Things Don't Always Go As Planned

Last week's soaps are out of the mold, cut, and curing. I was very pleased with both batches that I made. Yes, I made two batches last week. In addition to the no coconut, whipping cream soap, I also made a batch of one of our perennial favourites, Java Jumpstart.

Of all the times I've made the Java Jumpstart, I think I'm most happy with this particular batch. I think I've got the ratio better this time than I have in the past. Normally, I've used close to half and half for the plain section vs the coloured section. This time, it was more like 2/3:1/3. I could go even less for the coffee section, I think. 

And here is the perfectly named, Alabaster Cream soap, made with whipping cream as one of the oils. Thanks go out to one of my long distance friends, Shirley, for the name. It's absolutely perfect and, as a thank you, I'll be sending her a bar once the soap has finished curing. 

All day yesterday and this morning, a soap inspiration was swirling around in my mind. I even had a name picked out, Ice Queen. I was envisioning a pale blue soap, with white swirls twining through the blue, topped with swirls of white and blue and highlighted with blue-dyed rock salt and opalescent glitter. I planned out the soap recipe, using a tried and true blend of oils that included coconut oil, olive oil, lard and tallow, the scent (once again, lemongrass, lavender, and peppermint... so fresh and cool), the colours. And I made my soap.

Except, it didn't quite turn out as planned. 

Um, yeah, the blue turned pink! I really couldn't use the pretty blue salt I'd prepared; it really just would not look right, you know? After some quick thinking, I dug out the bag of pink Himalayan rock salt I had tucked away for use in bath teas and sprinkled some on top of the soap. The glitter gave it a sparkly finish. Even though I'm a little disappointed that it didn't quite turn out the way I expected it to, I'm still very happy with how this soap turned out. 

Plus, it gives me an excuse to try again.