The Eve of a New Decade....

I cannot believe that it is New Years Eve. What happened to 2009?  For that matter, what happened to the past 18 years?!
Speaking of memory lapse, I have been thinking about how I started using handmade soap.
After years of trying every cosmetic and face product ever made, I ordered a bar of handmade soap many years ago. The soap had beeswax, honey and goat milk in the brew.
We were in love within 48 hours.
I have sensitive skin - touchy, thin, with a tendency to be dry and red. I have pampered my skin for as long as I can remember.
After I started using the handmade soap, my "personal care" costs went waaay down....
I tried more soaps.
Loved them, but still not my perfect match. Like a mad chemist, I tweeked recipes and mixed lye solutions...I bought exotic butters and a basement full of supplies.
And then - the magic happened. I customized two soap recipes for myself - bingo!
That is where my addiction started....
I have studied art, aromatherapy, homeopathy and the ancient art of Ayurveda - put these together and you have my personal favorite soaps.

The soaps above are made with my secret formula, rosewater, essential oils and a bit of French clay. These are perfect for summer use as they calm any irritation from heat and tend to cool. Formulated with almond butter, coconut oil and sunflower oil and lightly scented with a special Ayurvedic blend of essential oils, this is my "go to" soap.

The soap above is my winter favorite. Great for the blustery weather and incessant dryness and cold we are currently experiencing. It is a baby soap recipe that I adapted with gentle French white clay and turmeric, super-fatted with castor oil and shea butter. This soap has avocado and jojoba oil in it too. Most of my soaps are olive oil based, but this soap is truly special! It lathers in a tangibly rich way and my skin never feels tight.

In fact, since I have been using my own soaps, I never have a bad skin day!

So, for 2010, DITCH THE COMMERCIAL DETERGENT and pick up a bar of handmade soap. I prefer that you use mine (I have about 20 different kinds in the cure rack. Photos, soon. Promise!), but any good soapmaker's soap will convert you. Look for soap made in the cold processed or hot processed modes. Choose a soap based on your needs. Read the ingredient list. For instance, I cannot use strongly scented soap (sadly).

Keep these things in mind when you look for your personal soap. If the soap is handmade, you probably cannot go wrong with any selection. To my eye, the "ugliest" (rustic-appearing) soaps are the best!!

Handmade soap can be anywhere from $3 to $9+, depending on the ingredients and size. Start with a smallish bar (3-4 oz) or a few samples. 

Good soap lasts a long time if it has been cured (aged) properly, so please store it on a well-draining deck or dish. Plunk down a few extra dollars for a good deck. It will serve you well.

So - I leave you with glad tidings of PEACE and JOY for a safe, healthy and happy 2010...

In Peace and Beauty...........and may you always have a good skin day!

Love

Visit Indiepublic

Taking a short break before

restocking the Etsy shop with new items!  Please check back in 2010 (!).

http://www.etsy.com/shop/angelicsoap

If there is any soap you would like to inquire about, please comment below, or drop us an email at angelicsoap.cs@gmail.com. Thank you!
In beauty....

Christmas Day

I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you happiness and health. Thank you for reading my blog.....what is the point of writing without a reader?

Below is a photograph of a lovely castile soap stack that is made with citrus essential oils - bergamot, sweet orange, lemon, lime & tangerine, anchored with may chang and vetivert. I wish that you could smell this soap! It smells heavenly to me.

I colored the soap with a blend of turmeric (amazing stuff) and some gold mica. The soap stack is decorated for the holidays and resting on its dedicated oak soap deck. Doesn't hurt that it is posing in front of the fireplace with a sparkly gold ribbon!

Yours in Gratitude, Truth and Beauty...

May all of your days be filled with warmth and love.

