Happy New Year?!

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I'm not big on celebrating New Year's...I like to quietly reflect on the outgoing year, and make a bunch of you-know-damn-well-you-aint-gon-stick-to-this resolutions-but no more! I am declaring 2011 the year of ME! I'm going to own it in every since of the word. I'm getting my finances in order, my health in order, and my business in order. I'm going to stop living in the past and start living in the NOW.

I salute all of you who take the time to visit this crazy blog. Have a safe and happy new year, and let's make 2011 the best year yet!

And the Obsession Continues...

Here's a flick of my latest HP soap scented in Cafe Mocha. As much as I do not like to drink coffee, I love the smell of it (Hi Misty!) The mocha really balances the coffee nicely, and I added some coffee grounds to it for added texture and exfoliation. And that's about it....It's going to be a slow week, lol!

Merry Christmas!

I’d like to interrupt my regularly-scheduled post to wish everyone who visits this page daily, weekly, monthly, or randomly a very Merry Christmas-even if you don’t celebrate or believe in “Christmas.” To me, Christmas isn’t about giving or receiving gifts (although I must admit it’s a nice perk), but it’s about celebrating the life of Christ-Jesus Christ. I believe in Him. I feel His presence around me daily and not just this time of year. It’s because of Him that I’ve endured through some of the most painful periods in my life, and I attribute that to my faith-not luck or wishful thinking or the love of family and friends, but my faith in the Lord. So, I leave you with this:

 

Every day and every year we live, we are given another chance to do something, say something, and/or be something that we didn’t do before.  When our actions are positive, unselfish, and for the benefit of others, we are rewarded tenfold.  So say a sincere prayer this Christmas for yourself and others, look back on 2010 as a learning experience to improve upon, and step out on faith in 2011 -- you will not fall or fail. 

Cool Hand Cuke Is Back!

When will I learn to never say never or only when...? You can tell by looking at this soap that it is hot processed (or possibly even re-batched, but I aint even going there...) When I learn something new, I tend to obsess over it til the newness wears off, and it hasn't yet.

This batch is scented in a very fresh-smelling cucumber and mint. It's a delightful soap fragrance and I'll probably add it to my spring/summer lotion scent lineup. I sprinkled a little gold glitter on top to jazz it up a little, but it really didn't need it. Up next-coffee soap-hot processed of course!

Only 4 more days til Christmas! I'm such a big kid:)

It's The Little Things...

that make me happy like winning giveaways! Peep this gorgeous candle I received from Erica of The Bonnie Bath Co. The packaging, the candle, the scent...all lovely. I don't want to burn it! It's scented in Farmhouse Cider. Thanks Erica for the lovely candle!

Hot Cinnamon Buns Coming Right Up!

Look at my buns! Aren't they hot? I made this entire batch of soap in my microwave!  I didn't change my regular formula at all-rice bran, avocado, palm, coconut, and castor oils. I used cocoa powder for the coloring and sprinkled cinnamon on top. The "icing" is actually white melt and pour soap. The good part about hot processed soap is it's practically ready to use. I'll let it cure for about 2 weeks before I test it.
 
I have never had the desire to make hot processed soap for many reasons:

1. They're ugly (at least in my biased opinion)
2. The process was intimidating to me.
3. They're ugly.
4. They're ugly.
5. They're ugly...

Then one, little blog post changed my mind... and here's my journey in pictures:

Step 1: Prepare your soap as if you're making it the cold processed way only you want to bring your mix to a very, very, thick trace.

(Makes me crave banana pudding)

Step 2: Set microwave to 50% power and zap in 2 minute intervals until the soap begins to turn translucent. It was still very thick after the first 2 minutes. It takes a little elbow grease to really work it all together.

 (Excuse the poor lighting, but you can see that it's super-thick and mash potato-like.)

Step 3: You want to stir the mixture after each interval making sure it doesn't bubble over in the container. It took me four, 2 minute intervals before the soap begins to become translucent which is the tell-tale sign that it's ready to be colored, scented, and poured into the mold. It's advised that the soap should have a waxy consistency, and you should do the tongue-zap test. I broke down and did the zap and thankfully I didn't get zapped, so it was ready.

