I needed to make a few of these lavender soaps for gifts, so I thought I’d show you how I make them. I also included a little bit of how I used to stamp and label my soaps. I don’t sell soap anymore, but I love getting to use my Mom’s beautiful labels whenever I can. She also designed my logo that you see on the stamp. Thanks so much for watching! -Holly :) P.S. Kápia Méra is Greek for someday and the name of my husband’s old family farm.
Maravilhosos!! Trabalho incrível o seu. Muito bom assistir o seu vídeo, você é inspiração. Você tem um e-book, um curso que ensine as técnicas. Gostaria muito de aprender . Abraços do Brasil.
I would love to try this with other infused oils. Indigo, annatto, etc. But I also have some lovely oils I make for my salves (same method your used)…comfrey, plantain, and calendula. These oils have such lovely intense colors I can’t help but wonder if they would do the same as the Alkanet
@@libertymicrofarm6032 I'd love to see a comfrey soap too! Calendula does impart it's colour into soap, I just made a calendula soap and totally recommend it, it's delightful.
Incorporating your mother's beautiful and loving artwork into your process to create this wonderful artisan soap just makes your pieces even more special. Holly, thanks for giving us the BEST soap making content. ❤
Holly, I would never have thought to use the botanical Alkanet infused oil this way, I thought as you were pouring the batter oh no Holly forgot the infused oil, the result is wonderful, I bet the aroma is perfect, such a lovely gift. Thank you Holly, the cigar bands with your mums paintings are brilliant two very artistic ladies. Warmest wishes from Tasmania
It’s like you read my mind. I just got some alkanet root powder and was looking for a swirl that’s not real complicated. Beautiful soap as always! Thanks Holly!
Hi Holly, this a very pretty soap with the alkanet swirls 🙂. I was looking at cigar band type labels but never thought of using card stock, very useful and cheaper than going to online labels, thank you for that tip 😊! I really love your videos, you explain everything and give really good tips and your voice is so claiming and relaxing, I know I've said that a lot, but it really is true 😊. Thank you!
Thank you so much! The card stock seems to always hold up really well. When I printed them myself, I was able to buy even thicker paper that I actually liked better than what OfficeMax calls card stock. Thank you for all of your kind comments...I appreciate each and every one! 💕
I’ve tried doing this technique with mica. It looks great, but the extra oil makes the soap much softer and takes longer to cure. Did you find this to be true for you? Of did you adjust your oils in your recipe to accommodate for the drizzle?
Your soap turned out beautifully! I think I might try this method with some of my oil-infused Himalayan Rhubarb powder... I don't see why it wouldn't work the same way. Thanks for the idea!
I used infused alkenet root powder then added purple clay to it once strained . To my surprise I got a beautiful peachy pink! I love experimenting with natural colors! Thank you for your videos! ~jc
Beautiful! I’ve never seen that technique before for swirling. I need to try that! I always add silk and kaolin clay to all my soaps too. It gives the soap such a beautiful silky feeling! Thank you for sharing Holly!
What an amazing teacher you are miss Holly. I always learn something new every time I view one of your tutorials. Another beautifully produced video! Well done!
Thank you for sharing. A beautiful soap. I am going to try this. You explain things so well in your videos and they are soothing to watch (just like your soaps are). Your mother was such an artist and you seem to have gotten your talent from her. God bless.
In this crazy world Holly your videos are so soothing and gorgeous, I live in Melbourne Victoria, Australia, we hold the record for the longest lockdown... We're being crushed. Thanks for your wonderful videos. You have such a soothing voice x
Lovely soap, very natural and I bet they smell wonderful!😉👍👍👍 I never heard of alkanet before. 🤔 But, it makes a beautiful purple swirl in your soap! That is a very nice idea to add your mother's painting in your wraparound, that's such a beautiful way to remember loved ones.
Love your videos Holly. Thank you for sharing all the information that you do. I have a small yogurt maker, it only hold one jar. I infuse my oils with that. I can just leave it and not worry about it overheating. I also infuse herbs for other medicinal purposes so the yogurt maker is a handy tool.
