Soapy

Every once in a while I buy a bar of soap from another soapmaker to compare to my own.  Actually that's an excuse.  I love handmade soap.  I mean, I just love handmade soap.  I've always been drawn to it.  There's something mystical and magical about the chemistry of it.  It goes even deeper than that.  I purchased a bar of Canterbury Cabin Soap at the Plowshares Crafts Festival and am using it now.  This is very nice soap.  I like the large, hand cut block - 5 ounces, a very hefty size.  The scent is "Patchouli Spice."  Hmmmmm.  I like the brownish, bronze color, probably from the "spice" part of the scent oils.   I cannot, for the life of me, and I want to be magnanimous about it, discern any patchouli at all.  I checked the web site and there is a notation about how prohibitively expensive patchouli oil has been the last few years - and don't I know it!  Maybe she held back on the patchouli and went heavy on the "spice" for that reason.  I adore patchouli and won't mix anything with it.  If I pay that much for patchouli I want patchouli to knock me over.  I held off on making Patchouli soap for a year or so after the crop failed in India and the price spiked to $200 for the 16 ounce bottle I need for a batch.  It has come down considerable now, but half price of ridiculous is still expensive.  I like my soaps to have a definitive aroma, not a nebulous blend like "Patchouli/Chocolate/Raspberry."  Sometimes you end up with soap that smells like none of them.   My soap is also creamier and I'm not surprised.  I don't know any soap that is as creamy as mine.  I add as much shea butter and honey as I can, along with the goat milk, which makes for a very creamy soap.  I like the large chunks of oatmeal Canterbury Cabin put in this bar.  It makes for a lovely exfoliant and interesting texture you would never find in commercial soap.  I was relieved to find that her soap is not lasting any impressive length of time.  I worry that other soap makers have found ways to extend the life of their soaps.  Nothing to be concerned about - mine lasts and lasts.  I found some molds gifted to me from my dear soapmaker friend, Laticia Mullin, and think it would be fun to make some "man in the moon" soaps and "leafy rounds."  I might make a basket of lavender hearts to put out at Maryland for Mother's Day gifts.  I have the ingredients to make several batches of soap and have to get cracking on it.  On deck is Spruce Cedarleaf (an essential oil that is new to me this year - I like the piney scent and the name is very musical), Vanilla (essential oil, not a scent oil!), Rosemary (old favorite I haven't made in a while), Cinnamon (this time with a bit of orange spice in it) and, as always, lavender.  I have a batch of Patchouli that needs wrapping but for now it is so wonderfully aromatic on the rack where I sit and type on my computer that I've left it out to "cure" for a very long time.  I am totally out of Garden Rose and need to order the oil.  I give so much soap away over the holidays, and trade away some more at shows, I find myself woefully short when Maryland rolls around.  That's okay - 'tis better to give than to receive.