For the Love of Bubbles

A whole new experience is coming soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:14:00 +0000

Change is not a bad thing

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 18:10:00 +0000

Hi Lovelies!

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog. As you may or may not know, my focus has shifted a bit.

I'm back in the product making game! So I haven't had much time to post and review items from other product makers.

Don't worry, I still am an experimenter when comes to bath and body items and all things cute and unicorny. I still share products from other product makers on instagram, but I think I'll get back to updating here as well.

So a few new things are going on - I am currently selling my wares at a Pop Up Show in Bowie - I'll be there every Friday - Sunday except for two dates December 14th and December 16th. (on the 16th, I'll be at the food court in Pentagon City Mall!)

If you haven't visited my Etsy store in awhile, there are tons of new items. Check it out, everything ships for free and for Black Friday, you can get 35% off!

No code is needed.

Last, but definitely not least, I've begun teaching introductory soapmaking and bath bomb classes. My next classes will be on December 30th. If you're in the DMV area, you should come through!

That's all for now. I will do my best to continue to update here with everything new going on with my #Bubblelove!

Ayieta

2016 Birthday Giveaway Winners!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 12:48:00 +0000

What's good, LoveBuds?

Thank you all so much for the birthday love and the biggest giveaway turn out ever with over 2100 entries! I'm excited to give away this awesome batch of prizes!

What was even more awesome were some of the responses to the giveaway question "When did you know you were a soap addict?" Here are just a few of the great responses I received:

"When I started buying everyday!"

"When I had to start hiding it from my husband..."

"When my friend was using my bathroom and I had run out of soap, I told her to look in the cabinet for more and then I heard her laughing. That laughter was my indication. :)"

"I knew the addiction was real when I would save up coins for releases BEFORE saving up for lunch money..."

"I will never admit lol"

You guys are the best! Now for my

Prizes are awarded in the order listed

Congratulations to all my winners! Thank you everyone for participating. There will be more giveaway fun soon.

Until Next time~

Peace, Love & lots of awesome BUBBLES!

More Great Handmade Soap for $5 or less

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:08:00 +0000

Hey LoveBuds!

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about a few great soapmakers who offered soap for $5 or less. Today, I have a few more to add to that list. So let's get right to it!

First up today is Emily's Soap. Emily believes in pure, natural ingredients and the simple "pioneer" spirit of home soap making. Her line is mostly naturally scented and colored soap, but Emily also offers scented creams and other items. This soap is just darn good. I receive a bar of her lavender soap and if you know me, lavender is one of my favorite fragrances. It had a creamy lather and my just enough lavender to make my shower wonderfully refreshing experience. All of her 4 oz bars sell for just $5 each.

Visit Emily's Soap
     website
     facebook
     instagram

Next up is Ladybug Suds & Sundries. Astarie (I love her name!), sent me two soaps to try out Fairy Floss, which is a playfully sweet cotton candy scent and Independent (2015), a sparkly fruit scent reminiscent of fizzy fruit punch and and ode to the 4th of July. I personally tried Independent and loved the great lather, fresh clean feeling and effervescently fruity fragrance of it. Fairy Floss will be gifted in a giveaway, not because I don't like it, but I don't want to be selfish and I love sharing the #bubblelove with my readers. Ladybug (the owner's nickname) started making soap like many other momtrepreneurs, looking for a way to deal with her baby's sensitive skin. Normally, bars from Ladybug Suds & Sundries run $6.00 each, but she is currently have a HUGE stock reduction sale and the soaps I listed as well as many others have been reduced to just $2.00 each!

Visit Ladybug Suds & Sundries
     website
     facebook
   instagram
   twitter
   YouTube

I've also posted some brand new soaps for sale. All soaps are priced at $5 or less. Each of my small batch soaps are made with fresh, natural oils and ingredients. I love trying new things, but I don't have room nor enough days in my life to use them all, so I'm offering them to you. Free Shipping is now always available on all orders of $20 or more. There are even some leftovers from my special birthday gifts at reduced prices.

Do you know of any other great soaps for less than $5? Email me and I'll work to do another review of awesome soap for great prices! I'm off to study for and finish up my midterms and get to cracking on the August Great Cakes Soap Challenge Club project. What are you working on this weekend?

OH! Don't forget, there is still one more week to enter my Birthday Giveaway which includes a new KINDLE PAPERWHITE!

Until next time,

I bid you Peace, Love & Lots of amazing and affordable Bubbles!

A.

It's My Birthday! My Soap Dish and Awesome FREE GIFTS FOR YOU!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:00:00 +0000

It's that time of year again....MY BIRTHDAY! I officially 45 tomorrow. Yup, the big four five. Crazy, I have the spirit of a 30 year old, but definitely the knees of a 55 year old, so I guess that's about right, lol.

Usually, I do some introspection and give some insights on what I've learned or how I've changed or the world... but not this time. This time, I want to just chillax both mentally and physically, I just want to take it easy. One thing is that I absolutely love life and I am truly enjoying the journey. I just feel that sometimes we spend too much time trying to document what's going on in our lives versus just living and being present in the moment.

So without further adieu, here it is ~ My current soapdish situation!

Yeah, don't judge me...

On to the my gifts to you. Along with the free gifts I made to go with any purchase from my website, I will send an additional FREE full sized bar of soap (from some of my favorite artisans) and you can receive FREE SHIPPING! Whichever free promo code you use (BIRTHDAYGRAINS, BIRTHDAY SOAP or BIRTHDAYGEL) will also apply the discount for the product and free shipping. Valid THIS WEEKEND ONLY!

SHOP NOW

Next, check out my giveaway where one winner will win a KINDLE PAPERWHITE and others will win bountiful prizes of soapy awesomness!

Thank you for sharing my birthday with me! I will soon be preparing for a major surgical procedure at the end of August. As such, I need to double up on my school work so I won't be as active on the blog, but I will still be posting soap loveliness on Instagram. Once I'm back on my feet, I'll be back with more of my #soapchronicles.

Love to you all and until next time,

Peace, Love and loads of birthday cake scented Bubbles!

