Teach Soap

ok i'm new here, have been lurking for a while. everyone here does such AMAZING work, maybe someday i'll be up to par with some of your work i have been making "natural" skin care scrubs, butters, and balmsfor years for friends and family. well now i have been shoved very quickly into the market so to speak. i am happy about this, but i have some questions on vanilla.

i would like to use eo's for some of my products as a vegan option has been requested.

lip balms - you can use stevia so can you use vanilla sugar? i'm talking turbinado infused sugar? it would dissolve down in the melting process of the "balm" in theory and be an alternative to vanilla eo and stevia?? am i correct? or could you do vanilla infused stevia? what about vanilla powders? does any of this make sense?

can you put them in anything else? i know there will be discoloration i'm not too concerned about that.

any help would be greatly appreciated as i'm not in the know for production for the general public and i am not finding too much info on my theory.

thanks so much,
Morgan

how would you infuse an oil? are you talking a carrier oil to put the vanilla bean in? hmmm. wonder if you could use agave nectar...

fresh stevia?

thanks for the help i love your stuff!

Some health food stores and also online stores carry whole vanilla beans. You chop up the vanilla bean, put it in a dark jar, pour oil over it to completely cover (ie: one of the oils that you would normally use in your balm), cover with a tight fitting lid and let it infuse. Put it in a dark place and shake weekly.

Agave nectar has water and sugar. You would need an emulsifier to mix this with oils AND a preservative so no germs or bacteria would grow.

I've never infused fresh stevia myself, but it's a thought.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

see i figured with vanilla sugar or vanilla stevia it's like 2 birds with one stone in theory... might have to play with that one.

how long does the infusion process take for oils? could be resonably cheaper and not too hard to do as long as you always have some "ready", i have access to many health food stores so that is not a problem at all.

wondering which is the faster and better of the 2, going to have to play around with these ideas.

The infusion can take place as long as you want. I've kept my vanilla infused oil for a year.

If you want it faster, you could use a small crock pot on low for a couple of hours. Just make sure that you don't burn the herbal material with too much heat. With this method, some base oils oxidize faster, so be aware of that.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

do you mean you have kept it infusing for a year?? sorry i can be a bit slow i've been up since 2 am lol.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Soap Buddy - I'd like to jump in and ask a question since you have a lot of experience with infusing. Can this be done with flowers? I have the most lovely liliac blossoms right now. Can they be infused with oils, like you've described with the vanilla beans??

Would I put them in fresh or should they be dried first??

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

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http://www.magichandsworkshop.com
http://www.magichands.etsy.com
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Thanks for the advice, Soap Buddy. It doesn't sound like something I'd have a lot of success with, then. But, what types of things ARE good for infusions?? I'd like to try it sometime.

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HEAVENLY SCENT SOAPS

Here's a link - sorry, I was off hunting for it and got distracted - that describes floral scent extractions. The first method, the enfleurage, is the closest to the infusion we're discussing.

_________________
http://www.magichandsworkshop.com
http://www.magichands.etsy.com
http://www.magichandsworkshop.blogspot.com

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.