Saturday, April 27, 2013

Cherry Soap


I had mentioned in this tutorial that pink soap with cherry fragrance was a best seller, so I thought I would snap a photo before I wrapped this soap up. I filled a 2lb soap tray and a few individual molds.
I think my flash went off, its a rainy Saturday here.


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Make Your Own Flower Water

 
 
 
So what is a flower water? A flower water is similar to a hydrosol, they both are distilled waters that contain essential oils. With a hydrosol, the water collected in the bottom of the still during the distillation of plants (this is how most essential oils are made) is collected and sold as a hydrosol. This water contains some of the oil that is distilled from the plant or petals and the oil is all through the water. You don't have to shake the hydrosol to mix the oil in every time you use it.
 
 
With a flower water, essential oil is added to distilled water. Commercial flower waters often contain other ingredients to emulsify the oil and water but we're taking home made today so the only other ingredient will be muscle power.
 
 
I generally like to buy a 4 litre jug of distilled water and pour a little bit out of the jug to create some  empty space, you need about 3 or 4 inches of empty space at the top of the jug.  Add 3 teaspoons (15ml) of essential oil, put the cap on the jug, and shake really hard for a minute or two. Once it settles, the oil is going to float back up to the top, so you need to shake it again every day for a month. If you use an essential  oil that has a colour, you'll see less and less oil floating on top of the water as time goes by. Once your flower water is ready, you can use it the way you would a hydrosol. Some ideas are as a toner, a natural linen spray or in a handmade cream or lotion. Of course not all flower waters are floral. Peppermint, Grapefruit, Orange  and Rosemary also make great Flower Waters - its just a common name and will mean not a hydrosol. If you want to keep if floral,  Lavender, Geranium and Ylang Ylang are good economical choices and, Rose is really nice but pricey.  You can bottle your water up in little spray bottles for a great gift, you'll have lots, or make a few different kinds with friends and trade. I hope you try it!


Friday, April 12, 2013

Goat Milk & Coloured Glycerin Soap

I get a lot of people in the store asking how I make this soap. I usually have a few different fragrances and colours at the counter, this green with Green Apple fragrance has been really popular. So has purple with Dewberry or Blackberry, pink with Cherry or Cotton Candy and red with Strawberry. I may have posted this tutorial before but I'm going to add a page (it will be on the right side of the blog), so folks don't have to go digging for it.