September, Garden Harvest and New Shave Soap!

As summer winds down and we can feel the change of seasons in the air, it always encourages me to stop and appreciate the beauty of nature all around us. Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I always get a feeling of inspiration, renewed energy, and anticipation whenever September rolls around. Maybe it harkens back to the days of my youth, the beginning of school and the promise of a new year-- who knows!

In a previous post I spoke about expanding our garden and adding a pollinator garden this year. We have had much success, despite the less than favorable weather conditions in NY. Our one problem was what we think was a fungus, which affected our cucumber plants. Our pollinator garden was a great addition which I believe brought a lot more insects to our garden; therefore the plants produced more fruit/vegetables because of all the pollinators. I encourage everyone to check out Pollinator Partnership and join their Bee Friendly Garden program. It was so inspirational to see all the beautiful colors of the plants, from deep to light greens, orange, red, yellow, deep purple, as well as all the interesting insects and the color they bring to the garden!

My husband suggested I make a shave soap for men! Always being one to accept a challenge, I did my research and got busy creating a new shave soap for my brand! First some history: in 1919 an MIT professor, Frank Shields, developed the first shave cream. During WWI shave creams became more widely available and started to become the preferred choice for men. They produce a lather more easily than soap, got rid of the need for a brush, and were easier to use for men "new to shaving."

However, modern shave creams usually contain chemicals that can be irritating to the skin and often times do not contain the nourishing vegetable fats, glycerin, and clay that shave soap contains. A lot of shave creams contain thiethanolamine, an organic compound with a chemical formula. It is a very alkaline substance that can cause skin irritation. Another ingredient in shave creams is SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate), which is a detergent that can leave your skin dry, red, and itchy. 

In contrast, my shave soap is made of vegetable oils, flower oils, wheat and oat protein, vegetable glycerin, and kaolin clay. All of which are natural and beneficial for the skin. You can find these shave soaps at Promenade on 6 and I will be selling them at all the craft fairs I attend. 

My next craft fairs will be at;

Putnam Valley Grange, Putnam Valley NY- 10:00-1:00

Camp Herrlich, Patterson, NY- 10-00-3:00 

RMT Johnson School, Bethel, CT-10:00-3:00

Hope to see you at the fair!

Gina💗

The Video is of our Garden!

Beautiful tomatos from our garden!

 

Shave Soap for Men

 

Wonderful mural outside of Promenade on 6!

 

Can You Feel Fall in the Air?

After some very hot weather here in upstate NY we have been enjoying fall-like temperatures for the past few days. I know the heat will return but it is always so refreshing when the heat breaks and you get that first chill in the air! Around this time I start to think about doing fall craft fairs and fall soaps. 

Although summer is the time to get out there, have fun, and maybe do some traveling, fall is also a time when people take to the road, go on weekend getaways, and of course visit craft fairs. The weather is just warm enough to be outside, but there is that little chill in the air. Customers tend to buy soaps that have warm, cozy scents. I like to think that after all our summer wandering we always come back "home" and seek scents that are nostalgic and comforting. 

Some of my most popular fall soaps are Pumpkin Spice, Frosted Cranberry, Autumn, and Crisp and Candied. All of the scents I use in my soap comply with IFRA (International Fragrance Association) and are PHATHALATE FREE.

I will be at;

• The Putnam Valley Grange, Putnam Valley, NY- September 9th 10:00-1:00
• Camp Herrlich, Patterson, NY- October 14 (Tentative Date) 10:00-3:00 

Links to both markets are provided below. More markets to follow at different locations as the season progresses.

Putnam Valley Grange

Camp Herrlich 

Hope to see everyone at the market! 

Gina 💗

Inspiration for my Opium Soap!

Opium Honey Castile Handmade Soap

Pumpkin Spice Castile Handmade Soap

Me enjoying and getting inspiration from my garden!

 

Meandering Through Thoughts of a New Garden

Growing up in an apartment in Yonkers, NY, I never had a back yard. My back yard was the parking lot behind the building, but scattered all around in between streets, apartments, and houses, were little strips of green "wildness." I can remember playing with friends in the short-cut next to the apartment. We would chase each other and run through the "tall flowers," which I now know were weeds! There was time spent at the local "duck pond" or over friends' houses. Even though I grew up in a suburban area, nature was all around, and as a kid I loved it! 

