Soap...

So as you can see, the whole story of Soap is quite complex.. ;)
Soap.. what is it? Some of us love it, some people just use it... most everyone has a pretty strong opinion about it. Me? I started a love affair with soap at a very young age. I still have my first and favourite bar of soap. It was a gift from the Steager's when I was about 6. I have never used it, I adore the fragrance, the colour and the shape.. it has been in my underwear drawer for most of the last 36 years. I am only fussy about my soap when it comes to the fragrance, I have to LOVE the scent or I don't care to have it around. Some of my soap(as you would guess) never gets used at all... but the ones I really covet are the ones that are incredible for my skin...

Once I decided to open my business in 1994 ( 15 years, that's right.. watch for the anniversary celebrations to start soon!) I was very excited about all the soap I could buy to sell!!! Did I know a thing about soap? NOPE! Did I care? NOPE! I just loved the smells of all of them. I loved the packaging and whole idea of them....but along the way I had no choice but to learn! I was selling bars of soap with price tags of up to$12 and had to work out how to teach my customers what they were getting for their money...

So, I learned. Vegetable oil based? Animal Fat based? Detergent??...wait what? Bar soap can be made from detergent?... yup!( more on that nightmare later) Milled? Triple Milled? French Milled, Cold Process? Melt and Pour? Glycerin? Handmade Glycerin, Superfatted, Lye... what??

Because I have a Soap store that sells a lot of handmade products people assume we make our own soap. NOPE! Not until this year!
I mentioned my soapmaking session adventures a few weeks ago and now, it's all ready!
Don't get too excited, I have to make a ton more... there are only about 40 bars in 3 scents to start with but it's a start!

In another post I will go into some of the details about ingredients and different types of soap and why we sell/make what we sell/make, but for now... all you need to know is that the first of the ellёnoire handmade soap line
launches tomorrow! Cold process, Mostly Olive and Coconut oil based, scented with only essential oils. Come and see!