Soap making
My color shelf holds thirty-one jars, and every single one of them has lied to me at least once. Pigments were the part of soap making that humbled me
Every few months someone in a crafting group asks whether they can make soap with baking soda instead of lye, and I always answer gently, because I asked
The first jar of soft soap I ever made looked like cloudy apple juice and smelled faintly of a chemistry lab. I nearly poured it away. Three days later
My niece asked for “soap you can draw with” one Christmas, and I said yes before I had any idea what I was agreeing to. Three failed batches
The first time I cut into a swirled loaf and found a pattern I hadn’t planned and couldn’t repeat, I understood why people get obsessed with this.
My supply cupboard took fifteen years and a fair amount of wasted money to assemble, and if I could send the list back in time to my first year I’
My grandmother grew carrots in sandy soil that gave them a sweetness supermarket carrots never have, and the first time I pureed a handful into a batch
Every December someone asks me to make “the chocolate soap,” and every December I have the same conversation about what chocolate soap actually is.
Lye water is the one part of soap making that nobody romanticizes, and I think that’s a mistake. It’s the step where a bucket of oil stops
Over the years in my cozy home studio, I’ve found deep satisfaction in turning simple natural ingredients into bars of soap that care for both skin