Step 4: I colored, scented, and literally plopped the thick mass into my mold. After about 2 hours, it was pretty much hardened, but I did let it set overnight before I sliced and iced it. Here's a final shot of the soap after I plopped it into the mold. It's very important that you plop it on the counter a couple of times to eliminate air pockets or you'll end up with gaping holes throughout your soap.

Gratuitous Shot: This is a pic of the bowl as I ran hot water in it to rinse it. Look at those bubbles!!!

So, in conclusion, while I've conquered my fear of hot process, I won't be doing this method very often. I just don't care for the look. I think I'll reserve it for my bakery-scented batches because I do kinda like the rustic appeal of a dessert-themed soap, and they aren't as ugly as I once thought they were. I'm now thinking of my next dessert-themed soap because even though I just said I won't be doing this method very often, I get kinda obsessed with new things....

Bombs Away!!!

I swore I'd never make or sell bath bombs because, well, I just did for some stupid reason. Oh, how the mighty have fallen because now I can't stop making them-or at least trying to make them! I use a full one each time I give my self a poor woman's pedicure (meaning I do it myself...), and they not only soften the water, but my winter-weary feets as well. The bombs in this pic are just practice ones. I can make a perfect bomb in a shaped mold, but when I use my traditional bath bomb mold, they don't hold well and they crumble. So I practice and practice, and with each day, I practice some more...

In The Lab...

Well, technically not. I've always had this love/hate relationship with essential oils. They both fascinate and terrify me at the same time. The geek in me is captivated by the way these oils are produced and all the many uses and benefits just one essential oil generates. For example, did you know that sweet orange oil is an antibiotic, anticoagulant, antidepressant, antigenic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, bactericidal, calmative, carminative, cholagogue, choleretic, depurative, digestive, diuretic, fungicidal, humectant, hypotensive, sedative (nervous), stimulant (digestive and lymphatic), stomachic, and tonic? And the benefits of using it are said to help relieve the effects of anxiety, bronchitis, chills, colds, constipation, dull and oily skin conditions, dyspepsia, flu, helps eliminate toxins, intestinal gas, mouth ulcers, nervous obesity, palpitations, spasm, tension and stress, and water retention?*

I won't lie to you and tell you that I know what carminative and cholagogue mean. Okay, now I do. Carminative is a fancy term for gas reliever and cholagogue is an agent that promotes the discharge of bile from the liver and gallbladder. This is serious stuff and not to be taken or handled lightly. For that reason, I am studying like a chemistry student and taking meticulous notes-what can be tolerated by pregnant women, those with hypertension (like myself), pets...It's an exciting yet daunting venture, but I love to learn, and I cannot wait to start creating with essential oils!


*Taken from the product description from Mountain Rose Herbs

Cafe Mocha Loca Sugar Scrub!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving (for those of you who celebrate it)! I had a very quiet one with a handful of family members. That was cool with me because it meant more leftovers to take home, hee hee...

I'm slowly expanding my emulsified sugar scrub line, and my newest creation is Cafe Mocha Loca. I love this scrub, and I'm so not a coffee drinker! The smell is so inviting and eye-opening! It's 99% natural-organic cane sugar, unrefined shea butter, fair trade coffee grounds, organic cocoa powder. It's thick and rich and it only takes a little to get the job done. I'm offering it initially in a 4 oz size for the holidays, but after the new year, it'll be offered in the standard 8 oz jar. It's available now on my website and Etsy shop:D

Are You Ready???

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I personally don't feel the holiday "rush" until the day after Thanksgiving. That's when every retailer starts baiting and reeling us with their awesome deals, and I'm no different, heehee...

So, I'm telling myself that I'm going to be prepared this time because I always wait til the last minute (like the day before) to do stuff. I made a little list, and I welcome you to add to it because I know I'm bound to forget something..

• Order sufficient supplies: mailing envelopes and boxes, packing tape, ribbon, tissue, etc.
• Inventory! Inventory! Inventory! I cannot stress this enough. If you're hyping a soap then only discover you have 2 in stock, well,....
• Business cards: Some feel this isn't necessary, but 1 in 3 of my orders are from new customers, so I feel it is a crucial part of my repeat business and my branding (love those Moo cards by the way...)
• Labels, ink cartridges, label paper: This is one of those things that you can completely forget about til you print off a logo or shipping label and it's all faded because your ink cartridges are low or out!
• Bottles, jars, tops...: No explanation needed-except to say, do an inventory!
• Contacting your mailing list subscribers: Whet their appetites a few days to a week before your actual sale to get them thinking about it, then send them another one the day before to remind them!
• Make sure your shop announcements and policies are clear and precise and that all your sales and specials features are in place (free shipping, bogo, % off, etc..)