Winter Solstice Soap

Today is the shortest day of the year. To celebrate the solstice, I thought I would make some new soap. Surprise!
I broke out of my hot process mode and made a cold process Sea Salt bar of coconut milk, coconut oil, avocado oil and castor oil and as much sea salt as oils. I scented this batch with Tahitian flowers, mango and melon essences. I colored the soap a cheery tangerine color. I sliced it up and placed the pieces on top of my credenza to cure for the next 4 weeks.
This type of soap gets very hard, very fast. The sea salt soap is much beloved and revered by some, and disliked by others. I like the salt soaps in the summer if I have suffered insect bites. I find the salt clears the sting and bites fast.
I have christened this batch "Figi Sea Salt Bars".
Can you tell that I am dreaming of the tropics?
Next up, I made another soap with lots of coconut milk, palm oil, castor oil and cocoa butter. The cocoa butter has that delicious aroma of chocolate, which worked nicely with the French Vanilla scent I concocted. I added nutmeg essential oil, lemon & myrrh.
I attempted a pale blue swirl with a touch of iridescent mica, but I don't know how that will turn out. I will find out when I unmold the batch tomorrow. I am anxious to try the coconut milk soaps. More experimentation going on - I have used coconut milk as an additive, but now I am subbing it for my distilled water. Stay tuned...
In honor of the first day of winter, I am posting some photos of the hot process soap I have been churning out
lately:

Above is a beeswax and honey hot process soap. The bar on the left is unscented and smells divine. The bars on the right were scented with rosewood essential oil and Turkish Rose of Otto. Curiously, the rosewood bars are not as perfumed as the unscented. Go figure?

Above is "Snow White", a pure olive oil soap. No scent or color. Lovely. My photo is a tad out of focus...must have been that pearly white blinding me! This soap will take a good 4 months to cure even though it was hot-processed. With castile-type soaps (olive oil), the longer the cure, the better the bar. Castile might be the perfect bar if aged well. Perhaps a year will do it. Seriously.

This is my hot processed "Gingerbread Soap" with Blackstrap Molasses, colloidal oats and a bit of cocoa. This soap is nice and hard. I like the faint swirl in the body of the bar. I added some vanilla (just like the bread recipe) and that usually turns soap dark. It is a good thing in soap. Think of the the vanilla bean, or the vanilla extract used in cooking...dark and delicious.

Last, but not least, here is my "Winter" soap that was as fussy as a prima donna. I added so much shea butter to this batch that I will be fortunate if it fully cures before next fall! It is a vanilla scented soap with tangerine to brighten it up a bit. I even rebatched this soap which accounts for the marbling appearance of the colors. See the tiny bit of gold mica on the tops?

I love the way these hot process soaps appear rustic. You can recognize the process by the distinct look of the soap. Most of the cold process soaps appear silkier and smoother and can be swirled like divinity.

Well - I like 'em both! Come on. We all know that I am a soap addict.

Happy Yule and Winter Solstice everyone!

In Beauty, Peace & Love...

December 14th ...already?!

Hi everyone! Mid-December, already?! How did that happen?!! Is Y2K over yet?!
Seriously, I have been busy making hot process soap. I am addicted and feeling the pressure of the clock ticking away until Christmas, so I have not written anything in awhile.
I had a brilliant idea (?) to make a "soap of the month". Clearly, I am wild with ideas and careen from one recipe to another. I need to stop the insanity and settle down!

Yesterday, I began my "Winter" soap in earnest. I made my current fave batch (olive oil and a smidgen of coconut oil), superfatted with shea butter. I divided the batch and scented a portion with a very nice vanilla and the rest with a lovely citrus and incense. I then poured my batters into a prepared mold.

Gorgeous!

The vanilla scented portion turned a lovely light beige, nicely contrasting with the creamy ivory color of the rest of the batch.

This morning, I anxiously cut into the soap loaf.

It crumbled apart.

gggrrrrrr

I spent most of the day doing a rebatch. I am going to leave that puppy alone for a few days. Soap in Mold isolation! I hope that it turns out better looking than when it went into the mold.

If it works, the soap will now be "January" soap.

I then made a batch of gingerbread soap to cheer myself up. I threw in some oats and blackstrap molasses.  I usually do not make the 'baked goods' type of soap except for the holidays.