Pamper yourself without breaking the bank! Fabulous suds for $5 or less!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds!

We're coming down the stretch to my birthday. Later this week, I'll give you a peek at my current soap dish situation and an awesome giveaway for my birthday. But today, I want to talk about soap ballin' on a budget!

My need for an extensive soap collection has necessitated a need to be thrifty. Quality handmade soap can sell for over $10 a bar and though I love to treat myself, there are lots of soap artisans who don't sacrifice quality while still providing a reasonably priced product.

This statement by no means discounts the hard work and craftsmanship put into creating handmade soap. It takes a keen scientific insight and creativity to create great soap. But for those of us on a tight budget, there are still some great options to be found. I've personally tried all of the soaps I present today and none of them disappoint. Each was provided to me without charge in exchange for my honest opinion. Here are a few options for finding great handmade soap for $5 a bar or less:

LOVE YOUR SUDS
This company is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, so for those of us in the US and other countries, shipping may be an issue, but I highly recommend this soap. The bar pictures is Mocha Mint and it is truly TO DIE FOR! It sells for $3 Canadian and is about the size of a half to a third bar of soap (just about 2.5 ounces). I know, for 4.5 to 5.5 bar, the equivalent price is not as thrifty, but if you have tons of soap like me, this is the perfect size.

Even if this was a proportional priced 5 or so ounce bar, I suggest you give it a try. Not only is it gorgeous, but it is filled with ground espresso beans giving it scrubby, tingly, chocolatey, invigoratingly awesome bathing texture. With my sensitive skin, I'm not for overly exfoliating bars. Though this bar is just a bit rough for my skin, I kept bathing with it because the lather and fragrance are intoxicating. Check out Love Your Suds on Facebook and Instagram.

CAST SOAP CO.
The nice people behind Cast Soap Company create awesome soap in Dublin, Ohio. The magnificent 4 ounce sudsy creations sold by Cast Soap are priced at just $4 per bar. You can grab these locally in several shops in Ohio and Cast Soap can also be found on Etsy. These bars are hot processed with great lather and leave skin feeling great. I tried the Oatmeal Scrub, which was nicely exfoliating, but not overly so. I also received the sweet honey almond to try and though almond is not one of my favorite scents, my mother really enjoys almond and loved this soap. Check our Cast Soap on Facebook and Etsy.

UNEARTH MALEE

I've previously reviewed these soaps and absolutely love the natural soap bars offered by Unearth Malee. These bars are Asian inspired, delicately scented and beautifully crafted. While the regular price of these bars is $6.50 each (4.5 to 5 oz bars), every month, one bar is marked down to $5.00. For July, it is their Dead Sea Minerals Salt and Mud Bar (pictured left). I highly recommend these amazing bars which are made without palm oil to support orangutan habitats. Visit Unearth Malee on Facebook and Etsy.

I still have a few more vendors to cover and that will be in part 2 of this series, later this month. The other creators I will review include, Emily's Soaps, Ladybug Suds and Sundries and A&M Soap.

In the meantime, check out my creations here! All soaps are always $5 or less and for my birthday, they are marked down to $3 plus every order of $6 or more receives a free gift of your choice.

Until next time,

Peace, Love and lots of affordable yummy Bubbles!

A.

Feature Friday: Dandelion Zebra Swirl

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 13:22:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds!

Today's Feature Friday video is by Kevin Devin of Devinely Designed. This gorgeous soap has a contrasting pattern similar to the Great Cakes Soap challenged I have been working on this month. Enjoy!

Check out more by Devinely Designed on:
YouTube
the Web
Facebook
Pinterest

My birthday is next week and I've got some special stuff coming your way including my 2nd annual look at my soap dish, some really good soap for $5 or less and a great sale on my products.

Until next time,

Peace, Love & lots of pink zebra striped Bubbles!

July 2016 Great Cakes Soap Challenge: Pipe Divider Swirl

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds!

I'm so excited, my first official entry into soap challenge. This month's Great Cakes Soapworks Soap Challenge Club challenge is called the pipe divider swirl.

In a nutshell, using a slab mold, you stick pvc pipes to the bottom with melted cocoa butter to create a kind soap within a soap effect.

The criteria was simple, use cold process soap and exactly 4 colors.

As you may know, I've only been back at cold process soapmaking for about 6 weeks, but I felt I was up to the challenge.

My first attempt at this challenge was with a very unique fragrance oil I purchased from Wholesale Suppliers Plus called "Rosewater Lemonade". I thought the contrast of the fragrance would work will with this project.

I decided to use Really Red mica from Mad Oils and a very faint pink created by mixing the Really Red with Snow White mica, also from Mad Oils. For the contrast, I decided to use Yellow Raincoat mica from Mad Oils and 24k Gold from Nature's Garden.

I ordered some pvc couplings from Amazon, sight unseen and when they arrived they were MUCH smaller than I anticipated, so I ran to the local hardware store and purchased a couple of 1 inch ones and a 1 1/2 inch one to go with the 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch ones I received.

The beginning pour went smashingly. However, when it came time to pour into the pvc pipes, I realized that they were way too small for this project. I dripped yellow and gold soap batter several times on the red and pink.

I also wasn't really feeling there was enough contrast between the yellow and gold, especially after it dried and was covered in soda ash.

My defeat becomes more evident with the fact that I have no skills at finishing bars. Things like beveling, steaming, planing, etc have not been my strong suit, but could kind of be forgiven with a loaf mold. This slab mocks me with my horribly crocked cut bars. Even worse, it smells TO DIE FOR and the gold on this soap in some places looks like little puckered up lips and I love that effect.

ROUND TWO:

First, back to the hardware store for some 2 inch and more 1 and 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe couplings. Next, the fragrance, I still wanted something that would provide for contrasting colors. As I looked through my stash, I found Energy fragrance by Bramble Berry and thought with a little mint added, I could do something that resembled leaves on an orange and yellow base. So I added a dash of peppermint and spearmint EO and the blend was perfect!

