Immortelle l'Amour Soap
Apr 08, 2019
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Filed under Artisan Soapmaker, Cinnamon, Exfoliating Soap Bar, Garden to Soap, Handmade Soap, Helicrysum, Immortelle l'Amour, Maple Syrup, Medicinal Herbs, Medicine Garden, Soap Bar, Soapmaking, Vanilla

Immortelle l'Amour Soap

It takes a bit of imagination and creative formulation adjustments and changes to translate some of the perfumes into soaps. Last month, I've whipped up the first version of Immortelle l'Amour soap, which was tricky because immortelle (Helicrysum italicum) is one of the most expensive perfume and aromatherapy materials. The bars have been curing nicely for a month now, made with decoctions and oil infusions of the fresh and dried plants from my organic garden; as well as cinnamon, chamomile, marigold and vanilla beans and powdered cinnamon bark. A little bit of maple syrup added in the as well!

The result is delicious, albeit not exactly like the perfume. It has the same sweet intensity but a little more fresh and light because I did not use the heavy, curry-like immortelle absolute (otherwise nobody would have been able to afford it).

The soaps will be ready and wrapped April 17th, but you can already order them online now!

Ingredients (In order of presence in the formula):
Saponified Virgin Coconut Oil
Saponified Olive Oil
Saponified Shea Butter
Saponified Palm Kernel Oil
Saponified Cacao Butter
Jojoba Oil
Maple Syrup
Vanilla Paste
Natural Immortelle l'Amour Perfume Blend (Benzoin, Peru Balsam, Sweet Orange, Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Marigold, Chamomile)
Cinnamon Powder

New Soap: Hulnejan
Mar 06, 2018
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Filed under Artisan Soapmaker, Cinnamon, Clil, Druze Culture, Exfoliating Soap Bar, Galangal, Ginger, Hulnejan, Skincare, Soapmaking, Tea, Western Galilee, Winter

New Soap: Hulnejan

Inspired by the region's aromatic traditions, I'm pleased to present to you yet another wonderful soap I've recently developed: Hulnejan.
Hulnejan is a spicy, exfoliating soap bar with strongly brewed galangal, gingeroot and cinnamon. Properties: warming, cleansing, exfoliating.

Hulnejan tea is a decoction of spicy roots and barks prepared by the Druze in Northern Israel over the winter months. It has strong warming and anti-bacterial qualities, exactly what one needs to stay healthy during the chilly months of the Galilee and the Golan. It is typically drank very sweet as well (sweetened with either sugar or honey), and with some chopped pecans on top. The best way to make it is by brewing it on the stove for hours, allowing the scent to fill the home, clear it from microbes while making it smell warm and cozy. It also helps to homidify the air, which is much needed as the fire tends to make the environment very dry.

This limited edition soap bar is made from olive-oil and water infusions of Hulnejan tea. It creates a beautiful peeling soap bar that promotes circulation and rejuvenation of the skin. Like all of our soaps, it is also superfatted - which means it has wonderful moisturizing qualities due to high content of unsaponified oils within the formula. It is the same rich-lathering formula we've always had for our soaps, now handcrafted in our new studio in Clil by yours truly!

We're using olive oil that was cold-pressed from olive which were organically grown in a Druze village near Mt. Meron; Oganic virgin coconut oil (both are food grade), palm oil and castor oil for that extra emollient quality. The result is a hard, long-lasting bar with rich lather that is very moisturizing - a real treat for your skin, hair; and with a wonderfully spicy fragrance that brings to mind wintry teas by the fire place.

Ingredients: Saponified vegetable oils (coconut, olive, palm, castor), water infused with dried galangal, ginger and cinnamon, powdered dried cinnamon bark, powdered dried ginger root, natural fragrance (essential oils and absolutes of galangal, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom)

Beach Lily Shampoo Bar and Body Butter
Mar 05, 2018
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Filed under Artisan Soapmaker, Beach Lily, Body Butter, Body Products, Cacao Butter, Coconut Milk, Natural Body Care, Shampoo Bar, Shea Butter, Skincare, Soapmaking, Virgin Coconut Oil, Whipped Body Butter, Whipped Frosting

Beach Lily Shampoo Bar and Body Butter

With its intoxicating scent and proximity to the sea, their luscious winter greenery and charcoal-like seeds, beach lilies give me inspiration constantly. The smell is similar to lilies but also to narcissus, but it's very delicate. Paired with the salty air of the Mediterranean it is easy to understand why they are so lovable.

