Soap Giveaway Winners!

 Soap giveaway winners!!

Drum roll please.................................

The three Pumpkin Swirl Soap giveaway winners are:

Rebecca
Tabitha
Jessica Aiduk

Congratulations!  To claim your soap, send me an e-mail a raisinacresfarm@gmail.com with your name and address.  Soap will be in the mail by Friday.

Oh, and the first day of September is really the 22nd this year..... ;-)

Thank you to all who participated.

Pumpkin and Fall Soap Give Away

 

The first day of fall isn't until September 21st but many of us are already thinking about the cool, crisp days and smell of pumpkin pie baking in the oven.  Maybe it has to do with the kids going back to school and the cooler evenings, but for me September signifies fall, way before the 21st rolls around. 

Pumpkins play a starring roll in fall decorations, drinks, and food.  Pumpkin tastes good and is good for you, the trick is to limit the sugar you consume with it.  

One way to get the benefits of pumpkin without the calories is to put it on your skin.  There is a post here that discusses the skin care benefits of pumpkin. 

I love the way goat milk soap feels on my skin and the benefits of pumpkin.....without the calories ;-) 

 

To celebrate, we made Pumpkin Swirl Soap and want to to share it with you. Three lucky winners will receive three bars of Pumpkin Swirl goat milk soap. 

 

To enter: Comment on this post with how you like to use pumpkin and "like" the post by midnight September 9th.

Three winners will be announced on September 10th.

Healthy goats, healthy goat milk, healthy goat milk soap

The health of our goats is very important to us.  If our goats are healthy their milk is healthy and will have lots of nutrients and minerals.  Healthy goats require good management and good nutrition.We are constantly evaluating our management practices to ensure healthy animals.  We like to use a holistic approach in all we do. Prevention is the key, prevention through good nutrition and good environment.

We feed non-GMO, organic as possible grains, feed, and alfalfa to our animals as well as the organically produced vegetables and herbs we grow here. They are given free choice minerals, fresh water, and allowed to get lots of exercise and sunshine while roaming the fields of the farm. One of my favorite things to do is take them for a walk.  They get to eat tons of yummy leaves, weeds, and twigs and I get to be in god's creation and meditate on the beauty of it.

Our goats are like members of our family.  I've been know to share a few secrets with them and a hug or two for comfort. They know their names and run to your to get attention. 

At Raisin' Acres, the milk is carefully produced for our family and for the soap we make.  That way we know the quality of the milk that goes into our bodies and our products. 

 The benefits of goat milk soaps.

• Goat milk soaps are free from chemicals that may hurt you and are in a PH range that is similar to human skin.  This makes goat milk soap a mild soap that is safe for all skin conditions.

• Goats milk has alpha-hydroxy acids;  they help cleanse by naturally exfoliating dead skin cells. 

• It has triglycerides,nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that nourish and act as natural emollients that help moisturize and feed your skin.

• Has been shown to soothe and calm dry, inflamed skin and help with aging and wrinkles.

 

Why do you suppose Queen Cleopatra bathed in goat milk and was purported to have beautiful skin? Not all of us have a herd of goats to fill our tubs with milk but we do have access to goat milk soap and it's benefits. However, you need to beware, not all goat milk soaps are the same.  Some soaps are made with a small percentage of goat milk, powdered goat milk, or canned goat milk. When shopping around, be an informed consumer and ask how the soaps are made.  

At Raisin' Acres, we are committed to the quality of our finished soaps.  This quality starts with the animals that we care for and carries through to the finished bars of soap. If you are interested in trying our soaps go to www.raisinacresfarm.com and check us out.

Let's Talk Soap

We make soap here.  For a few years I wanted to make homemade soap but was afraid to handle the lye used to make cold process soaps. A friend that made soap graciously offered for me to come over and make some with her.  Since then we have been trying all kinds.  It can be a lot of fun coming up with new ideas and trying them out. In keeping with our philosophy about natural ingredients, we only use essential oils and botanicals in our soaps including 100% of the liquid portion being Goats milk from our hard working girls in the barnyard. We only make soap the cold process way...not hot process and not melt and pour. I guess because melt and pour isn't as creative and the cold process way works and I haven't been interested in learning another way, yet.

What is Cold Process?  It is close to the process our great grandmother's used when making soap on the homestead.  Instead of using wood ash we use lye and instead of saving the leftover grease from cooking we have many choices of oil to use.

Here is a definition of Cold process from The Soap Queen site:

 COLD PROCESS: Cold Process soapmaking is the act of mixing fixed oils (common oils include Olive, Coconut and Palm) with an alkali (Sodium Hydroxide or Lye). The result is a chemical process called saponification, where the composition of the oils change with the help of the lye to create a bar of soap. One of the main benefits of cold process soapmaking is having complete control over ingredients. Depending on the ingredients you use, cold process soapmaking typically yields a long-lasting bar of soap. A downfall is that due to the chemical process, there are serious safety considerations to take into account and not all fragrance oils, essential oils, and colorants survive in cold process, thus limiting design options. Plus, patience is a virtue as this process involves a 4-6 week curing time.

People are concerned when they see that lye is used in soap making.  If you  had chemistry class in high school you will remember that when you mix a base with an acid, you form a neutral. This is exactly what happens in the soap making reaction. The base (lye) mixes with the acid (oil or fat) to form a neutral (the soap). So during the saponification  process the lye is converted and becomes inert in the bar of soap.  Actually this reaction produces glycerin which is wonderful, moisturizing, and mild on your skin.

Soap can be used after a few days since the saponification process is complete but it will not be very hard and will not last long unless it is allowed to cure for 4-6 weeks. The longer the bar cures, the harder it will become due to the liquids evaporating.  The harder the bar, the longer it lasts.  Next time you purchase homemade soap you might want to ask how long it has been curing so you know whether to go home a use it or let it sit for a little longer. 

I take the trimming from our soap and re-batch them to make what is called a hand-milled soap.  I put the in a crockpot with a little water and warm them up enough to pour them into soap mold. Let it cool and cut bars.




 This is a container with the trimmings.








I'm glad I finally got the courage to make soap, our family will never go back to the chemical ladden soap in the soap aisle. We have soaps for sale on our website at www.raisinacresfarm.com if you don't have time to make your own.  If you have been on the fence, you can do it. If you do it you (and your skin) will never be the same again.