False Advertising

I was already drafting this blog article in my head when I came across a link to this article on Twitter.  Apparently, I'm not the only who's noticed that misleading and false advertising has become par for the course in American marketing.

About a year ago, I posted an article challenging Dove's claim that soap leaves soap scum on your skin; you'll find that here.  Soap doesn't leave soap scum behind; it leaves glycerin, a humectant which draws moisture from the air to your skin, moisturizing your skin with water as God intended.  Since posting that blog article, I've seen that commercial a few more times, and on the screen shot where they're telling you about this horrible "soap scum," at the bottom of the screen in little white letters it reads, "Artist's dramatization."  Let's break that down.  One, it's not like they've taken a black light or infrared light to a woman fresh out of the shower after she's washed with soap to show what's left.  Nope, a graphic design artist likely went in with a mouse and a bit of imagination and drew the "soap scum" in.  Dramatization - it's FAKE, people!  Drama, whether it's on stage, screen or in the mind of your average teenage girl, is never as real as it's purported to be.

Thursday night I was watching my usual crime dramas (see, again, made up) and caught this commercial for I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - you know the one that starts out "Meet the Buttertons."  The hype behind this commercial is that real butter is loaded with trans fat.  We keep butter in our fridge; it's healthier than margarine and we prefer natural to nearly plastic.  Yesterday morning, I was in the fridge for something and looked at the butter box.  Zero grams of trans fats.  Of course, butter has saturated fats; all fats that are solid at room temperature are high in saturated fats - lard, shortening, coconut oil, palm oil, butter, margarine.  However, our butter doesn't have any trans fat whatsoever.  Again, you have a reputable company using deception to push their products.  And how many people would catch it?  Susie Homemaker who's trying to prepare healthy meals for her family is just going to buy the tub spread (we have that in our fridge, too) and will never look at the nutrition facts on the box of butter.

In the cosmetic industry, such deceptions come when someone claims their tea tree soap will cure everything from athlete's foot to psoriasis to the flu.  Or when a soapmaker states that the vitamin E in their lotion will make the user look younger.  All that's lies and hype to get you to buy their products.  Thankfully, those seem to be few and far between, but loudly vocal.  The majority of soapmakers will tell you what our products will do.  Our soaps will get you clean.  They'll likely leave your skin feeling softer and more supple.  Our soaps may even leave you smelling good.  Our soaps will not make you look younger, replace the hair you've lost, melt away unwanted belly fat or cure what ails you (other than general griminess).

Preparing for Onslow Oktoberfest

Two weeks from right now, my first show of the season will be a wrap. Yep, that's right - my first one.  I'm only doing two big shows this year, and I haven't hooked up with any monthly markets since we moved; that's by choice.  I'm excited, though.  Preparing for a big event like this takes so much work and organization.  Then there's setting it up, my husband Peter and me coming together to get everything displayed just so.  After everything is in place to my exacting standards (that takes a while, I'll admit) and I finally get to sit back or stand to wait for customers, then I take a deep breath of satisfaction.  At that point, the hard part is over and the fun part begins.

While I really enjoy making my products (and using them, too, of course!), I'm such an extrovert that I get great satisfaction and joy from interacting with my customers.  I love every part of it, from that initial greeting to telling them about my products, helping them find their "just right" purchases and then handing them a coupon along with the soaps or lotion they've just bought.  It's in being out with my customers that I get to personally experience the people who are interested in my wares.

In two weeks is Onslow Oktoberfest in Jacksonville.  I'm excited, because this will be my first time doing this fairly young event.  Now that I'm here in a different part of the state, I get to participate in events that were too geographically undesireable to join when we lived in Durham.  Onslow Oktoberfest will take place on Saturday, 24 October at Riverwalk Crossing Park, 421 Court Street, Downtown Jacksonville, NC behind the historic train depot.  It runs from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Check back here for specifics on where I'll be located so you can drop in and say "hi."

My feature product will be beer soap and this close to their curing dates, I can tell you that they're amazing!  They all smell so yummy, and the ones with designs and swirls have come out looking spectacular.  Peter washed the ash off the Green Irish Tweed batch he did to reveal gorgeous green and bronze swirls.  Hops are wonderful for skin and hair, and the sniglet I tried made my skin feel so soft and moisturized.  More on those tomorrow.

The Court Jester Antiques and Stuff

On a not-so-quiet street in a peaceful town, there's a row of shops facing the imposing stone structure of the county courthouse and the green expanse of the courthouse square.  Nestled in amongst these shops, situated between a florist and a lawyer's office (or a realtor's office, or both - there are signs for both, anyway) is this charming shop called The Court Jester Antiques and Stuff.