This gingerbread soap is another great experiment. I rather like the little "surprises", and happy accidents in soapmaking,  but I despise wasting a goodly amount of nice oils, butters and time.
I had made a gorgeous castile soap. Total success. Pure and lovely. It is drying/curing.

Also had a batch of honey and beeswax soap that is nice. I split that batch up and left a portion unscented, but with the aromatic sweetness of the honey and beeswax. The other soap I scented with rosewood essential oil and tonka bean with a touch of vanilla absolute. It smells spicy - not at all what I expected.
The longer the soap dries (cures), the milder, harder and bubblier it becomes...sometimes that translates into a dimming of the fragrance. As much as I love good scent, I appreciate an artful and quality bar of soap more!
I set aside some holiday soaps that I need to get packed up and out for gifts. That will take my day tomorrow. Not my favorite thing to do, but it gives me a sense of 'completion'.
Now, I must practice patience........and not keep sneaking peeks at the molded soaps!!
I will try to get some fotos up of the new soaps, but for now, I will leave you with the Spicy Ginger Cherub -

In love, peace and beauty ....

This is a nice looking site

New Holiday Soaps on Etsy

Have you looked at the calendar?! YIKES!!! Need a few items for those stocking stuffers? Check these out!

We are very excited about our new holiday soaps!!!

GIANT-sized chunks of lots of soapy love in Coffee Royale (great for a masculine soap, but women love it too). Pictured below ... this is a handsome hunk of dark coffee-infused glycerin and milk-based soap. Enhanced with very thin slivers of gleaming gold mica and opal mica, then scented with a black coffee, vetivert and musky essence, this soap is both sexy and regal. It weighs approximately 7.7 ounces.

Next is our Cinnamon Sugar Cake....please buy this soap and get it out of my studio! It is making me so hungry! The darned soap smells exactly like those evil, tempting cinnamon rolls that are sold at every airport these days. This GINORMOUS serving is over 7 ounces of love, cinnamon and vanilla swirls, topped with shea butter "icing". Yikes! Cinnamon and vanilla are reputed aphrodisiacs and are also supposed to help you sell your house quickly.......just sayin'....

 

And last, but not least, there is our irresistible version of Candy Cane - a huge slab (app. 7 oz) of vanilla, mints and sweet orange, all swirled together in red, pink and white temptation. This chunk could easily be cut in half and perform double duty for the lucky recipient. Beloved by children and adults, nothing says Happy Holidays like Candy Canes - but this one leaves out the high fructose corn syrup. Yay!

 

These soaps are skin friendly, indulgent, luscious and will not trip you up on any low carb diet. Promise!

The generous sizes make them great, truly impressive gifts.

You can find these holiday soaps at my Etsy site. Simply click to the right of this column under "My Links" or here http://www.etsy.com/shop/angelicsoap

Yours in love, peace and beauty ....

Stocking stuffing

You can now find Angel Soap at two new locations!

We just opened a small Etsy shop on-line. Most of the soap featured in the blog will be found for sale on Etsy. The very first Etsy listing is the Opal Gem Chunk pictured below. This is a composed, opalescent soap that is fragranced with sweet orange, cinnamon and clove essential oils.

Opal is the birthstone for October (heads up, Librans!). The scuttle is that if the lovely opal is worn by a person not born in October, it brings bad luck.
So - if you love opals, but are superstitious and not among the October-born, grab one of these soapy gems.

If you live in the Dallas Cowboys country of Valley Ranch, look for our soaps at Java Me Up!

You can visit both Etsy and Java Me Up! sites by clicking on the addresses to the right of this post.
Please visit soon!
Yours in love, peace & beauty....

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving should be every day. I hope that you have had a wonderful day while counting your blessings. Each and every day I attempt to practice mindful gratitude. Personally, I find this practice keeps me in a more accepting, peaceful and content state of being. It is easy to fall into the 'woe is me' mentality and lose sight of the real wealth of my life.

