bytheSEAsoap.com

Artisan soaps made from luxurious oils and exotic butters with milks, creams and silk fibers; to the whimsy of glycerine soap creations. Full of fluffy bubbles and velvet lathers, once your skin it treated to handmade soap you will never go back. bytheSEAsoap was born out of the love of TSPink soap rocks some fifteen years ago. I found those soaps at a Nevada City Art Gallery and my obsession for beauty in a bar of soap began. I still have a small piece of that first soap! ~~Pam Mella~~


Saturday, April 12, 2014

Do you make salt bars? I adore salt bars!



Do you make salt bars?  I do and I adore salt soap bars.   

Typically salt soap is used in spas the world over to give our skin the soothing feel of a swim in the ocean but without the sticky after part as we dry!  Soothed, polished, relaxed and nurtured is the feeling a salt bar gives my skin.  Salt bath soaks full of the minerals of bathing salts are are incomparable and a transformational experience and a time honored beauty aide.  A spa bar brings these same benefits to our showers as we fit this bit of luxury for our skin into our busy lives.  

These bars last a good long time. While the bar is rough to the touch the first or second use (I wear my bar down with a  ramie wash cloth or bath pouf)  the grainy surface feel soon gives way to a bar as smooth as a tumbled river rock.   Pampering at it's finest - use a salt spa bar for the shower, for those of us who don't always have time for a soak!

Salt is used in my soap as an adornment in the larger/coarser crystal forms and used in soap in both the fine and smaller grain.   


Himalayan Sea Salt as adornment
Himalayan Pink Sea Salt Hawaiian Black Lava Sea Salt for adornment
Kosher Coarse Salt as adornment
Himalayan Sea Salt the pinkish and Black Lava Sea Salt from Molokai, Hawaii



Coarse Kosher Salt adornment fine sea salt 90% rate



French pink Clay and Alaea fine ground pink/red salt in body of bar with Black Lava Sea Salt for adornment
I love the velvet lathers salt soaps work up, a bar made with 90% sea salt!  When salt spa bars are made with 100% coconut oil they are able to suds up in salt water so make a fine gift for any seafarers!

Whether it is the salt or the mineral content of each specific salt be it red, pink or black, salt bar soap makes a wonderful facial as well as a body soap.  This velvet lather leaves my face feeling like it's had a refreshing facial!  Whether the salt is from a salt mine in ancient inland  mountains, an inland sea bed or the ocean itself you will never go wrong with a salt bar!  So  good and they last a good long time!

Salt – The history of salt is fascinating if you have the interest! 

There have been two main sources for salt: sea water and rock salt.  Solnitsata the earliest known town in Europe, located in present day Bulgaria, was built around a salt production facility. From salt trade wars to kingdoms salt has a varied history.  It was once the exclusive preservative for food making it such a precious commodity in ancient times.  
What Is Salt?   Salt even has its own blog for gourmet uses http://www.grainofsalt.com/
 Sodium chloride, is the chemical compound NaCl.  Salt occurs naturally in many parts of the world as the mineral halite and as mixed evaporates in salt lakes. It’s largest source is sea  Underground salt deposits are found in mountain caves as well as desert valleys like the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah or the Dead Sea in Isreal. Salt is even present on Mars!  Salt pure sodium chloride 2 properties important in the use of soap are it’s crystal isometric form, cubic and it’s pH in aqueous solution (H2O) us neutral.











Himalayan salt  

This pure, hand-mined salt found naturally, deep within the pristine Himalayan Mountains. Crystallized over 250 million years ago, ancient sea beds covered by lava, protecting the salt from modern-day pollution.

Himalayan Salt - Bricks, Plates and Salt Blocks For the sushi chef in you! 
Himalayan Pink salt slabs, plates, and bricks are harvested, much like marble in Italy, from deep within the ancient Himalayan mountain range of Pakistan. There, they have remained protected from pollution and impurities for centuries, making this what many consider the purest, cleanest salt in the world.

Many beaufitul salts come from the islands of Hawaii!  Volcanos and black sand beaches, red clay depositories all have a hand in the making and evaporation of Hawaiian sea salts.   

Alaea Hawaiian Sea Salt Red Hawaiian Sea Salt
Traditionally Hawaiians use Alaea salt in ceremonies to cleanse, purify and bless tools and canoes, as well, in healing rituals for medicinal purposes. Savor a unique and pleasant flavor while roasting or grilling meats. It is the traditional and authentic seasoning for native Hawaiian dishes such as Kalua Pig, Hawaiian Jerky and Poke.