The soap looks like a work of art! Very elegant. I learn SO much from your videos. This one is so beautiful with a simple design. You come from a talented family. Your mom's design on the cardstock is perfect! I wish you all the best for your health. However, I do have a question. I searched all other comments to see if the answer was already provided. How much of the 5 ounces of alkanet root infused oil did you use for this soap batch?
Holly.. this is such an elegant looking soap... Aesthetically very pretty! ️Thank you for all the tips and links you research and gather for us! Am inspired to make a similar bar with alkanet root powder .. ❤️
This is absolutely beautiful. I am new to soap making and your videos inspire me so much. I am doing all natural and you really helped me figure out how to get a purple color with alkanet by infusing. Thank you ! I have a question. If soaping at 82 degrees which is lower than the melting point of say coconut and especially cocoa butter… how do you get that to work without the oils solidifying and not incorporating with the lye solution? Thank you so much -Ashley
Thank you! If I let the oils sit too long and my soap room is cold, they will eventually solidify and need rewarming a bit. I generally get back to the room before that time, though. Even though they may be colder than their melting points, it still takes time for them to actually solidify. I don't worry about them being cloudy as long as there are no solid pieces (large or small). I should mention this and should have mentioned it in the video...one of the issues with soaping so cold - below about 85-90ºF - is recognizing false trace (when the batter gets grainy and thick but hasn't actually reached trace yet). In case you need some info about that, I put a link in the description box (in the Safety and Beginner section) to a video by Lisa of I Dream in Soap where she describes recognizing false trace. :) - Holly
Hi, did you add the corresponding lye to the infused alkanet drops? Or just measured the total oils for lye excluding the alkanet infused oil? Thank you!
Amazing! I would never have thought to use the infused alkanet root powder that way. Isn’t it adding more oil to your recipe? I didn’t know you could do that 😃 I just love your videos. They are so informative and soothing to watch ❤️
Thank you so much and thanks for watching them! Yes, it does add a bit more oil and probably raises the overall superfat a bit. I calculated my recipe at a 6% superfat and probably ended up with maybe a 7% after adding those lines. I do sometimes lower the superfat in my recipe calculation (to 5% instead of 6%) when I'm adding extra oil like this. 😊
Thank you Holly for another enlightening video…I always get great tips from you 💕 Is the alkanet infused oil left in the soap as a super fat ? It’s not mixed into the soap batter, so I wondered at that.🤔 Thanks again !
Thank you!! Since I didn't subtract for that bit of oil, it does add to the total fat in the recipe (increasing my superfat a bit). During saponification, I'm sure some of it probably gets saponified (instead of some of the recipe oils). If you wanted to account for that extra oil, you could lower the superfat percentage in your recipe calculation to 5% (instead of the 6% that I used) and that would probably cover it. :)
Hi Holly, Thank you for all your wonderful videos! Quick question... I just made some Alkanet oil infusion the way you showed here. I'm hoping to be able to use about a tablespoon per lb of oil to color the bottom of my soap layer solid. Would you recommend this method? Is so are the ratios good or would I be better off using the powder directly to the batter. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also can I do this with spinach powder? Thank you so much and God bless.
thanks for sharing this video!! Was the alkanet infusion ok even though it wasn't strained through a cheese cloth? I just thought I would ask. Some have said it left a grit in their soap. Also, can I ask where you got your soap cutter? I like the simplicity of it! :) Thanks again!
I actually used photoshop and just placed everything myself based on a label that's 3" tall x 7.33" long. I would print 3 labels per page and just cut them with a paper cutter. And actually, OfficeMax would remove the extra white around the edges for me...made it super quick to cut them.
I have a chronic illness (crohn's disease). Trying to manage the disease while keeping up with inventory, shipping, not disappointing retail/wholesale customers, etc just became too much for me. If I had it to do over, I'd probably do soap releases each quarter or holiday like I've seen other soapmakers do. I may try that eventually. 😊
I know that it is a bit intrusive to even ask, but I’m sure that the majority of us are wondering why on earth you would ever stop selling your wonderful soaps. I hope the answer is because so it could return to being a beloved hobby :-)
Words of thanks are not enough for you..I am very grateful to you, especially that you explain sincerely and work creatively 😍 I really don't know how to thank you because I am a beginner and it helps me to explain the calculator, I do not speak English but I hope you understand my comment 🌸🤍
