A Great First Day!

Yesterday was the day to finally launch Farmhouse Soaps.  Thanks to everyone for the warm and encouraging notes and good wishes.  This has been a fun endeavor.  I love to make make soap, enjoy coming up with new ideas for soap, and am finally getting my soap making supplies organized so I am not constantly taking over our kitchen.

I would like to thank Evelyn Cooley at Wild Thyme Herb Garden for the opportunity to carry my soap in her shop!  I hope you will stop in some time, her shop is amazing; she is the leading local authority on herbs, teas, salves and organic gardening.  She is a dedicated shop owner that hosts classes on making medicinal salves, learning more about teas and of course herbs.  

 
Her shop is located on the west end of Main Street in Downtown Genoa.  This Thursday, November 7^th is Genoa’s Candlelight Walk.  All the shops will be open in the evening with wonderful trinkets to share!  Be sure to stop in her shop and say hello!

Last night I was making more Pure Castile soap.  This is a soap made from 100% Olive Oil.  There are no aromatics or colorants in this soap.  Pure Castile is a classic soap that comes from the Mediterranean area, where the abundance of olive oil prompted its development in the Middle Ages.  This is a soap that has long-lasting creamy bubbles that I like to think of as more “lotiony” than typical hand crafted soap.  Olive Oil soap may be helpful for those with chapped or dry skin, cracked skin, psoriasis or eczema.  As this is a nurturing, moisturizing soap – it may help such skin conditions.

I also was in the mood for something Christmasy!  There are a lot of “Christmas scents” on the market and none of them were too appealing to me this year (Although Lea is begging me to make Peppermint - might have to try that one).  The Seasonal Soaps I do have right now are Winter Pine and Cranberry Harvest.  Two lovely scented soaps that are nice for the holidays and beyond.

However, being in the Christmas spirit, I did decide to make an Orange Pomander soap.  I used Twinings Winter Spice Tea for the liquid base. Winter Spice is a comforting chamomile tea spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.  I love to use a tea base as it lends a beautiful natural color and a mild undertone of scent.  This soap is a saponified blend of olive oil, coconut oil, and palm oil.  It also contains clove, orange, cinnamon and rosemary essential oils.  And to top it all off, a light sprinkle of ground clove.  I am excited to see how this soap turns out.  The house smelled amazing last night!