Heady and exotic
I love making perfume, it's something that brings me a lot of peace. I experiment as much as I can with the natural essential oils that I have and every now and then I come across a blend which I think is successful.
Of course, it is all subjective, what is strange and compelling to me might be repellant to another, but I don't mind that.
When I put together the Nightshade blend, I knew instantly that this was one of the successful ones. It smoothly combined a number of elements, elevated the scents I wanted to feature and produced an evocative perfume that I'm proud to have made.
Not for everyone, Nightshade is heady. It's a late summer's night in Acapulco, a midnight tryst in a winter hothouse or it's the lingering memory of the first time you saw your love. Nightshade is blended to highlight that most beautiful and exotic of scents, tuberose, with a supporting caste of cocoa and black pepper.
Nightshade takes its place with One Fine Summer and Sleepy Lagoon in the current range of Shanghai Lil & The Scarlet Fez's all-natural, vegan eau de parfums.
A new soap
I have just released a new soap, Winterfield. I love coming up with new soap ingredient or essential oil combinations and with this soap, I chose to go for a classic Mediterranean scent, lavender and rosemary. As I was releasing the soap in winter, I wanted it to have a 'comforting' feel, so I used extra rich and creamy oils including avocado, apricot kernel and hemp seed oils, to achieve a lovely smooth lather - perfect to counter the drying effects of a hot shower. Winterfield is gently coloured with green clay.
So, please feel free to visit the store to purchase some Winterfield of your own. Otherwise, you can follow my Facebook page (you may wish to select the setting to receive all of my notifications as otherwise you may find Facebook is something of a brat, not liking to share everything it should) to keep up to date with which markets I'll be at and when.
Colour Inspiration
Some time ago, I came across a bunch of old toys and stuff from my childhood including these wonderfully coloured plastic stencils. I love that translucent soft plastic and the 1960s Eurasian designs. I think my favourite was the seal, though the lion and squirrel come pretty close.
New products for 2014!
I recently trialled a range of bath salts and I was very pleased with the results. I sold them at That Dapper Market and people seemed to respond to them well.
In making the salts, I considered what I wanted out of a bath product - something luxurious and indulgent - something which softens the water (sheesh, Adelaide water is hard!), leaves the skin gently moisturised and provides a wonderful scent (gentle and not over-powering).
So, I used high quality, mineral-rich salts - Dead Sea mineral salt and pink Himalayan rock salt - mixed with skin-softening epsom salts and added a splash of shea oil. I chose shea oil because it feels particularly nice on the skin. The shea oil and the essential oils I added needed to be anchored (oil will eventually seep to the bottom so something needs to keep it suspended around the salt throughout the jar), so I used a blend of arrowroot and bicarbonate soda (again, great for softening water).
I made three, if I might say so myself - amazing - all-natural scents:
The Violet Hour - a complex yet sweet blend of violet leaf essential oil and vanillin;
West of the Moon - a super-rich floral blend of rose geranium and ylang ylang and;
Evening in Capri - a sophisticated dry citrus blend of kaffir lime and bergamot.
Each jar of bath salts is accompanied by a cute little wooden spoon (made from plantation wood) and is beautifully labelled ready for gifting or indulging! The 200g jars of salt will be $16.00 and postage will be $7.00. The salts will be ready in the Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez store about mid-January.
Breezing along on a breeze
I have just released a new soap - When in Rome. This wonderfully aromatic basil and spearmint scented soap will be fresh start to the day and put you in the mood for scooting around town with the wind in your hair!
Packed full of excellent quality oils including olive oil, olive pomace, shea oil, rice bran oil, meadowfoam seed oil and a dash of castor oil (for that silky skin feel!), When in Rome is a treat for the skin and the senses!
Sophisticated and youthful, When in Rome is all natural, hand crafted, vegan and contains no palm oil. Now available in store!
Top photo: Detail from the cover of "The New Target Book for Girls".
A deliciously scented new soap
A wonderful addition to the Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez collection - Sunday Spice. With a blend of oils packed with skin-loving goodness, like olive oil, olive pomace, cocoa butter, shea oil and avocado oil, Sunday Spice is a rich and luxurious soap. Scented with carrot seed and ginger essential oils, this soap will make your mouth water! Delicious!
