Southern Pleasures

My reflection

2008-12-10T19:20:00.005-05:00

As the year starts to draw to a close I always sit down and reflect on my accomplishments and blessings that I have received throughout the year. I have had many firsts this year with working on trying to expand my product line by learning to formulate new products, to finally participating in my first craft show. This summer I received a unique opportunity to have my product featured in Curve Magazine for their December 2008 gift guide issue. I have made so many new contacts and met some fabulous people over the course of the year. It's been a wonderful year and time for me to finally get my vacation in the carribean.

I finally have time to sit and relax with my ipod and drink in hand at the beach.

Mica Swirls

2008-08-21T00:37:00.005-04:00

I splurged a bit lately on supplies over at Oregon Trails with a sampler pack of new fragrance oils. For close to a year I have been dying literally to get my hands on some micas at this place but could never justify just buying that one product alone. I got my order of scents and mica a week ago. This scent reminds me of a fresh pine in a forest. It's clean, green and fresh smelling. I think it's more of a masculine note but could see how it could be deemed unisex. It's more of a muted white silvery swirl. However if the the light hits the soap at the right places you can see the sparkle. I may dust the bars a bit with some mica on the top. Now I am already plotting what other micas I want to try with them. Cellini Blue which infamously morphs to purple is next on my list.

Iced Orange

2008-08-10T11:09:00.002-04:00

I am on a roll with making soap and finished all my mad dash soaping almost two weeks ago in preparation for my first show. I also contributed to a giveaway over at purplepinkandorange.com with two soaps and a soap dish. Head over there and you may win something too because Amy who runs the site does giveaways every week. For the next two weeks she is doing a Mega Giveaway where 30 Indie Shops are offering their wonderful creations as a prize. 30 prizes means there will be 30 winners. I think I may try my hand at winning something to.

Apple Fruitasia

2008-07-13T23:42:00.003-04:00

I am having a blast with making so much soap in preparation for my upcoming show. Currently on batch number 10 with 5 more to go. This new soap makes me happy. It looks very tropical to me and I like bright colors. It's more of an apple kind of vibe with a mix of other citrus notes. My next project is my "Love Peace & Patchouli soap.

Swirl Envy

2008-07-04T13:03:00.004-04:00

I have had a serious case of swirl envy lately while eyeing the beautiful creations on the dish. I don't own a log mold because I like to swirl in slab molds but I wanted to test a new blend and I just got my supply of activated charcoal. I was going for a dramatic type of swirl and just plain soap batter and the charcoal for a color contrast. I am curious to see what it looks like unmolded. It's scented with my favorite blend of spearmint and peppermint. Log molds are cool because you can get all types of cool swirl patterns going. However I am not too convinced yet to hand over my slabs.

Back to business

2008-06-21T15:08:00.002-04:00

I took a nice long break away from making soap but gearing back up again to begin creating for the Charlotte Crafting Patch Market. It's the second annual craft fair that is made up of entirely Etsy artists. This will be my first craft show and I am very excited to be a part of it. I am a little nervous and a little overwhelmed with all of this but I am positive I will do fine. So if you are in Charlotte around Freedom Park Saturday September 6Th 2008 please stop by and say hello.

Lotion Bars or Massage Bars?

2008-05-08T22:08:00.005-04:00

The concept of what a lotion bar was a mystery to me in the beginning. I learned about them a year ago on the dish but decided I just didn't have time in my already hectic schedule to start another project with bath and body. Well now I have plenty of time in my life for the next two months to play to my hearts content since I am off from school for the summer.

Lotion bars are a convenient way to provide a bit of moisture and conditioning to any areas of dry skin and it's usually packaged in a convenient push tube. It really reminds of a deodorant bar in terms of appearance. I didn't have any of those tubes so I just poured my mixture into some milky way molds and popped them out. Generally these bars are comprised of beeswax, a hard/brittle oil like cocoa butter or kokum butter. They also may contain shea butter and a liquid oil like sweet almond oil or avocado oil. Really you can come up with any combination of oils. They melt quite easily upon skin contact. I made this little batch strictly for my own use and have used them as a massage bar after showering. I scented these with Yuzu fragrance oil for a summer type of fragrance.

Scrapbook Paper

2008-04-26T01:20:00.003-04:00

Scrap booking is not one of my strong points. I am however addicted to the cool looking papers you can find. These decorative papers have a so many uses for outside scrap booking. I had a few pieces laying around and decided to wrap some bars with them. My mom is celebrating a major event in her life in May, so these soaps will be part of a gift package to her. Now I am on the hunt to find some Origami paper.

I am back to playing in mud

2008-04-21T23:50:00.011-04:00

Don't you remember playing in mud and making mud pies when you were a child? I remember doing it vividly because it was so much fun, and also made a huge mess of my clothing that my mother was not so forgiving of. I decided to do it again by incorporating some dead sea mud into a recent soap batch. I scented this soap with tangerine and lavender essential oils. Okay many probably wonder why on earth would someone add mud to soap that is designed to clean? Well this is not the mud you would find in your backyard, and I doubt I would use that kind of mud because that just sounds weird. However, Dead Sea mud is very unique. This mud comes from no where else but the Dead Sea and is the second saltiest body of water on the earth. Within the sea contains this mud that contains many vital minerals of magnesium, potassium and calcium that are great for the skin. It can help to exfoliate the skin, and provide a wide range of cleansing properties to soothe the skin. It is very common to see people bathing themselves in this mud while relaxing in the dead sea. I may never get to visit the Dead Sea to enjoy this experience but I can enjoy a somewhat similiar experience in my own bathtub. I also gave myself a mud facial mask just for fun. My face felt wonderful.

