Not More Beer Soap!!!!!!

It seems that every soap maker has at least one vice! Lots of folk that make soap really dive into the "beer soap" thing.

I decided to dive in also and make my own beer soap, but I didn't want it looking like, or smelling like everyone else's beer soap.

I made a few changes to the usual beer soap routine. Still macho manly and all that stuff, but the gals will appreciate this also, so read on.









The beer soap you see pictured is my version of beer soap. You will notice that most beer soaps look, well...rather plain...the color of well, BEER! After all, that is what it is made from. The color of beer isn't necessarily the most bright and beautiful color and when you make soap from it, the drab, dull yellow/brown remains intact. I guess that color might be called "amber".

If you are a beer drinker, you notice that when you pour your beer into a glass, it forms a "foam" or "suds". Now, I like the look of the foam, so I decided to incorporate that look into my beer soap. You will notice that my beer soap has "suds" on top. That is an extra process of making whipped soap at the same time I am making the regular beer soap formula, so it is two soap processes combined into one soap.









The next thing that is different is that I've decided to add a bit of a twist to the usual beer soap and give it a "south of the border" feel. In countries south of the U.S. it is common to add lime or lemon and salt to the beer. Honoring that tradition, I've included a lemon/lime fragrance along with the beer soap and added some sea salt to the top layer of soap.

OK, now that I've added some twists and turns to the typical beer soap regimen, I could call it a "gimmick" for more sales, but there is more to it than that. First of all, beer is actually good for hair (or beard!) and this soap contains lots of sudsy lather that make it great for shampooing! Next, sea salt gives the soap a "spa" quality to it. As for the citrus addition, well, that just smells great and gives you the "south of the border" feel when showering. The citrus fragrance is not a true lemon/lime but I added the essential oil of litsea cubeba, which tends to hold its fragrance well in cold process soaps and has a citrusy fragrance to it.

Because I wanted this soap to stand out among the beer soap crowd, I had a tough time coming up with a name for it. I asked some of my dear friends who belong to giftsofglory.ning.com for some suggestions. There were some delightful responses, but I finally settled for something as simplistic as I could get and still give it the "south of the border" feel. The name is called "SALUD!" That is the English equivalent to "Cheers!" only in Spanish.

This soap will be available in my shops next month as this is a cold process soap which takes several weeks of curing before it is ready.