I'd Rather Be Soaping

So as you've heard I like to make soap. Actually, I should amend that last statement I love to make soap. I've been making Melt & Pour soap for the last couple of months and when I get to California I am going to try making soap using the cold process. That way is a little more complex and uses a little bit more science (yay) well chemistry (uh I never took chemistry) and it takes longer to produce a usable bar of soap but the benefits definitely outweigh those cons.

Things needed to make soap using the Cold Process Method

For example, you chose what ingredients go into your soaps. Don't want to use animal fats? Don't use animal fats. If you like shea butter, put some shea butter in there! Want to use all natural colorants? Go ahead. I'm not saying that you can't do these things with regular melt & pour but you are restricted to the type of base you use, sometimes the colorants and you don't get to control how the glycerin is made.

But you guys are lost aren't you? Most people have no idea how to make soap or what soap even is. I just told my co-worker today that lye was used in making most soap and he was like "Lye? Time to stop using soap." Lye isn't bad you guys. It can do bad things to your skin or any kind of organic matter yes but when you make soap properly all of those bad properties vanish. That's called letting it "cure" or "curring." All that means if the bar of soap was exposed to the air for a period of time to lower the pH levels (typically 4-6 weeks).

Let me explain a bit more. Soap is made by a term called Saponification (Sap-on-if-ication). Saponification is the name for a chemical reaction between an acid and a base to form a salt. When you make soap using the cold process soap making method, you mix an oil or fat (acid) with Lye (base) to form soap (salt). 

Told you it has science (and math - ew)

You don't have to use lye either. There are so many different types of soap like glycerin soaps, animal based soaps, castile soaps and different ways to make them like melt & pour (melt glycerin and add additives), rebatch (where you make the soap, grate it and re-mold it), cold process or  hot process (which is made the same way as cold process only the cold process never gets heated up - go figure).

There's so much to get into on soaping but I'm just going over very minimal stuff that is important and well, maybe share my story and my website. 

 I discovered soap making by accident really. I live in Florida and Florida has some God-awful storms.  While babysitting my room mate's baby I was trapped in Hobby Lobby without an umbrella or anything to shield the child from the torrential downpour. I decided to wait the storm out and went up and down every isle in the store. I discovered the soap making section near the candles and I became intrigued.
Once the storm had died down I went home and immediately began researching. I watched hours of video's on How-To.... basically do everything from melt and pour, to cold process to embedding and swirling and making fun shapes with cookie cutters. It opened my artistic and creative Goddess inside to a whole new set of possibilities.

I decided to start putting these creations up for sale as a way to make some space in my apartment, LOL. I came up with the name Spellbound Soaps for my business, bought a dotcom and have actively started advertising. I chose the name because as I said, I was intrigued by the idea but more over I became enchanted, like someone placed a magical spell on me and I am now compelled to make soap. More soap, better designs, cuter names, funky ideas and incorporate all of it into soap making. I am spellbound by making soap and I hope that you will be enchanted and spellbound by them too.

Have you visited my web store yet?

http://spellbound-soaps.com