This gratitude practice is on my daily "to-do" list - which is a tad disturbing that I need such a list. Being grateful should be as natural as breathing....

Above is an Emerald Gem Chunk soap, scented with herbs and a drop pf patchouly to anchor the delicate green fragrance. The beautiful emerald is the birthstone for the merry month of May. I, however, think this emerald soap mirrors nature as we turn the page of the November calendar to December. The evergreen trees in the backyard are dropping some of their needles. There is a definite chill in the air that will undoubtedly lead to a few ice storms in my neck of the woods. Christmas will be here before you know it - and a New Year.

I hope that your holidays are safe, sound and filled with peace, love and gratitude.

Yours in truth and beauty....

Amethyst Gem Chunk

Above is the Amethyst Gem Chunk, scented with pure lavender and geranium essential oils. Amethyst is the birthstone for the month of February. The stone also has interesting legends and lore. One such belief is that amethyst is beneficial for sobriety and fidelity.

To soften the jarring effects of sobriety, I believe that lavender is the most relaxing essential oil and may well take more than a few edges off. Hmmm...I had better stock my bath with a few dozen of these gems.

On a more serious note, if stress or sleeplessness is a part of your life these days, book a massage and request it with lavender oil. You may want to designate a driver for this event.

I take lavender oil, drop it into my bath or onto my shower floor and let the steam infuse it. Pared with the Amethyst soap - and a locked door - this soak and/or scrub can be very calming.

A few drops of lavender essential oil mixed with a carrier oil (or body lotion in a pinch), massaged into the soles of my feet, transforms me into a kinder, gentler soapmaker.

Holidays

The soap studio, perhaps in homage to a hot process soap batch, has spilled out of headquarters. Soaping is now all over the double garage, the house - and do not even ask about the kitchen, dining room! It is beginning to look a lot like Santa's workshop minus the helpers.

It is a divine and blessed occupation - thank Goddess.

Soapmaking is truly a labor of love .... and you know what they say about love!

On that note, see below, a photo of our much-beloved Rose Quartz Gem Chunk ... lovely, indeed.

Rose Quartz is representative of Venus, the Goddess of love, beauty and all things female. Oddly, I never cared for roses, or their divine fragrance until the last few years. I now see what I have been overlooking all of this time.
Roses are heavenly.
According to Ayurveda, imbibing a few drops of rose water can cool you down in the summer (try it next summer - it works).
The fragrance and vision of roses is legendary for evoking and conveying feelings of love.
Precious oil of rose can rejuvenate skin.
Am I the only person who considers rose water a pantry staple?

We have a new contact address: angelicsoap.cs@gmail.com !!  Feel free to drop us a line if you want a stash of what is in Santa's workshop for any of your holiday needs.

If you send us an email, please be patient. Rambo, our very beautiful customer service representative, will contact you as soon as he is fully awake.

In Peace, Love and Beauty

Angelsoap on Broadway !!!

There is some BIG excitement for the crew here at Angelsoap (Teresa, Chandra and Rambo), as well as our friends and accomplices in NYC!

Above is a welcome gift box of Angelsoaps for Cazejo, a/k/a none other than the unearthly talented and  lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The Welsh beauty will be performing with Angela Lansbury on Broadway in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. It is opening soon. For more information, please click on the below link.

http://nightmusiconbroadway.com/

The exquisite gift box was assembled and photographed by my fellow Pisces, Jerry Wade.

Great job, Jerry! It is divine!

Now, Dear Readers, please do not spoil the surprise for Catherine by tipping her off ahead of time.

Thank you!

Love, Peace &  Beauty

Precious Topaz and Citrine: November Birthstone

My birthdays are not as much fun as they were in earlier days. That is sad  - and just plain wrong thinking on my part.  As I get longer in the tooth, I need to realize that every day is a gift. Indeed, each birthday should be very happy and wildly fun! I should kick up my heels with joy! One thing about birthdays that seems more pleasing is my slowly-growing collection of birthstones...ha! (Emphasis on s-l-o-w-l-y)

Inspired by birthstones, I decided to create an entire calendar of soap dedicated to each month of the year. Pictured below is the Topaz/Citrine Gem Chunk, the birthstone soap for November.

