One of my favorite parts of being in charge of Bramble Berry ‘SoapNation’ is the one-on-one instruction opportunities at Otion. From time to time, soapers and toiletry makers come to Otion for private instruction on how to make everything and anything that their heart desires. The days (and weekends) are all custom designed to meet  the interests of our students. Selena came to us from Africa by way of London. And poor dear, because of the Icelandic volcanic eruptions, she is in Bellingham for a bit longer than she intended.
We designed a jam packed two days for Selena. Cold Process soap – swirled with the Bramble Berry ‘World’s Best Divider Molds’ and a couple double layer loaves (with a sprinkled mica vein in the middle of each layer, above). The above soap is the dark color because of the honey. It gets hot and burns in the soap, causing it to turn brown.
Most of our cold process soaps included a generous serving (up to 10%) Sierra Leone honey, fresh off the plane (and brought in at some trouble for poor Selena who was stopped by customs so long that she missed her flight to Bellingham!).
We made four different types of scrubs. The two pictured below are both emulsified scrubs (similar to the ones I teach in this video here).
Not to worry though – we hot processed the entire batch out and made some luscious soap (above) despite the initial horrifying leaky honey results. And then we redesigned the batch – less honey, lower temperatures, no insulation and presto! successful batch.
It was a joy to spend two days with Selena. She’s headed back to Africa with three massive boxes bulging with goodies. I’m excited to watch her company progress in the next few years. Thanks for spending the day with me Selena!
