Sandwich Cookie Soap

Do you like Oreos?  I have always loved Oreos.  After all, what’s not to love?  Instead of buying and eating a whole bag of sandwich cookies, I decided to make some chocolate sandwich cookie soap.  They are the same size as a typical sandwich cookie, which makes them a great size for big and little hands alike. 

They have a nice chocolate/vanilla sandwich cookie smell.  The jury is still out on whether they will squelch my cookie cravings.  I’m afraid I might just take a bite of a soap cookie one of these days!

I had a bit of a scare one day when I only saw two soap cookies on the plate instead of three.  I thought, "Oh no!  What if someone ate a soap cookie (like me in my sleep)!"  Fortunately, no one had.  There just was a cookie out of my line of site.  Whew!

Soap Therapy

Today I had a bit of soap therapy.  By that I mean I got to make soap.  My favorite soap to make is the soap from scratch.  It’s so much fun to make, but it’s hard to wait the three or four weeks until it’s ready.  I had a heyday today and made three different kinds! 

I made clove soap because I’m almost out, and it’s my go-to soap that I always keep in the shower.  Then I made a batch of lilac.  It’s another one that I love, and I try to always have it on hand.  The lilac smell is just like spring lilacs in bloom.  The third batch I made was a first timer.  I love the At the Lodge fragrance, and regularly have soy waffles in that fragrance melting in my wax warmers.  I’m anxious to see how it turns out!

Candy Corn Glycerin Soap

Glycerin soap is so fun to work with because of its versatility.  I also enjoy it because I get so much feedback from people who have used it and can tell an improvement in their skin from the start.  I have wanted to make candy corn soap for quite some time, but until now didn’t get the timing right.  I finally time it during the fall season!  It was fun (and slightly challenging) to get the colors to look realistic.  I am really happy with how it looks and smells.  I made a full size loaf and a sample loaf then cut them into individual bars.  Now they are all wrapped, labeled and ready to go.  The smell delicious even through the packaging.  Yum!  Now I’m off to sneak a few pieces of candy corn from my bag of the real thing.

Here's a look at the soaps.

Nougat Candy Sample Glycerin Soap

These cute little one ounce soaps were inspired by a nougat candy that contains chewy fruity pieces surrounded by white nougat.  So yummy!  The soaps smell kind of like fruit loops cereal.  They look and smell good enough to eat, but I’m sure they don’t taste as good as the candies themselves.

I took lots of brightly colored fruit scented pieces and then poured white soap base around them.  The result was a loaf of soap that I then carefully cut into individual bars that weigh roughly 1 ounce.  Each bar is unique, and it will change with use because some colors will appear that are now hidden by the white base.  This is one fun, delicious-smelling soap!

Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of what they look like.  If I could figure out how to send the fragrance through the computer, I think it would make your mouth water.

Pumpkin Spice Glycerin Soap

I love summer.  I am never ready for it to end.  Not that I don’t like fall.  I do.  I just don’t like that winter follows as I’m not a fan of cold weather.  Even though I’m not ready for fall, I wanted to get started on some fall projects.  So I made a pumpkin soap that I’ve wanted to make for a while.  Our house still smells like fresh baked pumpkin pie!  I love pumpkin pie, so I’m basking in the delicious smell and maybe, just maybe, I’m getting a little bit ready for fall now that I've gotten a whiff of these pumpkin spice soaps. 

Each bar is unique, but this is what the finished bars look like.

This is a basketful of sample sizes of oatmeal, milk and honey soaps and the pumpkin spice soaps.

Making Lip Balm

I tend to turn lip balm making into a marathon.  It’s so hard to decide which flavors to make next, so I end up trying to make them all!  Each time I make a new flavor, it becomes my favorite for a while.  I haven’t made any that I didn’t care for.  The vanilla is wonderful, and the pomegranate is my old standby.  I just made blue raspberry not long ago, and I’m enjoying that a lot right now.

The lip balms are fun to make.  After they are cooled and capped, it’s time to label them.  Labeling used to involve super glue and index cards.  I switched to using adhesive labels, and that has made the process a little simpler.  Next it’s time to put shrink wrap on them.  The final step is to heat the shrink wrap into place.  If you’ve never done this, you should really try it sometime.  It’s fun to watch the wrap shrink onto the product.  The shrink wrap bands come with a perforation in them so users can remove just the portion on the cap leave the bottom part on to help the label stay in place.

I just got a new shipment of lip balm flavors, and can hardly wait to try them. 

Here are a few new flavors I’ll be making soon:

Candy Corn

Chocolate Mint
Gummy Bear
Lemonade
Orange Cream
Peace of Mind
Pearberry

Lotion Bars

When I first began formulating a lotion bar recipe, I knew I wanted a product that would be highly moisturizing without feeling greasy.  It was important to me to stay away from nut products (including shea, which comes from the nut of the fruit from the karite tree that grows in West Africa).  After some trial and error, I came up with my current recipe. 

Here’s a little information about the role each ingredient plays.  The Beeswax contributes healing, antiseptic, emollient and softening properties.  The Apricot Oil is said to penetrate the skin without leaving an oily feel.  The Sal Butter is said to moisturize the skin and help prevent wrinkles.  While it is said to also offer protection from the sun and other harsh elements, I would not recommend relying on it as a sun blocker.  Vitamin E is an antioxidant and also possesses some anti-aging benefits to skin. 

There is usually some color and fragrance oil added.  All ingredients have FDA approval for use on the skin.  A friend of mine who is a hair dresser told me that my lotion bars are the only thing that keeps her hands from getting cracks in the winter and the only product she has tried that keeps her cuticles nice all winter.