Product Review: Olay Massaging Soap

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I am obsessed with soap. I like to buy handmade soap from a few different places (and shampoo bars) but I'm not anti-store bought soap either (even though it's really detergent).

I also am a lover of a good massage. My back and my legs are in constant pain. So when I saw the massaging soap bar commercials, I thought that might be something good for me. (I've seen forms for handmaking this kind of soap too.)

Compared to handmade soap- around $5 a bar- the stuff is down right cheap. I got 4 bars for about $6.99 at the grocery store. This is in line with the other bars I like, Dove Winter Care (so moisturizing!) and Dove Gentle Exfoliating (I like the scrubby feel, and it's fairly moisturizing too.) The comparison prices I found on amazon for winter care were 8 for $9.99 and for exfoliating was 2 for $4.40. Not sure what they cost in store, but it's about that.

So what did I think of the soap?

Well first, the massage feature is divine. It felt AMAZING on my legs, but it was too painful on my arms (which have some pressure/pain issues). I can't really reach my back well enough to use it there, so for my arms and back I used the smooth side of the soap to wash, hoping to not wear down the massage nubs.

And that's the main problem. The massage feature only lasts for maybe 3-4 washes. And that was using it JUST on my legs. After that, you have a normal bar of soap.

The scent I got was "Purely Pristine". I have no idea what that means, but it was vaguely floral. It was nice, and not overbearing, but I almost think it wasn't strong enough to create a pleasant shower experience. I'm not a real perfumey person, but this you practically had to sniff the soap to smell it.

It lathered really nicely, and the soap looks like it's fancy. It has glycerin insets so it looks like something expensive from a bath and body store.

I don't think I would use this as a winter soap, because while my skin doesn't feel dry after using it, it does have that "tight and clean" feeling. Iowa winters demand major moisturizer, but Iowa spring you don't need quite as much.


Final verdict: I like it, but not as much as the other two soaps I mentioned. Will buy again if the price is right.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my 29th birthday (the first of many, I'm sure).

It was a pretty low key day- just work so far.

I had intended to take a ballet class, but I still haven't heard back from the ballet studio about pricing (grr, btw) so I'm not going to pay the walk-in rate again. Since ballet doesn't seem to be working out this semester, I think I'm going to try to go skating tomorrow. I hope skating will work out again. I miss skating.

For my birthday, Kevin got me a subscription to CookieA's sock club, so I will be receiving yarn and patterns throughout the year. I adore Cookie A socks, so this is a majorly good present. (And one I kind of thought I'd be getting because I strongly worded the suggestion in December that it was a not to be missed sort of deal).

I also treated myself to some soap last week, and it arrived today.

Aren't those fabulous! They are from Chagrin Valley Soap. I ordered once before and loved everything I got so I got all different things this time, except a small sample bar of Cafe Moreno shampoo- I adored it the first time and wanted more. I was sad I couldn't get the large size bar, but they have a price limit for the flat rate envelope (although they say it fits 7 bars...) so it would have put me over the limit. Still 6 bars + a sample had it stuffed to the brim, so maybe 7 wouldn't have fit.

Here is what I got (I put the weight in so you can compare the price to other soapers, she has LARGE bars, so they are actually well priced, even though they seem more expensive than alot of etsy prices) Her website lists benefits of each type but in my opinion, it's that they are all moisturizing and smell great!

Dead Sea Spa (6.5 ounces)

I got this one because of the supposed benefits of the salt in the soap. It has a pleasant smell that is tough to describe- citrusy? It has lime in it, so that makes sense.

Bananas and Cream (7.0 ounces)

I got this one because it was described as a complexion soap. I don't care for my skin as well as I should, so I thought a fun new facewash would be a good thing. It apparently has a very light scent, because I can't distinguish it from those it was wrapped with.

Eggnog Spice (7.0 ounces)

I'm an eggnog lover so this was a must have. It smells of cloves and nutmeg. I'm using this one first! I hope the eggnog scent comes out. (It is made with real organic eggnog in it!)

Avocado Oats, and Shea (6.7 ounces)

This one sounded like a good moisturizing bar for the winter, so I thought I'd give it a try. It has a fresh scent, likely the ylang ylang and lemon that I'm smelling.

Butter Bar Conditioner Shampoo Bar (6.6 ounces)

I chose this one for it's conditioning properties. Usually with a shampoo bar I don't need a conditioner, but it still seemed like a good one to try. It also doesn't have much of a scent. I can't distinguish it from the others it was packaged near.

