This Made Our Day!!!

A big THANK YOU to Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps for this terrific award!!

In Love, Truth and Beauty.....

Butter Cream Soap Addiction

As much as I adore scent (and I do!), my sensitive skin will not allow any fragrant soap.
My solution?
I created a soap for myself called "Butter Cream".

"Butter Cream" has no added fragrance or color. YAWN....
This is what it does have - indecent and scandalous amounts of unrefined cocoa butter, coconut cream, coconut milk and luxury vegetable oils. This is one secret recipe that I protect at all costs!
Decadence and Heaven. Sinner and Saint. Diet and Dessert. Vegan and Milk!...you get the idea.
I have found that people are attracted to soap through: 1). scent and, 2). appearance. If the soap is beneficial to the skin, most people take that as a bonus.
Soap is soap, right? If it smells great, that is the major point, right?
WRONG.
"Butter Cream", nice, vegan and coconut milk-based, tends to get overlooked in favor of the fancier soaps next to her.
How deceptive is "Snow White" the "Butter Cream"?
I will tell you that one try and many are addicted to sweet "Butter Cream"....look at me.

In Truth, Love and Beauty.....

Springtime and Happy Birthday to Aries?

 "I daresay you haven't had much practice,"

said the Queen....

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible

things before breakfast."

Lewis Carroll

I have been thinking about how the astrological Cardinal signs usher in the seasons. In the most simplistic explanation, the commandant Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) welcome their respective seasons ... leaving the stewardship of same to the steady Fixed signs (Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius and Taurus) and then let the fluid Mutable signs (Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini and Virgo) pave the way for the inevitable changes.

Specifically, I was pondering why Aries, Cardinal Fire, designated by a Ram, would be the herald of Spring.

...and then - ah ha! I got it!  Aries, arguably the most impatient of the signs - the "baby", as it were ... simply cannot wait for Spring to - well, spring!

He (for Cardinal Fire is masculine) literally pushes the tender buds and blooms and flowering trees into action. Why wait? We have not got all day, Darlings! Let's go!

I have some Aries is my natal chart. I just had to go and plant those annuals as soon as the temps creeped into the upper 50s....and now, sadly, Mother Nature (The Commander-in-Chief) is throwing rain, hail, winds and snow down on the first day of Spring.

One-upped again.

Drat!

But hey - ACTION is the Ram's favorite modus operandi - so - I am quite certain that I will repeat my gotta-get-it-done-now business next year.

The dear Aries is a General in the army of this planet (as all Cardinal signs are) - but Mother Nature is the CEO.

Arie's symbol is the Ram's horns, or the Fountain of Youth - depends on how you want to see it, Alice.

It is a pushy fire sign that charges in with all of its Martian-ruled energy and wipes the opposition out.

Admire the Aries in your life....where would we be after the desolation and death of Winter without Aries promise of a bursting Spring?

Aries want to be FIRST! They want to WIN! Most of all - secretly - down deep inside - they want you to like them. (Shhhh....do not tell anyone!)

So....when you see those bulbs and tender greenery peeking up in March......remember....Aries has tender spots too....and after the gentle submission, close-to-resignation of Pisces, all beings that share this planet need the nudge of the Ram's horns (or the Fountain of Youth).

In honor of Aries and the very, very, very first day of Spring, I have created a special soap. There are only three (3) bars. They are reserved for the first three Aries who post a message to my Facebook page. (Whew! This is stressful for me. Is it hot in here?)

It is called "Veldfire".... vetivert, musky, triple-strength fragrance (did you expect anything less?)...nice glycerin, olive oil base swirled with sparkly mica of hot pink, orange, coral atop creamy castile.

I wanted it to have more RED in it, but it is HOT, Baby.....and there are only 3 bars.

Everyone - out of the way!!

A Ram and a resplendent Spring coming through!

In  Love, Truth and Beauty....

Soaps of Taste and Class...

Listing some new soaps for spring over the next two days that are classics, reinterpreted. Most of the new soaps are made in the hot process method, that is, over a kettle on a stove. This method produces a rustic looking, almost translucent soap that is mild and always seems to retain a slight softness to the bar.
The new soaps include Honey-Beeswax (swoon), Pure Castiles, Caramelized Honey and Smooth Colloidal Oat Castile, Rosewood, Vanille-Fig, just to name a few.
Here is a group shot of the lovelies...

I see some cold process bars in the photo too - particularly a larger bar of the much-beloved "Mermaid" - an outrageous combination of decadent cocoa butter and coconut cream with all of the colors and pearl of abalone shell. There is also an Ayurvedic Vata Soap (Perfect for Spring!!) of my design that has been my personal facial cleanser for many years. 

Cold process soaps typically are silkier in texture, many times swirled with fine arabesques of colors.

I find that my cold process soaps cure to a harder consistency than the hot process soaps. They are mild and last a very long time.

I am excited about these new soaps.

I am listing these on Etsy and hope to be finished by the end of business on March 18, 2010.

I will keep you posted.

Thank you for reading....

In Love, Truth and Beauty.......

What can I say about the Irish?

Two limited edition Celtic knot soaps in the Etsy store now.

The Celtic Knot below is scented with nearly every herb in the garden. Uplifted, spirited and sparkling thanks to the emerald mica. The emerald tops a castile base infused with a light touch of gold mica. Lovely. Better than green beer - hands down!

The Celtic Knot (round) is a subtle, bronze mica top resting on a creamy castile base. This sophisticated soap is scented with the eternally beautiful oil of Rosewood.

These soaps are so much better than a celebration with green beer!!

Find them here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/angelicsoap

Free Shipping - ONE DAY ONLY!

Help me celebrate! 

This Friday, March 12, 2010, ALL ITEMS in my Etsy shop SHIP FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

No limit!

The offer is good from 12 EST to 12 EST - 24 hours!!! 

And then, at the stroke of Midnight + 1 - poof! 

Gone! 

Like Cinderella!

Sorry, offer not valid for International shipping.  :(

Please shop early for best selection.

Thank you!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/angelicsoap

New Soap for Spring Forward!

I have listed a few new soaps in anticipation of "Spring Forward"! You can find them by clicking on the link below:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/angelicsoap

Shipping is crazy expensive these days.  To help give our customers a reprieve from the winter blues, a few soaps feature FREE shipping!

Today, I completed the last log for a custom order, but I could not stop there, so I whipped up a new soap for Mother's Day. The new soap is a coconut milk and cocoa butter base, colored with pale pink mica and fragranced with Peony (swoon). I amended the batter with Rice Bran Oil (soooo good for your skin) and silk! 

I am more than a little excited about this Peony Silk Soap. Cannot wait to try it!

Tomorrow, I will be able to cut both logs ... fingers crossed - wish me luck.

I have an idea about another soap, dedicated to my own Mother, who was always so stylish. My Mom's signature fragrance was Sortilege, a floral aldehydic, first created in 1937.  My Mom used to stash boxes of this gorgeous fragrance in her dresser drawer. I remember that the boxes were white, embossed with gold. The scent was heavy on jasmine and roses.

 

Above is a photo of a newly released version of Sortilege. The notes are quite sophisticated and complex - so much for jasmine and roses!

Cannot wait to make the soap in memory of my beloved Mom.  I miss her every single day.

In Truth, Love and Beauty....

Busy week - Honey, Beeswax, Coconut and a Mermaid!

This week has been very busy!
So....I wanted to post a short message to show you a few soap logs.
Here is a Honey-Beeswax soap fresh out of the mold. This log weighs approximately 2 pounds.
This particular recipe takes a relatively long time to cure. The entire batch is for a custom order. It smells and looks good - so far! (fingers crossed)

Next up is another custom order....Two Coconut Butter Creams (my current personal favorite).

On the left is a batch that has coconut sprinkled on the top. Photograph on the right is a nice shot of the bottom of the soap log.

Last, but not least is the much-beloved "Mermaid" soap log - stunning! Bling! Sparkle! All the colors of an abalone shell!

  

  

Ready the first day of Spring!

In Love, Truth and Beauty...

We are all connected...

I am watching the evening news. 

The footage of the Chilean earthquake is terrifying. The stats are literally giving me chills.

The earthquake was x times stronger than the bombing of Hiroshima. 

The quake shook the planet, moving the earth over 3 inches off its axis.

The Chilean earthquake, quite literally, altered time - forever. There is no going back...

I am posting this cast glycerin soap - a sparkly Guardian Angel - colored with chlorophyll - to watch over Chile....and all of us.

I ask that every one of us take a moment of silence to send healing to Chile. A prayer, a thought, whatever you can do - because we really are ... 

... all connected.

In Peace, Light and Healing....