My first adventure with gardening was on an apartment terrace my husband and I had when we were first married. The yield we would get from the window boxes was something to behold! Years later we bought a house and now I have a more traditional garden. This year we set out to expand our garden to include not only vegetables, but a plot of pollinator flowers in a meadow style. We figured we'd help our vegetable garden by planting flowers that attract bees and other pollinators. I believe it is so important that we try to get back to growing our own food and growing it naturally. I am so excited to see how it all works out! Stay tuned for pictures!

As I mentioned before, flowers and their beautiful fragrances are a big inspiration for creating my soaps. This spring I will be growing some verbena and lemon bee balm in my garden. I love the clean, crisp smell of lemon, which is one reason I love to use lemon fragrance in my soaps! All my soaps have a vegetable base or a honey base. I purchase my soap bases from SFIC. Read more about how SFIC got started back in the 1960's. SFIC Soap History

I encourage everyone to think outside of the box, be creative in making your own garden. You don't need a house or a big area to plant things you and your family love to eat. When you make your own garden YOU  have control of the soil, how you grow your plants--hopefully with no pesticides--and what you grow. Growing your own can be a very rewarding experience for everyone; maybe you can even share some of your bounty with friends and family! Gardening, as with making handmade soap, is all about putting things that are natural and healthier for you on and into your body. So go out there and get your hands dirty!

For further inspiration here is one of my favorite podcasts! A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach

Gina💗

 

                                     Beginning spring garden, some oregano and radishes
                                                                    

Echinacea started from seed indoors and transplanted to the garden.

 

Wild flowers growing in my front yard!

 

Paris Coral Bells that came with us from my terrace when we moved to the house!

How Failure and Mistakes Help Us Learn

When I started to learn about soap making, I did as much research as I could. I'm one of those people who approaches something wholeheartedly. I researched different kinds of soap making: cold process, melt and pour, where to buy the best products to make my soap, how to make designs in the soap, etc. However, as with most things in life, one needs a balance between book knowledge and actual hands-on learning. 

The first soaps I made looked nothing like what I thought they should.The soaps were perfectly usable, nothing wrong in that department, but the design that I thought was going to be there was sadly absent. It looked like I had just dropped color chunks into the soap! I also had to learn how much color was just enough-- pro tip: less is more! Although disappointing, the experience showed me that I needed to do a little more research and keep trying.

Failure and mistakes can teach us so much. It can be a motivating factor to help us figure out what went wrong, or sometimes it can even lead to new ideas. The bottom line is, we should not shun mistakes, because they can make us better and wiser if we learn from them. So embrace those mistakes and don't be afraid to make them! After all, no one is perfect; think of what a boring world it would be if we were! 

Visit my shop by clicking on this link BlogMemorialDay to get 10% off when you buy 3 soaps!

Gina 💗

Some of my very first soaps!

Another one of my first "designs".

Soap, Not So Sweet Smelling in Colonial America

In previous articles, I have written about just how ancient soap making really is. See my posts on Castile Soap: The Soap of the Ancients, Castile Soap; Oatmeal Soap: Long Before Your Parents Made You Eat It...; and Honey Soap: The Secret Ingredient in Your Honey. I was curious about how past generations made their soap, and at what point did soap become the familiar, fragrantly lovely bar we would recognize today. My research taught me some interesting things.

As I have stated before, I use the melt and pour method of soap making. I purchase my soap bases from SFIC, a very reputable soap company that has been in business for over 40 years. I melt them down, add fragrance, color (or not), and pour the soap into molds. This is different from those who make cold process soap; they actually mix the lye and all the other ingredients to make the soap base itself. This method is very similar to how it was done in the past, but with very distinct differences.

In Colonial times people (usually the women of the family) made soap for their household. A family would save their animal fat and wood ashes. The wood ashes were combined with water very slowly, and eventually this process would make lye. The lye was combined with the animal fat in a big iron pot outside, because the rendering smelled awful. The soap would have to be stirred constantly and was not always a success. This process would produce soft soap.

At the beginning of colonization in America, people believed that water spread disease, which in fact was true for many parts of Europe at the time. Poor sanitation practices were the norm, especially in larger cities. This misunderstanding of how disease from tainted water worked lead people to bathe less. It was the Civil War that made civilians finally see that bathing was healthy. It started to become more widely known that bathing and regular washing with soap and water kept army camps sanitary. 

Commercial soap as we recognize it in America today began with Proctor and Gamble in 1879. Ivory Soap, "the soap that floats," was one of the first scented soaps. There was a mistake made in the processing of the soap that made air bubbles get trapped inside the soap, which made it float. P&G used the "mistake" in their marketing campaign. 

