It’s been for
quite some time I think of making some more soap! I’ve been thinking of some
juicy soap with summer fruits available at the moment, so I bought me apricots
and some blackberries from local farmers on the market yesterday morning. But,
then, I got a phone call from a friend who invited me for a late lunch so I
went out instead. It was a lovely afternoon & evening and food was
delicious! Weather, too. It was cool and cloudy and I could breathe freely
without sweating under that terrible summer heat! Even though I come from a
sunny and warm Mediterranean island I have to say: I’m sorry but I am not a
Summer person at all! Not at all!!! (Not-at-all!)
I’ve made
my very first soap in the afternoon on 03.03.2012. It was a pure experiment
that came out just great!!! I was so happy! I thought I would make it just
natural without any scents whatsoever, just natural things, pure and simple, if
we exclude lye, of course... So I used lemon and rosemary from my mother’s
island garden and the smell was like Heaven itself! Unfortunately, after 4
weeks of curing all that Mediterranean perfume evaporated but that beautiful
soap was still there, anyway!
Some weeks
after my lemon & rosemary soap I made another one: chocolate, strawberry
and vanilla!!! That was an adventure, really! Again: no colours, no scents, just
pure olive oil (olive oil I use comes from the island, too, and is made by my
parents!!!), dark chocolate, fresh strawberries, some vanilla beans...
After that
I’ve done some more soaps using apple, ginger, cinnamon, bananas... I’ve been
giving my soaps away as gifts to my parents and my nieces and some really close
friends of mine. To my surprise they are all so delighted with them! I’m so
happy because of that! So, so happy!
From my
first (burning!) desire to make soap till the first time of actual making almost
entire year has passed in between! First of all I didn’t have anyone to show me
how to do it, I did not have any idea of how to make it, no shops around with
such theme and not to mention the rest like, for instance, people telling me I
was silly having such ideas and so on, and so on...
But, lucky
me, there was internet! Thanks God! There I found it all: ingredients, right
quantity measures of oils, water and lye, there I watched people making soaps...
And so I could finally start experimenting! My favourite soapmaker of all I’ve
found on internet is Amy from GreatCakeSoapworks. I’ve found her accidentally
but never stopped following ever since! Thank you Amy! I love your work and your
beautiful soaps! Thank you so much!
And, yes,
today I’ve finally made my new soap using apricots and blackberries, it got a
little bit messy but I did it. I can’t wait to check how it looks like!