My Etsy Find

2008-04-11T17:47:00.013-04:00

I like to sit and look at the many beautiful listings on Etsy from time to time. So I stumbled across a listing for facial scrubbies. I wasn't satisfied with the first listing so I decided to do a search for face scrubbies and was eventually led to this shop that is run by Pam. It's called The Crocheted Baby. I think the reason I decided to try Pam's product because in her photos she was able to capture just how luxurious this product is. This is no skinny facial scrubbie. It's very thick almost cloth like and has soft fibers that feel like silk rubbing against your skin. It also has the most beautiful jewel tone colors I have seen in a facial accesorie. It's gentle and sure to clean well. If your looking for a luxurious product to accompany my soap bars I would definitely recommend The Crocheted Baby as a must have product. Thanks Pam for offering your beautiful items on Etsy for folks to indulge in.

I hate florals

2008-04-07T22:47:00.004-04:00

I really would love to know the real reason why floral fragrances are such a major pain in the behind. It seems I do the best I can with soaping at low temps and hand stirring with known accelerators. Florals are just a pain. The recent batch of jasmine was no exception. All was well with this until I added in my fragrance oil and immediately what was thin to medium trace reached heavy trace in a nano second. It also riced slightly so much that I had to beat it back into submission with my stick blender. This clearly was a nice save with this batch considering I still had time to do a textured top despite having to literally glop this into the mold. No more florals for me for quite some time.

Pomegrante Soap

2008-03-29T15:04:00.006-04:00

I have had this fragrance oil for months and until last night soaped it for the first time. Apparently this fragrance oil is known to discolor in cold process soaps. So I guess the waiting game starts now as to what color it will discolor to.

Southern Pleasures Is a Featured Seller

2008-03-24T19:48:00.005-04:00

I was extremely pleased at the nice gesture from Jason at JJMFinance to feature me as a soap seller on his blog. His blog caters to featuring some of the most talented and brightest sellers on ETSY. I am highly honored that my work and ideas on creativity were displayed on his blog. Thanks again Jason and I appreciate the blog love from you!

A new soap was born

2008-03-24T01:31:00.006-04:00

Here is the result from the batch that was created in the soapmaking tutorial. It took about two hours to create this batch from start to finish including cleanup.

Soapmaking 101- Results in Pictures

2008-03-24T01:31:00.005-04:00

Soapmaking 101- Results in Pictures

2008-03-24T01:29:00.001-04:00

Soapmaking 101 Cold Process Tutorial Part 2

2008-03-24T00:56:00.008-04:00

Additives
I like to use lots of additives to my soap for visual appeal. Exfoliation etc. Many popular ones are cornmeal, poppy seeds, oatmeal, calendula flowers, strawberry seed etc.

I also like to add a tablespoon of goat’s milk powder or buttermilk powder for a milk based soap to the base oils. Stick blend it in well if you decide to go this route.

Honey is also a good additive as well.

You don’t need to add any additives for your first batch. Learn the basics first then you can experiment.

Oils and Butters

Soap can be made with a variety of oils and butters. Many of which you can find in your grocery store. I like to make soaps with Olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, castor oil, Shea butter, cocoa butter, wheat germ oil, avocado oil, lard etc. Each oil has its own properties and characteristics.

For example Shea butter is very moisturizing, Olive oil is moisturizing as well and really is a neutral oil as it helps bring out the characteristics of your other oils. Coconut oil can produce a lot of bubbles in soap. It can also make your skin dry and itchy if you use more than 35% of it in any recipe. Each given oil is assigned to a SAP value or number. All that means is that there is a certain amount of lye that is needed to turn that oil into soap. You can do calculations to determine the sap value of all your oils in your recipe and that gives you the amount of lye and water you will need to use in your recipe to turn the mixture into soap. Sounds fun ehh. There are a few formulas to figure all that out by hand but I will just give you a simple recipe that I formulated to get your started with something simple.

Lye aka as Sodium Hydroxide

Lye is getting terribly hard to find these days due to many people starting illegal meth labs. Red Devil lye used to be found in the grocery stores but it was pulled a year ago. Lye can be purchased over the internet but you will almost always have to sign a hazmat waiver before it can be shipped out to you. My best advice to you is to simply go to your local Lowes and purchase it there. It is found in the section where you have the drain cleaners and it’s made by roebic. It’s called crystal drain cleaner. Okay don’t freak out yet. It 100% sodium hydroxide with no other additives. Again you need 100% sodium hydroxide to make soap. It’s serves dual purposes cleaning your drain and making you a batch of soap. Just don’t buy draino. Yes that’s sodium hydroxide as well but it’s not 100% sodium hydroxide. It has metal shavings in it etc. This can totally screw up your batch. Plus the thought of bathing with a soap with metal shavings is terribly scary. Crystal Drain Opener will cost about 8 bucks for a container.

