"Java Joe"

Yes, "java joe" has finally arrived! I am such a coffee addict how could I not make a coffee soap? I drink Starbucks almost every day - favorite is caramel macchiatto - and one day while in my soap shop and drinking my coffee and smelling the great aroma, it hit me! Coffee Soap!

Besides, coffee is a natural exfoliant and helps move away dead skin cells making it a great scrub soap. Coffee soaps are also good kitchen soaps as they help to rid those nasty odors when handling fish, garlic and onions. And it's rich in antioxidants. Some say it even helps with cellulite and man, can I use that!

I used coffee butter which really adds to the aroma of these soaps, along with milk which makes them very creamy and the special blends of spices, vanilla, and a little ground coffee beans makes it a true coffee lovers dream!

Get a jolt of java in your shower! You won't know which one to use first - Orange Spice Latte, Caramel Macchiatto, or Chai Tea Latte!

Natural or Just Natural Deception?

I happened to be doing a little web browsing this morning and came across another soap blogger's blog that I thought was very interesting. Valerie, at Real.Simple.Soap., posted about having visited a local Lush store at the mall and how she started reading the ingredients on their soap when the clerk approached her and tried to educate her on their "natural" products, etc., etc. You can read her post here: (http://realsimplesoap.blogspot.com/2009/03/little-consumer-deception.html) You know the type I’m talking about. We all (that is, soapers) have visited these type of stores at one time or another just to check things out.

I, too, have tried to educate these clerks and it’s like they’ve been brainwashed by the company into believing their products are truly all natural and good for you. I’ve gotten so frustrated some times trying to talk to these young ladies, but they look at you like you’re some kind of nut and try to keep you quiet so the other customers don’t hear you. (I actually spoke loud on purpose.) It’s really not their fault. They’re mostly young girls who are very impressionable and are just doing their job, as per the company for whom they work.

I had a request from a customer last year who wanted to buy a few things for her niece for Christmas. The niece was in love with Lush products and my customer wanted me to make a body butter like Lush. I went to Lush’s website to check this particular item out and was mortified at what I found. Needlesstosay, I reported back to my customer that I would make a body butter with a similar scent, but that it would not be like Lush. It would be much better. And believe it or not, her neice really liked the product.

How do they get away with this type of advertising is beyond me. If it were you or I advertising like that with all those chemicals, the hounddogs would be all over us. Lush is not the only one out there making all these claims though. Have you ever read the ingredient list on BBW's hand cream? I have and half of the stuff I had to look up to find out what it really was. Like Valerie, I was amazed at what I found. And right after that long list of ingredients, they state "finished product is not tested on animals." But they bottle and market it for human use! Amazing!

You and I, as consumers and/or soapmakers, need to educate ourselves and others. We need to make people think and be well informed when making purchases that effect our overall health and well being.

Thanks, Valerie, for your information!

Does It Really Lather????

I get this question and others all the time about my handmade soaps, especially at shows. I’m not sure why people think it doesn’t lather. In fact, depending on the oils used, some of them really make a lot of suds.

Does your soap contain lye? Yes. You cannot achieve real soap without it. Oil (fatty acids) and water do not mix, so you need an alkali (lye) to achieve this. Soapmaking is a chemical reaction.
When made properly, no lye remains in the finished product.

Not all handmade soaps are created equal, though. The percentages of oils used are extremely important to produce a mild and gentle soap so as not to be too harsh on the skin. Once someone has tried handmade soap, there's no going back to that other stuff.

Why does handmade natural soap cost so much?
Well, the ingredients used to produce our handmade soaps are quality ingredients. Making natural soap can be very labor intensive, especially when making and designing soaps such as Bourne In Style soaps.

