7 Sins Committed Before Heaven

I have had the best experience in the shower lately.  Tiggy of Future Primitive sent me a gift with some soap.  I ordered something (and I can't remember what) on her website and she sent me bubble bars, soap and her Body Whip in Malt N' Milk, which I don't see listed anymore, but here is the photo on her website that makes her such a temptress.

You temptress!

 

Body Whip

just give me a spoon, ok?

It's nice and thick, creamy and soothing.  I've always preferred the buttery, thick creams, more so than lotion.  It just sinks down deep into the dryness of my hands and arms which are constantly beaten up by water, making soap and always washing washing. It makes me think that I need to reevaluate the products I make.  :P  Why am I not making the buttery ones?  Hmm, more thought on that later.  Back to Future Primitive!

7 Sins.  The soap.  It is a complex scent and one that makes me swoon when I sniff it.  The blog describes it like this:  

 Banana cake infused with Ginger, topped with Vanilla Frosting and drizzled with melted Dark Chocolate. Toasted Madagascan Vanilla bean with a dribble of Honey and finished with a scattering of Hot Buttered Popcorn.

I'm not sure I smell the popcorn and the description is too cake-y and sweet for what it really smells like to me.  I have smelled teeth-aching sweetness before and this is not it.  It is much more laid back, tempting the sweetness and bringing a load of heaven up my nose, but it isn't coying, or overly sweet in the least.  The chocolate pulls all of the scents together into a cadence of sorts and in short, a slice of heaven.  Sinfully heavenly...

Honestly, the soap is perfect.  Bubbles, big and wide tapering off to tight bubbles that are cream-like that left my skin quenched.  Clean, moisturized and quenched.  Thank goodness.  The design is lovely, too.  But then, all of Tiggy's soaps are just so pretty to look at.  Here are pictures of 7 Sins soap:

Sadly, I am reviewing this when there is no stock of them on the website, so you may have to wait, but I couldn't wait on my review because I had to share my experience.  I have yet to try the bubble bars.  Who has time to soak in a tub?  I never feel that I have time for much these days, as you can see, I am rarely updating this blog, which I intend on doing more of soon.  I need to spend more time pampering myself and keeping track of my soapie gifts.

A note about Tiggy:  She is a true soaper.  One that really has the passion and determination to create good products and anyone who has ever been in touch with her will tell you she is aces.  She is funny, sweet and honest and above all, dedicated to her craft.

Give a shout to Tigger and tell her I sent you.  Tell her I love her stuff - and her!

xxoo

Some Amazing Feedback About Our Perfumes

Here are just a few of the most excellent little outbursts we've heard from our customers and we are proud to share.

About Lair:

Oh my goodness. I honestly didn't think another fragrance could top 'Lounge" (gor-GEOUS) as my go-to sexy scent, but then I got "Lair!" It's so creamy, sweet, but dark and smoky at the same time. I adore it, and will most definitely be wearing it this Valentine's Day. *growl* Thank you so much for creating another amazing fragrance!

-
Lysa Luna, Ringleader
The Morbid The Merrier
http://www.themorbidthemerrier.etsy.com
http://www.themorbidthemerrier.blogspot.com

Also about Lair:

OMG Lair! I want to roll around in it forever, it needs to be in a soap, lotion, scrubs, everything. You're not allowed to discontinue it ever!

-Meghan Runyon of Dreaming Tree Soapworks

About Iniquity:

I love this fragrance too! It is warm and dark and sensual, and not too sweet. Perfect for feeling pretty on a chilly winter night.

also...

About Lounge: Mmm wonderful! Purchased for my husband, and it is great on him. Gentlemanly and dark without being too heavy, and it has excellent staying power! Joanna's tastes are spot-on yet again:)

-Sarah on Etsy

About Ruby Rock Star:

I love love love this scent. The grapefruit is a great wake-me-up scent, and underneath the primary citrus scent is a wonderful, warm, sweet fragrance that makes this much more mature and subtle perfume.

