Coastal Carolina Soap Blog

My man showed up yesterday. No, not my husband, though I was glad to hear him come through the door. Nope, my other man – the one who drives the big brown truck with the yellow seal on the side bearing the letters “U-P-S.” Now you know what I’m talking about, because when that truck shows up, goodies follow.

My goodies were 4 pounds of potash (potassium hydroxide) and phenolphthalein solution. Potash is a caustic that is used to make liquid soap. It forms long crystals, unlike sodium hydroxide which produces shorter ones. Of course, I just couldn’t wait. Hey, once my base oils were inventoried and audited, they became fair game! I pulled out my soapmaking book and read the instructions yet again. I consulted with others who’ve made liquid soap. I created my formula in SoapMaker and stared at it, tweaked it a bit and made sure my finished product would be as lovely as I want it to be. Then I got started.

Making liquid soap is a hot process method, which is good and bad. Good, because once it’s done, it’s done and can be used almost immediately. Bad, because it takes a looooooong time to make. I spent 45 minutes waiting for my oils to melt in the crockpot (following the directions here, and it saves some dishes). I didn’t think it’d EVER come to trace, so that was a bit of a wait (or maybe I was just being impatient, or my arm was getting tired). Now I’m about 2/3 of the way through the 3-hour cooking process. At some point in all this, too, there was an email to my mom, the retired chemist, who couldn’t remember exactly what shade of pink phenolphthalein turns on a pH of 10 +/- 0.5. It was a long shot, but I thought I’d try. I’m sure I’ll have the answer in a little over an hour.

So, now I’m waiting and am using my 30-minute intervals to get caught up on some stuff. So far I’ve gotten dishes done and bills paid, plus I encountered this delightfully friendly customer service rep at Stamps.com when I called about my account. I’ve talked with my hubby and thumbed through the mail. I may even be able to squeeze in time to write a letter to one of our nephews (from the cool aunt who helped teach him how to shoot pool). Not bad for a frigidly cold Friday.

I don’t know when the soap will be available for purchase. There’s some debate on whether or not it needs a preservative. This fan of things all natural is hoping not, but my gut’s telling me it will, just because of the extra water that gets added to the paste. To preserve or not to preserve, that is the question. If only Hamlet had put that blasted skull down and answered a question that’d actually HELP me in this! Not wanting to give up my all-natural product if I can help it, but also wanting to err on the side of caution if it does need a preservative, I’m going to do what any responsible soapmaker would do and have both formulas tested. Then once I get those results, I’ll be able to proceed from there.

Ya know, as much of a geek as I’ll claim to be, my geekiness resides more in the realm of social sciences than in math or computers. So, if I figure out someone’s motivation for doing something, then that’s cool, but not so thrilling. On the other hand, if I figure out something on my website, then it’s a big deal. I had a big deal moment yesterday. All I wanted to do was change one thing, the title of a side box so I can put the HSMG logo in it and have it make sense to that box. For me to make any changes to my website, I usually have three things up and available – my digital copy of the Zen Cart manual (in .pdf format), the ZC forums and the ZC FAQ pages. So, I was clicking back and forth between those three, rewriting codes, saving and then refreshing my webpage, each time holding my breath and hoping that something would come up. If I make a mistake, my site loads as a blank page until I find the mistake.

Deep breath… Hold it… Click the “refresh” icon… Wait for it… Whew! There’s my upper bar, the logo, the product pics… It loaded! Yea! Oh, wait. There it is. My newly redone side box sporting the white, green and peach logo of the Guild. Woohoo!!! That was my big accomplishment for yesterday.

Today’s not-so-little thrill came when my daughter, who’s in kindergarten, brought home her second term report card. Looking at the grades and marks is great enough, but then I saw the teacher’s comments, telling her Dad and I that she “continues to excel in all academic areas.” Woohoo! We’d been concerned because her primary teacher hasn’t been there since before Thanksgiving and she’d lost a lot of her enthusiasm for going to school and doing homework. We’re so glad to see she’s excelling, despite the interruption in her classroom.

