Proud Of My Peeps

We are all busy with life.  I know it now more than any other time in my life.  Starting Mad Oils has been the hardest and most challenging life change I've ever made.  Busy, busy, busy.  I work way more than I should, but things need to get done and so hours fly by... and the great thing is: I love my job!  I DO know about time limitations and the fleeting moments in my life that I take to focus inward.  Everyone's life is filled, but you took the time and dug.

The idea for the latest Soap Challenge was memory based and certainly emotional.  It required you to dig deep, remembering experiences from the past and somehow translating your memories into a planned, colorful soap.  This type of challenge begins to extract parts of you that need to be tapped into.  It helps an artist translate a memory or feeling into something tangible; whatever the medium.  This challenge was for creating a "Colorful Memories" soap and the entries were posted on the Soap Challenge Gallery on Facebook.  The challenge was to take a fond memory and translate it into soap, whether literally or in an abstract way.

I'm very proud of you for trying this very difficult task.  I think this may have been the hardest one I've thrown at you, so kudos to you for attempting it!!  I'm also going to guess that you feel a bit proud of yourself as well.  And you should be.

The winner of this #colorfulmemories challenge is:  
Mandy Oian Davis, of Minnesoapah Handcrafted Soap

Well done, Mandy!  Your translation was spot on and I was transformed back to that night with you as you told the story.

Mandy explains her inspiration for this design:

"Every summer weekend of my childhood was spent at my great aunts cabin on a lake. Unless it was pouring rain, this meant bonfires on Friday and Saturday nights. We had two spots, one up by the field to the rear of the cabin, and one down on the lake shore. I remember so many nights of playing under the stars until exhaustion would take over myself and my many cousins and we would gravitate towards the bonfire and the adults. Great Auntie Bev always had a stack of quilts, and she would lay them on the ground, inviting us to crawl in and rest, then tell us stories and sing us songs while we stared at the fire. To this day, I am mesmerized by the dancing flames of a bonfire.

I used chunks of an old soap to make the "logs" and worked to do a hanger swirl only half way down to make the flames jump and dance. It is scented with Witching Hour, the combo of cinnamon, smoke, and the patchouli is so wonderful with the idea of the fire and the handmade quilts that were stored in a cedar chest. Thanks for this challenge, it was fun to come up with the idea and translate it into soap! "

Runner Up

 Curtis Hayden, of Haus of Hayden

Wow, Curtis, you put so much thought into this soap and your description sounds so fun.  What a special time in your life, now in tangible form for you to share, use, look at....  Way to go!

 Curtis says this about his soap creation:

"This soap had A LOT of thought put into it so forgive me for going into such depth. One of the BEST times of my life and the BEST memories came from my trip to Europe! I was able to explore so many different countries and do so much that I never thought I would be able to do! This soap represents my trip as a whole! The title is "The Edge of Germany" which is a reference to "The Edge of Glory" which was my song that played everywhere throughout Europe. I fell in LOVE with Germany which is why there is the German flag in the middle and also as a Mica top came from! The colors as a whole represent me having pride in the fact that I am German but also the fact that I went to gay pride in Germany!! Individually these colors also stand for things as well! The Red=London telephone booths/buses. Blue=Jumping into the Bay of Monaco. Green=The apartment we stayed in London had NEON green balconies. Yellow=The Eiffel tower lighting up at night. Purple=Regular trips to parliament and such (the chairs were purple). Pink=Going to the Nicki Minaj concert in Berlin. Orange= Sunsets in Switzerland. Also since I was going for a German themed soap of course it had to be beer based and have German Chamomile essential oil!! And the center smells like Spiced Ale while all the colors are super citrusy and uplifting because every time I think back on all the fun I had it makes me super happy! And I wanted all the colors to intertwine because in my mind the entire trips memories flowed one into another. I hope you enjoy my entry and thank you for taking the time to read all my crazy inspiration that went into this!!"

I enjoyed every single photo entry along with the amazing stories of your memories.  I feel blessed that you have decided to share with me and that you involve yourself with these challenges.  I want to thank ALL of you for participating and being a part of this piece of history.  Our history.