Mud and Clay Shampoo Bar (7.6 ounces)

This one was described as being a great treatment for the hair. It smells strongly of lavender, which is what my current soap smells like (my homemade- boy is it ugly!) so this will be a good match. This scent is stronger than my soap- I must not have used enough oil!

Cafe Moreno Shampoo Bar Sample (1.9 ounces)

My favorite from last time, but I got a sample since I've used it before. This is a spice smell, I just love it.

(You may remember last time, or perhaps you clicked the link, or perhaps you don't care at all, that I weighed all the soaps and was a bit disappointed they were all on the low end- happily, these are all on the high end, although the range is now 6.2-7.2 ounces, I think last time it started at 6.6... interesting.)

After I got home from work and opened my soap (smells so good!) I started a dye bath to over dye some Knitpicks Stroll in Carbon Twist- I made my Dad a pair of socks with this last year, and want to make him another pair this year, but not the same color. So hopefully this pair will be blue... we'll see how the over dye works!

(Me at the dye pot, NOT cooking!)

And Kevin is making me spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. (I'm still full from lunch, my friend Matt took me out for Mexican food!) Yummy yummy day.

Lessons in Soapmaking

If you line your mold with plastic bags, make sure it's not writing side in. I have nice Hyvee soap now.




(I'm not entirely sure it's soap. I licked it and it didn't zap me, so I think it's good. I let it sit 3 days before cutting but it's very very very soft still.)

It was really neat to make. Sadly I didn't pay attention when I added the color (really cool swirl) to see that the blue mica is not stable in cold process, so the color just disappeared completely. And honestly, it's kind of expensive to get all the oils. It's going to be a long time before I can use 12 bars of funky hyvee soap, but I hope to make more again sometime. (After they cure and I use them, I might give some away if they are any good)

A FULL day

I present to you the DNA scarf! It's 3 feet now, so I'm getting there. (I have plenty of time! It's not even summer yet, much less winter!) This will be Kevin's graduation present, as hopefully he will be getting a job at a DNA company.

I'm really enjoying this pattern, but man do I keep messing it up! Just really stupid mistakes since i'm not really paying attention to the pattern. The picture is courtesy of Kevin. He got a new camera: a Canon Rebel T1i. (He also got an awesome lens for it.) So I'm having him take all my pictures now.

So what else happened today? Well, I went to an ice skating competition at the mall. It was a very small competition- just 2 hours, but I wanted to be around to congratulate all the kids I skate with. While I was there I knitted on my sock yarn blanket. My first swap came back- I have 38 new colors to knit with (there was 1 repeat, and I got one fewer skein then I sent-40. No big deal, though I'm a little annoyed with the "swap Mom" because she had put my name in the thread as an unidentified package, and when I PMed to apologize, I mentioned that my name WAS on the bag (and there it was on the bag when I got it back) PLUS I labeled my skeins with my name, it would not have been difficult to determine who I was... I've hosted swaps before and she was being lazy... sorry, just ranting) Anyhow- the yarns I did get are very nice, and I can't wait to start working with them. One seems to have either angora or alpaca in it, so I'm going to toss it aside. I don't want alpaca in the blanket, and angora doesn't really fit with the whole "sock" theme. Kevin helped me wind the yarn, and this particular skein gave him fits. Poor thing. Guess he won't be helping again.

Then, earlier this morning I made lotion bars. I got this kit from Brambleberry.com and loved it. It contains enough stuff to make at least 15 lotion bars (about 1 oz each). I made 5- 1 unscented, and 4 with different scents I have. I really like the Energy scent that comes with the kit. (Not completely in love with the Chipotle Caramel I also selected. It smells like a jelly belly- maybe Caramel Corn? Not like actual Caramel, but like scent. Bummer. But I am going to give it a few tries. I need to get more Pineapple Cilantro next order. I love that one so much and use it all the time.) Anyhow- the lotion was super easy to make, and so easy to use. It's a softer lotion than the bar I got from Chagrin Valley- which sometimes doesn't melt easily and you have to press hard. This melts on skin contact and is perfect. It is a little oily feeling compared to commercial lotion, but that's because it IS oil. The skin absorbs it and you don't feel oily after a few minutes. It's so luxorious feeling I've wanted to reapply it so many times today. Which is silly, because it's so moisturizing, there is absolutely no need to reapply. I've got lots of them though, so if you're interested in one, I might be up for a trade... (Remember, they are my first ones, so they aren't perfect)

And then, two more things today. First the super exciting one. I caught a Wollmeise update on Claudia's site for the first time. I have 2 grab bags headed my way; Blacks/Browns and then one that is a total mystery. I just cannot wait.

