Three months later...

Life happened. Things got complicated. I left my soapmaking aside.

Whenever a life-changing event presents itself, everything else stops. The drive which had you doing and thinking on everything else changes its course, and now all the energy redirects on solving problems and dealing with miscommunication. It is tiresome.

But, even though your life gets momentarily out of synch, everything else continues being. That is the case with the Doral Farmers' Market (follow the link to visit their blog).

I got involved with the market ever since day one. My dear friend Andrea has been working very hard for the market to happen, and she's been counting on my soapmaking efforts. My original idea was to sell my soaps on the market and be the Soap Lady, as we've been joking all this time. But everything collapsed above my head and I just couldn't continue experimenting.

Then, I met Rob. He's just a dude who happens to make soap. How cool is that! I met him at the Coconut Grove's market. He's the founder and owner of Earthistry, and his line of products are just excellent. Plain and simple soaps filled with the good stuff.... olive oil, essential oils, natural products. So, my entrepeneur spirit kicked in. I'm buying his soaps and selling them at the market. At least this season, until I can get my act together and continue learning the craft.

Tomorrow's the first day at the market and I have everything ready to start. I'll keep you posted on how things turn out. Wish me luck!

I made soap today :)

I am really, really happy because I was able to make my very first batch of soap today!! My sister in law assisted me in the process, reading out loud the instructions as I was mixing and pouring. It was a simple recipe, without colors or scents, but that's ok... I had to keep it simple. I will try the hand mill procedure later on with this same batch, so I have to do some more research on the subject. I have a week or so until the soap dries out, leaving me some good space to place my orders.

I am just surprised on how relatively easy it was. Yes, I had to make sure my measurements were right, but other than that, it wasn't complicated at all. Even the lye, which was my main concern, wasn't a big deal. I just had to be careful.

Lye

I found this video in Youtube that thought was quite interesting.

I'm new to the whole idea of soapmaking, and I'm pretty fascinated by the process.

Gathering

This is going to be my guide for my first soapmaking experience. "Smart Soapmaking" by Anne L. Watson is the name of the book, and I got it from Amazon. The reviews are really good. In fact is the only book on the subject with the full 5 star mark. I've read it twice already, and the instructions are specific and straight forward.

The first recipe I will attempt is called Shea Butter Supreme. The ingredients include coconut oil, olive oil, and shea butter. I'm still waiting for my order to arrive. In the meantime, I've been looking for tutorials in Youtube. I've found some good ones, and I will share them as I go. I have to admit that the lye kind of freaks me out :-0 but I really can't wait to try it!!

Welcome Post

Hello. This is a welcome note to myself. I have wanted to try making soap for a long time now, but thought it was a challenge beyond my skills. But after reading, and reading, and reading, I got to the conclusion that I could probably do this.

So in an attempt to keep my mind sane throughout the process, I started this blog.

think:Soap