Royal Suds

Guess Who's Back!

2011-10-13T10:17:00.000-05:00

It has been far to long! My computer took a crap on me and I have just finally gotten a new one! While I have been away I have still been making soaps. I have been trying to focus more on MP soaps so I can perfect those. I am learning how to use an oral syringe to put small amounts of color in places. I have also decided to change from Royal Suds to Sun Fall Soaps. I will post more later I do have to run! Happy soaping!

How I Miss The World Wide Web

2011-08-13T17:24:00.001-05:00

Don't worry I am still here kind of. My computer is screwed up so I am trying to save for a new one. I will be back soon.

Candles, candles and more candles

2011-07-04T08:33:00.000-05:00

A while ago I picked up a book from the recycled book store. The book was a giant craft book made my Micheals craft store. I was reading about the soaps when I came across the candles they seemed quite interesting but I just put it out of my mind until now when I was at the thrift store. I walked past a martini glass and my first thought was "Jeeze, Mike (my older brother) would love a candle in that!" It made the wheels in my head start spinning. I am thinking I might start making candles as well! Has anyone done it? Any advice or any good books to read?

Back to the Best

2011-06-28T10:11:00.000-05:00

I always wonder why people started making their own soap? Is it just a hobby? Is it because of a skin condition? because is more economical? Well here is my store about why I got in to being a bit more natural orientated.

One weekend years ago while my sister and I were staying with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle John, my Aunt had decided to take us to this farm where she purchased most of her groceries. I had never been to a farm to get groceries. I was slightly confused. Why didn't she just go to the grocery store like my mum?

As we walked around the store my Aunt explained to me the difference between most of the foods you find in your local grocery store and the ones found at this farm. She explained about all the perspectives and chemical processes the foods go through before they reach the shelves. I was slightly disgusted. Why did they do all of that to the food I will be eating?

We continued to walk around and she was nice enough to buy me some natural make up. Before this day I couldn't wear any make up since everything makes me break out. This make up however was amazing. It actually cleared my face up!

Since that day I decided to try and use as many organic and natually made products. I do my best to buy organic foods when money permits. I try to make everything myself. I always look at items and think, "I bet I could make that myself."

What's your story?

I have a love/hate relationship with technology

2011-06-27T09:08:00.000-05:00

I went to go turn on my main computer last night and to my surprise it told me there wasn't a hard drive. I was really confused. It worked earlier in the day and now there is no hard drive? WTF? Now, I am forced to use the other computer which is much slower. I think I may have to buy a new hard drive which means it will be even longer before I can soap again. There goes another hundred dollars out of my pocket

I wanna be in a Tropical Paradise

2011-06-24T12:28:00.000-05:00

Everyday as I walk past my soap closet, I can't help but smell my tropical vacation scented soap. It has made me slightly crazy. I have now decided I need to take a tropical vacation. The Caribbean? The Bahamas? Hawaii? Who cares! Somewhere with a beach, sun, and the amazing smells!

Since I really can't afford to take a vacation like that any time soon. I decided to find some tropical vacation inspired soaps.

Passion fruit Papaya Soap By Sagegold Soaps

Ocean by Hoooked Bath and Body Soap

Island Pineapple Soap By Blushie

Lemon Poppy Seed Soap Update

2011-06-23T08:58:00.000-05:00

I have been allowing the lemon poppy seed soap to cure for a little over 2 weeks. Most of the bars are starting to harden to the point where I can pick them up without crushing them and those mushy icky brown spots are becoming harder as well. However the fresh lemony smell I wanted has turned in to a slightly fresh lemony smell. I am not to sure how I feel about that.The bars haven't shown any signs of DOS yet and I hope it doesn't but only time will tell.

I did get a little to excited to try it so, I cut off a little piece to try. I really like the way it makes me skin feel. It doesn't do much in the bubble department but the soap makes my skin just feel amazing.