I hope you do this for you and not just for "the challenge".  These challenges are meant to open up your artistic passages so you can breathe again and see things you stopped seeing or never saw before.

I raise my coffee cup to all of you and, MAN (!!),  I am a proud challenge-giver-blogger-woman-soaper this month....

Mwuah!

Love, Joanna

xxoo

Madame-Von-Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth

It has been way too long since I posted here.  I've been so so busy getting my business reconfigured with the new website, new all natural soaps and new name: Absolute Soap!  The new website took 6 weeks to create.  My husband, and business partner, did it all.  He took a basic template and tweaked it until it was all to his liking, and the results show.  I took all the photographs of the soaps and scrubs and I'm happy with them, too.  I love photography, so it made my job easy because I love doing it.

Making business goals and achieving them isn't easy and I, for one, have a hard time focusing.  I'm like Doug in the movie UP.  "...Squirrel!"  And I'm outta there.  I have amazing focus, actually, but as soon as I think of or see something that needs to be addressed, I switch my energies to the new thing (which always is important, too).  Imagine me in a room.  I am working on one end of the room and turn to get something.  I spot something else that needs to be put away or filed, and so I put down task A and quickly attend to task B, which would normally be fine, but when I return to the room, I forget what I was doing or see something else that needs work, or remember something needs to be researched or achieved, and I go off to deal with task C.  You see, I am a hard worker and work long hours, but sometimes I feel like I don't get things done.  Some may say that I have attention deficit disorder (ADD), not the hyperactivity part, because if you knew me, you'd laugh if someone told me I had me attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because you know I am pretty low key, kind of mellow and love to sleep.  I'm patient, understanding and most of all genuine, but sometimes I must look like I lost chicken with its head cut off.  But not in the running around kind of way.

Make sense?

It's important to look at our own shortcomings, so we can improve, or at least understand them.  Mine is attention.  So get this.  My doctor says to me, "well, it sounds like you have ADD.  Let's try Adderall."  Did nothing.  N-o-t-h-i-n-g.  Honestly, I don't even get why kids these days use these pills for speed ?!?!?  Guess what?  I took a three hour nap.  Speed, please.

Back to soap.  I love to soap and I love this community.  LOVE YOU GUYS.  I am so excited for the  Handcrafted Soap & Cosmetic Guild conference in Raleigh, North Carolina this May.  If you don't already know, I am doing a demo on hassle-free milk soapmaking, which is crazy.  Who am I to have been asked to be a "speaker" at this well known and highly esteemed conference?  Totally blown away and so honored.  Thank goodness for Leigh, the director, who convinced me that people would be interested in it, because I was all...like... ummm, I think people know this technique and it's no new thing.... and she tells me that people like to see easier ways of doing things with shortcuts.  So I was picked.  :D  Could I argue?  Not really.  I have never been to the conferences and I've always wanted to go.  But, I am in shock how quickly the last four months sped by and now it is right around the corner.  Soooo... yeah. I feel self conscious at a large table of people let alone being in front of 100 or more people, but I will figure it out and know that I have people out there who are supportive and I will be imagining all of you in there naked, so watch out.

Part of the reason I felt the need to share my attention problem is that I don't write these posts and then edit them.  I am sort of a Madame-Von-Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth kind of writer, and it shows. I am not deluded by thinking I am some writer, because I have never claimed to be.  My husband is a writer!  I make grammatical errors all the time, my thought process is kind of all over the place, and I often just linger and never return to the original thought, like right now.... but that's the way I like to write because if I try to make it perfectly written or grammatically correct, my thoughts come out guarded and that's not who I am or what I think you all want from me.  I imagine that you want my guts, my thoughts and my honesty.  Most of you probably don't mind my run-on sentences and flighty conversation.

OR... I could be totally wrong and I annoy the crap out of you.  Either way, I am who I am and I thank all of you for being here with me as I grow over the last 6 years!