Unfortunately, as the years went on, commercial soap became less and less like the homemade soap of old. Most of the commercial soap we use today contains synthetic materials that are considered detergents, as opposed to real soap which is made out of natural products. Some of the synthetic additives you should look for in your soap are:

• Parabens
• Sodium Laureth/Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Formaldehyde
• Phthalates

I encourage you to leave your comfort zone and try some handmade soaps! Local craft fairs, farmers markets, and local specialty shops are the best places to find these soaps. Find me on MercurialGirlbyGina@Etsy, @Promenade on 6, and at Resurrection Furniture in Carmel, NY.

 

Cutting up conditioner base.

 

Conditioner base poured.

Heating and stirring a conditioner base. You can see the vegetable oil.

                                                                                    

Capturing the Grandeur of Spring in Soaps!

When I think of soaps for spring and summer I think of nature and try to use it's bright spring and summer seasonal pallet as an inspiration. The colorants I use in my soaps are all derived from nature, mica's, iron oxides, tin oxides and dioxides. These fantastic colorants are purchased from highly reputable soap companies. This insures that they are skin safe and free of any impurities. These natural colorants are easy to use and they make for interesting soap designs. As I have mentioned before I always try to have a "theme" or color scheme that goes along with the fragrance of the soap.

I also make use of activated charcoal and kaolin clay. Both have wonderful benefits to the skin and provide deep cleaning. Along with the benefits these additives have for the skin they can also color soap. As one would expect, activated charcoal can color soap to be a gray to black color, and kaolin clay turns soap a rusty, pinkish color.

During this season visit my shop to see what spring and summer soaps I have to offer! Use this special coupon code Treat your Senses for a 10% discount when you purchase two soaps. 

 If you live locally visit me at my upcoming craft fairs, at Resurrection Furniture in Carmel, NY and at Promenade on 6 in Carmel, NY.

I will be at the local event listed below, also at the Putnam Valley Grange on June 10th and at the Putnam County Fair on July 29, 2023.

First flowers, beautiful Dianthus in my garden!

 

First Craft Fair of the Season!

What a lovely day we had at the St. James the Apostle Spring Craft Fair! It was so nice to see everyone after a long winter and to meet new people! My next craft fair will be this Saturday, April 29, 2023 at Camp Herrlich. I will also be at the Artisanal Expo at Promenade on 6 on May 7, 2023. Come out and support local artisans!

Gina💗

St. James the Apostle Carmel, NY Craft Fair

Camp Herrlich Patterson, NY

Promenade on 6 Carmel, NY

Spring is Almost Here, and So is Craft Fair Season!

Spring is only weeks away and it is that wonderful time of year when we start to shake off the winter blues and venture out again. I will be at the following craft fairs;

• St. James the Apostle School- April 22, 2023 10:00am-3:00pm.
• Camp Herrlich- April 29, 2023 10:00-3:00

I am also happy to announce that I am featured in Promenade on 6 in Carmel, NY! Come visit this wonderful Artisanal small business hub. Promenade on 6

I will have my spring and summer stock at the craft fairs, soaps like Sweet Tahiti Handmade Soap, Light Blue Fragrance with Oatmeal Handmade Soap and Salty Sea Breeze Handmade Soap, just to name a few.

Check back to see added dates for craft fairs!

Gina💗

Promenade on 6

Promenade on 6

Hair and Body Soap Box at Promenade on 6

Light Blue Fragrance with Oatmeal Handmade Soap

Sweet Tahiti Honey Handmade Soap

Designing My Soaps to be Beautiful, Interesting and at times Whimsical!

Soap is so simple, most of us don't even think twice about it when we use it. I however, think a lot about it! Aside from offering a quality handmade product I also have a vision of what I want my soaps to look like. I often have a theme for each soap and sometimes make them so their look will change as you use them. For me it is a challenge to come up with mostly different designs for each soap, for my customer I hope it is fun to see the soaps change throughout their use. To me it makes them interesting...am I thinking too much about this? Maybe!

I usually start out with the fragrance then figure out what kind of soap base I will be using. Next comes the theme. Most times I try to incorporate the colors of the flowers, herbs, greenery or fruit that comprises the fragrance. Sometimes I will make a whimsical design like with my Bergamot Handmade Soap which has a round, green soap embedded in the larger soap to mimic the bergamot fruit. I also did this with my Spa Handmade Soap. I made round "soap stones" to mimic natural stones used in the architecture of some spas.

