Holiday Spirit

I got my order in of Holiday fragrances the other day and today I finally had time to get to work on them!  I had mixed feelings about a couple of them and I wasn't sure which ones I wanted to start with.  Funny, though, I had DH smell them with me and I prefaced the one I liked least with a disclaimer.  Of course, he absolutely loved that one and the one that was my favorite he wrinked he nose at and said 'Peeee-ewww!'.  :)  Funny how different noses can be!  

I only had energy for 2 batches this morning and started with the Frankenscense and Myrrh.  It moved pretty fast (set up as I was trying to mix it!) and I had to slam it into the mold (soaper talk for....well....literally 'slamming' blobs of it into the mold!).  It reached a full gel as I was still cleaning up and I had to put it under fans and elevate it to cool it off.  What an adventure.  It smells very rich, and 'old world'.  I'm not sure whether or not I am a fan of it yet, but don't take my word for it; that is the one that was Hubby's favorite.  ;)  

I felt like my Christmas Spirit was lacking after racing and sweating over that first batch and so I got out a holiday CD and I was feeling better instantly.  Funny how Christmas music makes you feel so happy!  I was ready to tackle the next batch.

I went with the 'Winter Grapefruit' because I had a fun coloring idea for it and I was having soaper's block over the other fragrances.  :)  I took out a small portion and colored it yellow and the base I colored pink.  It should give the effect of, well, a grapefruit!  :)  It smells wonderful, albeit very strong.  This time I turned on the fans for air circulation.  ;)  It's very clean and tart.  I'll see how it sells at the November show I'm doing; maybe I'll keep it in the lineup.  

I used my new-and-improved base recipe for both soaps; the base I created so I could eliminate using lard.  I will still have a few soaps with lard (it makes such a hard bar!) but the inquiries have been high for soaps without lard so I have been slowly phasing out my old formula.  In my new formula, I've up'ed the coconut and palm and it's been a hit with my testers.  ;)