Sorry I have been MIA...

xoxo
Jo

Soap + Clay

My true love is soap.

Thanks to all of you for that.  I really mean it.  First of all, I didn't know one thing about soap when I started writing this blog.  In fact, I was just a person who thought that handmade soap was cool and found there to be no platform for the people who made it...no vehicle to get the soap into the front light.  The connection I found within the soaping community was greater and more sincere than I ever thought possible.  It is for those reasons that I started to make soap.  I had undying support from so many of you that I tried it, loved it and haven't looked back once.  Not ONCE.  Years later, it's all I want to do.

I never imagined that I'd be happily married to my job.  I love making soap, designing soap, smelling it, cutting it, using it.  I received a beautiful letter from a friend who had had a great experience when she opened a box of soaps I mailed to her.  It made me feel all warm and fuzzy, knowing that something I am passionate about, something I made with my own hands, brought pleasure to my dear friend. I think that's part of what makes handmade soap so precious.  Handmaking soap from scratch is truly a spiritual process for me.

I have begun throwing clay and as frustrating as this is for me, it is also centering me in, a sense.  I remember the mantra, "It's the process, not the product that is the gift".  As a new mother back then (ahem), I never rushed my daughter to finish her artwork, or gave her suggestions.... her playing in finger paints or mud, glitter, glue, homemade play dough, whatever... it was HER process, not mine, and I think it really stuck.  She is extremely talented in so many ways:  she is a beautiful French Horn musician and a talented photographer.  She also makes all of the gifts she gives me; she has made some of the most beautiful things that I will cherish until my dying day.  She loves art and the process of it.  I love that.

Since the beginning of my class, I have been focusing on the clay, only.  Centering it....this can take time, but once it is centered, a feeling of relief is present.  My teacher is amazing and he has given me tips that help my mind wrap around the clay and manipulate it to where I want it to go.  The process.  The focus, the conquering of a squishy blob, that, with an ever so tender touch, can change in one second, and so... and so.... patience, time, and energy.  I gave in to it all after the first 30 minutes of the class.  Yesterday we did trimming and I, again, focused and wasn't concerned with the final product, but to master the art of carving through leather hard clay to be smooth is inspirational.  This is good therapy if you can lose yourself in it, and perhaps utter torture if you can't BE in the process.  Working it.

I have learned a lot through my photography, pottery and soaping.  It's all a learning process and involves such self awareness through the process.  I just want to remind you that whatever it is that you are doing, stop, breathe deeply and take a step back.  If your final product isn't what you intended and you are frustrated beyond recognition, then perhaps find the time to create it step by step instead of burling through it to get to the final product. 

I think life is also like this.  I have learned that, too, through parenting my two children and owning my own business.  I must continue to remember to stop and smell the roses, just for the smell....

float....

My kids: Desmond and Nina

For All Of You

Thank You

Last week there was a soap blog contest and so many wonderful blogs were nominated in six different categories and this blog won overall content and I would like to thank everyone for helping me make this blog what it is today, because it takes all of us. If you didn't read it, I don't think I'd be here.... what... since August of 2007?? Wow, almost four years.

I can't do this alone. I would love your help. So, if you have a video or photographic tutorial you'd like to share or create that I can post here, I would love that, and so would everyone else.

Thank you again, lovies. I really do mean it. You all are cool.

SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP SOAPSOAPSOAP

ps: our award is over on the right top column! ---------------->

Titanium Dioxide: Is It Safe? A Re-Post

The following was written by Erin of Inner Earth Soaps and I think it's an industry issue that might be of interest to you. I have copied it verbatim.

*********

Recently I've had some customers asking me about titanium dioxide. I've always considered it to be a fairly innocuous product, but lately there have been some concerns over studies where it has been shown to be a possible carcinogenic, causing fear in consumers. So let's bring it out in the open.

What is titanium dioxide?

It's a naturally-occurring mineral, mined from the earth. After mining it is processed to remove impurities, leaving behind a mineral pigment in the form of a white powder.

Which products might contain titanium dioxide?

