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Pssst, I just made a special delivery of bar soaps and shave rounds to Hodgepodge Design at 26th and Boston. If you're local and need your "earthly delights" head on over before they're gone. Hodgepodge is now carrying 4 kinds of Tierra Verde shave rounds..Clove, Lavender, Olive Oil and Goat's Milk, and Fresh Aloe.
So, I'm looking through my blogs I follow this morning, and what should I run across, but a mention over on Simply Soaps Blog entitled Soap Heroes. First off, I would like to say that Gabbie has some of the most amazingly beautiful soap + photography + website design skills you will ever run across-so to be even mentioned is flabbergasting to me. I am just so chuffed to be mentioned I can hardly stand it.Thank you!
And because blog posts without photos are b-o-r-i-n-g! I give you a sneak peek at a photo for the new website update.
While it's probably safe to say many of the people that read this blog are other soapmakers or seasoned lovers of handmade soap, I hope that some of you are new to the lovely attributes of handmade soap-so with this in mind I would like to give you a few tips on care.
1. One of the best and most special qualities of handmade soap is "glycerin" a luxurious by-product of the chemical reaction that happens during the soapmaking process. Glycerin is "hygroscopic" meaning it attracts moisture from the air giving handmade soap it's wonderful humectant quality that attracts and holds moisture to the skin. This also means that if handmade soap is left sitting in water it will begin to absorb water forming a gooey, icky mess that will then begin the degradation process of the soap.
2. Handmade soap is best stored out of standing water where it can air dry between each use. This would mean using a soap dish that allows water to drain out the bottom and even better if it holds your soap up off the very bottom of your dish where water may pool. Also, consider finding a place in the shower where your soap will not be directly in the line of spray- as in directly under the shower head in a caddy etc.
3. Another great tip to increase the life of your soap; use your soap in conjunction with a washcloth or a mesh shower pouf instead of using soap directly on your skin.
4. Use your soap to the very last bubble by collecting the odd bits and pieces and putting them in a soap saver pouch. Place your bits and pieces inside the pouch pulling the drawstring closed and use like a washcloth-when done; hang your soap saver pouch to allow it to dry thoroughly until the next use. Soap savers allow you to use the last remnants of soap and exfoliate at the same time. Multitasking in the shower-I love it.
5. Store your soap in a cool dry place such as a drawer or linen closet-not under the sink where it may attract moisture from condensation etc. Ventilation is very important to properly storing handmade soap-non ventilated storage may result in a "weepy" or rancid soap bar. Always keep handmade soaps stored out of direct sunlight; direct sunlight is not a friend of handmade soap.Storage life varies depending on the formulation of handmade soap.
It's a new day here at Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps-as you can see the blog underwent a bit of a facelift last night(on a whim no less.) I am loving the new background + larger images and more open feel. It's a bit of a departure from all the brown of before-the color is something that is ever so slightly outside my box-but I think it is a much fresher feel that I could easily fall in love with.There are still a few things to tweak, but overall this is the new look. A website tweak will follow shortly with gifts sets added to the list of offerings.Yay!
You were probably expecting to see some snowy landscape, right? Instead, I was indoors playing with the camera while snowy drifts quietly accumulate outside. I''ve been trying to get the camera out several times a week. This is a newer camera, so I'm still trying to figure out settings and playing a bit with aperture/shutter speed and experimenting with backlight/frontlight for different effects.
This first example is an image that is backlit via my kitchen window-the lighting is naturally filtered through the snow clouds meaning it isn't too terribly harsh-a good day to take photos. I love this shot because you can see the lines that the cutter wires left behind due to the little bit of clay that is an ingredient in this shave soap. I think it's beautiful because it speaks of part of the handmade process of soap. I'm not sure what that very cool steel thing is that the soap is sitting on. I acquired it from a friend because I have a vision of turning into a very cool soap dish at some point. I want to say that it is a type of floral frog, but I'm not sure. If you have any idea please comment it would be cool to know for sure-it does have holes in it for perhaps stems or something it's steel and with a lip on one side, and flat on the other.
