The Day a Blog Changed My Purchase Plan

One morning in early March, I was cruising my long list of blogs while taking a quick break from working working working. One particular one caught my eye.

It was about small businesses and the economy. It sucks out there, folks. People are really struggling and it infuriates me that some of the soap makers who bring me such joy are worrying every day that they may not be able to pay their bills or feed their children.

And now the MTA in NYC announces that our monthly Metrocard is going to increase in cost from $81 to $103 per month. This is a pretty big chunk of my soap buying money and my mother keeps telling me to tighten my purse strings. But I just feel so torn...I need my soap!

But I digress again, a blog that caught my attention led me to buy some soap. I went on the Hartley Soaps Etsy site and saw so many things I wanted to buy. I picked up a Jasmine Mango Body Butter Bar, a Cinnabun CoCo Butter Body Bar and a Foaming Sugar Scrub. Unfortunately, none of these are currently listed on the site but I am sure that what is currently offered is there. And I will review these soaps later as I use them.

In my box of product from Hartley there was a generous sample of Chocolate Drizzle soap. For some inexplicable reason, this is the one I used first. I was feeling the need for something decadent and so I gave this soap a whirl.

I've used brownie soaps and chocolate cake soaps and the like but this one is in a completely different. I love Philosophy and you can, of course, spend $20 on Classic Fudge Cake or Double Rich Hot Cocoa but you can also pay $5 for Chocolate Drizzle and it's even better. Plus, there are no chemicals or nasty stuff and the person who made it has a name and a face.

I could give you a run down of how amazing it is to shower with a Hartley Soap and I am sure I will with one of the others but the point here is a different one. The point is that the economy sucks. People have no jobs. Everyone is panicked.

But every single one of you has to bathe.

In teasing me about my soap obsession yesterday, one of my frequent companions mentioned his penchant for Dove. Allow me to share with you the ingredients in a bar of Dove White.

Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Or Sodium Palmitate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Now, allow me to share with you the ingredients in a bar of Hartley Soap Jasmine Mango Body Butter Bar

mango_butter, sweet_almond_oil, coconut_oil, olive_oil, palm_kernal_and_palm_oil, distilled_water, sodium_hydroxide, fragrance_oils, mica_color

I'll let that speak for itself.

So here's my point and then I promise to get down off of my soap box.

You have to bathe, so buy handmade soap. I don't want to read that these amazing Artisans are going out of business.

Champagne Toasts, Champagne Cocktails and Tiny Bubbles

I adore champagne. In a city where everyone has a "signature cocktail," I like anything with champagne. And it really needn't be technically champagne. I am more than fine with sparkling wine (especially prosecco but that's an entire blog unto itself).

In fact, on a Saturday night, I can often been found sipping on a Miss Behavin' at Death and Company or The Bordello Special (seeing a theme here?) at The Bourgeois Pig

So imagine my thrill and delight at seeing Tiny Bubbles listed at the Soap Rehab store. I had to have it. So I ordered a bar of the soap, which was the soap of the month for February, and a massage bar. Then, I patiently awaited its arrival.

When the box came (along with a few others as I am a complete and total soap glutton) I saved it for last and then ripped into it. Lifting this soap to my nose, I was FLOORED. The smell was incredible...seriously beyond incredible. And the packaging was adorable. Here is a picture of that:

Cute right? It prompted my roomie to walk around singing "Erin's soapies had to go to rehab...." and she asked me to hang the packaging on the fridge.

Well, I didn't use the soap for some time. I guess I was going against Soap Rehab's recommendation and saving it for a special occassion. And that time came last week. Sooo...here is the soap in all its glory

So I expected it couldn't smell any better once wet but it does. It really, really does. It has a nice lather and this rich, luxurious in the feeling that is like no other soap I have ever tried. I must have stood in the shower for 20 minutes soaping myself up, rinsing off and doing it again. And then I would sniff my arm. My fingers were pruney and I needed to get ready for work but the steamy hot water and this soap just made me want to shower all day. I think this soap is BETTER than a champagne cocktail. Soap Rehab
describes the scent as "A harmonious and complex blend of crisp wine fruitiness" and I could not agree more. I can't tell what comprises this scent but it smells like a bottle of the most expensive and delicious champagne turned into a soap.

So, after I dragged my silly self out of the shower, I moved on to the Body Balm in the same scent. It reminds me a little of the massage bars at Lush but trust me when I say that they don't have a scent that comes even close to this one.

It goes on feeling a little greasy but don't let this stop you. The balm absorbs thoroughly into the skin. And it leaves behind moisturized and wonderfully scented skin. I just love it. And I smelled nothing but Tiny Bubbles all day. And then, when I got home that evening and walked into the bathroom I smelled Tiny Bubbles. And I got compliments galore. Check out the cute Body Balm!


So right now it looks like neither of these products is for sale on the Soap Rehab Etsy site but I sincerely hope that they'll be back soon (or that Soap Rehab let's me know so that I can use my stash sparingly). They DO, however, have Shea Body Butter and Bath Soak

I'll be buying both of these...in fact, I just did.

By the way, Soap Rehab sent me a few samples that I hope to love just as much.