Owned by Judy Bruce, The Court Jester's name says it all.  The antiques that Judy sells are eclectic, nice pieces that strike a happy medium between old, rusted out junk (not gonna find anything like that here!) and Louis XIV end tables (won't find anything like that, either).  Not being an antique fanatic, it's hard for me to describe them, but I can say that, scattered around and in front of her shop, the antiques she carries lend a cohesion and charm to her displays.

Then there's the "& Stuff" part of her shop.  Again, the selection is eclectic and well chosen with an emphasis on crafts.  Many of the crafts are by local artisans, including yours truly.  There is hand-crafted glass bead jewelry in bold, vibrant colors and designs; a plethora of nose-tantalizing candles; glass works and; of course, the finest soaps with which you could ever want to bathe.  Sometimes, Judy's sharp eyes and appreciation for quality may snag on incredible yard sale finds.  Back in July, she had two charming, handmade four-poster doll beds that she'd found at a yard sale and that, of course, my older daughter just HAD to have.  Unfortunately, they both got sold before we had a chance to purchase them; one was going to be a treat for her that weekend.  This is just a taste of what you can find at The Court Jester.

As you enter the shop, your first impression might be, "Wow, this is small!"  Yes, the front room is small, but that's just the beginning.  The front room is like the antechamber to an amazing cavern of treasures waiting to be discovered.  The shop is deep, with goody-filled halls leading from room to room, each one highlighting particular wares.  My first experience of the shop was delight as Judy led my older daughter and me throughout each room.  And while some products are constant - soaps, candles, jewelry and books, to name a few - I'd guess at least half of the inventory rotates, with new wares coming in as Judy finds them at estate sales and auctions. 

The Court Jester is one of the many charming shops that visitors will find in Burgaw's Historic District.  Burgaw is a small town in Pender County, North Carolina, just off of I-40 at exit 398, just half an hour from Wilmington.  The Court Jester is located at 115 South Wright Street and is open Monday-Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 11:00 to 4:00.  Like most of Burgaw, the shop's closed on Sundays.  So, swing by, check it out, and tell Judy you saw it here. :-)

They're Finally Ready!

In July, I posted about the two new soaps I had on the rack, Beach and Patchouli.  They've finished curing and are ready for purchase.  Since I've been spending the past month getting re-used to having a baby in the house, I haven't really done more with these soaps than stand and admire them, picking them up to sniff them and show them off to visitors.  These soaps have enjoyed a longer cure time, resulting in even milder, harder bars than the high quality soaps I usually make.  And they're still curing!  I'm leaving them on the rack until the very last minute.

 

This is the Patchouli soap in all its psychedelic glory.  This soap features my most ambitious swirl attempt ever - seven colors.  If you'll pardon a bit of vanity, I'm really proud of these.  Not only are these a visual and olfactory treat as dry bars, but using them increases the pleasure.  Patchouli's warm, earthy, spicy, sensual scent wraps itself around you, and each use of the soap reveals a new and different swirl as each layer of color fades away.  These soaps are moving fast; I've already sold all but two soaps from this batch.  Click here to order yours today.

A Special Announcement

I am pleased and delighted to announce the birth of my beautiful baby girl!!! Hannah Ilyssa was born Friday, 31 July at 3:46 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs., 11 ozs. and was 19.5" long. And did I mention she's beautiful? Her daddy, big sister and I are all thrilled with her. She's a good baby [I hate that expression, like there's such a thing as a "bad" baby?] and is beautiful, just like her big sis is.

There was a bit of an adjustment at first, but we're settled into a routine now. Mary, our oldest, has been a tremendous help. In fact, her major trauma of the week was not being allowed to change or feed Hannah while Mary got over a little case of the sniffles. When we gave her the "all clear," she beamed. Even dirty diapers are no match for a devoted, loving, helpful older sister.

I discovered several things along this birth and recovery journey. I'll spare you the birth story; I don't feel this is an appropriate forum for that. Among everything else, though, I learned that you only get 6 weeks of maternity leave when someone else is the boss. Being the owner of my own business hasn't left me a lot of time for just sitting with my feet up. If I time it right, however, I have pockets of time throughout the day which are perfectly designed for getting business stuff done.

Another aspect of new motherhood is bone-deep fatigue. Given that, I'm going to stop talking and bid you "g'night, dear readers." In future blog entries, I have exciting news to share with you about the beer soap I've been making, my first wholesale account (woot!), Peter's first start-to-finish soap and whatever other great topics come to mind.