Any suggestions on how to rework this recipe? The original one was:

Avocado Oil 39.3%

Sunflower Seed Oil 19.7%

Sweet Almond Oil 19.7%

Coconut Oil 13.1%

Palm Oil 8.2%

Awesome Soaps I Found!

2011-06-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

I love searching around the internet looking at soap. I love to see what other people have come up with and what others are doing. Here are a few I thought were great!

I Can Only Dream

2011-06-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

I had such an awesome weekend in Chicago. I went to go see NKOTB and BSB on Friday, with my mom and my sister. Then drove back to Milwaukee, only to end up back in Chicago on Saturday. It was such an awesome time. I really miss Chicago.

As a result, I am now to broke to buy more oils. Boooo.

Also, I decided not to re batch my failed lemon poppy seed soap. I have been letting them cure to see what happens. As it turns out they may not be a fail. They are hardening by the day. Hopefully the will be useable. Now to go dream about soaps I could be making.

Good Night!

Mystery Scent?

2011-06-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

While I was making soap yesterday I decided I was going to use some of the mystery scents my Step-Grandma gave me. I mixed a combination of Rosemary and Mystery Scent. I was a little nervous the scents wouldn't blend well. To my surprise, I opened my refrigerator and BAM! The smell just encased my nose. It was absolutely AMAZING. Let me say it again, absolutely amazing! Why can't someone invent smell-o-monitor. Haha!

Brownie Bites

2011-06-13T11:36:00.000-05:00

While I have made quite a few batches of soap I am no where near pro yet. However I thought I would show you my 2nd batch ever! I call these brown bites. I made it with vegetable shortening, cocoa powder, instant coffee and ground coffee. They look and smell GREAT.

PLEASE DO NOT EAT lol.

Life as a Princess

2011-06-13T11:16:00.000-05:00

When I was younger I used to tell my mom I was going to grow up to be a Princess. To this day I still love the idea of prince and princess'. I love they whole idea of royal life. The crowns, the clothes and especially the vintage clothes. Here are a few things on Etsy I'd like to share.

Purple Purple Everywhere

2011-06-11T10:46:00.000-05:00

I was so excited when I got home last night and grabbed my mold out of the freezer and set it in to the refrigerator. It looked like such a nice soft purple. It was so hard not to just grab the knife out of the drawer and start cutting like a mad woman. However, I was patient and waited until this morning to cut.

I was so pleased with how it came out! . I love how it is very light on the top then gets really dark.

What do you think?

Cypress Essential Oil

2011-06-11T10:37:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons I got into soap making was because you can use essential oils. I have always been really interested in aromatherapy and natural ways to cure ailments.

When I was living in Chicago I didn't have any heath insurance and I had to find a natural way to cure everything. I could not afford to go to the ER so I spent a lot of my sick time at whole foods or zooming around the interweb seeking ways to cure myself or my boyfriend.

I have found A World of Aromatherapy to be very informative and interesting. If you know any of these statements to be false please let me know and I will fix them accordingly.

Cypress essential oil is one essential oil I find quite interesting. It has a very relaxing and refreshing effect. Because of its sweet scent and can be paired well with Lavender, Citrus Oils and Juniper. It has antispasmodic, astringent, diuretic, and expectorant properties. It can be used to help ease the symptoms of menopause and menstruation. Please note Cypress has antispasmodic properties and should be avoided during pregnancy.

I Got The Itch!

2011-06-10T09:17:00.000-05:00

I was not gonna let my last soap batch get me down. So this morning after my coffee, I got the itch again. I worked on making just a very basic batch with coconut oil, olive oil and palm oil. I decided to try and not gel it again. Hopefully this batch will turn out MUCH better then the last.

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I can't wait until I get home from work so I can peek in on it. I really think that this batch will come out better. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

The Pictures of a Horrible Soap Experiment

2011-06-09T11:31:00.001-05:00

As I said earlier I don't think my lemon poppy seed soap is going to work out. The swirls didn't work, its got these icky, mushy, brown spots. I feel really upset.