Working safely with lye

Always wear your protective eyewear (goggles) when working with this caustic substance as well as gloves. When preparing your lye and water mixture be sure you pour your lye slowly into your water and NOT the other way around unless you really want to see and experience a volcanic eruption. I normally wear a nose mask to avoid breathing in the fumes that the lye water and can give off. Make sure any small children and pets are not around when you are mixing these substances up. Better yet do it outside if you can as it only takes a few minutes. The mixture itself will still resemble plain water but it will get very hot quickly. Most often the temp soars between 100-150 Celsius. If you do have family members around please label your container with the words lye water DO NOT DRINK. LYE water so closely resembles plain water and if your not careful someone can or may drink it and this will cause you a trip to the ER. DEF not Good. Use your head and commons sense with working with LYE. If you spill the water somehow clean it up with your vinegar immediately as it neutralizes the effects of the lye.

YOU can get a burn from lye crystals or lye water if you’re not wearing your protective gear.

Water

Use distilled water only. You can find it cheaply in your grocery store

Colorants

It’s really your choice to use colorants to add to you soap. You really don’t have to. The choice is yours. Most often I use micas, oxides, ultramarines, or liquid colors to color my soap a given shade or swirl with colors. Just don’t use food colors. The colors won’t last.
You don’t need any colorants for you first batch. Learn the basics first then you can experiment with coloring. Your soap will have it’s own creamy whitish or creamy beige color depending on the oils you are using. Just make sure you are using FD&C colorants. These are approved by the food drug and cosmetic organization and are approved for use in body product formulations.

Fragrance

I like fragranced soaps. Just be sure the vendor you purchase them from authorizes their use for soap making and they are tested in cold process soap making. Don’t use the scents you can get from bath and body works. They are not suitable for soap making. Again you don’t need to scent your first batch. Learn the basics first then you can experiment with fragrance.

Soap molds

Again the list of soap molds is endless. I like wooden molds and plastic molds. If you are using wooden molds you will have to lign the mold with your freezer paper otherwise you will not get your soap out of the mold.

Now on to our recipe:

You can find almost all these oils in your grocery store. Super Wal-Mart carries Coconut oil. It’s called Lou Anna Coconut oil. It has a green lid. It costs about 2.79 for a container. Some heath food stores also carry coconut oil in organic form. It may cost a little more at these types of stores though.

Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Canola Oil
Sunflower
Cocoa Butter

Olive Oil is readily available along with Sunflower Oil. You can purchase 100% cocoa butter sticks at ethnic beauty supply stores.

Castor Oil can be found in drugstores. Just make sure it says 100% Castor Oil.

You may also order many of the items you can’t find online with many vendors. I can supply you with some vendors that offer oils at reasonable prices. From Nature With Love is a vendor with whom I believe is offering LHCF a percentage off their order for things purchased off their site.

So here is our recipe

Coconut Oil 20%
Olive Oil 50%
Castor Oil 15%
Cocoa Butter 10%
Sunflower Oil 5%

Your percentages need to total 100% I usually like to soap with 50% soft oils and 50% hard oils. Sometimes I switch it up a bit too. with 70/30 . It all depends on the characteristics I am going for when devising a batch. Basically soft oils are the ones that are liquid at room temp. I consider olive oil a soft oil, castor is a soft oil too. Cocoa butter in it's natural form is a hard so it's a hard oil.

Our recipe is based off a total of 30 oz of base oils here. You can formulate your base oz of oils with anything you like 25 oz, 35 oz and what not. Just make sure you run the percentages through a lye calculator to give you the amount of lye and water to use. I am giving you the numbers based off of 30 oz here. If you want to give it a go of devising your own recipe check out soapcalc.com. It's a lye calculator/recipe deviser in one. I use it alot along with soapmaker. Soapmaker is free for 30 days. After that you have to pay to use it. Soapcalc is free all the time. Play to you hearts content on there.
It breaks down to this.

Coconut Oil 6 ounces
Olive Oil 15 ounces
Castor Oil 4.50 ounces
Cocoa Butter 3 ounces
Sunflower Oil 1.5 ounces.

You will need to use

Lye 4.03 ounces.
Water 10.11 ounces.

Remember all the ingredients including the water and lye need to weighed on a digital scale. Do not use measuring cups to measure anything out as it will be way off in accuracy.

I like to measure my oils are on the scale in a pyrex cup and then I pour it into the base pot of oils like a glass bowl. Each time you measure a new oil make sure you hit the tare feature on your scale so that it goes to Zero. You want to make sure you measuring the oils only in cup not including the weight of the pyrex cup.

I find it’s best to measure out your water and your lye first before you begin melting your oils. It takes the lye a lot longer to cool down than it does the oils if they get too hot.

Make sure you pour the water in your pitcher with a lid and slowly pour the measured lye into the pitcher. Make sure your are wearing your goggle and nose mask.. Stir it up good so it gets mixed together well. Put the cover on it and set it aside. If you have children or pets put it up high where they can’t get to it.

It’s always best to soap cool so you don’t speed trace up too quickly. High heat always speeds up the reaction. You can take the temp of the oils and the lye but I find that just touching the pitcher of lye to make sure it’s warm and NOT hot is good. The same goes for the oils. You can do your own research on taking temps as I don’t take them anymore myself. I usually put my bowl of oils in the microwave to get them melted down well and heated so they are warm and not hot.