Molokai Black Hawaiian Sea Salt created by Nancy Gove at her company pacificahawaiisalt where she provides a bit of art with her salt as well as the science necessary for this wonderful product from the sea.      http://pacificahawaiisalt.com/our-company.php

Black Lava
Dedicated to the dramatic volcanic expression of newly created black sand beaches, this glorious salt is dark and sexy. Elegant in flavor and presentation it provides the right accompaniment for grilled meats, crusted fish and salads.  http://pacificahawaiisalt.com/spacer.gifIngredients: Solar evaporated sea salt, activated charcoal

I hope you mix up a batch soon and give these wonderful creations a try!  Perhaps you'll be back to thank me! I hope you will drop me a note.    Enjoy!

      

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Soap Challenge Tutorial for Soap making and saponification adventures! 

Ever have one of THOSE days?   Once upon a time I spilled my essential oil blend of vetiver, lavender and orange.  Not all of it mind you but enough that it was really worrying what to do, what to do.  A tutorial to share my ah ha moment with you!

Today I spilled  a precious oil that I wanted to use as a super fat for a batch of soap.  Not a lot was lost but I just over poured at speed from a small spout and the oil overflowed the container.  I've recreated this for photos to share with you.  I dusted a bit yellow mica on the oil puddle to have some contrast to the pale oil for photo enhancement!



So I cleaned it up.  The real problem is you never really know how much you really lost. You can't use it back into the batch and you can't pick it up with a spoon you can just estimate if you have a good eye!  But estimating is flawed on many levels and as we know, castor oil and macadamia nut oil don't all weigh out the same.


Well today it dawns on me.  The AH HA moment I want to share!  I finally figured out a solution!  Clumsy hands and all, I figured out how to measure what was spilled!
  
I weighed a piece of paper paper toweling   (  .05oz)   then wiped up the spill!

Let the oil oak into the toweling for a moment and then wipe it up.

Then folding the towel over  a few times to wipe up the complete spill.  Put the folded towel and oil on the scale and there you have the measurement of the loss in weight.  Perfect to know to save the batch and for no guessing and the peace of mind.  Add that amount back into the batch and voila!~ Saved!

So I actually had lost only .10 oz of oil in this small spill.  Depending on the size of the batch this may not be much!  However if it was fragrance it could make a big difference in a small batch of soap.  This process made it so easy to replace the lost oil. 

I'm sure others have figured out this helpful system.  I thought I'd write about it and share it for those that hadn't gotten that far yet like a photo tutorial on spilt oil!   It gives me such peace of mind to have this technique in my pocket for the future.  Accidents happen and I hope this photo tutorial will help others!

Sunday, March 2, 2014


Happy Sunday everyone!

I've been playing and thought I'd  share a few soap stamps with you.  These came to me all the way from Espania.    I ordered these stamps a while back from Omar Lopez of the blog "pasito a pasito".  For    ACaliforniaSoap bars.  Ocean themed a sea horse and a wave stamp were the first purchased.

The stamps worked as advertised and I'm very happy with how they performed.  Here is a fragrance test batch of soap which I tested the stamps on.  Omar's stamps are reasonably prices.  They were easy to use. I tried them with mica and without.  As you can see they are fun and clean easily.  Just let your cut soap sit for a day or two and give the stamp a try.  I think you will like it!  


Here   is a link to Omar's site if you would like to find a soap stamp for your business.  From initials to logos he has a wonderful selection.

Sea Horse Stamp used a little too soon.  Let set for another day and it was perfect!

With Gold Mica



 Next month I should have a few soaps up that people may like right here !  

One day I may ask Omar to make me a custom stamp something like these photos.  Which do you like vote  for the square or the circle!  Please leave me a comment!

Happy stamping!
 
Pam









It's Sunday and it's so cloudy and misty that I'm at a loss for words.  So today is fun with the way back photos machine!

 

Piping waves by the sea.




Dancing cheek to cheek from the way back machine in 2009 mantra swirl with hanger work.


A fun glass fish full of sea glass soaps!


Award winning melt and pour crystal at a HSCG Conference.


A soap made back in the day with Shieh Design Studio on SKYPE that was so fun to do.


Award winning packaging back in the day for an HSCG Conference.

 Hydrangea fragrance from Wellington.  A favorite.

   Again the Tropical soap Mandarin Caribbean

Vanilla cream soap so lovely gentle and creamy coconut milk is the best of all.

 Made with Wine favors for the Grey Fox.

Gardener's Delight Morning Sunrise with orange peel.




 Hawaiian Tropical punch.

Salt bars.

Sunday, February 9, 2014



Photography for me is a challenge and here is a new photo of my current Mermaid soap. My water colorist friend is helping me look into better contrast for backgrounds when shooting out of doors!   I'm looking for web sites to help me learn more so if you have any suggestions I'd be grateful.