-buyer on etsy

About Sexy Laundry Day:

I don't think I could love this more. It is perfect.

-Kim of Kim's Kitchen Sink blog

If you have something to say about your experience feel free to send them along so others can feel confident ordering a perfume that is adored by you!

We are glad our hand blended proprietary scents have been so well received.

*

Samples of Fragrances

Look what I received in the mail yesterday..... how fun! Elements Bath and Body is now offering their fragrances for only $1 each and they are quite big compared to other suppliers who just send tiny vial sniffers. I stuck my checkbook behind the bottles to give you an idea of their size.

Out of ten that I ordered, I'd buy 5 or 6, so I think I'd say this is a winner move on their part, because it makes no sense for me to spend so much money to try a 2 oz fragrance oil for $4-$6 to get here for me to hate it and then I'm stuck with 2 oz of it.

$1. No big skin off my back and I get to try a ton!

Yummers.

A Successful Seize

I normally purchase fragrance oils from soap suppliers that indicate whether or not the fragrance will speed up trace or will work in general with cold process soap, but a wholesale customer of mine ordered two loaves of soap in a HONEY scent, not Oatmeal Milk + Honey, so, I took a chance with a couple of fragrances I had. Let me explain.

I had Herbal Accent's Milk + Honey, Peak Candle's Wild Mountain Honey (so nice, but I would only recommend it for bath and body products and candles...you'll understand in a second), and Majestic Mountain Sage's Honey Harvest. I knew mixing the three fragrances was a red flag the minute I started. Yeah, I was flying by the seat of my pants on this one. Call me a wild card! I needed to get the soap done, I had some great fragrance oils, and I had all of my ingredients. Soooo, I thought...let's get crackin'!

Well, I poured the lye/water mixture into the oil mixture and I mixed it to trace, lalalala..happy happy joy joy, then I began to slowly pour in my fragrance mixture. I held my breath, nervous. Nervous it might turn to clumpy porridge. It seemed to be working out fine. I stirred until it was fully incorporated and I moved it over to the lined molds and saw it starting to change, but not sure how. I hurried to the molds, started pouring and as I'm pouring MID POUR, the soap batter hardened. I am talking, stopped moving mid wave. Imagine an ocean wave halting completely - freeze frame! I have NEVER had this happen before. It turned into what felt like wax! I was about to throw the whole thing out until I just thought to myself, hell, just shove that wax down into the molds and call it a day.

That I did. I shoved that waxy batter down deep with all of my weight and crossed my fingers hoping it got down deep enough to hold the shape of the mold. I was wondering if the soap would cure, if it was even soap at all! If it was soap and it did cure, would it be all crumbly and weird?

Is this what they call soap seize?

Shoot. I think I'll try to stick with fragrances that have been tried and true because it's hard to spend all that money and time on quality oil and butters and to throwing it out makes me cringe.

Update** So two days later I take out the honey wax soap out and it seems fine... Looks a bit like crumb cake. Not perfect, not perfect. I'll have to share photos next time I have access to my camera. Nice soap, too. Lathers, not harsh....smells good, too.

:) I guess you'd call it a successful seize.

Has anything like this ever happened to you before? If so, what happened to the final soap? Love to hear your experience...

Bringing Milk + Honey To Another Level

Lissa Lee of Arcadia Aromatics (aka The Soap Store on Etsy) makes beautiful soaps. I have been admiring them for months now and I got a bar in the mail that I have been eyeing. The glorious 24 Carrot Buttermilk & Honey Bar looks just like fudge: smooth, velvety and inviting. I really wanted to feel my teeth sink into it, but I'm smarter than that more often than not.

This is what's inside: "Saponified oils of palm, coconut, rice bran, canola, fragrance (honey), organic carrot juice, buttermilk. Scent description (on her site): An amazingly pure honey scent. No floral notes, no fruity overtones, and no spices. Only sweet, pure, rich amber honey, with nothing else blended into it.

