Riverlea Soap

Support our Local Market 5 February

2012-01-31T11:22:00.001+02:00

The Dargle supply/ general store is having a local market on Sunday 5 February 9-11:30am. Drive along the R103, past Midmar Dam and continue to the Dargle rd, turn left and drive until you get to the Dargle store on the left hand side.

They are hoping to make people more aware of our local areas and to support local businesses. Riverlea Soap will be there – please come and support us. You can also have a lovely lunch at Ill Postino Pizzeria or Piggly Wiggly on the R103

Riverlea Soap

Soapylove Valentine hearts

2012-01-30T08:00:00.002+02:00

Technorati Tags: Riverlea Soap,M&P soap,Soapylove

I recently bought a book called SoapyLove. It is written by a lady called Debbie Chialtas who lives in the States. She is the most approachable famous person I know. I mailed and asked if I could copy the projects in the book and she mailed me right back. I was not expecting an answer from her at all! You can find her on Facebook or her blog. Thanks Debbie – you are a genius!
I immediately had to try some of the projects and I decided to do her “cut-out cookies”

You will need:

A mould – I used a silicone one
Clear Glycerine soap base – M and P. The amount is determined by how many you will make and the size of your moulds
Opaque/white soap base - M and P
Red colouring
Spraying alcohol
Fragrance oil – I used a HS
Jugs, stirrers and or spoons, mini heart shaped cookie cutter

Method:

Melt your opaque soap base in a jug in the microwave in short bursts, making sure it is not too hot
Add your red colouring to the melted soap and pour into the mould to set.
Once the soap is hard (it may still be a little warm) remove it from the mould and cut out the hearts with the mini cutter in one whole sheet – it is not easy trying to make sure the hearts are evenly spaced

Melt the clear M&P and wait for it to cool slightly. If it is too hot you will melt
the hearts when you pour it into the mould
Add your fragrance oil and stir, avoiding making bubbles (you can use 1-2% of your soap weight) i.e. if you have a 100g of soap you will use about 1-2ml/g of fragrance
Pour some clear soap base into your mould and then spritz to remove any bubbles – you just want a thin layer
Spray the cut out sheet with alcohol and place it into the clear soap you have just poured
Wait for a while until you have a thick skin on the soap
While you are waiting for the above to go hard, melt your white soap and wait for this to cool
Spritz the whole soap again and then gently pour the white clear soap into your mould over the hearts trying not to make too many bubbles
Spritz the soap again and then wait for the soap to harden – approximately 30 – 40 minutes, depending on how large the soap is

Professional AMAZING looking soap, thanks Debbie

www.riverleasoap.com

Bombs Away–Valentine heart fizzies

2012-01-23T08:00:00.002+02:00

Technorati Tags: riverlea Soap,fizz bombs

You may have seen an earlier fizzy post that Linda did – here

You will need:-

Mould – I used a heart-shaped 3d mould

3ml Fragrance Oil – I used Currescence Floral

No Colour – The client wanted them white
1000g Bicarbonate of Soda
500g Citric acid
40ml Sunflower oil
water – the amount you need will depend on the amount of moisture in the air
Bowl, scale, spoon, pipette

To Make:-

Add dry ingredients to your bowl and mix
Add oil into fragrance oil, and then add to dry mix
Mix until squeezed mix retains shape – a little like moist beach sand
Add a little water to assist/ensure correct consistency if your mixture is not holding together
Using the moulds, scoop through the mixture and overfill
Press mould together hard and clean join
Leave to stand for 30 – 60 minutes
Gently remove mould and release – tap with a spoon to help release if they stick

Packaged and ready to go.

www.riverleasoap.com

More Valentine Heart Soap

2012-01-16T08:00:00.014+02:00

Technorati Tags: Riverlea Soap,M&P soap

As you all know Valentine’s day is next month so January posts will all have a Valentine theme to them.

Linda was the soap maker in this post and I was official photographer.

