Soap for Dinner

Last night I was having dinner with two incredible friends at Olla Wine Bar in Bay Ridge Brooklyn.  This place is amazing in its own right and I do love it.  Even if Olla isn't three blocks from your house, you should go there is you are ever in Brooklyn.  But that's a bit off topic.

One of my dining companions, while outside getting some air, ran into a soap maker.  After making friends with her, he brought her in to meet me.  She showed me two things.  One, a beautiful bar of soap she gave me to try.  (Please note that she was informed about this blog and the possibility of a review).  Two, she showed me some gift boxes she has put together for sale.  I don't have pictures of these but I can honestly say that this is some of the loveliest hand crafted soap I have seen.  She clearly takes great pride in her artistry.  I am trying to get some pics so I can share them with you all.  My honest statement was "well, I know what I will be getting many of the women in my life for Christmas."

Alex, the soap maker, explained that these are currently handcrafted in her home, the result of a period of listlessness and ennui in her life.  She puts argan oil in each bar.  This is great news to me as I am a huge fan or argan oil.  Found only in Morocco, lovers of this oil claim it is nearly miraculous.  I am not sure I would go that far but I can say that I have been putting it in my hair daily for the better part of a year and, in spite of constant coloring, washing, and heat processing, my hair is undamaged and silky.  So I at least believe in the moisturizing properties of argan oil.

Another thing that is amazingly cool about argan oil is that it is largely cultivated and processed by Berber women in Morocco.  And it is one industry that operates almost exclusively under fair trade practices.  There are increasing initiatives in Morocco to allow these women to have lives and families while also earning money for their work in the extraction of oil from argan trees.  How cool is that?

These are ladies hard at work extracted oil for my soap...thanks ladies!  Read more about argan oil here and here.

The soap Alex gave me also contains oatmeal in the top part of the bar.  This I also love as oatmeal is both nourishing and a great exfoliant.  I was so excited I am shocked I waited until this morning to try the soap.  Here are some pics.  These were taken a bit as an after thought as I cut the soap in half before contemplating photos...I was just so excited.

Above is the soap from the top.  It is a light brown colored glyceriney layer which holds that oatmeal I mentioned.

And there is the soap from the side.  It's not the best photo I ever took but you can see the layers and the white creamy layer on the bottom.

So I know you are wondering when I will get to the damned point and tell you what it was like?

Oh man oh man oh man.

This soap may have made me fall passionately in love with soap again.

First of all, it doesn't take a tremendous amount of water to get it working.  I like that as I have been dealing lately with commercial bars that dry out, lose their scent, and require so much water to get them going that they disintegrate sooner.  Hate that so much.

But not this soap.  I don't know if it was the much loved argan oil or something else but the lather was just so creamy.  I used it to shave my legs and it was thick and moisturizing enough for that project.  I got a great shave from it (win).  The oatmeal side provided just enough grit for me to get a good foot washing out of it.  The soap doesn't have a super strong scent.  For me, this isn't my favorite since I like to reek of scent all day but it occurs to me that this would make an amazing soap for a unisex shower, as I have yet to meet a man who likes to leave behind a cloud of roses.  (With the exception of Ronny, but that's another story).

All up, this was one of the better shower experiences I have had in quite some time.  I really want to try more from Alex.  I hope she puts up an Etsy store or the like very soon.  Stay tuned as I think I may have found the next great thing in Bay Ridge.

How a clogged drain ruins a shower

So last night I spent the night at my own apartment...shocking, I know.  This morning I got up, kind of stoked to shower in my old shower with a wonderful fizzy foam soap I had sitting there.

But there was something that I forgot!  The drain at my old apartment is so very, very clogged.  Within five minutes, the water was up to my ankles and rising.  So I washed fast.  Now, nobody there looks like this:



But it just reminded me of how much a clogged drain can make a day less bright.  Bummer.

And the sad thing is that many have tried and failed to unclog this drain.  Nothing seems to work.

So am I really clean today?  I dunno. 

I hate clogged drains.

/rant

Lately its been meh for me

I really should write this blog more often.  After all, I do bathe daily.  Lately I've been grinding all the gritty bits off a slice of Sandstone by Lush because my feet have had a rough Winter/Spring. 

I have also been totally into Turkish Delight body smoothie by Lush followed by their Ro's Argan and I am finally kind of tapped out of both.  I think the boyfriend is stoked I'm out because he says I smell like a rose bush died on me.

As for actual flowers, I have been hopelessly into peonies lately.  So perhaps I can find some peony soap to try.

Like this one by EcoChicSoaps:



More to come...this time, I swear it.

I Got Nuthin

Different people like different things about soap.  Some like lather, some like a strong scent, some like no scent and no lather.

Me, I like to revel in it.  I love when I can smell my soap all day.  I love it when it smells more intense in the shower than dry.  I love unique scents, textures, colors...I love it when its obvious that a soaper made the product with love.  I adore it when there is no SLS but yet the lather is foamy and intense.  I like having soap to rave about and soapers to promote.

So imagine my sadness to discover that everything in my soap train case is by Lush.  Fail.  Epic. Fail.

It seems the only option is to shop.  So I went online to check out my past purchases and realized I haven't bought soap since October 2010.  This is criminal and must be fixed.