Sunday Spice is all natural, vegan and palm oil free. Gentle on your skin and a treat for your senses!
Now available through Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez's store. Pay a visit by clicking the shop button in the right-hand column.
As Yet Unnamed
I have a few naming options up my sleeves for this one, but feel in no hurry to settle on it now. I have four weeks, because that is how long this new soap will be curing before being boxed up, labelled and sent into the Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez store!
But let me tell you about what is in New Soap - olive oil, olive pomace, macadamia nut oil, shea oil and a dash of castor oil. But as if that isn't enough to make your skin soft and silky, I have added Mojave Living Clay! Mojave Living Clay is a calcium bentonite/montmorillonite clay from, you guessed it, the Mojave Desert in southern California! This clay is rich in minerals and is excellent for drawing out impurities in the skin. In a soap, the clay offers a silky texture which will enhance your bathing experience!
Here it is, as a loaf, just before being hand cut into bars:
Coming Soon
I wanted to create a scent for a soap that suggested an adventurous spirit. Something floral and exotic, yet edgy. I trialed some combinations of essential oils and finally settled on this new scent. A dangerously exciting blend of rose geranium, ylang ylang and black pepper creates the perfect scent for the mysterious and daring souls amongst us.
Madame X... is lavishly packed with skin-conditioning oils including olive oil, olive pomace, cocoa butter, apricot kernel oil and musk melon oil. It is coloured with the beautiful muted red of Australian red clay. So, whether you will be riding your horse at full speed across the moors, jumping from one Parisian roof to another in your cat-suit or just making a dramatic entrance into the ballroom, you can rest assured that your skin will be in perfect form for your busy life.
Madame X... will be available in the Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez store in four weeks.
Here it is! Lemon Meringue!
I have been making this soap for a couple of years now and I love it! It is deliciously scented with lemony may chang and gorgeously coloured with botanicals (annatto) and topped off with white peaks. And it is a treat for your skin too, with its olive oil, apricot kernel oil and evening primrose oil (and a dash of my an old favourite, castor oil, for a silky-skin finish!).
Now available for sale in the Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez store - your passport to soap wonderland is one click away on the button, top right.
A new soap!
If you're a daydreamer, you'll understand how the first days of summer hold a special resonance in your vivid imagination. Whether it be lying in the grass looking up and pondering how blue the sky gets, exploring the pine trees by the beach, or sipping your first Pimm's No.1 for the season, it's a bright and happy time.
And bright and happy really does describe this soap! Starting with a base of olive oil and coconut oil, it is further lavished with macadamia nut oil, shea oil and super-charged with olive pomace. A superb blend of oils to condition your skin, with a dash of castor oil to make your skin feel like silk.
One Fine Summer is gently scented with green geranium and Madagascan tagetes, a green floral with sweet citrus notes. A sweet and youthful scent. Natural chlorophyll colours the soap a perfect soft green.
One Fine Summer is all-natural, vegan and pure luxury! It will be available in Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez's shop in two week's time.
Delicious Lemon Meringue
Alert, sweet tooths! I have whipped up a batch of sweet, lemony Lemon Meringue soap! A drools-worthy delight! But it's not all about the smell; it's about the luxurious feel of it too. A luscious blend of olive oil, coconut oil, apricot kernel oil and evening primrose oil make this soap a super skin conditioner. Naturally coloured with annatto, it even looks like a slice of lemon meringue!
But there's one thing you can't do with this soap, and that's eat it! All natural, all vegan and a luxurious treat for your skin, Lemon Meringue will be in Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez's shop in just 3 weeks time!
Yes, That's Right
Finally, after some time, I have opened the shop! You can buy soap, if you want it, right here!
Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez
I hope you love the design of the shop and the packaging as much as I do. I have been lucky enough to have Magic Jelly design all of this and give a beautiful, nostalgic but modern feel to Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez.
As you know, dear reader, Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez soaps are all natural, vegan and full to the brim with luxurious skin-loving oils. But not only that, the essential oils used in the soaps will bring the world's flowers, spices, herbs and woods to the palm of your hand.
There will be some further tweaking to this blog too - I will have a button in the side column which will be your very own chauffeur on the glamorous road to soapsville, Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez! So, you can read about it here and buy it with a twitch of a finger!
