Today's Featured Soap

It has no frills, no fuss, no anything except for all-natural, vegan-friendly goodness.  It's Just Plain Soap.  I created this soap a couple of years ago to meet the demand for a moisturizing soap that's well-suited for people who are sensitive to particular fragrances.  Many people who claim they're "allergic to soaps" aren't allergic to soaps so much as they're allergic to the synthetic chemicals in detergent bars, likely including the perfumes used in them, the artificial fragrances.  Still, some people are sensitive to even essential oils, which are 100% natural and plant-derived.  So, for all those people who prefer unscented, natural soaps, there is Just Plain Soap.

Soaps and Lotions for Haiti

An earthquake hit, and hundreds of thousands of people died.

An earthquake hit a small island nation, and thousands more were injured.

An earthquake hit, and hundreds of thousands more are without homes, without clothes, without food, without water.

Then the call came - twice.  The first came through the WSP Soap and Candle forums via a post echoing an article in Saponifier magazine.  The second call came by email from Leigh O'Donnell, president of the Handcrafter Soapmakers Guild. 

The call came, and I answered it.

With the high number of injured people in Haiti and poor sanitary conditions following the earthquake, disease and the spread of bacteria are now rising as serious problems on top of the problems already existent.  The call that came through the HSMG and Saponifier magazine was for soap and lotions - soaps to clean skin, helping prevent the spread of diseases; and lotions to soothe dry, parched skin which, in turn, helps promote wound healing by keeping the skin supple.

I didn't think twice about it.  I had lotions that I'd made while we lived in Durham that were now over a year old, and I had soaps that were on clearance for the better part of last year that were cluttering up my website and taking up space on my soap shelves.  I had a choice to make:  I could keep these products for our own use, or I could send them to Haiti.  They have a much greater need for soaps than we do.

The above picture is of all the products that I sent to Haiti.  I couldn't tell you an exact count, but I'd guess there are close to 100 soaps there and over 40 lotions, in addition to close to 20 body washes.  They went in two separate boxes to Haiti.

The First 33 Pounds

The weight of those soaps boxed up came to a full 33 pounds, and there wasn't any packing material in the box; those 33 pounds were nothing but soaps and cardboard.  That box went to Missionary Flights International to continue on to Haiti.

The Second 16 pounds

All those unwrapped soaps and the lotions and body washes are heading to Haiti via Clean the World, an Orlando-based organization that sterilizes unwrapped soaps and lotions before sending them to countries where hygiene might be suspect. 

I ask for you to please pray for the people who will be receiving thes soaps and lotions.  Pray for healing, nourishment and allow them to be reunited with family.  Please pray for those at Clean the World and MFI who will be going through and sorting,  And lastly, please pray for those medical teams that are down there now, helping and serving those most in need.

A Little to the Left... Ahhh, there

From the moment we're born, touch is a major part of our lives.  We're wrapped snuggly in a blanket and placed in our mother's arms, where we're warm, secure and happy.  As we grow into children, that need and desire for touch doesn't disappear; it manifests itself in holding hands with our friends, hugging our parents (or, in my older daughter's case, hugging anyone who'll stand still long enough) and sitting on an available lap.  When we hit our teens, we're holding hands with members of the opposite sex, hugging our girlfriends, back-thumping our guy friends and still hugging our parents - when no one's around to see us.

Then what happens?  I don't know, but somewhere between going off to college and entering the "real world," we forget that we need touch, so we're often left feeling bereft, but not quite sure what's missing or how to fill that void.  Most of us date people, getting intimate touches.  We eventually get married, complete with its touches, and life continues with holding hands, kissing, making love, spooning at night and cuddling on the sofa while watching a movie.

How often, though, do we as adults get those soothing, comforting touches that were ours as children?  I'd suggest, not very often, and that's where a good massage comes in.  I'm aware that there's a split between those for massage and those against.  I'd suggest that those who are against it think of it as something dirty, something that's lurid and perverted, best kept to the back rooms of "massage parlours."  Those who think massages are wonderful recognize their therapeutic benefits.

There are three main types of massage for adults:  Therapeutic, relaxing and erotic.  Therapeutic massages are those that often work deeper tissues, working out muscle knots or cramps, maybe even alleviating headaches with the right touch.  I picture a tiny little Japanese woman walking on the back of the person she's massaging.  Relaxing massages aren't quite as deep, focusing instead on soothing tensions and using touch to lull a person into a state of relaxation and a cessation of tension.  Erotic massages are made to tease and tantalize more than relax.  The fundamental bliss of human contact is still there, but in this case, the emphasis is on paying special attention to the erogenous zones and using touch to heighten and enflame the senses.  Erotic massages often lead to a "happy ending," if both parties are in agreement about it.  (Google for more information on massages.)