This Topaz/Citrine Gem Chunk is a glycerin and goat's milk soap with many different micas for color and varying degrees of opacity/transparency/translucence. Included in the mix are layers of ground vanilla beans, cloves and sea salt.

The Topaz/Citrine soap is scented with a gorgeous fragrance of amber resin, spicy ginger, clove and the tiniest pinch of vanilla. This is one of my favorite soaps! It is visually beautiful. The fragrance is subtle, yet sensuous. Forget the birthstone part, this Topaz should be November's centerfold!!

Topaz comes in different colors, but yellow is the color typically associated with this magnificent gem.

Precious topaz is the symbol of friendship. It is November's gemstone, as well as the state gem of Utah. Who knew?
The gold and yellow of this sparkly soap makes me want to crank up REM's "Shiny Happy People" and dance....

The way I create soap...

Above is a photo of my assistant, Rambo, awaiting the next batch of soap. He looks tired, doesn't he?  We have been working very hard to fill orders. Our partner-in-business, Chandra, also pitches in. We depend on Chandra for his invaluable help, primarily the marketing, sales and public relations end. He also whips up batches of cold process soap when needed (no small feat). Chandra is responsible for the photos and documentation of our products. What would we do without him?!
There is another show coming up on Saturday, November 7 in Valley Ranch. The facility is at the corner of Valley Ranch Parkway and MacArthur in Irving. This show benefits the USO, a very worthy cause. Please stop by! Price of admission is a child's book. The show is from 9 - 4 this Saturday. Stop by and say hello!  We have some new "birthstone soaps" to unveil. They are quite lovely. In fact, I am bedazzled by them! Special pricing for these soaps! Get them while they are available!
Rambo, Chandra and I need to have some coffee, or a nap. Rambo thinks that he needs a snack, or a dozen, or two dozen....

I make handmade soaps with premium ingredients that are beneficial to skin and senses. My soap is designed, made, cut and packaged by hand - from start to finish.
The cold process soaps start with food grade oils and fats, preferably organic. From there, I add various luxury ingredients such as exotic butters (mango, shea, avocado, almond) and  amendments to enhance the particular recipe at hand. Some amendments include calendula, rose petals, French clays, coffee, green tea leaves, herbs, honey, yogurt, nuts, seeds, oats. All of these additional items are carefully chosen to enhance and enrich the soap's purpose and meaning.
The soap is aged from 1 - 24 months to ensure mildness. The cold process soaps are usually made in limited editions of very small batches (1-2 lbs). These soaps can be custom-ordered, allowing enough time for the cure (minimum of 1 - 2 months).
Most of my soaps are suitable for vegans, as the base is typically olive, coconut and other food grade vegetable oils. I also make milk-based soaps (goat, cream, half and half). There is also a lard-based recipe that is excellent for winter use (non-vegetarian).
Personally, I find myself returning to that last soap again and again in the bath. It is "old fashioned" with lard, olive and coconut oil, oatmeal and orange oil. I cut it into oversized wedges, like an oat and honey cake. It is nice to have on hand.

