Mini Apple Pie Wax Tarts

You've probably already heard about the latest craze in the world of candles and aromatherapy: wax tarts! Many companies have been quick to incorporate this idea into their product lines, and we have even seen entire home party businesses built around these fun and decorative tarts. Essentially, they are exactly that- small pieces of wax which can be melted to release a wonderful scent. They can be melted on top of oil diffusers like the selection we carry here at Voyageur, or in the specialized plug-in melters that you may have seen featured at sales parties lately.

When we recently saw how easy wax tarts are to make on Pinterest, we knew we wanted to give them a try! You also may have seen that we recently brought in a selection of molds for wax tarts from our friends at Milky Way Molds.  These little gems come in such wonderful designs and are even great used to make Melt & Pour Soap embeds.

One of the best things about making your own wax tarts is that the possibilities are endless! You can make them as decorative or as plain as you would like. You can have so much fun playing around with candle colourants, fragrance oils, essential oils and fine detailing, making them great for personal use or as beautiful handmade gifts.  Plus many wax tarts on the market are made from paraffin wax but we found that our EcoSoya Pillar Blend melted wonderfully, which is great for those that are wanting to stay away from petroleum based products and use natural vegetable derived waxes.

When we got our shipment of wax tart molds, it was like Christmas morning as we became excited at the prospect of making our own wax tarts. We couldn't help but notice that the detailing on top of the Celtic Knot Mold resembled the delicious woven top of a pie! We soon knew that the first wax tart project had to Mini Apple Pie Wax Tarts! We think they turned out pretty well, and they melt beautifully.

To make these, you will need:

The Celtic Knot Milky Way Wax Tart Mold

EcoSoya Pillar Wax

Candle Dye #26 - Golden Honey

Candle Dye #1 - Red

Apple Pie Fragrance Oil

Soap Injector Tool (Optional)

Each cavity in the mold holds .25 oz, so you do not need very much wax to make all 9 tarts (only 2.25 oz or 67.5 grams)

As I mentioned previously, these wax tarts can be made to suit your creativity and are very easy to customize.

You want about 3/4 of the wax to have the Golden Honey colour, so separate just a small portion of wax that will be coloured red for the "pie filling".

First, melt the majority of the wax for the "pie crust" in the microwave (We used a small glass measuring cup which worked very well and cleans easier than plastic). Melt it in 30 second bursts, stirring between intervals. The ideal temperature that you want to achieve is around 150 degrees Celsius. Now add colour and fragrance. Cut or grate the candle dye into small shreds and add into the hot wax. Stir in well and keep in mind that when the wax cools it will be lighter in colour than it appears when in it's liquid stage. As far as fragrance goes, add as much or as little as you would like- since there is no flame coming in contact with the wax, you don't run the risk of the fragrance catching fire.

You want to pour the wax into the mold at as close to the 150 degree mark as possible, so try to work fast when adding the colour and fragrance and keep in mind that the fragrance will drop the temperature. Re-heat in the microwave if you feel the need.

Since the knotted detailing area on the top is so shallow, it is very hard to pour such a small amount of wax straight from the melting container. I found it easy to use the soap injector tool. Cut a bit of the tip of the injector tool off to allow you to dispense a better amount of wax.

Try not to fill above the knot indent. This may be tricky at first but gets easier with practice. Of course, the knotted area is such a small portion of the wax you have melted for the "crust", so just set the rest aside and re-melt when you are ready to fill the rest.

Allow the wax in the mold to cool fully (this takes almost no time at all), before adding more wax.

Melt your secondary container of wax and follow the same steps by adding colour and fragrance. I would recommend using the soap injector tool for this part as well. You can either use a secondary tool, or clean out the injector tool that you used before, using boiling water.

You will notice that there is a small lip or indent on the face of the mold, under the knot. I have circled a bit of it here:

The goal is to try to only fill that area with the red wax. It is hard to do, and looks just fine even if you fill over the line a bit, but it really emphasizes the pie "crust" being separate from the "filling" when you have that definition. In the photo of the finished tarts above, I picked two of the ones that were the most successfully detailed.

Once you are done with the red area, re-melt the rest of the brown wax and once the red layer has cooled, pour the rest in, filling the molds. This part is much less intricate and can be done by simply pouring from your container.

And there you have it: Mini apple pies! And just imagine the variety of little pies you could make. Blueberry cobbler is next the list..or perhaps Bee Tarts scented with Oatmeal, Milk and Honey! 

With warm regards, 

The team at Voyageur Soap and Candle



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Voyageur Firsts!