• Scent: Tupelo Honey
• Weight: 5.8 oz.
• Price: $6.00 ea."

A nice hefty bar, I tellya. When I opened it up, it was just as I imagined it. That almost never happens exactly. Either my hopes are way too high and I am bummed with the soap's performance or scent, or I was blown away because I had no hopes to begin with. This one, I was looking forward to, thinking about the deep sticky-honey-and-buttermilk-in-the-hot-sun smell. Lissa used carrot juice along with buttermilk and I think it's what brings the whole thing together.

The scent: Pure heaven. Sweet without the sugar. It does smell like rich amber honey but I suppose there is a hint of milk in there. Not so much, though. I almost smell the flowers the bees went to to collect the pollen from. A whisper of jasmine but the bar isn't florally. It's hard to describe, But I urge you to get one and smell it yourself. Then let me know what YOU smell.

The works: Magic. The instant I entered the shower that baby took off like a rocket with the bubbles and exploding lather. Hmmm, I thought. Wonder if it's drying if there are so many bubbles. Nope, it was super moisturizing. It felt great and rubbing the honey bar on my skin made me feel like I was treating my skin with the therapeutic creations from the Earth. Go get my crystals and incense because I was one with it all, man.

Loved it!! So double thumbs up go get a bar do it now rating from Joanna.

Here are some of the other goodies she makes that are also breathtaking:




Lissa, thank you for the opportunity to try your wonderful soap. What a pleasure it has been. I will certainly be back. My bar is half gone and I will need to peruse through your offerings when I'm finished with this wonderbar.

xx

**Update On The Mango Lassi**

Can I Drink That Mango Lassi Through My Nose, Please was a cry for help in my fragrance dilemma. One of my favorite suppliers, Brambleberry, discontinued a fragrance that I loved and I was, to say the least, distraught.

Anne-Marie of Brambleberry responded (ever so quickly) with this comment:

Joanna, Just for you, Fresh Baked Bread has gotten a reprieve for one more year. I LOVE it and think it's one of the best fragrances every invented but it just didn't sell terribly well. But, just for you, at least another year and we'll reevaluate sales in January 2010.

Mango Lassi, The 10 pound price is on the site. If you want to spearhead a buy, I can also post to my blog and the Teach Soap Forum and see if there are others that want in with you? I am 100% certain we can help move some pounds. The sales on that one were *so low* (maybe it was the name?) that we wouldn't even sell enough of it in a year to keep it from going bad before it got to you. I really liked the fragrance too ... maybe it was the name?

Woah. Not only do I think Brambleberry's products are top notch, the customer service is fantastic and I think Anne-Marie is a smart business woman and a really nice person. I promised her I'd have to plant a fat kiss on her when I meet her in person.

Love her!

Can I Drink That Mango Lassi Through My Nose, Please?

Before I do my review on the Buttermilk and Honey bar of soap... I am in a dilemma again, so it has to wait another day. It is with a supplier.

This time it is with Brambleberry, not Majestic Mountain Sage (MMS). I had originally tried a great fragrance oil from MMS, but when I went to order it, it was no longer offered. ACK! I called them in a panic because I just had to get it. They said I could buy 10 pounds of it. Woah. Ten pounds is a lot of money and so much fragrance....I really don't put out that amount of product, no matter how fancy you think I am. Do you remember a few months ago when I asked if anyone wanted to join me in ordering 10 pounds of Graham Cracker fragrance? I am in a similar situation, but this time it is with Brambleberry - but now I am in deeper because it's with THREE fragrances. I CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT one, though: my sweet mango lassi. The three fragrances that have been discontinued are:

Mango Lassi, Fresh Baked Bread and Banana

Who didn't buy these, I ask you? What kind of peer pressure can I put on you all??

