On Vacation!

Farmhouse Soaps is on vacation!  Well, not really - LOL!

My daughters and I are in the process of relocating to the Louisville, Kentucky area.
We have made the decision to move to warmer climates, horse country, and the land of green hills and pastures.

 To allow us time to pack up our house and our horses, I will be taking the month of June off.

The great news is that Farmhouse Soaps will be getting a new name and a brand new look!

The commitment to quality of our soap will remain the same - but, will also have some new added products for you to enjoy.

I will be carrying many of my most popular 'seasonal' scents year round, I will be adding a botanical line that will include soaps made with pure essential oils, infused base oils, and lovely added botanicals.

We will also be adding essential oil infused salves and fragrant bath salts sold in vintage containers.  Great for pampering yourself or giving as gifts!

                                 
To be realistic, I anticipate the opening of our new Soap Company to be right after the 4th of July!

I will be able to ship anywhere in the United States!  For anyone who lives in the Louisville area, I will be attending several of the local Farmer's Markets as well.

This is an exciting time for Farmhouse Soaps as we plan to rebrand and re-launch our wonderful soap company.  I thank you for your excitement, encouragement and support over the years.

Looking forward to sharing this exciting time with you.
Blessings ~ Marianne

The Art of Experimenting

One of the best aspects of creating soap is the freedom to personalize each component of the recipe.

From the coloring,  to the fragrance, to the added botanicals, there are endless compositions you can create! If you give 100 soapmakers the exact same 10 ingredients, you’ll end up with 100 completely different styles and varieties of soap. It’s amazing how much artistry goes into creating soap.


I think this is what I love most about making soap!



I have been playing around with colors and textures.  Because soapmaking is basically chemistry - there is no way to know ahead of time how the soap will 'behave.'
When it goes through the gel phase, the soap heats up to 180 degrees! This can effect the coloring of soap, the scent and the texture.  When using pure essential oils it can decrease the scent.  When using skin-safe fragrance oils, it can change up how the final scent cures.  When using natural oxides for coloring it can affect the outcome or cause what are known as 'glycerin rivers.'

Glycerin Rivers - while not harmful - it's not visually pleasing!
This is what you DON'T want to happen to your soap!

I recently did a custom order for a local company.  We created a custom scent just for their customers.  I can't tell you how fun it was to work with these amazing folks and come up with a product that they loved and hopefully their customers will love. Creating scents and colors for custom orders really challenges me in a good way and allows me to play with all those wonderful aspect of creating beautiful soap.

I try to set aside time in my business to just play with the soap.  Making small batches and seeing how it will turn out.

As I continue to create fine handcrafted soap, it is always my hope to bring you the very best product available.

Welcome Spring

Spring brings a time of renewal, refreshment, rejuvenation.  
A special smell is in the air, starry nights and sunny days.  The daffodils and crocuses are beginning to bloom.  The pussy willow has already set seed and it's fuzzy, soft buds are beginning to fade.

As the days begin to grow longer, our days seem to get busier.  It's no different for Farmhouse Soaps.  As I continue to progress and contemplate the future of Farmhouse Soaps, I am excited to share that you may see some new branding and even possibly a new name for Farmhouse Soaps. 

While I love the name Farmhouse Soaps and it is where my handcrafted soap began - in my 1880's farmhouse kitchen, I see a bright and exciting future ahead.

I am planning the new seasonal scents for summer, fall and winter as well as a personal product line.  You will be seeing artisan bath salts, lip balms, body butters, salves, and gift sets.   As I plan and look to the future, incorporating more products for you to enjoy, I will also be attending more local events and a new website design.

As always, I lay these plans before God as He has abundantly blessed my personal and business life.  I always look to Him for guidance and wisdom.

Have a glorious day ahead as I leave you with this lovely poem, The Blessings of Spring,  by Deborah Ann.

There are many blessings,
that each new Spring brings
you can see it bloom about
and hear the song it sings.