Where to start, where to start, where to start...

The First Shower at the Fella's Place

It's interesting.  The first time you take a shower in someone's place has weight if you intend to do it often.  Last night, I found myself packing a bag of toiletries to take over.  I'll concentrate on the decisions as nobody wants me to yammer on about love.

So, the question is "what bath products are appropriate to take to your signficant other's apartment when you are trying to take up as little space as possible?"  Or...how to get clean without toting 12 products.

I turned to my old stand by Lush for inspiration as I have a literal train case of Lush products.  For soap, I decided to pick the classic Alkmaar as it always makes me feel very soft and sexy.  Truthfully, my skin is suffering this winter from being bare legged in the cold and probably a bit from the nutritional changes due to surgery.  The greatest thing about Alkmaar, other than the fact that it smells like jasmine, is that it goes delightfully with two of my other favorite products Silky Underwear Dusting Powder and Potion.  I can't link to Potion as it appears to have gone the way of the Dodo, so take my word for it.  It's a jasmine extravaganza that makes me feel clean, dry in all the right places and moisturized in all the right places. 

I suppose all I am missing is Lovely Jubblies.  Has anyone tried this?  Do I need super special cream for my breasts.  Will it make them bigger?  I'm kidding on the last bit...mostly.  I would, however, be interested in someone's review of the product if you use it.

So the big question is regarding hair products.  Shampoo bottles are cumbersome and those tiny hotel room bottles aren't cost effective.  Luckily, one of Lush's last great remaining products is the solid shampoo bar.  I'm typically into Godiva because it smells like jasmine (sensing a theme here?) but today I broke out the Karma Komba.  It works beautifully.  I don't know how that much lather comes from solid shampoo and, in spite of the SLS in the shampoo bar, I like it.  I think I'll go easy lest the suflates turn my red hair pink but I did enjoy the time I spent with the Lush today.

It was a good shower and relatively groundbreaking for me.  But what are some good, compact ways to pack an overnight toiletry bag?  Does anyone have fave products that travel easily, are handmade and make you smell like something incredible? 

Or does anyone have a favorite jasmine soap they'd like to share?

Happy Friday, ya'll.

Pornography of the Soap Variety

I know, I know...two blogs in one day.  Truthfully, I have been perusing soap listings on Etsy all afternoon and simply couldn't resist sharing some things I covet right now.

I have so much soap that I could not possibly use more...right?

Sigh.  Check these out:

My roommate, says she is allergic to polka dots.  And I love coconut.  In fact, I often smell like coconut due to my obsessive use of sulfate free organic coconut shampoo...but I digress.

Etsian Pink Dotted Owl sells THIS little bit of goodness.

The smell is of black cherries and coconut.  To me, that seems like an excuse to hang out in the shower for awhile.  I also like the shape and pattern of this soap.  It is lovely enough for me to want to use it and manly enough to satisfy those of you who may live with a manly type person (yes, I'm looking at you, Heather).

But moving on to something COMPLETELY different...

Although you should check out the store here.  There's some good stuff.

Sooooo...I'm kind of a princess.  It's ok to laugh.  I know it, you know, people in space know it.  And I love champagne.  And sparkly things...so, when I saw this I giggled and then I got excited.  It's called Gold Digger which I don't love because real princesses make their own money.  But it is pretty...observe:

It's not pink, which I like because pink would be so obvious for a strawberries and champagne soap.  instead, it looks a bit like a ghetto fabulous pair of glittery goal pleather pants exploded into a bar of soap.

Bad analogy?  Forgive me, I'm rusty here.

Should I comment on fairies or pixies?  Nah.

Should I buy this soap?  Probably?



And now for my favorite of the day...I could explain this but I won't.  I'll just say that someone I love very much will understand the humor and those who have heard the story will get it too.

I'm sorry my mom is so offensive, baby.  Should we buy her this?

It's soap.  Made from Polish beer...by Etsian The Soap Magician.  In addition to amusing me with Polish beer soap, this soaper also makes the extraordinarily intriguing Aloe and White Lilac soap.
And that's enough soap porn for the day. 

That's what she said...

The Perfect Soap to Go With the Perfect Man

God what a year!

Some highlights include the 91 lbs I lost (so far), the incredible success I experienced at work with regards to bringing in revenue and...perhaps most important...falling in love.

So, when I initially told the new man that I write a blog about soap (or wrote, I suppose, given my recent negligence in updating) he laughed.  Hysterically.  And teased me.  Incessantly. 

At first, he just didn't get it.  For example, while at a hotel in Westchester, he teased me asking if I would write about the hotel soap...it smelled of mandarin and mint and he thought it may be blog worthy.  So I tried to explain that not all soap is created equal.  I pontificated that I feel cleaner when I have washed with a soap that was lovingly created by someone  in their home or shop.  I informed him that I like unique scents. colors and textures.  And then I got a little embarassed.

But now I'm over it.  And then, while visiting my family and me in Georgia over the holidays, my fella says he wants to buy me soap.  I looked at him incredulously and asked him why.  Turns out, the blogging is actually "cute."

Whatever.

The positive outcome is I got this:

Again, from Nourish in Savannah.  Love.