In the absence of anything else interesting to write about, my adventures in soap-making will have to do. My 'recipe' is very improvised, as most of the proper recipes I've found involve either animal products or caustic soda/lye or both. The test batch is made from a small amount of coconut oil, a largeish amount of olive oil and a few tablespoons of vegetable glycerine. Now, obtaining glycerine isn't difficult - it's often sold cheaply as a sore throat remedy, and less cheaply as a baking ingredient. In fact, obtaining vegetable glycerine isn't too difficult. However, establishing that the cheap and easily available glycerine (such as Boots Value Health, which I currently have) is from a non-animal source is a total pain in the arse. So if you need vegetable glycerine, please reap the reward of the hours* I spent on Google establishing that! Or look at the small print on the bottle - if it says v/v or v/g next to 'glycerin/e' on the ingredients you're ok.

Anyway, I thought I'd make a small quantity of lemon and tea tree soap to test things out, lemon because Ducki likes it and tea tree because the plan is to use it as hand soap in the toilet. I bought some cheap heart-shaped silicone cupcake cases to use as moulds. The issue is getting the stuff to solidify. They've been in the fridge overnight (with each mould inside a hummus pot, guess it's a good thing we keep those!) but each one is still half liquid. It's frustrating because I don't want to make any more until I know it'll work. Next thing is to see if I can make solid soap without the coconut oil, or find a brand of coconut oil that doesn't smell...

*slight exaggeration, but it felt like hours - most of the information came from forums of ex-smokers using some sort of electronic cigarette, so not that interesting to me.

Making jalapenos is not the best thing to do on a day when you may have to insert a mooncup at any point. Obsessive handwashing is required, although that also applies if you plan to touch your eyes, blow your nose or wipe your arse that day.

The peppers were worth it though - same texture and tanginess as commercial ones, but a bit more potent! The technique I used is:
Cut the peppers into rings and sprinkle them with salt. Leave for half an hour or so (about the time it takes to have a cup of tea - might not need that long but I was reading something engrossing).
Have a clean glass jar handy - needs to be large enough to hold the peppers plus sufficient vinegar to cover them.
Use the jar to measure the vinegar into a saucepan. Don't fill it up to the top, you need to allow room for displacement. (Although if Archimedes had been bathing in this stuff he would not have been shouting 'Eureka', unless it has a secret meaning along the line of 'my balls are on fire!')
Heat the vinegar. Add the peppers. Bring to the boil. Simmer for half an hour or so. Don't inhale the contents!
Allow to cool before putting in the jar. Keep in the fridge.

You'll be pleased to hear I haven't been trying to fit a new toilet by myself. (although if I did I'd be tempted to use the old one as a garden planter - my parents had TWO of the things in their garden at some point but were total spoilsports and didn't put plants in them) No, this is about the various homemade and apparently 'natural' substances I've plastered myself with today.

Hair things first:

( Deep conditionerCollapse )

( Vinegar hair rinseCollapse )

My hair is soft and shiny but feels a wee bit greasy, and isn't quite as 'big' as usual. That's disconcerting. We'll see what it's like in a few days.

Now for other stuff:

( Ylang ylang and lavender bath saltsCollapse )

( Moisture creamCollapse )

( DeodorantCollapse )