Spirulina

For those interested in using spirulina in cold process soap for color...I would suggest that you do not bother. The soap below was made March 15 and you can see the picture on the bottom how bright the green swirls were. The photo on the top was taken to show you all that after a little more than 2 months the green has faded to a pale green/tan color. Very disappointing...though I have found that stinging nettles makes a really great natural green color that lasts. Now I need to find something else to do with all my spirulina powder. Maybe it would work as a colorant in lotion...but would people want to rub a green lotion all over their body? Maybe it could be marketed for children.

Cucumber melon soap

Last weekend I made a batch of cucumber melon soap. I made the green swirls by mixing a portion of the soap with spirulina powder. Spirulina is algae that is "farmed" across the world and eaten. It is 60% all-vegetable protein, rich in beta carotene, iron, vitamin B-12 and the rare essential fatty acid, GLA. It offers a striking profile of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrents. It has been shown in numerous scientific studies to have remarkable health benefits.

Cranberry and Cucumber Melon Soaps

No not those two scents together..that would probably be horrible. Yesterday I made a cranberry scented soap with a swirl of cranberry fruit fiber and red sparkles for color. The red kinda turned a brown color but it looks like with curing it may turn a little redder. I made some little ladybug shaped soap with the left over soap and those are turning a purple-red color. I poured this soap at a very thick trace so that I could try making some texture on the top of the soap. I think, even with the color not being bright red like I had wanted, it still looks pretty nice.

The second batch I made was scented with a cucumber melon FO. I used spirulina powder to make a green swirl. This soap ended up tracing really fast so it was already pretty thick when i poured it. I did not think that I would be able to get nice swirls, but I am actually really happy with how it turned out.

These soaps will both be available for purchase around April 6th.

I will add pictures later today, hopefully.