busy soap making.

I am busy making soap for a friend.

Cant seem to get purple.

Used blueberry, mangosteen skin, stoneseed and used alkanet!

But what I got was an almost black, murky green, moss green, brown, dark brown, plain grey, greyish purplish (or is it purplish greyish) and very very very faint purple.

It doesnt really help when the ash kicks in later.

1^st set I had to rebatch due to lye content did not sufficiently dissolve.

Cant remember what I did wrong! Maybe I didnt blend it well..

I dont mind rebatching in small amount but when it comes to an almost 4kg amount!! 

c'mon!!

Fyi, I chopped instead of grate.

Added some white curls (some were curled and some werent) – embedded into the rebatch soap. Status: already cut, can see the white soap curls in some.

2^nd batch looks ok so far, with TD to whiten. Didnt get a white, more of an off white.

A trial (with TD), to somehow highlight the colours added, used red halloysite, indigo and alkanet. got faint red, faint blue, and i think a faint purple. Already cut, each with its own design and in various height. 

3^rd batch just did last night (in the wee hours of 20th June 2013-yes i became batman and got panda eyes and missed the 'bus' to work). Ingredients slightly the same with 2^nd batch. Due to the 34% water amount instead of 36% water amount, the oil + lye mixture traced very fast and my top swirl was not really a swirl. more of a glop glop drop drop. tried to bang the drawer (soap mold) on the table since it became a glop - dont know if I succeeded. hopefully no huge air bubbles trapped inside. and no undissolved lye!!

4th batch, hopefully tonight if sleep doesnt get the best of me.

lack of sleep, since last weekend.

wish me luck!!

chao!

Natural Colouring for CP Soap..

m in the midst of finding natural colorants for my soap.

the only one I could use, commonly found here is turmeric.

pandan is available but to get the colour (green/hijau) is tiresome.

m dh tak ingat sangat cemane m wat tahun lepas.

rasa-rasanya cam ni kut - 

m potong kasar, campur dengan air dan blend, pastu perah.

m rasa m nak carik stevia lah.

kalau ada dalam bentuk serbuk senang la nak source out kaler hijau.

for your info- the google search have included stevia as a possible green.

hmm..

note to self and others reading..

the green from pandan doesnt last for a year.

that means the soap should be used within 6 months or less.

not meant to be kept forever okay..

black/hitam, m dah beli activated charcoal.

banyak lagi ada. tak abis-abis lagi ha hitamnya.

purple/ungu/biji remia, is currently an adventure.

some are using Alkanet, Ratanjot, Stoneseed/Gromwell.

the search was interesting.. still is, actually.

red sandalwood is too hard to find and 

if I’m not mistaken, will be expensive.

sandalwood ialah cendana, by  the way. 

some websites are stating that it can produce a purple/red coloured soaps.

annatto is another natural colouring and 

the local pokok is kesumba.

this could produce the colour orange..

yes, these searches for natural colouring has gotten me searching for local trees/shrubs/etc.

i have yet to get bunga telang.

this is for the colour blue/biru.

if it can be used on soaps.

so far, I’ve read that this is used to colour our Kelantanese dish, Nasi Kerabu.

paprika for red/orange.

dok ingat paprika tu cili macam cili biasa yg kering.. 

rupa-rupanya capsicum.

i don’t really know my way in the kitchen–cooking-wise, 

i have to admit that at least..

;)

still, i have to find powdered ones.

takkanlah m nak beli the whole fruit and dry it and blend it myself.

maaf, m rasa m tak serajin tu.

tapi doa-doakanlah m jadi rajin 

dan mampu buat kebanyakan perkara sendiri ye,

terima kasih.

hehe

okay, my search for natural colouring continues..

i still need the physical trees/fruit/flowers.

cant find it yet here.

so if you happen to see some, tell me where so i can come and trim it off..

"Off with their heads!" - Queen of Hearts, Alice in Wonderland

chao