OK, I really don't want more than one pound of Banana. Honestly, I wanted to play around with it more than put it in my line. I wanted to see if it would be good in fragrance blends. The Mango Lassi, however, is taunting me from the empty bottle I have. Every few days, I sniff the empty botttle and breathe in ever so deeply and wimper quietly while I exhale, "No more Mango L-A-S-S-I-I-I-I......"

It's really so stupid that I can be such a baby.

C'mon, I am a grown woman and I whine every time I open my empty Mango Lassi bottle from Brambleberry and smell the fumes.

So we either all need to write letters to tell them to bring it back and all buy some, which will most likely not work, OR I'd love for some of you to go in on a ten pound batch of Mango Lassi with me in the next month or so. I want it by Valentine's day so I can get my Spring on.

Oh, and Anne Marie?? If you are reading this.... I just want to share: So many people have told me that the fragrances I use / blend are amazing and so unique and pure. Is it even remotely even a tiny eensy bit possible that maybe I have good taste and those three fragrances were just overlooked by some of your customers and should be tried with the masses again?

Just a shot in the dark. ;)

UPDATE: Fresh Baked Bread is still available here.

Yuzu Rhubarb Sparkle Loaf

the very sweet citrus cocoa butter soap loaf

close up of the very sweet citrus cocoa butter soap loaf

This holiday loaf is really only "holida" because of the green sparkles on top. Otherwise, there's nothing holiday about it. It smells sweet and citrus-y and has a light dusting of apricot seed powder on top. My husband wants a citrus soap. I keep trying, but I am not getting anywhere with it. My lemon soap (eo) became close to being unscented while it was curing. Same with my orange valencia soap (also eo) and and my pink grapefruit (FO!) doesn't stick around either. Grrr.

So he gets nothing.

I would love suggestions with any and all citrus successes you may have had. Citrus, being my favorite land of stench would be grand in my soapy end of things, so please DO share if you have solutions and successes. We are a soaping family, as I am learning. We are sharing with eachother so that we can all succeed in our little corner of the world.

It is November 13th today. Do you realize that we are halfway through November? I am either getting slower or there is WAY MORE going on in my life than ever before. It doesn't mean anything to my customers who I owe products to.

Gotta go make goodies. Bye!

New Pumpkin Soap

These were made using the hot process method in the crock pot (thanks, Elizabeth!)

Scented with Graham Cracker and Pumpkin Spice. Yummo!

A Pretty Soap With No Future

This is one of my favorite soaps I've made so far, but the titanium dioxide didn't fully mix for my lighter topping, so I got white powdery dots that smeared when I cut the soaps. Every bar looks speckled and smeary (you can see the smear better if you click on it and blow it up to a bigger size).

The scent is a warm and lovely Graham Cracker Carrot Cake - OMG, yummmmm!

I'll have to try again, because this is too good not to share :)

Graham Cracker Update

Last week I asked for some partners in crime. I have to buy ten pounds of graham cracker fragrance oil and I just don't want that much. Maybe 3 pounds. I need one or two more takers. Worked great for me in my graham cracker and coffee soap a few months ago.

Going once, going twice. When it's gone it's gone.

Carrot Orange Soap

At Suzanne Graham For You, you can have it your way. Just like at Burger King, except these won't give you high blood pressure and make you fat.

I got a box filled with 4 small logs arrived from Canada some weeks ago and there are a few things you should know.
a) I love the packaging. The hand stamped names on natural colored tissue paper is brilliant and simplistic, which I love.

b) I like the flexibility when buying her soaps, because you can buy full and half sized bars. You can custom fill a box with any combination.

c) They smell fantastic!

Suzanne sent me these yummy half bars:

ki-lime:



banana baby:



breezy fruit:



and carrot orange:


I am enjoying them all so much I am ready to order more. The next ones I am ordering are:



gin + tonic and mangia cake (no pictures are available for these yet).

