Soap and Botanicals - David

February 21, 2006

In a message dated 2/21/2006 9:10:14 AM Pacific Standard Time,

terralyn27 writes:

Namaste, Lynette, although not addressed to me, I have cut and pasted your

post and added it to my ever growing Word Pad file. Thank you so much! Blessed

Be! Kaye

> Hi Anita - I use powdered ginger, paprika, parsley, eucalyptus, sage, black

> walnut hulls, pink & green clay, lavender, alkanet root, sandalwood, & olive

> leaf in my cold process soaps. I add these to my essential oils and blend.

> Then, I add this mixture at trace. The more powdered the herb or spice, the

> less likely of it turning brown or black. My soaps can be many shades of

> green, orange hues, dark brown (intentionally). None have turned an ugly,

> unintended, unwanted color.

> Namaste, Lynette

> Terralyn - Bath, Body, Spirit

> Reading Terminal Market

> Philadelphia, PA

>

February 21, 2006

David,

I keep hearing (reading) that you put botanicals in soaps. Do you mean

infused in an oil, or straight (by themselves) in the soap at trace. If

so, how do you get them from going dark or black? The only one that I

know of that doesn't go dark or black, is calendula. Do you feel that

the benefits of the herbs outweigh the appearance? Most of my customers

buy by smell and appearance...if they see brown/black spots, it puts

them off.

Anita in TX

February 21, 2006

Hi Anita - I use powdered ginger, paprika, parsley, eucalyptus, sage, black

walnut hulls, pink & green clay, lavender, alkanet root, sandalwood, & olive

leaf in my cold process soaps. I add these to my essential oils and blend.

Then, I add this mixture at trace. The more powdered the herb or spice, the

less likely of it turning brown or black. My soaps can be many shades of green,

orange hues, dark brown (intentionally). None have turned an ugly, unintended,

unwanted color.

Namaste, Lynette

Terralyn - Bath, Body, Spirit

Reading Terminal Market

Philadelphia, PA

February 22, 2006

Anita, I’ve used herbs in many of my soaps since the beginning. There are

several ways I use them. One is to powder them and add at trace. One is to

infuse them into oil. And another is by using a decoction in place of plain

water. Sometimes I use more than one method with a single batch. When I

add powdered herbs, most of the tiny flecks wind up dark. Herbs that are

used as colorants are often prone to pH sensitivity, especially those in the

red-to-blue range. The greens and yellows are more stable. For this reason

I use colorants sparingly. All the same, I’ve been trying for a reliable

pink, lavender and aqua for a long, long time.

As far as the benefits outweighing the appearance… I decided early on that

the niche I would seek would be soaps that were all-natural, and I decided I

would push the soap’s qualities rather than its appearance or scent. That

doesn’t mean I don’t try to make pretty, nice-smelling soap. People have

always told me that customers only buy soap by perfume and visual appeal,

but I’ve made that a secondary concern. So far I’ve been able to find a

ready market for my soaps, and people stand in line to get some of them.

I think that even within our little marketplace there are different kinds of

consumers. Some lean toward the more decorative soaps. Some are really

concerned with all-natural ingredients. I think there’s a place for

everyone, and endless ways to be creative with soap.

Dave

David,

I keep hearing (reading) that you put botanicals in soaps. Do you mean

infused in an oil, or straight (by themselves) in the soap at trace. If

so, how do you get them from going dark or black? The only one that I

know of that doesn't go dark or black, is calendula. Do you feel that

the benefits of the herbs outweigh the appearance? Most of my customers

buy by smell and appearance...if they see brown/black spots, it puts

them off.

Anita in TX

February 22, 2006

>That doesn’t mean I don’t try to make pretty, nice-smelling soap

Yesterday I made about three pounds of soap, my first experiment with flax

seed oil. I used olive oil that I'd infused with calendula flowers, and

also added powdered calendula, chamomile and orange peel. I also removed

about 2 oz. of the oils and heated it with some freshly cracked annatto

seeds until it turned deep yellow, and strained it back into the pot before

adding my lye mixture. At the end I added shea butter and jojoba oil, and

only 60 drops of essential oils - lemongrass, patchouli and peppermint.

I don't have this soap out of the mold yet, but it is gonna be pretty. It's

a nice sunny yellow, and the smell is really nice.

Dave

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February 22, 2006

Ø Hi Anita - I use powdered ginger, paprika, parsley, eucalyptus,

sage, black

> walnut hulls, pink & green clay, lavender, alkanet root, sandalwood, & olive

> leaf in my cold process soaps. I add these to my essential oils and

blend.

> Then, I add this mixture at trace. The more powdered the herb or spice,

the

> less likely of it turning brown or black. My soaps can be many shades of

> green, orange hues, dark brown (intentionally). None have turned an ugly,

> unintended, unwanted color.

I’ve used most of those, and generally I add them the same way you do. The

colors that have morphed, predictably or unpredictably, have been the reds

(beetroot, alkanet) and blues (bilberry). I have a pretty good range of

yellows, oranges, browns and greens. With alkanet I have grey, although

that isn’t what I set out to do with it!

Dave

_____

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February 22, 2006

As usual Dave your soap sounds fantastic!!! You are just so creative!!! I love

that about you!!! I tend to think " in the box " & not out & am probably way to

conservative in my soapmaking! I need to branch out & be more creative! You

are my inspiration to do more of that when I read your latest soapmaking

exploits!! lol

Thanks!!!!!

hugs, donna

Donna Buchholz

Something Different Soap & Things

February 22, 2006

Your soap sounds lovely, Dave! How do you crack your annato seeds? This is

one I haven't worked with yet (I currently use virgin palm for yellow).

Thanks! :-)

Kelly

-

" David Lambert " <dlmbrt

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 11:42 PM

RE: Soap and Botanicals - David

I also removed

about 2 oz. of the oils and heated it with some freshly cracked annatto

seeds until it turned deep yellow, and strained it back into the pot before

adding my lye mixture.

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Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.0.0/266 - Release 2/21/2006

February 22, 2006

Anita & David,

Like Dave, my clients love the botanicals. The darkening of ground lavender

or peppermint leaves, or anything else doesn't seem to bother them at all.

Adding botanicals just seems to increase sales. It does depend on what your

customer is looking for. Living in California the buzz word is organic, and

that's what I use.

I've found infused alkanet root to be pretty stable for lavender. You'll get

some fading, but I haven't know it to go grey as most of the literature says. I

do HP soap though, you might get a different result with CP. I also want a pink

soap, so I'm infusing some powdered madder root. I infuse it in the sun, so

it'll be another couple of weeks before I can try it. I'll let you know how it

works out.

For me and my family, I use indigo for blue soap. I know you can't use that

colorant in products you sell, but I love the color, and it washes right off!

Tam

David Lambert <dlmbrt wrote: