got some exciting things going on in my production area! but before i get to that, thought i should let you know that the shampoo bar and the lemon lavender bar will be coming out this week! both will be online and in store.
shampoo bar has been here before, but not with the cute little paw print stamp i found to use lol and the lemon lavender bar is a newbie - i had a new ingredient i needed to test out before the holidays and i decided to make a lemon lavender batch with it - you cant really see it in there, but there is Brazilian purple clay throughout the bar. its a nice clay for sure, however unfortunate that it doesnt really end up purple once it goes through the soaping process, but a nice bar none the less.... especially if you are a lemon lavender lover.
alright - onto a couple of other things -- i have got to tell you about this years liploves... i am SO excited for whats to come. throughout most of the year our liploves contain pure essential oils but during the holidays i always like to have some fun with the flavors and branch out with some actual flavor oils, popular choices like rootbeer, butter rum, etc...
so i found a new supplier last year with totally organic flavor oils. i ordered them, i used them, i loved them - its hard to find flavor oils that dont contain nasty stuff in them. most have propylene glycol, artificial unnecessary junk, solvents ( and like what, why, ugh) so finding just an actual natural flavor oil is hard to do, and a lot of the flavorings that are actually natural also contain alcohol and are only water soluble-- so its a bit tricky to make chapsticks ( oil base) that meet my ingredient standards with natural flavorings outside of just pure essential oil such as lavender, or mint.
so, when i ordered last year i obviously skipped over anything that could possibly contain a nut oil, like amaretto, toffee, etc... even though i noticed a disclaimer on their website stating that all of their products are free of gluten, dairy, and tree nut oils. i just didnt have the time last year to ask questions as i had to get the products made asap and found the company pretty late into the season.
this year i had time... so i wrote, i asked, i had a bunch of questions actually - they assured me their flavors are absolutely completely free from gluten, dairy, tree nuts, and all of the most common allergens and sent me the data ( proof) to back it up... i was Soooooooo excited. i already knew they didnt contain creepy crap like propylene glycol, but i was not aware that i could get PISTACHIO flavor oil without worrying about nut oil. this is probably the closest i am going to get to ever tasting my beloved pistachio pudding ever again in my life lol! the only oil in their entire line that has anything remotely " nut oit " is coconut flavor, as it contains real coconut and because some people consider coconut a tree nut.
wow. needless to say i placed a pretty big order with some amazing flavor oils that i cannot wait to check out!! so keep an eye out for some new flavors to be rolling out as we head into fall!
alright - just catching you up here whats going on in the production area for me currently -- FARMHOUSE soap is made :) its curing and should be rolling out mid-end august- i think its a perfect bar to start leading us into the fall season. theres also a secret bar coming out with it -- however i cant disclose it just yet ;) though i can assure you it will not disappoint.
fall production( september bars) officially starts this week: plans for an apple something bar to be made, its been a couple of years since one of those has been around, theres also a new beer soap being made -- i made the decision earlier this year to bring dad bod out for fathers day and make room for a new beer soap to come this fall. dad bod will not be back until at least 2024.
off topic -- going to get a bit personal here: ive had a rough year so far. not everyone knows this but my father has been on a steady decline with dementia. the first half of my year required a lot of care taking and insurmountable amounts of stress. all year long ive been telling myself this holiday season needs to be a little less stressful than usual so i can relax a little bit. its been 2 years with my fathers decline, the last 8 months being the worst. i wont go into detail but basically i didnt really get even a minute to actually unwind. like, at all. just stress. exhausted and stressed.
so, i do plan a bunch of fun 4th quarter things. but i am not going to stress or let pressure get to me as it usually does. im already behind from not being able to dedicate all of my time to the shop as i had to take care of my father. so, im going to let myself have a little fun creating some new things which is what i love to do most. if something in my plans starts going not as planned... im not going to fight it, im going to scratch it off the list and fill the void with something going right :)
i will keep you all posted throughout the season as things are made and things are curing. maybe ill work out some type of weekly post to keep everyone in the loop of what is actually made, what went right, and what will be coming out when. that sounds kinda fun.
alright, ive gotta get myself up to work.. kinda excited to make the new beer soap today!
until next,
-heidi