For special occasions, I will produce novelty soaps that are usually glycerin-based, melted and poured into molds. There are many themes to choose from - angels, peace, holiday, valentine's day, Celtic (see above photo of Celtic Knot), gardening soaps, floral, wine grapes, gemstones, sea salt and crystal birthstone/geode soaps. I have wine and chocolate soaps ( a romantic choice for St. Valentine's Day), as well as beer soap for St. Patrick's Day. I typically have fun with this last soap by using Irish stout, goat's milk and Irish oats! Very good for the skin!
If you have a particular event in mind, I can suggest some soap varieties. These soaps usually have a 1-2 week turnaround, depending on the amounts ordered.
What you will not find in my soap: Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Artificial Colours, Propylene Glycol and Parabens. I use natural and food grade colorings. I use essential oils for scent, but sometimes the cold process "eats" up the some of the pricey essential oils at an alarming rate. Then, I may turn to fine, yet skin-friendly fragrances for a stronger scent.
None of the soaps are ever tested on animals, although Rambo tries to nibble the packaging from time to time (especially if it is shiny).The soaps are put to the test on Chandra and myself. The dogs and cats get shampooed with the products after quality control. The cold process Triple Mint with mint leaves and parsley swirls is especially good for summer. The pets enjoy the emollient properties of an Oat (both rolled oats and colloidal) Cake with honey, citrus and emu oil (not for vegetarians!) in the cooler months.
All of these fine products are made in America.

Please visit my weblog:
http://criticalalchemy.blogspot.com/

Chocolate Mint ....

Chocolate and mint combine two of my favorite flavors in one lovely concoction. Above is a photo of my Chocolate-Mint Soap, created with 3 kinds of mint essential oils, cocoa butter, swirls of dark chocolate and topped off with cocoa nibs.

Someone actually tried to bite this soap bar!

Although it sounds like a novelty, this bar of cold process soap is very mild and pleasing to the senses and the skin.

No calories in this indulgence....

Happy Hallowmas!

This day is traditionally a time of ancestral worship. In many places in Europe, people go to cemeteries with bouquets to honor the dead. So, in celebration of the nature of Hallowmas (or Halloween, as it is typically known in the United States), above is an image of a glycerin-rich, highly fragrant sandalwood soap, molded in a Celtic design. I gilded this soap a bit with a bronze mica, to give it an aged 'finish'.

Celtic designs are indigenous to my heritage. I find that they are surprisingly contemporary, although very ancient in origin. I was blessed with many Celtic traits - especially the love of fire, a sense of wild adventure,  a warrior-like attitude (at times) and an intrinsic understanding of the "old ways".

Please remember to honor your own heritage on this day. Feel gratitude for what has been bestowed upon you in this life, for those of have gone before you, for your inherited gifts.
Practice gratitude today and every day.

Peace.

A little background music, please....

I started creating soap for myself. Period.
I have finicky, delicate skin (I am that red headed stepchild with sensitive skin you hear about). Nothing that I used on my face or body helped - at least for very long. Some products worked for awhile and then stopped 'doing that voodoo'. Other products (no matter the cost) irritated my skin. ick.
I launched my soap line and body exfoliation lines for me.

I am into serious exfoliation! Now, I create scrubs of baking soda (Yes! A teaspoon of baking soda  mixed with my soap lather is my facial favorite); sugar and sea salts blended with the oils and or/carriers that are seasonally appropriate is my choice for body exfoliation.

Other people seemed to like my skin, my soap and my body products too.

It does not hurt that I was blessed with good skin genes either, but I am convinced that my soaps, exfoliation products and intensive attention to moisture are Mother Nature's Helpers....and I am never without a humidifier. A wonder of the world!

Above is one of the best soaps I make and use - it is a super-fatted, ultra-packed bar of fabulous triple shea butter - ever so very delicately scented with Rose Otto essential oil. This soap is superb for face and body - and gorgeous-looking too! The embedded crushed rose petals at the top are so sweet! This was the very first cold process soap that I created - and it remains one of the best.

I also use my Pitta facial soap, alternating with the ultra emollient Mango and Avocado Buttercream soaps. Sometimes I use a very rich oat and honey soap that is lard-based. This last soap is not for vegetarians, but in the winter, this carnivore's skin loves it.
We all tend to take our hot water for granted, but to me, hot water and an excellent soap is true luxury and pampering.

I use the same soap on face and body. Why use different types of cleansers? No need!

I took the handmade pledge....

I took the handmade pledge today. 

 

Candy bar soap??!!