Soaper Star Team

2008-03-22T23:59:00.003-04:00

I am always extremely appreciative of the folks who decide to use my items to create their treasuries on ETSY. Nothing beats looking at soap porn whether it is on ETSY or Soapdishforum. I need to spend less time on ETSY browsing and more time making soap.Thanks PattiFlynn for including me in your list of favorites. This woman makes some georgeous soaps and has the most efficient and beautiful workspace that she creates in. I wish I had my own designated soaping room. Sigh........

Grapefruit & Spearmint

2008-03-22T21:44:00.005-04:00

This is the second blend soap I have made using essential oils. It smells very refreshing and I am anxiously awaiting for cure to test it out in the shower. These days I am very excited because I am not only doing research with essential oils but getting a chance to devise some simple blends to get my feet wet with the art of blending. I am more of a fragrance oil soaper but have been wanting to branch out and start working with essential oils. I think my next blend may be a lavender with tangerine. I am a sucker for Citrus Scents but unless you anchor a scent many will not hold down in cold process soaps.

Castile Soap

2008-03-13T19:39:00.002-04:00

I have had many firsts this month with soapmaking. I guess I am coming out of my slump with soapmaking. For weeks I have felt terribly uninspired plus for I have had many soap batches that have gone literally wild. Many of those creations went straight in my trash can. I even had a batch quickly rice on me in my soap pot and I purposely kept my temps low. While browsing soaps on etsy I came across a listing for castile soap. I have always been interested in castile because of their high conditioning qualities in the soap. Plus the bars are killer white and hard as a brick after a substantial cure time. The only drawback to castile is the forever long tracing and curing period. Most say to let them cure for a 6 months to a year. If anything the soap continues to get better with age. I think I will let these sit to December 31, 2008 and bring in the new year and use them for the first time. Only if the anticipation doesn't kill me first.

Stress Relief

2008-03-10T23:40:00.003-04:00

This was the first time I used Stress Relief fragrance for a batch of soap. I am really getting into using shea butter in my batches because I love how my skin feels after using a bar with a high concentration of shea. Still not sure I will add this to my current line. It's still growing on me. It's a little strong so I am hoping after a good cure it will mellow out a little. Plus it set up on me super fast. I had to beat it with the stick blender because it started to rice right in my soap pot and killed any chance for a decent swirl. I soaped it cool so not sure what happened.

Not really feeling Hot Process

2008-03-06T23:52:00.007-05:00

*I recently used this two week old soap in the shower. My skin feels so good and it's a new recipe I formulated. I am quite impressed it feels this good the first time around. No dryness or itchness at all. I used a two butters in this soap along with my usual amount of olive oil. I think I may send some bars to my testers to see what they think and will toss one bar in the mail for mom. The rest I am hoarding myself.

I can only wonder if I used a little sodium lactate in these bars would it would have made for a more liquid pour. I used Tonys half moon rounds to get this specific bar shape. While I do like them I am not sure I would use them for hot process soap again. There is way too much watching and stirring for me. However it is nice to get to witness each stage of the soapmaking process through the end of saponification. I may do one of my plain cold process bars in them.

Although it's my first time doing an essential oil blend of lime and peppermint. Yes I know the blend is easy but one needs to start somewhere. Besides I am considering branching out to include essential oils soaps in my current line but I am still in the research and testing stage with those. My comfort level with essential oils leaves something to be desired.I just haven't felt comfortable working with them as I have fragrance oils. That is just the thing with soaping there is so much to expand on in terms of knowledge. I am dedicated to lifelong learning with this process. Happy soaping all!

Green Tea

2008-03-04T01:24:00.003-05:00

This is my most favorite soap to do a restock. If anything I love the sutble grey swirls against a plain cream base. I still have year old bars in this scent where the scent is still holding on strong.I can still detect the honey and citrus notes. Although it's slightly on the herbal side for me.

Yuzu Grapefruit

2008-02-17T14:52:00.006-05:00

Well it didn't come out as I planned. I was going for a yellow base and orange swirls. I guess I have to try again but it smells so damn good. At this point I am way more interested in the quality of the soap because it's a first for me using sweet almond oil and some tussah silk from scentworks.

I was tempted to hot process this soap so I could use it at least in a week but at the last moment decided hot process was just too much work for me and I was too lazy to mess with it on Friday.

Dishers Unite!

2008-02-04T01:07:00.000-05:00

Mary from Soap dish was nice enough to add me to her display over at Etsy- A Valentine For Your Nose. Thanks for the support. I am dying to see what you are going to unveil over at Etsy with your swirls that are out of this world. Clearly works of cold process soap art.

The Garden Bath Treasury

2008-02-04T00:50:00.000-05:00

I must say very grateful thank you to The Garden Bath who decided to include me in her display, of her favorite swirled soaps among dishers of the soapdishforum.com. Way to go dishers. You ladies rock! I look up to each and every one of you and continue to be inspired by your great soap works of art.

Now only if my replacement scale will get here so I can make more soap. It died a painful death a week ago.

Cold Process Soap Making- Part 1

2008-02-02T11:43:00.003-05:00

Are you up to the challenge to try to make your own soaps? Here is my tutorial that I wrote for a long hair care forum last year. I had many folks on that board quite interested in soapmaking from all the pictures I used to display in my signature over there.

