Adventures With The Sage

Collect needed items:

Weigh the baking chocolate, chop into small chunks and set aside.

Measure oils on your scale. Warm on the stove or in the microwave. Once the oils are melted, add the baking chocolate and stir until completely melted. Bring temperature to near 120 °F. Exact temperature is not critical. Add sodium hydroxide to the water. Mix well. Allow to cool to near 120 °F. Once again, exact temperature is not critical.

Combine oils and lye solution. Stir until thin trace. Add fragrance if you desire. Stir well. Pour soap into molds. Allow to sit until soap is firm.

Cut into bars. Stack to allow good air circulation. Allow to cure for several days before using. Longer curing will result in a harder bar.

This soap smells like Devil’s Food Cake and allows any chocoholic to enjoy their addiction even while bathing!

Notes: We only recommend 1/8 to 1/4 to ounce of baking chocolate per pound of fats in a batch. We are primarily using the baking chocolate for scent and color, so a little will go a long way!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!

I expect to soon release several series on Swirled Soaps, Beer Soaps, Using Dyes for Other Projects, and Seeded Soaps.

I hope you will enjoy these upcoming posts as much as I will!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!

Rules:
1) Submit a picture to show the finished soap. You can show us the whole process or just the finished soaps.
2) Tell us about your opinions of the process. Was it easy? Was it fun? Was it what you expected?
3) Any milk product is available as an option. Yogurt, Half & Half, Soy, Rice, Cow, Goat, Sheep, Almond and many more.
4) You are not required to leave the soap unscented or even uncolored. We want to see how you make your milk soaps!
5) Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Submissions will be due by March 25th. Each guest writer will receive a $25 gift certificate for their participation.

Happy Soaping!

Karol, Tina, Maureen and Laurie, your soap sets left today!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!

What can I put in a Heat Sealable Tea Bag for a bath?
Herbs and Flowers: Peppermint Leaves, Rosebuds, Lavender Buds, Chamomile Bud, Calendula Petals, Lemon Balm, Vanilla, and more.
Grains: Oatmeal and Wheat Germ.

The Heat Sealable Tea Bags are also very useful when making a tea for soap making. You can make your own teas to be used as the liquid in batches of soap to make them even more unique.

What can I put in a Heat Sealable Tea Bag for soap teas?
Herbs and Flowers: Peppermint Leaves, Rosebuds, Lavender Buds, Chamomile Bud, Calendula Petals, Lemon Balm, Vanilla, Hops, Black Tea, Green Tea, Rooibos and many more.

Using the Heat Sealable Tea Bags is so easy, you will want to use them all the time. All you need is a household clothes iron, the Heat Sealable Tea Bags, and the botanicals you want to use. I’m going show you how I make a Chamomile and Oatmeal Bath Soak in a Large Heat Sealable Tea Bag.

Collect needed items:

Set the iron to the medium temperature setting. Using the food processor, grind the oatmeal to make a fine oat flour. Measure 4 teaspoons of the finely ground oatmeal and 1 teaspoon of the Chamomile Tea Blend into the Large Heat Sealable Tea Bag. Gently pinch the bag closed and lay it on the ironing board. Lightly press the iron over the edge of the bag and hold for 3 seconds. The combination of the heat and pressure will seal the bag.

Ta-da! We now have a sealed tea bag ready to be used in soothing bath.

Kathy, your soap set left today!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!

Top row of soaps, starting at the top left of the picture:
Cows Milk, Goats Milk, and Buttermilk.
Bottom row of soaps, starting at the bottom left of the picture:
Soy Milk and Almond Milk.

Don’t forget about the 5 Milks Soap Set Special! If you would like to receive all 5 soaps and test them on your own, you can order them for $18 including shipping! Each bar weighs between 4.5 oz and 5 oz and has measurements of 2 1/2″ X 2 1/2″ X 1″. They have not been scented at all, so you will only have the soaps as made on their respective posts. I will only send the set of 5 soaps, no single soap requests please.

I know I promised to show you the comparison pictures of the milk soaps, but I’m having a difficulties with the camera flash and the color correction of the photos. This is skewing the color comparison too much to actually show the color differences. I will definitely post these pictures tomorrow!

Again, here are the directions that we will follow in a step by step format.

1) Calculate the amount of lye and liquid needed for the oils you plan to use.

2) Measure all of the oils and set aside to heat gently.

3) Measure the lye and set aside.

4) Measure HALF of the needed liquid as water and set aside. Measure HALF of the needed liquid as milk and set aside. Milk should be room temperature, not frozen or heated.

5) Add ALL of the lye to the water. Stir well. No crystals should remain on the bottom of your mixing vessel. When the temperature of this lye solution is within 110° F to 130° F, (cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, cooler for large batches and warmer for small batches), add it to the oil mixture. Blend with an immersion blender until you estimate you are halfway through the mixing process. This will happen with most oils in about 1 minute. The mixture should NOT be thick or viscous. The mixture should be very fluid, like water.

6) Now steadily pour the milk into the batch. Use the immersion blender to finish the blending so there is no chance of separation.

7) Add fragrance. Pour into prepared SHALLOW molds (1 inch deep or so). Milk soaps can get very hot and shallow molds help the excess heat dump into the air. This will prevent the milk sugars from interrupting the saponification reaction.

