Tea for Two...

My house is smelling pretty amazing right now. As with many other soapy folk, I have a rather deep seated obsession with fragrances. My latest is called Linden Blossom.

From the awesome Bramble Berry fragrance range - it has this amazing sweetness to it that blends citrus notes with the Linden Blossom and light florals as well. Mmmmmm..

Now.... what to team it with....?

Well to be honest, this pairing came together simply because of the name.

Red Tea and Linden Blossom

Rolls off the tongue quite nicely doesn't it?

So off I went to my local wholefoods store, bought myself some beautiful Rooibos (Red Tea) loose leaves and away we went.

Instead of using filtered water for my lye solution, I used the infusion of red tea. It started off this amazing russet red colour and I didn't think to add any other colourants to the batch. As it has cured, it's become a lovely soft cream. To give it a little 'zing' I dabbed dried red tea leaves onto each soap ball. What do you think?

soaking my troubles away...

How exciting it is to create something new....

I've been wanting to do something like this for awhile - ever since I first found something similar at Lush in Brisbane.

These are Bath Melts - they work on the same principle as Bath Bombs, as in you pop them into your bath water and they 'melt' away.

I finally found a recipe that I could tweak and be happy with. I am pretty darn pleased with how they have turned out - especially after the obligatory home trial.

Ahhh.... toasty bath.... candlelight....glass of wine..... Mmmmmmm.....

Jammed packed full of cocoa and shea butters, olive and vitamin E oils, sea salt and lavender essential oil - these left my skin feeling super soft and yummy!

Great for these winter months when your skin just can't seem to keep the moisture in. Half a melt does a good sized bath so they are pretty economical too.

I plan on introducing them at the next Niche Market in August, but if anyone is keen to try beforehand, just let me know.

Bliss.....

"Won't that make your face go black...?"

This was the comment from the lady in the wholefoods store, when she found out what I wanted to use the charcoal powder I was buying for.

Soap.... yep, soap!

I would like to go on the record as saying, I didn't pilfer the charcoal from our open fireplace or from the last crumpet that didn't survive the toasters' ministrations - this is 'activated' charcoal and is used quite widely as an internal supplement in the natural therapy industry. Charcoal has amazing absorbant properties - ie, if you have swallowed something you shouldn't have, charcoal will absorb the nasty stuff and carry it out of the body. It is also present in 90% of our water filters.

Externally, charcoal acts as a gentle, but effective excess oil remover and helps to purify and exfoliate the skin. Teamed with Australian Tea Tree, Lavender and a spash of Lime and you got yourself one heck of a cleaner that even the boys will love!

This will be a good soap for anyone with problematic or oily skin - people who suffer conditions such as acne would benefit from using a soap like this as well as any grubby hubby's!

I love the colour contrasts between the black/grey and the white - can't wait for them to cure so I can try one!!

This is a batch that didn't make it.

I used organic honey throughout the mix and then got a bit creative and threw in some bee pollen granules at the end (thought it might make an interesting texture and colour contrast). It was not to be! A few minutes after pouring into the mould, I came across a gooey, sticky, jelly, bubbling, overcooked mess! Hmmm.... back to the drawing board!