I enjoy the freedom to experiment and be creative when making soap. You can easily manipulate the type of ingredients, the quantities of said ingredients, the process, and the scents, colors and flavorings. The combinations are limited only by your imagination. Sometimes, however, the autonomy and options become problematic.
I have made seven or eight batches of soap. While not all of the batches have been perfect, each one has turned out pretty well. Until, the last batch I created a couple of weeks ago. It all started with some fresh lemons and an idea. Let me tell you about what I did and the unexpected learnings I stumbled upon due to this mishap.
The Batch
I love using citrus in soap. It’s great for your skin, smells terrific, and you can use the rind, pulp and juice in the product. My plan was to use lemons and then team it with basil. I had been wanting to try this combination for some time. Now was that time.
Unfortunately, my basil plant had not wintered too well. It was too early in the outdoor growing season for my plant to recuperate. Rather than buy a fresh basil plant and chopping it all up, I decided to purchase essential oil instead. I headed to the store and picked up basil along with bergamot, a sweet, florally, orange scent. I have wanted to experiment with bergamot. Here was my chance.
The fresh lemons and bergamot essential oil smelled delightful as I prepared to make the soap. When I opened the basil essential oil, I paused. It smelled really earthy with a hint of something strong. This was not the subtle, smooth basil scent I was expecting. Since I was mixing the oils with lemon juice, lemon rind, and basil oil, I decided to move forward. It was a decision I would regret. When my soap was complete and I had added the scents, I had an unmistakable scent. Black licorice.
The Outcome
I remember when my boys were little, we would go to a soda fountain. They would get a cup and be able to choose among tens of flavors. They would mix them all up. Most of the time, the flavor ended up pretty good or better. Every so often, they would turn out really bad. This reminded me of one of the less good ones.
It was not awful, but I am not a fan of black licorice. I thought maybe someone in the family would want to use it, but they were not fans either. So far, I have had 10+ people smell the soap. I am still searching for a person willing to give it a go in the tub or shower. I am sure I will find someone willing to experiment with the soap, but it has been much harder than I would have even thought.
Ask for a Do-Over
If I could have done this over, I would have followed my gut and used naturally prepared scents versus the essential oils. Too many essential oils end up smelling earthy or having chemical tones in their scents. When I make them myself, they are not quite as strong as the essential oils. Yet, the scent they carry is natural and lovely. When I have had someone react negatively to a smell, it has been from essential oils. It was never enough to taint the end product, until this batch.
I had fresh lemons and I could have gone to get more fresh basil. Then, I could have created the scents from the lemon rind, lemon juice, and the basil leaves. Instead, I used some fresh and supplemented that with essential oils. I made this decision because it was simpler to use what I had on-hand. Plus, I thought the essentials would be better than my homemade concoctions. In the end, I chose convenience and pre-formulated over homemade. That decision caused me to layer scents together and created my undesirable outcome of black licorice or anise, whichever you prefer (or not!).
The layering of the scents got me to thinking about flavor combinations. Like my sons discovered, not every flavor or smell combination is a positive one. I began to notice smells and tastes that worked well together and others that did not. I also learned, quite unexpectedly, that your tongue has the ability to smell. All of this new information brought me to be intrigued and motivated by a new stimulus for my brain. A man named Bobby Flay.
Channel Bobby Flay
I don’t watch too many cooking shows. The other day, we were looking for something to watch and we came across Beat Bobby Flay. I have seen it a few times and decided to watch an episode or two. It is amazing to watch him cook.
If you have not seen the show, it pits two professional cooks against each other with the winner taking on Bobby Flay. Once they get to Bobby, they get to pick their favorite dish to cook, which is a surprise to Bobby. They should have the advantage, right? Well, I have watched the show about 10 times and Bobby has never lost. He beats them at making their best dish. Many times, he has never even made the dish.
How does he do it? In my mind, it’s his ability to mix and match flavors in the right quantities. He takes the dish and pairs it with the best combination of sweet, salt, bitter, sour, or savory. He knows his flavors and combinations and he rarely makes a mistake. It’s fascinating to watch him work.
The Smells Have It
What does this have to do with soap scents? Quite a bit, actually. Much like the tongue, there are 10 different types of smells to which your brain is able to identify and respond. Understanding and being able to combine these scents will lead to intriguing, tantalizing smells and less of those surprises. Much like Bobby Flay, the winning recipe springs from the combination of scents and quantities.
I aim to experiment with combining different points of the scent wheel, whether it be soap making, kombucha brewing, or cooking. There are new scents out there to be discovered and ingredients to be used with amazing healing and refreshing properties. Many of them will be delightful, however I am sure some will be another version of my lemon + basil = black licorice. If you don’t fail every now and then, you are not trying hard enough.
Failing is different than failure. Failing provides motivation to learn about what went wrong and the opportunity to improve by leveraging those learnings. I never would have retraced my process and rethought my decisions the same way if everything turned out perfectly. Trying new things and seeing where they go wrong is a critical step in learning and developing your brain. Next time you are working with some lemons and encounter a failure, pick yourself up and ponder a different course on your next experiment.
If you are tempted by the smells of licorice and anise and you would like to try my “failed” soap, please contact me. I will see what I can do to get one of these interesting smelling bars of soap into your hands. I have plenty!