 Okay, what else did I forget? This list seems short, but I know there's more!

Bad Santa!!

 
 Thank you everyone for all your well wishes and kind words regarding my website launch! That's just what I need to swell my head (hee hee) and keep me motivated. And so the show goes on...

One of my favorite holiday movies is Bad Santa starring Billy Bob Thornton. To this day, I still cannot believe this is the Sling Blade guy because he just killed that role! Anyway, Bad Santa is not a movie for kids and neither is this soap. It's naughty-looking and naughty-smelling. I used powdered sugar and colored it with black and red oxides to create the sooty layers. The soap itself is scented in a blend of Tahitian vanilla, anise, and simple syrup-very licorice-y. I've also made a limited edition Sugar Bubbles in the same scent. At first, I did not link the scent because I'm a "sweet" gal, but I'm really digging this one mucho!

The Sugar Bubbles are available now. The soap will be ready on Thanksgiving (ha!)

Finally Opened For Business!

After months of toiling and obsessing and stressing, I've switched web hosts to Big Cartel (love, love, love them!) and opened my site! It's still a work in progress, but I feel like I've lost 10 pounds. I will now only use Etsy, Art Fire, and Zibbett as supplemental sites. I will only carry new items on my personal site. I can't believe how easy to use Big Cartel is. I have the diamond plan which is $19.99 a month for up to 100 listings. I never plan on having 100 listings, but I'll certainly have over 100 items. Take a look-see, and let me know what you think!

New Goodies For The Holidays!

I've decided to take a small (and I mean small) sabbatical from soap making to give the "accessories" some love. I've always loved bath bombs and bubble bars, but they're such a frigging mess to make. I've had a few requests for them, so I've decided to combine them into one product: Bubble Bombs. They both fizz and bubble, and I think they make a nice treat for bath lovers. Not a "bather"? Use them as a soothing, luxurious foot bath! I use SLSA (sodium lauryl sulfoacetate) as my surfactant, or foaming agent. It's derived from coconut and palm oils and is much milder and gentler to the skin than it's evil, fraternal twin SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) which can drying and irritating to some. I have two introductory bombs: The Honey Bomb-scented in a delicious blend of ylang, orange blossom, jasmine, rose, lilac, and honey, and Me Time-a heavenly blend of lavender and amber. I'll be adding some special Christmas-y type blends in the coming weeks.

Dig these bubbles-and these are from only 1/2 a bomb!

I've changed the packaging on my perfume oils because, well, I've changed my label design, and while the black bottles were really sleek and original, they weren't very practical in terms of filling them! I could see inside the bottle, and that caused me much-wasted spillage and over-flows, so peace out black bottles...These crystal clear ones not only allow the golden oils to shine brightly, but the labels are much more prominent now:) I've also decided to stick with just 3 fragrances for now: Eau de Viagra, which is my best seller. It's a wood-inducing blend (at least that's what my customer and name-r of this fragrance told me) of honeycomb wrapped in patchouli twigs with a twist of lemon and citrus peels; Pink Suga: I think everyone in the B&B industry may be familiar with this one. It's a dupe of the famous Aquolina Pink Sugar fragrance. I cannot begin to describe how much I love this one. It's like liquid cotton candy for sophisticated tastes. And finally, there's a new blend that I call Bosslady. I named it that because it's not a very feminine (and by that I mean sweet or fruity or instantly detectable as "feminine"). This one is a blend of tobacco leaf, caramel, and vetiver, and sandalwood. I wear this one to work and let my presence be known (even though I'm not the boss, lol)!

Fashion Fail!

Yep, that's the name of my new soap! Why? Because the outcome reminds me of these starlets who try to be all original and avant-garde with their fashion choices, but the end result ends up looking like a hot mess! The only redeeming quality about this soap is the smell. It's essential oils galore: lavender, sweet orange, patchouli, litsea cubea, and rosemary. The lavender buds make the soap look like it has the chicken pops (as my little cousins used to always say). Anyway, I still love it. I did Mr. Blackwell proud...