You will need:

A mould – Linda used hard Perspex – not easy to release your soap from
Opaque soap base - M and P - The amount is determined by how many you will make and the size of your moulds. Determine the size of your mould by placing it on a scale and zeroing the scale, then pour water into the mould and the weight of the water will be the amount of soap you will need.
Green colouring
Paper rose buds
Prestic/ reusable sticky tacky stuff – everyone has a different name for this stuff!
Spraying alcohol
Fragrance oil – we used Green Tea
Jugs, stirrers and or spoons, scale,

Method:

Melt your opaque soap base in a jug in the microwave in short bursts, making sure it is not too hot
Add your green colouring to the melted soap and your fragrance oil, wait for this to cool slightly
Get your mould ready by placing it on the sticky tacky stuff to hole it level, pour the soap into the mould, spritz with alcohol and leave to set
Once the soap is hard, remove it from the mould. This can be a little tricky so it may need to go into the fridge for a little while
Take your paper rose and place it into the top of the soap for decoration
Place your melted soaps into bags or wrap them as they will attract moisture

www.riverleasoap.com

Fun Valentine M&P–a tutorial

2012-01-09T08:00:00.011+02:00

Technorati Tags: Riverlea Soap

This is an easy, fun soap to make for yourself or the one you love.

You will need:

A mould – I used a silicone one
Clear Glycerine soap base – M and P. The amount is determined by how many you will make and the size of your moulds
Opaque soap base - M and P
Red colouring
Glitter
Spraying alcohol
Fragrance oil – I used a fruity blend of Orange and Neroli
Jugs, stirrers and or spoons, heart shaped cookie cutter

Method:

Melt your opaque soap base in a jug in the microwave in short bursts, making sure it is not too hot
Add your red colouring to the melted soap and pour into the mould to set
Once the soap is hard (it may still be a little warm) remove it from the mould and cut out the hearts

Melt the clear M&P and wait for it to cool slightly. If it is too hot you will melt the hearts when you pour it into the mould
Add your fragrance oil and stir, avoiding making bubbles (you can use 1-2% of your soap weight) i.e. if you have a 100g of soap you will use about 1-2ml/g of fragrance
Pour some clear soap base into your mould and then spritz your heart with alcohol and place it into the soap you have just poured
Spritz the whole soap again and then gently pour the rest of the clear soap into your mould making sure you do not pour onto the hearts and also trying not to make too many bubbles
Spritz the soap again and then wait for the soap to harden – approximately 30 – 40 minutes, depending on how large the soap is

www.riverleasoap.com

Swirling–A CP Tutorial

2012-01-02T08:00:00.017+02:00

You may remember my post with pictures on swirling. Well here is the way I did it. I am certainly not as good as some people at swirling but it is such a fun and challenging technique that you can keep trying and never quite get it right but all your attempts will always look pretty.

You will need:

784g Sunflower oil
560g Coconut oil
980g Palm Oil
420 Olive Oil (I will probably use more OO next time as it was a little thick to work with)
56g Palm Stearic acid

378g NaOH – (Sodium Hydroxide)
948g Distilled Water

112g Neroli Essential oil
Micas or pigments
Mixing jugs
Mould- lined ( I used my log mould – 60cm long x 10cm wide and 10cm high)
A stick blender

Method:

Measure out your colours that you wish to use and mix with oil or water (I used 10ml for each colour and took this off the sunflower oil allocation)

Measure/ weigh your water you need, weigh the NaOH, add your NaOH to the water, mix until it is dissolved, cool this to 105F
Measure out your oils and heat to 105F
Pour the NaOH into the oils and stick blend until very light trace(this is the point where the oils and lye are emulsified)

Now separate your soap mixture into the premixed colours
Start to pour your colours into the mould in the centre of the mould. This a a little bit like the Faux Funnel pour you may have seen posted.
Keep pouring until you have used all the soap mixture. I then dolloped the last of the soap in blobs along the top
Take a chop stick and then insert (all the way to the bottom) at one corner and start to drag it diagonally from side to side until you have reached the end of the mould
Whola you are done.
Wrap the mould and leave overnight.

www.riverleasoap.com

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-24T11:51:00.003+02:00

My very last message to you all - thank you for your valued support, readership and feedback - we do so love hearing from you!

