Banana Testing Soaps

You may remember one of my last years' soapy experiments where I made an unscented soap with banana pure and coconut milk. This was a very limited test batch, and it has been distributed to friends and family. I already wrote that I preferred some other soaps than this one, but as it turned out, I actually got rave reviews and more requests for this soap. I believe that there is a stable audience for fruit  veggie soaps.

This winter I had the privilege to try one of Cee's soaps with buttermilk and carrot juice, and last summer I was totally in love in Goca's yogurt & cucumber soap, so I was definitely hooked up on veggie soaps. We also got a supersonic Electrolux juicer last month, and I immediately started to think how it would benefit my soaping adventures.
Adding to the fact that I am always on a mission to find great fragrance oils that would compliment my basic oils and additives, well it seems quite obvious that you'll be seeing more of new creations on this blog.

Testing Two New Banana Fragrance Oils

I ordered a bunch of fragrance oils in January, mostly for testing purposes. It took three long weeks to get my package here, and I was already becoming extremely impatient and irritated cause I haven't been soaping for over two months. With my busy February schedule, I was frustrated when realized that I won't have almost any time for soaping. A possibility of not soaping at all was not an option, thus I opted to do a few simple soaps. No fancy color combinations, design patterns or any such a thing.

I ordered two banana fragrances, one being described as creamy banana, with notes of pear, butter rum, vanilla, quince and apple. The second is a straight a banana nut bread fragrance. I decided to go with one of my tried and true recipes with unrefined cocoa butter and olive oil and not to add any color.

Yummy Banana Cream Pie (photo)

So there they were on Saturday, oils melted and my lye solution prepared, one banana waiting on the kitchen table ready to be smashed the on Sunday morning. By the time I got my equipment, I realized that someone of my fellow tenants has eaten the banana and in this village (strange as it may sound), there is no store open on Sunday. I had to soap, so I decided to go on according to the plan, and just skip the banana puree.
I made two mixtures, and the creamy banana soaped wonderfully (no acceleration or other nasty surprises), while the banana nut bread seized in a blink of an eye.

Banana Nut Bread Inspiration (click here for the recipe)

My first intention was to make a layered soap, but now I had to change my plans and just salvage all I could, while still producing a half-decent looking soap. I used a 12 bar silicone mold which only made things worse, so I had mo work really fast to get the mixture in the soap cavities.

Color and Texture Variations

The result was that all the bars contain a bit of both the mixtures (cream & nut banana), ranging from 10 till 60 percent. The creamy banana discolored only the top that was exposed to the air, while the nutty one went totally into the milk chocolate color direction.
At the end, I have to add that the banana nut bread fragrance developed beautifully in the soap,opposing to the creamy one which smelled more promising at the beginning, but not so much at the end.

I admit that these are not the prettiest bars you've ever seen, but they still contain a dose of rustic appeal, wouldn't you say? OK, that may be just my over-enthusiastic-soap-obsessed nerd speaking, but they still perform superbly!

To conclude, I will definitely be ordering the Banana Nut Bread fragrance oil again, and you may expect it in a redesigned shape in my forthcoming fall Limited Edition line. This fragrance is so good, that I'll probably make a set of complimentary products as well. As you can see, no matter the fact that our experiments may not always turn out to be what we imagined, the outcome can easily be nonetheless rewarding.

Ingredients in Banana Testing Soaps are: Virgin Olive Oil, Distilled Water, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil (from sustainable source), Sodium Hydroxide (saponyfying agent), Cocoa Butter, Castor Oil, Stearic Acid, Fragrance Oil.