The larger pvc pipes worked like a charm, the fragrance behaved beautifully and I could not have asked for a better result. For the swirls I used a chopstick whereas with the first attempt I used a bamboo skewer. With the thicker chopstick, I really think I was able to do a more controlled swirl. With the first attempt, I believe there is too much swirl work and it got a bit too busy in spots. I covered this pan with a thin cutting mat after pouring. I hope that will cut down on the soda ash. I've been spraying my soaps with 99% isopropyl alcohol, but that has not seemed to help much with ash.

After careful unmolding, some calculated cutting and trying my best to clean them up, this is the result:

The colors faded a bit more than I would have liked, but all in all, I'm pretty proud of the result. The bar on the right is what the bottom looks like.

This was fun and I look forward to next month's challenge!

What new recipes/concepts are you working on? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time,

Peace, Love & lots of energized BUBBLES!

A.

What is Bathy Taffy? I'm not sure yet...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Love buds!

I can't even describe the fun I'm having creating yumminess in my soap lab!

I decided to try out a few things other than cold process soap. Most of us use handmade soap because we are looking to use more natural products. The level of adherence to the natural ingredients runs the gamut and each person feels. Personally, I definitely want to live a healthier life and minimize my carbon footprint, but I consider products on a product by product basis, if it looks interesting, I'm not bound to a code that would make me not use a product just because it is not 100% natural. I do know that some ingredients cause irritation for me and those I do try to avoid.

That was a ramble for what, I think I'll get back around to it...I go off topic often.

In bringing Bathy Taffy to fruition, I wanted to create a new lather experience for myself. Most liquid, cream or other types of soaps irritate my skin. Many have quite a bit of proplyene glycol which I am pretty sure is the culprit. It is hard to find natural liquid or other forms of non-bar soaps mainly because they do not lather well. When you add things to a soap that are non-lathering (extra glycerin or butter or other moisturizing additive) it greatly affects the lather. Proplyene does not, so it is added as a humectant to many of these products. For product makers who chose not to use it, the result is good soap but not great lather.

Recently, as I have gotten back into creating soap, the desire for a different soap texture arose again. My attempt was to create a kind of cream soap and I tried by making a butter and adding liquid soap first, but I never achieved the lather I wanted and still had some level of skin irritation.

With some research, I found that adding sugar to your lye water really boosts lather in the final soap product. Seasoned soapers know that dodium hydroxide is used to create bar soap and potassium hydroxide is used to create liquid soap. When I combined the two with my process, an elasticy soap was the result, even when fully diluted!

Bathy Taffy Recipe

I apologize, I did not take pictures of this process, I wasn't sure it would work out. I am really trying to do better at that!
If you are unfamiliar with cold and hot process soapmaking, please do not proceed. Find a local soapmaking class or find some video tutorials. Working with lye can be hazardous if you are unfamiliar with how to maintain safety while doing so.

TOOLS:
Crockpot (Some people make hot process soap on the stove or in the oven, if so, you will need the essential tools for heating your soap via that method. I used a crockpot)
Stirring utensils
Stickblender
Safety googles
long rubber gloves
apron
thermometer
Stainless steel pot (to heat glycerin and lye up)

INGREDIENTS:
I will share my ingredients by percentage of batch. I did a 16 oz batch with a 10% superfat. The key to this is the use of glycerin instead of water to create the lye bath.

Use a soap calculator to figure the amounts of lye, lye bath glycerin and dilution liquid amounts.

You will need:
LYE WATER
.87 oz Sodium Hydroxide (40% of calculated lye amount)
1.84 oz Potassium Hydroxide (60% of calculated lye amount)
5.75 Glycerin (36% of the weight of oils)
2 TBSP Sugar

OILS
2 oz Castor Oil (12.5% of oils)
2 oz Olive Oil (12.5% of oils)
4 oz Coconut Oil (25% of oils)
4 oz Palm Oil (25% of oils)
2 oz Rice Bran Oil (12.5% of oils)
2 oz Shea Butter (12.5% of oils)

DILUTION
2 oz of additional Glycerin for dilution bath
11 oz of liquid for lye bath (I used coconut milk w/aloe vera)
2 oz of additional butter (shea or mango) I used shea for after dilution

DIRECTIONS
Warm oils in crockpot on high. In the stainless steel pan, add glycerin and dissolve sugar in it. Once completely dissolved add Potassium and Sodium hydroxide. Continue to warm until all lye is dissolved. Solution may be cloudy, no need to warm until clear.

Once oils and lye are within 20 degrees of each other (between 130 and 160 degrees), add glycerin/lye to oil (never add oils to lye) and stick blend to a heavy trace. Turn the crockpot down to warm. Let sit about 10 minutes and stick blend again. Repeat until you can no longer stick blend and then continue to cook batter until translucent, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. Once translucent, test via your chosen method to ensure it is fully neutralized.

Add 2 oz of additional butter and stir in until melted. The batter should start to have a taffy-like consistency.

Add dilution water to batter and gently stir to incorporate. Try to ensure all of the batter is covered with solution and let it warm for 4 to 6 hours stirring occasionally.

Once all of the batter is incorporated, it will have the consistency of thick shower gel and may develop a layer of foam. At this point turn off the crockpot. Let set at lest 24 hours. It will then take on a taffy consistency again, just stir in the foam and it is ready to use.

Carefully add the fragrance oil of your choice. You could probably do this with the dilution bath.

I am considering adding a little color to make it look a little more palatable.

If you try this, tell me how you like it. I took a shower with it last night and my skin felt great, though the lather is not as great as bar soap, I felt it was a bit more than most handmade cream soap options.

Until next time Love Buds,

Peace, Love and lots of gooey, bathy taffy Bubbles!

A.

It's July! So, I'm giving away soap!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds!

It's July. My birthday is in July. That makes July AWESOME! This month I'll be bringing you some special posts on my projects, product reviews and a look at my soapdish.

To kick the month off, I'm giving you a discount off the products I've made PLUS a free full sized bar of soap.

Can't wait for you to try my soap! Click the graphic below to check out my shop.

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love & Lots of Awesome Summery Bubbles!