We wish you a merry Christmas

We wi-i-ish you a merry Christ...mas

a-n-d a happy New Year!!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish our Riverlea Soap family, near and far, a wonderful festive season and hope that wherever you are, you stay safe and enjoy some quality time with loved ones.

In true 'soapy' spirit, I made a vanilla mint bar for my dearest - hope you all enjoy!

Keep all those mails rolling in - see you next year!!

www.riverleasoap.com

Thank You & Merry Christmas

2011-12-19T15:05:00.001+02:00

It has been a long hard year but we could not have made it without you – our customers. Thank you! We truly appreciate your business and look forward to great 2012.

Here are some of our best sellers through out 2011.

Have a good Christmas.

www.riverleasoap.com

Soaps for Market

2011-12-12T18:57:00.003+02:00

Technorati Tags: Riverlea Soap,Soap curls

We have just completed our last market for the year – YAY. Here was our most popular soap.
It was Neroli with a hint of sea breeze

www.riverleasoap.com

Swirling

2011-12-04T17:51:00.001+02:00

I am having so much fun making swirled soap.
Christmas is such a busy time and orders have to be filled and you don’t really get a chance to have fun and make the soap that I want to make as the stock items have to be churned out. Sometimes I forget how much fun soap making can be. Watch this space in the New Year as I will share this technique with you.

www.riverleasoap.com

Tutorial - Melt and Pour - Scrunchie Soap...

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000+02:00

Holiday season approaches and you have some time on your hands! What to do? Feeling creative? Want to try something new? Here is a fun project you can do on your own, in your home, with safe ingredients. Make an exciting “scrunchie soap” which is ideal as a gift or for use by you and your family.

Follow the steps below to make this soap and scrunchie in one.

You will need:

Paper cupcake holder
Shower scrunchie
Plastic strip and sticky tape
Soap colouring of choice (I used pink)
Fragrance of choice (I used a Musk blend)
Pearlescent powder
200g Clear M and P soap base
Jugs, stirrers, scale, stick, micro-wave

Method:

Position paper cupcake holder on a flat surface
Fold scrunchie into itself and secure with plastic strip and tape
Chop M and P into jug, and melt in 30 second bursts until just liquid
Add colour drop by drop and stir until desired tone achieved
Add pearlescent and watch your soap blend!
Add fragrance - guideline 2% of soap weight and stir
Pour gently into positioned paper cupcake holder until two thirds full

Method continued:

Insert your scrunchie and hold submerged in the soap
Gently pour the remaining soap around the scrunchie until ‘full’
Secure scrunchie with a stick for a minute or until set in position
When cooled (approximately 60 minutes) release plastic strip
Stand back and admire!

Refer to previous tips if need be.

Email me to order the ingredients for this fun project!

Till next time…stay safe!

www.riverleasoap.com

Market Day - North Coast, South Africa!

2011-11-15T15:12:00.004+02:00

I must tell you that we try and share with you every Monday via our blog but sometimes technology fails us and it is just not possible. This time – I have to apologise and admit that I just did not have enough time. With all the pressures of studying again at university (assignments, lectures, meetings, exams) as well as the year end ‘hockey-stick’ in sales, I am a tad late.

Towards the end of the year, we are busier with markets that we attend, and the most recent, was a two-day market on the Kwa-Zulu Natal north coast in Ballito. This is the town that has seen the most significant growth in the area in recent years, and our market days certainly supported this.

Us ‘soapy ladies’ could be seen earnestly marketing our wares and getting first-hand feedback from clients which is always exciting.

Amid shrieks of delight, we were pleasantly surprised to receive “The Friendliest Stand” award! Thanks to all who voted – we sure had fun!

