Monday, 7 July 2014

Summer Soaps

I love the warm weather we've been having. To me, summer is all about lots of fruits and veggies being in season locally, rather than being imported from Florida or California. I've been eating as many thimbleberries as I can find and also buying as much local fruit as I can.

One of the fruits that always makes me think summer is watermelon. I remember eating it as a child, although it was never one of my favourites because I am lazy and hated having to pick through the seeds. I was so happy when they came up with seedless watermelons.

I do however, really love watermelon FO and have been wanting to try my hand at watermelon soap for a while. I've seen many versions of it and they're all lovely. I wish I had the proper mould to make a watermelon wedge, but I settled for making it in a rounded mould.


I tried making it with low sweat, forgetting that embeds don't work nearly as well in it.


But from the side, I like it more than the clearer one because I actually made the rind thick enough.


What's your favourite summertime fruit or vegetable?


 



22 comments:

  1. The little seed embeds make your watermelon soap look so real! I love the watermelon FO too, perfect summer scent. My favorite fruit has to be mango but sadly it isn't local :( Have you tried mango FO yet?

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    1. Thanks Michelle! I think the seeds look more realistic in the low sweat one than in the clearer one, but each time I try I learn how to do it a bit better.

      I know what you mean, most of the fruits I think I love the most tend to be tropical and so have to be imported. I'm trying to think if I have tried a mango FO (being too lazy to get up and look), I think it'd be fantastic.

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  2. I agree with Michelle that the seeds make the soap look real! I don't remember what watermelon FO smells like but I'll bet it is pretty summery. :) You did a great job on the layering!

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    1. Thanks Teresa! I need to improve on the seeds, but I was being lazy. The watermelon FO is really summery and I love it because it's light but fruity.

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  3. There's nothing more refreshing than cold watermelon on a hot summer day.
    Your watermelon soap looks fun and cute! I haven't had much luck with watermelon scents. The one I got turned my soap a nasty color and it smelled like cough syrup. :p My favorite summer fruits are mango, blueberries and strawberries. :)

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    1. I envy you Silvia, you have such a wonderful selection of fruits where you live.

      Have you tried BB's watermelon FO? It smells really authentic to me, but I don't know how it performs in CP soaps. You probably get all those fruits fresh, don't you? I'm going to have to visit you one day and try them.

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  4. This is such a fun soap! I wish I could smell it. I never use fruit fragrances, I always fear people may find it too childish, but I myself love raspberry and blackberry fragrances...
    Well done for your watermelon!

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    1. Thank you Madame Propre! I find that MP soaping doesn't tend to lend itself to the beauty that is CP soaping, so one has to be creative to make it interesting. I think Soapjam mixes more fruity with more floral scents? That might be a good balance for the fruity smell. Oh yes, raspberry and blackberry are wonderful aren't they? I'm inhaling the blackberry bushes as I walk by them, they're so incredible.

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  5. I adore fruits and as I can see, you have been inspired by them which is great, Monica! Your soap looks great and I wish I could smell it as I have never bought a watermelon FO but if it's as real as your soap it's tempting! I love all fruits, but blueberries, strawberries, cherries and apples are my favourites!

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    1. I was thinking of your fruity creations Nat, your edible ones that is. :) Thanks for the lovely compliment. Watermelon FO is quite realistic IMO, and I love how light and fruity but not overly sweet it is.

      I like your choices of fruit, it's too bad berry seasons tend to be very short, at least here.

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  6. Cute watermelon soap, Monica! I like the seed embeds and the rind looks perfect. I looove chilled pineapple, especially when it's hot out.

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    1. Thanks Jenny! It's fun working on the details that help to make a soap more realistic looking.

      Chilled pineapple sounds perfect for a nice hot summer's day.

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  7. Watermelon is one my best summer fruits (did you know it actually belongs to vegetables?), I very often long for it in winter,too.
    The soap looks amazingly genuine- colours are so true and have that 'watery' look. If I didn't have watermelon in abundance right now, I'd be mount watering all over the screen.
    Can you explain somethin to me: what is difference between thimbleberries and raspberries?

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    1. I didn't know that about watermelon Maja. It's great knowing all of you because not only do I learn about soaping, I learn about all sorts of other wonderful things as well. It's too bad watermelon isn't the type of fruit you can freeze and save for winter time to savour.

      You're hilarious! I'm glad you think my soaps do justice to the real thing.

      I've posted 2 pictures on the bottom of the post now (I was hoping to be able to add pictures to my comments, but alas) of thimbleberries. They are rounder than raspberries and it's hard to tell from the picture, but they are also fuzzy.

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    2. I really wonder how we call these 'raspberries', i'm not familiar if there is a word for them, but I'm sure I've eaten them. Thanks for the photos.
      Yes, what watermelon distincts from fruit is its lifespan- think about it, you need a new plant every year,just like you do with vegetables, whilst (the rest of) fruits are perennial plants /trees.

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    3. Are they quite abundant there Maja? They aren't cultivated here so I'm always happy finding them on the trails.

      I never considered that fruits are perennials. Course I tend to kill most things unless they're weeds, so for me, most plants are annuals anyway. ;)

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    4. Hahaha, no, you don't! You don't go around killing peaches, apples , cherries etc! Watermelon likes it hot and we have much of sun here, so yes, they are quite abundant. And, veryyyyyy delicious!

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    5. Sounds like I should plan a summer visit to Macedonia to enjoy the fruits. :)

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  8. I really like the little seeds! and the color is pretty as well! A fun, summer soap for sure!!!

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    1. Thanks Roxana! I think without the seeds, it wouldn't look enough like watermelon, especially since I didn't make it in the half round. It was a good excuse to use a fun, yummy scent.

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  9. Replies
    1. Thanks Anne-Marie! It's amazing how many variations of watermelon soaps there are out there, and they all look fabulous.

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