New! Fresh Balsam

Fresh Balsam 3.75oz. $5.50

Meet the new kid on the block "Fresh Balsam" a blend of Sweet Orange, Fir Needle with a hint of Cinnamon.Fresh Balsam is bright with a definite citrus note and then somehow creamy with a hint of spice-a very interesting scent that I think will be nice not only for the Holiday season, but for year round. Fresh Balsam will be a fresh new addition to the shaving soap lineup.

This soap will be added to my Etsy shop mid November. I will be sure to let ya' know when it makes it's appearance. ;-)

Image From a Beautiful Fall Day

Obviously nothing at all to do with soap,but I just love this image so much that I wanted to share it. I took this a few days ago on one of those glorious days where you step outside and know that Fall is here.

"I just stepped outside to check the mail-the weather is gorgeous Fall is definitely in the air. The tree in my front yard is turning and dropping it's leaves-beautiful. On my way inside I noticed this perfect feather and a leaf from our tree-what a beautiful contrast. I wonder if it's a feather from the Dove that nested in our tree all summer?"

My New Favorite Acquisition

It was love at first sight-the very first time I saw this bowl on Etsy- I knew it had to be mine. I noticed it had been listed for quite some time, featured in many Treasuries, and favorited a ginormous amount of times. I cannot imagine why it had not been snatched up- I guess it was fate. I watched it for about 3 wks.- it was not really a necessity, but more of a desperate wanting. I tried to ignore it, to put it out of my mind, but I just knew it would look fabulous with a few soaps to fill it. Funnily enough, the more I tried to put it out of my mind the more it seemed to appear before me- the final straw was the night I popped onto Etsy and lo and behold it was on the front page. Okay, okay, I get it-that bowl and I were meant to be.

The bowl is a humble little vintage number, that to me, is perfect in every way-it's speckled glaze, it's coloration, it's texture, it's perfectly serendipitous drips, size, form-I'm in love! I'm sure you'll be seeing lots of this little number-after all we were meant to be.

Fine Soaps and Fall

  

Fine Artisan Soaps and Fall-they go together-naturally.

A Word On Random Acts of Kindness

A word on random acts of kindness-never underestimate how a very small act can make a difference in someone's day.

So admittedly, I have had sort of an off day today. I let it get late before I decided to eat, so I went through the drive thru. I don't eat out often, so I figured I would "treat myself." I got up in the line to pay for my food, and the lady at the window gave me my food and said"it's free" I thought she was joking so I handed her my $$ and she gave it back saying, "no, it's free." It seems the man in front of me or inside at the counter paid for my meal. I have heard of random acts of kindness like this,but have never been on the receiving end. I am here to tell you it can turn around someone's whole day. Thank you sir whomever you are!! I will do my best to remember for a very long time how very nice it felt for a perfect stranger to do something like that. ;-))

It seems like such a small thing, but at that very moment today it just made my day. ;-)

If you'd like to read more about "kindness distribution" and it's affects check out Ben's Bells.

Just Listed

Chef's Soap-3.75oz. $5.50

New! Chef's Soap-Strongly brewed coffee eliminates odors (think garlic, onions and fish) from hands while a smattering of coffee grounds provides gentle scrubbing action. Clove and Cinnamon essential oils leave a light lingering scent on your hands-Chef Soap is a true kitchen essential.

Read what one happy Chef Soap user had to say  "Your coffee soap is being loved up here by the kitchen sink. Marvelous lather, beautiful conditioning."

Pop over to Etsy and pick up any 3 round soaps and pay only $5.15 in shipping. 

Soap-A Great Way To Say "Thank You"

Handcrafted soap is a wonderful and memorable way to say "Thank You" to customers, host/hostess, friends, guests, bridesmaids, groomsmen, teachers, potential clients, mom, dad, your girlfriend, your boyfriend.....  Handcrafted soap with it's blissful aroma and luxurious enveloping lather makes a special and thoughtful gift for anyone special.

Soap-A Conscientous Wedding Favor

Handcrafted soap makes such a nice wedding favor. This couple was looking for something eco friendly to give each guest. I love the sentiment and message behind such a conscientious gift. Giving handcrafted soap is a huge wedding trend that makes so much sense-handmade soaps are personal,luxurious,cost friendly and memorable. Packaging can reflect your simple taste or your more "colorful" side with added embellishments. This order is divided into two separate scent selections, to give guests a choice.

It has been such a pleasure to be a part of this couple's celebration to come, and I wish them all the best in the years to come.

Deep Discount-The Results Are In

I could hardly sleep last night wondering what was going on inside my mold. My mold was tucked away complete with a high tech soap koozie and caps at both ends-making it a challenge to "take a peek"- besides taking a peek would've compromised the experiment altogether right? The whole objective of this experiment was to see if I could get rid of a plague of pock marks that have been haunting me for months. I have tried tweaking many things in the process of elimination to rid my soap of the dreaded marks-such as different molds, different lining, insulating, not insulating, cover, uncovering, practically sealing soap inside the mold and not peeking, various eo changes-you name it. Finally, we wondered if taking the water down more would help-which resulted in this trial. 

I can tell you that within an hour of pour things got HOT-really hot. I think that most of the late afternoon evening was spent on the cool down as I suspect gel happened fairly quickly. 

Fast forward to this morning-the soap was cool and HARD and ready to unmold right away. Once the soap was unmolded-I let it set for just a bit before diving in with the cutter.The outside was beautifully shiny and perfect, no blemishes or pock marks that I had been struggling with for several months now. I knew it would have to be cut sooner rather than later. Time is not on your side with soap this hard and a wire cutter. 

The cut- in the back of my mind I worried a bit that it might be too hard,but actually it cut very nicely. There was no usual gooey wet sound as the wires passed through the soap at all-but still it was smooth and efficient. There was of course a mild bit of crumbling (only the normal amount you get when cutting soap.)The end result was perfectly cut beautiful rounds that were already very hard. 

I can already see some clear advantages to this process. 1) I use less distilled water per batch=a little less cost per batch 2)less shrinkage occurring in my packaging 3)*** the pock marks I was getting fairly often I believe were a result of too much water in my batch(even though I was discounting to begin with) with this method the outside was shiny and perfect. 

From all I've read this method is not recommended for use with milk soaps, alcohol, sugar, or eo's/fo's that accelerate.,or formulas with shea etc that accelerate quickly-making this method somewhat limiting. 

I would also like to stress this is NOT a method for a beginner-you should know how weaker solutions react before trying this deep of a water discount.

Deep Discount

Soaping with a deep water discount. So, for the first time ever I soaped at a 1:1 lye water ratio. I was a bit scared after reading about it,but decided to take the plunge. Probably the most notable and scarey part is handling such a concentrated lye solution- as always you don't want to splash it in your eye or spill it on yourself. The other troubleshooting issues are really the usual-the possibility of acceleration or volcano. I view these issues as something you should ALWAYS be prepared to handle when you make soap. I used an eo blend I knew would not cause me trouble with acceleration to begin with(a blend of peppermint and spearmint) and just went for it. I was a bit concerned because I was using Extra Virgin OO which can accelerate even without such a lye concentration. Upon reading about using this sort of lye water ratio with my particular formula I found that it is in fact desirable to have a very hot gel-this aids the molecules into laying down once the soap is at the cooling stage + creates more glycerine. The results of this should a be a harder bar sooner(due to the lesser amount of water),however this does not mean the ph is settled sooner so a cure of 4-6 weeks is still recommended. I will keep you posted of the results as soon as I unmold.