Friday, April 3, 2009


Stirred up a batch of Kumquat soap today. Wow, does it smell great.

Citrus, vanilla orange, slightly sweet, bright and fresh. I can not wait to bring this to market for you. It will be the perfect wake me up soap in the shower. I colored it with natural mica, creating a beautiful swirl throughout the soap.

The Kumquat is a hot new fragrance for the season. I make a lot of traditional soap fragrance for my customers such as my Lavender, Lemon Eucalyptus, Wild Sea Rose, "Casco" Bay Rum. But I love to also include current trends. Pomegranate will be next! Stay tune.

5 comments:

sproutsandweetpeas said...

What color does the mica make it? I love the picture of the Kumquats you have, its my favorite color! Can't wait to try this one, it sounds so refreshing.

Casco Bay Soap Co. said...

Micas come in different colors. I used a yellow and a red to make a light orange. Because the soap is opaque, the colors come out more pastel like.
Mica is a natural product, that is mined but then, the individual mica (which looks like a platelet) is coated with FD&C colorants, or pigments, or a combination of both to achieve the colorant. The dual sided color is what causes the shimmer and sheen of micas. Mica is exactly the same stuff you see in your lipstick, eye shadow and blush.
This soap smells incredible. It is sweet and creamy and the citrus/orange is refreshing.
Thanks for your questions!

Denny1600 said...

I'm a beginning soap maker (about 6 batches, so far) and am having fun with it. I bought some essential oils, but I'm sensitive to many scents. Many give me an instant headache so I don't feel the need for adding scents or colors to my own soaps. I like making soaps for friends and family and my mother commented on the scent in the first soap I gave to her (made with coconut oil, olive oil, and castor oil) and asked if I could add a scent. I explained that the essential oils I've tried so far (lavender, a citrus one, and rosemary) all gave me a headache or scratchy throat. She asked about adding something like cinnamon. I see cinnamon EO, but does adding cinnamon powder to a soap batch add the cinnamon scent to the soap or does something happen to it in the process?
Thanks so much!

Denny

Casco Bay Soap Co. said...

Adding powdered cinnamon itself to the soap will not give it much fragrance. I have also discovered that cinnamon has a funny reaction with the soap, heats it up quickly and sets up the soap fast. I would also caution that some spices may be too strong for sensitive skin or sensitive parts of the body. Do some more research on the web regarding fragrance and essential oils. There may be also be some information regarding your fragrance sensitivity. Maybe when you smell it straight from the bottle, it is too much, but how do you like it in items that contain the fragrance? Smells someone else's lemon soap or lavender, maybe when it is IN a soap it's not a strong for you? thanks for the comments.

Denny1600 said...

Thanks so much for your information, help, and good advice. I will do more research, including shopping! Several weeks ago, I bought a bar of goat's milk, honey, oatmeal soap that also had almond scent. When I was in the car with the soap, it was way too strong for me and I had to stop and move it to the back of the car and I wrapped it in another bag to get it home. When I got it home, I set it outside on a table for a few days. Every couple of days I checked it and after about a week, it came into the house. It's mellowed enough now that it's in the bathroom and I used it without problems. But . .. I wasn't so sure on the way home.

Denny in Arizona