"SOAPMEISTER" - The Soapmaking Adventures of Darren Welch

BOTTOM of MOLD   (nice and smooth) Created this batch just of soap not too long ago  (Apr. 6th - my birthday 😊) .   Wanted  to make a simple recipe, using two oils widely used in Africa  (shea butter and cocoa butter)   and well known for their moisturizing properties; thus the name,  "Simple African Moisture" (S. A. M.) . I knew this would be a rather small batch, using 3.88 oz  of each oil. So, I decided to use my round  "hockey puck"  mold.  I ended up with a very small amount of oil left over, so I poured it into a rectangular mold  (to use as a tester/sample) . Concerning the amount of water used for my lye solution, I decided to use only 25% water  (meaning 25% of the amount of total oils) .  I chose this percentage because I wanted a short amount of time for the soap to sit in the mold.....and I want the curing phase to be very quick/easy.  The more water in your soap, the l...

Some time last month (March/2020)   I created a small batch of soap, and decided to use lilac essential oil as a fragrance. These bars of soap are still in their "curing" phase, but today I used a small scrap of soap (leftover from the batch as a sample) to wash my hands.  It had a nice, clean scent; but to my surprise, it did not have an overly "feminine" smell to it.   Although the average man would probably not buy a bodywash or lotion that was scented with lilac; as a basic hand soap, this actually leans towards being "unisex".  The lilac essential oil in this soap causes it to smell good, without smelling "girly" .