Lastly, Kevin and I played Killer Bunnies for the first time. Uh- that did not go well. I feel like that even though you CAN play with just two people, it doesn't really work. Lastly, we kept forgetting rules, and killing off bunnies that shouldn't have been killed, etc. So finally, we just gave up.

And now- Spaghetti Frittata is ready! Time for dinner.

Oops...

I needed new reeds to refill one of my diffuser bottles. It's tough to find the reeds on their own- all the shops just sell them with bottles. But I don't need a new bottle, I found that water and essential oil mixed together is just fine to make a good smelling mixture- but after a few uses the reeds don't diffuse the scent anymore.

I found a store in Cedar Rapids that sells candle and soap supplies- they have reeds! $3 for 10 of them. That doesn't seem too bad.

But then I remembered that Brambleberry(.com) sold them too. So I checked their price- $6 for 100! WOW- that's MUCH better.

So $60 later... I have super cheap reeds.
And a kit to make solid lotion bars, 2 new diffuser bottles (yeah, I said I didn't need a new bottle- but that was for the bathroom- these ones will be for the bedroom and at work...), the proper base for diffuser solution (water isn't exactly the thing you're supposed to use), and an ounce of Chipotle Caramel fragrance. How great does that sound. I'm thinking I'm going to want to eat it.

As much as I'm excited about getting the reeds- I'm really excited about the kit for the lotion bars. I love the lotion bars I've used before, so it will be fun to learn how to customize them.

And while my cheap reeds cost $60 (with shipping)- I used the price lists online at the local stuff, and it would have been at least $50 more to buy it locally (likely more since I gave them the "equal" price if they didn't have it listed.)

Bath Product Review...

A long long time ago I ordered from Praireland Herbs and posted about it here. Then, I used two of the shampoo bars and posted about those here. Well the things are so gosh darn long lasting, that I was never able to use the last bar. I've finally run out of the first two bars (let's see- I ordered mid August, and it's now mid March and I've used two bars... hmm- seems long lasting to me! I wash my hair everyday now that it's short.) So, I just recently tried the Aloe Fresh shampoo. I put this off until last, becasue it doesn't have a pretty smell and just seemed so boring. This was a mistake: the Aloe Vera is AMAZING. SO much lather- TONS of lather, and a great clean feeling without that kind of sticky feeling the peppermint one sometimes left. While I didn't always need a conditioner with the peppermint or the rosemary shampoo, I often felt like I wanted one. With the Aloe Vera, conditioner is completely unnecessary. I still have about 2/3 of the bar left (I shared 1/3 with a friend)- so this is going to last me awhile. I do wish it had a smell though. A pretty smell is a huge reason to love bath produts.

When I went to New Jersey in January I bought some LUSH products. (And talked about them here.) I'm sad to say, these were not long lasting at all. Most seemed to disappear very quickly in the shower, even though I take great care to keep my soaps out of the stream of the water. An intro to the products I bought is here. So here are my LUSH product reviews.




Jungle Conditioner
I love the smell of this! (Notice my initial impression was that I did not like the smell. But I love it!) But I'm not sure it's a product I need. I switched to it from using regular conditioner every other shampoo, and used it every other shampoo, but now I use it just once a week. Honestly, I don't notice any difference. Maybe that's a good thing- and it works as well as regular conditioner, but maybe it means it just doesn't do anything other than smell great. It's a bit ackward to use- you break a piece off in your hand (being careful not to get the rest wet, as it has no preservatives and will harbour gross growth- I broke a medium size piece off and leave the rest outside of the bathroom) and then add water in it making a sort of paste, then I do my best to get it to different parts of my hair and try to rub it in. I'm not sure how affective I am at actually distributing it through my hair, so I try to put it in 3 different parts of my head each time, and changing those everytime. I think I'm going to try to "whip" some of it up and do a leave on conditioner like some websites have suggested. My biggest disappointment is that this has SLS in it. Getting rid of my SLS use has made my head so much less itchy, and adding this back in I haven't noticed that itchy scalp coming back, but I only use it about once a week now, so maybe it just isn't enough. I'm not "scared" of SLS like some extremist websites are, but when I cut it I noticed a difference. I don't really want to add it back in too much.