Soaps, make-up, toothpaste, sunscreen, food, plastics, paints, ink and paper, to name a few.

Why use titanium dioxide?

Apart from in sunscreen - where the titanium dioxide is used to block UV rays from the skin - it is a mostly aesthetic ingredient that makes products appear more white or opaque.

Is titanium dioxide safe?

Titanium dioxide is listed as a safe pigment, with no known side effects. However there is some debate over a specific type of titanium dioxide: ultrafine or nano particles. This is the type of titanium dioxide that is used in sunscreens, because the particles are small enough to be invisible to the naked eye, yet still reflect the UV rays. The debate is whether these particles are small enough to penetrate the skin and become a possible carcinogenic.

Does Inner Earth Soaps use titanium dioxide in their products?

Yes, in some soaps we do. Where it is used, it is listed in the ingredients. However, we don't use the ultrafine powder that is the subject of debate.

Even with this explained, some folks just don't feel comfortable using products containing titanium dioxide. So I've started experimenting with our soaps: some of the ones that currently contain titanium dioxide will be made without it. Below is our Honey Toffee soap. The one on the left contains titanium dioxide, the one on the right doesn't. You can easily tell the difference - the left one is much more opaque, and the layers more well-defined. I'm interested to see whether this new batch will be more popular.

What do you think? Do you use titanium dioxide in your products, or do you feel strongly about using products made with it? I'd love to hear your comments.

*******

If you'd like to read the comments left for her, leave a comment for her or see the original post, please go here. Thanks, Erin!

Also feel free to express yourself!

Food For Thought

South Mountain Rd, New York, 2002

Personal archives.

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.

We are spiritual beings on a human journey.

Rethinking What To Offer

I know I could be bringing more interesting things to the table right now, but with my children being home for the summer and I mean HOME and not in camp, and my life being crazy on top of that, throw a little business on top of that, add a little migraine hell, then just add regular 'ole life, and you've got yourself a boring blog. I haven't had nearly the kind of time or energy to give it.

I've gotten a few lovely guest bloggers to post (thank you!) and I have a couple others scheduled for the near future, but, I have no master plan for this blog for the moment and I know I must be boring you all to tears, have no good resources, eye candy or much else to give you. Thing is, I can't change much about it for about another month, so until the kiddies go back to school and we get into some sort of schedule, and life goes into normal, The Soap Bar may just be providing you with soap porn.

Short of a miracle, the heat will continue to melt me and kill me slowly.
O.o

Guest Bloggers

I am working on getting some interesting people to guest blog here to change it up so I don't bore you to tears all summer. I have very few soaps that I've received as of late and I don't want to just pimp my own stuff as that would just get more boring than watching string blow in the wind.

I could attempt discussing my personal life, and that's fine with me, but I did a whole lot of that last year and I wonder how many people became scared to come back since then.

I have asked four people and I haven't heard back about when they might do a guest blog post, but if anyone is interested in sharing something here, I certainly am open to hearing about it. I think it would be great to expose the rest of us with an experience you had or a technique you learned either from someone else or through your own experiences, etc. I am open to photographs, collages, videos or any other way you feel would be the best way to describe your presentation.

This would be a wonderful way to connect to our soap community and share what you've learned and would give us the opportunity to learn something new from you! Please dig deep. We need you. Write to me at jo at productbody dot com xoxoxoxo

Wannabes, Copycats & Mimickers

Creature Comforts Blog had a post today about the dilemma of having one's work being copied - copyright infringement, intellectual property... and it was weird because I was just having a conversation with another soap maker this afternoon (who may want to remain nameless).  

There are people who are inspired and use ideas from your sheer talent and then there are copiers. The people who copy and don't then grow and create their own masterpieces are just mimickers and it's really sort of sad. They have no true fulfillment... or bones. We all know who these people are. Those of us who create original beauty in whatever we do - well, our creations may be an inspiration to someone as others have been inspirations to us. We all pull ideas from the world. From people, things, art. I think there is a tiny bit of copying in some of what we do, even without knowing it. Isn't that why we study? To learn? To become better? To gain knowledge?  