A conundrum...

I just finished rearranging my soap collection. I have so many amazing soaps to try and even some I need to talk about that I have already tried. (Definite shout out to Soap Rehab) But I had a shower experience the other day that made me think.

Now everyone knows how much I adore soap of all kinds. Generally, I am thrilled with anything as long as it smells good and gets me clean. But the other day I had a less than exemplary shower time experience.

I didn't like a soap.

And now I don't know what to do. The main goal of my blog is to promote the work of all of the amazing artists whose products I buy.

So do I just gloss over when I don't like something? Do I lie? Or do I honestly review the product?

And no, dear blog followers...not a single one of you made this soap.

Several New Soaps to Discuss

Gosh I've been away from this blog too long.

by the oft-reviewed and admired Country Heart Gifts. I used about one new soap by them a week and most of them have been absolutely fantastic. But one day last week something incredible happened. I grabbed the sample of tuberose moss.

This stuff is OUTRAGEOUS.

And I am glad I found it because I have been way sick lately. But something about the this stuff smells makes the days seem worthwhile. I definitely recommend it.

And I have been stocking up on some of the greatest products lately. I'll get back to blogging daily now.

Stop whatever you are doing and buy this box...RIGHT NOW

145, give or take a few.

That is the number of blogs I currently read. I get these from randomly browsing Etsy and then looking at what other people read. Through my perusal I discovered the blog for Gabbriella's Sampler and soon realized what this blog advertised is a SAMPLER chock full of stuff from all over Etsy.

In case you missed that, let me explain again:

If you click here you can buy for $12 (aka VERY VERY little) a box filled to the brim with samples and goodies from some of the most amazing people on Etsy.

So ok...here is a shot of what the box looks like when you first open the package.


There is a huge part of me that wants to tell you one by one every single item in the box but then when you go and buy it the experience won't be as awesome as it was for me. Let's just say that I am completely addicted to two of the products ALREADY and have ordered something from one the Etsy shops that contributed. And you know what, the person who runs that shop turned out to be incredible.

And there are so many great bath products in there.

Here is a shot of the inside:

Go. Buy. One. Now. Seriously, go. This is the best deal on Etsy.

Plus, buying one enters you in a raffle.

Word.

The Great Lather Debate

I have so many bars of soap on order. Literally, I am awaiting packages from Swan Mountain Soaps, Dugshop, Gothic Creations, Tessuraea and Gabriella's Closet, home of the sampler.

So I will be a very clean and VERY busy gal in the next few weeks/months. I also have to walk by Lush on the way to the salon this weekend so we all know that I'll be snapping up whatever was discontinued after VD. I really want to grab some You Wash My Back Soap, but...as I shower alone.

Always.

I have no need for it. But it kind of seems like something Haley would like for some reason. And no, I am not suggesting a shower with Haley. But it's kind of sweet/naughty and Haley is sweet/naughty.

But I digress.

Today I wanna talk about lather. I have been sharing bits of soap with friends who need to break the commercial shower gel cycle and discover the wonder of handmade soap. So I tossed my buddy Julie a sliver of Patchouli Goats Milk Soap from LostRiverRags and she took off to shower.

Now I was still dripping from a shower with another soap that I loved. And I couldn't wait to hear her review. After all, she is a very natural Patchouli girl. Although our methods of being "natural" tend to diverge a bit.

And when she got out of the shower she told me the most curious thing. She loooved the smell (See? Patchouli. I know her too well) but found the lather lacking. She said she even used her shower poof to generate a lather.

Speaking of shower poofs, I am not sure how I feel about those either. It seems like a germ trap to me. But that's another topic for another day...

So all of this discussion about lather made me think. I was reading a blog the other day about lather. Honestly, I feel no need for it. I do like it when a nice, non-chemically hand made soap provides some soft and and sweet smelling lather but it is by NO MEANS a requirement.

Maybe I have even gone too far to the other end and now and I find that lather makes me a little nervous. Is it going to dry my skin? Are there harsh detergents hidden in that innocent looking little bar? Paranoia about soap is kind of sick, right?

But I wonder what makes us so insistent upon lather? Does it make us feel cleaner?

Stuff from all over

So I have been unbelieveably busy lately. Last weekend I attend NY Comic Con and had a BLAST. Now, I am not normally into comic books and they don't sell any soap there (although I looked, believe me I did) but I had such a great time. At the heart of my passion for soap is my passion for things that are handmade and for artisans who work their proverbial asses off to make a living pursuing their passion. And some of these comic book artists were outstanding. My personal favorite has to be Colleen Doran whose graphic novels are just amazing. She also sat on a panel entitled "Men are from Krypton, Women are from Paradise Island"

At any rate, it rocked.

I also got a friend to try out a soap by Lost River Rags because I am trying to teach her the value of hand made soap. She uses that squirty stuff that comes out of a bottle and I will be discussing her thoughts in a later blog.

I have been cruising Etsy in my usual style and reading everyone's blogs and all of my normal stuff and I have even been showering but with the inability to breathe my soap choices have been limited to what I can smell, which ain't much.

Sigh. Lots of soap ordered and exciting things to come.