New soap

It's been awhile since my last post. nearly a year. Oh well, I promise to post more often as of now :)

Recently I've been experimenting with some new soap recipes. This is my favourite part of soapmaking. I take my time to think about the oils I want to use. Researching their qualities. Then put my recipe in SoapCalc and play with quantities. I'm still trying to create a palm oil free soap, but till now didn't really have much time to concentrate on it. And finally last month I made a tester batch of soap which i'm really happy about. I've used Cocoa Butter and Hemp seed oil, which add conditioning properties to the soap and Castor oil for a lovely lather. Untill now, I have never used colourants in my soap. But I've decided to give mineral clays a go. So I've added some Yellow clay to this batch, which is great for normal and oily skin.

New Ylang-Ylang & Lavender soap with Hemp seed oil and Yellow clay

I've also tried new blend of essential oils which surprisingly I loved a lot. I have never been a fan of Ylang-Ylang essential oil (too heavy for me). But in combination with my favourite Lavender and refreshing Mandarin, it turned out to be a very nice scent. I'm going to make my full size batch of this new soap this month and see what my customers think. Hopefully they will like it as I do.

New Moisturising oil

So excited to introduce my new product - Moisturising facial oil. Took me so long to create it. Trying  out different plant oils, on its own first and then in different combinations, until I was happy with the result. End finally I've got it right! It turned out just amazing. It's light and not greasy yet nourishing and moisturising - just what you need :). Will go into more details about ingredients. All natural plant oils. I was looking for hydrating and moisturising qualities in oils that would be easily absorbed by the skin, leaving it soft hydrated and supple.

Avocado oil - It is used when the skin is dry, tired and lacks lustre, as the oil gives shine and lustre to any skin - See more at: 
Apricot Kernel oil - It enhances skin elasticity and has a soft and smooth quality on the skin
Jojoba oil - An excellent oil for protecting the skin from water, wind, dirt, cold and all kinds of weather conditions. The excellent level of protection is due to the fact Jojoba is actually a liquid wax and that wax forms a transparent, protective film on the skin, which stops the transepidermal water loss.
Watermelon oil - provides nourishing moisture without clogging the pores, which makes it an excellent choice for balancing the skin. The array of potent vitamins and minerals contained in the oil feed the skin and help it to flourish. 

For essential oils I've chosen
Palmarosa - which has excellent skin care properties as it moisturises the skin and balances hydration levels. It balances sebum production so useful for all skin types and keeps the skin supple and flexible
And Lavender - my personal favourite which has really long list of beneficial properties. It is great for sensitive skin and for minor irritations.I hope my customers will like it :)

I hope my customers will like it :)

Lavender fields

Yesterday started not really good, but worked out being a wonderful day. We accidentally drove passed a lavender farm, and being an absolute lavender addict I couldn't  not to pop in. Even the lavender wasn't in full bloom the filed still looked standing. We picked two bags of the fragrant herb and now my house smells amazing.

Lavender is very versatile and I love using it in my handmade products :)

New products

Our new Aromatherapy Bath salts and Bath Truffles are now available on our website http://zestysoap.co.uk/ and our Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ZestySoap

Our Bath Salt is a luxurious blend of mineral rich Dead Sea Salt and detoxifying Epsom Salt scented with pure essential oils.

Dead Sea Salt revitalises the skin and helps to draw out toxins. It is well known for its ability to relieve aches and pains, reduce stiffness after exertion, relax the muscles and relieve skin problems.

Epsom Salt can soothe and relax muscle pains, draw toxins from the body, sedate the nervous system, reduce swelling and bruising. It can also help improve circulation.

 

Our bath truffles are made with soothing Epsom Salt and a combination of nourishing and moisturising cocoa and shea butters. Infused with essential oils these bath truffles are a real treat for your skin. 

Nourishing Whipped Butter

It was my first attempt in making whipped butter, and I absolutely loved it. It is really easy to make and I am very pleased with the result. I wanted to make rich and nourishing butter for very dry skin on my feet, so I've chosen to use Mango butter and Avocado oil. Why? 

Mango butter is an excellent emollient. It has regenerative properties and helps speed up wound healing. It is perfect for dry, damaged, irritated and mature skin types. It contains triterpenes, which help protect the skin against environmental damage.

Avocado oil is a mild, nourishing, semi-fatty oil, rich in vitamins. It is used when the skin is dry, tired and lacks lustre. The oil spreads well and is excellent in massage oils for mature and dry skin.

I've added my favourite essential oils - Tea Tree and Lavender which  both have antiseptic and healing properties thus perfect for foot butters.

How to make Whipped butter

You will need:

Mango butter 80 grams

Avocado oil 19 grams

Essential oils 1 grams

Note: I recommend this recipe for very rich and nourishing butter, but you can chose any other combination of butters and oils, depending on how rich or light you prefer you whipped butter to be. It's great time to experiment and try different combinations until you find what works for you.

How to guide

1. Weight 80 grams of butter.

2. Melt it using "Bain Marie" or in a microwave.

3. Weight out 19 grams of oil and add it to your melted mango butter.

4. Put the jug in a freezer for a couple of minutes until butter looks creamy and starts forming crust on top.

5. Take it out of the freezer, add essential oils and start whipping.

6. Whip it until it doubles in size.

Put it in a container and enjoy!

                  

                                            

Bath Salts

Finally new supplies turned up this week and I quickly made some new bath salts, product I was thinking and researching for a while. So here they are! Packed with minerals rich Dead Sea salt and Epsom Salt and scented with pure essential oils. Relaxing Lavender and revitalising blend of Eucalyptus and cedarwood (I hope our male customers will love this one).

