Ember

Do you think she's pregnant?  Due March 23, 2016

The soap from last weekend has been cut.  Now, we let it cure for 4 to 6 weeks.  Most of the time, I try to avoid the gel phase in my soaps because when using goat milk, the gel phase causes the soap to become a dark orange color.  Gel or not gel does not affect the quality of the soap, it only affects the color and length of time it needs to cure into a hard bar.  Not gelling is initially a softer bar and takes more time to cure in order to evaporate the water in the bar.  The method I've been using to avoid scorching the milk and preventing the gel phase is as follows.  First, the goat milk is frozen in ice cube trays and small 8 ounce baggies.  The lye is added gradually to the frozen milk, stirring as it thaws.  Once the oils and lye/ milk mixture are combined, blended and poured into the molds, I place it in the freezer for several hours.  Certain additives such as honey and some essential oils will accelerate the heat.  I purposely allowed the wine and cocoa soap to gel since it had a lesser amount of milk and using the wine made it very hot.  The other three, however, were put into the freezer hoping to preserve a lighter color.  Chopped dried Chamomile was added to one for a yellow color, and the oat and honey recipe contains, of course, honey, adding to the darker color.  I was not happy to discover  both of these gelled in the center in spite of my freezing efforts.  The soaps are still fine, but they will have a darker circle in the center.  I'm anxious to see how they will all look after several weeks of drying.

Pink Elegance - Goat milk, olive oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter, palm oil, rice bran, avocado oil and castor oil, sodium hydroxide, Rose clay, bentonite clay, activated charcoal, titanium oxide, Scented with Grapefruit and Patchouli essential oil

White Zin and Chocolate - white zinfandel, goat milk, coconut oil, canola oil, shea butter, grapeseed oil, cocoa butter, castor oil, sodium hydroxide, and cocoa powder.

Oats, milk and honey - Goat milk, coconut oil, lard, olive oil, avocado oil, shea butter, castor oil, sodium hydroxide, honey, chopped oats, oat milk and honey fragrance

Chamomile - whey from goat milk, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, shea butter, babassu oil, sodium hydroxide, dried chamomile