I make soap so I look at other soap makers and their beautiful soaps. Do I want my soap to look like theirs so we are twinsies? Nope. Do I wish I could have made something that looked so special? Yup. So perhaps I take whatever aspect of the soap that moved me and tuck it away in my brain for the next creative moment I have during my soapmaking craze and I whip out my own version of it as how it relates to my soap with whatever colors and scent I might be working with. I don't want my soap to look like theirs. I want to see what MY soap looks like with a different aspect intertwined into it.  

As my friend said, the copycats and the wannabes just crank out the same stuff they copy and that's just about it. There really IS no "their stuff". They don't bring anything new to the table. And yes, we all know who they are.

You can comment but no bashing individuals, please.

Soap Making Speed... We Better Move It

It's so hard to know how much soap to make, really. I just haven't been doing it long enough, but I'm guessing that if you are a seasoned soap maker, you probably have the same dilemma if you make cold process soap due to the lengthy cure time.

Curing soap takes 4-6 weeks with the cold process method. To make Christmas holiday shopping deadlines...hmmmm...that makes the deadline for making cp soap ...ummm... Okay, if you made a loaf of soap today, you can sell you soap on December 2nd (4 weeks), but if you are like me, and wait 6 weeks, we would have to wait until December 16th which means, we'd better get CRACKING!

photo by Birch Bark Soap

I have orders of soap loaves for wholesale customers of mine and I have to make a ton of soap for the Product Body gift set we are offering in a couple of weeks. Good thing I made plenty of cp soap ahead of time for that. I will be making hot process soap as back up because the scent is so intoxicating, this stuff will fly off the shelves. Oh, it's a secret... and if you know (and you know who you are, ladies) don't squeak a peep on this blog.

Anyway, with work and other things I have to get accomplished I get squirmy and stressed because I should be making at LEAST 2 loaves of soap a day. More. I should be making more, but I just don't have time! grr.

Funny....I started soaping SO far in advance - - extra soap, more soap, lots of soap...I was SO on the ball folks. Really. This time, ME, this one, Joanna, right here, I was so prepared. And then one day a wholesale customer called and asked me what I had in my curing cabinet and claimed loaves and loaves. Oh, it's all good. I can't complain. The soapy business is good and my soaps are getting more and more popular. I am selling a lot of soap. Love it! But my soap stock is down and now I don't look quite as prepared as I once was. My cabinet is full, but my excess is not bulging. Yet.

So ... I will be on a soap making spree as I am sure some of you are already on or will be on very soon.

Tell me about YOUR soap situation this holiday season... :)

Wrap It Up - Retailer Ready

Wrapping soap is a dilemma for me and probably for many other soap makers. It's a constant tug-o-war between style and practicality. If you are thinking about selling your soaps wholesale to customers who want your soaps labeled, this is something that needs to be weighed.

I know I want my soaps to be seen and the artistic nuances to be admired and to have the soaps exposed so people can smell them. On the flip side, if I were to provide soaps wholesale in bars (right now I offer wholesale in loaves), I'd need to weigh all of my options. Exposed bars aren't necessarily what the retailer wants and it might end up damaged....then what?

Wrapping a bar completely allows the bar to be packed consistently for shipping, minimizes damage during any shifting...whether it be in shipment or shelf shifting...etc. In this way, your soaps are not seen so your packaging must be so appealing that it blows people away, or your bar will remain a lonely dusty skeleton on that shelf until it is thrown away. Do we want that for our babies? OK, this choice means serious artistic uniqueness. It can be done and the choices are HUGE!

Here are a couple of examples of beauty that I came across with all sorts of wrapping jobs.

------

Here are packaging ideas for soap makers provided by The Ponte Vedre Soap Shoppe website. Each packaging idea is marked with a number. If you are interested in finding out more, go to their site to see the details of the wrap job.

(pvsoap)

This person from Memory Makers bought soaps plain from Good Fortune and decorated them herself for her own wedding. They are so cute!

