Giveaway!

I am trying to find a good blog to do a review and a giveaway. One of the blogs I am following, http://yesiknowwhatcausesthat.blogspot.com, has actually offered to do a review or a giveaway for me, and I just might take her up on that. But I would also like to try to find another one.

I have returned from a much needed vacation. With all the driving we did, plus the adjustment of going back to work, and the altitude change, I need a vacation from vacation. But now...now, it is time to get down to business. THE SOAP BUSINESS..... From here on out I will be keeping busy with promoting my products, and learning what I can about running a successful business and learning more about my viewers and customers.

I would like to use this blog for this journey. It's going to be a long one, but I am so excited and just so optimistic about the future, I can hardly sit still.

NEW LISTING

I just listed my lip balms. I am almost done in listing my products. Just a few more to go. It is quite a process..

After I get back from vacation I am going to go full steam ahead on promoting my products. I got some really good advice from stickerella (check out her awesome fantasy art at http://battlemaiden.etsy.com) that I am going to use as a guide to get me going. I'm actually trying to do a liitle promoting right now with my blog, facebook, twitter, and now my myspace page.

I think in order for me to not lose track and keep more organized, I am going to set up some kind of schedule for me to focus on one outlet at a time. Because right now, I seem to be kind of a scatter brain with all these outlets and not being able to really focus on any one in particular.

I just listed my lotion bars. Tell me what you think.

SHAVING SOAP

I have just been given a custom order to make shaving soap for someone I work with. He has bought like, 20 of my soaps, and now he wants soap to shave with.

Honestly, I've never made it before, but I have looked up a few recipes, and it doesn't seem to be that hard. Just a few simple melted ingredients, and voila...you have man shaving soap. But I wonder if I could use it on my legs. The bentonite clay ingredient is supposed to make the shave to where it glides smoothly. We'll see.

SOAP CARE

Handmade soap is definitely unique and great for your skin, but in order for it to last, you have to take care of it.

Because handmade soap is made up of skin loving oils, your soap may become "soggy". In order to prevent this from happening, just get some kind of soap dish with holes in it, or a shower rack that allows the soap to be elevated. These 2 "care techniques" allows your soap to remain dry, keeping your soap from laying in a small pool of water, which will cause the sogginess.

If you follow this advice, your handmade soap will last for at least a month, if not longer.

WHAT IS SOAP?

Soap is something we use every day, so, naturally, I'm sure it is overlooked and taken for granted, which is what I did before I started making my own.

Very simply, soap is a reaction from the combination of oils or fats, such as animal fat or tallow, with water and an alkaline solution. The alkaline solution, which is popularly known as lye or sodium hydroxide, is very important because that is basically what makes soap...soap!

All soaps have this alkaline solution. And when this reaction of alkaline and oils takes place, a process known as saponification occurs, and voila, you have soap.

Happy 4th my fellow Americans! Be safe and enjoy a good rack of ribs from the bar-be:)