Colorful Saturday Soap Porn

When I came across Quizoc's (Black Dia) Etsy shop, I was so pleased because her soap looks original. Every bar is interesting to look at. It's not what everyone else is making, that's for sure. I am so excited about finding her!! I'm trying to get an interview with her and if shipping isn't too nuts from South Korea, I can hopefully do a soap review.

Black Soybean Anti Aging Soap by Quizoc

Soap by Quizoc

Now, here is some more colorful soap porn for the eye candy hungry....

Fresh Rain by Ballyhoo Bath

Into The Mystic by Dirty Girl Soap Company

Swiss Roll by Between Friends

Lavender Funnel Swirl by Between Friends

Flickr pool

Avocado and Rosemary by Sergio-Masala

Flickr pool

Provence by Shieh Design Studio

Flickr pool

Loofahpalooza Soap by Soap Seduction

Flickr pool

Drama Whore by Grumpy Girl Candles +Bath

Have a wonderful saturday.

Get dirty. When you're ready to get clean, use a REAL bar of soap

Soap Bar Flickr Soap Porn

These are some of the photos I took out of the photo pool from The Soap Bar Flickr Group I set up last week. There are 36 members so far. Wow! I am so glad I did!! Look at some of the amazing soaps I peeked at this morning... There are so many more there that I couldn't possibly spend my entire day posting them. Must work.

I love that you are sharing your work. If you haven't shared, please do become a part of the merry little group. It allows each person to upload 6 pictures per day, so have fun with it. :) Let's make it the biggest soap pool in the world! What a beautiful place it is.

025 by Omar Lopez

Chocolate Mint by Briny Bar Soap

Organic Chocolate and Mint by Madero Negro

Fresh Air by Tierra Verde Soaps

Charcoal Marseille by Bie's Junkyard

Black Raspberry + Vanilla Soap Cupcakes

by Platypus Soap & Bodycare

Lemon Basil, by Fat Bottom Farm

Hint of lemon scented soap with organic basil added.

For All Of You

The Vanilla Files - Artisan Soaps

I stumbled upon Clear Marie's blog, Artisan Soaps over a year ago and read her extensive Vanilla fragrance oil research she's called The Vanilla Files. I fell in love with her immediately. She tested over a dozen vanilla based fragrance oils in cold processed soaps and tested for a number of things:

1. color of soap over the cure period
2. color of lather
3. how scent held up over a year's time
4. how scent sticks to skin
5. and the fragrance itself

Right there, I see a huge amount of dedication. First she had to make 13 batches of soap. Each loaf had to be labeled and impeccable notes needed to be kept on them. (I'd be out. With two kids and an unorganized husband, there is no way in hell I could keep notes attached to 13 items all together in one place).

She got me at the list.

Her research is fantastic. She photographed every step of the way; slices of the soaps to compare color and lather comparisons. She described, a description of each scent so we can get a detailed real version, not a manufacturers "fluffy" made up version. And of course each scent is coupled with the supplier's name. For example: Daystar Supplies-Drizzled Honey Vanilla

Please go have a look at her blog and especially her Vanilla Files. There are eight Files, each of which are full of information and photographs. Clear really did a thorough job and I think it's information we can all learn from.

Thank you, Clear!!

Flickr Group Pool For The Soap Bar

It occurred to me that we, as a group of soap makers, have mounds of incredible experience and talent. I feel that as the writer of this blog, it is my job to bring you soap porn and to introduce you to new soap makers and designs, concepts, etc.

I was over at Flickr, a website which is like a public "bank" of photography, and I was browsing bath and body products for research purposes. While I was browsing, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I should start my own group (duh!) and have all of you post photos of your work, or work in progress, up in the Flickr pool and we can all become even MORE like a community. I've set it up so we can not only set up photos, but videos as well. Discussions are also enabled so if anyone wants to start one, can begin.

This is a whole new level of communication. It's not just me on a soapbox! It's us now. I am super excited about this... I am just shocked I didn't think of it sooner! My goodness!

Come join me:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/thesoapbar/

The 50 Best Tips for Small Businesses on Facebook

As a small business, you may have heard what a great tool social media, and Facebook in particular, is for a business like yours. Of course, you can't just plunge headfirst and expect incredible outcomes. Learn from these seasoned pros to find out how you can master your small business presence on Facebook.

General

Here you'll find great tips for all areas of Facebook.

1. Show personality: People want to interact with a real person, not a robot.
2. Commit to the idea: Know that connecting with customers can sometimes be hard work and take time, but it will pay off.
3. Manage your expectations: Set realistic goals for your social media work.
4. Be persistent: You won't see a great reward from Facebook right away, but by sticking with it, you'll be able to build an active customer base.
5. Import contacts: Import contacts from your email accounts to collect friends and fans.
6. Choose your target: Plan who you want to reach with your Facebook presence.
7. Create a vanity URL: Make your Facebook Page easy to find with a vanity URL.
8. Promote your Facebook identity off of Facebook: Put a "Like" button on Facebook, share it on your website, blog, and Twitter.
9. Get feedback: Ask fans for feedback on Facebook.
10. Give people a reason to engage with you: Post information that calls for interaction.
11. Make time: Set aside 30 minutes to an hour a day that you'll use to work on your business page.
12. Be careful not to violate Facebook terms: Learn about the Facebook platform and avoid violating terms by not running contests or tagging people without permission.
13. Don't get moody: Keep a cool head when posting and responding on Facebook.
14. Designate a social media updater: Find a specific person in your organization that will be responsible for updating Facebook.
15. Connect with existing customers: Instead of trying to use Facebook to find leads, build better relationships with your existing customers.
16. Don't just broadcast: Remember that you need to interact and follow up with fans who comment on your posts.
17. Don't sell: Be careful not to push sales on Facebook-use it as more of an interactive tool.
18. Don't overdo it: Don't spend hours upon hours a day maintaining and interacting on Facebook, just stop in once a day at most.

Pages

Use these tips to better develop your Page on Facebook.

19. Create a Page, not a profile: Separate your business page from your personal page and make a more interactive storefront with Pages.
20. Fully develop your page: Add images, your website, company info, and other items to make sure you've filled in all the blanks.
21. Post photos of customers and tag them: Make sure your business shows up on the pages of the best customers by sharing photos of them with personal tags.
22. Don't just post during business hours: Post to Facebook outside of business hours to get more feedback and impressions.
23. Do cross promotions: Ask clients to post tagged photos of themselves with your product and share them on your page.
24. Subscribe to other Pages first: Check out other pages to see how businesses add content and interact with fans.
25. Appeal to core clients: Identify the people that interact on your page the most, and work to share information and content with them directly.
26. Use participatory promotions: Target Facebook fans with participatory promotions.
27. Offer a forum: Turn your fan page into a place where customers can express themselves.
28. Share success stories: Ask your customers to discuss how you've helped them on your page.
29. Share exclusive content on Facebook: Give Facebook fans something they might not find on your blog or website.
30. End with questions: Generate engagement by ending your posts with questions.
31. Don't be boring: Mix up what you're sharing so it's not all status updates, or all photos, or all videos.
32. Build a Facebook landing page: Create your own mini website within Facebook by using FBML.
33. Send suggestions to friends: Facebook pages allow you to send suggestions to friends, so remind them periodically and when you connect with new friends.
34. Offer loyalty rewards: Reward customers for checking in, adding a "Like" to your page, or mentioning Facebook.
35. Add content before you broadcast: Before you add friends or advertise your page, be sure to add photos, videos, events, and other content to get new fans interested.

Apps

These apps and app ideas will help you make better use of Facebook's capabilities.

36. List events: With the Events app, you can invite clients and gather awareness for your event.
37. Integrate your Twitter feed: Install applications that will let you push your Twitter feed onto your Facebook Page.
38. Use Facebook Connect: Add social networking features to your website using Facebook Connect.
39. Add a store: Use Facebook's Marketplace capability to sell your product on Facebook.
40. Claim your business on Facebook: Make sure to claim (or create) a Place check in for your business.
41. Use the Questions feature: With Questions, you can engage your fans and get answers on your page.
42. Join Groups: Join network, industry, and alumni groups related to your business.
43. Encourage check-ins: Offer a special to customers who check in to your Place on Facebook, and you'll be in your fans' news feeds.
44. Syndicate your blog: Use apps that will allow you to auto-post to your Page any time you write on your blog.

Ads

With these tips, you can get the most out of Facebook's ad platform.

45. Tell people what's in it for them: Explain what you have to offer when people click your links.
46. Pay attention to targeting: Run campaigns with a very specific audience for a better price and relevance.
47. Check out the graphs: Facebook does a pretty good job of reporting impressions, so pay attention to how well your campaigns are doing.
48. Do lots of testing: Run tests and find out what really works for you with Facebook ads.
49. Time it carefully: Plan your campaign for a specific period of time, and one that you know will be well targeted.
50. Make your ads pop: Be irreverent and avoid traditional copy-speak to connect better.

This reprint is copied from bschool.com.

Thank you, Rose King.

Stunning Soap: Pasito A Pasito

These are some of the most beautiful soaps I've ever seen in my life. I can't believe the layers and embeds. The layers remind me of Jawbreakers, the candy that change colors as they get smaller and smaller from being sucked on and you can't bite it because you'll break your jaw if you do? Know what I mean?

Quote about the soap

"Oils: virgin olive, coconut, palm, Oleate Calendula, Castor, Avocado and Shea in the trace, and Vitamin E. Instead of water, goat's milk.

For color: Green oxide mineral pigment, Lemon Yellow, Pink Clay and part of the fund that has small specks, Vegetable Dye Powder Uva is crimson, but for the grace of soda, became brownish green with the resulting disappointment.
For flavors: Rosemary, Tea Tree and Lemon Tincture evenly and Incense as a fixative.
This is like coming back to life after a coma."

I am sad this soaper is disappointed with the color outcome of the brownish green because I think it is absolutely perfect! To me, the bar says: from the Earth rises this beautiful succulent, fertile blossom of colorful bliss.

That is my interpretation of the colors in the bar.

Below, are some pictures that I found on the same blog. I am in love because these are SO beautiful, original and UNIQUE!

Please, go visit the blog yourself. There are plenty more photographs that need to be looked at.