That Bomb has a Nice Ring to It! ~ Pearl Bath Bombs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds!

Before I went on hiatus, I was asked to give my opinion on a wonderful new product. Tessa, the owner of Pearl Bath Bombs reached out to me to collaborate on testing and promoting these awesome "pearls" of joy. Since then, Pearl Bath Bombs have been reviewed, praised and promoted by media outlets far greater than my little blog, but a promise is a promise and I did receive this gem in exchange for my honest review and by golly, even though this is six months late, I am going to post my review.

So, Pearl Bath Bombs are of course bath bombs, like most, they act as huge alka seltzer tablet for your bath tub, fizzing and bubbling to soften, scent and add bubbles to your bath. However, these bath bombs all include a sparkly surprise inside!

Each bath orange sized bath bomb includes a ring and the chance to win a ring worth up to $5,000.

I am not an avid bath enthusiast, but to be able to give my opinion on a product, I've got to use it and I must say my bath with a lemongrass scent Pearl Bath Bomb was pretty refreshing!

The lemongrass scent was sweet and citrusy, I really enjoyed it and it left my bath water looking like this:

Since my bath bomb was for promotional purposes, the ring was not included. None the less, my bath was fantastic, the whole bathroom was filled with yummy fragrance.

I really like that everyone is a winner with Pearl Bath Bombs, even if you don't qualify for one of the high value rings, you still receive Pearl Points that can be used to redeem additional bath bombs.

One aspect of this item I'm not crazy about is that you cannot choose the size of the ring included in the bath bomb you purchase. Its a bit of a bummer to receive a cute ring but it doesn't fit at all. Other than that, I highly recommend Pearl Bath Bombs, they are a great way to treat yourself and they make great gifts.

These are pretty large, about 4 to 6 ounces and the prices run from $14.99 to $24.99 (which is for a bath bomb called "The mother of all dragons", a tribute to TV series Game of Thrones), with packs of three or five offering a nice discount.

I'm off to make more soap, going to work on a project for Brambleberry's #soaptherainbow campaign.

Until next time,

Peace, Love and lots of yummy, citrusy, sparkly Bubbles!

Visit Pear Bath Bombs:

Soap Chronicles Vol I. Five things I've learned so far

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Crazy Soap Scientist Profile Pic, LOL

What's up Love Buds?

So, I've been soaping for several weeks now, loving it and learning a lot. It's been a blast, even with some of the awesome failures I have had. So what have I learned this month when it comes to making soap?

Lesson 1: Swirls are not as hard as I thought

Voodoo Soap ~ 4theloveofbubbles

When using a well calculated, slow to trace soap recipe, the possibilities are endless. I've been swirling my heart out since the blueberry soap fiasco with my first attempt soap making. The tops of my soaps are swirltastic and the insides are looking swirlicious!

Lesson 2: Know your mold, start small

The above soap came out gorgeous, except for one thing, I didn't calculate the batch properly and was not able to completely fill the mold with my batter, which means the soap had to be cut wider than I wanted to give the same amount of soap. I'm using silicone molds at the moment because I'm not feeling the lining of wooden ones. It may be something I need to do if I become a serious soaper, but I'm not crossing that bridge unless I really need to. *Silicone molds are flimsy and easy to unmold, but if you plan to relocate it from where you made your soap to a different curing location while the soap is still some what liquid, use caution and soap on something sturdy that you can use as a base to relocate the mold (I found a cutting board works well). I have first hand knowledge of the gut wrenching after effect of creating a beautiful soap and then sloshing it all over the floor trying to put a flimsy mold on the curing rack.

I started making soap using a 40 oz mold I received with my kit from Bramble Berry, but that is way too much soap to experiment with. I purchased a couple of 1 pound molds as well as some individual soap bar molds so that I can make smaller batches. By cutting my batches in half, I can make twice the attempts with the same amount of materials. It makes a HUGE difference.

Lesson 3: Be up to the challenge

Challenges like the teardrop swirl by Great Cakes Soapworks are great ways to test your skills and try something new. I wasn't apart of the official challenge, but seeing Youtube videos about it prompted me to make an attempt and I did a pretty good job!

Olive Juice Soap ~ 4theloveofbubbles

Lesson 4: Don't be discouraged

The beautiful creation above was my second attempt at this process. You can see my first attempt at cold process soap in about seven years here. My first attempt at a teardrop swirl wound up looking like this:

Femme Fatale ~ 4theloveofbubbles

Now, it still turned out to be a great soap, but the batter seized up on me pretty quickly. Which brings me to next lesson....

Lesson 5: Research, plan ahead and be ready for it to all go left!

If I had refreshed myself on this fragrance oil prior to starting, I would have known it has a tendency to accelerate trace. Read up on the properties of all of the ingredients you are going to use, plan and prepare. But, stay calm when something unexpected happens and work with what you got.

I was trying wheatgerm oil in my soap and planned on trying a hanger swirl (which is not something you should plan to do with an unpredictable recipe) - the batter seized immediately, I could barely plop it in the mold and twirl the end of my spatula through the batter a couple of times before the soap set up and the colors were not as vibrant as I wanted, however this soap came out gorgeously.

Pink Bling ~ 4theloveofbubbles

There are several things I've noticed that I need to work on, but that will be a story for the next soap chronicle! In the meantime, as I produce and cure soap, it will be made available for sale. The bars will be between $3.99 and $5.00. Each batch is only 2 to 6 bars of soap and as I continue to say, my journey is about exploration so re-doing batches probably won't happen (maybe for the holidays...we'll see). I'd appreciate your support as I continue this journey and of course I want your feedback on anything you choose to acquire. All of my creations can be found here.

If you're not on my e-mail list, you can sign up here. Email subscribers will be receive monthly updates on new blogs, items, contests and special promotions found nowhere else.

Until next time,

Peace, Love & loads of glorious, gorgeous Bubbles!

Pink Ginger Lime Salt Bars - Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 11:55:00 +0000

(reposting, had some technical issues with my blog)

Hey Love Buds!