So I've once again begun a joruney to a life of more freedom!  Perhaps you might be interested in looking into this too.  We might just live a little greener lives because of this lifestyle.  That is my hope for me and my family. 



A journey of 21 days!

 

A few of the reasons why I make soap are because it is a useable art form, a necessary hygienic product we need in our every day and a way to pamper my mature adult skin. Oh yes and it doesn't require dusting!

To this end I'm re igniting a journey, and refreshing my determination to live a simpler life thru minimalism. Minimalism in a way of living that is a greener alternative to commercial driven consumerism which creeps into our lives on a daily basis. Take a little pressure off of me and the environment at the same time will all good.

Here is a site you might just find interesting. It renewed my determination and you might find it interesting as a lifestyle as well.

These people have a pending documentary about minimalism soon to be published and I'm looking forward to that!

http://www.theminimalists.com/21days/#

Happy travels and remember to recycle those hugs!  We're all in this together right?



Friday, January 17, 2014


A Mermaid's Gift to the Sailor.





January brings another first for me.  Oil inventory and using up those obscure oils purchased for other projects and not consumed.  In the first month of the year clearing out the old and making room for the new!

We all have bits and pieces of unused exotic ingredients that have a definite shelf life.  Each January my new habit will be to sort those infrequently used oils those close to expiration and use them with in the month!

So January will by my recycle month and my soaps will be designed around the exotic oils "WHY did I buy this Emu Oil" purchase that lives in the refrigerator!

A Mermaids Gift to the Sailor, a tribute to the up coming Saint Valentine Day Celebration.  Designed to be a floating heart made of translucent soap heart floating in an aqua pool.  It is fragranced with a male fragrance.  I've used 7 oils and butters.  It contains the usual suspects olive, coconut and Castor oils and includes the exotic's from Babassu and Meadow foam to Avocado Oil and Mango Seed Butter.   I am so happy with how this formula preforms!  The velvet lather and smallish bubbles of this gentle soap are spectacular.

Coconut 12% - Avocado 7% - Palm 20% -  Mango Seed 10% - Babassu Oil 10% - Castor Oil 7% - MeadowFoam 4% Super Fatted at 8%.  A complex male fragrance that includes citrus, peppercorn, jasmine and labdanum.  Oh yum a male perfumery, a sophisticated aftershave fragrance that I'm sure Daniel Craig would love!  This fragrance does discolor to a beige/pink like many male fragrances do.  The silicone heart mold for the embed is a new one from Bramble Berry and so fun to use.
 
Mermaids are the legendary aquatic creatures with the upper body of a female human and the tail of fish.  Maids of the sea!  Popular worldwide their first stories appeared in ancient Greek Mythology as sirens.  The Manatee or so called gentle sea cow  is thought to be the inspiration of mermaid myths.

Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature thru the ages.   The Little Mermaid (1836)  by Hans Christian Andersen is such a well-known fairy tale perpetuating the popularity of the mythical creatures.  Mysterious and illusive all at the same time, they have been depicted in operas, paintings, books and films.   Mermaids those beautiful mythical beings of a sailors heart and a little girls dreams.  

Friday, January 3, 2014

Happy New Year Everyone 2014!
Castile a first for 2014 along with two other firsts for ACaliforniaSaop, bytheseasoap.com!  




My first Castile soap and the first soap of 2014.  Made with 100% Lucero Mandarin Infused Olive Oil!   I will post individual photos when I cut the soap in two or three weeks.  It will need to sit on the curing rack for 1 year that is the nature of this gentle Castile soap! Inspired by  Lucero Olive Oils a local orchard which supplied the oil for this soap can be found here.


Another first for this year was using a new silicone mold liner for a 9 bar wooden mold I have on hand.  The liner proved to be perfect for this slab soap and made such a smooth sided soap.  So easy to use and clean and so professional I just had to order a few more!   I thought I'd share with you that I got this liner from the famous BrambleBerry right  here.

One last first for me actually happened in December of 2013.  I just must share my excitement!  In the past I've shipped soaps to our sister nation Canada and even a few south of the border toward Mexico town!  BUT this past Decemberr I received my very first ever European soap order!  Oh so really an order for 10 assorted soaps?  I was so thrilled I did a happy dance!  I was was so excited and proud when I  sent off my first European soap order.  :)   
Some one wonderful person from so far away liked my soapy creations and made my year!  I can't THANK you enough <3!  



A sample soap package made for the Christmas season. White Citrus, Lahaina, Pink Sugar and Green Tea.


Off they all went to the far beyond over the pond and across the sea!

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