Peppermint Spark

Here is my 3rd, and probably final holiday soap for 2010. It's called Peppermint Spark, inspired by the traditional Christmas candy Peppermint Bark. I cannot tell a lie: I've never had peppermint bark! But it looks so friggin good! It's like a sophisticated York Peppermint Patty to the 25th power. My version was inspired by this photo. It looks so different than traditional peppermint bark, and I'm so non-traditional, so this was perfect.

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The bottom layer is colored solely in Hershey's cocoa powder and scented in a heavenly nutty-chocolate fragrance. The middle layer is scented in a cool, tingly peppermint, and the thick, drippy layers are a combo of peppermint and chocolate. This is a very limited edition soap-only 9 bars. If you'd like for me to reserve one for you, drop me a line. Yumlicious!

Time To Get Glossy!

Now that the weather is starting to chill ever-so-slightly, I wanted to make something delicious and nourishing for our skins-a liquid sponge so to speak, and I think I've hit the jackpot! Meet my new bath and body oils called Gloss. I am in love with Gloss-not because I made it, okay, maybe a little bit, but they've re-introduced me to the art of bathing! I don't like taking baths, but now that I work out in the evenings, my aching bod looks forward to a warm tub full of skin-softening oils. The cool thing about Gloss is the oils do not just float on top of the water like the Gulf spill, but it transforms your bath water into a scented and silky private spa escape. Here's what's in it:

• Sweet Almond Oil: skin-softening and rich in proteins, minerals, and fatty acids
• Golden Jojoba Oil (hence the color)-Rich in vitamin E and known for its healing properties and leaving a silky, satiny barrier on the skin
• Apricot Kernel Oil-Rich in vitamins A&E, and penetrates deep into the skin without leaving a heavy, oily residue. It's also known to help skin retain elasticity and suppleness
• Avocado Oil-Superb skin hydrator absorbing deep into skin tissues.  It also helps to relieve the dryness and itchiness of psoriasis and eczema.
• Fractionated Coconut Oil-straight carrier oil that helps the more therapeutic oils (see above) absorb more readily into the skin.
• Tocopherol-anti-oxidant so the oils don't go apesh*t on you.

So there you have it! On their own, these oils are pretty powerful, but when combined together, they're the Justice League of skin moisturizers, and they're now available here in 3 fabulous scents:

Raspberry Hooray!

 Raspberry Hooray

Meet my second official holiday soap: Raspberry Hooray. This time I stayed kind of true to what we expect in a holiday scent: something sweet, edible-smelling, and fun, and this one does not disappoint! Last year, I made this soap, Lardy For the Party in the same scent, and it was a hit. I really didn't know what the reception would be, but i had one customer buy 4 of them at once, and I only made 9 bars, so yeah, I was pretty pleased, lol. Unlike Lardy, however, Raspberry Hooray is totally vegan.

 Lardy For The Party

 Raspberry Hooray contains top notes of raspberry, pear, and apple, with middle notes of Madagascar Vanilla, sugarcane, butter, and maple, and bottomed out with a shot of vanilla extract. Okay, that's the official scent description, but I gotta tell ya: All I smell is pure raspberry and cream. That was all I needed to convince me to use this fragrance! Raspberry Hooray will make its offficial day-bew in the coming weeks....

Do Not Eat This Soap!

Pepper jumped up on my work table the other day after I un-molded this baby and was sniffing hard-to the point where I swear her grubby, little tongue was going to start flickering in and out at any minute. You would have had to call the Human Society on me if she did because it took me forever to make this soap!

I adapted it from this WSP recipe, and I'm pretty please with the results. Apple Pie is my most favorite pie in the world (with sweet potato and lemon meringue running a very close second), and I had planned on making a cold processed version of it, but I wasn't sure if the scent would hold up and I was still toying with a design for it. Thank goodness, I found this one because that cp version would have probably never gotten made.