I also try and use interesting textures. Since you cannot swirl melt and pour soap, like you can with cold process soap I am always thinking of new ways to make them visually interesting and also make the tactile experience interesting. In the past I have shaved the soaps to make ridges. Recently I used a method, suggested by my daughter, that made an interesting crinkle design on my Oakmoss Handmade Soap and some Christmas tree soaps.

I also "marbleize" some of the soaps, which always makes for interesting patterns as the soap gets used. With some of my summer soaps I try and make them look like a beach or the sky and grass. 

It is all about making something look beautiful and also having a bit of fun with it too. I look at each soap as a unique work of art that will only be created the same way once. Check out my Etsy shop to see what interesting designs I come up with! MercurialGirlbyGina

Gina💗

I made "soap stones" using vegetable based soap and a small amount of activated charcoal.

 

Spa Handmade Soap

I used three popular tuberose colors, pink, yellow and white for my Tuberose Castile Handmade Soap

Salty Sea Breeze Handmade Soap looks like the shoreline at the beach.

 

I tried to make my Summer Weather Changing Handmade Soap look like the sky and grass.

An interesting pattern on my Oakmoss Handmade Soap

 

Remember When: Buying Local, the Lost Art of the Personal Connection

Sitting in my living room on a balmy January day in New York I can tend to get nostalgic. If you are above a certain age you can probably remember all the local shops in your town and the surrounding area. Whether it was a small town, a suburb or a city, there was usually a hardware store, a deli, and a the local pharmacy. Maybe you were lucky enough to have some small boutique shops, a bookstore or a thrift shop. Each shop was owned by people that you and your parents got to know. They knew your name, would be helpful when you needed to purchase something, and maybe even let you have a tab that you could pay off at the end of the month. They were the staples that helped make up the neighborhood.

Then it all changed. We now live in a world of mass production, same day shipping and remote, impersonal shopping. What we gave up for fast, cheap (although not so cheap these days) and disposable was getting to know the person who owned that business, the uniqueness of buying a one of a kind, the anticipation of waiting two weeks, sometimes more, for that book you ordered from the bookstore that you just couldn't wait to read. We gave up quality in a lot of cases too.

I am not very hopeful that those days will ever return BUT there are still things we can do to help small businesses, and local artisans.

• Shop local- buy from the shops in your area, make the connection.
• Frequent craft fairs and farmers markets- there are so many talented people who have wonderful handmade items to sell, whether it be artwork, crafts, woodworking, soaps, creams, candles, jewelry etc. It is such a joy to speak with these artisans and crafters and learn about their products, take it from me they love to tell the story behind them! Buying fresh produce from a farmers market helps out local farmers and is most likely healthier for you.
• Let the organizers of craft fairs and farmers markets know how much you enjoy attending them. Maybe even suggest they have them more frequently to help out the local economy? 

It is a wonderful feeling when someone is truly happy with something they buy from you. The interpersonal connection you can make with the customer is priceless. That doesn't happen when purchases are made over the internet.

During this first month of the year, while you are sitting sipping your warm tea or coffee, please visit my Etsy shop for some one of a kind handmade soaps made with love and find out the story behind them. I am always available to answer questions and if you live locally please visit me at one of the many craft fairs that I attend throughout the year! I'd love to chat!

Gina 💗

Honey Bergamot Handmade Soap

 

Honey Castile Handmade Soap

Wow, Shampoo and Conditioner Bars are Really Strange....

I only recently started making shampoo and conditioner bars. I loved using my soap as shampoo but wanted to try a real shampoo and conditioner base. I would also get asked by fair goers at craft fairs for them .

First off it is a very different experience than what we are used to, for most of us shampoo and conditioner are liquid, not solid so the "feel" of how you wash your hair has to change. You lather the shampoo in your hands and work it into your hair but you also run the shampoo bar over your hair, new experience! We are adaptable and adventurous right, we can handle that!

Experts say that the ideal pH for your hair is 3.65 and the ideal for your scalp is 5.5. A shampoo with a lower pH may help protect your hair from breakage and becoming dry. I have included a link at the bottom of the page that is a brief summary of the science of hair, scalp and pH. If you are reading my blog on your phone please switch to Web View to see the article links.

The shampoo bars I sell have a neutral pH 5.0-6.0. They are very gentle, high foaming with great lather, the lower pH even makes your hands feel softer. It may take a little getting used to, using a shampoo and conditioner bar, but in my opinion it is worth it! Check them out at my Etsy shop. 

Gina 💗

Rosemary Mint Handmade Shampoo

Rosemary Mint Handmade Conditioner