The Soap Lab

My auntie used to be involved in a soap making project with the Combodi Sisters in Lusaka and Mongu. She took me over to the soap lab where I made 100% organic and natural soap with the sisters. It was amazing to see something so easy yet effective. The soap is really versatile and can be used to wash clothes and dishes too.

The small soaps made in silicone cup-cake moulds were 3 Kwatcha, which was around 15p.

You could also buy bigger bars which were 8 Kwatcha, still so cheap!

The main ingredient is the oil from the jatropha seed, the name means 'doctors nutrient' and is a nourishing oil for the inside and out, even promoting healthy teeth. The longest process of the soap making is extracting the oil by crushing. 

The rest of the process involves mixing the ingredients, water, sodium hydroxide, oil and then finish with essential oil. The soap is then left for around a month to cure.

I want to add a DIY element to my blog, while buying organic products is a positive step, actually having the ingredients to make a range of products would be more beneficial. I have seen some coconut oil bath melts on Pinterest, I am going to look at creating some of those and writing a tutorial style blog post.

RMS beauty review

Living Luminizer- This is the hero product according to RMS, and I completely agree. The product itself is really amazing, it has a lovely glow without being offensive, the strobing trend momentarily put me off highlighting, but this product cannot be over used. It is also said to be perfect for all skin tones, I am especially looking forward to seeing how it looks on deeper skin tones.

“Un” Cover-up – A concealer or foundation to reveal and enhance healthier looking skin… not just cover it up. This product really impressed me, I wake up most mornings with itchy, swollen eyes, previously I would take an antihistamine and slather Nivea cold cream on my face and hope it sooths by the time I’d do my make-up (which it rarely did but I pushed through the burning sensation if I want to look presentable). But no more, this product really has changed my life, as soon as I apply the product to my eyelids the swelling reduces in minutes.

Not only is this product great for soothing my face, the shade is incredible, in the past I had found it really difficult to get a shade fair enough with cool tones, up until my last foundation I had never had one that actually matched. I used to use No7 foundation in shade calico, which matched greatly so I was really unsure about trying a new product, but I’m glad I did. I got shade 00 from RMS and when first opening the jar I thought they must have sent me the wrong shade, it looked very yellow. Turning the pot over I had the correct shade in front of me, I dipped my finger in and smeared a little on my cheek, this was the wrong shade! But as I blended it in to my skin it disappeared, it melted into my face and was the perfect shade. I am very interested to see how to deeper tones also adjust to match the skin.

“Un” powder –the one and only powder you will ever need, the ultra-fine powder is virtually invisible, minimising pores, softening the skin and absorbing oil. Again I am really impressed, the thing that sets this powder apart from any other I have used is that it makes your skin feel like that of a new-born. I have never had such a soft face before, the first few times I used it I asked all of my friends to feel my skin, and they were also really impressed, saying they have not felt such a soft face. It really is incredible. The only concern with this product is the use on deeper skin tones, when I apply a little too much to the petals of my nose it can be seen, which would probably be very ashy on deeper skin tones. 

Supporting Social Media

I have been researching into what the best supporting social media accounts would be best for Liladescent.  I have been torn on the decision to use Facebook or not, while I realise it is a great platform to promote my blog on, it is not however a social media site that is considered cool. Instagram and tumblr seem to be the place to promote. 

I will be launching a Instagram page as there is so much happening with the holistic beauty movement, and also a Pinterest page as there are hundreds of organic beauty tutorials and recepies, which links with the blog perfectly. 

The Slow Beauty Manifesto...

I had a look on WGSN at their visionary board, I read almost every vision for A/W 17/18 and was really glad to see the direction beauty looks to be taking. Organic and natural products are in high demand with consumers wanting more honest and transparency from leading brands. 

I came across the slow beauty manifesto and reading this was like seeing the light. I have been finding it impossible to effortlessly explain my project concept to others, this beauty buzz article was really helpful for me, it has given me more confidence in my project idea, as it time I feel like people jut don't get it and don't understand why I would want to chose something like this for my FMP  

I wish I had seen this when writing for my proposal but I stayed in the visionary section, only now have I ventured all over WGSN. 

I could not have put it better myself...

It really bugs me when when people talk about organic beauty in the sense that regular beauty products won't kill you. I think having ingredients like formaldehyde in products is surely enough to even consider they might not be as safe as first thought. But then again the majority of these people don't have a skin condition to consider when putting all these chemicals over the body.

Delivery...

The items I ordered arrived, I am pleased with the oils I purchased from Neals Yard, they look and smell interesting. 

The make-up I ordered however is not what I would like for the blog. I thought the eye-shadows were organic, but it turns out they are 16% organic and the rest is natural ingredients. While the ingredients are natural, it is not to say they have not been through a lengthy factory process resulting in something that was a natural ingredient, not to say I think NYR would do that. But i think its really important to keep to my ethos, especially at the early stages of the process. While the colours are really nice I will not be featuring this make-up on the blog as it is technically not organic. 

I am planning to test shoot with my props arriving, the crystals are on their way and should be here, but I have plenty of other props to test shoot with. 

This is it...

The Final Major Project Development & Evaluation brief was introduced today and I met my mentor group, which I am pleased with. I am also happy to be in Emma’s mentor group as I like her teaching style and find her very easy to talk ideas with.

I feel positive about the reflective journal, as we were able to look at past examples around the table in our groups, I feel I can achieve the reflective writing style but at the same time feel apprehensive about keeping up to date with the entries- especially after busy days. This is something I really need to be organised with as my time management has let me down in the past.

I enjoyed hearing my peers concepts and ideas for their projects; I look forward to seeing the developments they make as well as what I produce.

I am bursting with ideas and cannot wait to get started with the project, though I am busy with the writing of my dissertation I feel confident I can manage the two projects along side one another. I made the conscious decision to base my projects on the same concept of organic and natural beauty in an attempt to benefit my studies, as previously I have struggled to multitask and think this is the best option for me to succeed. 

in the first meeting today we all gave an over view of our projects, I have been given some home work to look at still life imagery. I am excited to get started and be inspired...