The Day I made my first Bomb....or... The best Bath Bombs in the World (or we think so anyway!)

There was a time when the Ellënoire boutique was without Bath Bombs.... strange thought I know... but I used to be a Bath Bomb Boycotter...
Let me explain. I had tried the illustrious bath bomb, and found the things to be mostly annoying because they just fizzed in the water, left a bunch of dead flower petals in my tub and a little fragrance. There were some that I liked the smell of, but mostly... not worth the money for me.
Until, my lovely friend Yolande told me that she and many of her friends in Chicago were ordering Bath Bombs from a place in Canada and that she wanted me to make them for her. So, we booked a home party(yes, I still do them)a month or so hence and I taught myself how to make Bath Bombs. I jumbled the recipe around for a few weeks until I realized that I could make them moisturize my skin as well as fizz!!(Keep in mind, this was 2001, there were no you tube videos or soap blogs to teach me any of this)
Miss Yolande was a gorgeous black woman who took great care of her skin, as did her many girlfriends. The one thing for sure that the black culture understands is how important it is to keep skin moist.... I wish my white clients understood this as deeply!! So, selling a moisturizing bomb to this crowd was a breeze and they lapped them up! I was hooked on making them, and they were hooked on using them!
The scent recipes were great fun too! Napoleon & Josephine(made with their fave scents),Wake Up Angel!(the morning blend, named for my friends song), Slink( the Sensual Blend) Get out the Kink (the Sore Muscle blend) Hormone Sally(the PMS calming blend), Fruit Salad ( yummy! yummy!)and on and on it went.

At the time, our bombs were made in my house basement by the 100's and sent or driven down to Chicago regularly. Once we opened the current store location, we started making them here in the store. The ellënoire ë-bomb is now a top seller in the store and on the website. Have you ever tried one?
NO! I don't mean anyone else's Bath Bombs.. I mean mine!
Here's what you do: Pick a time when you need a little time to read, or soak sore muscles, have some deep thought... or think about nothing... and run a deep soaking bath at your favorite temperature and get in... put in the bath bomb you chose at the store(or on the website) ... yes, you use the whole thing... no, don't even try to break it... we make tub fizz ..the chunks of broken bath bomb bits for you frugal types...
Now, just sit in the tub and let the soft scented water cover you, soothe your sore body and soften your skin. At your leisure, climb out of the tub, wrap yourself in a robe or big towel and pat the water off. If you are lucky enough to have someone there to rub your back your skin is primed with natural and organic oils. Or simply stay wrapped up until your skin has absorbed the oils.
We are making more tonight- let me know which ones you want to try!
Sign up for my Newsletter to see specials on Bath Bombs coming soon!

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!

I think of you in the shower....

I wonder... do you know where your bath products are made?
I was thinking about this when working marketing our handmade line of products using the "eat locally grown food" trend as inspiration ( yes, I wish eating locally was not a trend, but for the moment it is) I imagine, the larger companies have chemists and test labs and things like that... well, not here at ellenoire ... all you get.. is me. In the store I make the recipes for our products at my almost 200 year old marble topped counter. In the store I am head "chef"... making up the recipes from whichever ingredients we have in stock, or are available to us... based on the time of year.
Where do I get my ideas? Well there are the trade shows I visit and publications I read... and all the friends I have in the industry passing ideas back and forth... but at the end of it all... the ideas happen in my bathroom.
Although as you may know if you follow this blog I am quite minimal in the product selection I use in my day, I do test a lot of things for the store. I try them, I like or hate them... and often I try to think of how to make them ourselves, or make them better. I have oils and butters, bowls and bottles, spoons and measuring cups all over my bathroom... I smear and scrub, I lather and wash.... bubble bubble toil and trouble as it were.... but it isn't any trouble you know... I hate taking baths, it makes me hot and my brain sleepy... but the shower... oh the shower I could stand there forever pondering things for my life and my lovely store... and the fun ingredients to make new bath products for you.
So, when you wonder where your bath products are created... you have my permission... to think of me.. in the shower...

eeeeew stinky!

My son just returned from two weeks at summer camp. I got to the laundry right away after reading many horror stories on facebook about other moms waiting a few days to unpack bags only to find damp musty yuckiness lurking in their little ones suitcases and backpacks. WHY? WHY? WHY? is it not part of a camp counsellor's job to make sure wet clothes get hung up?
Little did I know, my son swam every day and "forgot" he had extra towels he used the same one for two weeks!! Luckily it was an Aquis Towel, so it was not totally skanky... buuuuut.... wait for it... the boys went for a trip into the SWAMP... the green, slimy.. but mom I only went in up to my waist... SWAMP!!!!!
Sadly, the question "Son, did you dry your clothes after the swamp activity?" was answered with a BLANK STARE!

