ahh crud. good ole crud. as i stood looking at the 70 logs of crud to cut yesterday, i thought about you guys. so many of you asking to bring back bigger bars. as you know ive been trying hard to keep prices down and in doing that we took away multiple size options so i could kinda streamline things and make it easier while keeping it affordable. however, there have been quite a few people requesting larger bars to come back regardless of what theyll cost. so, i listened.... i dont always listen, lol but when it comes to demand for crud, i listen. so, with this most recent batch i cut some larger bars that will be offered at $18. that number sounds shocking to me, but, when i actually spend some time in society and realize a lunch at jimmyjohns now costs $17-18 and will end up being flushed down the toilet in a few hours, well.. i suppose an eighteen dollar bar of soap that will last over a month doesnt sound so bad. so.. keep an eye out for big bars to make a comeback soon!
next up: solid scents
per my last blog i kinda gave a glimpse into where my mind was taking me this season. for those who didnt read the blog - im going history. first of all - i love history. i love learning new things. i think its just fascinating, if i had more time, money and wasnt terrified of airplanes, id probably be visiting all sorts of awesome places all over the world. anywho - i mentioned that the whole thing was kicked off from some random desire for amber containers for the whips this year ... and suddenly it has turned into so much more. in my research, and i have been doing tons of it -- anywhere from spartacus, to the romans, the plague, the first apothecary, wonder rooms, precious gems, abbeys, kings, queens, witches, greece, italy, wars, battles, landmarks, the first known perfumes, bathing rituals, cleansing tools/habits, medicines, oils, foods... i mean i could just do this for a living instead and be content. definitely.
anyhow... depending on the time - different groups of people used different methods to bathe and smell good. waaaaay back they would literally just bathe in plain water and then rub plant/herb oil infusions on themselves... and then certain groups began discovering tinctures, alcohols, making perfumes/colognes, soap and even making scented soap etc. pretty cool.
one of my favorite things i came across in my digging was about one of the oldest perfumes discovered, it was sealed in a crystal container, with a stone cap, buried in an urn with a woman who is said to be in her 30s-40s and inside was a solidified mixture of some sort, it wound up being olive oil and patchouli, which, also shared some clues as to the status on the woman it was buried with as patchouli was not native and had to be imported. which, back then wasnt as easy as ordering on amazon. ;)
so, i found these great little amber glass containers and will be making solid perfume/colognes throughout the rest of the year. i hope to create some really classic, wonderful blends using the oldest, most popular oils from way back. unfortunately some of their preferred ingredients arent known to be totally skin safe today, so ill be doing some tweaking. lol
next - the nectar soap.
this bar was released this week, its the bar i couldnt tell you guys about until after it was already ready to go - it was used for someones wedding favors and we didnt want to blow their cover on their big day so we kept the bar a secret until after.
im really happy with the way this bar turned out. i completely adore the little bee stamp, and the bar itself is reeeeeally nice. bars that contain real honey in them always have a crazy fluffy lather, and the little honeycomb at the bottoms of the bars adds to that lather, and also feels really nice to use. the scent blend on nectar is a mix of crisp and sweet citrus notes - petitgrain which is extracted from the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree has a citrus note, fresh, crisp, not quite floral and not quite citrus, basically it smells like fresh snapped citrus tree branches - it was the perfect ingredient to make " nectar" really come to life. the complete list of essentials for this bar are bergamot, petitgrain, lavender, grapefruit and lemongrass. the honey in the bar also lends some unique notes to the blend. and the honey itself is some of the nicest honey ive ever had. its from a local honey farm and if i wasnt using the honey in soap id easily have eaten the entire jar with a spoon.
we are all really loving this bar and we do also have some on the sale table right now. speaking of the sale table..... thats another thing i want to chat about real quick...
the sale table has become one of my favorite things in the shop lol i cannot believe i havent had this thing all along. you can expect it to be here for a while longer until we need the space in the shop for all of the holiday products coming out. - one of the things i love so much about the sale bench is that well, like today for example - i dropped a bar of soap and dented the corner of the bar in doing so. normally that bar would end up on a tray somewhere in the back, then eventually make its way over to my production side with the hopes of someday being either ground up or melted down into a kitchen sink soap which i never seem to have the time it takes to make those things anymore -- so it winds up sitting around until i can either find someone in my family/friends circle to give it to, or ends up in the trash because im sick of moving the bar around and dont want it getting mixed in with other batches coming, or taking space up on my curing racks.
so, this sale bench has been such an amazing place for me to put those sorts of things. perfectly good bars of soap, but doesnt fit in either by size or appearance for whatever reason. sometimes its a mess up with my pour, sometimes its a mess up with my cutter, sometimes its a mess up with me. haah regardless, the soaps are great and i love being able to offer them at a discount and not have them sitting around taking up space simply because they dont fit into my standards for what we normally sell.
alright. lastly - im going to be working hard on a series of soap over the next two weeks. i plan to do a giveaway with them - one of each bar for whoever can guess the secret ingredient :) so do keep an eye out for that little fun giveaway once i get the bars made. out of all of the bars i am making this season, these are the ones i am looking forward to the most. lets just hope they turn out as great as they are in my mind right now. haha
have a great weekend everyone!
until next,
-heidi