The July challenge in my DIY Facebook group is to make a detoxifying scrub. Really simple, for this challenge you can pick any ingredients and any type of scrub the only requirement is that at least one of the main ingredients is a detox agent.

Now I know, you can't make claims about a product actually changing the condition of your hair, skin or body without FDA certification, but these detox items are not being made for the retail market and therefore, the challenge is proceeding with the creator's own research and understanding of this criteria.

courtesy www.helloglow.co

Hello Glow has a bunch of brilliant DIY recipes and one that caught my eye as an example for this challenge was the ginger detox scrub.

I will also participate in each challenge and send the chosen winner the product I created as a prize. However for this month's challenge, I'll be sending up to 3 participants my entry for this month's challenge!

What did I come up with for the July Challenge?

Pink Ginger Lime Salt Bars!

The detox ingredients for this recipe include pink himalayan salt, grated lime and ginger. Usually fresh food additives are not recommended in soap recipes because they may cause the soap to develop Dreaded Orange Spots (DOS), which is a sign of rancid oils - the soap is still ok to use, just doesn't look as nice and if there is enough DOS it may change the smell. However, the high salt content of these bars acts as a preservative to the very small amount of shredded ginger and lime.

This is a cold process soap, if you are unfamiliar with how to make cold process soap, please check out this free beginner's guide to soapmaking from the Soap Queen that introduces cold process soap making or try to attend a soap making class locally. Safety is paramount when working with lye.

RECIPE:
I'm sorry I did not take any pictures of this process, I will do better next time!
Yield about 25 ounces of soap which fits in a one pound soap mold with extra to make sample bars in 2 to 3 individual 3 oz molds.

12.80 oz Coconut Oil
2.4 oz Olive Oil
.80 oz Mango Butter
4.8 oz distilled water
2 oz coconut milk
2.36 oz Sodium Hydroxide (lye)
1 oz ginger lime fragrance oil
14 oz fine grain pink himalayan salt

Soapmaking tools (bowls, spatulas, swirl tools, scale, thermometer, rubber gloves, goggles, apron, closed toe shoes)

OPTIONAL ITEMS
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp grated lime peel
1 tsp aloe vera 100x powder
1 tsp sodium lactate
pinch of silk fiber
tsp of chromium oxide dispersed in a tablespoon of thin oil (green)
tsp of bright yellow raincoat mica (from Mad Oils) or other bright yellow mica dispersed in a tablespoon of thin oil (yellow).

If you know anything about soap making, too much coconut oil can be irritating to skin and there is not a lot of other moisturizing oils to help this batch. However, salt is a lather killer and coconut oil creates lots of bubbles, so the coconut heavy recipe helps to maintain some lather. While the silk, coconut milk and aloe vera provide some skin conditioning properties.

Step 1: To use coconut milk, I freeze it in ice cube trays, then put them in a bowl and add the lye to create the lye solution. But, to decrease scalding of the milk (some is needed to superfat the soap after trace), you can use 4.8 oz of water to make the lye solution. I also add the silk fibers to the solution and stir ensuring they have all dissolved and set aside.

Step 2: Combine and warm oils and butters in a separate bowl until everything is liquid.

OPTIONAL STEPS: While you wait for the next step to happen, here are some optional steps. Warm the coconut milk a bit and add the aloe vera powder and sodium lactate. Prepare your colors if you haven't already. Make sure to have a separate container to mix each color into your soap batter. I used 3 one for some uncolored soap, one for yellow and one for green.

Step 3: When both the lye water and liquid oils/butter reach between 90 and 105 degrees (and are within about 10 degrees of each other) Add the lye solution to the oils (never the other way around) and stick blend to a THICK trace. Thick trace is necessary to keep the salt suspended.

Step 4: Once you reach thick trace, add 2 oz of liquid coconut milk and mix until incorporated. Add fragrance oil and mix until incorporated. Using a spatula to mix, slowly add in your pink himalayan salt and optional grated ginger and lime. Once fully mixed in, separate batter into containers for coloring. Add the colors and mix well.

COLOR/MOLD/SWIRL: For my color combination, I poured the uncolored batter in the mold first. Then I poured the 2 colors in simultaneously down opposite sides of the mold until full. I used a gear tie, which is great because you can bend it to fit the mold, to do a hanger swirl.

Sodium lactate really helps to have them come out of the mold smoothly. I did not include it in my first batch and I tried to unmold too soon....too, too soon...

That was a lot and pretty complicated for a non-soap maker. But this month's challenge does not have to be soap - it just has to be an exfoliant with a detox ingredient.

To qualify to win one of my Pink Ginger Lime Salt Bars, there's still time to participate in the July challenge. The rules and details are in the Facebook group, just send a request. to join.

That's all for now Love Buds. Until next time ~

Peace, Love & Lots of tangy exfoliating Bubbles!

A.

Feature Friday: Chocolate Soap by Soaping 101

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 11:39:00 +0000

(reposting, something went screwy with my last few posts. Just in case you missed my Ginger Dextox Scrub bar post, you can find it here)

Hey Love Buds!

Today's Friday and it's time for another feature video. This week's tidbit is from Soaping 101.

The soap created in this video is made from chocolate! Yes, real chocolate, chocolate soap. I...I just don't need to say anything more because - chocolate. Check it out:

Now what could be better than bathing in actual chocolate? I know it will take a minute to respond to that.

What other foods do you like in your soap? I really want to know, especially now that I am making soap. Speaking of, today will be awesome because I will receive #bubblelove packages from Petals Bath Boutique, Alamo Candeleria and I think one other soapmaker, plus I'll be binging on "Orange is the New Black". But this weekend, I'll be making more soap and working on my July DIY challenge project. AND next week, I'll have an update for you on my soaping adventures. Great things will be happening this weekend. Stay tuned for what's coming!

Peace, Love & Loads of chocolately good BUBBLES!

Visit Soaping 101:

On the Web

On Youtube

On Pinterest

On Facebook

On Twitter

Feature Friday: Chocolate Soap by Soaping 101

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Now what could be better than bathing in actual chocolate? I know it will take a minute to respond to that.

