First batch of soap with stick blender

So yesterday I said to myself "self, you need to get a stick blender!" so since I was so convincing, I went right down to the store and bought one,  along with a digital scale.  I know right about now you let out a gasp, surely she hasn't been making soap with a regular food scale and mixing by hand?  Well... yes, I have.  I now know what Ive been missing, although it has been a bit of a learning experience. 

First batch I made was a recipe largely made up of Vegetable shortening and coconut oil with smaller amounts of castor and Macadamia nut oil.  I had planned on coloring it with a lavender and slight vein of green, since I was going to scent it with lavender, sage and a touch of lemon.  Well I added the lye to the oils and almost immediately noticed it starting to trace.  So I mixed with the Stick Blender off, and then pulsated it a couple times.  Thats when panic set in, as I knew it was setting up quickly.  I separated some for 2 different colors and then without even thinking put the uncolored in the mold (no scent!) then attempted to swirl in the other 2 colors.  I covered the mold and just left it on the counter, no insulating.  This afternoon when I came home from work and took it out of the mold it was so hard! Not to mention the colors did not turn out the way they were intended.  So the only thing to do was rebatch it.  So I started cutting it into the crock pot, then decided it was so brittle Id grate it.  Which made it like powder.

This would be right out of the mold less than 24 hours later.  The lavender color turned pink and the green turned a yellowish color.  Yea, not exactly what I was going for but hey, now I know. 

Once it was all grated in the crock pot it was very pretty, a soft yellow with slight pink.  Would have been perfect for laundry soap if it was scented.  I'll post photos of what the end product is after rebatching.  Thankfully soap is almost never a fail.  Still I am in love with my new stick blender and digital food scale!