Here at Voyageur we always encourage our staff members to experiment and come up with new, creative project ideas.  When they make something extraordinary we feel that it needs to be shown to the world!  Here is Voyageur's first guest post by our fantastic customer service rep Britney, we hope you all enjoy it!

There's a first for everything. After over 6 months of working at Voyageur, I decided that it was time to take up soap making! I wanted to start simple, with a basic melt and pour soap- something to suit the season of Autumn (my favorite). When I came across this neat technique for making "Tie Dye" melt and pour soap, I thought it would work perfectly in creating a maple leaf soap which would mimic a fallen leaf with it's many brilliant Autumn colours. We just received a new Mold Market Soap Mold in the shape of maple leaves. How perfect!

I chose Goat Milk melt and pour for the base. As you can see here, I cut up a 1lb block of the soap base to start. As for the colourants I chose Red, Orange and Canary Pre-Diluted Labcolors and Brown Iron Oxide. I chose the oh-so-delicious Apple Pie Fragrance Oil to scent the soaps. One of the key elements to this swirling technique is alcohol in a spray bottle (not shown above). I used some rubbing alcohol I had already at home.

 To start, I randomly scattered some drops of the diluted Labcolors directly into the mold.

I divided up the 1lb block and melted it until it was a very light liquid consistency, using roughly 75% of the block as my white base and in the remainder I mixed in some Brown Iron Oxide. This made a dark chocolatey-brown. Although not a part of the initial recipe I had found, I thought that a brown swirl in the leaf would help it look more realistic.Upon melting my soap, I added the Apple Pie Fragrance (by the way, this is also a great trick for making your friends and family think you just baked a pie - the whole house smelt FANTASTIC!).

I don't have a photo to demonstrate the next step, as there simply weren't enough hands! With both soaps melted, I poured both colours into the mold slowy, at the same time. I ensured that I poured more white than brown, as I wanted the brown to be simply an accent colour.

At the same time I had my lovely assistant (my mother) stand near and intermittently spray the soap with the alcohol as I poured. You could see the labcolors begin to swirl- this looks so neat!

When I was finished filling the molds cavities with soap, I added a few more drops of Labcolor to the top, particularly around the edges, and spritzed the stop with a few more bursts of the alcohol.

 
The coolest part is that the Labcolors continuously swirl and move around the soap on their own- it looks like some kind of magic. I can see this being a great, entertaining project to do with kids.

I was so eager to see the fruits of my creation that I stuck them in the freezer in order to set the soap faster.

When I popped them out, I was sadly disappointed.

Firstly, my most prominent mistake was adding far too much Iron Oxide. The brown that it created was much too dark for what I had wanted. A mere sprinkle of Oxide powder would have sufficed. As well, I remembered that I had poured the brown at a slightly higher temperature than the white.
I also found that the Red Labcolor turned out to be a fuchsia pinky-purple colour. Not exactly what I had desired.

After seeing my results, I consulted the rest of the Voyageur team about my melt and pour mishap. They reminded me that the best thing about melt and pour soap is that you can so easily re-melt and re-pour!

To fix what I had done, I simply repeated the process that I had done, but altered my steps slightly.

I cut up and melted 2 of the 3 initial leaves I had made. I then used this for my new, lighter brown colour. I also cut up my second 1 lb block and melted it down to be my new white soap base.

This time, I did NOT use the Red Labcolor - I wanted to avoid the pink.
While I did not use the red, I was more fearless this time in adding more yellow and orange colour. I added a lot of the additional colour after filling the molds to the edges of the mold which made a very neat swirl look to the sides of the leaves.

Here is the finished product.

I am very happy with my secondary results! Over and above the practical knowledge that comes from experience, I think the most important lesson learned is that experimentation is half the fun when it comes to creating something new. Keep in mind that even if your project doesn't turn out as you had anticipated, there is great value in learning from mistakes.

Sincerely,

Britney

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Lavender Avocado Loaf

Lavender is a wonderful floral that is world-renowned for its therapeutic properties as well as its beautiful scent.  You may not know, however, that lavender is used extensively in cooking and can be added to breads, cakes, cookies, blended with sugar, or even in savoury dishes like lamb, beef, and potatoes.  We found this recipe (on Allrecipes.ca) for a light and moist loaf that is perfect for an early-fall evening where the leaves are just starting to change colours. Here are the ingredients:

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (softened)

1 3/4 cups white sugar

3 eggs (at room temperature)

1 1/2 cups mashed avocado

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons dried lavender buds

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.  Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next.  Beat in the avocado and lemon juice with the last egg.  Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated.  Fold in the lavender and lemon zest, mixing just enough to combine.  Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

3. Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, or about 50 mins - 1 hour.  Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool further on a wire rack.

