September 2017 | Camouflage | KCK Soapery

The hubby is getting low on his camouflage soap. So here is another batch to make sure he does not run out of his supply!

Coconut oil, Olive oil, Rice Bran oil, Palm oil, Mango butter, and Castor oil.

Adding lye (sodium hydroxide or others call it alkali).  Lye is the agent added to the oils and butters to make saponification possible. Without lye, there is no soap to be made. 

Others do use melt and pour soap (I use it too for design purposes).  Some don't use lye, instead, they melt the pre-made soap, add colorants, fragrance and pour it on a mold then call the soap "no lye soap".

Look at the texture of the oils and butters as it emulsifies. I love this part of soap making. It just feels like making cake batter.

Poured the above soap batter into four containers with green, brown, black and white. Activated charcoal for black, titanium dioxide for white and green and brown mica.

Dropping the colors alternately by spoonfuls.

My nine year old asked to helped and she did most of the spoon dropping of the colored batter into the mold.

This is one design I always have in stock. I don't want to let my number one customer run out of his supply.

Thanks for stopping by!

September 2017 | Satsuma | KCK Soapery

Scented with "Satsuma" fragrance oil which is described to be a burst of mandarin orange.

Colors used were titanium dioxide for white, a mixture of red and yellow mica for orange and green mica.  Titanium Dioxide is a natural whitening agent found in almost anything white.  Micas are use in cosmetics.

Blending lye with Coconut oil, Olive oil, Rice Bran oil, Palm oil, Mango butter, and Castor oil.

Main batter was colored white.

Green was dropped in to the pot at 4 different places of the white.

Gave the pot a little swirl.

Poured the green and white swirl into the mold.

Made lines of orange and green on top.

Drew lines from one end to the other using chopstick.

I like the way wet soap looks.

Off the mold.

This is how soaping is when everything turned out as expected.

Happy Soaping everyone!

Thank you for dropping by!

September 2017 | Christmas Gift | KCK Soapery

A friend at work wanted to be ready for Christmas. This was what I came up with. I hope "J" and the recipients will like them as much as I love making soap.

These gifts were made with melt and pour soap.

Oils added were Coconut oil, Olive oil, Rice Bran oil, Palm oil, Shea butter, and Castor oil. Scented with Mistletoe and Ivy fragrance oil and a hint of Peppermint essential oil.

Red mica and titanium dioxide for white.  

Blending the oils, butter and lye solution.

Poured the white base.

Poured the red in the middle at different heights.

Made two more lines on the sides.

Made the swirl using chopstick.

Added the gifts.

I am pleased by the result of this batch.  Everything turned out just as expected.  

Hope you guys like these bars.

Thank you for stopping by!

Enjoy!

September 2017 | Tarragon and Bergamot | KCK Soapery

This batch end up being a huge fail.  Every slice just crumbles the bars but I had to finish or toss it out which is a waste since I know I put in good oils and butters into the batch. I might have soaped at the wrong temperature or measured something wrong. I will definitely try to redo this batch using the same ingredients. If it happens again the second time, I will have to blame the fragrance oil. Some fragrance oil reacts strongly during soaping process.

Oils of Coconut, Olive, Rice Bran, Palm, Shea Butter, and Mango Butter. I was excited to use two butters and had used this recipe before.

Decided to just use green and white for this batch.

Emulsifying with lye and added fragrance oil.

Poured the base.

Poured a middle line of green.

Added two more lines on both sides.

Made a swirl with chopstick.

Came out of the mold all cracked.

This could end up being a personal use unless you guys can suggest of any better use for a cracked soap.

Thank you very much for any suggestions.

Happy Soaping you all!

Thank you for stopping by!

September 2017 | Lavender Essential Oil | KCK Soapery

This batch was inspired by a family member who likes essential oils.  

I decided to make this very natural, no added colors or fragrance. Oils used were Olive Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, and Castor Oil.  I also used two butters, Shea Butter and Mango Butter and scented with Lavender Essential Oil.

I always love the look and feel of the oils and butters emulsifying.

Poured the batch onto the mold.  Just as natural, plain, and simple.

 I got an itch and just had to do some artsy stuff.  Using spoon, I gave the top some texture.

Added some lavender buds in the middle. The buds were added while the soap was still wet in the mold.

I forgot to take a picture of it.
This picture was taken after I unmolded the soap.

Some of the lavender buds are still just loosely attached and came off.  But I like the contrast it gave to the soap.

Thank you for stopping by!