Soap experiments

 

2 interesting batches of soap - the green one is the seaweed soap - I scented it with rosemary, but you can smell the seaweed more than the rosemary. Can't decide if I like it or not. It's a nice soap to use, though. The green colour is from a little green wax crayon.

 

Second one - see the whale! - is coloured yellow from palm oil. I scented this one with Lavendar and Patchouli, and then added some cinnamon for the brown colour. It's intended to be a shaving soap, so I also added Kaolin to help with a close shave.

What do you think? Would you try either one? I'll be giving away some samples at Belvedere in April.

My soapmaking course is almost full - only one space left!

Scrub up! Soapmaking course in April.

Get yourself in a lather in Mullingar Educate Together N.S.on Sunday April 11th!

Course begins at 13:30, and goes till 16:30.

You will learn to make soap by the cold process method, and you'll get to try your hand at rebatching also.

We'll use essential oils to scent the soaps, and a variety of natural additives like seaweed and clay to complement the soap's properties.

You'll go home with a comprehensive understanding of how soap is made, recipes for making your own soaps at home, and plenty of samples to whet your appetite.

Cost for the course is €40 - all materials included.

Places are limited, so book your place quickly! email annambrowne@gmail.com or phone/text 0872222562

Photo above is a rosemary scented seaweed soap.

Soap making

We were in Galway for an overnight stay on Thursday night. I had a meeting on Friday morning, but when that was over we headed first to Wa Cafe to grab some bento boxes and sushi, and thence to Spiddal to have a picnic.

While gazing out at the rocky beach, and the seascape, it struck me that it would be good to put some seaweed in my soaps. So we took a plastic bag, and grabbed a variety from above the waterline. It was nice to be back scrambling on rocks. One of our first dates back in the late 90s involved some rock scrambling.

Got it home, and did a bit of research - starting here - turns out seaweed is an excellent ingredient for all kinds of cosmetics - it (apparently) fights cellulite, makes your skin more youthful, adds trace elements, you name it.

Anyhow, dried some seaweed in the oven and ground it up once dry. Added it to the soap - and added rosemary as the scent - seemed to be the most marine like Essential Oil I had - and added a little green colouring. It looks pretty good, but it's still curing, so hard to say if it will shave 20 years off my appearance the first time I wash with it. :-)

The rest of the seaweed is drying in a more environmentally friendly manner on the clothes line - and I have ordered some from Kildoney, near Ballyshannon, where my cousins live.

I will be giving out samples of this and other soaps in Belvedere at the self sufficiency show, so find me and sign up for my mailing list, and you'll be able to try it for yourself.

Soaps available to buy

Normally I don't sell any of the things I make - I prefer to use them, or give them away as presents. But I had so much soap that it would take me years to give it all away, so I'm selling it here.

It's available at the farm shop, at my brothers organic farm - I'm very proud of what he does - he sells the most delicious organic beef, at very reasonable prices. So in the summer, when our garden is in full production, it's not hard to have an amazing meal all of which has been grown in a 3 mile radius.

I made his website using WordPress - check it out - I'd be interested to know what you think.