Please I can’t emphasize this enough please be sure you understand the basics of soap making first before you try to do this in the comforts of your own home. Your safety while learning this craft is my utmost concern! Please adhere strictly to the safety guidelines I will present to you throughout my tutorial. I refuse to be held responsible for someone not taking the safety guidelines I will present.

First making homemade soaps is the best thing you could ever do for your skin. Most of you will probably debate with me why making your own soap is better than simply going to target or Wal-Mart and buy bar soap. The difference between commercially produced soap and store bought soap is that store bought soap is NOT really soap. It’s really a detergent bar. It strips the oils in your skin and you skin is prone to becoming dried out, scratchy, itchy etc. That is why you load up on all the lotions and creams etc. When commercially produced soap is made natural glycerin that is formed while the soap is being made. Glycerin on its own is a skin softener and natural humectants. In other words it draws moisture to the skin. Bar soap made commercially has its natural glycerin extracted. Lots of detergents are added to the bar. You would be better off tossing your bar soap in your washer to wash your clothes rather than using it on your skin. It’s just a ploy by the same companies to get your to buy there lotions creams etc. because the bar soap makes your skin so dry.

On the other hand homemade soap does not dry your skin and makes it very soft. Therefore you will find you don’t have to load lots of greasy lotions and creams on your skin. Soap can never be truly moisturizing because it’s a true rinse off product. However you will find it will help you retain lots of moisture in your skin by not stripping your skin of its natural oils. You will still be clean it just won’t make your skin dry. Natural soap is made up of these ingredients. Oils and or fats, lye, and water. When all these ingredients are combined together and at the right temps soap will be made. I won’t bore you with all chemistry of it all because there are many sites, books etc that will be educate you on the chemical process. As far as the lye it’s impossible to make soap with out it. No Lye, NO soap. No lie. Anyone who tells you can make soap without lye is not telling you the truth. When you make soap there is a chemical reaction that occurs between the oils, and or fats, lye and water. It’s called saponification. What it means is the mixture is turning to soap. The molecules realign themselves and the mixture turns into soap. There will be no lye left in your finished product of soap if all your measurements of lye, water, and fats and oils were precise.

Here is what you will need to get started. This is by no means an all inclusive list. These are just the basics to get you started.

Safety equipment:

Goggles
Nose mask
Vinyl or rubber gloves
Apron(old clothes will suffice)
Access to running water- This is very important in case you somehow spill your lye mixture or the soap batter comes in contact with your skin.

Soap making equipment:

Once you have used the below materials for soap making be sure you don’t use them again for food Preparation. These should be your dedicated soap making materials

Stainless steel stockpot( Do not use aluminum your lye will react with it violently) You can get cheap stockpots at places like Garden Ridge or Wal-Mart etc. Don’t spend too much on it.

Stick Blender ( Do not buy an expensive one. You can get a cheap one at Walmart for about 10 bucks)

Postal scale or Food scale( This is where you want to buy a decent and precise scale, You will need to measure out all your ingredients including the lye- You can not use volume measurements) I feel digital scales work the best.

Plasic container with a lid( Go to the dollar store) You will need this for you lye/water mixture

Small glass or plastic bowls( for measuring out colorants, additives, fagrance, oils, lye etc)

Candy thermometer( you will require this for ensuring you water/lye mixture and fats and oils are at the right temp for mixing)

Heavy duty plastic spoons (go to the dollar store)

Measuring spoons/cups – I use these soley for measuring out my additives

Freezer paper

Soap molds of your choice. I like wooden log and wooden slab molds. For a reasonable and cheap alternative you can use silicone molds, and or small plasic containers. Even a shoe box works. The choices are literally endless for a mold. Whatever you choice of mold is it has to be ligned first with freezer paper otherwise you will not be able to release your soap from it’s mold.

My first Treasury was Cold As Ice

2008-01-25T00:21:00.002-05:00

Tonight I was not only given the chance to create my own treasury but I was also featured in one as well. Clingingimages decided she would feature me along with her other favorite items and sellers on ETSY. I am very grateful of the support. Here's my green tea soap. I think it looks like a piece of stone or granite but you be the judge.

Here is my first treasury that I got to create as well. Raspberry Delights is my theme. I love the deep vibrant colors in this one. I just had to add in a soaper or two to this treasury because it's my favorite craft and business.

Vibrant colors lighten spirits.

2008-01-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

So I joined flickr to display some of my precious soaps within a collage. I must admit I am very drawn to looking at all the different colors as they evoke peaceful and happy thoughts within my mind. Soaping is a form of mental therapy and rejuvenation for me. It is a time when I get to truly be by myself and get to draw upon all sorts of inspirations. Often when I decide to soap a new scent I write down ideas to gain a visual image on how I wish the soap to look. I take notes on how the scent of a fragrance oil makes me feel when I get that first whiff of the scent. I jot down ideas on what colors I wish to use and if I want to soap to portray a certain design. What feelings do you evoke viewing them?http://www.flickr.com/photos/22064473@N05/

Preventing Falls In The Elderly

2008-01-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

Are one of your elderly loved ones suffering from consistent falls at home? Falls in the elderly are a common occurrence because due to the natural progression of aging your balance and coordination can start to decline. Reflexes can become slower as well. Seniors not only suffer from physical ailments like arthritis and chronic pain symptoms but they also are prone to problems with their vision. Cognition problems may also be present in which they may or may not be attributed to the early onset of Alzheimer's Disease. With falls can lead to an increased risk of sustaining a fractured hip. Seniors who sustain a hip fracture have a 50% chance of survival during the first year of their injury.

