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Reader Questions #2 (Blogtober 17)

I’m back to those questions that were posed on my appeal for post ideas back in September.

Today’s four questions are courtesy of Barb of Scrub Me Down – Happy Skin. There was going to be a fifth from Lisa of Aquarian Soap (see link below), about time management, but I’m going to give that subject a post all of its own!!

Question 1 is ‘What are my favourite blogs to follow?’  Well that’s an easy one – go to my homepage and down the right hand side you’ll see a list of some of blogs that I follow (I don’t know how it chooses which ones to display – Lisa’s Aquarian Soap blog doesn’t show up but I LOVE her posts, and Sarah of Sas-Oki Soaps too. Oh, and Danica’s Seife und Anderes) I went through and did a bit of a cull just recently as I realised that many of them hadn’t been updated for the longest time.   Are there any glaring omissions there that I really should be following?  What are your favourite blogs (not necessarily soapy ones!)

Question 2 – If you could carve out half a day and make something other than soap, what would you make? A cake. Always, a cake.  I might not be the best cook in the world, but my baking usually goes down quite well.  I’m going to post another couple of recipes before the end of Blogtober I think!  I also really REALLY want to learn how to crochet, and if I had any regular free time I think I’d give that a go…

Question 3 – What’s your favourite fragrance for soap? My favourite fragrance oil of all time is a Pink Sugar dupe from Gracefruit called Pink Kisses (used in ‘Sugar Drops’), but I’m also in love with their Warm Gingerbread at the moment – it’s all ginger, cinnamon and vanilla and is mouthwateringly delicious.   I’ve recently received a little sample of a fragrance called Tabac Vanille which I think is a dupe of a Tom Ford fragrance which is really intriguing me and can’t wait to try in a test batch.  My favourite EO blend at the moment is the one I use in Botanica – lavender, lemon & lime.  I could stand and sniff a bar all day…

Sugar Drops
Sugar Drops
Warm Gingerbread Handmade Soap
Warm Gingerbread Handmade Soap
Botanica (Lavender, Lemon & Lime)
Botanica

Question 4 What was your worst batch of soap?  Hahahaha there have been loads of them over the years.  I’ve forgotten to add fragrance, or added to much.  I’ve miscalculated and made lye heavy soap, and made soap that never set up.  Luckily these days ‘bad’ batches are few and far between, but I did have that one a month or two ago – when I tried to make ‘Snowdon’ with a new FO that I hadn’t tested – rookie mistake!!  I’ve still got it carefully stored in the hope I can use it to experiment with rebatching – and report back my thoughts of course!!

A soapy disaster
A soapy disaster

Unfortunately I had another couple of disasters just this last fortnight. I mentioned it in yesterday’s post so I won’t go on about it now but Clarity, with activated charcoal has been proving problematic too:

Clarity fail...
Clarity fail…

Thanks for reading – back tomorrow!! If you have any questions please comment below and I’ll do my very best to answer them.

7 thoughts on “Reader Questions #2 (Blogtober 17)

  1. Awww – thanks Vicki!! I feel like a bit of a soap blogger imposter with the small amount of soap I have been making lately!

    1. Not at all! Sometimes soapers lives are as interesting as the soap they make 😉

  2. Ha! Just last week, I got out my crochet hook for the first time in 40 years (oh boy, that’s a lot of decades!) as I needed to make some small basic coaster type things to go under soaps on a display. A quick check through a couple of youtube videos and I was away – so yes, definitely go for it. Minimal equipment, minimal outlay and the sort of thing that doesn’t take up a lot of space. It’s also very therapeutic….when it’s behaving!
    How about a post with tips/tricks for a market? How you transport your soaps. Crazy or otherwise questions you are asked?! Do you enjoy markets, and if so, why?

    1. Ooh that’s an great idea for a post – thank you! Leave it with me and I’ll have a think 🙂

  3. Your soaps are beautiful. I quite like the one that went wrong, it looks a bit like an oil painting of the countryside with fluffy clouds.

  4. I feel so honored. Thank you so much for the mention. 🙂 That made my day! As for failed batches of soap, we’ve all had more than a few. It’s part of the creative process. Nothing to get upset about at all. I’m with you on the cake thought. I agree…. definitely cake! (Breakfast, lunch, dinner or whenever. 🙂 I’m loving Avobath by Nurture soap lately as my favorite, but it’s a touch choice. Their Black Pearl and American Cream are wonderful too. And then there are several Brambleberry ones I like as well – especially Espresso. Peach Perfection from Natures Garden is also yummy. Why choose just one?

  5. […] I’m so relived today.  Remember a couple of day ago in my last Reader’s Questions post where I confessed that I’d recently had two failed double batches of Clarity?  The ones that […]

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