Karma Soap


An amazing scent! Kind of smells like a flowery hippie. The shape of this made it tough to cut for multiple uses (like I said- these soaps all melt so fast in the shower, even keeping them out of the water. So I cut them up, so as not to expose them to too much water). 1/3 of the chunk I bought lasts about a week. That's just way too fast for me to buy it again even though I really loved it. Whats nice about this one is the scent kind of stays on your skin and you can smell it throughout the day. Soaps are usually "wash away" and only provide scent in the shower. Plus it leaves my skin nice and moisturized.

Angel Delight Soap (not on the website as it's a holiday thing)


I have to admit, I bought this because of the pretty. It was so lovely. The scent was hard to make out. But in the bathtub, I decided I didn't really like it. Another review called it "flintstones kids vitamins" that seems about right to me. Kevin says it smells like green tea. Maybe, but I don't like green tea either... This one 1/3 of the chunk lasts about a week and a half. The chunks are larger than the Karma, so I don't think it's necessarily any more long lasting. With this one though I'd be okay if it just melted away, but it's too expensive not to use. The good news here is that this one is a wash-away soap, I don't smell it out of the shower, and though I don't like the smell it leaves my skin feeling nice, and not too dry.

Honey I washed the Kids Soap

They say caramel and honey scented, I think it's toffee and honey- either way the scent is light, but very very nice. This is definetly my favorite bar. The honey come on top was too rough for me, so I removed it, but this bar produced a very very light lather (all of the lush soaps were very low lather- almost in a "did I get it on me" sort of way) but an incredible result. Super soft skin. Kevin quickly stole this one from me, as he has super dry skin. The bar I had lasted only about 2 weeks, which was very disappointing, Like I said, I take great care to keep my bars on draining soap racks out of the stream of the water, and these just melted away. This is one of the best soaps I've ever used, but just way too expensive for that use rate.

Wiccy Magic Muscle Massage Bar
I have mixed feelings on this one. First- I love the idea. The melt against your skin softness of the massage bar was excellent. It was the perfect amount of moisture to get a great massage going, without being drippy like oil. And it was really moisturing to the skin, so it acted as a lotion too. The thing I didn't feel happened was anything promised by the LUSH advertising. They almost make it sound like an alternative to icy-hot ("Cinnamon will warm things up, peppermint will stimulate sore bits and the aduki beans will massage in like little finger tips to loosen knots. Once you get used to the minty tingling")- there was no warming, no tingling, and the beans are really too small to do anything at all for the rubbing. (Also, they fall out and get everywhere). Last, the smell, especially as it was rubbed in was completely overpowering, and kind of sickening. Way too much cinnamon, not enough peppermint. I think I'd like to try other massage bars, just not this one.

Overall, I'm not as in love with LUSH as I thought I would be just looking at their products. Not a bad thing, since that stuff is expensive! (I am very glad I caught a sale on the soap. Otherwise I think I'd have a pretty negative impression overall)

I think I'm addicted to soap.

A final review of the products I've ordered in the past will be posted soon. I had combined them, but well it made for a very very long post...

I'm not quite out of what I've already ordered yet, but that didn't stop me from stocking up for the future (I think I might have a problem. At least this one encourages good hygiene).

Although I was super happy with Praireland Herbs, I wanted to branch out and try a new place.

This time, I went with Chagrin Valley. I didn't order from them the first time, because their website is incredibly confusing, and it was nearly impossible to figure out shipping charges. (This time around, the website was slighlty less confusing- because I spent more time on it, but shipping charges are still a mystery. They have lots of different shipping methods, but only flat rate is affordable. They say if something won't fit in flat rate, they just remove it from your order, no contact about changing shipping or removing something else. This chart is really important for figuring that out. Once again, finding that chart took me way more time than it probably should have. I had actually already ordered, hoping for the best, before I found it and confirmed my order was okay) Once I had it figured out, shipping was $5.70 and I ordered Monday and got these Friday

So, Chagrin Valley Soap and Craft has TONS of different products, soaps, shampoos, lotions, and lots of other bath and body products. Google them, and there are tons of great reviews, I was eager to try them.


Look at the adorable packaging- no plastics here! Just good for the environment paper bags. (Which was a little nerve wracking since this came in the pouring rain. It didn't seemed to have affected the product though the outside package was a little wet.)

