Candle Melts Are Here!

After much testing the new candle melts are now available online!

Fragrances currently available include:

• German Chocolate Cake
• Summer Sweet Pea
• White Gardenia
  
• Gentle Lavender
• Sun Baked Figs
• Frosted Cinnamon Rolls
• Creme Brulee
• Lily of the Valley
• Southern Honeysuckle
• More Coming Soon!
  

Two new scents!

Here are two new scents that will soon be added to our web store it they haven't already(Curt are you reading this?) The first is a lovely rose fragrance we are calling "Red Rose." This fragrance was first introduced last May during Portland's annual Rose Festival celebration. It was brought in as a limited editions fragrance and sold very well, in fact I had numerous request to bring it back once it had sold out for the season. So I did, but I recolored it yellow and named it "Yellow Rose." Big mistake. Though the fragrance was enjoyed the color was not. It was a slow mover with the yellow color. So it's back to its original color with a new name.



Secondly, let me introduce "Lady Lavender." Did you know that plain jane lavender fragrance out sells all other soap fragrances 2 to 1? We'll I didn't know that until recently while reading about in a bath and body fragrance trend article. So I thought it was about time I get with the program and bring in a good lavender fragrance. Fortunately I have tested many, many lavender fragrances over the past years so I knew just the one that would be perfect. It's actually a "tweaked" version or rather my own customized lavender fragrance that you won't find anywhere else. Slightly sweet, wonderfully smooth, and classically relaxing, as any good lavender fragrance should be. And there's a hint of something else tucked in there, but I'm not telling.

Coming Soon! Candle Melts!

Nope, I haven't forgot about our candle melts. Over the past several months I've been testing and testing and testing many new fragrance oils trying to find the best of the best to offer in our new and improved candle melts. In fact, the picture above shows just a small portion of fragrances I've tested for our new melts. And.......drum roll please.... I'm finally pleased to announce some of the new candle melt fragrances we'll have available this coming February.

• Creme Brulee
• Frosted Cinnamon Buns
• Gardenia Blossom
• Gentle Lavender
• German Chocolate Cake
• Lily of the Valley
• Summer Orange Blossom
• Sun Baked Figs
• Summer Sweat Pea
• Sweet Pipe Tobacco
• Wild Honeysuckle
• With more coming!

Descriptions and more details coming soon!

Hot processed Soap

Over the past two years I've been experimenting with "hot processed" soapmaking. Hot processed soap is made by adding extra heat via the microwave, double broiler, crock pot, oven, or whatever else you can think of, to the soap making process. By adding heat you speed up the saponification process there by turning oils and lye into soap faster than when using the traditional "cold pour" method. With hot processed soap you can go from a raw soap mixture to a completely saponified soap within an hour. The traditional cold pour method can take up to 2 days for the oils and lye mixture to completely turn into soap. Both methods still require cure time on a shelf before they are at their best IMO. Check out the pics below of some soap I made recently using the hot process method.



Here's the raw soap (melted oils, lye and water) ready to go. I chose to use the oven, set on warm, to "cook" the soap.




As the soap begins to heat up and "cook" you can see around the edges of the bowl how it changes texture.




In this picture the soap if fully saponified, no lye remains. The texture is like that of soft mashed potatoes.



Here I'm adding the goat milk after the cook in order to keep the sugars in the milk from burning and turning brown and stinky. For hot processed soap I'm using a food grade, spray dried, whole fat goat milk that has been reconstituted into a concentrated slurry.



The soap has now been scented, colored and plopped into a wooden mold. After it cools I'll take it out and cut it.



And here's the soap out of the mold and cut. It needs to cure another months to 6 weeks to be at it's best. I scented it with an energizing orange, mint and lavender blend and colored with bright sunny colors! When this soap is ready, I'll make it available online as a limited edition.

Here's in northwest Oregon we are having a day made for a duck! To prove it I've included a picture of our lone duck "Arwen" enjoying today's rainy weather. Arwin is a dwarf breed of duck known as an East Indie and at nearly 10 years old she is the last of our waterfowl. She woke me early this morning when I heard her quacking happily in her "pond" in our driveway.

I've tried many, many coconut scents and had trouble finding one that "sticks" in my goat milk soap. Finally, I found one that passes with flying colors. This is a creamy, soft, slightly sweetened coconut fragrance. Enjoy!

On these damp, chilly mornings I often see the goats standing like statues absorbing the warmth from the sun. I can't blame them.