Back in December of 2007, my husband, Brad, wrote a review of a soap made by Simply Soap. If you haven't read it, you really must. Well, he hasn't raved quite as much about a soap since then. I have asked him to write up something, and he has been busy and is procrastinating. This post should light a little flame under him. ~~~ burn ~~~

Let's just say that the soap ROCKED and the teeny weeney tiny sliver that remains is really almost a memory. We need more. Immediately....

So, soap review of Suzanne Graham's carrot orange soap to come...Brrraaaaaad...?

Salt Bars In SEXY Laundry Day

These are my salt bars. I have been wanting to make them for months and months and I finally did it! Thank you to Sarah of Ladybug Soapworks, her salt bar tutorial was fabulous. I changed up the oil from avocado (had none) to a blend of castor and soybean oil. I also used a combination of fine Morton table salt ans fine sea salt - I used no large crystals. I noticed that Sarah's bars have wuite a texture to them. Mine are smooth.

The best part of the bars? The absolute heavenly new scent we have introduced at Product Body called SEXY Laundry Day. A super clean, fresh scent with notes of ylang ylang, jasmine and Downy fabric softener. My favorite so far....oooh!

These photographs were taken right after I cut them. They look even better now. I shall take pictures of the cured version and see how much they differ. I have been using the bars as my facial soap and I am loving it so far!

Love Spell

Anyone have a supplier for Love Spell (type)? Aussie Soap Supplies has it. I just don't want to pay International shipping. I bought some from Flicker's but it isn't on the money.

Any thoughts?

Discontinued Graham Cracker Fragrance

I am pretty sad. I bought this great smelling fragrance oil, called Graham Cracker fragrance oil from Majestic Mountain Sage sometime in November and didn't try it until batch #2, so I went back to MMS to buy a bunch of it, because I had a whole plan about doing a Graham Cracker themed gift set for the Summer (graham crackers are in Key Lime pie and in S'mores), but I couldn't find it on their website. This morning I called them. Well, apparently, it has been discontinued and it is their very own blend so the only way to get it back would be to purchase 25 or more lbs. of it. 25 pounds?!?! The closest I have come to the scent is Brambleberry's Carrot Cake, but it lacks the nutty butter smell.

Oh no! I just looked at their site and it is a Limited Edition too. I better try it in my next batch of soap to see if it compares and grab some before it goes to 10 pounds.

On the topic of discontinuing fragrances, Brambleberry discontinued a fragrance I was ready to get, too! It was Mango Lassi (I love lassi's at Indian restaurants on 6th St.) The nice thing is that they will make a 10 lb. jug for you. Better than MMS. I can not justify ordering 10-25 lbs. of one scent, though. What if people don't like it?

If anyone has a bunch of this Graham Cracker fragrance oil from MMS, I'd be happy to buy it from you!

Micky Byrd

I received a couple of soaps from Micky Byrd a month or two ago and I have only just tried them. Now they sent a soap called Jelly Bean and Almond Decadence soap, neither of which are available anymore on the website, but these are the ones I am reviewing today.

I think Micky Byrd's soaps are really beautiful and I quite like their paper soap wraps: Simple and designed well with the flower on the ends.

Into the shower for Jelly Bean and me. Very cute with purple soap embeds and soothing cream colored main soap. The look of it reminded me of jelly beans and candy. The smell was not sweet, however. It had a limey, sharp scent that I was confused by. Typically the name of soaps play off of the scent, but in this case, maybe just the looks. The soap was very sudsy right away - cleaned me sudsrifically but it took a long time to rid my hands of that soapy residue feel, almost like I couldn't get the soap to want to leave me. My whole body didn't feel slick at all, but my hands took a while to clean off. The shave test was wonderful. Because of the slickness, it had quite a nice "slip" with the razor and I shaved very swiftly with no nicks. Yay!

