Soap In The Raw

Soap porn in the raw.  Yes!  It's true, I have a love relationship with raw soap.  It is so beautiful in it's own dessert-pudding-like way.  The final product is even more exciting, but when one finally takes their raw soap creation and puts in in a mold to become soap, it leads to me to a happy place of raw.

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Christmas Warmth "batter" by Kinder Soaps

sandalwood vanilla by Bella Fresca

Carrot Buttermilk Soap By Soap Foundry (only found his blog)

Calendula + Chamomile by Dragonfly Dew

Triple Milk Vanilla Buttercream Luxury Shea butter Soap by My Planet Earth Soap

(my soap) Mar Bar unscented goat's milk soap by Product Body|Absolute Soap

Sweet Pea by Great Cakes Soapworks

Elixir by Amathia Soapworks

 Carrot Something by Revive

Yum....what's up YOUR sleeve today?

Chuffed and Muffed?

Over the past year, I have formulated very specific soaps after hours upon hours of research and testing.  My soaps have come a long way since I started and I am very proud of how far I have come.

It is always a shot in the arm (a GOOD thing) when our products that I create get raved about.  It's also amazing how hard I take a disparaging review or email from someone who hates my products.  Why do I take it so personally?   Because I work so hard to make them great and I am proud of my work, I guess.

A few months ago one of our soaps: Thai Sticky Rice Cocoa+ Shea Butter soap was scrutinized on a blog about how drying it was and the person who wrote it continued to say they didn't know what all the fuss was about it.  (Ouch...)  However, in the countless emails I receive regarding people's experiences with our products, I have only received incredible feedback regarding that soap.  Drying?  Just the opposite, according to all the other customers who brought it up.

So recently, we received an email from a disgruntled customer who bought Fat Boy Milk + Butter Bar.  Hated it.  That store-bought soap was better than that and what a waste of money it was. Then she left a 1 star review on our website.

Disappointed, more like a glycerine soap than a milk soap. Really wanted to like this soap but NOT! Did not leave with that smooth feeling I've always gotten from other milk soaps-after shgowering I can scratch legs & see marks(dry skin marks). I've felt better moisturizing qualities from Oily of Oly or some other top retail soaps. I cant really even say its very cleasing at least didnt feel so.I was not a fan will not repurchase; O I will say it last longer than alot of milk soaps I've purchased it stays firm when wet where most milk soaps will have a tendancy to dissolve more quickly than some soaps.

Look, I know not everyone will like everything I make.  I don't believe it's possible for everyone to like everything.  As Joe Jackson said once (and these are in extra loose quotes), "You can either go to the people and give the masses what they want, or offer your craft to the masses and wait for them to come."  I put this in quotes, but I am paraphrasing a memory of mine about something he said that has stuck.

People will come.  That's what I got from it.  All the stuff out there that scream "interesting" are unique, so as long as it's out there, people will seek it out.

 As I grow in this business, I have realized that I can't compromise my style and give the masses what they want.  Because guess what?  So will everyone else.  And what would make me stand out?  So this is one of the reasons we have discontinued the multiple elixirs we used to make.  It was staggering how disjointed it made me.

So now, I make what I know is good and it's what I love to do.  And if people like it, they will come, and if they don't, than they can go, but I will stay true to what I believe.  I believe in quality, not quantity.  I'd rather make Soap + Crush than offer one hundred things in one hundred scents.

Having come to this conclusion, and months later, I get a wonderful review from Julia at Cocobong Soaps blog.  She really likes Fat Boy and this lovely lady is hard to please, especially in the moisturizing department.

I think I'll take THAT review over the one on my website.  :)

 photo courtesy of Cocobong Soaps Blog

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MIA and Happy Soaps

I just want to apologize for being M.I.A. on this blog. With reinventing my business, and trying to make enough soap to never run out of stock raising a new puppy, doing taxes/financial stuff and struggling with my body over the last week, I am pooped to say the least.

I've been basically asleep for 2 whole days.  I have been having wickedly detailed and horrific nightmares, also.  My body has full body aches, head and neck pain and severe exhaustion, like someone took a needle and extracted my energy for 48 hours.

Julia, of Cocobong, sent me a list of questions about my business so she can include a little Q & A in her upcoming review of my soap (I am SO nail biting), and I don't even have the energy to answer those questions properly.  I will provide a touch of soap porn, as I really have nothing more to share with you right now.

I do have some things on the horizon to share:  I HAVE to show you some of my own soap porn.  For instance, Palm Beach Illustrated soap is the most beautiful of all three batches I've made. I haven't photographed this batch yet. The colors are blue and green and splendid!  Also, I wanted to share our new plain design of our Lemon Scone Goat Milk Soap.  It used to have a white dollop on top, but we decided to go basic on this one because the acceleration was tricky towards the end and I want a consistent looking bar for every batch.  It's not as "pretty", but I like it even more because it has unified basic-ness (I know....not a word).  That's all I'll say for now.

Ok, ON TO THE PORN!  Today, I'd like to share some orange and pink soaps that I have dug up for you.  For some reason, I've never made a soap with these color combos, and yet, I absolutely love the combination of pink and orange.  Go figure.  It is on my "to do" list now.  Perhaps a Spring soap is due... The following soap photos have blown me out of my depressed sickly mode and into just feeling sickly mode.... ;)  Get your seat belts on.

Glasshouse

I just love the pink, orange, purple combo!  Gorgeous!!

"Sari" by Soap and Restless

Unreal and gorgeous beyond my words....

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Another by Soap and Restless:

Gelato by S+R

Oh yummo.  This is a stunning photo.  Well done!!

