Hi Clear....your location sounds idealic and your soaps look terrific....   Love the name kiwi kiss.  Is it a lip balm? It may sound a silly question but I had to ask..... :buttrf:

Hello there Clear - lovely pics!

Hi & welcome - love your pics too!   

Hello and welcome !!

I have a nosey round your blog and I love it. Your Vanilla experiment is brilliant. I think I should do one of those over here as well, although we do not have quite as much choice in Vanilla FOs, it would be interesting to see how strongly they discolour. Shouldn't be too hard, I think we only have 5 to chose from from 4 suppliers, lol (and 2 or 3 may be the same anyway).

Your photos are very very nice. They make your products look desireable. Love the doggie in the background of the Kiwi Balm and that Balm looks divine as well. Did you use a Kiwi FO or an EO blend for it ?

Kia ora ! Clear clair....I grew up in hamilton and before that lived in Te Awamutu, north island.Im guessing your in Nelson by the clues?!! my step mum lives in nelson and my half bro is at CHCH uni!!
Love your pics!
M xx
ps was waiting for a kiwi to turn up!!

I think you should too!!

There are a lot of fragrances that contain vanilla that would be good to test... A lot of coffee ones, for example.

Kevin x

Hello and welcome.  Yours soaps etc look lovely.

HI Clear! Lovely pics of some yummy looking products. Where in NZ are you? We had an amazing trip there a few years ago. Abel Tasman was wonderful are you anywhere near there?  :buttrf:

Hello Clear! Loving your soaps big style!

Hi Clear, nice to meet you!!  Loving your products 

Thank-You Everyone - you guys are all so lovely!! 

@ Kevin - I adore a well cured Castile, and if you do a strong Lye solution strength (say 40%) you can reduce the wait by quite a bit .. I also find that the addition of things like Oats or Clay, GM, Honey etc can really improve the lather .. I always let people know that it's more of a 'lotion like' lather than the bubbles most expect from a bar or soap, and the most common feedback I get is that  "It feels luxurious" .. I hope you like it too!

@ Avril - Yes Kiwi Kisses is a Lip Balm,  however I must say my formula has vastly improved since I made that batch .. I've spent a lot of time working on this recently and think I now have it 'just right'

@ madpiano - hey I know you! And I adore your avatar!!
The Kiwi is a flavour oil, and to be perfectly honest I don't care for it much so I no longer use it .. It's hard for me to get FO's too as I have to import everything, so equally it's expen$$ive .. I'm also testing for scent morphing/fading or sticking (in the soap and to the skin), and will soon be doing lather tests to see if that too discolours 

@ michaela - Lets here it for the Kiwi's *YAY* - though technically I'm an Aussie .. Nelson is my closest City (big town), but I'm actually a couple of hours away, in Golden Bay .. My daughter is currently down in Christchurch studying hairdressing ..

@ Kevin (again) - Ohh you have good Coffee FO's over there? I'm desperately looking for a good strong Coffee scent that doesn't morph and sticks well in CP soap! Please do share any info on this ..

@ nakedtruthbeaut - I sure am near the Able Tasman! I live in Golden Bay = where the walking track ends, or starts, depending on which way you walk

Thanks again for the super warm welcome and lovely comments, I'm thrilled to have found this group {{hugs}}

Hi Clear! 

Glad to see you here too **waves**.  Everyone will love your experiments and lovely pictures!!

I've a bit more time to post now - after my brief greeting.

Child and her partner are aiming to come to NZ for a while - they'll need to be reasonably near to some goodly mountains for climbing and S, a doctor, will be looking for a hospital post in Accident and Emergency - Child would want to work in a Community Project - are you anywhere near any goodly mountains?

Hi Uki *waves back* I love your toe nails!!!

Hi ElaineJ - the valley I live in is between two rangers that have each boast a world renowned walking track (Abel Tasman & The Heaphy Track), but neither are what I'd describe as goodly mountains .. And there's certainly no A&E here as we're a small isolated rural community ..

I think they would best look at basing themselves in Christchurch with easy access to the Southern Alps - Mt Cook or even Wanaka area .. Or up on the north island around Mt Ruapheu, Mt Egmont/Taranaki  .. I don't know much about the Northern ones as I've only spent limited time there and an not a mountain climber or skier, but I go down south quite often as my kids grandparents actually live in the Mackenzie district - I love it!

Hi Clear
Welcome, what lovely soaps