I was going to post a photo of one of my favorite bars of soap. The problem is that I cannot find the image. Dangit!
In the meantime, I will describe it - a cocoa butter, coconut oil and almond butter soap masterpiece that is so scrumptious! I do not know whether to lather it or take a big bite out of it!
I will continue to look for the photo so you can see the delicate swirls of dark chocolate that give the soap some articulation.
Hmmm....I am beginning to see a pattern here.

I do not even keep Halloween candy in the house ahead of time. I am the frantic woman you see at Walgreen's on the very night of that spooky holiday, buying bags of candy not to my liking for the sake of co-existence and survival under the same roof!
Trick or treat?
Wash your mouth out with soap?
I really need to find that picture!

A Lime Margarita and a rose....

If I cannot sip one, I can sniff one....make mine a Lime Margarita with Salt, please! The above soap is a rather simple bar of olive-oil and coconut oil with the intoxicating fragrance of a lime margarita. I rolled the top in sea salt for good measure.

The above image is an incredibly rich and creamy shea butter soap. I am talking major amounts of shea butter! This lovely soap has a light scent of roses and a touch of clove oil and rosewood. The top is embedded with crushed rose petals - just enough to make it special - not so many as to clog your drains!

Ayurvedic soaps - hey Baby, what's your dosha?

 

Years ago, for reasons that escape me at this moment, I developed a keen interest in Ayurveda, the ancient art of medicine from India. Ayurvedic principles are so logical and straightforward that I am stunned and surprised that more people do not follow them. In fact, many people know little to nothing about Ayurveda. Pity.

Here is a micro-mini crash course, at least in how it relates to soapmaking and usage. Ayurveda holds that there are three main doshas (constitutions or natures): Vata, Pitta and Kapha. It helps to think of a dosha as a season - spring, summer and winter, respectively. Vata = windy and dry (airy/mental). Pitta = hot and sensitive (fiery/intelligent or 'rash'). Kapha = wet and cool (emotional/slow-moving).

With the three doshas in mind, I created three absolutely sumptuous, cold process soap formulas, designed to "pacify" the "aggravated" dosha. In other words, I have soaps for spring (vata - dry, chapped), summer (pitta - sensitive) and winter (kapha - oily) types of complexions.

The above photo is my Pitta/Summer soap,created for my own personal use. I have a typical 'redhead's' skin - sensitive, fine-pored, prone to rashes and irritation under stress or adverse ('aggravating') conditions. I am absolutely miserable when the weather turns warm-to-hot! I have never found a soap that suits me, so I made my own!

My Pitta soap is a coconut, sunflower and almond oil base with rose water, precious Rose Otto and fine French clay. My complexion loves it!

If you are bothered by hot weather (read: irritated, impatient and angry), pair this soap with one of my cooling coconut oil body products, preferably scented with rose....ahhhhh....that's better.

 

The above slice of creamsickle-like soap is for a vata. Vata types have many of the qualities of the Spring season - changeable, prone to nervousness, irritated by wind, chapped and thin, dry skin. The vata soap is formulated with emollient avocado, almond and jojoba oils and super-fatted with castor oil and shea butter for superior moisturization. There is a swirl of French pink and white clays to assist with those days when the skin is fussy. The light aroma blend features sweet neroli, jasmine, lemon and other essential oils, all selected to calm and pacify vata.

 

The above little slice of heaven is my kapha soap. Kapha is likened to the winter season. These emotional , sweet-tempered people typically have oily, prone-to-breakouts, thick skin which responds beautifully to this soap enriched with barley water. Swirls of French clay prove beneficial, as do the sunflower, palm and grapesees oil base and the aromatherapy blend of patchouly, lavender, bergamot, clove and other fine essential oils.

That is my ridiculously "quick and dirty" primer on "What's your dosha?".....now go scrub up!

A true confession ....

I will let you in on a well-kept secret: my love is.....a luxury bar of cold process soap! The bills can mount up, the house can be falling apart, my mood can swing like a pendulum, but throw me in a tub or a shower with a bar of great soap and I am ready for the revolution!