We found this loaf to be super moist due to the avocado, and is delicious warm or cold out of the refrigerator.  With fall fast approaching we know we'll make it again and enjoy it with a cup of hot tea!

Sincerely,

The Voyageur Team

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The Science of Scent

When making body care products, soaps, or cosmetics, we all understand that it's very important what scent we use to fragrance the product.  Have you ever wondered why scent is so influential?  Just take a look at the big bath & body stores who market their products for their scent and look along, not necessarily for the benefit of the produdcts themselves.  Scent is the most powerful sense our body uses.  Research has shown that scents can evoke more emotions that images or words.  Fragrances can even trigger emotions that influence conscious thought!

When your nose smells a scent your brain registers the odour in the olfactory bulb, which is in the brain and linked to memory and feeling.  It communicates with the emotional processor and the associative learning center when it registers a fragrance.  When you smell a fragrance for the first time your brain will register not only the smell, but the emotions you feel, the event at hand, and the people or items around you.  Each time you smell that scent in the future, your brain will link to the first time you smelled that scent as well as the emotional state you were in.  This triggers subconscious memories and relations to that smell, which then alter your mood and your perception of things around you.   

   

Wait, what?  Scent can alter your perception?  It's true, scent actually has the shortest path to your brain so your reaction to a fragrance will change your mood and emotional state subconsciously before you even realize it! 

In fact, science is suggesting that scents have a drastic influence on mood, social interaction, and productivity.  In Tokyo some of the major companies will release scent into their offices to evoke certain behaviours; ie. energizing citrus in the morning, calming florals at mid-day, and a minty pick-me-up in the late afternoon.  It is said that the Tokyo stock exchange vents peppermint through the ducts to promote mental alertness and enhance memory retention.   Here are some examples of fragrances and their effects on our psyche:

• Natural plant odours have a tendency to increase calmness, create a more alert state of mind and a better overall mood

• Orange, Lavender,Coffee, and Licorice can give a longer attention span when presented with information

• Citruses generally uplift and stimulate the mind.  This is because they are more volatile, meaning their molecules evaporate quickly after our nose smells them.  Our brain can sense this quick movement and it produces stimulating results

• Floral smells generally promote happiness and a positive demeanor.  One study showed that florals have a tendency to promote social interaction
• Pine is said to be energizing while at the same time releases tension and evokes a connection to nature that is frequently overlooked in daily life.
• Mint is used to enhance memory and increase alertness.
• Lavender is universally used for its calming and relaxation properties.
• Cinnamon is said to fight exhaustion and fatigue while calming down your nervous system and increasing awareness.
• If you're feeling like you're in a funk, it might help to mow your lawn.  The scent of cut grass may trigger reassuring childhood memories.
• Vanilla is used widely for its calming, soothing properties.  Studies have shown that people who smell vanilla will have a more pleasant mood and positive perspective. 

The seasons also have an effect on our scent choices; in spring and summer time we are definitely more inclined to choose citruses, such as lemongrass, and clean florals, like our Butterfly Orchid.  In the fall we will gravitate towards cozy scents like Pumpkin Spice, and in winter we tend to choose peppermint andCranberry Fig.  Seasonal scents do make a difference! 

Scent and Colour

A component of scent that we might not be aware of is the relationship it has to colour.  Because the brain brings up images when you smell something, it is important to visualize what the scent looks like.  When test subjects were given a fragrance to smell and a colour was shown at the same time, the test subject was more likely to recognize the scent if the colour was related to it.  For example, if they were given a cherry fragrance they were more likely to guess what it was if they were shown the colour red.  When they identified the fragrance correctly they were more likely to rate its pleasantness higher.  When they were given a confusing combination (ie. strawberry with a green colour) they were less likely to recognize it and deem it a pleasant scent.  This is very important to the cosmetics industry, especially soapmaking.  Creative colour combinations are useful for adding a simulating visual aspect, but when the colour has no relation to the scent it may be off-putting to many people and reduce sales for that item.  In this competitive market you have to be creative and set yourself apart, but the visual aspect of your products should still make logical sense with the fragrance.

