Pep-U-Up

So refreshing.

The perfect bar for hot and sticky summer days.

And a colorful way to use up some of my soap scraps.

Fragranced with a cooling combo of peppermint, sage, orange, tea tree, lemon, wintergreen, holy basil, clove, may chang and benzoin resin.

Olive oil infused with mint and annatto. Shea butter to soothe sun-parched skin. Coconut and castor oils for mucho lather. A generous dose of cornmeal to scrub away sweat and irritability.  Lard to make it gentle—and last a long time—even if you take a forty five minute shower. Which you'll be tempted to do.

More Olive Oil Soap




The soap looks a little raggedy here, but the photo is cool. Taken from my roof.



So maybe this soap (and its variations) will become my signature soap.

It's so easy to make and showcases the different herbs from The Readers' and Writers' Subplot. And since it's fragrance-free, it's great for people with allergies and asthma—yet it still has a slight scent from the herbs.

Do the benefits of herbs survive the lye? Who knows? I've read opinions on both sides. Plus there's the school of thought that there are no benefits from anything in soap because it's a wash-off product.

That I totally don't believe.

Anyway, I wait about twenty minutes between making and pouring the layers. It seems the right amount of time to let the soap firm up enough to hold another layer.

People say it looks like vegetable terrine. Or sedimentary rock. I'm the only one that thinks it looks like bacon.

Still not fond of the word 'castile.'



Cleaned up and in the garden.



Herbs used: hyssop, lemon balm, orange mint, lemon verbena, pineapple sage, passion flower, chamomile, lemongrass, basil, eucalyptus, Russian sage, dill and some powdered rosemary.

If you like this blog, check out my new one: The Haley Maxwell Soap Making Mysteries