Jolly Hockeysticks

Some time ago, I was fortunate enough to come across a bunch of autograph books at a local market.  

The books date from between 1935 and 1941 and document a series of interstate trips taken by schoolgirls and their teachers.  I gather they were travelling to compete in sporting events.  Here, one girl has collected a photographic memento of her trip, collecting the photographs of her pals and escorts and filling the books with signatures, addresses and cute little notes.  It really is a lovely collection, you can sense the girls' excitement and this is sometimes displayed in the way they sit for their photographs.

I have my favourites, including one girl by the name of Elvey, who seems quite mischievous.  You can see her pulling a face in the montage below.  She is in most of the books and you get to see her grow.  By the later books, she is one of the 'trainers', proudly displaying her carefully curled hair.

Autumn Sunshine & Reading

After a grim weekend, it's nice to see some sunshine out on the last of the golden leaves in the garden.   Before settling down with a cup of tea, I thought about which book to flick through.  Here are my current thoughts:

Gone to Earth - Mary Webb
In Youth is Pleasure - Denton Welch
A Natural History of the Senses - Diane Ackerman
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Lady into Fox - David Garnett
Raven's Brood - E.F. Benson
Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner

I'm sure the sun won't last, so make the most of it while we can, and then we can just face the music.  And dance!

A Side Project - Perfume

When making cold process soap, there are some essential oils that just won't work.  They either disappear and you can't smell them at all, they do strange curdly things to the soap or they just cost a million dollars to use.  Experimenting with soap has led to a collection of essential oils that I know I won't use in soapmaking.  

So, I thought about making a perfume.  I respect the perfumer's art and so I knew that it would be no easy task creating something that might be wearable.  I have, in fact, created some horrors.  It can be very dispiriting to use your precious essential oils on a batch of perfume that, no matter how much you believe it should be otherwise, just smells like fermenting fruit. 

But I have had some luck.  I have made a wonderful uplifting floral, very simple but, I think, wearable.  Tenacity (the lack of) is probably an issue with natural perfumes, but frankly, I think the issue really is the tenacity (the abundance of) in commercial perfumes.  Some people wear perfume in a manner that reminds me of those young kids who drive through the city with their music doof doofing.  But, each to their own.

It is also nice to have simple combinations, like bay and lemongrass, made into a light spritz.  It's not heady, it doesn't invade the environment around you, and it's a refreshing pick-me-up.  So, I'm happy with some of my creations so far.

Last week, I made a batch in which I wanted to feature violet leaf oil.  I started with a spicy warm base, added the violet leaf and a couple of other florals, including honeysuckle.  I added carrot seed oil to bring it down to earth a bit and finished with clementine.  Perhaps I overdid the carrot seed oil - it's a lot stronger than I gave it credit for, but I'm ok with that.  

Trying it out now, it is, as you might expect, a spicy floral.  It's very boozy at the moment, but time will settle that.  What I find surprising is how long the floral notes stick around.  I think I have a base that has worked well and has anchored the florals.  I think I need to work on the top notes.   I thought top notes would be easy - they're all the fun oils, the citrus and herbs that are so uplifting but don't hang around for long.  But, as I said before, it's hard to avoid the fermenting fruit thing.  Ugh. 

I don't know where this will take me.  I enjoy the process and I enjoy giving away my experiments, which, I'll have you know, have so far been received well!  It did cross my mind that I'm the equivalent of the relative who gives giant macrame owl wall hangings to you for Christmas, but I feel safe that my selected recipients wouldn't let me get away with that!

Ugh, bedridden.

Feeling grizzly and unwell today.  No soap-making for me, so I've turned my mind to making up a new recipe, one which is particularly indulgent to take our minds off those cold miserable days ahead.

Here's my view today.  Without the tissues and empty glasses!

 

Taken with a Polaroid Mio.

Woody Herman Orchestra featuring Stan Getz - Early Autumn (1948)

I love the buttery sound of this version of a swooning favourite.

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:

1930s Women in Resort Wear.  In London!

Yes, pity the young women in this clip of a 1930s fashion show on some barge floating on the chilly Thames.  It doesn't reek glamour, but the models look swell.  Who wants to dress appropriately anyway, much better to always look like you've just stepped off a yacht in the Bahamas.

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:

Back to Business

After a very enjoyable break away, I'm back and full of beans!  Or is that suds?  I could not wait to get back into the soap-making so I have started this week with a batch of rose-scented, rosehip oil enriched fun.  This soap also has apricot kernel and rice bran oil, to supplement the very skin-friendly olive oil, and I have coloured it with a mica to give it a rich dusky swirl.

These little beauties have been freshly cut off the block.  As I'm writing this, the soaps have filled my office with the sweet green and rosy smell of rose and rose geranium essential oils, an evocative contrast to the grey skies and falling leaves I can see from my window.

Happy Mothers' Day to all those mothers out there.