In the fast lane

Things have been real hectic around here. And am sorry for not updating regularly. I have been at one flea market after another.....getting scorched in this unprecedented heat wave that seems to have engulfed Bangalore.........the rare intermittent rains have done nothing to help us feel better. I am so happy (surprised) at how well my products have been received. I have to say products due to my ever increasing product line........the rookie entrepreneur in me should have thought of this before coining the name Soaps By SanGi. But, what the heck, soaps will always be my first love. 

As mentioned in my last post, my butters have been received quite well. There seem to be a lot of requests for different smells. Maybe I need to add a few more to my existing line of 3 varieties of Body Butters. My Facebook page has started generating orders as well. Not to mention the increasing number of likes. Yeah.... 

Anyway, enough of trumpeting my little successes. Let me tell you what I have been upto. You guessed it.........a lot of soaping. I looooove soaping. Some of the batches I have made are

Rassoul Clay & Yogurt Soap

Milk Oatmeal & Wheatgerm Soap

Musky Cocoa Butter & Jojoba Soap

In fact, I am already out of the Musky Cocoa Butter & Jojoba Soap. I have another show coming up on Saturday and plan to introduce the Milk Oatmeal soap there......

At one of the fairs, I had a lady ask me for sugar scrubs. There was the beginning of another new product. She is yet to pick them up. But the pictures I posted on Facebook have got me orders and I have already exhausted my batch.

Minty Sugar Scrubs

I like making my sugar scrubs in single use sizes and shapes so we don't have to get our hands into the jars and ruin the entire scrub. Water can make your sugar scrubs go bad. This way you can open the jar and take just one into the bath with you.

These babies have all the goodness of Shea Butter, Olive oil, Sandalwood powder, of course, Castor sugar, and my Handmade soap...........I have tried them and they are wonderful on my excessively dry skin. Makes my skin feel like silk. I am in the process of making a fresh batch, with a little bit of difference. Shall post pictures soon.....

Current lot of soaps for sale

This is the current lot of soaps that are available for sale. I do have more bars of each type. If someone would like to buy them, they can get in touch with me at soapsbysangi@gmail.com. This display is not the entire lot. I have around 10 bars left in each. I am giving below a list of the ones that are cured and currently available. All the bars are around 65-75 gms in weight (approx.). There are about 6-7 batches that will be ready for sale by the end of February.

The current batches availabe are:
1. Red Clay & Shea Butter scented with Orange & Ylang Ylang - Rs 140/-
2. Carrot, Honey & Coconut Milk scented with Orange Cinnamon - Rs. 110/-
3. Milk & Cocoa Butter - Rs. 110/-
4. Yoghurt & Aloe Vera with Vanilla - 120/-
5. Thyme, Vanilla & Cedarwood - 140/- 
6. Beer, Honey, Cocoa & Shea Butter - 150/-
7. French Green Clay with Lemongrass - 110/- (not in pic)

Ok......am back

My dad passed away on the 27th. So, I was away in Chennai for nearly two weeks with my mom and my sister.

Am back and have been restless to make some soap. I am kind of getting obsessed with this whole soap making……and so have just made a new batch of soap. I have attempted Milk Soap this time. Many soapers have warned about the milk getting burnt because of the heat it creates in soap. The sugars in the milk are the problem. After a lot of research, I decided to use the Half and Half method to make this soap. I divided the total amount of liquid required into half water and half milk. I mixed the lye in the water and when the oils and the lye mixture reached light trace, I added the milk in a slow stream. The soap mixture immediately started to heat up. I had very little time to add my FOs and a bit of colour. It really thickened up and when I poured (put) it into the mould, it was the consistency of thick pudding. Also, despite my best efforts to keep the temperature down,  it gelled on me. Am a bit disappointed as I was hoping I would have an ivory coloured soap. Have to wait and see how it turns out.

Soap going thru gel stage

 Adding fragrance oils instead of essential oils is another first for me. Thankfully, there was no issue when I added the FOs. I have scented the soap with a mix of Melon and Berry FOs. It will be interesting to see how the smell holds up after the soap has hardened and cured.

Since I wanted a really moisturizing soap, have added a good amount of cocoa butter. 

I bought myself one of those chocolate moulds so that I can make sample sizes of my new soaps. Aren't they cute?

The colour of the samples indicate that I could have ivory coloured soaps after all. Can you notice the hint of blue in them? I tried to swirl in some colour as it was thickening up pretty quickly