After much deliberation, I got 3 soaps and 3 shampoo samples. Let's talk about the soaps first. They are all priced differently, likely based on ingredients and popularity.
I got: Honey Butter, Chocolate and Almond, and Peppermint Twist. (Also in the picture, shampoo samples, and solid lotion)

Honey Butter- $7.15
The Honey Butter is for Kevin's dry skin (though with winter almost over, it might not be an issue). He stole my LUSH "Honey I washed the kids" and I was hoping this would give him similar results, LUSH is just too expensive. The ingredients show lots of rich skin softeners. All of the soaps have "filtered rainwater" as one of their ingredientsl I just love that. Sadly, palm oil is in all of them, but no chemical ingredients.

There is not much of a scent at all (though my dog seems to think there is, she has been trying to eat this one in particular since it got into the house!) However, since I bought this one with Kevin in mind, I think that’s a good thing. The Old Spice commercials tell me that I prefer a gajillion to one for my man to smell like the guy riding the horse backwards and not like a girl; I’m confident this soap won’t make him smell like a girl. (Also- weirdest commercials ever.) This soap is labeled 6.5-7.5 oz Handcut Wt, and weighed 7.1 ounces when I weighed it. I think it’s not fully cured though, because when I cut it for a slice for the shower, it was a) very easy to cut and b) a totally different inside color than outside color. I’m a bit disappointed by this, because soft soaps that aren’t fully cured will melt faster, and also lose weight by the curing process.

Chocolate Almond- $7
This soap I bought just because it is BEAUTIFUL. So pretty. I think handmade soap should look like this. It has a very very strong Almond Oil smell, not really chocolately at all, it reminds me of baking cookies (which is weird because I don't make almond cookies). I’m really excited about this one, and it went into the shower first. The weight on this one was 6.6 ounces.

Peppermint Twist- $7
This one I bought because I am a peppermint nut. It’s such an invigorating scent for a morning shower. And well, it smells just like peppermint. Not sure what the twist is :) Looking at the ingredients, the twist must be the bits of rosemary. Kind of funny because when my older rosemary shampoo almost ran out I combined the pieces with my older peppermint ones. It was like a peppermint pizza! This doesn’t smell like that at all. (The Rosemary nettle soap always made me think of pizza). The weight of this was 6.6 oz

Slight Disappointment
I know I’m crazy for weighing all my soaps. The website makes huge claims about how big their soaps are (and they are! Most places sell 3 or 4 ounces soaps) Of course, because they are hand cut, they aren’t exact. The website and packaging says they will be between 6.5-7.5 ounces, and of course, they all are. However, I’m a bit disappointed because they are all on the low end. I know they didn’t cheat me at all, but I wish they were higher on the range. Because of the ease of cutting, and the two color issue of the one soap, I don’t think these are fully cured yet- so they are going to lose more weight. Still, the price was good, and I am very happy overall.

Shampoo Samples.
I got 3 shampoo samples. Those are the smaller bars in the picture. Café Moreno (2.0 oz of a coffee/cinnamon smell- it’s supposed to help darken hair), Babassu & Marsh Mallow (2.1 oz and I can’t even describe this one… it was the marshmallow that sold me), and Extra Honey Beer & Eggs (1.4 oz of a sweet smell, described as their most popular). These samples are a great value $2.60 each, and I imagine they’ll last a LONG time based on the life of the other bars I’ve used. (These are about half the size of those- so at least a month each…)

And more
I also ordered a solid lotion $5.50. It comes in a tin and smells of sweet sweet mango. (Which it should! It’s called Hemp Mango Mint) This is smaller than I thought it would be, but I love the smell. I got this because I loved the LUSH massage bar, but not so much the smell. I’m not sure if this will be a good substitute or not.

Reviews to come when I actually use the products!!!

What I did on my winter vacation: Part 1

Hey look! I still exist! I'm going to try to do 3 or 4 posts about my super trip to NJ. We left New Years Eve (Kevin and my 5th anniversary) and came back on the 4th.

So what will post 1 be about?

SHOPPING! My Aunt Nancy needed to return something to Macy's and I jumped on it. Their Macy's carries LUSH! products: something I've been dreaming of getting my hands on since I found out solid shampoo exists. Although many of their products still contain "bad" ingredients, LUSH is a socially conscious company. They've eliminated SLS from some of their soaps and shampoos. (I didn't pay attention to which ones though) and recently they've eliminated palm oil from others- in an effort to help save the orangatans. Additionally, if it's possible to not use plastic to package their product, they don't!