I have already received some orders from some wonderful people (they must be wonderful, such exquisite taste!) and I am finding out what people are favouring. I have almost run out of The Emporer's Chai (so hurry!) and South Pacific is a winner, as is Love Lies Bleeding. Spicy and floral.
In the pipeline, I have a surprise new scent. For those with a sweet tooth and a longing for bright summer days, you are in for a treat - a candy-sweet scented soap, packed with olive oil, olive pomace, macadamia nut oil and shea oil. It's a bright, happy and luxurious soap.
I have also just completed a batch of Lemon Meringue soap which will have you drooling! A wonderful sweet lemony scent in a rich blend of apricot kernel oil and evening primrose oil. No, you can't eat it, but you'll want to!
So, there is a lot lined up here at Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez. Not just soap here on the blog; you'll have the usual found-photographs, flowers, melancholy musings, a bit of jazz music, graphics, design, art and what-not (do you like the word what-not?). Have a look around.
Soaping on a Sunday Afternoon
I am hoping to have the Shanghai Lil & The Scarlet Fez shop open in about two weeks, so I have quite a few things to do, like make soap.
So, I made a block of South Pacific soap today. This is the one scented with ylang ylang and may chang essential oils - a mix which makes a super-uplifting and dreamily tropical scent.
But that's not all; this soap is packed with olive oil, and olive pomace (when olive oil just isn't olivey enough for you!), coconut oil, luscious cocoa butter and gentle apricot kernel oil. This mix of oils makes this soap a fantastic conditioning soap, gentle and creamy.
Spring Sherbert
Winter is the season of indulgence. It's also the time to plan - it's about anticipation. You know what is just around the corner - SPRING! Well, it's months off yet, but it's good fun planning ahead. Dust off those gardening books, get out those holiday brochures, buy a ridiculously lightweight and cheerful shirt online.
Avid readers of this blog (!) will remember I made a batch of Spring Sherbert a couple of weeks ago. You know the one - it was brimming over with olive oil, apricot kernel oil and cocoa butter and it was scented with a floral dreamcloud - or lemongrass and lavender essential oils to be precise (for those more practical types). The soap appears to be a modest little number, a soft and creamy yellow like the finest alabaster, but it fizzes with springtime joy when you smell it. Yes, I love it! And this is what Spring Sherbert is doing today:
A Winter's Day - Love Lies Bleeding
On this cold winter's day, have I been lying on the couch under a blanket eating crumpets and reading Tennyson? No! I've been making another batch of what I can now call an old time favourite - Love Lies Bleeding.
In making this soap, I have not been content with using just olive oil, I have added olive pomace. Olive pomace is a low-grade olive oil in terms of cooking, but in terms of soap-making, it means a concentrated boost of olive goodness. Olive is a wonderful oil for soaps, and I always use it as a big part of any soap mixture. It produces a firm bar of soap, which makes it better value, and is very gentle on your skin.
I have also used meadowfoam seed oil. The skin loves this oil as it is highly emollient, leaving your skin moisturised. Apricot kernal oil is rich with vitamins E and A and matches your skin's sebum, meaning your skin will drink it in! Topping off this trilogy of extra-luxurious oils is rosehip oil, bursting with vitamin C (though, to be fair, vitamin C isn't much of a stayer, so it's not likely you'll see much of this once it is in a soap!), anti-oxidants and omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids - in other words, one of the best skin friendly oils you're likely to come across!
I've used mineral colourings, as usual, in this batch; the swirl being a rich earthy red. Scented with rose, rose geranium and geranium essential oils, the soap is lively, sweet and, I must say, thoroughly romantic. This is a great skin-conditioning soap. Here are some sneak previews for you - the colouring and essential oils, the soap mix, the poured soap and a Holga photograph of roses to put you in the mood!
Making Spring Sherbert - A New Soap
Last week, I made a batch of soap using a generous proportion of avocado oil. I was happy with the result, though I have yet to test it. Avocado oil holds the promise of adding an extra special quality to soap but it does tint the soap a very soft green. I don't have a problem with this; I think I should use it as a feature, but with this batch of soap I had also added a yellow swirl, which just disappeared in the green. The final cut bars look a bit blurry. Ok, but not the best.
