How A Bar of Californica Soap is Created
Here's to our first blog post! I am so excited for our first posting to be about something dear to my heart: the making of one of the first soaps that I created, The Valley Meadow. I happen to think that the process of oils and lye becoming soap is fascinating and I wanted to capture this reaction for others. As you can see in the video, we have nothing to hide about what goes into our soap. We only use natural colorants in the form of pigments and micas that are exactly what you would find in mineral makeup. Instead of man-made fragrance oils, we use essential oils because a) we want our finished product to be as close to nature as possible and b) I personally have very sensitive skin that gets a rash with artificial fragrance. To be honest, it is not always an easy decision to opt for all-natural materials. When I buy my soap materials, a free sample of fragrance oil is always sent with them and it can be hard to resist some of these imaginative and delicious smelling vials. I have to look at my skin, free of irritation and silky smooth since I have started to make my own products, to remind myself to stay on course. Natural colorants also can be sometimes not as sharp and bright as the lab created colors that the majority of soapmakers use. This being said, I am out to prove that natural colors and scents can lead to products that are just as beautiful and aromatic! Working with natural products forces me to sometimes think outside of the box and when an idea suddenly forms in my head, be it on a walk with my dog or late at night during a Top Chef binge session, it is the most exciting feeling in the world! Take the Valley Meadow for example: one of my fondest scent-memories is lounging in a springtime meadow. Sweet-smelling blossoms blend with the freshness of grass for a combination that is just floral enough without being overpoweringly heady. Lavender is one my favorite essential oils because of it's ability to relax and it effectively simulates that lazy Springtime afternoon mood. It took a lot of hours of brainpower to figure out how I was going to get those grassy notes because how can you have a meadow without grass?? I was way over analyzing the problem and literally spent too much time thinking about the vascular structure of a blade of grass and if it could be infused into oil. When I finally figured out the solution, it seemed so simple. Why not just add actual grass to make it smell like grass? So I got some wheatgrass powder at the local nutrition store, explained to the guy at the counter that it was for soap and that I wasn't looking to pump up my lack of musculature (though one day I should really think about a gym membership) and poured some into my soap batter. I loved the result! The grass and lavender blend together perfectly to create an authentic, valley meadow experience! I decided to make it orange and green to look like our California Poppy logo and now it is our signature soap. So, after much ado and in closing, because of our sometimes handicap of using natural products, the results are something unique that you will not find anywhere else. It presents me with a challenge and I love having to think outside of the box to produce the products that I am truly proud of! Following is a video demonstrating the entire process of a bar of the Valley Meadow being made. It should be noted that what is not seen are precise calculations and measurements to ensure that there is no lye present in the finished soap. If you have an interest in soapmaking, I highly recommend reading articles at www.soapqueen.com for proper instruction on safety and more explanation about the various steps. Thank you very much to everyone who has supported me! Here is to a start of a very exciting new chapter!