By all means if your loved one is suffering from consistent falls at home please have them evaluated by a medical doctor as soon as possible. At their visit their doctor can assess their current medical condition and determine what the underlying issues may be, that are contributing to the falls. Often, many seniors take a series of medications daily in which all may have some sort of side effect. Depakote is a popular drug that many elderly persons take. This drug is known to have a side effect of causing unsteady gait therefore increasing their fall risk. Sometimes it's just a matter of a doctor completing a medication review. Other times a prescription to begin some physical therapy is needed to work on improving ones balance, coordination, and muscle strength.

Here are a few things you can do to help minimize falls

Appropriate footwear should always be worn that are the correct size. If the shoes are too big this will leave room for the heel to slip out. Flat shoes are best with a good grip under the sole to provide stability on uneven and even surfaces.

Ensure that adequate lighting is within the house.

Remove scatter rugs. These are quite easy to trip and get entangled on. If you must use any type of scatter or throw rugs firmly secure them to the floor.

Install non slip strips or rubber mat on the tub or shower floor.

Install grab bars in the shower. These will make it easy for one to stand or sit down and prevent a slip and fall.

Purchase a tub seat for showering to avoid having to stand.

Keep furniture arranged within the home at a safe and easy to navigate pathway. You want plenty of room to get around when walking.

Carribbean on my mind

2008-01-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

I regret that I didn't get a chance to take my usual Caribbean cruise at the end of the year. I am a veteran cruiser and in December 06 I went on my 18th cruise. I have literally been to all the Caribbean islands in existence. I stick solely to Norwegian Cruise Lines or Royal Caribbean which are the best lines in my opinion. On my last vacation I cruised with Royal Caribbean on Freedom of the Seas which is the largest cruise ship in the world. I don't normally go on a ship twice but I would cruise on Freedom again. As always the amenities are excellent and the food is always appetizing. Today when the weather was pushing close to 70 in Charlotte I thought of sitting out on the deck and soaking up the sun with a banana daiquiri in hand and my mp3 player. I would have been sure to pack my guava berry soap within my toiletry bag to not only feel good but smell good on my Caribbean vacation. Now I am curious if you can make a guava berry daiquiri?

I am seriously thinking of booking a cruise now for winter08 only to where else but the carribean.

My love affair with soap

2008-01-05T20:54:00.000-05:00

Right now my bathroom looks like a soap graveyard. I have over five bars in my shower not to mention the numerous bars I have amassed from soap swaps with other soapers. Currently in rotation I have a ginger and lime bar, clean cotton, plain unscented, black raspberry, and buttermilk and honey. A lot of times I have different bars on my curing racks that I just can't seem to wait until they have fully cured to test out. You see that is the thing with cold process soaps. You can't make a batch today and use it tomorrow. Well I take that back. You can if you are making hot process soap. You can literally make hot process soap today and use it today if you wish. Although I would wait a week with it to let it harden up good.

Cold Process soap making is quite different.It takes a full six weeks to let it cure and the soap continues to saponify fully. Curing helps drop the PH level of soap down to a mild state where it won't irritate your skin if formulated properly. I have tried fresh cold process soap as early as the next day just because I could. I wouldn't sell them to a consumer without letting it have a full cure because if I did the bars would be very harsh on someones skin.

Hot process soap is nice because you are basically cooking the soap in your pot with a heating element via a stove or crock pot. It finishes up it's saponification with the cook. Saponification is the process that starts the chemical reaction with your mixture and turns it into real soap.

Man I have a hell of an addiction for this process. My monthly credit card bill proves it.

Canon Cameras

2008-01-05T15:13:00.000-05:00

Okay I am sold on the new digital I just got. The clarity is far superior than my other digital that I have had for 6 years. I should have upgraded a lot sooner. The $152 I spent on it will turn into a nice little investment for me for taking product pictures.

The image on the left was taken with the canon 570IS with 7.0 MP versus the image on the right that was taken with a Fuji fine pix A200 model that has 2.0MP. So far I am very pleased with the results.

I already own a nice canon mp530 printer that is an inkjet but the results come very close to laser-like quality for my product labels.

Starting an exercise regime for the new year.

2008-01-01T12:14:00.000-05:00

Are you one of the millions of Americans who have the resolution to get into shape for the new year? You are not alone in your in your desire. It's never to late to start an effective exercise program if you have been sedentary for quite some time. Not only will you be able to improve your cardiovascular health but you will be on your way towards keeping you muscles flexible and increasing muscular strength.

You don't need a membership to a fancy gym to increase your strength and assist with some weight loss if desired. All you really need is a pair of supportive walking sneakers or shoes with good arch support. Walking is the best exercise for keeping your back healthy and legs nice and strong. It also helps to increase your circulation and gives your heart a good aerobic workout because it increases your heart rate. What's even better is if your walking within your target heart rate and maintaining it as you exercise you can lose weight. If you have not exercised in a long time it is important to see your physician to get the green light on starting a simple exercise program. He or she can take a look at your medical history and determine if you have any issues that should be addressed before starting a program. Before you even think about walking after you get those shoes laced it's important to warm up your muscles and prepare them for the activity to come by stretching. Details will follow on how to stretch your muscles out properly to avoid injuring yourself.