How to Incorporate Scent into Everyday Life

A big part of aromatherapy is the ability that scent has to change a person's mood or state of mind. Although essential oils do have therapeutic value, emotions and thoughts are still triggered by fragrance oils as well.   A couple popular ways to enjoy scents are:

• Use them in a diffuser.  Different fragrances placed around the home at different times of the day can enhance your day to day life significantly.  Try diffusing lavender around bedtime or cinnamon when you're doing late-night work at home.
• In body care products. Next time you make or purchase soap, lotion, or candles, keep in mind what effect that fragrance will have on you and your customers.  
• In perfume sprays.  Mix two parts Polysorbate 20 with one part fragrance, stir well, then add it to water and package into a bottle with mister.  You can keep travel sized fragrances for the office, a friend's house, or in the car.   

Although every person is different and will perceive fragrances in their own way, it's valuable to know what potential effect your fragrance could have on the consumer, or even on yourself!  So next time you're formulating a new product keep in mind the huge effect the fragrance will have!

Sincerely,

The Voyageur Team

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Voyageur's Secret Swirl Technique

Our signature item here at Voyageur would have to be our cold process bars of soap.  Our beautiful, hand-crafted bars are made with premium soap oils and all natural ingredients.  We get at least a couple customers a day in our storefront asking how we do our feathery swirl, so we decided to share our technique with the world!  We do our swirl by the in-the-pot method, this creates a light swirl that is subtle and delicate.

First is to always have your station ready before you start.  Here we have our stainless steel mixing pot, our whisk and spatula, our stick blender, our colourants pre-measured in a bit of water, our fragrance, and our lye solutions.  We measure our lye into 3 containers when doing a batch of 40 bars to make it easier to incorporate.  

We then add our lye into the oil mixture and blend, alternating between hand whisking and stick blending. 

We do this repeatedly for about 5-10 cycles until the soap comes to a light trace.  

The next step is to add the fragrance.  We are making our Lavender Bergamot soap so we used a blend of Lavender and Bergamot essential oils.  

We will now grab the measuring cup with the titanium dioxide (water or oil soluble, you can use either) and we add some of our soap mixture to it until we have a full measuring cup.  You can set this aside for later. 

The next step is to blend our ultramarine pink/water mixture into the rest of our soap mixture using a whisk.    Continue to blend until an even colour is achieved.

   

Handy Tip!  Keep a small vessel of water on hand so you can rinse out your stick blender in between uses.  We will zap the water for a few seconds to ensure it gets properly cleaned off.  Use your stick blender to mix the titanium dioxide/soap mixture and thicken it.  Our soap maker, Jack, likes to have the white soap at quite a heavy trace.  

We will then pour the white soap mixture into the pot of purple soap in the following design:

Starting with a small circle in the middle of the pot very close to the soap then widening the circles until your're quite high above the soap pouring circles around the edges.  

And that is it!  No further mixing required.

We will then pour the soap mixture into our pre-lined mold.  

Jack alternates pouring the soap in a horizontal, then vertical fashion until the soap is almost all poured, then he pours around the border to ensure the mold gets completely filled. 

Look at that swirl already visible in the mold!  What a great pour.  Once the mold is full, insulate it well and wait 24 hours to un-mold.  

And there you have it!  A stunning swirl done by the in-the-pot method.  Try it on the next batch of soap you make!

Sincerely, 

The Voyageur Team

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Unique Soap Mold Candle Idea

Check out this awesome candle creation by our very own Nicole Sherwood!

Inspired by the funky “Retro Flowers” Mold Market mold and her love of candles, Nicole thought up this cool idea- proving that soap molds do not have to be limited to being just that.

Nicole used  EcoSoya PB-Advanced (Pillar Blend) for these candles to ensure that they would pull away from the mold when cooling, ensuring easy removal. 

Once she had melted her wax, she separated it into three containers to which she added the individual colours to. She chose to use Candle Dye Blocks: #12 Lime, #8 Sunflower and #2 Pink. Nicole proceeded to fill the molds much as anyone would create detailed Melt and Pour Soap. She used pipettes to fill in the surface design cavities with her desired colours, and then let the wax cool for a little while to prevent bleeding when adding the second layer. She proceeded to fill the mold cavity with the colours she chose for the base and let the candles harden overnight. 

Of course, the challenge presented when making candles in soap molds is wicking! Once the candles were fully hardened, Nicole had her handyman boyfriend drill holes in the center of the candles with a 3 mm drill bit. She also believes that if you don’t have the means to be drilling holes, you could simply heat a metal skewer in boiling water and push it through the candle. Nicole used our HTP 62 x 1.25” wicks- but you could use any HTP wick depending on the size of the mold you are using. 

While she was sad to see her beautiful candles melt, Nicole has reported that they burned beautifully.

We encourage you to try it yourself! We carry so many fun soap molds which would make great summer themed candles. A few molds to consider are the Flip Flop Sandals, Hibiscus Flower, Sunflower, or Smores.