So today I remade this recipe, this time exchanging the avocado oil with cocoa butter. Cocoa butter tends to make a soap creamy, a favourite quality of mine for soap. I started, as usual, with olive oil. The olive oil I used was a new sort, and it smelled of freshly cut grass. This made me happy, because I wanted the soap to be a fresh springy number. Sadly, this smell doesn't stay in the final soap, so the pleasure was one that can't be shared.
I also used apricot kernel oil, a super oil for your skin. A touch of rice bran oil for that vitamin E goodness and I'm done.
The scent I used here is lavender and lemongrass, which when combined offers up a dreamy spring-fresh perfume. Lavender is a sophisticated scent, though many have rather homely associations with it. The dry sweetness of lemongrass is refined and uplifting. Here, with the lavender, the lemongrass sparkles - a fizzing floral lift. Thus, Shanghai Lil & the Scarlet Fez's new soap is born - Spring Sherbert!
Here are some process shots showing cocoa butter, essential oils, the soap mix and the poured results:
Spring Sherbert, like all Shanghai Lil & the Scarlet Fez soaps, is 100% natural, vegan and super luxurious!
Spearmint Julep and the Five Best Qualities of Soap
Depending on the mix of oils you add, soap will take on a range of desirable characteristics. A hard bar is not only long lasting but tends to have a higher moisturising quality.
A cleansing bar will, you got it, cleanse. I wouldn't want this quality to be too dominant as it would perhaps be too successful in removing the oils on the skin and result in dryness. That doesn't mean a soap with a lower cleansing characteristic will leave you dirty! The dirt on your skin sits on the top with the outer layer of oils, so ideally, you only want to remove this layer. Anything stronger may wash away your healthy skin oils you want to keep!
People love bubbles in soap, which accounts for the high bubbling you'll get with supermarket soaps (which are mainly detergents really, stuffed with sodium laureth sulphates and similar surfactants. I don't want this kind of thing in anything I use on my skin). I'm not a big fan of a lot of bubbles - some, but just not a lot. We have very hard water in Adelaide, so getting all-natural soap to froth up is a challenge. A good dose of coconut oil is the answer here.
Creamy soap is my favourite. I tend to think this feels more luxurious, but it is ultimately a preference of bubbles vs creaminess. Something in between is ideal.
Conditioning is probably the most desirable. It refers to the emollient qualities, or moisturising qualities of a soap. A good conditioning soap will leave some oils on the skin, helping it to retain moisture.
So this leads me to my latest batch of soap - Spearmint Julep! The star of this little number is apricot kernel oil, a soothing and skin-nourishing oil. It also has rice bran oil - abundant in vitamin E and a key to a good lather. Spearmint Julep is an excellent conditioning soap, just what I want! With it's super fresh spearmint scent (natural essential oil, of course!) this soap is a household favourite.
Here is a montage of Spearmint Julep coming to life. The ingredients, the colour, the oils and finally the soap in the mold. Due for release in 4 weeks!
Evening Star
This is my current favourite: Evening Star. It has the creamiest lather, very luxurious. It is enriched with macadamia oil and pine nut oil and the scent is uplifting: basil and star anise. This will be available in Shanghai Lil & the Scarlet Fez's NEW SHOP in about 4 weeks time. That's right - NEW SHOP! Well, there never was on OLD SHOP, but you know what I mean.
Freshly cut off the block and ready to cure:
Smokey Joe is Back in Town
Freshly cut off the block, here is the result of yesterday's batch of soap, using avocado oil (and olive, coconut, caster and rice bran oils!). This is a personal favourite; I find it is very gentle on my skin, which is prone to dryness. The lather is creamy and rich. The scent is cade and vetiver. Smokey Joe!
The Gathering of the Oils
A new delivery of oils has arrived. I know, it's very exciting. New to the Shanghai Lil & the Scarlet Fez fold is avocado oil. I plan to include this in this morning's batch of soap. Avocado oil is high in vitamins A, D and E and is ideal for sensitive skins. A large part of the oil is unsaponifiable, which means it does not react with the lye during the saponification process, leaving a higher percentage of the avocado oil in the final soap. This is good news for your skin. I mustered the oils for a quick snap to show you the wonderful range of colours:
