the Goat Wore a Purple Hat

Friday, January 19, 2007

Huh? Goat wore a purple hat? No, I'm not smoking crack. Please.

I signed up for a soap/toiletry swap on a forum that I frequent. I decided to make soap so tonight I pulled out all my soapmaking materials and got to work making a 10.5 pound batch. (For those not in the know - that's a good sized batch. 167 ounces of oils).

I have a recipe that I've perfected through countless batches of soap through the pasta 6 years. It's quick lathering and yet super gentle on the hands. Leaves them feeling soft and moisturized. And you can't hope for much better than that!

So with this batch I decided on a swirl. I'd do a creamy white/golden shade swirled with purple. The creamy base is scented with Heliotrope. The purple is scented with Lavender (how appropriate!). What is Heliotrope? Well, it's a flower...

]any hairy plant belonging to the genus Heliotropium, of the borage family, as H. arborescens, cultivated for its small, fragrant purple flowers.

What's it smell like? It's got a vanilla undertone. And maybe a bit like sugar cookies - it's rather indescribable. Suffice to say, it smells quite good! And when paired with Lavender the resulting blend is simply divine. The Heliotrope provides a soft base for the Lavender and tones it down a bit. Makes it a bit more sweet and not so biting.

But anyway, I melted the oils, mixed my goat milk and stuck it in the freezer, and mixed my lye and water together in an ice bath. Stepped away for 45 minutes or so and came back to mix it all together. So far I've been quite successful in making goat milk soap. It's the only type of soap I make. It didn't take but a few batches of burnt orange ammonia before I learned how to keep the GM cool and add it to cold lye water. It heats up enough to add to the oil and voila! No more burnt goat milk.

Once it was mixed, I poured the base into the 3 log molds, keeping out 2 pounds to mix with the purple Lavender. Once that was mixed I spread it over the base and used some chopsticks to swirl it into the base. It looks loverly from the top - but we'll see what it looks like once it's cut. I know the swirls won't go all the way through and this is where the Goat Wore a Purple Hat comes in!

Yes, I've already named the stuff. I'm pathetic that way. As it's GM soap and since it has a purple top - the name fits perfectly. I'm super anxious to get up in the morning and see what it looks like umolded. Fingers and toes crossed!

I'll post a nice photo once it's cut. Then everyone can see the Soap Master at work. Ha! Master I am not. But I sure do enjoy making it.