Warming up for Winter

I hadn't realised how long it has been since I posted on here. Summer is disappearing and I'm getting used to the shorter days. It's hard to think of the cold and dark to come, but autumn and winter does have its bonuses; the pears are ripening, the wild mushrooms are popping up in the woods and I can mark the changing season with some new scents and designs for soaps and bath treats.

This week I have mixed up a a warm and inviting blend of Orange, Tangerine, Clementine, Cinnamon and Vanilla oils to bring on the autumn/winter season. I made some squirls, squiggles and buttons out of a natural melt and pour soap that I have to add some interest to the top. Some of it half melted in the gelling stage, so has made shapes that I couldn't have come up with if I had tried. I've pushed in some short pieces of cinnamon bark and added a few seeds. The body of the soap is layered and then I have pushed a shaped bucket handle through the layers to feather them. I'm calling it Winter Spiced Posset, although I am not entirely clear what a posset is.