More Beer Soap, Please!

Recently I made a batch of soap with Sierra Nevada.  Well, yesterday I took some photos of this sweet-smelling soap.  And then last night while watching a recorded episode of Iron Chef America (yay for Michael Symon!) I got it up and listed in my Etsy!

A friend of mine, who likes beer, asked if I could make a soap with a pale ale. Of course! Sierra Nevada gives the lather a rich creaminess, and all of the hops in the beer make for a sweet smelling bar of soap. A perfect soap for any beer aficionado.

Do you like me on Facebook?  If you don't, you might have missed the face I found while photographing soap yesterday. 

(Sort Of) New! Shiner Bock Soap

I've had my Shiner Bock Soap available in the Pick Three listing for a while now, but this is one of those soaps sitting here without its own listing.  So... Introducing the (sort of) new Ben's Favorite Beer Soap!

Ben likes beer--all kinds of beers. But like so many Texans I know, his favorite is Shiner Bock. I always have people ask if beer soap smells like beer. No, you won't smell like a brewery after your shower. With nothing else added to this soap for scent, all you get is the sweet smell from the hops. And a rich, creamy lather from the beer.

I also took some new photos this afternoon for my Coconut Pear Soap, which was already in my shop.

Sweet coconut and pear - a sweet, yet fruity winning combination that's reminiscent of summer. This soap is made with coconut milk for a creamy lather.

Let's Go Rangers! Treasury

So, I love baseball.  Specifically, the Texas Rangers.  Unless the Rangers are playing, I probably don't have baseball on the TV.

CLASSYTHREADSBYCB, on Etsy

And while I normally don't enjoy late starts, like last night, when they play on the west coast, last night it actually worked out pretty well.  My little tot was playing in the bath before bedtime, so I started working on a Rangers treasury.  There are so many awesome looking handmade Rangers items on Etsy, it was really hard to pick just 16.

 StorytellingArt, on Etsy

I did end up missing the first part of the game, but it was for a good reason, I promise!  I made restock of my Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey soap.  (For those of you who want to know, I use that one on my face.  Or Lavender Oat.  They're both nice.)  Got it made and put to bed in time to watch the Rangers lose.  Oh well, there's always tonight.

So please, stop on by my treasury, Let's Go Rangers!  These two are just samples of the fun Rangers goodies to enjoy.

Introducing Nag Champa, Herbal Grapefruit, and Lavender Mint!

If you visited my booth at any of the craft shows I was at last year, you've already met these three.  But they're the first of a bunch of new listings of products I somehow managed to not put in my Etsy.  I know, I had a head shake at myself too.

 I don't know how many times I've been asked a question similar to this one. "Barefoot Hippie, huh? So do you have a Nag Champa soap?" Of course I do! The classic hippie incense scent, but in a soap. Nag Champa is an earthy blend of patchouli and musk, finished off with sandalwood and a hint of rose. A perfect fit for the hippie in your life.

To me, Herbal Grapefruit is a definite "spa" scent. A mix of juniper and grapefruit, this scent is very refreshing and fresh.

My Lavender Mint lip balm is a refreshing, herbal flavor. A blend of lavender, peppermint, and spearmint essential oils smells light and fresh.

Soapy Photos

As I typed that title, I realized it could definitely be taken the wrong way.  Which made me laugh, so I'm keeping it there.

Anyway, I was recently bringing my inventory list up to date and realized that I happen to have a bunch of products sitting here that I never photographed or listed in my Etsy.  *gasp*  It's hard for people to buy it if they don't know it's there!  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and give me lots of sunshine, so I can get started on all those soapy photos I mentioned.  But it's not just soap, y'all.  Lip balms, too.  I'm even feeling ambitious enough to take photos of individual sugar scrub scents, instead of the choose your scent listing currently up.  Maybe I'll even redo some of the photos for all the goodies in my shop.

The Pick Three listing has all of the in stock scents listed, if there's one you like that isn't listed individually in my shop yet, feel free to ask me about it! (....and as soon as my coconut milk powder comes in, I'll be a soapin' machine to make restock of all the ones I'm out of!)

