Peter Rabbit, carrots and soap

Our parents warned us about going blind if we did not eat our carrots! Well mine had to constantly, I literally despised peas, carrots and broccoli, no matter in what form or in any disguise my Mom would dish it up. Not even Dad's take on the story of Peter Rabbit, desperately squeezing under Mr. McGregor’s fence to 'borrow' some eye sight saving carrots, moved me into eating carrots without me pumping my lips with enough air pressure to fully inflate the tractor tires of a carrot farmer. My Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail come in the form of two older brothers, and while I have many food related stories and fond childhood memories to divulge about them, none actually feature them also having to sit at the table and "finish those veggies or no pudding"! Either they were more adept at feeding their 'unwanted' vegetables under the cover of a tabletop to the pets; maybe they had wisened up to the fact that getting past Mom's rules was futile, wasted time that could of been spent playing (not to mention that sitting on your butt for ages is not good for your blood circulation or your mood); or food that was meant to be eaten hot tasted far better than when cold. Being boys, they were probably just constantly hungry!


organic carrot puree for natural colour



I'm sure we have all heard of the numerous health benefits of carrots. Getting their name from the ingredient which gives them that beautiful orange colour - beta carotene, great for healthy .... yup... younger looking skin as beta carotene is an important antioxidant nutrient. Its antioxidant action helps to act against age accelerating free radicals, fighting cell damage in the body. These antioxidants, potassium, Vitamins A, C and K and other nutrients contained in carrots nourish the skin, preventing dry skin and other skin blemishes.

 



blend of citrus and floral essential oils



Now I don't know if Mom, as a young mother 40 or 50 odd years ago, knew about antioxidants and free radicals, or had even heard of them, or if she even knew why they are so good for us, just as I don't know for certain if substituting carrot puree for the liquid part in soapmaking has any skin benefits. What I do know is that it makes a good bar of soap with a beautiful, natural colour.

 



rice milk and kaolin clay add to the silky feel
 



I've got to wonder if being a soapmaker herself, had she known that carrots are not only healthy but also can be used in soap, if I might have seen less of them on my plate!  

 

...makes for a good soap


Bless all mothers who without even knowing, "just know it's good for you because I said so"!
 

 Greetings from Cape Town

 

 

x Cynthia x



oat bastille soap

Although bubbles are so good, I love a soap that has more of a creamy lather and can quite happily forgo a bar of soap that has a needless abundance of bubbles, especially for a facial bar.

As we all know, a Castille Soap, although very creamy can feel somewhat slimy (an acquired liking for some). And thats where a Bastille Soap steps up to the plate and is more to my liking.

oat bastille soap

With a minimum of 70% olive oil for its gentle cleansing properties, it allows a soapmaker to have more play with the qualities of the finished soap with the remaining 30% blend of oils.

oat bastille soap
 

 Although not scented with any essential or fragrance oils, the added oatmilk and colloidal oats imparts a subtle fragrance. The verdict is still anxiously awaited on whether the Kaolin clay which was added on the spur of the moment will be a future additive.

Which is your preference, a Castille or Bastille soap?

Greetings from Cape Town

 

x Cynthia x

highs and lows

Over the last couple of months I have had some very unwelcome inhabitants in my soap kitchen. Sometime in a soap makers adventures these little gremlins are present and quickly move on to greener pastures, leaving in their wake a batch or in my case batches of soap that you end up fragrancing your garbage can with. Yup, they are unsalvagable ..... is that a word ...... the ones that result in undesirable or unusable soap. All my mantra's, soap dancing, various genre's of music, silent prayers, loud ones too, and a plethora of threats thrown in for good measure probably had them in fits of laughter, entertaining them to bits and ensuring their stay to be lengthened. And some culprit was feeding them as they went from gremlins to devastating ogres. There were so many different issues that my silent nervous breakdowns were having a hard time categorising themselves.

"Jasmine" in all its glory sporting a crackled effect.

Let me just add here that these are part of restocking my standard line, no new ingredients, techniques or going out on a limb with a different or untried recipe.

"Chai" with an overly zealous attitude to outshining all participants in the crackle contest.

So in between the restocking with a batch here ....hmmph....... and there passing a quality control test, new products in the pipeline that I am hoping to branch out with have also been thrown into the mix; (thanks to all the willing human guinea pigs), sourcing jars, bottles and containers and designing labels etc. And a new addition to the "family" in the form of a website is ready to go, awaiting photos of products. 

While watching available stock levels dwindle, I went from panic to frantic to sabbatical. Not having lined up any markets gave me a certain peace in the decision, and I enjoyed the respite, allowing me to play with test batches of colour, fragrances, palm free recipes and infusions.

 

Last week I upped the ante and started soaping for real and threw out the challenge to the first restock soap that if she plays nicely with me she will get a new name.

Take a bow "Mucking Afazing"!



I'm typing this in a whisper, but I think the soap gremlins have left the building.

 

Greetings from Cape Town

Cynthia