Beacon Creations

Anyone care to join me for a "Sleigh Ride"?

2009-08-25T19:02:51-07:00

I'm so, so, so excited! I used my new Nizzy Mould today. I've been wanting to try my hand at some of the fancy color swirls that I've seen many soapers do. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the look that I wanted by using my loaf soap molds.

There are alot of really great slab molds out there. I've fallen in love with Terry Nisbet a.k.a. Nizzy and his products. I would encourage anyone to check him out. Nizzy is truly a soap artist. He is super sweet & and kind and his moulds cost less (even with shipping cost from Australia!) than any of the slab molds I've found online in the states.

Anyway, I'm actually quite satisfied with the way the soap turned out. Not bad for my first time, IMO...

When I unmolded this soap, the room was full of "oooh's" and "aah's" as everyone came over to smell it. It really does smell good. I'm still trying to settle on a name for it though. The fragrance oil is called Sleigh Ride but I'm leaning more towards "Home for the Holidays". That's what it makes me think of. It's a very warm and comforting scent. The bars still have to cure for about 4-6 weeks, so I guess we'll have plenty of time to debate over a name, lol.

New Soap

2009-08-07T20:43:00-07:00

I just got in an order of fragrance oils from my favorite supplier. I'm really excited about everything and can't wait to try them out. These are the fragrances that will make up part of my Fall and Winter line of soaps: Sandalwood Vanilla, Spiced Pumpkin, Beau Brummel, Sleigh Ride, Spiced Mahogany, and Vanilla Vanilla.

I tried the Spiced Pumpkin right away. It made the house smell so good and really put me in the mood for fall.

Right now it's orange and cream but the light portion should discolor to a nice warm brown.

What Happened to My Cucumbers!?!?

2009-08-05T20:42:00-07:00

First, I would like to start off by saying that until this past spring, I have never grown a vegetable or herb in my life. That being said, I would like to know what in the world happened to my cucumbers. I purchased the baby plants and brought them home and transplanted them into large pots. I fed and watered them faithfully. Brandon and I checked on them every single day. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we recently moved to North Carolina and had to leave our vegies behind. (I got to bring my herbs though ;D)

Anyway, Brandon went back to Baltimore a few weeks ago and reported that the cucumbers were yellow and looking more like pears than cucumbers. He brought a couple back this past weekend:

What in the world...?

They range from between 4-6 inches. When I peeled them, they smelled like cucumbers and without the skin the even looked like cucumbers. I'm brave (or stupid) so I ate a piece. They even taste like cucumbers. They are slightly sweeter that what I'm used to eating and the seeds portion is a bit saltly like a pickle.

Any ideas? I'm still searching.

Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Soap

2009-08-03T06:00:00-07:00

I'll be honest you. I have been avoiding this particular fragrance oil for months. I'm just not that crazy about the scent. BUT, of course you are NEVER, ever suppose to judge a fragrance based on how it smells out-of-bottle. This is a very popular fragrance in bath and body products and I definitely want to create whatever keeps my customers happy, so I decided to go ahead, bite the bullet and make the soap. Big sigh; Here I go...

First of all I made this batch of soap using a new recipe. I used Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Cocoa Butter as my base ingredients. Olive Oil is always a great base to use because it's mild. Coconut Oil increases lather and bubbles but can be very drying, which is why I normally don't use as much as I did in this batch. However, to offset the increased amount of Coconut Oil, I added even more Cocoa Butter for it's great moisturizing properties. Cocoa Butter also will help make the bar hard which will ultimately help soap last longer.

I then added Palm Oil (hardness & lather), Unrefined Shea Butter (more moisture!) and Castor Oil (for even more bubbles). Also new to my recipe is Tussah Noil Silk Fibre*. Silk Fibre adds a rich and silky feel to the lather which is suppose to feel really, really good in your skin.

The Results

I am extremely happy with the way these bars look. The high liquid oil content really gives the bars a nice smooth texture with a very slight sheen to the appearance. Here's the best part: THEY SMELL GREAT!! The longer these bars cure, the better they smell. The scent of some fragrance oils morph in Cold Process soaps. In my opinion, this is one of them. This is another batch that I am really dying to try. I'll see how they turn out in the next 4-6 weeks. If I'm really happy with the results, I'll post the recipe here.

*The Tussah Noil Silk that we use in our soaps is made by wild Tussah Silk Worms when forming their cacoons and is hand harvested AFTER the Antheraea Pernyisilk Moth has emerged.

