Hey there, followers! It's been a while. I do admit, although I have been busy with the shop, I've been neglecting this here blog. Well, I haven't forgotten about you, blog. And, it's time for a new post!
Let's face it, running a business can be tough. Everyone has ups and downs, and sometimes it's hard to remember why we do what we do in the first place. I have been making soap for years, and the other day I was going through some old photos of some of the first soaps I ever made. I looked back at my old recipes as well, and lemme tell you, I've come a loooooooooong way! Sometimes it's nice to go back and look at how far I've come. I believe that my personal growth is very important to note, as it helps push me to see how far I can continue to go.
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| First soap! |
This is a photo of the first soap I ever made. It was called German Chocolate Martini, and it was scented with a blend of chocolate, coconut, and caramel fragrance oils. It was a VERY ambitious first soap, as it was made with a small amount of coconut milk. I ended up adding too many oils, and it didn't lather very well (but was pretty moisturizing) and it over heated a little in the mold but it wasn't too much of an issue. Soap makers have had issues with coconut fragrance oils actually smelling like coconut, and sadly, this soap was no different. It ended up smelling mostly like chocolate which wasn't a bad thing, and the shredded coconut at the top ended up getting pretty gross! Needless to say, this first soap was a bit of a flop. A slightly usable flop, but a flop nonetheless.
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| Second soap! |
This is the second soap I ever made! It was a blend of anise and peppermint essential oils. It was naturally colored with sea kelp powder. The mint that I used was very harsh, and didn't have a lot of sweetness to it. It almost smelled just like menthol. I tried to do a swirl of sorts, and, we can see how well that ended up working out! Plus, the soap was a little lye heavy (I must have miscalculated something) and it ended up being pretty drying. I was so sad because I really wanted this to work! Oh well, on the the next one, as they say...
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| Absinthe! |
Does this look familiar? This is the very first Absinthe soap I had ever made! It's fragrance has changed slightly, and is a little softer on the anise, but not very much else has changed. Can you see the difference in quality from the first two to this guy? And that was only a few months later! This soap was awesome to use, and our recipe has only gotten better. Now all natural, this soap is colored with spirulina and black clay, but still has the same design. This is one of the first soaps that became apart of the regular line.
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| Margarita anyone? |
After a couple of tries, I finally made a salt soap! It's a little tricky to get the balance right, and when I got it, I got it! The fragrance has gotten a bit better over time, but the recipe remains the same. Don't worry salt soap lovers, this soap will be making a come back this spring/summer!
Making soap has been a fun adventure that I hope to continue for a very long time. Not to mention, formulating and designing our other products has been awesome as well! Our customers continue to impress us, and we hope to continue to keep you guys happy with our products! As usual, we're working on some new spring additions, and Bourbon restocks are coming soon. It's also possible that we may be having a little sale soon...:) So, the moral of the story is that, even when you are faced with difficulty, remember the things that keep you going on and keep "springing" forward! ;)