If I could I would wrap myself with their scent year-around. But of course that is not possible. So I've created an imaginary beach lily accord, and started playing with it in a couple of products. First came the scent itself - centred around ylang ylang and ginger lily, which I used in my bath and as a diffuser scent. Then I decided to make more of it and prepare body butters and scent it with this blend. The butters are amazing - I found a formula that actually works and is rich but also more easily absorbed, and does not develop annoying shea butter grains after it cools down. I whip it into a lovely creamy texture. It contains shea butter, cacao butter, virgin coconut oil and castor oil and a few other "secret ingredients".

Sadly, I found this base not to be the best canvas to carry the Beach Lily fragrance though. I wear it and enjoy it all the same, but the scent changes a bit in reaction to the base ingredients. I tried to scent the same formula of body butter with antoher fragrance and it turned out divine (Rahat Lukoum scent). So I know the formula is fine, but just does not lend itself well to all perfumes. This is why functional perfumery is so much more challenging, by the way.

Lastly, I poured the scent into a lovely soap bar that is designed as a shampoo bar, but also good for all-over-the-body moisture and rich fluffy lather. Previously, I tried this new formula only with yang yang essential oil. It is an entirely different formula than my other soap bars, as it contains higher proportion of castor oil, that is an excellent humectant and conditioner for the hair), cacao butter, shea butter and coconut milk (!). I didn't want to risk putting a complex blend in it the first time, in case it does not turn all that great. But it turned out amazing, both in texture, lather, moisturizing properties and its ability to not dry the hair (I can easily use it on my dry curly hair without needing a conditioner after). It simply flew off the shelves. So this time I added the Beach Lily perfume and I think I'm going to hide some of it away before it will disappear!
I put the Beach Lily & Coconut Milk shampoo bar online already so that you can purchase it, and I think I will need to make a new batch pretty fast.

New Soap: Za'atar
Feb 22, 2018
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Filed under Artisan Soapmaker, Clil, Soap Bar, Soapmaking, Western Galilee, Wild Herbs, Zaatar

New Soap: Za'atar

At long last, a new soap is made, and is available online: Za'atar - a melange of wild thyme and oregano from the mountain behind my home, and my garden. Properties; cleansing, disinfectant, anti fungal.

The za'atar soap I've been dreaming of making for 8 months now underwent many obstacles, including me not paying attention and charring the wild za'atar decoction meant for the lye (see image below). Moreover, when I finally made a decoction and that didn't scorch, it was a cold day, ad it took too long to trace and once added the essential oils it congealed too fast. The bars turned out fine but visually are not as consistent and pretty as they should have been - with a texture that shows pockets of oil. It has a fine za'atar smell, and works wonderfully like all my other soaps though.

This limited edition soap bar is made from olive-oil and water infusions of various types of Za'atar - thymol and carvacrol rich plants that grow wild on the mountains around the southeast Mediterranean basin: Ezov/hyssop/wild oregano (Origanum syriacum), Winter Savory/Satureja (Satureja montana), Israeli Thyme (Corydothymus capitatus) and Mediterranean Thyme (Thymbra spicata), with the addition of cultivars grown in my garden, such as common oregano, marjoram and thyme. These infusions are used in all of the soap's phases, then supercharged with the aroma of wild oregano essential oil.

The result beautiful bar of soap, superfatted - which means it has wonderful moisturizing qualities due to high content of unsaponified oils within the formula. It is the same rich-lathering formula we've always had for our soaps, plus the healing properties of the wildcrafted herbs.

Summer Za'atar on the border with Lebanon

Among the locals, all the wild herbs mentioned above are called "za'atar interchangeably, even though the Origanum syriacum is the "real" za'atar. Because they are all rich in thymol and carvacrol, they have similar healing properties, strongly antiseptic (antibacterial and anti-fungal), and also help with various skin ailments (eczema in particular). And in other (non-skin-related) uses - most is drank as tea, primarily for digestive issues such as stomach aches, parasites and queasiness; generally used in oral hygiene, as well as curing headaches, earaches, colds and flu and respiratory complaints.