If you make a soap mold candle, feel free to share a picture! We would love to see your creativity in action.

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Citrus Basil Soap Recipe

We realized that it has been quite a while since we've released a new cold process soapmaking recipe, so we devised this exceptional formula for a buttery Citrus Basil Soap.  Containing nourishing shea oil and superfatted with healing calendula oil, this soap is perfect for dry skin and it is lightly coloured with Annatto powder to give it a summery glow.  The combination of basil and litsea cubeba essential oils brings a fresh, energizing aroma to the shower.  This formula has fast become a favourite among the Voyageur staff!

The formula for a 2 lb batch:

250 grams Palm Oil

250 grams Coconut Oil

200 grams Apricot Kernel Oil

60 grams Shea Oil 

110 grams Lye (Sodium Hydroxide)

225 grams Water (Soft or Distilled)

15 ml Calendula Oil

1/8 teaspoon Annatto Powder

12 ml Litsea Cubeba Essential Oil blended with 8 ml Basil Essential Oil

1/4 to 1/2 cup Calendula Petals

Instructions:

Prepare the work area:

1. Before starting, set up your work area with all the equipment, ingredients, and molds you'll need. We used the 2 lb Wooden Soap Mold and it worked perfectly.
2. Prepare your molds, if using a wooden soap mold it will need to be lined with parchment paper. Check out our section on Using Soap Molds for more detailed information.

Mixing the key soap ingredients:

1. Measure out the oils that you will use and set them aside. Keep the Calendula Oil separate to add after the other oils.
2. Put on glasses or goggles and rubber or latex gloves. Weigh the lye and set it aside.
3. Place measuring cup on scale and weigh out the water.
4. Slowly add the lye to the water while stirring with a small whisk or fork. The fumes may be quite strong after 10 seconds, so hold your breath. Leave the area for one or two minutes and then return and stir again to be sure the lye is fully dissolved. The lye solution will be heated to approx 180 degrees F, so set the cup aside to cool down to the soap making temperature.
5. While your lye is cooling, prepare the oils. Heat in the microwave or on a double boiler until the oils have liquefied and are at, or slightly above, the soap making temperature.

Making your soap:

1. When the lye solution and the oil mixture are both at the soap making temperature, you are ready to make soap. Wearing your gloves, slowly drizzle the lye water into the oils, stirring quickly and carefully by hand. Once the lye has been well mixed into the oils, you may use your stick blender, being sure to keep the blender submerged in the mixture to avoid any splashing, and run for only 15 seconds at a time.
2. Alternate between hand whisking and stick blending for equal amounts of time to ensure your soap is getting thoroughly and evenly mixed. Do this for two alternating cycles, then add your Annatto powder to the 15ml of Calendula oil that was put aside, stirring well to avoid clumping. Drizzle this slowly into the soap mixture, and alternate again between using the stick blender and hand whisking.
3. Stirring must be maintained until soap reaches the trace stage, or when you run your whisk through the mixture and you can see the lines left behind it.  
4. Add your essential oil blend at this time, mixing well. After the soap is fully mixed, you may add the Calendula Petals. Add them a small amount at a time, mixing well by hand in between. The mixture should be smooth, with no lumps or unmixed watery liquids.  Pour the soap into the mold quickly, gently guiding it in with a spatula.
5. Cover the filled mold or molds with a piece of cardboard or brown freezer paper, and then cover with a towel or blanket to retain the heat in the soap mixture. Leave undisturbed for 24 to 48 hours. During this period, saponification (the process of becoming soap), is completed. With a balanced formula such as this one, all of the soap oils and all of the lye have been fully converted into soap and glycerin at this stage.
6. Remove soap from molds after the saponification period. If using a lined larger mold, turn out onto a piece of brown paper or cardboard. If using smaller plastic molds, it helps to place the molds in the freezer for 15-30 minutes, remove and then leave for 5 minutes before tapping the soap out of the mold. This prevents crumbling of edges, etc.
7. If you used a loaf-style soap mold, you may cut the loaf into bars within 24 hours of un-molding.  
8. Place the soap bars back on storage shelf to continue curing (we like to cure our bars for 4 weeks) turning the soaps once a week to expose all sides to the air. After curing, your soap is ready to use.
9. Enjoy!

A big thanks to our soap man, Jack, who was my model and demonstrator in the photos above.  Chances are if you've bought bars of soap from us in the past little bit, they've been made by Jack!  We hope you like this formula as much as we all do here at Voyageur!

Sincerely,

Tawnee and the Voyageur Team

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