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.

Smell Before You Buy? NO WAY!

"A sniffy is a cotton swab very lightly dipped in an aromatic material. It is usually enough to get to know a new aroma and have some idea of how it might blend with others. "

Supplies By Hello is offering sniffys for free!

Every customer (or potential customer) is allowed two sniffys per calendar month! So if you don't know what Geranium oil from Egypt smells like and what a sniff, then get a sniffy from Daniela. I know I will take her up on this. There are a couple I have been very interested in but am too nervous to commit to just yet.

What a great idea she had.

Orangutans + Why You Should Use Sustainable Palm Oil

There is a lot of talk about using and finding sustainable palm oil. At first, I wasn't really sure why. You may not know either so I'll just touch on some of what people are going on about that you may or may not be aware of.

I quote from this article: "Orangutans and palm oil: What's the connection?"

The forests of Borneo and Sumatra are the only two places on Earth where these gentle, intelligent creatures live. The cultivation of palm oil over the last decade has directly led to the slaughter of thousands of individuals as the industry has expanded into previously undisturbed areas of old-growth rain forest. The UNEP estimates that an area of Indonesian rain forest the size of six football fields is cut down every minute of every day. The palm oil and timber industries are guilty of truly horrific ecological atrocities, one of which is the systematic genocide of orangutans. When the forest is cleared, adult orangutans are generally shot on sight. In the absence of bullets they are beaten, burned, tortured, mutilated and often eaten as bush meat.

If this is all true, I am sick.

After I read this, I started making soaps without palm, and honestly, the soaps just weren't as nice. I began my search for sustainable palm because I knew it was out there, but honestly, it wasn't easy to find!

I first went to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which is the International organization of producers, distributors and others that promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil. I poked around, and it was very confusing to actually find a supplier. If anyone from there reads this.... Make it REALLY easy to find a palm oil supplier so this change occurs faster!

I was in touch with Mike Lawson of Soaper's Choice/Columbus Foods (fantastic company, fantastic guy!), and their organic palm oil is sustainably harvested. Mike conveyed this to me:

"Regarding your question of sustainable palm production, our Organic palm is from South America, grown in a mixed species environment with legume under story to provide nitrogen specific plants to host, and feed beneficial insects. Residue from the oil pressings is also returned to the groves to provide nutrients. The farm is in a region of the Amazon that was cleared by previous owners 30-40 years ago, and the reestablishment of a forest crop has brought back many species of birds and other plants and animals. While not as diverse as native Rain forest, it is a vast improvement over grasslands. All our conventional Palm suppliers are members of RSPO as well.

We are conscious of where we purchase our oils, and will continue to seek conscientious growers, and producers."

Mike assured me that the organic palm had certification of its sustainability in addition to its membership with RSPO.

So instead of eliminating palm from your recipes, just change your buying habit. If we all make the change, maybe WE can make the difference.

Please link back to this posting if you have a blog about soap, so we can educate and end the destruction of more animals. Thank you.

If You Are Looking For Infused Oils

Go visit Heidi of Vintage Fresh. Fellow soaper and mother of four living in FREEZING Michigan has a new item in her shop that you might be very interested in! She is selling infused oils that she makes herself. Right now she's got a few ready for purchase for only $12.50 per pound. They are listed here:

Calendula
St. John's Wort
Peppermint
Rose Hips
Lavender
Sage
Marshmallow Root
Nettle
Comfrey

In addition to her soaps and sundries, she has a 12 step blog: Soapaholics Anonymous. I joined last year. It IS an addiction, so don't anyone tell you otherwise, cuz they'd be lying!

xo

Back To Mango Lassi For A Moment

I have ordered the "bulk order" of Mango Lassi from Brambleberry and have contacted the people who showed interest in purchasing some with me. If I haven't emailed you and you DID ask to get in on the buy or you are interested in a pound of Lassi, please email me today or tomorrow at jo(at)productbody(dot)com and I will see if we have room. I think we will.

OK, that's it for now!

Wow, that picture is making me very thirsty and needing some really good Indian food. Can someone send over their chef to whip me up something? ;)

**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.

Pumpkin Pie Soap + Do Right

I used my Mr. Do Right molds and I was hoping for an easier outcome. I tried an olive oil soap this time, so automatically, it's softer soap, but it was HELL getting it out of that HDPE mold. I had to cut it out. Three days later there was no separation from the mold, so I started to cut it out.

