was a demand for organic soap (I'm asked at every market I do) but I've never been one to just make something because I know I can sell it.

What I needed was to make it for myself... not to anyone else's designs not for what I thought someone else might like. I needed to make something that I would like and that I was inspired to make. Just like all my other soaps.. sure I make soaps that I know will sell but I like every soap I make and I design it to my liking, full creative license!

I also struggled with scent. I wanted to create a 100% organic soap and wanted organic essential oils but doing so limited my choices of essential oil blends as my supplier whom I buy all my pure therapeutic grade essential oils from only has a limited choice in organic oils. I didn't want to stick to lavender, peppermint and tea tree which I really can't even afford to do (pricey pricey are those organic ingredients!), I wanted yummy smelling soaps! I decided that I was more than fine with 100% pure therapeutic grade essential oils and as soon as I decided that, the creativity started to build up in me and I was ready to create!

So this morning, I decided to just do it. I made an essential oil blend that I love and used ingredients that I loved in a design that I loved too. And you know what? I'm thrilled and am inspired to make MORE organic soaps now. :)

These bars will be a bit more in price but really quite reasonable for a fantastic 98.5% organic bar of soap that performs beautifully and looks great too!

Look for these soaps at www.oldcitysoapworks.com in a few weeks time (they're curing right now!).

Finally...

... I've got a website up and running! Maybe not the prettiest website around but I like it in it's simplicity. 

So have a look, tell me what you think!

www.oldcitysoapworks.com

a new look

There's been a few changes around here.... I had my labels redone and have recreated the solid lotion bar. Take a look:

The above is the new cigar band style labels for the bars of soaps. What I like best about these labels is that the ingredients are listed right on the cigar band and there's a space on the back for me to write the scent. This makes packaging so much easier and they look better too!

And these are the new solid lotion bars. A huge improvement from the thin candy molds I was using before. I still have to add the label to the tin but already, I'm in love with the new design!

I've got more new labels to share with you all in the next few weeks!

Happy Halloween!

Costumes are all chosen and ready to go (but for mine, eek!), the pumpkins are carved, the pumpkin seeds are ready to be toasted and the fun is about to begin! 

Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!

2012 Farmer's Markets

The past two months have been a whirlwind of soaping and preparing for the 2012 Summer market season. I've been making on average a batch of soap every other night and spending the rest of the week labelling and photographing! I'm already exhausted and it's only the beginning of July. I'm hoping that because I've started doubling my soap batches that I can start taking nights off to enjoy my summer and maybe spend some time with my husband. 

But the markets have been worth it, my soaps have been well received and I'm having so much fun doing them. 

Right now my schedule is:

Sundays: Lantzville Farmer's Market from 1-4 at the St. Phillip's Church

Every other Tuesday: Craig Street Night Market in Parksville 6-9 (tonight)

Every other Wednesday: Bowen Road Farmer's Market from 4-6:30 (next week)

First Friday of each month: Old City Quarter Night Market. 6-8 (I think?)

Here's a few photos of my booth set up in Lantzville the other week. I think the only thing I'd like is a rug of some sort and a big sign at the back of my tent. Soon....

Natural Colourants in Soap

Who says natural can't be full of colour? Usually when people think of natural colours they think of many different shades of brown. But nature has all colours of the rainbow in her spectrum.
I've been experimenting with natural dyes with my soaps this past week. Usually I won't add anything to colour the soaps, just going au naturel which is beautiful in it's own. But I'm liking the natural colourants and will be using them often (while still keeping a balance with uncoloured soaps as well).

Here's the 3 soaps I made this week that used natural dyes:

The first is Basil Lime that I used clorophyll to do a nice green swirl on a lighter green base. I used essential oils of basil and lime to create a earthy herbaceous and peppery citrus soap. It wasn't at all what I was expecting when I made it last night but I do love it! It's a great soap for men and women. 

The middle soap is a Lavender made with lavender essential oil, lavender buds and alkanet root that was infused with olive oil. The colour turned out amazing! It was a bit tricky to do this soap as I had to make two batches at once while keeping them both at the same consistency. It turned to a heavy trace quickly which made swirling a bit difficult but I love how it turned out! 

The bottom soap is Harvest Moon and it's a blend of eucalyptus, rosemary and cedarwood essential oils and a bit of organic rosemary sprinkled on the top. I used turmeric to create the orange/yellow swirl and am really pleased with how it came out although I think I could have used a bit more turmeric.