Peace, Love & Loads of chocolately good BUBBLES!

Visit Soaping 101:

On the Web

On Youtube

On Pinterest

On Facebook

On Twitter

Recipe: Ginger Detox Bath & Body Scrub

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds!

The July challenge in my DIY Facebook group is to make a detoxifying scrub. Really simple, for this challenge you can pick any ingredients and any type of scrub the only requirement is that at least one of the main ingredients is a detox agent.

Now I know, you can't make claims about a product actually changing the condition of your hair, skin or body without FDA certification, but these detox items are not being made for the retail market and therefore, the challenge is proceeding with the creator's own research and understanding of this criteria.

courtesy www.helloglow.co

Pink Ginger Lime Salt Bars!

Soap Troubles and Triumphs...hopefully

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 11:00:00 +0000

What's Good, LoveBuds?

If you're following me on Instagram and Facebook (you should be following me on Instagram and Facebook), you have seen my early forays into cold process soapmaking.

I really have fun appreciating this art form, but I have (had) retired from serious product making years ago. I really enjoy the problem solving aspects of researching, creating and trying new and different bath and body recipes, but that is the fun part for me. Once I've created a good product, I want to move on and try something new. As a retail shop owner, your clientele wants you to keep creating that same stuff over and over again - For me it became very frustrating which started to outweigh the rewards and this was a contributing factor in my shutting my company Shea Essentials.

One of my greatest accomplishments once I began creating handmade soap, was participating in the Bramble Berry Soap Swap and being featured prominently on the Soap Queen's blog post about it back in 2011.

Photo Credit: www.SoapQueen.com


Photo Credit www.SoapQueen.com

See my grapefruit lilly soap??!?!? I was so excited! Flash forward to now...I'm minding my business and I get an e-mail from the Soap Queen herself, advertising a soap making kit to make a simple blueberry soap. I'm not sure why I took this particular e-mail as a challenge. I get these kinds of things from suppliers all the time. But this blueberry soap, had to be made and I was gonna do it! And by golly, I'll be the belle of the ball during the Fall 2016 Bramble Berry Soap Swap!

I purchased the components of the kit that I did not already own and set out to replicate this gorgeous soap.

What I created was not quite it....

My soap, to which I added sodium lactate to harden it, which was included as an optional step in the recipe, went in the mold teal green, instead of the beautiful creamy light blue in Anne-Marie's creation. But it was still a cute color. However, out of the mold, when I tried to cut it just 24 hours after making it, it crumbled...the ruins of my pipe dreams of just quickly whipping up a perfect soap.

My next attempt...Color looks good....

Now this is starting to look like Anne-Marie's. Yes, I can do this....

Well, almost. The instructions warned about not letting the soap gel, but I fumbled and forgot to put it in the freezer and then went back and stuck in the freezer with the resulting soap. Many have paid me compliments saying it looks unique, like there is a big blueberry in the middle of the soap. I appreciate all the feedback, but it's not quite what I was going for...so I'll be revisiting this recipe again.

In the meantime, I've tried a few different types of soap, a few different fragrances, and those I am sharing all the time on Instagram and Facebook. So check out my journey. I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with all this soap. Some friends say sell it, if I do, it will be at discount prices just so I can keep experimenting, I definitely won't be making the same soaps over again and I won't be opening an official "store". I really enjoying sharing my love of lather with you, exploring new and different brands and now maybe even new and different soap techniques. We'll see how this looks in a few weeks along with my other attempts.

If you're interested in creating handmade bath and body products, consider joining the DIY Hair, Bath & Beauty Facebook Group. I lead a DIY challenge there each month and its for anyone from novices to experts. We just share a love of Doing It Our (your) selves.

That's it for now,

Until next time~

Peace, Love and Lots of perfect (not half gelled) blueberry scented Bubbles!

Friday Feature: Tear Drop Technique by Kapia Mera Soap Co.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 11:00:00 +0000

What's up, Love Buds?

I'm starting to do a bit of experimenting with cold process soaps and I'll be posting soon with the deets on what's been happening so far, but for today, I want to show you some amazing soaping in action.

Holly does an amazing job demonstrating the tear drop technique and you bet, I'm gonna try it for better or worst!

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

That's it for #featurefriday. Until next time,

Peace, Love and Lots of peacock feather looking, gorgeous tear dropped BUBBLES!

Visit Kapia Mera Soap Co.

On YouTube

On the Web

On Etsy

On Facebook

June Soap of the Month from Petals Bath Boutique GIVEAWAY WINNER

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 30 May 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Fresh citrus notes of sweet valencia orange and fuji apple slices with a hear of anjou pear and cassis on a base of guava nectar and mediterranean fig.

Hi Love Buds!

I can't stop sniffing this bar of soap!* The June soap of the month from the Petals Bath Boutique soap of the month club is BUTTERFLY KISSES and it is just what I imagined kissing a butterfly would be like in my head. It is a slightly tangy, fruity and sweet scent combination but it is not overpowering. It's as if the scent was just lightly wafting through the air ~ similar to the way a butterfly flies.

The purple swirls and butterfly are gorgeous and since Kia and I share a love for both the butterflies and the color purple, this soap, which she created because her birthday is in June is just as near to my heart as it is here.

This bar is a whopping 6.7 ounces which is no small thing. If you haven't already, you need to run to the Petals Bath Boutique website and purchase a three of six month Soap of the Month Club subscription. The boxes ship the second week of the month, so you still have time to grab this one!

Petals Bath Boutique Soap of the Month Club shipments ship the second week of each month, so you still have time to receive June's amazing soap. Click below to purchase yours now! Shipping is included in the prices. You can't beat the price, get each of these huge bars shipped directly to you (or a loved one) for as little as $7.50 each!

6 month subscription for $50 12 month subscription for $90

If you read my last post, you're highly aware that I am giving away the soap from the Petals May soap box. And the winner is....

SHERRY PRIDDY!

Congratulations Sherry! Please send an e-mail to 4theloveofbubbles@gmail.com with your shipping address so I can send out your prize.