Generally when I soap Oakmoss Sandalwood, I use a crock pot hot process method (CPHP), because it takes less time, and time is of the essence with this soap, as well as it sells. However, since we’re in the slow time of the year after everyone is still paying off Christmas bills and before the Spring show and market season starts, I have the time to take it a little bit slower, to CP soaps I’d normally HP, to let the soaps linger on the curing rack even longer, becoming harder, denser and longer lasting. I enjoy this time of year just for that reason.

This time when I soaped Oakmoss Sandalwood, I decided, instead of my usual in the pot (ITP) swirl, I’d give another shot at funnel swirling. Funnel swirling is enjoyable with cool, Art Deco-ish results, but it requires the soap behaving from beginning to end. It cannot thicken, accelerate or seize; it must stay at a lighter trace. Obviously, if I know this, then you can infer that I’ve had soap not behave when I’ve tried to funnel swirl it before. (One experience in this led to the birth of the “Murdered Mardi Gras Clown” soap, aka “Visions of Sugar Plums.”)

I had the joy of slicing the Oakmoss Sandalwood soap this afternoon, and it’s the prettiest funnel swirl I’ve done. I’m not bragging that this is *the* most gorgeous funnel swirl soap out there; I have a soap bud who’s made some beautiful funnel swirls. I’m pleased with it. This first picture is a cross-section of the soap, and you can really see the swirls in the block.

This shows the soap sliced into bars. No two soaps look exactly alike, but I somehow got a really good symmetry on this one, so you can definitely tell they’re all related. 🙂

These little gems will be ready by the end of the month, and the wait will be well worth it. Oakmoss Sandalwood is a sexy, masculine fragrance with an earthy, musky, fresh, green scent. It’s become my favorite masculine fragrance, and my five-year-old daughter has pronounced it “Yuuuuuummmmyyyyyy!” You can go ahead and put an order in for yours today with the understanding it’s back-ordered until it’s cured.

For a soapmaker who’d taken pretty much the entire month of December off from making soap, one of the simple pleasures in life includes getting back into the kitchen, making some more soap, restocking and getting ready for the Spring selling season, which could conceivably start in February, weather permitting. (Sometimes soapmaking is like lawncare, in that the seasons don’t always make good sense.)

Right now my goal is to restock those soaps I’ve sold out of. Generally, to be honest, making not-new stuff really isn’t that exciting, but I’ve had time to play, so that’s made it worthwhile. First, I soaped Ooh La La-vender, my goat’s milk and lavender soap. I have to be careful with some of my fragrances currently, so hubby’s been great about helping me out. One rule I maintain is, everyone who is in any way involved with making soap must wear the appropriate safety gear, including gloves and safety goggles. Peter, however, thinks my safety goggles look dorky, so I let him improvise.
Wouldn’t ya know it, lavender is one of those scents I have to be wary of, so he was helping me with Ooh La La-vender on this particular day. I made up the base soap and set up the color (ultramarine violet), then he came in, added the scent, mixed the color into part of the soap and poured it into the mould. This was his first time attempting a swirl of any kind, and I could only instruct from afar, so he was almost on his own. Friday night we sliced the loaf, and we were both thrilled at how beautifully our joint endeavor turned out.

Aren’t these awesome??? This is the third batch of this soap I’ve done, and the first time, my soap, the non-purple part, was orangish-brown from the goat’s milk having burned a little in the saponification process. The second batch was a bit better; the non-purple part was light tan. This, though… When I saw how creamy the goat’s milk part was, I was awed! I’m really excited to be offering these to you, and they’ll be ready for purchase at the end of January after they’ve finished curing. Of course, they smell FaNtAsTiC! There’s a lavender-scented aura around my curing rack that captures our noses every time we walk past it.

It’s a new year, just ripe for new products! Happy New Year, folks! Here are a couple of the new treats I have ready for you.

First, there’s Ocean, a bright, crisp unisex soap that’s just as nourishing for your skin as it is stimulating for your senses. This soap features a white, blue and green funnel swirl and no two are exactly alike.