My new massage oil is a proprietary blend of high quality, 100% natural oils chosen especially for the unique properties each one brings to a massage.  Some oils absorb quickly into the skin.  Others have a really nice slide.  Still others contain vitamins or antioxidants, making the oils themselves very good for the skin.  They come in a variety of fragrances and I'll soon be adding flavors.  I encourage you to pick up a bottle today and try it out.  They come in two sizes - an 8-ounce bottle for your bedside table and a 2-ounce bottle that's sized to fly to a romantic get-away.  You won't be sorry!

In a later article,I'll discuss the benfits of massage on babies.

Coming Soon! Edible Massage Oil

...But I need your help first.

Massage oils in scents is easy - unscented, lavender, rose, patchouli, vanilla and maybe some custom blends.

Massage oils in flavors is a bit more challenging, and this is where I need your help.  Please take just a moment to vote in the poll to the right here ------> Yeah, that's it... And let me hear your opinion on what flavors you'd want to use in a flavored massage oil.  This product would have the same luxurious benefits as regular massage oil, but with the added treat of being flavored with an ingestible flavor oil, making whatever may follow your massage more enjoyable.  'Cause, really, something may smell great, but it may not necessarily taste so great.

The poll closes in a week, on 31 January, so go ahead and cast your vote while it's still fresh on your mind.  You may vote for more than one flavor.

Thanks so much!  I appreciate your help. :-)

Why Preserve?

I saw on another site today yet another soapmaker who doesn't like preservatives, who thinks they're evil and so forth.  That's well and good, and I applaud those who firmly believe in creating all natural products and can do so safely. 

There's an easy way to make all-natural products which won't need a preservative:  Make them without water.  Such products as lotion bars, soaps and lip balms don't require a preservative.  (Water is part of the soapmaking process, but it's not in the final product.)  Lotion bars, lip balms, lip glosses and body butters (real ones, made with butters and oils) are anhydrous formulations, meaning they contain no water.  Since they don't contain water, they present an unfavorable environment for mold, fungus and bacteria growth and need only an antioxidant to slow down the rancidity of the oils and butters.

Then you come to lotions, creams and yes, even scrubs.  These products contain water, which means they present a very favorable environment for the growth of "nasties" - mold, fungi and bacteria.  In fact, these "all-natural" nasties can start growing in lotions within three hours of their manufacture without a proven, broad-spectrum preservative.  You can't see them.  I once had a soap seller tell me she had been using a bottle of the unpreserved lotion she was selling for two months and it wasn't growing.  It doesn't have to be visibly growing for nasties still to be present.  In fact, they're microscopic, and because they're so tiny, they can enter a person's blood stream through the most microscopic of skin breaks, such as are common in people with diabetes-related edema, and also those one might get after shaving.  These nasties can be particularly dangerous to someone whose immune system may already be compromised by other diseases, such as cancer, and can lead to sickness, hospitalization and even death.

Scrubs are slightly different.  When I make scrubs, they contain no water, yet still I preserve them.  Why?  Because they're very thick and can easily have water introduced into the container.  A wet hand dipping into the jar in the shower is enough to contaminate the whole batch.  I now make my scrubs with sugar, but when I first started making them, I used salt which, as most people know, is a type of preservative.  I opened the jar one day after not using them for a while and the inside was covered with spots of black mildew (a type of fungus).  Suffice it to say, that jar hit the trash!

I think everything needs to be a matter of perspective.  When I make my lotions, I use a paraben-free, broad-spectrum preservative at the lowest possible effective rate.  This comes to 0.8%, or 5 grams of preservative to over 500 grams of lotion, which makes 5 4-ounce bottles.  (To give you an idea, an ounce is about 28.4 grams by comparison.)  So, you've got five grams of preservative over four bottles.  What it comes down to is, even with the chemical preservative, my essential-oil scented lotions are still 99.2% all natural.  Compared to the risk of killing a customer by selling them a dangerous product, I'll accept that as close enough.

By the way, I have all my water-based formulas tested for preservative efficacy by a reputable lab before selling them.  So far, they've all passed with flying colors, far exceeding what even the FDA considers "safe."