Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Leaning Towards the Natural Side

Hi everyone! I had a wonderful customer request that I get some natural soaps made. I tend to want to make soaps with bright colors and fragrances that can't be achieved with natural colorants and essential oils. Every now and again though, it feels so good to go back to the basics. That is how I started after all!

This customer suggested some blends that she'd be interested in but also gave me the liberty to make whatever I wanted and she'd still purchase it. So that was fun! I did end up choosing two of her suggestions and they were pretty darned good!

The first I made was Anise Mint Soap. It is a blend of anise and peppermint essential oils. I've soaped anise several times but I've never mixed it with peppermint. Wow, what a wonderful combo. They compliment each other so well! I used Egyptian Licorice Mint Tea for the liquid portion of my soap and then opened a tea bag and use the tea to sprinkle down the middle of the top when I was finished.



The other blend was a citrus essential oil blend. This one wasn't really a new blend so I know that it will stick for me. I mixed Pink Grapefruit, 10 Fold Orange, Litsea Cubeba, and Lemongrass essential oils. With both soaps I used kaolin clay to help anchor the scents. I called it Beautiful Day because it reminds me of a sunny, bright, cheery, day full of sunshine and blue skies. I topped the soap with dried cornflower and sunflower petals.



I am quite certain that I will be remaking both of these soaps. They are just so creamy and GOOD.

A quick reminder that I will have new items listing this Sunday, May 25th, sometime between 2-4pm, central time. I will updating the site later this week so you can browse before the store opens. Missouri River Soap Store

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

What's New in the Soap Zone

Hi all! I've decided that I'm just pathetic at this blogging thing. I spend a lot of my social media time on Facebook and in my new Facebook group. Facebook has made it difficult for businesses to continue to have the visibility that we are used to. They don't always share the posts in your feed. Even if you like and share the posts, you aren't always going to get a 'liked' page's post in your feed when it is posted. I know they say to check 'Get Notifications' and/or 'Add to Interest List' to help out but it still doesn't work that great. I have started my Facebook group for my business so the members have a better chance to see pictures, updates on listings, etc.. It has also been a fun place to chat and I've had much more interaction with the members. I do hope you'll come join us. It's fun!

I've been quite busy in the soap zone recently but not all of it is video worthy. The soap batches have been fewer and farther between as I begin prepping for my next listing, which will be May 25th, over at my Big Cartel store. In the coming days, I will be announcing the time frame that I will be listing. I try for a time on Sunday afternoon that is post-church and pre-dinner for most time zones in the US. I know it isn't always going to work for everyone but it seems to be one of the better time frames. I have quite a bit of stock with this listing. There will be some listed that don't have as much inventory because they were tests, limited editions, etc.. I expect those to go very fast but hopefully the rest of the soaps will hold on for a few hours at least. I won't have much for wax melts with this listing. What I do have will be the scent I designed for Gourding Around. If you've ordered from them and were fortunate to receive a wax melt in their scent, now you can come get some directly from my store...with Jodi's blessing of course!

Here is a peek at what is going on this morning...

Most recent soap gear all cleaned up and ready to be made dirty again!



A little over half of the Rainbow batch needing beveled before going on the curing shelf. There is a lot of this one but I still doubt it will be enough. More will have to be made soon!



Curing shelves are getting very full!



A custom/wholesale order for a friend ready to be packed up on the left. ButterCream Babies soap on the right still needing split, cut, and beveled. That one is made with three luxurious butters and a wonderful milk combo of goats milk, cows cream, whole cows milk, and goat milk yogurt. It is an unscented soap. I know unscented soaps aren't that popular but I love them so I will continue to make them. Every time I work downstairs, I melt down some of those old candles and pour out the wax so that I can wash up the containers.



(Left to right)
Top shelf: Summer Love Soap, Camocado Soap
Top middle shelf: Crema y Cacao Soap, Sweet Pink Camo Soap
Bottom middle shelf: Princess Kisses Soap, Crema y Cacao Soap off cuts, White Apricot Tea Soap
Bottom shelf: Odds and ends soaps to the left, more Crema y Cacao Soap off cuts, Apple Mint Goat Milk Soap, Watermelon Peach Goat Milk Soap, Blueberry Fig Goat Milk Soap



Top shelf: Figgy Cream Soap
Top middle shelf: Wild Island Breeze Soap
Bottom middle shelf: Half of the Rainbow soap batch
Bottom shelf: Sparkle Fruit Salad Soap



I'm hoping to make some more soap today. I'm not quite sure I'll have a spot to put it but I'm determined anyway!

On another note, we have a new, little kitten. Meet Lily!