The second bar was similar in that it was foamy and soapy good, but left that slickness I just explained. The scent? Almond Decadence is not how I would describe this one. it looked almondy and richly sweet with calendula petals on top and along the side, but it smelled very much like soap with a hint of patchouli and a touch of Litsea Cubiba.

Overall, I think Micky Byrd makes nice soap, but I wish the names matched the scents a little more.

Isn't this pretty? It is clary sweet on their website. Nice layering in the center and adorned with calendula! Thank you, Viola for sending me these lovelies!!

Daybreak Lavender Farm - A Guest Review

One of my readers, "Kayti Bear", asked if she could write a review on a soap she absolutely adores.  I welcome a community with others ideas and opinions.  Under the beautiful soap photo is Kayti's review.  I hope you enjoy it!

Vanilla Bourbon & Tonka Bean By Daybreak Lavender Farm

10 ounces $16.95

I am a person who loves handmade soap. My cupboards are full of (soap) just in case I run out (haha).   Even my dresser has a couple of bars to scent my clothes.  My skin is sensitive by nature to most commercially produced products.  I used to be really bummed out not being able to go to the mall and get the hottest scent from Bath and Body works.  Then one day I got my first bar of handmade soap.  It was love at first wash and the rest as they say is history.

I wanted to review Vanilla Bourbon & Tonka Bean soap by Daybreak Lavender farm.  Please keep in mind that for me to bother to review it as opposed to the other stuff in my cupboard equates it with something special.

The first thing I judge on is packaging and presentation. Daybreak sent this bar carefully wrapped in tissue paper. It's a large bar easily cut into two bars. The smell is to die for.  People visiting asked me if it was fudge. I had to convince myself it wasn't fudge.  Daybreak may call this Vanilla Bourbon & Tonka Bean but I call it soap for people who chase a screaming toddler all day.

Here's what Daybreak says about it:

Vanilla Planifolia Bourbon (sorry no Jack Daniels here, the Bourbon is the finest vanilla variety!!) is an elegant orchid-dotted vine growing deep in the tropical forests of Madagascar. With a history dating back to the 1400's this is complex vanilla blend that we create with that tradition in mind.  Starting six months before soap making day, we take an insane number the finest Madagascar Vanilla beans to infuse our sunflower oil so that the orchid's elusive perfume deeply permeates every molecule of your bar.

We then add extravagant amounts of Vanilla Absolute and Vanilla Essential Oil -- along with Tonka Bean Essential Oil for a rich bottom note -- and just a touch of something very secret for the briefest of top notes.

Besides being decadent and tasty smelling, the folks at Daybreak use some oils you just don't see.... the amounts they use. Daybreak is all about quality. They care about producing a great product that is good for you and the environment. They do seventh generation farming meaning the land will be in better condition than it is now seven generations from now. Customer service is excellent. You can email or call them with questions and a real person answers.

This bar is made with the following oils:

pure, Ghanaian unrefined shea, mango and cocoa butters in a rich base of Grade A olive oil, high oleic sunflower oil, coconut oil, pistachio oil, and castor oil.

All of which are beneficial to your skin. I frankly haven't found someone who combines these oils. The lather is smooth and creamy. When I came out of my bath, my nephew (said screaming toddler) said "You smell like ice cream". It leaves your skin soft and full of moisture without being an oily mess.

At first I shook my head at paying the $16.95 but the size of the bar and ingredients make the price. It lasts twice as long to three times as a normal bar. Mind you it's just me taking a bath . Speaking of which my mother came over and raided my soap collection taking this bar. It's just that creamy and good. 

Just remind yourself it's not fudge.

Kayti

Thank you Kayti Bear!!

Racing Motorcycle Ultimate Fighter Soap

Carol Ochs of Simply Soap outdid herself this time!  My husband wrote an excellent soap review on her Wylde Jasmine Orange Blossom Faerie soap, but as far as Brad was concerned, it should have been called Orange Racing Motorcycle Ultimate Fighter Soap.  Apparently, the soap was too cool for its given name.