I will just have to try out a different recipe. But you soap and you learn right? I hope.

Any ideas on why its brown and mushy?

How sad

2011-06-09T09:14:00.001-05:00

So I have let the lemon poppy seed soap sit for 3 days and now it has just turned UGLY. Its gotten dark and mushy in some spots I don't think there is anything I can do to save it.

I cut a small piece off of one my single bars and while it lathers great the inside is still soft. I will try and let that one cure a bit and see how it goes

The loaf its self seems to have only gone ugly where the yellow is. I think I will just let it sit as well. Pics to come when I get new batteries.

Smells Lemony Fresh

2011-06-07T07:55:00.000-05:00

Today, I spent most of the morning trying to decide how exactly I wanted to make this lemon poppy seed soap. I would I attempt the "Lyn" top, try swirling or just leave it alone? Should I gel or not gel? After a few hours of consideration I decided to try swirling some yellow into the soap.

It looks like it came out okay. There are some oil pockets. I hope they soak back in. It's so hard not to be nosy and peak in on it!

My Package is Finally Here!

2011-06-03T10:56:00.000-05:00

It's here! It's here! I have been waiting for a week for this! My package from WSP finally arrived.

I only need to go out and grab more coconut oil and the poppy seeds and I will be ready to make this lemon poppy seed soap! Look forward to a ton of pictures.

If there is anyone who would like the packing peanut to reuse I will gladly send them to you for the cost of the shipping.

Thoughts and Ideas

2011-06-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

As some of you know, I do want to make my soaping into a career. While I am not really ready for it yet, I am very much a multi-tasker and am thinking not only about how to make the best quality soap but also what exactly I want to sell and how my product will look. I was thinking of maybe selling gift baskets. I have been making them myself for years with store bought bath and beauty supplies. I would love to include soap, bath teas, bath salts, bath bombs, bath goodies and candles. All homemade of course. What do you think? Do you make gift baskets?

Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY!

2011-05-31T10:27:00.000-05:00

Since my oils are still not here (I should have ordered earlier) I decided to try making whipped MP soap I was gonna make some cool looking dodads by piping but that really did not work out as i planned so I remelted the soap back down and poured it in to my log mold. The results were quite nice. The bar came out with like this foam feel to it. Its very light weight and smells AMAZING!!

The scent is a mix of Tropical Vacation and Orange Valencia from Brambleberry.

When Life Hands You A Lemon Make Lemonade or Lemon Poppy Seed Soap

2011-05-27T16:40:00.000-05:00

People say "Accidents will happen", but sometimes I think why me. Yesterday my car was hit by a deer, while no one was hurt it still pains me to look at my car. Most of the damage is minor but ugh. More money to spend on things I don't want to spend it on.

So, in-spite of all of that I thought one way cheer me up would be to order more soaping supplies. I ordered everything I need from WSP to make my new lemon poppy seed soap. All I need to buy is more coconut oil and poppy seeds. I was gonna run down to Restaurant Depot to get the poppy seeds since they are super cheap there.

I am really excited to try this soap. I plan to not gel it and see how that works.

Lemon Poppy Seed Soap

2011-05-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

I can't wait until tomorrow! I will be ordering everything I need for a new recipe for a lemon poppy seed soap. I can almost smell it! I will post pics and an update as soon as everything gets here.

Welcome to the world of Royalty.

2011-05-24T16:48:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Royal Suds! I created this blog with the intent to share my experience in the cold process soap making world.

I started making melt and pour soaps about 8 months ago and soon became addicted to making soap. One day when I was googleing prices for soap bases I came across a website called Soap Making Forum. This website changed my views on soap completely. I had no idea I could actually make soap from scratch. I started reading everything this site had to offer. I looked everywhere for books to read on the subject.

With in about 3 months I ready to try my hand at it. I made a very basic vegetable shortening soap. I was amazed at what I had made. I couldn't wait for it to cure. Since then I have made many batches of soap and have fallen in love with every last one.