homemade soap

not claiming to be a marius fabre or anything but i made a batch of homemade soap the other day and i'm talking the real deal........boiling oils, rubber gloves, lye, goggles, scale, thermometers, the works. i love the process and getting creative with scents and finishing touches like dried lavendar buds. at the end of the soapmaking process, just before pouring the finished mixture into the soap mold, the essential oils are added. for this batch i chose the essential oil blend african immortelle a gift i bought for myself the last time i was in south africa. as i counted the measured drops, the heady scent transported me right back to the time and place of its purchase. isn't it magical, the way your sense of smell can do that?!

off we go..........paul, gabi and i were invited to join paul's sister gillian for a relaxing weekend at her country cottage in the small town of riebeek west 90 km or about an hour northwest of cape town. it was lovely to join gillian and her dogs, a fun pack of basenjis, heading out of the city to her charming cottage and art studio in the western cape. one afternoon, gillian took us to a lovely little shop in this quaint town called still pure full of soaps, washes and all natural beauty products, my best! i happily chose a nice selection of hard pressed and essential oils, many unique to south africa, and made my way to the cashier. after hearing my american accent, assuming i was a tourist, the cashier asked if we would like to visit their still pure factory just down the road. thank you i would, absolutely!! so, we were graciously given a personal tour and hands on essential oil production experience that i will never forget. the essential oil they were blending and bottling that day was you guessed it, african immortelle. 

from my kitchen in boulder, colorado to still pure factory in riebeek west, south africa in 2 seconds flat. to end, here are photos i never got around to posting of our relaxing weekend at gillian's lovely country cottage.

totsiens.