Secondly, what are you comparing our handmade soap to? Our soaps are priced very competitively with other natural soaps. It's more expensive than commercial soaps but most commercial soaps extract many of the most useful ingredients in their soap while producing thousands of pounds of soap at the same time. For instance, glycerin, which is important for moisturizing your skin, is extracted from commercial soaps and sold to other manufacturers to put in their lotions and creams to treat the conditions commercial soaps can cause in the first place. So if you use commerical soap which creates a skin condition, then buy a product to treat that condition, you've generally spent more than you would have had you bought our handmade soap in the first place.

So, yes, it does lather, it's made with lye, but it's cheaper in the long run and much better for your skin.

So lather up, "in style"!

Times They Are Changing

Yes, it's a new year, new President, and I'm thinking of new soaps. Spring is just around the corner and what better way to get over the winter blues than to make great scented soaps with fragrances from a spring garden. Think lavender, gardenia, violets, lilac and cherry blossom. Then there's all those fruits! Blackberry, apricot, kumquat, raspberry lemonade -- yummm. My workshop is smelling so good it sometimes makes me hungry - not just food but for those lazy crazy days of summer.

I recently met with our local "soaper" group at my favorite conference room (Starbucks) and it's great sitting around talking soap and exchanging new ideas, not only recipes/formulas but labeling, packaging and marketing. There's nothing like getting a good shot of caffeine to get energized, but it also gives you a boost of renewed confidence and gets the juices flowing for getting out there and forging ahead with your business. So I got busy and started with all these new ideas for spring. My brain is spinning!

So just how many different kinds of soap do I have? Not sure. How many of the new ones will remain in my regular stock? That depends on which ones sell well. Do I have too many? Probably. Will my customers be overwhelmed? At least they'll have a variety.

With so many options out there, I can't just stick to a few fragrances. Besides, there are a lot of people out there and each has their own preferences as to scents and fragrance. I've even tried to get more creative as to design and coloring for more appeal. Most have turned out quite nice but there have been a few bloopers. By that, I mean bad batches. But that's to be expected when experimenting.

I'll try to get some pics up this weekend so you can see my new creations. Well, off to dreamland to create something new!

Holidays Already????

Wow! Didn't I just put those lights and all that stuff into storage? I can't believe it's upon us again so soon. Where does the time go? I've been so busy working, making soap, doing shows and filling orders, I've not really had time to even update my website with all my holiday soaps or even do much shopping. This year I have vowed no more shows after this weekend's show in Bryan. I want to spend time with family and start baking cookies and watching all my favorite holiday shows while curled up on the couch with a glass of wine or hot cocoa (not at the same time of course). It doesn't get that cold here in Texas so we have to improvise sometimes like turning down the air conditioner to 50 and building a fire in the fireplace.

And this holiday will be even more special as my daughter gives birth to her second (and final) child (boy) on on December 30. She is being induced so it's nice to know the exact day you're going into labor. You can be all prepared and ready; no guessing or embarrassment when your water breaks while you're at a party or out shopping.

Well, I leave you all to your shopping to go get ready for my final show of the year. If you're in Bryan, Texas this weekend, please stop by the 27th Annual Arts & Crafts show at Brazos Center.

Happy soaping or shopping!

Blogging

I've never been much of a follower as I like doing my own thing. So what's the big deal? Everyone is doing it. They say if you can spare just five minutes a day, you can do it too. So, here I am, blogging.

I'm a soaper -- "true lyer" as I like to call it. Been making soap for about 8 years now and was addicted right after that first batch, even though it was not that great. Always loved cooking and making new recipes and that's pretty much what soaping is -- making a recipe, cooking it and wait to see how it comes out. Although, sometimes you "never know what you're gonna it". But that's the thrill or the "jazz" of soaping. Experimenting, using herbs and botanicals to make color or a beautiful presentation, and then there's the fragrance.

They're right when they say smell is the most powerful sense. It can touch those little spark plugs in the brain and send feelings of joy, relaxation, and even bring back memories. But the best part of handmade soap is the feel of washing with it -- it leaves your skin soft and smooth. It definitely is not like that detergent you buy in the store. In fact, once you use handmade soap, you will not go back.

With that, I leave you to go bathe with handmade!