The Season of giving begins…in August?

All i can say is, “Wow!”

I cannot believe how fast my soaps and scrubs are selling. Customers are already stocking up for the holidays and what a better gift than something made locally and or by hand. Handmade soaps are pampering and special yet not incredibly expensive. I really think it’s a great idea! If you have loved ones that you would like to buy for but are unsure of which bars or jars to choose let me know… I have been helping people with personal shoppoing for years and love a challenge! EVERYONE uses Soap…or at least we hope they do…

Back to my inventory dwindling…Honestly…I’m kind of panicking.

What do I do if I run out? Work my butt of making more, that’s what! So tonight i start in on another batch of  these two~

Here they are, my two superstars – my number 1 & 2 sellers:

#1.

SWEET ORANGE & COCOA BUTTER

I really love this little bar..and by,  “little,” I mean it is the smallest bar i make… but, by NO means is it little.

When you have the monstrous Lime Castile soap to sit next to on the shelf…you start to look little.

Below, you can see this batch in its raw stage, this was just poured tonight and my whole place smells amazing, like fresh orange juice. Now, over the next 24 hours it will harden and start to smell less sharp and more sweet. I will then cut it, weight it, & let it cure for 6 weeks…or 4 depending on MN’s humidity.

This is a generous 4-5oz. bar that lathers well and is nice and hard. It was a funny process making this soap; the bar was super hard right away and the scent was overpowering. But, over time, as the bar hardened even more it seemed the scent was lost completely! I was SO worried…but then it came back again with its same sweetness and all was good. All was well.

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#2

GINGER & VANILLA BEAN

I love this bar because it’s simple. No swirls …just simple little specs of goodness.  It’s just so pretty to look at and so fun to make. You should have seen me the first time…I was covered in fresh ginger and sneezing like crazy! That stuff will get your nose running!

So, basically what goes into this pain staking soap is 1 lb of fresh ginger grated by hand and then expressed by hand to use as the liquid in the bar. Then I take 3 whole vanilla beans and remove all the seeds and pulp by hand. All this goes into the pot at just the right temp as to not burn off any essential oils or smells. It. Is. Hard!

What surprises me the most about this soap is probably its ability to lather..i mean REALLY lather…i think the ginger juice has something to do with it.

Now, if you are looking at either of these thinking that they will fill your room full of scent you are looking in the wrong place. They are actually a couple of  the most mild scented bars i offer. The orange is definitely stronger in smell but is still not pungent. The ginger is almost un-scented.

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The topic of scent is actually a pretty hot one in the soap making world. There is the side that roots for strong soaps that are scented so heavily that they could give any Bath & Body Works soap a run for its money, and then there is the camp that swears un-scented is the only way to go. I happen to fall right in the middle. First,  i’m not going to add ANY unnatural/synthetic perfumes to my products because i want to ensure that it is all natural but, that doesn’t mean that they cannot be strongly scented and fun. My lime castile is very STRONG and smells just like Lime Jell-O. Secondly, I do, however, love to allow the plants in my soaps to come through in their own way…just simple and sweet. Some soaps like the Ginger & Vanilla Bean are simply sweet all alone…

It’s true that as we age we lose some of our olfactory senses but,  i think a lot of it has to do with over saturation of scents and chemicals. If you remove yourself from the over whelming scents that attack you in mall hallways & your bathroom you’ll surprised at what you can smell…well, and remember to take your allergy meds.