Pure unscented coconut milk soap with Sea Buckthorn by SoGa Soap + CupFakery

A beauty!  yummers.... :)

"Ambrosia" by Marcie Brown

This is one of her Spring soaps.  Looks edible, doesn't it?  Love!

TubTime Treasures (Renee Lillie)

So soft and precious.

Raspberry Lemonade by Pipestone Soaps

Great swirl!

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Thank you for coming back every time you do. I am totally committed to making this the best blog for soap freaks like me (and possibly you).  ;)

You may now go on to your regularly scheduled activities...  Have a great and sunshiney day!

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Today Is All About Blue

Since I made blue soap yesterday, I thought I'd look at other blue soaps, too.  Here's a crappy phone photo I took of my Palm Beach Illustrated Soap:

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The Shire Soap: Future Primitive Soaps

I am loving the blue/white swirl on top.

Closed lavender buds waiting to hatch, Geranium leaves tossed in Gardenia 

absolute and a fistful of star-shaped Ylang Ylang flowers.

Coconut Cream Blue Flower Tarts: The Roche Shop

Sea Salt Soap: Empire Soaps 

(lemon verbena and lemongrass)

 Blossom Goat's Milk Soap: Two Blooms Design

Cotton Flowers

Big Ass Blue Soap: Heart Button Boat Soaps

Lives in my old neighborhood!  :)

Colorful Logs: River Country Soapworks

The Soap Bar Blog Facebook Photos

I am happy to say that, as of today, we have 327 members on the pretty new Soap Bar Blog Facebook Page!  I have taken a few photos from the group.  Nice soap, right?  Come join us if you'd like.  There is lots of sharing, technical info and all around good people here.

Thanks to all of you for letting me be me!
xo Joanna

s o a p  *  p o r n  *  f e e d s  *  us

DonnaOShaughnessy's soap
Charcoal soap scented with Lavender and Orange Essential oils.

Debbie's soap
Yesterdays soap. Organic olive,coconut and rapeseed oil with a ton of unrefined cocoa butter. Scented with peppermint, lavender and tea tree essential oils

Michael of My Planet Earth Soap Co.
Honey/Grapefruit (Raw Organic Honeycomb scented with Pink Grapefruit, Lime and Litsea Essential Oils), Oatmeal Stout (Black Amber Ale Beer Soap) and Winter I Freaking Hate You! (Scented with Litsea, Lemon and Bergamot Essential Oils).

 Jan's soap (Sunlit Soap)
Apples a la Mode 

Emma's soap (Spiral Soaps)
Lemon Soul, a sublime blend of lemon, may chang & black pepper essential oils, and a sprinkling of poppy seeds. 

Leanne's soap (aromaNature Savon Naturel)
Locally Sourced Spiralina Soap

 Ceri's soap (Oakwood Soaperie)
Buttered Rose Soap with tussah silk, rose clay, and floral eo's

 Marcie Brown's soap
Cascade Trail. Very woodsy with pine, cedar, fir, spruce, juniper, dirt and earth FOs.


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A Little Inspiration For The Uninspired

Blueberry Bunny and Strawberry Oatmeal Soap by Bubble Bones

H. Hao-Cheng

Peppermint Pine Bar and Cinnamon Clove by luckyloulou Soap Co.

Laurel and Olive oil soap and wooden soap dish by Pabadoo

I found some beautiful soaps today, didn't I?  All of these look so genuine, pure and honest.

I found some inspiration in my morning post.  Hope you do too!

-Jo

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Black Beauty By Tokyo Factory

kimono

Ayu, of Tokyo Factory, sent me this gorgeous soap that I have been staring at for weeks. Kimono has a presence of its own, and sitting on my shelf, with such grace....well, I just couldn't bring myself to use it.  I loved the stamp and the look of the soap so much that I just needed to savor its beauty.  That never happens to me.  Usually I race into the shower with whatever new bar has been sent to me, in such a hurry, I usually have clips dangling from my hair, or (yes..) socks I forget to remove. (no teasing)

The beauty of this black beast is quite stunning.  I love the soap bits present in the pitch black mass.  It breaks up the stillness of the bar and adds beauty, playfulness and charm.  And of course each bar looks different.  I had myself a one of a kind.

I tried Kimono this morning and the smell was delightfully simple and evolved completely in my shower from simple and kind to complex and frisky.  It felt almost like I was bathing with a perfectly found rock, geode, mars stone because of its grace and natural pureness.  Lather:  Tight creamy bubbles instead of big fluffy ones, but the lather was plentiful.  As I already know from my own experience, charcoal soaps create grey lather, and that's my least favorite element of this soap.  Not a huge complaint being that the soap was a luxury to use, fabulous to smell and my skin felt conditioned and soft when I was through with my bathing ritual.  

grey bubbles ensue

On Ayu's website, here is the information on Kimono:

Scent: A Luxury Blend of Rosewood, Clary Sage and Anise.

One of Our Signature KIMONO Soap.  This soap contains luxurious ingredients such as Coconut Water, Rose Clay, and rich Bamboo Charcoal Powder.  Pure Bamboo Charcoal is known to clean skin pores deeply and clean body odor. Soap is packaged in a beautiful custom designed, recycled paperboard box.

Would I recommend Ayu's soaps?  Absolutely!

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

Wordless Soap Porn

pasito a pasito

花と手作り石けんと生ごみ

 Sraigutus Namukas

Cellar Door Soap Co.

 

Life.  Soap.  Simple.

 

Future Primitive Soap

Asia Luna