10 what a catch!

Look what I caught today!  My first "big one"...a 3-foot northern pike.  I've never caught a northern before, ever...or any fish this big! I thought that maybe I had caught a walleye at first (that's what I hoped to catch because they're good eatin'...mmm) but the line felt very different when I was reeling it in. 

When it was getting closer to the top, all of a sudden, whatever it was, took the line deeper..then I knew it wasn't a walleye.  There was a little struggle, but I was able to reel it in with no problems (and with no help, lol)...we were all surprised to see this big of a northern on the end of the line.  Before my husband threw it back, I insisted that a picture needed to be taken first!  I tried to hold the northern by myself but couldn't because it was slimy, "jumpy", and heavy...that's my husband's hand on the left, helping me out!

14 update-candelilla wax in soap

I've been able to test the two batches that I added candelilla wax to and the good news is that they are fine!  Neither of the bars felt sticky or draggy, so I know that I didn't use too much of the wax.  Both lathered up great too...I didn't think the lather was diminished at all by the wax.

Now for the hardness, which was my purpose for using the wax in soap (and for wax/hardness testing purposes, I left out palm oil for both but used 10% cocoa butter in each as well).   I used different amounts of wax in each batch.  I make small batches and usually use 28 oz. of oils...so for the apple blossom & lavender batch, I used 1/2 teaspoon candelilla wax, and for the sweet orange spearmint batch, I used 1/4 teaspoon of wax. 

apple blossom & lavender

sweet orange spearmint

The apple blossom & lavender bars are significantly harder than the sweet orange spearmint ones.  I "knocked" on a bar with my knuckle and it was loud, lol...and didn't leave a dent.  I had faster trace with this batch too.  I knocked on a bar of sweet orange spearmint and my knuckle did leave a little dent in it, and it also felt a little "softer" when I was using it in the shower.  I don't think 1/4 teaspoon wax made much of a difference, really.  I did have more time working with this batch, so didn't get quick trace.

My final thoughts on candelilla wax:

• I think it's perfectly fine to use in soap
• I'll stick with using it at 1/2 teaspoon because it does make the soap noticeably harder
• I just need to be prepared to work fast!  

12 the disappearing, reappearing tiger stripes

The strangest thing happened when I tried the tiger stripe technique for the first time.  The technique went well, actually....the two colors I used were rose clay and cocoa powder.  The scent, I mixed a couple of berry fragrances together, so just called it "Mixed Berries". 

It was the next day when I was cutting the loaf into bars and noticed the cocoa powder color had disappeared.  There was a thin brown ring around the outside perimeter the bar, but the rest of the bar didn't have any color..it was all beige.  I was stumped...thought this was going to be another "fail", so to speak.  I finished cutting the bars, and a few hours later when I checked on them, the cocoa powder-colored layers had returned!  I've never had cocoa powder disappear when doing a swirl with it, so I guess I just find it odd that this happened.

mixed berries

18 plain soaps

I made two "no frills" batches and it was so nice to not have to worry about anything going wrong (seizing, ricing, etc).  The first one is unscented and the other one is with essential oils.

Usually when I make an unscented batch, I use goat milk, honey and oatmeal.  This time I wanted to make it even more "basic"...just oils (and a little unrefined shea butter) and white kaolin clay .  I'm liking the off-white color of it...I'm so used to seeing a caramel color from the goat milk and honey.

 unscented

This next one is scented with sweet orange and spearmint essential oils.  It's not very strong at all...I would describe the scent as being subtle.  Olive, coconut, rice bran, cocoa butter and castor for the recipe...and the additives...kaolin clay, calendula petals and candelilla wax.  I didn't use much cocoa butter and there's no palm in it, so I'm hoping the small amount of the wax helps with adding a little hardness.

sweet orange spearmint