S.O.A.P Mystery Fragrance No. 1

   Hi guys! I finally made my first test batch a few days ago and now that has discolored some I thought I should share my results y'all. By no means has the soap reached its final color, I will do another post when I am done with all the scent and they have cured, Any way now on to the fun part! I will be testing all the fragrances the same way, short, sweet and to the point. Today I am doing mystery fragrance #1 and to refresh your memory here were my initial thoughts "It is a very sweet bakery type scent, I get a hint of vanilla. Maybe its a vanilla cake type scent?"

The color of the fragrance oil is, as you can see, a light golden color. I originally assumed it would change the batter color yellow. I used it it at .5 onces per pound of soap, and you will see how it turned out in a second.

     For all the test batches I am using the same recipe. To make the process go faster I am using Bramble Berry's basic quick mix oils. I am doing a simple one pound batch (I think I will put the recipe in my final round up post). This fragrance soaped wonderfully! It did not speed up but it did turn the soap a nice pink!

the soaps color in the pot

    I put most of the soap into my one pound silicone loaf mold and did a color coordinated mica-oil swirl (Black= mystery fragrance #1) and wrapped it up to gel. The last little bit I put into a seasonal pumpkin mold and set it aside to see how the fragrance acted in non-gelled soaps.

In the mold right after pour

     Two days after the cutting and I am now ready to judge the scent and share with you what I think of the scent now that is is in the soap! I still get the sweetness and a now thinking it is a butter cream frosting type scent, with maybe an under note of a really light spice? *update* I now am thinking it is snicker doodle! Like all the scents it smells so familiar it is just so hard to figure out what it reminds you of, I just thought of another thing it could be, a cake maybe? I don't know but I like it more now that it is soaped but still it is a food/bakery scent (the one thing I am 100% sure it is) and they aren't my favorite scent family so it still isn't my favorite.  Soaping wise and for other people I am sure It is great!

bars are gelled pumpkin is not gelled

     These are only three days out so I am sure they will discolor more but I will keep you updated, probably after they are all cured and I round them up!

Thanks for stopping by happy soaping!

S.O.A.P Fragrances First Impressions

     

     This morning to my surprise I got my S.O.A.P Panel mystery fragrances in today! It was wrapped in yellow tissue paper with the S.O.A.P logo. The package was completed with a Soap Queen notepad that excited me a little to much. For my first installment of my SOAP series I am just giving y'all my first impression and my which are my favorite by ranking them from 1-8 1 being my favorite and 8 being my least favorite. I will try to feature a post on each scent as they are made and a cumulative post at the end with all my findings. Sadly I have to wait for my lye and oils to come in before I start but as soon as they are here I will start soaping! 

• Mystery Fragrance #1- It is a very sweet bakery type scent, I get a hint of vanilla. Maybe its a vanilla cake type scent? Ranking-8
• Mystery Fragrance #2- Christmas. That was the first thing I thought when I opened it. This smells like a christmas tree yard it is one of my favorite FOs of this batch. Ranking-2
• Mystery Fragrance #3-This is a fairly heavy floral I am thinking ylang ylang with some other underlying floral/herbal notes. Ranking-3
• Mystery Fragrance #4- It smells like a tart candy. I think it smells like chewy sweetarts or maybe a cherry or strawberry laffy taffies. Ranking-6
• Mystery Fragrance #5- It smell reminiscent of a forest floor. It has some green musky and maybe some earthy spices. To finish it off it may have some dewy, moist soil. Ranking-5
• Mystery Fragrance #6- Very manly. It is similar to #5, but less sweet (even though 5 wasn't sweet). The main note is SO familiar but I cannot place it! Maybe it is similar to tobacco and bay leaf, but what ever it is I like it. Ranking-4
• Mystery Fragrance #7- This also has a candy type smell to it. It reminds me of a strawberry baby bottle pop, remember those things?  it has been ages since I had one but this scent just made me think of them. Ranking-7
• Mystery Fragrance #8- My favorite scent! I am 90% sure it is grapefruit an its amazing 'nuff said. Ranking-1

Thanks for stopping by and look out for my testing, it should start this coming week!

I'm a S.O.A.P panelist!!

 I was chosen! I am so excited and I can't wait to get the FOs!!! I am so honored and my fellow panelists look super talented and great. I should be getting my package in the mail by the 16th and will share my first impression as soon as I get it. Finally I am open to any suggestions on how to test them I already have a good idea on how I will do so but any ideas would help me 1,000,000%! here in the link to my original post on the S.O.A.P panel and the SoapQueen post with the links to the 7 other panelists.

Thanks for reading and happy soaping!

Wine Soap- Spring Soap Crafting Club Part III

     Hey y'all! Sorry I haven't Posted in a while but I just finished my second week of school and to say it has been a big adjustment would be an understatement. And yes I am very behind with the soap crafting club, I already have two unmade summer SCC in my soaping room but I just signed up for new designs not for the private message board thing.

     The last installment of the Soap Crafting Club was a wine twist soap. It was scented with wine berry fragrance which was a bit sweet for me and sped up a little bit but besides the it all went according to plan. I used some old, past its prime red wine made by my grandfather (love him but the wine is usually not good... at all) so no fine wine was killed in the process. Before mixing the lye with  the wine I boiled it down then froze it in a plastic bag and then crushed it up into manageable chunks.

    The design itself was pretty basic, in the vertical loaf mold (with divider in) I poured the red on one side and white, well more of a beige, on the other side. Then before I took the divider out I twirled it 180 ̊ and pulled it out. My only issue was my batter got thick a bit to fast so the swirl wasn't as crisp as I wanted.

     As you can see I got glycerin rivers all though out and the circles aren't centered but besides that I like the results and will try this technique again!

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!!

...and happy birthday to my little Bee, who has had more than her share of experiences in her first year