SOAP STORIES | CRAFTING IN MICROBATCHES

 Dehydrated! These are solar powered dehydrators used to dry the left over cake from the apricot kernel oil which is cold pressed in the traditional "ghani" or "kohlu" a ginormous wooden and steel mortal pestle. The extract powder is hand pounded and goes into making the wonderful skin perfecting Purearth Face Sand and Himalayan Salt Body Polish.

Gosh, doesnt this look good enough to eat? Pudding anyone? We spend a funnn afternoon in the workshop kitchen experimenting with a new soap recipe at my request. The ladies have been taught to make small batch (35 to 36 a batch) cold processed soap with locally harvested madder root, rhododendron petals, hemp and seabuckthorn berry seeds, rosemary, cedar wood oil and practically everything and anything that grows wild in the forests.  The soaps are left to cure on wooden racks in the crisp pristine mountain air for nearly two months and then lovingly hand cut and hand wrapped.  Soapalicious! All photos taken by Kavita Khosa