Sooo, the mouldy stench of old swamp water and a stiff muddy t-shirt that was stuffed into the outside pocket of the suitcase on perhaps.. the second day went into the laundry. Thank goodness for Sports Suds! This really cool Canadian made laundry detergent is designed to take the funky stink out of sporting gear... it was no big deal for this pile of mouldy nastiness! Biodegradable and hypoallergenic, Sport Suds allows technical clothes to wick moisture and breathe the way they were designed. It's completely unscented with no nasty chemicals.. so your clothes smell like... clothes! In High Efficiency washers you use just the tiniest bit. It's super simple, but it's one of the coolest things we carry!

Are you 90% perfect? We are!

For the last few months I have been using a philosophy in the store to help customers understand why we have chosen to keep some product lines and fragrance oils in the store. There are a lot of articles and news pieces and stores talking about all the harmful chemicals in the personal care industry ... and we are one of them.. I am very excited that the day has finally come that the general public is learning so much and educating themselves about why many of the large companies have given us very few options about what is in our soaps and lotions and makeup and such. This gives us, and many other great small companies the opportunity to show how great products and ingredients can be without all the chemicals.
In this post I am not going to list brands, or many chemicals or what is good or "bad" about them all. Today, what I want you to consider is how perfect you want to be, or can realistically be with products and ingredients in both your food and personal care choices.

So, here is my philosophy and how I got to it.

IF you could afford to choose your food, and your personal care products and their ingredients to be as perfect and healthy as possible would you do it? If you were told that to be healthy you could never eat junk food, or ice cream or use your favourite French soap, or Lilac scented lotion or anything with artificial anything in it... would you do it?

Na, me either.

I am totally willing to work toward a goal of eating the best I can afford/ have time for. I am totally willing to give up some of my less healthy habits in food and skin care if I can use/have them occasionally and not feel guilty about it.

The thing that bugs me, is there are stores out there: health food stores, co-ops, and even some boutiques that lecture you to get rid of all things with chemcials and ONLY use things with no artificial scent, no artificial colour, no parabens, no petroleum, and on and on.

That is GREAT!.. but, honestly I think there is only a small percentage of the population that will, is willing or will even try to be 100% perfect. I think in some cases people are tired of hearing it and use whatever they want anyway and avoid talking about it. They don't want to know or learn about chemicals, they don't want to read labels, they want to just assume they can trust the companies that sell to them to not use cancer causing, dehydrating, fossil fuel crap in their products.

So, the 90% rule came out of all of this thinking, and I have successfully made sure the product line up at the store is 90% perfect. I guarantee it!

If you can aim for 80-90% of everything that you eat, drink or put on your skin and hair to be the best quality natural ingredients YOU can AFFORD then you are far ahead of most people and likely well on your way to being super healthy. Personally, I have almost totally given up processed, packaged food of all sorts, but I have the occasional cocktail and dessert a few times a week. On my body I chose to use mostly paraben free, petroleum free, silicone free, and sulfate free products. My makeup, is my 10% cheating in personal care, I don't wear much, but I like my 18 hour wear lipstick!!! and I am not giving it up anytime soon... just like I am not giving up Ben and Jerry! I mean halloooo! who are we kidding?
100% perfect?! ? Pleeeeease!
I have a "perfect" vegan friend that "occasionally" eats an Indian meal complete with butter and yogurt ingredients.... I don't believe anyone can be 100% perfect.

So, 90% it is then! ?

Give me the chance and I will make sure you have a skin, hair and household cleaning "diet" that gets you well on your way to 90%... Give me a few more minutes of your time and I can help with your food diet too!
... but that, is another blog topic!
I hope a grand summer, and fabulous holiday weekend (in Canada this weekend) is/ will be/ has been yours!

I'll be in one on the patio with a cocktail in her hand and bright pink lipstick with a gorgeous natural fragrance wafting from her pulse points!!

Cheers!
N

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Soapy Soap Soap Soap!

So excited! I get to make Soap tomorrow morning!
We don't have a kitchen at the store, so this will be backyard soap!
I have made lots of bath products over the years, but making cold process soap is a type of creation I have a feeling I will get addicted to, so I am a little afraid of starting. I made some with friends in December and it was an honourable attempt, and I was lucky enough to have help from someone and their tried and true recipe.
My goal, sometime soon... if we in fact get this store through the recession... is to have quite a few soap types made here at the store by me and the staff.

I have about 1000 ideas that no one else seems to be doing, and if I see one more bar of chemical based garbage soap, or one more boooooring handmade bar with the top 5 everyday essential oils I will pass out! Don't get me wrong.. some of my
fave soap makers use those top 5 oils, and I will use some of them too, but my goal is never to be the same as everyone else. Since unique fragrances are my gig there will some interesting experiments on the way if I get the chance.
As you know the store is in some pretty serious financial trouble, so if you want to see the fruits of my labour coming out over the fall and holiday seasons you better get to shopping at ellenoire!... while your at it, boycott your big box stores for a week and shop local! Yes, your budget will change, but I bet some fun will come of it! Think of all the new recipes you will have to create, and the time you will save driving and parking and such. Let me know if you need a hand finding local meat, produce, clothes etc.. I am good at it!