And since I mentioned being ambitious, I've also been back to tweaking my bath fizzy recipe.  I keep going back and forth between a solid or powdered loose fizzy.  What do you think?

Coming Soon to an Etsy Shop Near You...

...IPA beer soap!  Two flat Sierra Nevadas later, I now have two logs of IPA soap hanging out and waiting to be cut and put on the curing rack.

I'm interested to see if the shade of brown will change as it cures.  When I poured the raw soap into the molds, it was a dark chestnut, and has already lightened up a bit.  And for those of you wondering what on earth IPA soap smells like, it's a very sweet, hoppy scent.

As always, feel free to stop by my Etsy shop to see what scents are currently in stock.

What's Soapin'?

A friend of mine, who is a fan of beer, recently became aware that I make beer soaps.  Basically, I blew his mind.  But then he asked if I could make an IPA soap.  Of course I can!

So here it is, getting nice and flat and undrinkable.  Soon, it will make some delicious soap with a creamy lather.

Are you also a beer person?  Don't want to wait for the new IPA soap to cure?  Well click on over to my Etsy.  In stock already are soaps made with Guinness, Shiner Bock, and Negra Modelo.  Grab one of each with the Pick Three listing and save a couple bucks.

Whoopsies! Plus Soap News

Clearly I never got into the habit of keeping up to date over here, since my last post is from New Year's.  So, a big whoops on my part.  There was even still the winter background.  Since it's already tank top and sandal weather here, a new background was definitely the first order of business. 

I've also realized that I have some soap photos that I took but didn't edit.  So while you can currently find them in my Pick Three listing, they're not listed individually yet.  I suppose that's my goal for the week.  Or while I watch the Rangers this afternoon.  May as well multitask, right?

Also in the works is a new soap, thanks to a friend of mine.  But more on that very soon!

Ben's Favorite - It's Shiner Soap!

Ben likes beer.  He likes all kinds of beers.  But his favorite is Shiner Bock.  Ben also likes to collect beer bottles.  In our kitchen, the ledge at the top of the cabinets are completely covered in beer bottles.  There are also boxes of other bottles that have no place to go, because the ledge is completely full. 

That is Ben's Shiner corner.  Shiner has made several different flavors, and has changed their Bock label a few times.  I'm pretty sure Ben has most of them.

Years ago when he was out of town for the weekend, I made a batch of soap with Shiner Bock.  I hid it and gifted him all nine bars for his birthday.  It was his favorite soap, and from what I remember, he told all of his friends about it.

Recently he's been... nagging... me to make it again.  So I present to you Ben's Favorite Beer Soap all ready to be put to bed in the oven. 

Unlike my Brighid soap, which is made with beer and a fragrance, or Michelada, which is beer and lime, Ben's Favorite Beer Soap has nothing to add to the scent except beer.  Cheers!

What's Cookin' This Weekend?

This afternoon I've been working on making restock of two sugar scrub scents that are almost out of stock: Ginger Milk and Oatmeal, Milk and Honey.  Well, hopefully I can make the second one.  I pulled out the fragrance oil and it was surprisingly low.  As in, I hope there's enough for me to put .5 ounces in there.

There's currently some Shiner Bock in the fridge getting nice and flat.  Tomorrow afternoon I plan to soap it up.  Ben's Favorite Beer soap! 

Soap, Soap, Soap

The last few weeks I've been working to make restock of some old favorite scents.  Some of you may remember Red Currant and Coconut Pear.  These two used to be available as salt bars, which are different than my regular soap recipe.  While I love the way salt bars lather up so creamy and silky, I don't love hearing "that's an ugly bar of soap, but it sure smells nice."  So for now, these two scents are going to be available in my regular recipe of coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil and coconut milk powder.

Here they are on the curing rack.  Coconut Pear on the top, Red Currant peeking in down below.

I also made restock of Brighid, which is one of my personal favorites.  A few days ago I poured up some Guinness to let it get nice and flat.   Cheers, anyone?  :)

Yesterday I soaped it all up, and stuck it in the oven to let it do its chemical reaction thing.  I actually need to take it out, now that I think of it...  It will get sliced up and put up on the curing rack this weekend!