We are often asked, “so what do you do at markets?” and “don’t you get bored?” Well, to share a little of our fun – at this market held at the Collisheen Estate, we were positioned in the enormous boma and directly behind Odette was a support pole which for some bizarre reason was covered in velcro! Yes, you guessed, she kept getting stuck to it! So, the little Miss McGyver devised a cunning plan, and wrapped the pole in plastic to avoid any further sticky situations.

We were also thoroughly spoilt, having dinner served to us by faithful friend Carol Rae Dengler, and pudding was creatively prepared by young Chad – thanks to you both!

Our mornings were tough – imagine waking up to this view (below) and then watching the water break with a school of dolphin swimming by!! Yes – just another tough day in Africa!

We have a number of Christmas markets coming up so we had best get back to work!

Take care and chat to you all again soon!

www.riverleasoap.com

My Love Affair with the Post Office

2011-11-15T08:35:00.000+02:00

We deliver, whatever it takes - even if it is to the wrong person!

You will have seen my posts, here, and here with previous stories of fun with the post office and living in South Africa.
Well I have more on this continuing love affair.
In August we held a competition with a regional magazine, SA Garden. See the post here. The editor of the magazine sent us the names and contact details of all 9 winners and we wrapped, packed and posted their parcels to them. Our postal system has a tracking facility so you can see where the parcel is at all times. Once I was sure all parcels had arrived I stopped tracking them. Imagine my surprise when I got a notification to say there was a parcel at my local Post Office. I love receiving post, especially parcels, but I knew that I had not ordered anything so this dreaded feeling crept into my stomach. I went onto the Post office website to check the tracking number on my slip and it was one of the prizes we had sent out!! AND I had to pay to collect it!!
When I got to the PO to pick up the parcel I had a bigger surprise in store - they had handed my parcel over to someone else. When you collect a parcel you have to hand over your ID book/ number and it is scanned into the system as proof you are the recipient. So how in heavens name did Mrs ABC collect a parcel sent to Miss XYZ. The name is wrong and the addresses is wrong. Did no bells ring out in her head?

Well the manager, Patience, has been a great detective and recovered the parcel. Of course it has been partly used. The teller who handed the parcel to the wrong person will be punished, according to Patience, but what happens to the person who took the parcel knowing it was NOT THEIRS to take? She is being protected by the post office but gets off Scott-free with some of our products. I think some sort of punishment is due to her.

Tell me what you think, I would love to hear your comments.

www.riverleasoap.com

I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-T dates!

2011-11-09T08:40:00.000+02:00

To all our loyal readers,

Nothing too exciting or creative from my desk this week – rather something very important indeed!

As the end of the year races toward us, and with less than 50 days until Christmas, we are excitedly preparing for our summer holiday.

Not before we take care of all our faithful clients and ‘super-clean’ Riverlea Soap users. So – help us to help you, and please take note of the following important dates…

Wholesale orders LAST order date - 2^nd December 2011

Retail orders LAST order date - 9^th December 2011

Office LAST day - 15^th December 2011

Our Riverlea Soap offices will re-open on the 16^th January 2012 with renewed ideas and energy for a bumper year with all of you!

Get those orders in soon to avoid disappointment!

Chat soon,

www.riverleasoap.com

I Love Colour

2011-10-31T11:57:00.001+02:00

I am not sure if many of you know that in a past life I was a fashion designer. We had to work with seasons and everything was driven by the colour palettes.
Certain circumstances led me to my soapy path that I am now on but I know that I will always be drawn to colour and fabric, so when I came across this website Design Seeds. I had to share it with you. It is the MOST inspiring website that I have seen in a long time.
A lot of people are not impressed with colour and it doesn't "talk" to them, but it certainly does to me.
I think colour is important in soap so these palettes really jump out and and inspire me to want to make soap.

www.riverleasoap.com

Soap Making by Riverlea Soap

2011-10-25T11:14:00.002+02:00

Early Sunday morning, in the tranquil treed garden on Riverlea Farm, Odette and Linda waited eagerly for the students to arrive. Riverlea Soap was to conduct the very first training session and officially launch Riverlea Soap Univer-soap-y!

