testing recipes

In the soap kitchen today testing new fragrances for spring. I've had these fragrance blends in dark bottles for a couple of weeks now...letting them 'mellow' together.

They smell good...but now it's time to try them in soap. Sometimes that alters the way they smell. So....I get everything ready first. I have these nice little 2 lb. molds that we make for Creekside Soaps that I like to make test batches in. They're all lined and ready and the measured amount of fragrance is ready for each batch.

I'm making just 6 lbs. of soap and dividing it for the test. Sometimes there isn't much time to mix in the fragrance and pour so I like to have everything ready so I can work quickly.

Here is my 6 lbs. of soap divided into 3 - 2 lb batches. Add fragrance to each and some fun stuff...like orange peel in the lavender/rosemary/orange soap...and pour into the molds.

Tomorrow, I'll unmold and cut into bars. Then Monday I'll take bars to Sarah for evaluation and suggestions. If they don't pass the test, it'll be back to the soap kitchen for me.