Soapy September at the Loft

Now that August and my language assessment course commitments are over, I've got more time (and money- yay!) for soaping. This month I finally made my first Etsy sale (thanks Jess!) and I've got my first bulk order for favors at a very special upcoming event (details to follow).

After spending a lovely weekend (my first free weekend in 5 weeks!) between Santa Cruz and Salinas visiting with friends and a very special new boy, I finally found some time this weekend to bust out the oils, lye and other neglected supplies and get busy experimenting with some new cold process recipes. Yesterday truly was a Super Soaping Sunday - I made 4 batches of soap, which I plan to share with you throughout the week.

I also placed a couple of exciting supply orders last week so I'm very excited to introduce some new lip balm flavors and (soap) color and fragrance options in the next few weeks.

While you're waiting on pics and more info about my new soapy adventures, don't forget to check out my Etsy store. It's a bit bare at the moment, but now that my new camera has arrived, I'll be adding more listings in the next few days. If you're following me on Twitter, you already know that I'm offering FREE SHIPPING for the month of September on all purchases over $10. To take advantage of this deal, please enter the word SEPTEMBER in the notes to seller. A refund for the shipping cost will be issued when I process the order.

Now Available: Spearmint Rosemary soap

Fragranced with essential oils of spearmint and rosemary and colored with oxides, these guys are 100% natural. They've had a nice long cure in my small home-based workshop and they're ready to be included in your daily bath/shower ritual.

Order them online and I'll throw in a free lip balm!

Honey Lemon Eucalyptus Lip Balm

After the success of my geranium lavender lip balm, I've been looking forward to more adventures in lip balms. Now that I have my new lip balm tubes, I just need to find some free time for playing around with new recipes!

I did manage to steal some time last weekend before heading down to Salinas for Easter. I wanted to bring soap and lip balm samples down for my hosts but the geranium lavender lip balms are pretty feminine, so I decided to create a more gender neutral lip balm for the occasion.

Ben and Jenny are the biggest consumers of Emergen-C vitamin supplements I know but when you've got a cute little germ incubator (aka, toddler) running around, even vitamins can't hold off the occasional sore throat, cough or sniffles. With that in mind, I decided to create a lip balm that would provide an extra little aromatherapy boost to help with these syptoms.

Because I was in a hurry to get down there, I ended up using the same base I'd used for the geranium lavender lip balm (I already had some made up). I added a bit of honey to the base to sweeten it and went with a combination of lemon and eucalyptus essential oils, a well-known combination for fighting sore throats. (Of course this combination is usually ingested via cough drops or tea, so I'm not sure it'll really help that much as a lip balm and no, I don't recommend eating the lip balms to get the full effect.)

I've been using this lip balm for the past few days and I've decided that it needs some work. I think I'll try a different base next time and I'll definitely add a higher concentration of essential oils because the first batch was a bit weak.

Coming Soon...

Any requests?

Essential Oil Experiments - Geranium Lavender Lip Balm

I am completely addicted to lip balm.

Just like many other lip balm junkies out there, I'm one of those people who feels completely naked without some sort of lip protection. I also tend to carry a separate tube in each purse or bag that goes out with me. My earliest memory of this little habit was using my mom's Mentholatum as a kid. Yeah, I started with the strong stuff. I just loved the tingly sensation on my lips whenever I used it and even more exciting was the sinus clearing action I experienced every time I had a stuffy nose.

I made my first small batch of lip balms last weekend. I've made a solid perfume base from shea butter, beeswax and olive oil in the past that was the perfect consistency for lip balm, so I decided to try mixing it with essential oils to create a nice multi-purpose lip balm, just like my childhood favorite.

I measured one ounce of the lip balm base and added five drops each of two different essential oils: geranium and lavender.


I chose Egyptian Geranium and Hungarian Lavender for the multitude of beneficial properties associated with each of them.

Geranium is known for soothing all sorts of skin issues, including acne, bruises, burns, cuts, and eczema. It also aids circulation, sore throat, feminine issues attributed to PMS and menopause, stress and neuralgia.

Lavender is known for a long list of beneficial properties as well. It has a very soothing, calming effect on nervous conditions, headaches, respiratory and even digestive problems. It's a natural antibacterial and antiviral, as well as a decongestant, deodorant, and sedative.

Working together, lavender and geranium also provide strengthened antiseptic, antidepressant, healing and moisturizing properties. Finally, both provide beautiful, uplifting aromas which promote calm and soothing reactions and feelings to physical and emotional stresses.

The base of the lip balm consists of shea butter, beeswax and olive oil. The shea butter is a moisturizer which promotes the healing of dry skin, acne, chapped lips, stretch marks, and many other issues. The beeswax and the olive oil act as barriers that help absorb and seal in the moisture. The combination of the moisturizing qualities of the lip balm, the healing properties of the essential oils, as well as their intoxicating fragrance make these lip balms


I've been using the lip balm all week and I love it :) Not only are my lips silky soft, but the aroma is so intoxicating that I keep catching myself puckering up to catch a whiff!

The rest of the batch is floating around as samples, and I can't wait to hear what the recipients think of it.