Without going into a lot of detail (visit the link for all that fun stuff), this soap took me about 3 hours to completely make. I already had mold to make apple/peach slices, so I cheated on that part. The longest and most annoying part of making layered melt and pour soaps for me is the setting up between layers. If you don't let each layer set up firmly enough, your next layer could just seep all the way through and ruin the batch. If you let each layer set up too long, then you'll have an obvious line of demarcation like my last layer. I didn't intend to do that but the finished soap would have been very squat-looking-like a half bar, and I wanted the apple slices to stick out on top so I created a new layer. Anyway, here they are: Pretty Brown Apples: apple pie-scented-with-a-hint-of-snicker doodle topped with brown sugar soap! And yep, they're available now.

Naughty or Nice? How About Nicety!

I’m not waiting til the last minute like I always do to start crafting my holiday offerings. I will have 3 official holiday soaps this year. I usually only do one, but these soaps will carry you into the Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa season and beyond! For this one, I deviated from the traditional holiday scents like sugar cookie or frankincense and myrrh, or basically anything with vanilla in it and decided to go darker.

First up is Nicety. It’s part naughty and part nice. There was also a song back in the day called Nicety. Whatever happened to Michel’le? Oh well, I digress (when don’t I digress…) I wanted Nicety to be “sooty” not entirely black, but I had a heavy hand with the black oxide. I should have only used a pinch instead of 3! You can barely see the poppy seeds in the body of the soap, so I compensated by sprinkling little sooty balls on top. The soap is scented in a blend of sweet orange and patchouli (love this combo-the ultimate naughty meets nice) with a little hint of fir needle to give it an unexpected “Hmmmm” factor. No, this soap doesn’t smell like a fir tree. It smells like a nice romp in the woods with someone you don’t mind getting naughty with..

Soap Diversion: Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am a cookie fiend-particularly a chocolate chip cookie fiend. I'm the type of gal who believes in a good, sinful cookie, meaning I don't want applesauce substituted for oil, and whole wheat flour in lieu of the regular variety. Cookies are supposed to be bad, and I've rarely met a chocolate chip cookie I didn't like.  I'm always on the prowl for easy and tasty recipes. I found one that sounded really good (from allrecipes.com), but I'm not a fan of cranberries, so I substituted those with dried cherries. Dried cherries are the bomb! They are soft and chewy, and don't get all hard and icky like raisins tend to be. Anyway, let's get to the recipe, shall we?


Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup dried cherries

Instructions:

   1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
   2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
   3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.       Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips & cherries by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
   4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Okay, if you're not a baker like myself, here is my #1 tip to remember:

1. Don't just dump the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Truly sift them to break up any clumps. I used my good ole metal colander to do this. My first time making these, my cookies were a disaster-but an edible, nonetheless. I found that by sifting the dry ingredients, the dough made for a puffier, more filling cookie. 

Now, all you health nuts, go ahead and make your substitutions. I'll still love you for ruining a perfectly good recipe:D

Lube Jobs-Not Just For Cars and Sex Anymore!

I thought that would grab your attention! I'm so proud of my new emulsions. I've finally learned to make them, and I've been tweaking my recipe until I discovered a consistency and texture that I can live with because I'd never sell anything I would not personally use myself!

My formula is pretty simplistic. I use a combination of apricot kernel, sweet almond oil (which are both light and quick-absorbing), and unrefined shea butter which I am in love with. It's my favorite, go-to butter for all things wonderful and skin-quenching. The shea butter provides the oomph needed to take this lube to the next level. It compliments the sweet almond oil wonderfully. I like my shea raw and unrefined. we read so much about shea butter but what does it really do? The question should be what doesn't it do? It too is quick-absorbing yet ultra-moisturizing and is ideal for dry, weather-beaten skin, eczema, psoriasis, hair...


These babies are packaged in 4 oz jars. A little goes a long way, and they're available in both my ArtFire and Etsy shops now. Like my new labels?

Goodies From CR Nest!

I have met some wonderful people online-people I'm ashamed to say I probably would not be friends with if I didn't make soap. It's not because of who they are or where they are, but it's because I am notoriously shy. Yes, I am. The web allows me to be anonymous in a sense, but it also allows my true personality to shine. If we were all in a group setting, I would hardly say 2 words other than Hello and Good-bye. But I digress...