I'll be taking a couple of weeks off for family events, my final paper and a couple of workforce readiness presentations I must prepare and conduct. When I return, I'll give you a full update on my foray into cold process soap making. I should entitle it "The Hard-Headed Soaper", LOL!

I hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day and until next time~

Peace, Love & Loads of butterfly kissed Bubbles!

Ayieta

P.S. Don't forget the Petals Summer Release on Thursday, June 9th at 8:30pm EST

Visit Petals Bath Boutique:

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*Soap reviewed in this post was provided to by Petals Bath Boutique in exchange for my honest feedback.
**Edited 5/30/16 7:25pm EST to include links to purchase Petals Bath Boutique Soap of the Month Club

Feature Friday: Spicy Pinecone Gradient Tilted Tiger Stripe Soap

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Cold Process Gradient Soap

Hello Love Buds!

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know that last weekend, I attempted to create a cold process soap. The first for me in over six years. I purchased items from a Brambleberry soap kit to make this cute and simple blueberry soap.

What I created was a seafoam green brick. So I decided to up the anti and even though I haven't mastered this simple soap, I decided to do some research and attempt this gorgeously understated design shown by Sarah, owner of Spicy Pinecone. Check out her sweet nothings soap in this video:

Sarah makes this look really simple and easy. If I had more sense, I would just try to follow her video to create a simply gorgeous soap, but I will be trying a bit of a twist on this. We shall see how it works out this weekend...

That's all for now! Oh, don't forget the giveaway for a Petals Bath Boutique soap I'm doing, you still have time to enter.

Until next time ~
Peace, Love & Loads of actual soap, not green brick Bubbles!

Visit Spicy Pinecone:
   On Etsy
   On Facebook
   On Instagram

Feature Friday: Carrot Acai Round Soap

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 May 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday, Love Buds!

Today I'd like to feature a cool soap I saw being made on YouTube.

This amazing soap with a precise black mica line swirled through it was created by the awesome Teressa Mahoney of Nourishing Handmade Body Care, which is now Mahoney Limited. This soap has such an interesting look and in this video, is created in less than six minutes! Genius

Visit Mahoney Limited:

On the web

On Facebook

On YouTube

On Instagram

Until next time ~

Peace, Love of Lots of symmetrical bubbles!

Soap of the Month by Petals Bath Boutique

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 May 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds!

What could be better than getting a box of sudsy awesomeness every few months after a Petals Bath Boutique release? A box of sudsy awesomeness from Petals Bath Boutique EVERY MONTH!

I recently received my first month's shipment from the Petals Bath Boutique Soap of the Month club. Several of my favorite soap makers offer a similar service and I was ecstatic to learn that Kia decided to offer a monthly subscription for her amazing soap! Kia in her ever amazing generosity sent me the May and June soaps of the month to share with you! Of course you're about to hear my honest feedback on these soaps and this service and I was supplied with them in return for my honest feedback.

It has been rainy and ugly here for several weeks and my lawn, which I call "a field of clover", is of course looking lush and gorgeous, so I decided to venture outside on this first sunny day in what seems like forever to take this picture.

Now, the 411 on the Petals Bath Boutique Soap of the Month program. Each month, Kia prepares a special bar of soap just for club members. These are not available for retail sale. The subscriptions are available on the Petals website in 6 month and 12 month terms for $50.00 and $90.00 respectively. Shipping is included in subscription price.

Let me tell you about the soap....

I have said on numerous occasions that Petals Bath Boutique soap is the best soap I have tried. Kia's soap always leave my skin feeling great and the variety of scents that rotate keeps my soap junkie jones jonesing.

For May, Kia brings some swirly, spring time fairy glitter to one of her old favorites, Bramble Patch.


Bramble Patch ~ Juicy blackberries with a fruity center of cassis on a warm and sensual base of amber

This soap is gorgeous and HUGE. In comparison to the usual bars from Petals that are around 4.5 ounces, this bar is 7 ounces! I will be honest that I'm not a fan of resin scents. The amber in this fragrance is just a bit too much for me, but the bar itself is some serious eye candy. I'll tell you more about June soap later. *hint: I won't be giving it away!

GIVEAWAY!

Because I don't want this bar to go to waste, I'll be doing a little giveaway. Simply comment below (your comment must be on this blog post) with a fragrance you would like to see in this soap of the month subscription service. Oh, you must also be a fan of Petals Bath Boutique and 4 the Love of Bubbles on Facebook. I will randomly select a winner on May 30th, when I review June's bar.

Good Luck!

and until next time, Peace, Love and Lots of lovely pink glittery Bubbles!

Visit Petals Bath Boutique:

On the web

On Facebook

On Instagram

Second Chances: Sunshine & Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 May 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Good Morning LoveBuds,

I know, I was gone for a few months, and now posts two days in a row. Sadly, I might be gone for a few weeks before the next post, but I will share as often as I am able! The love of bubbles runs strong with us...I just can't stay away, LOL.

Today I want to share something I found quite interesting...

Sunshine & Rain Spring 2015

The Petals Bath Boutique Spring 2015 release premiered the scent "Sunshine & Rain". The description of the scent grabbed me "An intriguingly fresh and sweet scent with fresh Lime and Raw Sugarcane with a heart of Hawaiian Hibiscus, Kona Sugarloaf and Blood Orange on a base of Vanilla Orchid". I grabbed two bars of it along with a matching custard and body shot spray.

When I tried the soap for the first time, I wasn't quite feeling the scent. I'm not sure why at the moment, but for some reason I was never really prompted to use the soap again. Of course it was not the lather or the feel, those are a constant with Petals Bath Boutique soaps and I am always enamored with the way my skin feels when using these soaps. It was just something about the fragrances that was slightly off putting.

Sunshine & Rain Spring 2016

Fast forward to Spring 2016. Kia remakes this bar and it is just as cute as last year's bar. I was compelled to purchase again, even though I had a bar from last year still in my stash. Why? Because I am an addict. It was cute and it was calling my name.

