Enticing handcrafted soaps are infused with luscious scents and herbs, and edible items, too. One does pay more for this indulgence, but the bars last longer than supermarket ones, and the enduring scent and soft texture of one's skin make it a worthwhile expense. After all, cleanliness is next to godliness.

Some beauty companies are on to this soap revival, too: the shower gels of the 90s have become uncouth, and a return to old-style soaps has emerged. Embossed, delicate, baroque and Victorian designs, prettily boxed, are quite desired by chic females. Handmade soaps have become stylish, as well, especially when sold by weight and sliced off in front of you, or by you. One such boutique is named Lush; based in England, it has branches all over the planet, and every beauty item offered is handmade in small, fresh batches and you will not find yourself doubting that fact. Lush's shops display heaps of odd-looking stuff of the sort that recalls a debacle in the kitchen, with things crumbling and oozing about, though smelling wonderful. Yet the browsing and shopping and applying experiences at Lush are so enjoyable that the company has encountered success.

Bulgaria has a similar boutique brand offering handcrafted soaps, though with less kitchen disaster and more composed artistry. Enchantingly named Casyopea, founded in 2002, I at first thought that this gem of a store was French, but it is in fact Bulgarian, and flourishing, too. One year ago, there were only three or four Casyopea shops; at present it has 11, including ones in Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus and Austria. I am assuming that the name comes from Cassiopeia, a constellation in the northern sky, named by Greek mythology after the vain queen of the same name who could not stop boasting about her beauty - rather appropriate.

Another Bulgarian brand making handcrafted soaps, though more often sold in beauty shops carrying many other brands, is Refan, whose products are also good, though its unmelodious name, I find, is a distraction. A beauty company should know that it is selling a fantasy, an experience, and choose its name appropriately, to avoid associations of refrigerators, or pest killers.

Handmade soaps are also popping up in pharmacies and gift shops, looking artisan and pretty; they are also a little bit cheaper than the branded ones.

Inspiration to create

As I enjoy luxury handmade soaps and adore crafty projects, I thought that I might save a little off the four leva per 100 grams, and try making these shower treats myself, for my family and as Christmas gifts last December 2007. Soon I was imagining my stunning creations being such a sensation that I would come to be known for my soaps among acquaintances, perhaps people would start ordering from me, maybe I could start a small business, possibly a large family-owned empire with a pretty name!

I scourged the internet for recipes on soap making and found so much information that it became disorientating. Yet I persevered and began attempting some of the formulas.

There are many different process for making soap at home, and my first batch scarred my enamel, cast-iron Le Creuset pot, which was supposed to last several generations, and produced "soap" that was in fact bread crumbs, and very unusable. An awkward outcome, and I am still in denial that I scratched my French pot, but I do make delicious soups with it.

The second batch was very good, a coconut and olive oil base with oats and lavender, both exfoliating and moisturising. The next batch, the more unisex lemongrass scented, was mediocre, and the Earl Grey (tea bags) and milk (powder) smelled of stale cake, and another batch of sweet orange and ground coffee wafted rancid aromas, mainly because the essential oil was well passed its expiration date. To put it otherwise, I made a lot of soaps, probably 50 bars, and most were bad and un-giftable.

In retrospect, I had made two basic mistakes: I did not have enough coconut oil, and I did not have sufficient knowledge of the use of fragrances and additives. Consequently, I gave up on my soap fantasy, gifted the good batch and hid the remaining bad soaps in laundry room cupboards, so as not to remind me of my failure.

The reason I did not have enough coconut oil was because, at the time, I could not find it on the Bulgarian market, though I happened to have some with me from America that I used, resulting in the one successful second batch. Coconut oil, of all fats, creates the most lather, the best lather, the white frothy, not large, just perfect small and medium never-ending bubbly lather. Though be wary, as coconut oil on its own is drying to the skin, and must be chaperoned by other moisturising oils, but without its addition I could not make good soap. A 100 per cent olive oil bar will soften the skin wonderfully, but one may find oneself feeling rather unclean, and yearning for that indispensable 20 to 30 per cent of foaming coconut.

Back to the cauldron

This winter, I came across coconut oil in some pharmacies, and the organic food-grade variety in health shops, the exact same one I had used from America - soap-making would be worthwhile again. This time around, without the illustrious ambitions, but perhaps still a little aspiration.

There are two methods for achieving soap. One is the cold-process method, where no heating is involved; instead, the soap must sit and wait a whole month, if not more, for the needed curing process to occur. This method is easier, and offers more creative options, and is most widely used by the mentioned handcrafted soap companies. But if time is of the essence, or you are not of a patient nature, there is the hot process of soap making, which involves heating and creates ready-to-use soap in a day. Now, both of these methods involve a chemical called lye, or soda caustic (as it is called in Bulgaria), on its own, a dangerous substance guaranteed to burn skin and flesh, and not to be used by children, or near children. In fact, it is best to make soap when the house is empty.