Next on my list is a Peppermint Patty that uses real cocoa powder for both scent and a chocolate swirl and clorophyll for a green swirl to represent the peppermint. 

The kids and I have been making and drinking a lot of smoothies lately. They're prefect for on the go; more filling and nutritious than a granola bar and so quick to prepare! My youngest, Sophie who's 2, is a very picky eater. She loves snack foods though so smoothies are a way I sneak healthy calories in. I pack them full of fruits, greens, healthy fats and fibre. 

Our current favourite smoothie blend is what my kids have dubbed the Green Monster. The bright green is from the spinach but you can only taste the tropical fruit that's been added. Here's how we made it:

Green Monster Smoothie

~1 cup coconut water

~1/2 cup young coconut meat

~1 banana (banana is key in masking the spinach and adding a creaminess)

~2 cups spinach

~ 1/2 cup fresh pineapple

~1 tablespoon raw coconut oil

~1 tablespoon chia seeds

~1/2 tablespoon bee pollen

~1/2 teaspoon probiotic powder

~1/2 tablespoon raw honey

Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Pour into large glass and enjoy!

Do you enjoy smoothies? What's your favourite smoothie blend?

Star Anise In The Mold

This may be my new favourite soap (and I haven't even cut into it yet!). I was planning on making a rosemary/eucalyptus/cedarwood blend tonight but after smelling the essential oils at Charlie Brown's today, I came across anise and knew instantly that I had to make this instead.

Anise smells just like licorice but warmer and I LOVE it. I was planning on adding ground anise seed to the centre of the soap but as I was mixing it, the soap took on a lovely creamy white colour and it was perfect on it's own. Adding star anise to the top was all this soap needed and the contrast between the star anise and the creamy white soap looks fantastic, I think!

The only problem I ran in to was that I didn't buy enough essential oil. I didn't realise this until I was prepping my mold and it was too late (and too expensive) to run out and buy another bottle. My mold that I use is a horrible handmade mess, I literally just duct taped 5 pieces of wood together so that I'd have the width and height that I needed for my soaps but it doesn't quite a 1lb recipe and 2lbs is too much. Usually, I just use what I need in the wood mold and pour the leftovers into a round soap mold. The round soaps will be used for samples and for felted soaps (yes, I'm making felted soaps! post to come soon about that!). Anyways, because I didn't have enough essential oil for my 2lb batch, I had to divide the soap up before adding the eo. So the round soap will be almost unscented (there may be a teeny tiny hint of anise as I scraped the pot into the round mold that had the unscented batch in it). I desperately need a new wood loaf mold, this duct taped mold just ain't cutting it anymore!

Buttermilk Carrot Bastille Soap

 On the cure rack right now is this creamy soap: buttermilk carrot bastille. What is a bastille soap you ask? Well, first let's start with Castille which is made only using olive oil. And bastille is the name soapers have given to soap that's been made with only olive and coconut oil. It has a little more lather than castille thanks to the buttermilk and coconut oil but is still considered a low lathering bar. Lather doesn't really matter, that's not what gets you clean even though that's what the cosmetic world has duped us into thinking! Bastille is a very gentle bar, I love to use it on my toddler who has very sensitive skin, with mild eczema. Both buttermilk and carrot add to the gentleness in this soap making it a favourite for those with eczema and psoriasis.

I did something new with this soap that I've never done before, I poured the soap into two molds and only allowed one of the molds to go through a gel. Gelling is the norm when it comes to making cold process soaps and up until the other night, it was the only way I've ever soaped. On a cold process making group that I belong to, there was discussion about not gelling your soaps. Apparently, avoiding the gel stage makes for a brighter soap especially in milk soaps. So far, I'm not a fan of not gelling as the saponification process (oils turning to soap) takes longer and the lye was still present in the soap 3 days later and also it was just a big mess. But the colous is a creamier yellow which I do like. It'll be interesting to see if there's any difference once they've fully cured in approximately one month from now.

These first posts on a new blog are always a little intimidating and anxiety inducing aren't they? Will people read my blog? Will I have enough to say? Is what I have to say worth sharing?  I'm not sure of the answers to any of those but meh... it'll be fun and I'll enjoy seeing my progress as a soaper as I go along!

This blog won't be entirely dedicated to only soaping, I'm sure you'll find a post here and there sharing my favourite non-soap recipe, photos and stories of my family and whatever else comes to mind. But mostly it will be a place to share news about Old City Soapworks and share photos of the soap making process with you all!