Savannah Soap Finds Day One: Red Clover Tea

So day one of the Savannah Soaps finds week involved an extremely early shower with Red Clover Tea soap from Nourish.  The shop itself is really cool and exactly the kind of place I could see myself opening if I ever got bored being an insurance mogul in training.  The smells wafts down Broughton Street and invites me in with pictures of cute puppies in the window and promises of many many kinds of soap made by people in my hometown.  You just cannot get more inviting than that.

Of the three soaps I bought this time, I was most enamored at first sniff with the Red Clover Tea.  This soap is a glycerin soap that is made by

local artisans and cut to size.  It is sulfate free and detergent free.  And it has some tea leaves on the top.  I was REALLY excited to try this one.  Here is a picture I took of it myself. 

I am not the best photgrapher so just deal with the crappy quality. 

So, it was the first one of the batch I tried and...it was ok.  I think someone who is into soaps that smell good but don't have a scent that clings to the skin would like this a bunch.  It has a nice lather and a creamy consistency.  I will note that the soap has to be really wet to build up a lather but, once it does, it is foamy.  For me, however, the scent was not potent enough once in the shower.  And that's my favorite part.  Plus, the little tea leaf bits kept sticking to my skin. 

I do feel as though my skin was moisturized and soft when I got out of the shower, which is really nice.  But I didn't get that steamy perfumey quality I like so much.  So I recommend this one to those who like a soap that smells better dry than wet. 

I am a little sad because it smells SO GOOD when dry.  The bulk of this one will be sealed and kept for a potential present.

I have more soap from Nourish coming up as well as the mysterious shamrock soap Haley mentioned.

Stay tuned.

This One's For My Girl

Whil hanging out in Savannah, Caroline and I had a real opportunity to discuss some important topics in our lives.  She talked about the next steps in her career, her incredible work with at risk youth and where she sees herself over the next few years.

I, not being very deep, talked about soap.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly like that but we did get in some soap talk.  Much to my astonishment, Caroline actually reads my blog.  She told me that she loves peppermint.  It is her absolute FAVORITE.  So, now that I am home, I did a little research on the aromatherpy uses of peppermint.  Some of what I found is below.  I found it here.

Therapeutic properties of peppermint: Anti-inflammatory; relieves pain, muscle spasms, and cramping; relaxes the nerves; kills viral infections; decreases gas and indigestion; clears lung congestion; reduces fever


Uses for peppermint: Peppermint helps the digestion of heavy foods and relieves flatulence and intestinal cramping, actually relaxing the digestive muscles so they operate more efficiently. A massage over the abdomen with an oil containing peppermint can greatly aid intestinal spasms, indigestion, nausea, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Erm, interesting.
I bought Caroline a bar of peppermint soap from Nourish.  I put it in her shower and even had the chance to use it myself before leaving.  It was cool, refreshing and tingly.  I must say, my best friend has good taste in scent.

So, I put together a top 10 list of desirable handmade peppermint soaps just for Caroline.  Here they are, for your perusal and hers.

(In NO Particular Order)

1.  Cacao de Menthe by RoseandRoot.  This vegan soap has a healthy dose of peppermint oil but also some cocoa to make it brown and smell a bit of chocolate. 

2.  Peppermint Denture Soap by LoveLeeSoaps is soap that smells like peppermint and looks like dentures.  So Caroline!

 3.  After the Workout Soap by SoapyBlessings is perfect for Caroline because she has to work out often these days and I know there are aching muscles involved.  According to the description, the peppermint oil and eucalpytus help both joints and muscles.  Awesome.

4.  I'm really into the idea of Beer Soap Rosemary Mint

Made by Juicy Bath, this soap contains beer and peppermint, two of Caroline's favorite things.  Plus, it says it is enjoyed by both men and women.  ::cough::

5.  Intentions makes a soap that looks so much like a cancy cane, I can almost taste the mint on my tongue.  Appropriately named Candy Cane Ribbons, it reminds me of the many Christmases I drove to Caroline's to chat and get her amazing gifts.  Caroline is the best gift giver on Earth.

See?  You can smell it already, right?

6.  This next one reminds me of this past weekend and eating peppermint bark from River Street Sweets.  On Saturday, Caroline and I loaded up with the stuff and ate and ate.  Gosh it was yummy.  And this soap from  Etsian Aniselle is just what I need to keep around to remind me of that day.

7.  Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow - L'Alchemie has a peppermint soap that looks like a Pride flag!!!!!!!

8.  Exploding Frog Soaps by Howard's Home.  Frog soaps that explode need no explanation.

9.   Ice Storm by Bella Bubbles over at DaWanda looks like a cool piece of ice.  It's just lovely.

10. Last but not least, Vanilla and Peppermint Kisses Soap in the shape of feet make this list complete.  Thanks to Jay Jay's General Store for making the perfect Peppermint Soap.

I cannot, for the life of me, dear reader, imagine that you have a best friend more wonderful than mine.  But if you have one who comes even close, I highly recommend spending 3 or 4 days with that person.  You'll be shocked at how much things stay the same even when they change.

