this year, this whole 4th quarter has all been really interesting for me - this season had me digging into all sorts of things from witches to romans, apothecaries to vikings, cleopatra, spartacus, battle grounds, gem stones, forests, all sorts of history and i loved every second of it.
ive always loved history. something i decided to do this year was really take a step out of my comfort zone and get my hands on some new ingredients i had never used. i also really wanted to stick with the times and revolve a lot of what i made around things, themes, scents and colors that were common waaaaaay back in the day.
when i wasnt playing with new oils and things--- i kept my theme with some really, really classic product plans. old fashioned, nostalgia, simple, familiar. which some of it ended up being quite tricky to work with ... but also equally rewarding when it turned out, turning out.
some of these things will be obvious to you - some of them i am not willing to disclose yet as they are part of my secret release - but i do plan to give you a sneak peek on some of those things before they release. tonight, i am sharing one. JUST one of my secrets. it will be the last soap in this post.
right, so lets talk about these soaps coming out! wanna give you a super quick rundown of each of these soaps and of course they will be in more detail on the website once they release.
solstice: solstice was one of the first bars i knew i was making this year, i just had no idea what i wanted it to look like until right before i made it. it all came together after i got my hands on an essential oil id never used before, black pine. paired that with some peppermint oil and to me, well, thats what winter solstice would smell like. crisp winter air and a hint of pine.
bourbon eggnog: ahhh this bar has been on my holiday plans list for the last three years straight and i finally got the opportunity to bring it to life! let me tell you, making soap with eggs is TRICKY. lol .... this, is why its taken me so long to get this bar made, i knew i needed spare ingredients and spare time to leave myself room for error in case i got it wrong. however, i am happy to say i got it right, and, well... this is one of those bars where experience really came in to save the day!
eggnog is made with real eggs, real milk, real bourbon and whoa do all three of those things make incredible soap on their own, but all together in ONE BAR? oh.my.god. yes, it was worth the wait. this bar is simply incredible.
forgotten forest: during my research this season i kept happening upon articles about artifacts found in forests that had all but been forgotten, completely -- and i just loved where my mind went as i read the stories, i could smell the forest, i could feel the damp soil beneath my feet, it was dark, beautiful and untouched. rich atlas cedar, is the main note of this bar, it has a hint of mint, a hint of pine, and some scrubby ground loofa. totally love everything about this bar!
kings and queens: This bar has a story to tell. youll see what i mean when you use it. im not going to bore you with a description - the bar is beautiful, it smells incredible and i promise you want one. scent is vanilla, frankincense and myrrh, topped with gold and is one of my top three from the line up this year!
mint chocolate chip --- stole an outfit from monster chunk mint, yep, but dont let its looks fool you, this one is pure spearmint essential oil, no peppermint ;)
noel: i took noel and took it back a few hundred years to just silver and gold. no red, no green, just silver and gold. its still the same scent blend, cassia and peppermint, stamped with the cutest little classic xmas tree. love the simplicity of noel this year! its got tiny white, gold and silver flecks, nonpareils and sugar bits on top. subtle, perfect.
pizzelle IS back: BUT - its a step in the older school direction - this batch has a bit more anise and a little less orange in a more classic pizzelle fashion.
the black white bar this year is bergamot and frankincense. For those of you who dont already know, every year i make a black/white bar - and every year i change its scent and/or appearance. the only thing that stays the same is that its black and white and always smells different lol
kinda dont really need much of a description on this one other than, one of my FAVORITE candies ever. white chocolate mint nonpareils ( snow caps) -- this bar is made with extra amounts of super ridiculously good unrefined cocoa butter - paired with triple distilled peppermint to achieve what i believe is the closest a soap could be to capturing the scent of this amazing chocolate treat! if you love peppermint soaps, do not miss this one!!
and finally -- one of the secret bar reveals: classic peppermint bark. would you expect anything other from me this year? im obsessing over classic things. dont fret, your pink peppermint bark bar will be back again someday, just not this year ;)
need i say more? probably not- but just to get you more excited, i will tell you that this bar is in a rich unrefined cocoa butter base, with ultra dutched, extra dark black cocoa and is crazy sweet-minty fresh thanks to the triple distilled peppermint oil.
alright all! hope youre getting excited!!! theres a few bars left that arent secrets that i couldnt post about tonight as maddi hasnt yet taken photos of them -- i will be back with another update once those are done, and maybe.... MAYBE ill reveal another secret.
what bars are you most excited about from this post?
until next,
-heidi