This is called the Half and Half Method, because you use half water, half milk, and add the milk half way through the blending of the batch.

Collect needed items:

Notes: I will also show you a picture of the Almond Meal leftover from making the Almond Milk. I showed you some of the almonds with their skins still on so they could still be easily recognized, but the Almond Milk is best if you take the time to slip the skins off the hydrated almonds.

Don’t forget to give me your guesses on the final colors of the soaps! We will see a cut soap comparison on Monday!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!

Again, here are the directions that we will follow in a step by step format.

1) Calculate the amount of lye and liquid needed for the oils you plan to use.

2) Measure all of the oils and set aside to heat gently.

3) Measure the lye and set aside.

4) Measure HALF of the needed liquid as water and set aside. Measure HALF of the needed liquid as milk and set aside. Milk should be room temperature, not frozen or heated.

5) Add ALL of the lye to the water. Stir well. No crystals should remain on the bottom of your mixing vessel. When the temperature of this lye solution is within 110° F to 130° F, (cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, cooler for large batches and warmer for small batches), add it to the oil mixture. Blend with an immersion blender until you estimate you are halfway through the mixing process. This will happen with most oils in about 1 minute. The mixture should NOT be thick or viscous. The mixture should be very fluid, like water.

6) Now steadily pour the milk into the batch. Use the immersion blender to finish the blending so there is no chance of separation.

7) Add fragrance. Pour into prepared SHALLOW molds (1 inch deep or so). Milk soaps can get very hot and shallow molds help the excess heat dump into the air. This will prevent the milk sugars from interrupting the saponification reaction.

This is called the Half and Half Method, because you use half water, half milk, and add the milk half way through the blending of the batch.

Collect needed items:

We only have Almond Milk left! Don’t forget to give me your guesses on the final colors of the soaps! We will see a cut soap comparison on Monday!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!

Again, here are the directions that we will follow in a step by step format.

1) Calculate the amount of lye and liquid needed for the oils you plan to use.

2) Measure all of the oils and set aside to heat gently.

3) Measure the lye and set aside.

4) Measure HALF of the needed liquid as water and set aside. Measure HALF of the needed liquid as milk and set aside. Milk should be room temperature, not frozen or heated.

5) Add ALL of the lye to the water. Stir well. No crystals should remain on the bottom of your mixing vessel. When the temperature of this lye solution is within 110° F to 130° F, (cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, cooler for large batches and warmer for small batches), add it to the oil mixture. Blend with an immersion blender until you estimate you are halfway through the mixing process. This will happen with most oils in about 1 minute. The mixture should NOT be thick or viscous. The mixture should be very fluid, like water.

6) Now steadily pour the milk into the batch. Use the immersion blender to finish the blending so there is no chance of separation.

7) Add fragrance. Pour into prepared SHALLOW molds (1 inch deep or so). Milk soaps can get very hot and shallow molds help the excess heat dump into the air. This will prevent the milk sugars from interrupting the saponification reaction.

This is called the Half and Half Method, because you use half water, half milk, and add the milk half way through the blending of the batch.

Collect needed items:

Tomorrow we will make a Soy Milk Soap. We only have Almond Milk left! AND THEN (drum roll, please). I will show you the pictures of ALL the soaps! Which is the whitest? Which turned peach-colored? Which is tan? Go ahead and give me your guesses!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!

What is the advantage to using the Half and Half Method rather than adding the milk to the lye solution?

The advantage is that we allow the normal saponification to happen, without stalling using cold temperatures, we get firm soap quickly, AND we don’t have any separation in the mold. We feel that our best batch of soap is the first batch and by following the Half and Half Method, we reduce the chances of our soaps failing and increase our chances of getting that perfect batch of soap the first time around.

The Half and Half Method is actually very easy to follow. Here are the directions that we will follow in a step by step format.

1) Calculate the amount of lye and liquid needed for the oils you plan to use.

2) Measure all of the oils and set aside to heat gently.

3) Measure the lye and set aside.

4) Measure HALF of the needed liquid as water and set aside. Measure HALF of the needed liquid as milk and set aside. Milk should be room temperature, not frozen or heated.

5) Add ALL of the lye to the water. Stir well. No crystals should remain on the bottom of your mixing vessel. When the temperature of this lye solution is within 110° F to 130° F, (cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, cooler for large batches and warmer for small batches), add it to the oil mixture. Blend with an immersion blender until you estimate you are halfway through the mixing process. This will happen with most oils in about 1 minute. The mixture should NOT be thick or viscous. The mixture should be very fluid, like water.

6) Now steadily pour the milk into the batch. Use the immersion blender to finish the blending so there is no chance of separation.

7) Add fragrance. Pour into prepared SHALLOW molds (1 inch deep or so). Milk soaps can get very hot and shallow molds help the excess heat dump into the air. This will prevent the milk sugars from interrupting the saponification reaction.

This is called the Half and Half Method, because you use half water, half milk, and add the milk half way through the blending of the batch.

Collect needed items:

Tomorrow we will make a Buttermilk Soap. We only have Soy Milk and Almond Milk left after buttermilk!

Don’t forget to submit your blog or video posts to win the MMS Perfumer’s Kit. Remember, this kit is worth $280! Submissions are due by March 1st for posts during February.

Did you know that you can become a fan of Majestic Mountain Sage on Facebook? Receive the latest updates, blog post notifications and more!