With winters bleakness over,
and brighter days ahead
comes promises of new life
Springtime loves to spread.

As God unfolds the flowers,
and their buds begin to show
He gives to us the assurance
grace in our hearts will grow.

He sends us the robin’s song,
with the promise to provide
a shelter under His mighty wing
where in His love we can abide.

He melts the snowy covers,
and sends the refreshing rain
sprinkling us with His mercies
to heal winter’s ache and pain.

God’s given to all His Son,
to shed upon us a new light
and the real blessing of Spring . . .
is keeping Jesus in our sight!

Handcrafted Soap a Luxury or a Necessity?

This is a topic that is near and dear to every soapmaker's heart.  There is a reason I make my own soap and I am about to share with you the 'why' behind using fine handcrafted soap versus commercial soap.

What's in your soap dish?

My bathroom soap dish ~ we all have our favorites!

Do you really know?  

Have you ever really read the list of

ingredients in commercial soap.

Commercial soap is pretty, is smells nice, it lathers, it has pretty packaging and it is typically very inexpensive. 

Do you have dry skin?  Does it tend to crack in the wintertime? Does it feel dull and rough?
Psstt.......may I share a little secret with you??
There is a reason why your skin feels like that.

Let's take a look at a typical list of ingredients in a commercial "beauty bar."  That's right - they now call them beauty bars for a reason - it isn't real soap.

Let take a look at Dove.  

Dove is one of the top selling beauty bars available.  Here is the description that the company uses to describe Dove:
The secret to beautiful skin is every-day moisture (hmm...what ingredient would that be?), and no other bar hydrates skin better than Dove. With ¼ moisturizing cream (again, wondering what moisturizing cream is), Dove Beauty Bar helps skin feel more firm and elastic when compared to ordinary soap.

Okay, I admit - I threw in a little bit of humor - but you do have to wonder.  Dove is quite secretive when it comes to their public product description.  They make it sound like an ideal, safe product.

Dove's beauty bar ingredients:

sodium cocoyl isethionate ~ (synthetic detergent)

Stearic acid ~ (hardener)

Sodium tallowate ~ (sodium salt of animal fat)

Water

Sodium isethionate ~ (detergent/emulsifying agent)

Coconut acid ~ (the sodium salt of coconut oil)

Sodium stearate ~ (emulsifier, also used as a cheap stabilizer in plastics)

Sodium dodecylbenzonesulfonate ~ (synthetic detergent, skin irritant)

Sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernalate ~ (sodium salts of coconut or palm kernel oils)

Fragrance ~ (synthetic scent, potential allergen, common skin irritant)

Sodium chloride ~ (table salt used as a thickener)

Trisodium EDTA ~ (stabilizer, water softener, skin irritant)

Trisodium etidronate ~ (preservative, a chemical that is used in soaps to prevent soap scum)

BHT ~ (preservative, common skin irritant)


Hmmmmm...... so what do you think?  Now you might understand why your skin is dull, cracked, rough and dry.
          Now let's take a look at a basic bar of Farmhouse Soaps!

100% Olive Oil

Coconut Oil

Sustainably Harvested Palm Oil

Water (or another liquid, quite often goat's milk or  tea).

Sodium Hydroxide (Lye -yes, lye more on that in a bit).

That's it!!

All handcrafted soaps must have three things:  water (or another liquid), lye, and base oils (olive, coconut, jojoba, palm, etc.)

Let quickly address that word 'Lye" - because I know what you are thinking.  I know it is sending up a little red flag, but it's okay - trust me on this!

What most people don't realize is that soap making is all chemistry. A chemical reaction takes place between all the ingredients in soap making and this is called saponification.

Saponification occurs when an oil (vegetable or animal based) is mixed with a strong alkali which is the lye. And the final result of that chemical reaction is soap and glycerin. Did you know that handmade soap actually contains more
natural glycerin than glycerin soap.