Stay healthy in 2008 everyone!

I have some new things up my sleeve for January

2008-01-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

Decermber was not only a time of rest and rejuvenation but I also had time to plan out what I want to offer for new products in January/February. My plan is to offer a few new scent choices in Guvaberry, Sugared Lime, Fresh Laundry, Cinnamon & Hazelnut Coffee and probably a biscotti. For some reason I am attracted to foody scents but want to branch out a little. I may end up doing a blend of jasmine and lavender of some sort.

A new digital is in my future

2007-12-26T21:59:00.000-05:00

I have been researching cameras for months literally. Why? Because I realize that it's important to accurately display my products in the best possible light to potential customers. Better product photos in essence mean better sales. Photo editing will only take you so far if you are working with outdated equipment and an inferior picture to start with.

There's always room for improvement is my motto. While I would love a digital SLR my budget at the moment will not allow for one. So here is my splurge for December. Canon Powershot 7.1 MP A570. I can't wait to get it to start playing around with white balance settings and exposure rates.

Love hate relationship with Ultramarine Pink

2007-12-25T17:52:00.000-05:00

I love working with oxides and ultramarines. Why is it that Pink Ultramarine is so hard to deliver a nice pink shade? Most say if you use too little you end up with gray soap shade. If you use too much you end up with purple? I just don't get it. All I wanted was medium pink soap to reflect off a brown swirl. I may need to up my usage rate next time. I am afraid if I overdo it the color will tint a washcloth. My ultramarine purple came out fine for a swirl. It figures.

Southern Pleasures Giveaway

2007-12-23T19:39:00.000-05:00

I am in a pretty giving mood this time of the year. I call it a time of reflection of my life and future goals.

One fortunate reader of my blog will win one premium handcrafted soap of their choice with accompanying wooden soap dish. Please send me an email at tenisha@southernpleasuresbathandbody.com to enter with your name and a forwarding email address. I will pick a random winner on January 31, 2008. Have a safe holiday season everyone.

*This offer is open to United States residents only.

*I want everyone to know that providing me with your email address is information that only I will have access to for this giveaway. This information will not be shared with anyone. Nor will you receieve any soliciting emails from me.

Whipped Shea Body Butter

2007-12-21T23:02:00.000-05:00

I finally got my supplies from MMS-The Sage today and devised a simple whipped Shea Body Butter. Since I have never made one before I wanted to keep the ingredients simple. All I used was Shea Butter(refined). The Unrefined shea smells pretty bad. I also had some grapseed oil in my fridge from a soap batch I did two months ago. Grapeseed is a lighter oil. I wanted to try some sweet almond oil but was too lazy to go to the grocery store. Hmm maybe for the next batch? It whipped out to perfection and looked just like frosting. I scented it with White tea with Ginger Fragrance Oil from Tonys Fragrance Oils. I am going to enjoy testing this butter out on my own skin for the next couple of weeks because it feels so wonderful on my skin. I regret I just purchased some shea moisturizer from ulta the other day. I plan to whip up some more batches of this stuff for myself. I really wish I bought more shea now and possibly some jars to give out to my testers.

The Five L's of Lifting

2007-12-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

The busy holiday season is a happy time for all. Although it can bring its own hosts of problems for you. Be sure to take care of your back during this holiday season while you are busy loading the heavy packages and boxes into your car or into your home or picking up those heavy grand kids. I often teach my patients to employ these same techniques with regards to proper lifting at their prospective jobs. These are the five basic L's of Lifting.

Load- You need to be sure what you are attempting to lift can safely be lifted by just yourself or if you need to get assistance from another person to perform the lift. Basically you are testing the load. Its easy. If its too heavy GET SOME HELP!

Lever- Keep the load to close to your body with your back upright and straight. This helps to shorten the lever arm. Be sure to bend your knees to get close to the object you are lifting. Do not bend at your waist at a 90 degree angle.

Lordosis- Make sure you are keeping the hollow space in your back during the lift. Your vertebral column in your back has a natural curvature to it.

Legs- Ensure you are lifting your load with your leg muscles and not using your back muscles to support this lift entirely. Your leg muscles have far more power and are stronger than your back muscles. Let those legs do the work for you! Be sure you move your feet in the direction you want to move to with your load in hand. Watch out for twisting movements with your trunk and feet.

Lungs- Inhale with your lungs as you begin to lift the load. Tighten your abdominal muscles as you lift. Make sure you are consciously breathing during lifting. Don't hold your breath.

If you keep these simple tips in mind you are well on your way to protecting your back for this busy holiday season and beyond. Be safe everyone!

November was National Physical Therapy Month Happy Belated PT Month to all Physical Therapists and Physical Therapists Assistants

2007-12-18T18:55:00.000-05:00

I know I am late with acknowleding Physical Therapy Month for November. However I wanted to say thank you to all physical therapists and physical therapist assistants for all the tiring work they do with patients to help them regain their function.