I then contacted the person who originally told me about Mr. Do Right. She said that she uses cyclomethicone (body safe silicone liquid) and then a spray of Pam and her soaps pop right out. Hmmm. So I did that, so now I have another soap in and it's stuck. Yes, another conditioning soap with shea butter and all, but grrrr. I am frustrated. $75 and I am more frustrated than before. I was hoping this would make things easier.

I think the next purchase that I make will be from Upland Soap Factory. A highly respected seasoned soaper directed me to them. Heads up: they close on December 20th and do not re-open until March, so if you are eager, get on!


(These embeds are pumpkin soap from the LAST pumpkin soap. Hey guess what?? The whole thing is going to turn into the same color. duh. I am so on top of the game at night, it's not even funny!)

Mr. Do Right

I have been struggling with what soap molds to use since I started soaping. And I know you all have, too, in your own way. There are so many to choose from! Brad made me one that is awesome, but lining has been a challenge. Then I found that incredible instructional video that saved me from losing my mind, because the step by step instructions were so easy to follow, I actually could take freezer paper and line any mold without creases! Every time. So when lining wasn't an issue, shape became my focus. I bought some molds from someone and they produced very square bars, which is lovely, but I want to also make rectangular bars that is easier to hold in the shower.

There are silicone molds, wooden molds, wooden molds with silicone liners (Elizabeth of Longcroft Soap uses those and makes such AMAZING soaps!) and hdpd molds. You can use old food containers as Anne Marie of The Soap Queen blog wrote about just the other day, pvc pipes, tupperware.... there are so many vessels to pour soap into its fantastic. Well, I found some great soaps out there perusing the soap world as I do and asked the soap makers who made them what mold they used, and sure enough, BOTH of them said, "Mr. Do Right on Ebay. Wouldn't pour into anything else."
REALLY? So what did I do? I bought the 3 lb molds (set of 2 with a cutter mold and soap slicer). See the pictures.

The Ebay listing photgraph

My patio photos

Tonight I made Pumpkin Pie soap in one of the molds and I will reveal pictures tomorrow. I am so happy. Rick, the guy I dealt with is really great. He is a good business man and I'd deal with him again and again and I'll be buying from him again! Very soon. Like tomorrow. ;)



update:  You must line these molds.  :(

Fair Trade Unrefined Shea Butter

Snowdrift Farms is now stocking fair trade unrefined shea butter. I think the prices are very reasonable once you're at the 5lb mark and of course, the 59 lb. mark is even cheaper, but that is A LOT of buttah! Shea butter is lovely in soaps and you can feel good about buying this shea.

They also are offering some Halloween melt and pour kits for the upcoming holidays and free shipping on essential and fragrance oils.

Also, if you ever have questions about certain ingredients or regarding preservatives, etc., you can contact them and within a day, the chemist will get back to you with some very helpful comments and suggestions. They are super knowledgeable and have been nothing but helpful.

Butter up!

Aaarg - The Price Of Oils

I went shopping tonight online for oils to soap with and found that the price seems to have increased in the past few months. I understand the price of everything is increasing, really, due to the oil and gasoline prices. Our gas prices here in South Florida are now $4.15 per gallon, and that is on the cheap side. (Can I roll my eyes now?) Everything costs more to ship so every one of my suppliers need to take that into consideration, of course. We all need to make money and I don't blame them for increasing the prices, but, sheesh. My pockets feel a bit emptier, suddenly.

I think we can all benefit if we each share what supplier you use to get the most inexpensive base oils in the comments section of this post. The one thing I have found so heart warming about the soaping community, is that there really is a warmth and friendship amongst soap makers. I really feel like it is a community of people eager to help each other out. Maybe we can help each other out in this time of economic HELL and make the best damn bars of soap without going completely broke.

shot glass of macadamia nut oil

The Soap Dish Soap Making Supplies: 15% Off Sale

The Soap Dish is having a sale!!  15% Memorial Day Sale

They are a family owned soap making supplier that I highly respect.  They are super honest and they try to pass along savings to their customers when they get a break in price.  From Thursday, May 22, through the end of Memorial Day, get 15% off orders of $35 or more.

Sale ends Monday, May 26th at 12 am EST.

"We value the craftsmanship and quality of products and raw materials originating from the United States, and wish to encourage our local and national economy. With this in mind, The Original Soap Dish® strives to utilize as many local resources as possible in sourcing raw materials. From our custom manufactured soap boxes to our Emu oil and honey powder, we are proud to offer raw materials and products made in the USA."