I've been a busy bee for the past few months. I have so much to share with all of you, but I won't bombard you with too much.

New foam hand soap

This is my favorite scent....well....one of my favorite scents...there are too many that I love! Margarita Lime foam soap is the first of a series of foam soap. This soap was made by scratch, so it's filled with skin loving oils and not the nasty additives you get in store bought soap. I only bought 12 bottles to see how well they sell before I purchase a large wholesale order. I filled 3 with the Margarita Lime soap.
Brown Sugar Fig handmade soap....gosh...this is another of my favorite scents! Sweet, and sugary cold process soap. I used cocoa powder for the thin line between the layers.
My new lotion sticks are cute as a button! They are about an inch tall, so they are perfect for your pocket or purse.
What are lotion sticks? Well, I like to tell people that they are lip balms for your body! Thick and extremely moisturizing, you rub the bar on very dry skin or nails. I like to use them on my cuticles and my heels.
Right now I have Candy Cane and Eucalyptus, but I will be adding more soon.
Stay in touch.....much more coming soon!

Black Friday!!

Black Friday sale in my shop! My sale starts at 6am and ends at midnight (CT).
20% off EVERYTHING in my shop!!
*discount will be refunded through Paypal after payment is made.

Time to shop in your jammies! Don't brave the cold, get stuck in traffic, or carry those heavy bag all around a crowded mall!

A Breath Of French Air - Your Online Bath and Body Shop

The Soap Came Out Beautifully!

I think they turned out great! The Lemongrass is divine and the Black Tea adds a touch of a "earthy" scent.

Twenty One Steps To Making Handmade Cold Process Soap

Gather all your equipment. I have my gloves, goggles, scale, lye, beer (making beer soap), and various containers.
Getting ready to pour the beer into the pitcher.
Measuring out the beer. All materials are measured by weight and not volume.
Measuring out the Lye. You can see that I have covered my counter tops with newspapers. It keeps my counters free of soap and makes cleaning up much easier. I just gather the paper and throw it in the recycling bin.
Adding my lye to the beer. I always do this in the sink since it's safer and easier to clean up.
Mixing the lye into the beer.
Watching and stirring in horror as my beer reacts to the lye and foams up and spills all over the sink...see why I mix in the sink!! This is the first time this has happened with any of my batches! It was flat (or so I thought) and has been open (and poured) for two days. Sigh....
Starting over with water this time. LOL!
Measuring out the Lye...
Pouring the lye into the water.....again....
Stirring the solution...again.....! I always wear rubber gloves and (knock on wood) have never been burned from the lye. I also wear goggles at all times.
Here I have my coconut oil measured in the pitcher.
Added the Palm Oil.
Added Palm Kernel Flakes.
Added the Shea Butter. This is 8% of the batch.
All melted and ready to go! At this time I usually leave everything and go about my day for a few hours. My kids are not home, and hubby is away at work. What I didn't show were pictures of adding the other oils in the recipe. These are added to the melted oil and help cool off the oils.
All set to go! I have measured the oils. I'm using lemongrass and black tea.
JUST stirred the lye mixture into the oils. I stir by hand for a bit to see how everything reacts.
I use the stick blender to finish up the batch. You can see it coming to "trace" right here. See how the blender is leaving a "wake" in the mixture....all set to pour!
All poured! Now I cover the mold with a piece of cardboard and then place a few blankets on top. I don't uncover until the next morning.
Thanks for taking the tour with me!

Getting Organized

The boxes on the floor are empty. The shelf on the top has my mailing supplies.
See the ping pong table? This is where I was setting my soaps on. I had them in trays, which was ok, but I'm hoping to fold up the table to allow more space in the room.

DH brought some shelves home yesterday. They came from his warehouse (he is in the shoe business) and they transferred over to a new system so they were not using them. The shelves go all the way to the ceiling (8 feet) and are in our basement. I spent most of the day getting organized and getting all my soaps together. He also brought home new shoe boxes and I'm using these to store my cured soap.

Preppy Is Back In!

I love how these turned out! I scented the batch with Carnation and threw in a little spice since I love spicy Carnations! I was going to use these color for my Hydrangea soap, but the batch traced too fast and I didn't have enough time to mix in any colors.

Bath Bombs!!!

I finally found a recipe for Bath Bombs that I love! They have Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, and Fragrance Oils. I need to purchase more Christmas ornaments (from Hobby Lobby) so I can make them round, although I do like the half circle.
These are scented with Mandarin Tiki! A fresh, citrus scent that's very refreshing.

Navy Blue Hot Processed Soap

Well, they were supposed to be navy blue! I actually like this color, although navy blue would have been nice. IRL they are a dark gray blue. The soap is scented with Rosemary and Bergamont...yum!!!

I Was One The Front Page Of Etsy!!!

I was on the front page of Etsy last night! Crazytimecandles, along with several other Etsians, convo'd me to let me know I was on the front page! I'm always so honored when my products are chosen for a treasury. This was in Treasury West.

St, Louis Lemp Beer Soap!

I made some Lemp Beer Soap the other day! I added some Happy Man fragrance to the bar and the combination is quite nice!
What is Lemp Beer?
In 1838 there was only one lager in Saint Louis, in fact, in all of America. Lemp beer! America’s first lager and still the best. Taste the beer that started it all! Lemp, America’s first, America’s finest and the original Saint Louis lager.

You can read some history of the beer here:http://lemplager.com/lemp/default.asp

Blackberries From My Own Bush!

We have several Blackberry bushes in our backyard. DH planted them about 5 years ago. His idea of planting is to dig a hole, plant the bush, give them a drink of water, and then to leave them to survive on their own! LOL! Last year we actually had a few berries (I think a total of 3!) and this year the bushes are COVERED with berries. I have been able to eat quite a few, but most have not ripened. Here's a group....they are HUGE! I took some pictures of the berries with my soap and lotion. This is my Blackberry Sage Soap.
It's so hard to take a full picture of my bottles..they are so tall!

A Few Cold Process Soaps I've Been Making

Blackberry Sage - I love how the swirls came out and the lahter...omg...the lather is so pure and white and plenty!! I added some black mica to the purple hoping do get a dark purple. It's not as dark as I had planned, but I love how it turned out!
Red Clover, Ginger, and Wisteria. I love these swirls too! My house smelled so good for weeks!
I'm not sure what to name it...any ideas?
Green Tea and Lemon. This batch was rebatched and I added more lemon EO to the batch. Reminds me of a glass of sweet tea!

What Would You Name This Soap?

I love how this soap turned out! The scent is a warm, spicy scent....and I can't come up with a name! What would you name it? The colors are light tan with black spots.

Hot Process Soap

I tried my hand at hot process soap last night. I used the oven, and although they smell wonderful, I'm not sure I like the appearance. Here is a big hunk of soap! It smells soooo good...scented with Patchouli and Ylang Ylang Essential Oils.I also cut some smaller bars for guest bathrooms.
And with the leftover shreds, I made Soap Balls! These are huge and weigh over 4 ounces each!