Better bars

Regarding the outcome of this year's soap making, well, they lather better and they are usable, but they are not the luxurious soaps, intoxicatingly scented, the aesthetically stunning bars I had envisioned, rivalling established boutiques'. I did not use enough fragrance or colouring, and the soaps have some mild crumbling and crease marks. I realise where my mistake is yet again.

The first year I concluded that the usage of coconut oil was obligatory, and regarding fragrances, that I must read more on the subject. This winter, I corrected my old mistakes by using coconut oil but, I now see that while the hot-making process is sufficient for a quick, mediocre result, it does not allow enough time to create the wonderful bar I yearn to attain. The timeframe between when the concoction has finished cooking to when it must be poured into the moulds before it begins to cool and dry is mere seconds, at best a few minutes, too stressful and rapid to mix in colour and scents and flower buds, and oats and chocolate chips, and whatnot, and consider flashpoints.

I suppose 2009 will see me venturing into the cold-process method, and until then, I am a devotee of other peoples' artistry. Nevertheless, I do recommend you give soap making a try. Have a go at both methods, though consider planning ahead, reading up and possibly the cold method.

Supplies:

-Online lye and fragrance calculator, and recipes, too. A must-read: theSage.com

-Lye ("soda caustic" in Bulgarian) can be found in most neighbourhood hardware shops at about three leva for small bucket of 700g. Lye is also one of the main ingredients in drain cleaners, so the remainder can be used to unclog your drains, by running the tap and placing a tablespoon down the drain.

-Coconut oil can be found in larger pharmacies under the Bulgarian brand Ikarov, in non-food grade form, which is quite suitable for soaps. The jars cost about three leva and are tiny, so you will have to buy a few. Organic edible coconut oil in a large container can be found in your neighbourhood health food shop, and in larger pharmacies.

-Bulgarian and foreign essential oils ("eterichno maslo" in Bulgarian) can be found in most pharmacies, Bulgarian ones averaging four leva each, and foreign ones more.

Directions:

Combine your oils in a large stainless steel bowl or pot and heat until the solid fats melt. Then, while wearing industrial or neoprene gloves and safety goggles, with all limbs covered and preferably outside (balcony), add the precisely measured lye flakes to the water in a different large, stainless steel bowl, and stir gently with a whisk until the flakes dissolve. You will see the mixture steaming, and as the chemical reaction occurs, leave the hot mixture outside to cool. Beware that you must add the lye to the water, as opposed to the other way around, as adding the water to the lye may cause an explosive reaction. When both the oil mixture and the lye mixture are cooled to about 40 degrees Celsius, combine the two mixtures, and bring the concoction inside. At this point, you must choose which method you would like to use:

For the cold-process method, begin stirring the mixture briskly either by hand or with an electric mixer and watch for a process called "trace" to occur. Trace is reached when the mixture thickens and holds the impression of your stir marks for several seconds. This can take anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes, and the process is quickened when using an electric mixer. Once trace is reached, you are ready to mix in the additives, such as food colouring, essential oils, and dry flower leaves or buds, or ground oats and other such items.

Regarding scents, essential oils and fragrances, oils give the most consistent results as opposed to using perfume, cologne or other random liquids, though you may experiment if you like.

Once you have mixed in all the additives, it is time to pour the mixture into moulds. In the West, one can find soap moulds with decorative shapes, but I have not seen any here, so you must use other creative techniques. For a rectangular solid block, bread tins are a good option, as are the containers of family pack q-tips, and plastic kitchen containers and boxes - basically, any stainless steel or plastic container will do. For round bars, use a short part of plumbers' PVC pipe, with one end closed off, and for children's soap, perhaps those toys for making shapes in the sand, but take note that the decorative shape will be on one side of the soap bar only, while the other will remain flat.

Grease the insides of your containers with oil, and pour in the soap mixture. Within a day or two, when the soap has hardened, take out the blocks, cut them into the desired bars, and leave to cure and breathe for a month.

For the hot process of soap making, continue to stir the mixture until opaque and place in a heated oven at 105 degreees Celsius. (Do not attempt the stovetop method, as that's what ruined my enamelled pot and resulted in sand soap.) Check the mixture every 20 minutes to stir it and look for a transformation into an applesauce consistency; this will take a total of about 60 to 100 minutes. At the end, all the dangerous lye will be cooked out, leaving the apple sauce-appearing soap, though slightly separated with some excess water, which you can now whisk into a homogenous mass, and, once cooled slightly, add the decorative and scent elements, and pour into the moulds as mentioned in the cold process, above. Smooth out the hot surface with plastic wrap.

Now, the tricky part is doing everything quickly, before the soap begins to dry and becomes un-pourable, also taking into consideration the fragrance flashpoint, which I believe refers to the maximum temperature that an essential oil can tolerate before it is ruined and turns rancid. For more information regarding fragrance flashpoints, and lye-to-fat ratios, the definitive source is a website called Majestic Mountain Sage. Before you even begin gathering supplies for a soap-making project, do read up and prepare thoroughly. 

Ingredients for a basic recipe:

16 oz/453g olive oil (not extra virgin)
8 oz/226g coconut oil
9 oz/225g water
3.35 oz/95g lye

Oven at 105 degrees Celsius