I went to Good Fortune so I could show you their soaps, but I couldn't pull a graphic from the site. They wrap their soap with a card and what looks like a hair tie to hold it all together. Very smart.


Here is an example of a full wrap with no band or personal touch. Still...quite elegant.

Tokyo Milk Paper Wrapped Dragonfly Soap at South Moon Under

There's a do-it-yourself tutorial at Creature Comforts, where they show how to wrap soap with step by step instructions (measuring, cutting, ribbon, stickers....)




Then there is the tissue wrapped soaps:

Soap by Gianna Rose



The metal box (which I haven't yet seen) done by Scottish Fine Soaps

There's the boxed soap/ A dear friend of mine, Lisa Devo, is co-owner of The Soap &Paper Factory and their line is stunning looking. Their soap in a box is shown here:



Fabric is a beautiful choice as well:

Wrapped in hand batiked fabric at Me Naturally

So how do you wrap your beauties and are you thrilled with the outcome? Do you have a blog post you'd like to share? I think wrapped soaps are beautiful any way you slice it, styles and difference are fantastic. I love to see it all.

But I'm extra hungry today.
;)

I'm Baaaack

I forgot to mention on this blog that I was taking a week long vacation from everything. Sort of stupid, being that I just asked everyone to divulge their feelings, open up and help me to give you what you want and then I just up and LEAVE!

That is like a bad relationship thing to do. Man o man. Well. With real life going on and me being fairly spun out over here in my own head, I hope you can understand that I just blanked. I mentioned on my other blog...I put a message on my shop phone and put a message on the website... just forgot The Soap Bar.

So, want to know where I went? Not a Caribbean cruise! Not a trip to Paris! I took a road trip with my husband from my home in little Tequesta, Florida (where a whole lot of NOTHING goes on), up to Charlottesville, Virginia, where a whole lot of nothing goes on) to pick up our two children. Nina and Desmond spent one week with their Aunt and cousin for one week with no TV, video games or us. I think it was good for them to have a decompressed, back to nature, no stress week. It was all about nature, baking, hiking, creativity and play without electronics. That is how their Auntie and cuz roll in Virginia and we were all about it for our kiddos.

Our trip was awesome! I feel revived and pretty worn out from the whole trip. We have pictures and I will be sharing them with you... You can pass them by and not look at them. I know family pictures are pretty darn boring if you don't the people or if you want to see my freaky family, you can peek. I'll post them in the next two days or so if I can tear the camera out of my husband's hands... =)

I'm glad to be back and I will be looking for some porn to share.......


hehe

You As My Rock

I love to write this blog. I really do. It gives me great pleasure and every time a comment is left, I get excited, like when I was a kid finding presents under the tree with my name on it.

Well under 1% of you leave comments on a regular basis and the rest of you are just readers, and that's ok. I read a lot of blogs that I don't leave comments on. I will, say, however, that I am wondering if I am continuing to interest you, finding interesting topics, keeping it real enough, providing enough soap porn...etc. I would LOVE to get feedback on what you might love, like, would rather see less of, more of, none of....

This blog is not about me. It is about the soap community and bringing us together and there is, of course, some personal ramblings and funny finds that make me giggle. I really just can't help myself with that. It comes with the territory.

Anyway, I would love to address topics that are important, discuss new techniques you may want to share, places you think the community should know about. Send me the name of a great new handmade artisan that you think is awesome. I love to find new soap artists! There are so many things that can be talked about, brought up, shown, shared, done. Open my mind to the world of soap!

Really.

You might be sitting back and lurking and I get it. You don't have to get involved, but I would love it if you could share 3 or 4 words.

Just a comment. ... .. .. ..

Saturday Soap Spew

When I first got into reviewing handcrafted soaps for this blog, I went searching on the internet to find soap makers. I remember thinking that it was more desirable to me to find people who just made soap exclusively.

Why?

In a simplistic way, I felt that a soap maker who just made soap was a true soap maker...an artist. Master. Dedicated expert. I don't know why I had some preconceived notion that people who sold their handmade soap somehow degraded their product when they started to sell bath and body products. Like the products were an after thought.

