Soap, Soap, & More Soap

I've found it difficult lately to get any new soap on Etsy. Seems my regular customers want to buy the stuff by the whole soap loaf...and it is all I can do to keep up with their requests. Maybe someday life will afford more time for more soap making in a 24 hour period!

In the meantime, I wanted to give a little tip on Lavender soap. Lavender seems to be a "love it" or "hate it" type of scent. And, lavender soap (the kind that is scented with lavender essential oil), is a bit temperamental to make because it has a tendency to develop a white ash coating on the exterior as it cures. It is just a cosmetic thing, but many soapers, including me, don't want to sell soap with white ash.

However, if you are going for a straight lavender scented soap, just add a little ylang-ylang essential oil to the batch to keep white ash from developing! Yes, it works! A teaspoon or so of ylang-ylang will not alter the lavender scent, and it will prevent the white ash from ever developing.

Some other good mixes with lavender, either essential oils or fragrances, that prevent the white ash include: orange, rose, and mint.

Enjoy your own soapmaking...or just purchase from those of us who do.

Soap Sense on Etsy

Lavender Soap, Straight-up...or Not!

Lavender is a love me or hate me scent. Nothing is better than straight-up, lavender soap if you love the scent. If you don't, lavender is a great mixer for other essential oils, and gets tamed down just a bit when blended. I have both in my soap shop, Soap Sense on Etsy. A straight-up lavender soap bar, and another blended scent that is an orange-lavender soap. Neither of these are what grandma used to use!


Aromatherapists recommend lavender essential oil to calm anxiety, minimize depression, relieve headaches, ease the itch of insect bites, soothe muscle pain, and more! Orange essential oil has many of the same aromatherapy qualities. And while I don't tout any of these remedies, I do know that these scents calm my mind and soul at the end of a long day.

Try one...you'll never go back to store bought soap!