The students arrived - even the family cat was there to greet them!

Everything was setup in the training room and they were presented with the ‘3G’’s. Garmet (apron), Goggles (eyeware) and Gloves. The Riverlea Soap Manual was waiting at their station with all the equipment needed to learn how to make COLD PROCESS soap.

The mid-morning break came after all the theory had been learnt and students enjoyed choc-chip cookies, juice and a very welcome cup of tea.

Then the fun began – students went through the process of measuring oils, mixing lye, colouring and fragrancing and finally pouring their creations into the take-home moulds.

Courses offered by Riverlea Soap Univer-soap-y are:-

Cold Process Soap Making

Bath and Body Products

Advanced Soap Making

To find our more about these courses, and other fun workshops, please visit our website or email us now!

www.riverleasoap.com

Tin (aka Tigger) performs!

2011-10-17T08:50:00.005+02:00

Riverlea Soap is not a very 'pushy' or aggressive company in the market place – we pride ourselves, and are much better, at making beautiful soapy creations to delight our clients!

Tigger however, is competitive by nature and always striving to achieve more.

Working hard in the greater Durban (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa) area to grow our client base, she has successfully achieved the single highest value order to date!

Congratulations are in order - well done Tin!

The challenge is out there – who can better this new all-time high? For great service and better prices, email Tin now to place your orders and beat the Christmas rush.

Look out for customer testimonials and success stories to be shared soon...

www.riverleasoap.com

'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

2011-10-11T20:20:00.007+02:00

When walking into the department stores at the beginning of October, it is still a surprise for me to see all the Christmas decorations on display for sale. BUT, then I realize there are less than 100 days till Christmas and while our shopping may be left till the last minute, our retailers need to plan their purchases in advance, and we need to plan our manufacturing to deliver on those orders.

So – our planning for the Riverlea Soap Christmas 2011 range started a few weeks ago and we are delighted to now share these festive options with you.
First up is our Christmas Cassata, rough top bar of soap – with a citrus orange fragrance and undertone of cloves, it is sure to fill your bathroom with the scent of Christmas!

Capturing all the festive season’s colours in one gift set, is the Traditional Christmas soap pack – fragrances of berry, lemon mint, jasmine and chocolate orange, this is sure to spoil and delight all recipients long after the memory and pleasure of giving and receiving.

Please view the online catalogue for other products in the Riverlea Soap 2011 Christmas range.

Email me for a price list or if you have any queries or comments.

"Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la…"

www.riverleasoap.com

Love is in the air!

2011-10-03T08:00:00.001+02:00

With Christmas less than 100 days away, there is always much thought about what to buy or make to spoil the special people in our lives.

Here is a really fun project to carry out at home in your kitchen. All the ingredients are quite safe to work with and it is fun to experiment with fragrances and additives.

You will need:-
Mould – I used a heart-shaped mould
3ml Fragrance Oil – I used Sweet Floral
3 drops Colour – I used Brambleberry pink
Lavender seeds – you could substitute this ingredient
80g Bicarbonate of Soda
40g Citric acid
5ml Sunflower oil
water
Bowl, scale, spoon, pipette
Method as follows:-
Add dry ingredients to your bowl and mix
Mix colour into fragrance oil, and then add to dry mix
Add oil and mix until squeezed mix retains shape (as per picture)
Add a little water to assist/ensure correct consistency
Using the moulds, scoop through the mixture and overfill
Press mould together hard and clean join
Leave to stand for 30 – 60 minutes
Gently remove mould and release fizz heart! Place gently in a bag and finish with a ribbon and tag “Made by Me” to give to someone special.
Have fun with this recipe and be creative with colours, fragrances and different additives. Let me know how your fizz hearts turn out.