When my order arrived, I smelled the bar in the new Petals Bath Boutique boxes with the cut outs. It smelled amazing fresh and sweet. I smelled it again and the "meh" I felt about this scent last year turned into "I must use it now!". Sometimes things happen with fragrance oil suppliers and scents change a bit - I wondered if that was it. But when things like that happen, Kia is quick to let us know. To ensure that it was not a change in the scent, I took my bar from last year out and used it last week.

First let me tell you that whenever you allow a handmade soap to sit and cure for about a year, the performance of the soap levels up by 1000. You get crazy stupid bubbles and the conditioning affect on your skin is incredible. I really try now to hold on to my bars for a couple of months after purchasing to use them. The difference is shocking.

Now, back to Sunshine & Rain. I was intoxicated. This same bar that I could care less about last year, was now the most amazing shower experience. I am in love with this scent now. I just can't understand why I wasn't crazy about it last year. Next I'm going to have to give Purple Rain another try because...Prince :(

Have you ever given a product a second chance after it let you down the first time? I used to be a one and done junkie, but now, I think I'm going to give my stuff a second opportunity to wow me.

Until next time ~
Peace, Love & Lots of Second Chance to wow you Bubbles!

Visit Petals Bath Boutique's website
Visit Petals Bath Boutique on Facebook
Visit Petals Bath Boutique on Instagram

*all images appear courtesy of Petals Bath Boutique

#MashupMonday April Showers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 May 2016 13:08:00 +0000

I know I've been away for awhile, my master's degree coursework is taking up quite a bit more of my time than I thought it would, very different from undergrad. But I am still appreciating the awesomeness of the bath and body world.

So, I thought I'd share with you a small post I put on Facebook, which happened to be a bit of a #mashupmonday. So enjoy, for those who did not see it on Facebook. I've got a little something else for you today as well... See the Facebook post here

This Saturday, April 9th was a dreary, rainy, cold day. IT'S APRIL, I need some sun or at least weather above 60 degrees ~ sheesh! So as I prepared to go out and be slapped in the face by mother nature's not at all funny joke of an April weekend, I decided to change up my shower game. Instead of something sweet or earthy, I decided to pull out this box of beautiful rustic soaps by Sunlit Soap. Jan really does make awesome works of art over there. Her soap is so beautiful, it is hard to use. But when you use it, it is hard not to want more!

So I pull out the Mint Tea Mud and commence to latherization (I don't care what that red underline says, it is a word!). First, let me say that these soaps are bigger in person and the shape fits comfortably in your hand as you use the flat bottom to lather. The lather is amazing and the minty goodness was just the tingle I needed to face the nasty day. (Beware, this minty tingle is not advised for your sensitive area).

I then paired it with the lavender citrus infused oil gelee** that I made myself. The thick oil, smoothed on easily and helped to lock moisture in all day and the light citrus lavender minty essence was an amazing combination!

So I guess I just wrote up a quick ‪#‎MashupMonday‬ post, lol. What can I say, I do it ‪#‎4theloveofbubbles‬

Visit Sunlit Soap on Etsy

Visit Sunlit Soap on Facebook

Visit Sunlit Soap on Instagram

*all images appear courtesy of Sunlit Soap

**What is this oil gelee that I speak of? It is a thickened body oil I made to use and a hair and body moisture sealant. As requested by some in a group on Facebook, I made some available for purchase. To learn more, look for the sale post in the Handmade Soap & Beauty Lovers Shop & Swap Facebook group (you must be a member to see the post).

Until next time, Lovebuds

Peace, Love & Loads of awesome bubbles!

Giveaway Winners!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 17:32:00 +0000

Hey Love Buds! It's time to announce the winners of the Petals Bath Boutique Winter Release Giveaway as well as my Feminine Cleansing challenge.

For the Feminine cleansing challenge, I will be changing up the gift selection based on the winners, but all posted gifts will be awarded. And the winners:

1. DANI! Because of your sensitivities, I would like you to try the unscented apple cider vinegar soap from Artisan Bath & Body and the lotus flower water from Cream & Coco.

2. KARRI! You will receive the honeypot soap from Cream & Coco and the che bella from Petals Bath Boutique.

3. TRACEY! For sharing the funny story about your friend, I'd like you to try pink cookie from Cream & Coco and down there soap from Jakeala.

4. HENRIETTA! My new fan, for you I have the che bella soap from Petals Bath Boutique.

Ladies, I can't wait to read your reviews of these items!

And the winner of the Petals Bath Boutique Winter Release Giveaway:

Congratulations to all of our winners! Please e-mail me at 4theloveofbubbles@gmail.com with your full name and address so that I can mail you your prize.

For the Love of Bubbles

A whole new experience is coming soon!

Change is not a bad thing

2016 Birthday Giveaway Winners!

More Great Handmade Soap for $5 or less

It's My Birthday! My Soap Dish and Awesome FREE GIFTS FOR YOU!

Pamper yourself without breaking the bank! Fabulous suds for $5 or less!

Feature Friday: Dandelion Zebra Swirl

July 2016 Great Cakes Soap Challenge: Pipe Divider Swirl

What is Bathy Taffy? I'm not sure yet...

It's July! So, I'm giving away soap!

That Bomb has a Nice Ring to It! ~ Pearl Bath Bombs

Soap Chronicles Vol I. Five things I've learned so far

Pink Ginger Lime Salt Bars - Recipe

Feature Friday: Chocolate Soap by Soaping 101

Feature Friday: Chocolate Soap by Soaping 101

Recipe: Ginger Detox Bath & Body Scrub

Soap Troubles and Triumphs...hopefully

Friday Feature: Tear Drop Technique by Kapia Mera Soap Co.

June Soap of the Month from Petals Bath Boutique *GIVEAWAY WINNER*

Feature Friday: Spicy Pinecone Gradient Tilted Tiger Stripe Soap

Feature Friday: Carrot Acai Round Soap

Soap of the Month by Petals Bath Boutique

Second Chances: Sunshine & Rain

#MashupMonday April Showers

Giveaway Winners!

June Soap of the Month from Petals Bath Boutique GIVEAWAY WINNER