Oh I am so excited to be working soaps again. I have so many ideas and love to be batching soaps up. Seems so long since I have been creating soaps. It really hasn't been that long but to a soap maker even a few months seems way too long. 

I rushed home from my day job today so I could unmold and cut yesterdays batches of soaps. One of which I was delighted with the looks of it but not as satisfied with the smell. The other, the smell was so divine but the appearance was less satisfying. That is the way with soap making. 

My Love Ya Latte looks wonderful but I am slightly disappointed that the coffee vanilla smell is not as strong as I would like for it to be. Though it is hard to tell because the Merlot Gold is like WOW. It fills the whole room when you walk in the door. I used the same amount of fragrance in both batches. 

Here you see the fresh cut of the Love ya Latte, the swirl is probably the best I have ever executed. I am pleased. Soaping at a cold temperature is truly key to a good swirl. 

However, the Merlot Gold was disappointing, the gold did not really show up and the color of the soap over all was disappointing. The swirl was my usual less than desired and the soap was very thick before I got to the hanger to swirl. However the smell is so wonderful, I truly do love this soap based on the smell alone. Thankfully for the gold on top, it saves the name of Merlot Gold. 

Sometimes soap making is a lot like cake decorating, tonight I find myself handpainting soap for a special project I am working on, a little surprise coming up in the very near future. 

Then there is this.....the last other little idea I am working on. Also another, new concept. It may work, it may not. I like to do things just to see if I can. Challenges, soap making is all about the challenges for me. Pushing the ideas to see if I can do what my brain dreams up. 

In the end, we shall see if all of this makes it into a beautiful, wonderful soap or ends up at my own bathroom sink as a failed pile of soap.  :)