We're using olive oil that was cold-pressed from olive which were organically grown in a Druze village near Mt. Meron; Oganic virgin coconut oil (both are food grade), palm oil and castor oil for that extra emollient quality. The result is a hard, long-lasting bar with rich lather that is very moisturizing - a real treat for your skin, hair and even for shaving; and with the funky but lovable elecampane scent.

Ingredients: Saponified vegetable oils (coconut, olive, palm, castor), water, Za'atar (Origanum suriacum, Satureja montana, Corydothymus capitatus, Thymbra spicata), Thyme, Oregano and Marjoram infusions , Oil of Wild Oregano (Origanum vulgare)

Elecampane Soap Bar
Nov 05, 2017
Written by
Filed under Artisan Soapmaker, Elecampane, Healing Plants, Innula viscosa, Soapmaking

Elecampane Soap Bar

Elecampane meadow at sunset. This is where me and my mom harvested younger leaves and flowering tops for my soap making and oil infusions.
Elecampane (Innula viscosa/Dittrichia viscosa (L.) W. Greuter/ Cupularia viscosa (L.) Gren. & Godr.) is a plant with many herbal medicine attributions and healing powers, at least forty different ailments according to the folk medicine of Palestine, chief among them hypertension, relief of swollen feet and legs (common during pregnancy), bruises, diabetes, herpes and rheumatism, infertility and for treating dry skin and for its anti-aging properties.

Modern medicinal uses include: treating intestinal worms, cracked skin, athlete's foot, blood coagulation, topical disinfectant for wounds, and more.

Additional uses: The woody twigs and branches from this perennial bush can be used for bonfires, primarily for baking flatbread. Extracts of the plant are also used to treat various plant diseases (especially of bacterial or fungal origin), and also the plant itself has a tendency to stop the growth of other weeds around it. Another useful application is in deterring insects. In Spain entire branches are hang to keep flies at bay. I will have to try this because they tend to get out of control at this time of the year.
The young leaves are pickled in vinegar and can be eaten. I'm still trying to find out what this strange flavour and brought texture could go with.

Oil infusion of elecampane flowering tops and fresh leaves. The smell was strong, resinous and true to the plant. It has a bit of a funk to it, very much like marijuana, but different.

Elecampane (Inula helenium) Soapmaking Process

The spent elecampane branches after steeping them to make a very strong decoction.

Frozen elecampane decoction. If not frozen, the various materials within the water will scorch upon contact with the sodium hydroxide (AKA lye).

Melting the solid fats along with the oils over very low heat.

The oils are all melted nicely now! They include an oil infusion of elecampane, by the way. It was very strong smelling, with that funky resinous odour that is typical for this plant; but the scent got completely lost during the soaping process. Next time I will be infusing a lot more elecampane leaves into the entire oil/fat mixture (and this way, by using a gentle heating method, I will also skip the step of aging the infused oil).

Elecampane ice cubes

Weighing the lye

Sprinkle lye over ice cubes

Waiting for the ice to melt...

Elecampane decoction lye - don't let this honeyed look fool you. This will burn like hell if you touch it!
There are few missing photos from the process, because when mixing the oils with the lye it's a bit of a time sensitive and very hands-on process. It looks similar to making icing, and the soap mixture looks very much like custard when it's ready for pouring into the moulds.

The soap bars I got lined up that day. It was a very productive soaping day! Elecampane at the bottom, Mastic at the centre, and Absinthe & Lavender at the top. All of them will be ready November 26th.

Logs of elecampane soaps which were very soft for pulling out of the Mold. I had to wait for ten days to do it!

Elecampean soap logs gradually losing their golden look and turning olive-brown.

Elecampane soap logs are finally getting sliced!

Notice the "rind" - it will disappear once the soap is cured, due to oxidation and the gelling process.

Here is a glimpse into the packing and labeling step. Even though I won't get to wrap the Elecampane soap until November 26th, when they would be fully cured and ready for you to enjoy!
You can, however, pre-order them online already.

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