Waiting on supplies :)

I have two projects that I'm super duper excited about, one of which is making my own melt and pour base. I've never used melt and pour because I love making things from scratch, that way they really feel like my own. However I'm really interested in the ways melt and pour soap is used, that it is very quick, that there is a larger variety of fragrances I can use and of course the beauty and sometimes novelty of melt and pour soaps. I like the idea of having my own base on standby for when I want to jump in the kitchen and create something but don't want to get out the lye and worry about trace and fragrances behaving. I'm pretty sure some fragrances will discolour melt and pour but I won't be worrying about ricing or seizing. I think it might also be a great way to build up stock when I get round to selling soaps.

As it's coming up to a year since I started soaping and I've been asked so many times now to sell my soaps and of course because I truly love making them I've decided I will definitely start to sell. I'm planning on selling next year, hopefully around spring give or take a month- I definitely don't want to rush this. One thing I've been thinking about is Etsy, Artfire or custom website? I'm swaying to the idea of starting with Etsy where I can list soaps one by one and then once I have a good range opening a custom website. Still not sure though and it's on the backburner as I'm concentrating on safety assessments/insurance/HMRC.

It's been a while since I posted and I've only made two batches of soap, one being the second Nippy and the other being a test batch for a fragrance oil to see how it behaved in CP soap. I improved the Nippy HP soap's performance by adding some yummy skin loving goodies. I cut it today and videoed it because it's been a while since I posted on youtube too:

Adding a second superfat at the end of cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and some Vegetable Glycerin gave the lather a super soft creamy feel. Anyway my first lot of supplies should be arriving tomorrow-can't wait yay! ^_^ I need to get back in the kitchen and get some things ready for tomorrow, take care all :) xxx

Et Voila! *happy success dance*

Just a small update today, thought I would share my immense happiness at finally getting my liquid soap clear. As I write this it's happily diluting in the crockpot, a beautiful deep amber. The picture above is my clarity test. For the oils I used castor, coconut and sunflower, can't wait to try it tomorrow, I might even do a lather test vid ^_^ Take care all :) xxx

Busy Bee!

Again I have been uber busy but I finally found time to write a little something here. I mainly wanted to post some pretty pictures but wanted to let people know about me selling my soaps. First off I do intend to sell...eventually. I don't want to sell anything that isn't absolutely fabulous ^_^ Because I do intend to sell in the future I've already begun to put in place the foundations I'm going to need when the time is right, all the paper stuff really. I was very excited yesterday when the letter box clacked with my certificate of incorporation dropping in (halfway through lotion making). Araseth's Apothecary is an incorporated company and ready to trade from now on, yay :D I still have tons to do, insurance, forms, safety assessments. But most of the paperwork can be done while I'm perfecting my products. Will save me a lot of time in the future. So I won't be trading until soonest next year. For now this blog is just about my learning experience and having fun :D

Onto the pictures ^_^ Yesterday I was busying myself with the Honeysuckle lotion and some Lavender massage bars. I am very pleased with them, scent, colour, texture and I've been levelling up my piping skills hehe.



You'll probably be seeing me soon, I'll be soaping Monday as soon as my new fragrances arrive :D