So just so you really understand ~  there is no longer lye present in soap after the saponification process has completed. It become neutral.

Okay, so that is enough for the chemistry lesson for today.  I think you get the idea that lye is a necessary ingredient that is not harmful once saponification takes place.

And then, once you have that base set of ingredients in place, this is where the fun beings! There are so many things that can be added to soap. From herbs and flowers and other natural products. Honey, aloe, oatmeal, cornmeal, pumice, just to name a few. 

Truly, it is endless what you can do with a bar of real, handcrafted soap.

So, now, go into your bathroom and take a look at what's in your soap dish.

Ready to give handcrafted soap a try and see and feel the difference?

Stop by my Etsy Shop and have a look around. 

Questions?  Contact me, I love to talk soap and would be happy to answer your questions!

Have a great day - hope you are enjoying this fine spring weather!

Blessings ~

His Grace in the Journey ~ Trust

Trust.... according to Webster it means ~

• reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. 
• confident expectation of something; hope.
• a person on whom or thing on which one relies.

We might think it would be easy...but in reality it can be so hard.

As humans, we falter and fail daily.  We over-promise and under-deliver, we 'want' to please others but find we fall short, we sin and the ripple effect may hurt others.

But - the good news is that we serve this amazing God....

He doesn't over promise and under-deliver,

He won't fall short,
He doesn't sin.

He is perfect...and so is His plan.  For years, I have told this to my daughters over and over - "God's plan is perfect, we have to TRUST Him and His plan!"

Easier said than done sometimes!  Especially for me.  I am so weak in this area.  I come from a now-broken marriage where the trust was shattered due to an addiction.  29 years. Trust repeatedly broken.  I have fallen into the trenches in the trust department. 

So, now it is my turn to listen to what I have been telling my daughters for so many years ~ God's plan IS perfect, we have to TRUST Him and His plan!

I KNOW that trusting in God can transform our lives.  I have come to realize that trusting God is simply believing that ~

He loves you!

He has the power to help you!

He wants to help you!

And He will help you!

It  is my hope that sharing my times when I fall short we can, together, build each other up and realize what a hope we have in Jesus Christ.

That on the days when we are strong and confident and trust God 100%, that those days can become the majority of our life. 

We can carry such a peace with us that no matter what happens in our life, we can trust the Lord's plan, we can count on Him loving us, we can know He has the power to help, we can be assured that He wants to help us and we can know, in our hearts, 100% of the time, that He WILL help us!

Although, I certainly know the days we walk in the trenches and trusting can be SO hard, so challenging, and so unclear. 

But know, dear friend, that the Lord is always there, always loving, always merciful and always our one true source that we can 100% trust - each and every day. :)

Praying your Sunday is filled with...

Experiencing His Grade in the Journey.

Blessings to you and your family today,
 

Herbs, Botanicals, and Infusions Oh My!

There are simply NO limits to what you can create when producing handcrafted soap.

You have colors your can choose from.

You have hundreds of essential oils and fragrance oils you work with.

And then there is the magical world of herbs, botanicals, and infusions.

Let's look at herbs first.  In general, herbs should be dried and ground for use in soap, though occasionally herbal teas are used to replace some or all of the water for the lye solution.  If you want to avoid darkening of the herbs when added to soap, incorporate an antioxidant such as vitamin E into your soap (more on this in another post).
Lavender is, of course, the most commonly used herb in soap making, but rosemary, sage, chamomile, hops, lemongrass, spearmint and many other beneficial herbs are used to enhance the visual and aromatic appeal and skin-soothing properties of soap.

Imagine chocolate mint leaves - dried and added to a chocolate mint soap!  Bliss!

Secondly, botanicals can be used in soap making.  What exactly are botanicals and how are they different from herbs?  Botancials can consist of flower petals such as calendula petals, rose hips, chamomile buds, leaves, powders, and seeds.  Seeds can provide a gentle exfoliant to the skin all the while nourishing the skin at the same time.  Again, like using herbs, it is best to use dried botanicals.

