Working in a New Oil – Soapmaking Adventures

Paul Cram with goggles
It’s too late to stop as planned. The boiling oil begins writhing upon itself surging towards the lip of the pot. Double double toil and trouble and all that. I’ve had a pot overflow before. The caustic (flesh-burning) sludge overflowing onto the counter & floor.

I don’t let that happen this time.
 

Something unrelated to keeping a pot from boiling over, I’ve added a new oil to the mix in the soap recipe. Castor oil. 
An anomaly. 
Most oils that froth well in soap wind up drying out your skin. Castor oil actually froths a lot while conditioning your skin. 
Indeed neat.
The best part for me in the process of soap making is always stirring in the scent for the batch. I received a lovely bottle of rose oil from my curly-haired friend Mimi. (Thanks Mimi!)

 Uncapping the bottle, I pour.

Stirring the quickly-cooling soap batter, the room is permeated with the aroma of Morrocan roses. Not having a lot of time, I uncork two additional bottles of scent. Adding Sandalwood and a smidge of the earthy aroma of Vetiver before scooping the batter to molds where it will finish cooling.

Do you have any ideas for a scent combination of soap that you’d like me to try to make?

Paul Cram smells