One on my newest friends is Courtney from Courtney Robyn's "Nest." I love her! She's such a sweetheart and truly supportive of her online friends:) Well, I didn't know Court had a FB Fan Page ) because I sometimes read my favorite blogs with blinders on). I can't even remember how the whole thing played out, but I notices she only had 99 fans, and I like even numbers, so I decided to become her 100th fan (I would have fanned her regardless). So I went on FB to brag about it, and I won some goodies! Now isn't that lovely? Yack, yack, yack...Here's the lowdown on the loot:

1. A full-sized lip balm called Honey Bee-and it's made with emu oil. Me likey! It smells like fresh honey. This will go in my office desk drawer because I'm eating salty peanuts all day so my lips are constantly dried out...
2. Brown Sugar Scrub Balls. Now that's original! And oh-my-gosh, they smell like cinnamon donut holes. I wanna eat them-seriously!
3. Lily of the Valley CP soap slice. Okay, I'm not a floral lover, but lily of the valley gets a pass! This one's made with lard, shea butter, and avocado oils-loves it! I've liked this scent for a couple of years now after getting a sample from another soap maker. I even bought the fragrance with the intention of making a soap, but it never materialized. Now, I must revisit that idea...
4. Green Clover and Aloe Castile Soap slice. Fresh and delicious! This is an old throwback Bath & Body Works scent, and I love it! 

Thanks Courtney! It was a wonderful, delightful, and inspiring surprise:)

My New Cupcake Soaps!

I'm officially stating for the record: I aint never making cupcake soaps with a glycerin base again! (Okay, that was a double negative which cancels itself, so technically I have given myself a window of opportunity...) My newest cupcakes are CPOP soaps, and while it's a messy, yucky process, the outcome is well worth it in my biased opinion.

 The Big Damn Lemon Cupcake Lust

 Smashing Pumpkin Cupcake Lust

 
Here we have The Big Damn Lemon Cupcake Lust and Smashing Pumpkin Cupcake Lust. If you know my lemon well, you know why it's called "The Big Damn Lemon". Smashing Pumpkin was a beautiful, deep orange, but the color straight faded-the vanilla stabilizer perhaps? Anyway, it's a blend of straight pumpkin, a minute amount of cassia essential oil  for added scent, brown sugar, with a generous dash of ground cinnamon and gold soap sparkle. They'll make their debuts in my new online shop around the 15th-ish.

7 of the Weirdest Soaps You Have Ever Seen

While I'm busy working on my website, I've solicited a little help from my friends to keep you entertained. Enjoy!

 
“This guest post was contributed by You Are Art”

Bacon Soap

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When we think of a typical morning at home, we normally think of certain smells wafting through the air. The smell of bacon is one of those scents. However, we usually think of the smell coming from the kitchen and that's not necessarily the case nowadays. Bacon Soap is an amazing, cleansing soap with the aroma of freshly cooked bacon. And, honestly, who doesn't like to smell like bacon?

Soapsicles

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Soapsicles are a great way to feel fresh and summery in the shower. They look almost good enough to eat with flavours and scents ranging from rich chocolate to tart lemon. The adorable ribbon on the stick of each adds a touch of cuteness to the bar of soap. Just don't pop these goodies into the freezer or someone might be tempted to take a bite.

Sushi Soap

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If you love oriental cuisine and enjoy nothing more than fine dining: sushi style, then you are in for a treat when you realize that you can also bathe with sushi. Sushi Soap is a great way to bring your favourite cuisine into the bathtub. The fantastic to-go tray makes this soap an instant eye-catching display.

Poop Soap

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Playing practical jokes on loved ones can be such a joyous experience. And what better way to prank a friend or relative than by putting a bar of soapy poop on the kitchen sink? Poop Soap is a fantastic way to add a touch of humour to your life. I hope that this soap is just for ‘pranking’ and doesn't also have the aroma of poop.

Heart Soap

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Not your traditional Valentine's Day hearts, these Heart Soaps are a sure fire way of saying "I Love You" to that special someone in your life. Alternatively, this soap makes a fantastic gift to any heart surgeon or Goth. This could also make a fantastic Halloween prop for those boring, everyday bathrooms.