I am guessing that Carol was so happy with his review that she sent us more of the same soap. She changed the name on this package for Brad, wrapped the bar in denim and decorated the package with boxing gloves, a screw and a helmet.  Finally the soap came in a handmade jute pouch. Very manly!

Brad took a shower with the soap last night and announced to me, "Yep, that's the stuff!"

Carol, you are very talented.  And funny.  We wish you the best and hope you sell oodles of the Orange Racing Motorcycle Ultimate Fighter soap.

Raven Moon - Coconut Whipped Soap

I received a bar of coconut whipped soap from Nikki of Raven Moon Soap.  I have a thing about coconut.  I think it is one of the finest smells on the planet.  My all time favorite scent, but as a body products maker (is that what I am?) I have tried coconut fragrance oil from umpteen suppliers and haven't found a coconut scent that actually smells like coconut. The bar didn't really smell like true coconut but lightly sweet and soothing, nonetheless.

So the other day, I get in the shower and open her soap from the plastic shrink wrap.  The color was a soothing light brown with a pinkish brown top, lightly scented and clearly whipped. With whipped soaps, there is a "fluffier" look to the bar which I find to be so appealing to look at.  I am a very visual person, so looks matter when it comes to soap, but it is only one part of the whole experience obviously.  Then there is slip, suds, shaving abilities and scent....the 4 S's.

I took the whipped soap under the water and there was instant lather, big and full bodied. Ooooooh.  It felt great, the slip action was perfect so I slid it down my legs in hopes that this could be a good soap for my legs.  If you don't already know about my leg issues, I'll share.  My legs are so so sensitive and shaving or choosing not to shave (having stubble) has a tendency to irritate my entire lower legs so badly, I start scratching out of control, then my legs welt and then finally, I look as though I am a 9 year old who climbs trees all day.  It's just not a pretty sight.

I hate shaving cream smells, so I use soap to shave, always.  Otherwise, I would be hairy like a beast and my husband would be bummed out.  

So back to the soap.  I went to use it for shaving my lower legs and right away I knew there would be plenty of lather to make the shaving experience a nice one, but then there is the after shave dryness/irritation that can often occur after a soap shave.  Not this one.  This whipped soap performed so well I think this will be my staple shave soap.  It was moisturizing enough that when I completely dried off and got dressed, but legs didn't feel tight and dried up.  I suggest to anyone who has lower legs shaving issues, like myself, should definitely pick up a bar of this for shaving.

This was a great all around good soap, for the body, face and shaving.  Bravo Nikki!

Nikki also makes cupcake and cake soaps for the holidays.  Don't they look good enough to eat??

Herbaria

The peacefulness of this bar of soap was so pleasant, it made me not want to leave the shower.  For the last week, I have been showering until the hot water is all used up.  I know I should be conserving water, but I really couldn't help it.  It was like I was under some sort of spell.  The smoothness of the bar slid effortless over my skin, the lather....full bodied and perfect for drifting in and out of mindless daydreaming and even better for shaving.  The Almond Green Tea was a true delight for both the skin and the senses. Green tea, to begin with, has a calming effect on me, and then throw in an almond scent and you have a very calm bar.... maybe that's what I would have called it: CALM BAR, although people might read it as clam bar.  No, no no good.  Smells nothing like clams  :)

Ken Gilberg, one of the owners of Herbaria Soap was so kind and sent me lots of soap, even one for my daughter to review, who has yet to write it (yes, my 10 year old will write a review-watch out!) on their Spearmint Orange bar.  Ken and his wife, LaRee DeFreece have been making soap since 2000 and you can tell they have perfected the bar.  

Perfect cuts, professional packaging and nice lather. 

These are nice folks.  Their soaps will be a staple in my bathroom forever.

Thanks, Ken!

Gift idea:  The set below is called the 12 half bar mosaic.  What a lovely gift to give to someone special.  Go check out their site.