Since I love my solid shampoos from praireland herbs, I didn't get any of theirs (man are they pricey! And no sale on them this time around). I did get the one thing I was really hoping to try. Jungle conditioner. It's a solid conditioner- one place I haven't gotten rid of plastic bottles yet. The smell is, uh, different. But my shampoo right now is rosemary, so I tend to smell like a pizza, so I think it will be okay. I'm not sure how to describe it. But when I think "organic" (even though I don't think it is) this smell fits right in. The website says to slide it along your hair, like a shampoo bar, but the saleswoman recommended getting a small amount in your hand and mixing it with a tiny bit of water to make a creme.

Then I got a solid massage bar. It's basically just massage oil. Your body heat melts it, and then it rubs in just like any other oil. Very cool! This one is supposedly good for sore muscles, which is why I picked it. The smell might be a BIT strong for me. A massage right before bed and the sheets smelled yummy for 4 days- which means that first night it was really strong.

Then I got soaps! The soaps were buy 1 get 2 free. And thank goodness, because they are expensive. (The one I paid for was almost $12 and the two free ones were about $10) I've been told their soap is hard and lasts though, and it all smells amazing. I went with "Angel's Delight" a Christmas special, "Honey I washed the kids", and "Karma"- their most popular scent. They are all "bulk" products, and they are all so pretty. Some of them were precut so I picked an affordable piece of Angel Delight, and when the other two didn't have any pieces close to the same price, I asked her to cut some that would cost abou $10. (The conditioner was like that too).

No pictures, but I also got 4 new votive candles. Aunt Nancy burned tons of candles and it made me wanting yummy scents in my house too. I got Christmas scents from Yankee Candle- a store I usually don't go in because the smell is too strong!

A somewhat expensive foray into bath and body products, but I don't do it much, so I'm thrilled!

My first (and second) soaps!

So yesterday I was feeling a little bit better later in the afternoon- just a bit of a fever left (still... someone make it go away!) So I decided to do a bit of soap. Then today, soap was definetly part of the plan.

I thought the Graduated Layers sounded like a good, easy, one to start with. I started with clear melt and pour base and mixed in purple liquid dye and some Yuzu fragrance oil, then poured half of it into the 2 molds. Then I added white goats milk soap, a bit more fragrance, stirred and poured. Then more goats milk soap, fragrance, stirred and poured. Then I topped it off with white goats milk soap and fragrance. I used the 0.4 oz fragrance to 1 lb soap, and weighed each step of the way to keep it in that ratio. I had been doing a good job of measuring the layers to keep them even, but then I got impatient and topped off with white too soon I think. Still, I think it's pretty impressive first soap. It's already wrapped in the picture. I forgot to spray one layer with alchohol, but it stayed together out of the mold, hopefully it will continue to stay together.
The finished soaps:
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Today I made soap with the Sleigh Ride fragrance. But after I added it to the clear I remembered that it discolors!! So I didn't add it to the white. I used the idea of Silhoutte Soap- making soapy imbeds.

Finished soaps:

I started by using a plastic egg carton to make a 1/4" thick layer of clear melt and pour base that I had colored red. It took a lot of red to make it even a little dark. Maybe I should have used half clear half white- but I didn't want pink... Then I used a cookie cutter to make hearts.

I poured fragranced clear melt and pour base, let it set for a few minutes then added my hearts. Then I topped off with unfragranced white goats milk. I thought it would be fun to imbed hearts in another layer too- that way as you use it you uncover a second, secret layer of hearts. So I did a different pattern on that layer (if the top had 2 the middle has 1, if the middle has 2, the top has 1). I'm not sure if soap will really work that way.

But then I poured my final white layer too hot. Oops. So I have really sloppy layers, and the imbeds melted into the back. Oh well- the front turned out pretty, and it's only my second soap making ever.
This is what pouring the last layer too hot did:
And it made the layers really sloppy! (The other layers may have been too early too...)

I can't wait to use the pineapple cilantro fragrance, but I'm going to wait until next weekend, or I'll need more soap base. This used about 1.5 lbs. It goes fast! (the soap weighs just about 1 lb, and I saved all the scraps- so I can make some mashup stuff too. I am keeping all the fragrance seperate, but not worrying about the bases, since they are all the same brand)

My new hobby has arrived!

