Soap Update-Modified Peacock & Mike's Pure White Soap

I really think my flower funnel design turned peacock is one of my favorites. I added a little bronze mica to the brown components and the totally neat-o thing is how the shimmer shimmied it's way into the adjoining spirulina green. I couldn't stop looking at it and posing it at different angles. It smells phenomenal. Bare spearmint is over the top for me, but adding cedarwood and patchouli really rounded out the scent. I think it's the perfect unisex soap. I packaged up some soap for extended family in Tallahassee,  but not too much of this one, since I want to hoard it for my soapy self.

I loved the silky feel of the peaks from the shea butter and rice bran oils. Get this soap wet and the sharp peaks are going to soften into molten bronze. I love it!

White's (Almost) Pure White Soap Update

I wasn't wild about this soap on a few levels--first, I didn't like the essential oil combination. This was the first time I've ever used tea tree in a soap, and I don't know--it reminded me of hormonal middle-aged breakouts since I use it in that capacity quite often. The touch of color was a good idea, but not the alkanet which turned a blue-grey color exactly the same color as veins of Roquefort, so in all, it reminded me of a slab of stinky cheese. I didn't make it for myself, anyway, and my husband and son both like it, except the hubby did balk at the bronze mica sprinkle on top and made me scrape it off with a vegetable peeler. It kind of did look like a dirty cheese rind. Now, on the bright side, this super cheap Crisco soap lathered like mad during a soap test on myself  (never the family dachshund, Lulu). It'll be ready in a few weeks to give it extra time to evaporate off excess water after the cold process/oven process. Here's a picture:

Dirt

Finally, since planting my spring crops, it rained! The soil is warming up and I suspect my seeds will be up this weekend. The indoor seedlings are sprouting their first true leaves. If it didn't storm like nuts tonight, I was going to surround my little garden with wooden stakes adorned with rags saturated with natural rotten egg based deer repellent. We live in city limits, but sometimes you'd think we're out in a nature preserve. While I love wildlife, I wish they'd not go stomping around in my garden. My neighbors are squirrel and deer enthusiasts. They throw out peanuts and roll out barrels that actually dispense deer kibble. To each his own, but in order for deer to reach the free bounty, they cross our property first, nibble my apples, my sunflower heads, dance in my garden leaving deep hoof furrows, and nibble flowering vegetables.