Let's think about this. I have my own company, Product Body. We make and sell bath and body products. Of course, here I am having done it the opposite way. I started with bath and body and now I make soap, love making soap, am totally addicted to making soap, and now I sell my soap. Except it's not an after thought and so I eat my BIG FAT words and have stopped judging others. If you want to sell your products, sell whatever products you make.

Who am I to judge?

It's hard to balance product offerings, no doubt. If you offer only a few things, people want more items, if you offer too many things, people get confused and don't understand what to choose. If you offer one thing and are the best you can be and rock the world with that one thing? Well...I would have said 2 years ago that you should go with that because you stand out, but in this economy, if that one thing doesn't appeal to enough people, you are finished, unless you are independently wealthy, and in that case, I'd stick to it. (that was a really nice run-on sentence, dontcha think?)

I have no words of wisdom here, unfortunately, just soap spew...thoughts on "paper" so it gets out of my head and into yours.

You have to go with your gut and what works for the wallet. Sometimes, your business might begin to change directions in ways you didn't think it would go, and you must decide to either dig your heels in and keep it where it is or move with it. Tough decisions may be ahead.

Fortune for the day.

***

S.O.S. :: Sumatran Orangutan Society

photo credit - Sumatran Orangutan Society
http://orangutans-sos.org/

With fewer than 7,000 surviving in the wild, it is predicted that the Sumatran orangutan will be the first Great Ape species to become extinct if current trends continue. The Sumatran Orangutan Society works with local communities living alongside orangutan habitat, helping them work towards a more sustainable future for their forests.

In my last post, Orangutans + Why You Should Use Sustainable Palm Oil, I wrote about how important it is that we understand, as soap makers, that palm oil comes from places that are killing and wiping out orangutans in the rain forests of Sumatra and Borneo in order to harvest it.

It is possible to harvest it without doing this and by purchasing sustainably harvested palm oil from sellers who are members of the the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). I go on in detail in my previous post so feel free to read it and pass on the information.

Daniela Maldonado, owner of Hello Bath + Body and Supplies by Hello (also my fabulous sponsor), suggested I also direct you to the Sumatran Orangutan Society (S.O.S.). Daniela...stroke of genius. I visited the website and I was blown away by how much there was to learn and how many things I could do to help!

For example, you can become a member, purchase stuffed animals, T-shirts and other gift shop items, make a donation, and purchase tickets for Orangaid comedy relief through TicketMaster. But what I thought was interesting, and totally free, was Everyclick.com. Everyclick.com is a search engine that raises money for charity every time you perform a web search. Simply bookmark Everyclick.com as your preferred search engine, nominate the S.O.S. as your favorite charity, and every time you search the internet, S.O.S.will receive a donation!

Oh, there's a lot more that I didn't know about that I learned about on their site, like illegal Orangutan trading in Indonesia. You could click here to download a petition asking the Indonesian government to enforce the existing laws that protect orangutans, and put a stop to the illegal trade of protected species.

They have a plethora of ideas on how to help with lists of links, suggestions, advice on fund raising events, campaigns and ideas.

" Contact us if you would like to discuss your fund raising ideas - we can offer support in the form of inspiration, information materials, collecting tins, helping you obtain permits for city-centre collections, and even the loan of our orangutan costume!"

So if you'd like to get informed about their missions and progress, go peruse their website and settle in. http://orangutans-sos.org

With fewer than 7,000 surviving in the wild, it is predicted that the Sumatran orangutan will be the first Great Ape species to become extinct if current trends continue. The Sumatran Orangutan Society works with local communities living alongside orangutan habitat, helping them work towards a more sustainable future for their forests.

p.s.: Run your mouse through the leaves on the top of their website. I just love that!

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.