Then there’s this gem of the desert – Desert Sands, a warm, earthy, exotic, sensual blend of essential and fragrance oils, exclusive to Sara’s Soaps ‘n Such. Top notes of vanilla and sandalwood give way to bottom notes of patchouli and ylang ylang – very much a delicious, masculine scent. Now for the soap itself… A luxurious blend of nourishing, moisturizing oils that will be a treat for even winter-dry skin.

Check them out today! You won’t be sorry!

Ahhhhhh, who doesn’t like hearing those words? After talking to my soapbud, Shawna, last night, hearing about her plans for her business this year and realizing that I have no real plans for mine (as of yet, though I acknowledge that can and will change), I started thinking about what products I wanted to highlight and which ones I wanted to get rid of. With a hopeful, possible move in the next six months or so, I definitely want to scale down the lagging portion of my inventory and get rid of some scents.

So, the first thing I decided to do was to mark down some of my handcasted soaps. Right now for a limited time, two-tone swirled soaps are 25% off. I’m also discounting my Just Plain Soaps (the glycerin ones), 25% off. Quantities on these are limited, so I recommend using the “Contact Us” link and either calling or emailing me to verify the quantity of your chosen soap that’s in stock. However, they’ll be like Christmas snow (remember this from “Frosty the Snowman”?) – these scents won’t be gone for good. They’ll be back in handmade soaps, brilliantly scented, most with lovely colors or swirls and still just as functional, only of a much higher quality.

I’ve also discounted a few of my holiday soaps, including Apple Jack soap, Christmas Spice soap and Hanukkah soap (also appropriate for other Jewish holidays, as well as just a general appreciation for Jewish culture). Also on sale, my goat’s milk lotion in Christmas scents. If you’ve ever tried the Nutcracker scent and loved it, – or maybe have wanted to try it – now’s the time to pick some up. My supplier has discontinued that scent (to my utter and cOmPlEtE disappointment), so when I run out of it, I won’t be able to get any more. Well, I’m sure they’ll let me buy the 50-gallon drum of the scent on a special order, but where in the world would I store it??? I guess I could put it where the kitchen table is and place a piece of plywood on top and let it double as our kitchen table. I’m not so sure my husband would groove with that, though.

Shop happy, and look for new products to come in the next few months. Looks like I’ll be filling that new curing rack sooner than even I had anticipated.

Well, Christmas is very nearly here. The trees are trimmed, the stockings are hung and the presents are wrapped… sort of. This is the day when those in my household are scurrying through the house, furtively clutching bags to our chests, hoping others don’t see them. There are the hollers, “Honey, where are you?” “Up here.” “OK, stay there.” Bags and receipts are quickly stashed under furniture (thank goodness for skirts on chairs!), to be put in a better place at the first good opportunity.

Hot spiced cider is meditating in the slow cooker on the kitchen counter. Fresh-baked cookies are waiting to be set out on a plate for Santa. Christmas music plays on the radio, leading to impromptu singing and dancing as we enjoy the day. Later, my daughter and I will be baking coconut cakes for tomorrow, and I’m sure my husband will take maximum advantage of our distraction.

Then, tonight, things will slow down considerably. After dinner, we’ll head out to the local Moravian church for their Christmas Eve Lovefeast service, something I’ve wanted to experience for several years. We’ll enjoy koinonia (Christian fellowship), agape (Christian love) and that sense of being kindred, as we enjoy music and the opportunity just to stop… and reflect and meditate on the true meaning of Christmas. Afterwards, the Princess will be asleep, and Hubby and I will put in “It’s a Wonderful Life” (his favorite holiday movie) as we assemble Santa gifts.

Then we will go to bed, warm, comfortable, snuggled in each other’s arms, trying to grab as much sleep as possible before we hear “Mommy, did Santa come last night?” And in the warm, quiet night as we drift off, I’ll remember a night – just as cold, if not colder – more than 2,000 years ago, when a young new mother had only a feeding trough in which to lay her newborn son, and there was no escaping the drafts of cold wind creeping through the stable. There was little sleep to be had that night, as animals lowed and stirred and shepherds came calling, telling her and her husband what they knew: “Unto you is born this day, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

Merry Christmas, everyone! Peace on Earth, and goodwill to all people.