Coconut Lemongrass Soap

2009-07-29T21:00:00-07:00

This fragrance smells even better in my soap than it did out-of-bottle. Really. I liked it when I first sniffed it but, I LOVE it in the actual soap! This is another one I can't wait to try.

It was suppose to be layered with a cream/ivory base and white on top. Sort of like the Achilles Bay soap, but it didn't quite work out that way. I'm still pretty satisfied with the end result though. I've done worse... maybe one day I'll get over my pride enough to post an account of my Pine Tar soap disaster.

This is curing and will be available in 2-3 weeks on my

website and etsy shop.

Achilles Bay?

2009-07-27T21:00:00-07:00

My Mom has lived on the beautiful island of Bermuda and I live in North Carolina, so I don't get to see her often. I miss her so much. I started coming up with some beachy-type fragrances that make me think of the beautiful azure waters and pink sands of Bermuda and, of course, my Mom.

I mixed Salty Mariner and Sweet Rain fragrance oils and came up with is this wonderful spa like aquatic scent that will make you think of the sea, salty air and gently rolling waves. Now I just need to settle on a name for it. There is a small beach that is shaped like a heel just outside of St. George in Bermuda called Achilles Bay. I think I am really drawn to the name of that particular beach because it makes me think of Brad Pitt's portrayal of the Greek demi god Achilles in the movie Troy. He was sooo gorgeous in that film, lol! (Brandon is standing behind me right now really hating on poor Brad, hee hee hee!)

Anyway, back to the soap. My Mom is not too keen on naming the soap Achilles either. But, for different reasons than Brandon. She feels that the name reminds her of the bottom of someones foot. She suggested several names of some popular beaches that continuously find themselves on the list of Bermudas top 10 beaches.

I don't know though. I think Brad Pitt may win on this one ;o)

This soap is curing right now and should be available in 2-3 weeks on my

website and etsy shop.

Pictures of Ginger Pear and Pink Grapefruit Soaps

2009-07-24T21:00:00-07:00

These are pictures of the soaps I recently made. They're all sliced and beveled now. They both smell sooo good! I can't wait to try them, but unfortunately, they still have a few more weeks to go on the curing rack : (

Ginger Pear

Pink Grapefruit

Cool Illustration

2009-07-16T17:04:00-07:00

I found a really cool illustration that explains the process of how soap is made. It's perfect for those of you who still run across comments like: "The natural soap I buy, was made without any lye." or "My skin is really sensitive to lye." I still get these comments no matter how many times I explain:

1. No lye, No soap

2. When soap is properly made, there is no lye left behind anyway.

Does anyone else run across these types of comments? I can't be the only one Well, here is an illustration that is perfect tool for explaining the saponification process: SOAPMAKING, SAPONIFICATION AND SUPERFATTING SIMPLIFIED.

Just a thought...

2009-07-15T08:57:30-07:00

EVERY ADVERSITY,

EVERY FAILURE

AND EVERY HEARTACHE

CARRIES WITH IT

THE SEED

OF AN EQUIVALENT

OR A GREATER

BENEFIT

Checking in on my tomatoes

2009-07-14T16:43:10-07:00

There's nothing like homegrown vegetables and herbs. I read a really helpful article about it before I sarted growing my own. Tonight we had spaghetti with fresh sweet basil and chives from my little garden. De-Li-Cious. We relocated to North Carolina a month ago and unfortunately, I had to leave my tomatoes and cucumbers behind. Fortunately, I started everything in pots, so I was able to get baby-sitters for them.

My Dad's been taking care of the tomatoes. (Thank you Daddy!) He called today, on the video phone, to show me the first ripe tomato. I'm so proud. It looked great. I called back and asked to get a picture so I could add it to my blog and he was like "Well, no. Actually, I can't show it to you again". So I'm like, "Why not?" And he holds up this super juicy, dripping chunk of tomato and pops it in his mouth! Hee,hee, hee. I'm sitting there watching him smack and lick his fingers off my tomato!! I guess I can let him off this time since he's been so great about taking care of them for me :o)

Fortunately, there was an even bigger tomato still on the vine, so he went out to get it for me. I'm going back to Maryland this weekend so I can get a few to bring down here. I can't wait.

This is my Dad showing me one of the tomatoes on our video phone. That's Brandon and I down in the corner.

Looks yummy!!

I hear the cucumbers aren't doing as well though. We left those at Brandon's parents house. So, we'll have to stop by for a little look-see during the next visit to Maryland. I'll post some pics.