Soap Shy

I have been getting a lot of I'm scared to send you soaps comments from soapers on Twitter. Why? Am I scary? I don't write bad reviews, do I? If I don't like a soap, I won't write the review. I hate to bad mouth anyone who owns their own business. You're a soap professional. Oh yeah, I use soap everyday, that makes me a pro. Hmm. Really folks, I am not scary. If you give your soap away or if you sell it, then you are ready for a review. You know you are probably more critical about your work than anyone else. You are your best critic. I know that I am! If a formulation isn't quite right, I won't let it leave. I'd have to do it over because I'd think to myself: Would I want that?

If you were making a sweater for someone and there is a big snaggy loop in the front when you are all done, are you going to give it to the person before you fix it? No.

So I am just saying, don't be scared of me. I don't bite...very often... and the economy is rough. Reviews and press can be hard to get, and if I can help anyone get recognition, then let me help. We could all use a lift!

Just remember, no lavender, no pacthouli, no sandalwood... ;) If you send those, I'll have to include them in a give-away. Hmm, not a bad idea with the ones I've already received.

***

Keeping A Journal For Soapmaking

I know better and yet, I'm compulsive and think I have a great memory, IN THE MOMENT. But I don't. I have the worst memory of all about certain things. One of the things I think I am really swell at is remembering what formula I used for which batch of soap instead of just jotting it down. You know, just taking one measly moment to mark a scent and color down.

You should know I don't make one or two basic recipes like a lot of people who make soap. That would make things soooo much easier. I have about twenty standards that I use because I like to play around with new formulas all the time. I enjoy seeing what new formulas do, how they perform and my customers especially like to see what ingredients I'm going to try next. Keeps things interesting for everyone. ;)

I have a book that holds my soap recipes that I've printed out, but I don't have a composition book explaining what scents I've blended, when I've added the goat's milk or shea butter, how much ultramarine oxide I added to the second layer of soap....etc. The DETAILS. If I get all of those nitty gritty details and I want to recreate the soap, I can instead of guessing.

I'm sure I am the last soaper on Earth who has" snapped to"and decided this is critical and it can't wait any longer. It's not that I've just thought about this. It's that I just never got to it.

***

Soapmaker's Getaway - I Have Dream

My big fat brain has been thinking about a soapmaker's retreat location for well over a year now. Way back when, I had hoped that I could arrange a soapmakers get away here in Florida sometime during the Winter months and get a boat load of soapers together in one place. Who knows? From all around the world maybe?? I think many of us have made friends and acquaintances through this blog and through the soap community in general.

My dream consisted of a large 10-15 room mansion with a huge living room and dining room where we could all gather and get to know each other and relax and cook for each other. I also envision a commercial kitchen (?) where we could make a few batches of soap ..... a workshop or two planned for one day and the next, treated as a retreat poolside or beach side or whatever.



Or just a retreat. The cost would be airfare, room and board and cost of the workshop. Or no workshop. I like to dream.

Reasons:
a) I'd love to meet so many of you. I think so many of you also want to meet each other!
b) Not all of us can afford the Soapmaker's Guild Conference.
c) The Winter is brutal in so many places, Florida is heaven in January.

h e a v e n

...not so much in the Summer, though. Then one (me. everyone.) melts.
You could fry an egg on the hood of my car. Easily.

d) If you have children, maybe this is a wonderful reason to take time just for you.

I'm not pitching this, ya'see, because I don't have a mansion on the beach, and I don't know anyone who does. Tiger Woods is building his estate on Jupiter Island, but I don't think we'd be invited, and I don't think we'd find each other in that house anyway, not even in his 10,000 ft. small guesthouse. Also, Celine Dion lives there...they might be neighbors, I don't know... but I know she wouldn't have us there. We would be too rowdy!! (Jupiter Island and Tiger Woods house is about 4000 ft away if I flew from my house to his, according to Mapquest ariel view).

So even though I live just feet from some of the richest people in THE WORLD (!!!), it doesn't mean that there square footage has rubbed off on my house. (dumb house)

Too bad it's not contagious.

;)

So there is a dream. I'm sure there's more to come, like my real dreams which are better than movies and TV. Don't want to freak you out though.