Physical Therapy is the process of helping a
patient recover from any type of illness or medical condition which has left them with poor functional mobility. In the course of the rehabilitation we may use such physical agents or modalities as light therapy, cold therapy, electrical stimulation and others to assist us with enhancing the quality of our hands on treatments. Physical therapists treat a wide range of conditions from working with patients who have had motor vehicle accidents, strokes, orthopedic type of problems, spinal chord injuries, traumatic brain injuries as well as a host of many more problems. I feel honored to be a part of this growing profession since 1995 as a physical therapist assistant. My area of experience is in Geriatric Rehabilitation. For many years I worked as the sole physical therapist assistant in a 110 bed facility that provided specialized care for patients afflicted with Alzheimers Disease. I know the work I have provided my patients have done them great benefit. Many patients were told that they would never walk again. Through all my efforts with working on their standing balance, increasing their leg strength and flexibility and working on their Gait did make a difference. It improved their functional mobility and improved the quality of their lives. It's rewarding to see someone be able to do something that they may not have been able to do for quite some time. If you are interested in a career in physical therapy please see what the American Physical Therapy Association can provide in terms of resources and what this career entails. American Physical Therapy Association

The ethical debate over palm oil

2007-12-18T18:25:00.000-05:00

Palm oil is a stable vegetable oil that is commonly used by soapmakers to promote a hard and mild soap bar. Its also an oil that is used in the production of all sorts of products ranging from cereals to processed cakes and cookies. Its a staple in many other beauty products like creams and lipsticks. Most palm oil is produced in Maylasia and Indonesia. Collectivley these two areas have benefited from 33 through 41 cent per shares of the global market of this oil(Furniss,C.(2006). Despite this great expansion, these two countries are direcectly responsible for destroying one of the worlds most precious natural resources which is the rainforest, through the production of this oil.

The production also threatnens the natural habitat of Sumantan and Bornean orangutans. Their habitiat is essentially destroyed because of forests being cleared to began producing the palm oil. What's even more disturbing is that by nature these animals are attracted to the lush palm fruit and are tormented by workers in palm plantations. The animals are viewed as a threat and pests to the production. Some plantations have even gone as far as offering some type of reward to their workers who bring in dead orangutans or supplying evidence of having killed one(Furniss,C(2006). Not only is this area inhabitated by orangutans but other species of animals like elephants. Is it really fair that these animals are subjected to this type of persecution over the production of palm oil? It's ironic that we are eager partakers of the worlds natural resources and materials but we are also guilty of destroying these very resources that many are dependent on, to sustain life. What can be done about this problem? I for one love the characteritics that palm oil lends to my soap recipes however as a soapmaker I am facing a major crisis of consicience regarding this issue.I hope to shed some insight into possible solutions in future posts.

* I must rightfully acknowledge the article written by Charlie Furniss of Geograhical Magazine March 2006 for providing the above facts.

The creative process is limitless

2007-12-17T20:08:00.000-05:00

I often wonder if I was not a soapmaker what else besides school and working a full time job would occupy the rest of my time. I appreciate the knowledge I have gained with this craft as well as the ability to express my creative talent. The other night I was brainstorming on other ways to get creative with cold process soaps. My favorite technique is being able to texturize soaps to give visual interest.

You would be suprised but a wire wisk does wonders at giving all sorts of effects. Normally I like to make the illusion of soft textured peaks with soap. The back of a spoon or using a butter knife works nicely to give off a frosting like texture on the tops. I used a wire wisk for this effect by dipping the wisk in the soap batter after I poured it in the mold. Once I pulled the wisk out it created this cool effect. Many folks like to keep their soaps untextured but I think texturizing adds some visual interest and appeal to your products. See for yourself what you can create with your own tools in your kitchen.

I wish it was springtime already

2007-12-16T23:03:00.000-05:00

It's been quite cool down here in the Carolinas considering we had a rave of springtime like weather a week ago. I was so inspired by thoughts of springtime that I made a new soap yesterday. It's scented with Daystars's Stonewashed Cotton. It reminds me of fresh laundry that has been drying outside

Whipped Body Butter

2007-12-16T12:50:00.000-05:00

My next adventure in formulating is to come up with a body butter that will soothe dry skin. My skin this time of year can be a little dried out if I am not using a moisturizer. Although not nearly dried out if I was using store bought soap. I haven't used that stuff on my skin in quite a long time since I have began creating my own recipes for cold process soap. As long as I am able to make my own soap I will never go back to store bought. Anyway back to the body butter. I am looking to use high contents of shea butter as well as some lighter oils like sweet almond and sunflower. I just purchased a grip of products from MMS-The Sage so in a few days I will start playing around with a recipe.

Luxury Soaps

2007-12-15T14:23:00.001-05:00

Presently I have been working on expanding my line with new products. I am working on devising a luxury soap bar recipe with shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, olive oil and a few other oils. My quest is to continue to keep my line afforable and a great value. So much to do in so little time! Have a great winter everyone and keep an eye out for new product offerings in the future.

2007-12-15T13:12:00.001-05:00

During the rest of December Southern Pleasures will offer a generous 20% off of all products!

Please use special code: spwinter to recieve your discount. Code must be entered at checkout to recieve discount.

visit me at http://www.southernpleasuresbathandbody.com/

Welcome to Southern Pleasures

2007-12-13T01:30:00.000-05:00

My business deals with the creation and marketing of my own handcrafted premium body products. My emphasis is primarily on creating cold process soaps as I have more control over the type of product I want to create. I devise my own recipes with all types of luxurious oils and butters to produce a mild soap bar that is not only healthy for your skin but lathers very well.

2007-12-13T01:18:00.000-05:00