The Other Soap

I had a lot of nice fragrances from the spring and summer sample kits that I couldn't use in my regular lye soap. It was a shame not to use them. Then I remembered I had all these slabs of glycerin soap leftover from the baby shower soap making fiasco.

 When I couldn't get the baby themed fragrances to work with regular old lye based soap I had to resort to this quick fix. You can make it and use it the same day.

 I use a mixture of coconut, buttermilk and goat's milk commercially made soap bases with grated honey, hemp and aloe bases mixed in for extra moisturizing and general yumminess.

 It's so easy to make. You just melt it all up in the microwave and pour it in the mold. That's why it's called melt and pour soap. A spritz of alcohol tames all the bubbles and helps the layers stick together. It's like magic.

What I love the most about making this kind of soap is the clean up. Unlike your lye based batter it can go right in the kitchen sink. Nothing is toxic. No goggles or respirators are needed.

 What I don't like about this soap is cutting it. It's not soft like my other soap so I can't use the wire cutter on it. I have to slice it and I am pretty terrible at cutting a straight line. They all end up a bit wonky.

Meet Pikake Flower. See all those bits of yummy honey, hemp and aloe floating around just waiting to burst into a silky lather? I have no idea what a Pikake is but it smells exotic and sweet at the same time-kinda like gardenia.

 This is Cherry Blossom and it's yummy. Very cherry.

Tropical Vacation smells like a fruity drink you would sip on the beach-the kind that has an umbrella in it.

 I had so much fun making them that now I have a box full of them.

I'll be offering them up on Sunday for the Spring Giveaway. This time for real. These bars are the same size as my regular soap. I used the same mold for them. They smell a bit stronger even though I used only half of the fragrance oil that I would use in a lye processed soap which is a quarter of the suggested amount. Since the lye doesn't burn anything off the fragrance always stays nice and crisp. I love this type of soap for summer. Without all the heavy butters it rinses cleaner which is something I really appreciate once it gets hot and humid.

All the glycerin soaps are wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then placed in a sealed bag. Unlike the lye soap, you don't want it to breathe until you are ready to use it. It will pull moisture out of the air and dew drops will show up all over it, especially if it's humid. That glycerin dew will make you feel nice and silky but you don't want it working its magic until you are ready so you have to keep it in a dry place.

If you'd like to try it but don't want to waste your soap pick on one of the big ones, you can try a small sample. I've got a ton of these leftover from different giveaways and events. I'll have all the details on Sunday. Stay tuned. For real this time.