I've been home sick for 2 days now (got sick Wed. night) it's really sucked, because I've had a fever, so I've just felt miserable, but as I'm getting better, I'm really just feeling bored. I keep wanting to get up and do stuff, but as soon as I get up, I remember I'm at home because I'm too worn out TO get up. So back to the couch I go.

Anyhow, today the FedEx guy came with a present for me. A highlight of the day!

After felting soap, I got an urge to MAKE soap. I found a class at the community college that would teach soap making, but then I found out it was just melt and pour. That's not "real" soap. So I researched the cold-pour process, and while it seems like something I could do, it seemed a little dangerous, and what will I do with all the soap? Then I found out there is WAY more to melt and pour than just a boring colored bar of soap. It can be an art form.

What made me change my mind?
I found Bramble Berry. This website links to the Soap Queen blog and Soap Queen TV videos. Reading and watching made me confident that not only is melt and pour incredibly cool, but that it's something I know I can do! The website is well organized and has SO much stuff. I could spend thousands there. Luckily, I didn't.

Although I really want to make loaf soaps, that brings up the "what will I do with all that soap" question- you end up with 5-10 of the SAME soap. So I settled on two molds I want. One with 4 basic shapes, and one with checkered hearts. I also got some tools- little scoops for dyes (I bet I use those more with my yarn dyes though... but they'll work for the mica I got) and droppers that are great for measuring fragrance oils. They're even graduated- which is a bonus I didn't expect.
Then I looked at soap base. Bramble Berry carries a fantastic sampler pack, but I didn't want quite that much. I wasn't sure how big a pound of soap is (smaller than I thought, actually) and decided I should get 2 lbs clear- figuring I'd use that the most to color. Then I wanted white, but since it was out of stock I decided on shea butter and goats milk- 1 lb each as my white. And I threw in a honey too, well, because shipping was a bit expensive*, and adding more didn't raise it. Also in this picture is some citric acid. It was CHEAP, and like I said the shipping stayed still. I'm not sure if I'll use this to make bath bombs (seems really cool, but I don't do baths much) or to dye yarn without vinegar.
Next, I needed some fragrance and colors for my soaps. I was nervous about fragrance, because I like for bath stuff to smell great, but I'm pretty picky. It was hard to decide on something that would be a "safe bet" for me. Then I found the perfect solution: pineapple cilantro. And I was right- I love it. My next pick was Yuzu. Something I've never heard of, but was featured in the Soap TV spots as something most everyone likes. And, well, I do! Then the best part: Bramble Berry sends a useable sample, not just a sniffer, with every order. I got Sleigh Ride fragrance oil. It looks about half the size of the purchased samples, but plenty to actually try out. This isn't one I would have picked for myself, and i'm not too sure about it. It doesn't have any pine smell though (a common winter fragrance) so I like that. I'll definetly use it- it didn't make my nose itch up when I smelled it!

I also got some colors. I was careful to pick non-bleeding colors since I'm very interested in doing layers. Some colors will bleed into each other and are only good for marble effects, where you want that, or for solids. I picked violet, red, black, and a blue mica. The mica has a neat sparkle effect (as one would think mica would!) It reminds me a lot of some of my stamping supplies... too bad those aren't skin safe.
So what do I make first? Well, nothing today :( Remember that no energy thing :(
Bummer because I want to create!

I really want to try monogram soaps and this neat graduated colors soap. I think I'll start with the second one. The first looks too advanced just yet.


*Shipping costs at Bramble Berry were high. But I was also ordering things by the pound- so they were fair. I ordered last Friday and the stuff got here this Friday. They pulled the order the first business day after I placed it- really quick! It had to get here from Washington, so I was pretty pleased with quick shipping. It also seems if you place bulk orders the shipping gets more affordable per pound. I added a bit more stuff than I originally planned on ordering to get the costs a little lower per item.

There is a soap/candle store not far from me (about 45 minutes). I'm not sure if I saved money going to Bramble Berry, but I am happy with my decision to buy from them for 2 reasons: 1) the information they have made available about soap making through the blog and videos were an invaluable resource I wanted to support and 2) I don't do well in candle stores filled with fragrances, I feel I'd be completely unable to shop in a store filled with that sort of stuff. I'll give them a try when I need more soap base, but ease of shopping and customer service make me very glad I found Bramble Berry.