Market Stall

Our stall at Cambridge Market. Come and see us every Saturday at All Saints Craft Market

Candle melts

New Candle melts are now available on our website www.zestysoap.co.uk and our Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ZestySoap
Made from natural Eco Soy Wax and pure essential oils these melts are just wonderful. They are great alternative to candles and you can mix and match scents to create your own personal aroma blends.

Recent experiments

Mineral soap bar with Sea Salt and Fuller's Earth

Recently I have been really busy, making 6 batches of soap nearly every day after work and on weekends. So I didn't have much time to research and experiment with new soaps for next year. I have in mind 4 new soaps I want to bring out for next February, and I've already started working on them,  researching new ingredients and playing with soap calculator every spear min, but I still  not very happy with the end result, though I'm very pleased with their look.

Facial Soap Bar with Pink Clay

But new soaps are not the only new product I'm working on. I wasn't always happy with bought moisturizers and skin care products so I finally got my hands on some lovely skin care oils with intention to create a serum. I've spent a fair amount of time researching their properties and finally 2 weeks ago I've started testing them on my skin. It's a long process, I'm testing them one by one, each for a week, before I can start mixing them together. I already have my favourite, in 5 days this amazing oil made my skin looking better, so looking forward to creating something that will suit my skin and will have such amazing ingredients.

Christmas rush has started

With Xmas fast approaching (yes, only 93 days left) we've been very busy keeping up with increasing demand. New soap moulds and rack are made and the new Christmas range is almost ready. This year I've come up with 3 new soaps for festive season: Pine & Juniper - fresh and crisp like a gulp of frosty winter air; Frankincense & Myrrh - warm and smoky and Nutmeg & Tangerine - spicy and tangy, smells like Xmas bakery. They are curing now and will be available in mid October. This is a little preview.

Autumn Fair

Had a wonderful trade show in Birmingham NEC. Met so many lovely people, had a fantastic feedback. Can't wait to stock our soaps in so many new lovely shops. No time for a break though need to get on making more soap.

New favourite

I am in love with my Sea Salt Bar. It's just amazing!!! It lathers up really nice and its lather is so wonderful, gentle, lotion like. It leaves my skin so soft, smooth and toned, like after a swim in the sea. Scent (a combination of eucalyptus and cedarwood essential oils) really suits this bar,  it smells like the sea, so fresh, salty and warm. The time I spend in the shower has increased significantly, I just cannot get enough of it :).

Busy busy busy

We have been very busy recently making soap ready for peak season. Our spare bedroom is slowly turning into soap warehouse

Cook's Coffee Soap

I'm so pleased with my new creation so I think this bar will make it to my range. It's very hard bar with fair amount of coconut oil in it to help to wash off grease from the hands and ground coffee for scrubbing effect. It's scented with coffee and clove which will help to get rid off nasty smells of garlic and onions. It has lovely fluffy lather and gentle to hands.

Shampoo - 2 weeks

So I've been using my shampoo bar for 14 days now. And I'm starting to like it. At first my hair felt sticky and didn't look very fresh and shiny. But with every wash it was getting better and better. It's definitely more manageable and looks healthier now. But  I think this particular recipe needed some tweaking so I've already have my new improved shampoo bar ready to try next week.

Shampoo Bar

About 3 months ago one of our customers suggested we come up with a Shampoo bar. Since then I've been reading a lot about soap shampoo bars and finally 2 weeks ago I formulated and made a tester batch of my first shampoo. But because I'm so inpatient the very next day I've made the same batch using Hot Process method. I'm not a big fan if HP and very rarely use it so I didn't really knew what to expect, the soap came up all right but on a soft side. I let it sit and cure for 2 weeks and finally tried it yesterday. I was very pleased with lather - it's enormous, fluffy at first but then turns into dense, creamy, mousse like lather. As I expected (from reading a lot about switching to handmade shampoo bars) my hair feels a bit different, it doesn't have volume I get from commercial shampoos. But as I know you need to give your hair 14 days to adjust. I will keep updating you.

My First Shampoo Bar (with nettle infusion and a blend of
rosemary and lavender essential oils)

Perfect Saturday morning

I enjoy my Saturdays a lot. It's the only day I can dedicate to my soaping experiments, formulating and researching. And quiet sunny Mornings are the best. I can get my thoughts together and plan my day while sipping coffee and eating bagel

New creation

Have been experimenting with shampoo bars recently. Two new creations are on the curing rack - CP with essential oils of Lavender, Rose Geranium and Ylang-Ylang and HP with nettle infusion, Rosemary, Lavender and Tea Tree. Can't wait to try them. (And will definitely post pictures later). Also I've decided to try out clays in soap (never used any colours) but this pink clay looks amazing, will see how this soap will turn out in 4 weeks time. French Pink Clay has a softening and toning effect on the skin making it ideal all skin types and particularly for mature skins. I've tried new blend of essential oils which will compliment these properties - Ho Wood, Palmarosa and Cedarwood. This should be a very nice facial soap.

Olive Oil, Almond Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter,
Castor Oil, Pink Clay, Ho Wood,  Palmarosa, Cedarwood

UPD: Thought I will post a picture after each week of curing to compare a colour

Sea Salt Bar

I have been  busy this weekend, attempting liquid soap, but unfortunately no luck so far :(. But I've also made my first sea salt bar. Read so many nice things about salt soap (especially here www.thesoapbar.blogspot.co.uk) so wanted to try it myself. It looks as really hard bar, like a smooth stone. I've also experimented with scent,it is a combination of Cedarwood and Eucalyptus essential oils. So far I like it. Will see how it will be after 4 weeks of curing.

Nice pics

Thought I would share some pictures of our soap samples.