Carrot, Orange, and Ginger Soup (I Mean, Soap!)

My Carrot, Orange, and Ginger soap

Sometimes I'm in the mood to attempt something very ambitious with my soapmaking. A six-colored swirled soap, maybe, or a layered masterpiece. A funnel swirl or an embed soap. Salt bars. A soap made with goat's milk and beer.

This was not one of those times. This time, all I wanted was a simple, comforting, soul-soothing soap with a leisurely, luxurious trace. A single-pour soap, with an amazing fragrance blend.

I still wanted it to have some personality, though. One day, as I was staring into my fridge (you gotta keep your eye on those things, you know), I realized that I had a bunch of carrot juice that I would never drink. So, I decided to make a soap with carrot juice in place of the water.

What fragrance would go with carrot juice, though?

I have a Tomato Leaf fragrance oil. Carrots and tomatoes? Maybe. The soap will probably turn out bright orange ... ginger! What would go well with ginger? Lemongrass? Yes, lemongrass!

Ginger and lemongrass it was. But something kept nagging at me.

Pouring soap into mold

Carrots and ginger, carrots and ginger ... where have I heard that before?

And then it hit me - I sometimes make a carrot, ginger, and ORANGE soup!

Yes! Carrots, orange, and ginger! In a soap this time instead of a soup!

So, ginger and orange it was.

And to make things interesting, I decided to go with textured tops and a light sprinkling of mica.

I settled on one of my favorite recipes of olive, coconut, sustainable palm, and avocado oils. (I so adore avocado oil in soap!) As I expected, the carrot juice gave the finished soap a gorgeous, rich orange color.

For my fragrance blend, I chose Bramble Berry's Orange essential oil (10x) and Majestic Mountain Sage's Ginger fragrance oil. I used them in almost equal proportions, opting for just a bit more orange than ginger.

After stickblending to a glorious medium-thick trace, I poured the batch into my lined soap mold and then waited a few minutes before manipulating with the tops with a spoon, letting the soap set up some so it would hold the peaks. I just sorta scooped my spoon into the batter a bit and then let the soap plop back down onto the surface. And once I started scooping and plopping, it was difficult to stop. I really think I could have made an afternoon of it. After much fiddling, I was finally happy with the tops, although I wish my peaks had a bit more oomph.

Using spoon to make peaks (l); mica dusting (r)

Then I used my tea strainer to sift some Copper Sparkle mica onto the tops, much like I did with my pencil line soap.

I love how this soap looks, and the scent is amazing. A bit sweet and citrusy, and a bit warm and spicy. Ginger is such a wonderful fragrance - I will have to play with more blends. I still think ginger and lemongrass would be nice together, as would ginger and peppermint.

And I am curious to see how the carrot juice contributes to the soap. I would think that the natural sugars in the carrots should boost the lather. I have to let the soap cure for a few more weeks before I can use it, though!

Have you ever used carrot juice in your soaps, or used a soap that contained carrot juice? What kinds of fruit or vegetable juices do you like in your soaps? How has food inspired your soapmaking?