I’m happy to say that the Coffee Break sets are all ready to go! These took a lot longer than expected to cure, but the results are very well worth it; I’m quite pleased with how they turned out. Each set features a coffee-scented soap with a cream “swirl” in a coffee cup and two slices (approximately 3 ounces each) of Cinnamon Coffee Cake scented soap. They come in two sizes, small and large.

The small Coffee Break set includes 6 ounces of Coffee Soap and two 3-ounce slices of Cinnamon Coffee Cake. They sell for $15.00 each.

The larger size comes with 8 ounces of Coffee soap (2 4-ounce bars, sliced across) and two 3-ounce slices of Cinnamon Coffee Cake soap. These sell for $20.00 each.

No two Coffee Cup soaps are completely identical; each has a slightly different swirl pattern. Quantities are limited on these. I have 2 small sets and 3 large sets, so if you have a coffee lover on your list, now’s the time to snatch these up!

They will be posted to my website later today.

There are some luxuries in life that are not to be missed. At the same time, there are some lovely luxuries that are rather necessary. Soap, for example… We have to have soap to get clean. It bonds with the dirt and germs on skin and washes down the drain.

Well, some products are just pure luxuries, like the joy of enjoying a relaxing bath. Just think of it. It’s cold outside with winds and snow over much of the country. Christmas is next week, and you might be frazzled with holiday parties, shopping and meal planning. So, you just need a few minutes, a 30-minute vacation, a little time to yourself away from to-do lists, demands and commitments. Tub teas are a fantastic way to enjoy the aromatherapeutic, greatly beneficial tub bath. Ooh La La-vender is my personal favorite, though they’re all divine.

Then there’s the rest of the pleasure. It’s so simple, really. Wouldn’t it be so wondrous to have an array of votive candles around the bathroom, providing golden, ambient, delightfully fragrant light?

Check out LKay Creations for all your candle needs. Linda is the owner, and she’s got an amazing array of scents available and makes only pure soy candles and tarts. Soy burns cleaner and has a fantastic scent throw. She does provide free scent samples to help you decide which luscious scent would be best for you. I chose a Spiced Cranberry candle, Water Blossom Ivy tarts and Summer Night tarts to give as Christmas gifts, and I have been very pleased with the service and the quality of the products. Even better, candles are those little luxuries that can become quite necessary when the power goes out.

So, enjoy a bit of luxury, a bit of relaxation, a bit of “me time” to help you unwind and recapture the true spirit of Christmas.

I have Google Analytics on my website, which helps me track how many hits my website gets each day. I didn’t hit my site yesterday, nor did I have any maintenance to do on it. When I checked my Analytics this morning, I was shocked to see that my site had no hits yesterday! This never happens! I was checking on something for a local phone customer/friend on my website this afternoon, only to discover that an element had crashed, bringing the whole site down with it! Ack! Usually, website maintenance takes a few hours – 3 hours and 55 minutes to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it (with a combination of the Zen Cart FAQs section, the ZC forums and my ZC manual) – then 5 minutes to fix it and check it. I was tired this afternoon and really didn’t want to deal with it while my daughter was napping; I wanted to take advantage of the quiet and the grey, cold, rainy day. However, as soon as I woke up, I tackled the issue and was pleasantly surprised that the whole fix only took about ten or fifteen minutes. I’m happy to say that the website is completely fixed and back to being operational.

In another embarrassing moment, I was getting an order ready for a customer and discovered I’m out of Black Cat (Perfect Pumpkin scent) soaps. So, I’m calling these “out of stock,” but if your heart is set on this soap, it doesn’t take long to make it.

To my loyal customers and site visitors, I’m sorry for the inconvenience. All is not lost, and there’s still two days left to get orders in for Christmas delivery.