Blue Jewel Handcrafted Soap

Turmeric Soap is one of my bestselling soaps. The reason it traces quickly is because I use geranium essential oil in my scent blend. Geranium has a tendency to speed up trace. When I make this soap, I have to be on my toes and work quickly. The oils and lye temperature need to be on the low side and I can't overmix.

Turmeric is known to help with reducing hyperpigmentation, including acne scars, melasma, and hyperpigmentation in the armpits or groin area.

This soap is available all year on my website and farmer's market table.

www.bluejewelhandcrafted.com

Cooking! Making soap mimics making food, especially since we use the same fats and oils we would cook with. All the stirring and pouring is like baking a cake. Now I don't have the creative energy (or time) to cook or bake, though I do anyway and don't enjoy it like I used to. But I gotta eat and I can't eat soap!

Cutting the soap sometimes brings little surprises. I found a few faces in the soap today. It's almost like looking at a Rorschach inkblot test. What does this say about my personality? 🤭🤪

What's so special about 🐐 goat milk soap?

1. Goat milk contains lactic acid that gently exfoliates and helps lighten dark spots on skin.

2. It contains a high amount of fats to gently clean without stripping the skin.

3. Because it exfoliates, it keeps pores clear of dirt and excess sebum to help combat acne.

4. As a gentle soap, it's great for dry, eczema-prone, or sensitive skin.

Did I miss anything?

The worst thing to do when measuring ingredients for soapmaking is to be thinking about other things at the same time.

My brain was all over the place today. I weighed the water (13.01 oz) and then measured out the lye into the liquid (13.01 oz).

So I started stirring and then came to a screeching halt! Wait a minute, I said to myself. I only needed 10.01 oz lye. 🤦‍♀️

I was going to make two loaves of Patchouli Soap because it's a slow seller, so I simply adjusted the recipe to make one more loaf. I quickly ran upstairs to my computer, logged onto my soap calculator (I use soapcalc.net), and created a recipe for three loaves, added the extra lye and water I needed, and kept going. Problem averted.

Note to self: Don't think about world 🌏problems when making soap 🧼

I prefer natural colorants over micas when coloring my soaps. They often contain antioxidants and other natural compounds that are good for the skin. Some argue that a soap doesn't stay on the body long enough to make a difference, but I believe it stays on long enough.

Here I'm using indigo "ink" made with indigo powder (indigofera tinctoria) for blue and cocoa powder for brown. The color depends on the amount of powder used in the batter, and the final color may actually come out darker, depending on how much you use. I usually start with 1 tsp per pound of batter and go from there.