So, this soap's for you Caroline.  I hope you enjoy the peppermint soap I left in your shower ;)

I went to Savannah and I bought soap

Hey ya'll!  I just got back from a trip to Savannah.  I went specifically to see my very best friend of all time, Caroline.  I have loved Caroline from snarky comment 1, which occured one afternoon in the sixth grade.

We ate and ate and ate.  We went on some tours of our home town like tourists and we went...SOAP SHOPPING. 

Savannah has some pretty great places to buy soap, including a super cute store called Nourish where I have shopped before but I got a bit more carried away this time.  All in all, I bought six bars of soap. 

One I left at Caroline's house because she was using something non-handmade.  But the other five I brought home to try.  Here is a picture of my loot:

I hope you are excited as I!

Love, Love, Love

So I just got in from the Shining Stars event for the NGLCCNY.  It was fun.  I enjoy getting dressed up and having someone do my makeup.

But, wonderfully enough, my day started earlier than usual at 6am.  I got out of bed and went, book in hand, to the shower.  I sat on the side of the tub while the bathroom filled with steam and I just inhaled the warm air while reading a few chapters of A Girl's Guide to Vampires, which by the way, is hysterical. 

Then, after finally deciding I had dawdled enough, I climbed into a steamy shower with my newest bar soap acquisition...

The Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooove Bar...was making its virgin round.

Doooo dooo do dooooo doo dooo

You get the point. 

Shaped like a heart and smelling like rose and jasmine, Love Soap was a special edition for Lush deal.  So if you want it, run to the closest Lush store and hope they didn't sell out yet because they are going, going, gone.

At any rate, it has been so long since I broke out a new Lush soap and this was delightful indeed.  I must confess that, like a small child, I enjoy soap that has colored foam.  Using this soap is like painting yourself orangey red like a demon....muahahahaha.

Anyway, ahem, it was fun.  Lush nails things like texture, scent and color like no other large batch soap. 

This is a real winner.  I wonder why Lush won't just break down and make a full time soap that smells like Sex Bomb. 

At any rate, I'm sleepy and off to bed.

I went to Lush today and kept it under $25

Ok, so I clearly need new soaps.  So when the roomie announced she needed to go to SoHo to visit the Genius Bar at Chez Steve Jobs I tagged along.  I needed shoes for the Shining Stars event tomorrow night and SoHo is ALWAYS fun.  Of course, after the Great Bidet Disaster and my realization that I need to cease being the world's crappiest blogger and actually write some blogs, I needed inspiration.  And what is more inspirational than Lush?

Ok, so maybe buying from awesome Etsians...but Lush has some things that Etsy doesn't.  For example, hipster sales girls who don't judge me for my soap obsession (and who get extra points for being A-DOR-ABLE) and that smell.  You know the one.  Tourists complain about it and it gives you total headache after 5 minutes but it is still incredibly.

Plus, being the day after VD, I knew something would be on sale.

Well, miracle of miracles, I only spent $22.  This has a bunch to do with the fact that I already own just about everything, but I was pleased with myself nonetheless.

Here is what I got!

 

It's red.  It sparkles.  It's small.  And it smells like Sex Bomb.

Tom Jones once said, when referring to a Sex Bomb: Now you found the secret code I use to wash away my lonely blues. So I can't deny or lie cause you're the only one to make me fly.

And who I am I to argue with Tom Jones?

Riiiiiiiiight.

Second, I bought B Electro...this is some limited edition madness with which I am now COMPLETELY obsessed.  It smells like flowers (such as jasmine and rose) mated with things that make you want to wake up in the morning (aka fennel and grapefruit) and had a bastard love child that neither wants to claim but will one day take over the world.  One sniff made me want to go to the gym.  Appropriate gym soap is hard to find but this one is perfect.  Here is what it looks like:

Kinda like the green goo under the streets of Gotham City in Batman.  But you get the point.  Love Love Love it. 

Tomorrow I have to feel sexy, which means soap with some Jasmine (hmmmm....Love Soap?) followed by Bulgari.   Bulgari allows me to convince myself briefly that I look like Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  Which, I don't.  And never will.

But I digress.

Soap reviews later.

When Depressing Things Happen to Soap Loving People

So, a few weeks ago I went to Vegas.  We won't discuss the trips because it was frankly dreadful (nothing nice to say...say nothing at all...blah blah) but something TRAGIC happened while I was away.

The neighbors upstairs improperly installed a bidet and, when the hot water pipe melted, the result was an indoor rainforest in my apartment.  Everything was basically fine in the end but alas, my favorite soaps in my favorite soap dish were destroyed.

RIP Nectar, RIP Jasmine Jubilee, RIP Wasabi, RIP McCarren Park, RIP I Heart Bacon and...RIP Tiny Bubbles.  I think that's all. 

As you can see from the pictures above, I have a big blob of used-to-be soap in my favorite dish purchased for me by my favorite mother.  It makes me SO ANGRY because I typically don't buy soaps twice because I like to try new ones.

These were my feel good soaps, my go to soaps MY FAVES. 

Ugh.

Stupid neighbors.  Who puts a bidet in their bathroom in Brooklyn anyway?  I could have given them some amazing heinie washing soap for the shower if they had only asked.