A little background: cold process soap is Grandma's old fashioned lye soap. Lye + fat = soap. I make my soap from scratch the same way as Grandma did, but in limited, small, artisan batches. After aging for a few months to a few years (yes!), the soap is turned out in rustic slices. The aging gives creamy lather and mildness and assures a long-lasting bar.

My soap has a few contemporary additions that Grandma's did not have - luxury butters (think shea, avocado, mango, almond), organic and food grade vegetable oils like olive oil. sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, almond oil, I like adding ground vanilla beans, dark chocolate, white chocolate, ground almonds, heavy cream, various milks, honey- you get the point. I am also fond of sparkling micas, French clays and exotic essential oils.

This soap looks good enough to take a bite of (like the bar pictured above), but please do not eat the soap!

The soap slice above is a triple lemon soap with poppy seeds and lemon peel. The fragrance is lemon, lemongrass, lemon verbena and some other secret essential oils.
This soap is good, People! And good for you!!

Image above is of a goat milk and almond soap slice. With ground almonds tossed in for gentle exfoliation, this is a mild, creamy bar of goodness. Very lightly fragranced, this soap would be a great complexion soap. Speaking of complexions, I only use my own soap. My skin is highly sensitive (think "redhead"). I started making soap out of sheer desperation (and vanity).
I am passionate about making my soap!
The possibilities and endless combinations are artistic and pleasurable to me. The pricing of these soaps is affordable too. Once you use a good bar of real soap with wholesome ingredients and non-irritating fragrance, you may toss even your chemical-laden body washes!
Now, I control what goes on my face and body (no preservatives or chemicals!!) - and at the risk of tooting my own horn, my skin has never looked nor felt better.

Now - hand me my soap and scrub brush - I am going in!!

Let the revolution begin!!

Angelic sparkle soaps .....

Above is a mild glycerin soap, cast in the image of a Guardian Angel. This is a bi-layer soap, fragranced with black vanilla, clove and cinnamon and infused with that skin-loving mineral, dazzling mica. The glittering translucent top layer is a pale blue-green and floats above the gold base.

Above is a sweet cherub - another mild glycerin soap, shot through with mica. This soap is also perfumed with sensuous vanilla, clove and subtle cinnamon for a wintry, warming blend.

The above image is of a mica Guardian Angel. She rests atop a bed of gold mica, laced with crushed rose petals. The fragrance is rose, cherry blossom and a hint of jasmine. Sweet scents for a lovely Angel!

What's so funny about peace, love and Buddha?

Above are a few soaps that will be offered at the TXU Energy Arts and Crafts Show on October 28, 2009. How about a French Roast Coffee Buddha soap? This is a chunky, whimsical soap that is a bestseller with our male clients. Made with mildest glycerin, a smidgen of organic coconut oil and French roast coffee grinds, this soap is good for the skin!
Fun fact: Did you know that coffee can dispel cooking odors from kitchen hands? Some people swear by this soap to shoo away smells of onions, garlic and other necessary ingredients from the cook's hands? We must take care of our cooks!
A few years ago, I discovered that using leftover coffee grounds makes an excellent facial scrub! The oils in the coffee, the caffeine and the exfoliating properties are excellent complexion toners! The problem is that the grounds are messy and can clog the sink.
The coffee grounds infused into the glycerin soap have solved my beauty/housekeeping dilemma.
The Buddha also comes in a crisp green tea and pomegranate fragrance with tea leaves for mild exfoliation. We have added natural chlorophyll for a lovely deep green color that is also beneficial for the skin. Oxygenation, anyone?
Did we mention that we are serious about internal and external antioxidants here at Angel Soap?
The Rock Soaps are dual-layered chunks of glycerin soap with the sparkle of mineral mica and good tidings of Love and Peace. They are perfumed with the classic holiday scents of vanilla, clove and cinnamon. We have also added a rose hips/jasmine/cherry blossom and crushed rose petals combo. Oh - and the citrusy ginger is delightful.
Ahhh! Peace, love and heavenly scents!