Finally - what is an infusion?  Infusions are when we take a base oil such as olive oil and add herbs or botanicals to the oil.  We then let the oil slowly heat or sit in the sun for days or weeks so that the beautiful color and scent can penetrate the base oil.  This results in some beautiful colors as well as remarkable scented base oils.
If you have a fragrant garden, you can pick the buds, leaves, and flowers to add to a base oil.  You can gently heat the oil for an hour or two in the top of a double boiler or left to warm in the sun for 24 to 48 hours. Some soap makers will let the infusions soak for several weeks, changing out the soaked herbs for fresh ones each week until the desired scent and/or color is reached. Soaked flowers can be removed and new flowers added to intensify the fragrance that will be transferred to the oil. 
Infused oils can be used either as a base oil or added at trace to fragrantly superfat the soap (more on superfatting in another post).

Infusing Olive Oil with Calendula petals.

Finally - you can simply 'decorate' your soaps with beautiful buds, herbs and botanicals.  I love to top lavender soap with lavender buds.

But ~ I must warn you ~ some folks do not like the 'mess' of buds on their soap.  They are so beautiful on the bar - but yes, they do fall off the soap when you use it. Yes, they do leave little bits in your sinks. Yes, they do leave little reminders in your bath tub.  But, to me, the beauty of the buds and the scents that radiates off the soap is SO worth the little bit of mess!

I have found soap making to be so very therapeutic.  While going through some life changing events this past year, I found much peace as I could let my creative side flow through my soap making.

Coming up with colors, scents, and then thinking about botanicals, herbs, and infusions opens a whole new world to soap making.

I hope this gives you a little glimpse into the amazing world of soap making.  Now when you see my soap with buds, or infused oils on the label - you will know exactly what has been added or gone into the process of making that bar special!

Have a blessed day ~

His Grace in the Journey - His Loving Arms

I was fortunate enough to grow up with a very loving father.  He was a quiet man, a good provider and a passive leader for our family.  He was loving and his arms were always open to me. 

Being the youngest of three children and a girl ~ well, you know how that goes.  I was the princess!  Especially is my daddy's eyes - I was daddy's girl! 
We had a very close relationship and I came to depend on him always. 
He provided a sense of security for me, so much love, a safe place to fall, a lap to climb on, a shoulder to cry on, and loving arms always around me.

All that changed in September, 1990.  He passed away from a brief encounter with cancer.  I am thankful to this day that he didn't suffer, even though I had only 3 months to prepare for losing him.

On the day of his funeral service, I had a sense of peace.  Everyone knew how close we were and thought I would not be able to manage being at his service.  But, while it was difficult - only because I would miss him here on this earth - again, I had a huge sense of peace.  Because now he was with our Heavenly Father, in His loving arms.

And while I miss my dad's loving arms still today, I feel God's amazing, loving arms around me always.  Arms outstretched - always waiting for us.  The Lord is our Heavenly Father and His arms are always open - always waiting for us - always inviting us in to His presence.

When you experience the Lord's open arms you welcome in His grace and His love.  Both of which we desperately need in our lives.

Even when you think you are simply not worthy of His abundant love, He is there waiting.

Even when you have sinned and faltered - He is there waiting. Ready to forgive and invite you in.

Even when you are trying to control everything in your life - He is there waiting.  Ready to take control!

Even when you are angry and look away from Him - He is there waiting.  Ready to reassure you of His presence in your life.

Even when you may question His existence - He is there waiting.  Ready to reveal Himself to you.

He is always there waiting - with His loving arms open and ready to take you in and surround you with His love.

Open your heart each and every day to God's loving arms, His abundant grace, His immense love for us.  Experience His strength and power in your life. 

May your week ahead be blessed, may you feel His glorious arms around you and His abundant love in your life.

Experiencing His Grace in the Journey ~