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This is the third year I’ve made soap using our year’s supply of leftover bacon grease (see prior full post on the process here). When you only do a craft once a year, it’s hard to get good at it. I tried a new recipe this year, and the soap came out a bit on the soft side. And I still haven’t mastered the aesthetics of making a bar of soap that has beautiful colors or swirls. I would have to eat a lot more bacon (or start collecting from friends) if I was going to the point of being a practiced soapsmith, which sort-of goes against the point of the whole process.
After six weeks of curing, however, I have employed some of the uglier results for my own home use. I have to say that even if the results aren’t the prettiest, the soap is incredibly moisturizing. I have major problems keeping my hands from cracking in the SoCal dry months, and this is the only soap that I can use frequently without problems.
For gift giving, I worked on upping the visual ante via packaging. Designing the labels for the soap gave me a great excuse to brush up my illustrator/ photoshop skills, and I’m really pleased with the results.