Friday, August 17, 2018

A Love Affair with Lemongrass

I've had an entire week off and almost nothing has gone according to plan, not that that's a bad thing. I always try to take the second week of August off as my way of celebrating my birthday. In the past, we've taken that week as our road trip week; that didn't happen this year. It ended up being ME time. I was pampered and spoiled and have done pretty much whatever I've wanted. And now, it's Friday.

I did make one batch of soap this week and, in reading through recent blog posts, managed to copy a scent combination I've already done. The combination of Green Tea fragrance oil and Lemongrass essential oil has, apparently, become a favourite. I love the freshness of the lemongrass in combination with the lightness of the Green Tea.

The swirl is a hanger swirl and almost a Secret Swirl; the white and the green were poured at the same time; when the mold was about half full, I poured the pink down the center, then continued in the same manner. I'm very happy with how it turned out!

If I can manage to create a true Christmas Green and a Christmas Red, I might try something like this as a "Christmas-y" soap.

Years ago, I used to really enjoy making my own bath products. Honestly, I still do. Wanting some diversity on my market table, I'm slowly getting back to making bath products. I've been told that bath bombs haven't really been a big seller at the market but I'm willing to give it a try. I've been using Moon Cake presses to make some really pretty bath items.

Keeping with the theme of "lemongrass", these are scented, again, with Green Tea and Lemongrass. They also include a packet of Matcha green tea powder. Bath bombs can be challenging. If they have too much moisture, they'll start to fizz and you'll be left with a mess. If they're too dry, details from the press will be lost. There's a fine line and finding it isn't always easy... or successful. This batch was a touch on the moist side and I was afraid they'd activate. Thankfully, they puffed up a bit but stabilized quickly.

Each "bomb" is about 50 grams. They fizz but not as explosively as some do. It's more of a slow, satisfying fizzing. Next time I make these, I'll use more colour, in layers, to see how the colour plays out in the tub.

Playing with the moon cake presses really is fun. Each press comes with 4-5 plates and you can swap them out at any point. They're great for bath products like Shower Steamers, Bath Bombs, Foaming Bath Melts, lotion bars... all kinds of things. The shower steamers have already proven quite popular at the market.

Shower steamers - scented with Menthol (white ones) and Citrus Menthol (creamy ones)
Foaming Bath Melts - a little like a bath bomb but made with skin-loving oils that turn your bath water into silk
Epsom Salt bars - all the benefits of an epsom salt bath with colour and scent
Bath Bombs
More bath bombs