Gaming Soaps

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Cleansing with ordinary soap can be boring and tedious for those who would rather be playing games. However, there are several soaps out there that will even catch the attention of avid game players. Tetris Soap is a fun way to put together puzzles while taking a bath, allowing thinking skills to develop even while washing up.

Xbox Controller Soap

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Alternatively, Xbox lovers will enjoy the thrill of washing with their favourite console game controller.

Another Sneak Peak..Yeah, Yeah, Again...

Almost all of my favorite soapers-Future Primitive, Product Body, Burnt Mill, Great Cakes Soapworks, ... have their own websites in addition to selling on a venue like Etsy or Art Fire. Why haven't I done this already? It's the best way to establish and fortify your brand, and to be the center of attention-and I like that!

So here I am bringing up the rear with mine-again. I'm so indecisive so I totally had the site re-designed with warmer colors-but I still had to have the pink of course. It's still in the rough stages (a little late for that huh?) My goal is to have this website go live on October 1st-um, that's this Friday-YIKES! So, I'll be M-I-A til then. Hopefully I can get it launched by then...fingers crossed...

Bitten

I'm very fond of sequels even if they're not as good as the original. 

For example, everybody (I'm speaking very broadly here) loves Grease, but not me. I love Grease II. I think the music was better, and I loved the storyline much better than the first one. And I just think Michael Carrington is way cuter than Danny Zuko. Sue me...

Anyway, I'm saying all that to say that Bite Me has a sequel, and it's called Bitten. It's the same delicious blackberry sage scent, but it looks noticeably different. I decided to put some fancy piping on the top this time, and I LOVE how it turned out. Once again, I botched up the color. I added too much brick red oxide, so it looks dark orange instead of that pretty berry color I had with Bite Me. See, my problem is, I am either singing or talking on my phone while I'm making soap instead of concentrating on the task at hand...

So here is Bitten-all dressed up and no shower to play in. I'm saving this one for my website launch. Til the next post...

Dirty Soap

It's kinda obvious how I came up with the name for this one. It's yet another half-successful attempt at creating the chocolate line. I'm getting closer, but life's littlest accidents can turn into something unique and fascinating to behold...sometimes.

The scent is actually a very crisp and light olive blossom. I actually love the pale green color-another perfect accident (hopefully I can duplicate it). The scent seized like crazy on me, so some of the bars look extra dirty, lol. Ahhh, this one is truly full of accidents, but the soap is perfectly perfect to use. This one's made with olive, avocado, and organic palm oil and will make its auspicious debut in a few weeks!

Meet Lothario!

I've been dying to name a soap Lothario. I don't know why. I just love saying "Lothario." So here they are. Okay, I need to start planning properly before i actually execute. The intent was to have one of those cutesy chocolate lines that I see on all these soaps, but, my dumb self did not get a clue-in time. I'm thinking, "Oh, I'll have a chocolate line to separate the uncolored layer from the dark layer..." But duh, you cant see the line because it's the same friggin color practically as the dark layer! I should have layered the uncolored part....dummy! Another faux pas was I wanted to make the dark layer a black cherry color because that's the main scent, but I used way to much black oxide, and I was left with this purplish thing.

With all that being said, the soap smells great! Like I said, it's black cherry with a little smooch of cassis (because I wanted to get rid of that literal drop left in the bottle). Yeah, this soap is very lotharious (yes, I made that up) indeed. Oh, and it's made with olive oil, organic palm oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and castor oil.

VICTORIOUS!!!

Like I said in my previous post, the key to a successful salt bar (in my opinionated opinion) is using a silicone mold with individual cavities. That way you don't have to line the mold or worry about the damn thing crumbling up when you slice it. I also changed the scent completely. I was not feeling the floral thing-I'm just not a floral lover at all. So....without further ado, meet the new and much improved Buffy The Dead Skin Slayer! She's gorgeous, aint she? I love her beautiful peachy exterior and her dead skin-slaying weapon of choice is dendritic salt covered in sharp, crisp bergamot with a couple of splatters of what else but blood orange-the perfect weapon for sloughing and annihilating flaky, peel-y skin!

I'm really loving this one! And it's a very limited edition. I'll only have 6 bars in stock. These are pretty hefty weighing in at almost 6 oz each. These bars are rough and rugged-like I like my men, hee hee. I will not be prettying these up. So, whattaya think?