And we begin again! Yes to more coffee (or life, as I call it!). Yes to feeding the cat. Yes to brushing those parts that need brushed and washing what needs washing.
Just a little bit about me…I’m married for the 2nd time to the most wonderful man in the world! We’ve been married 7 years in June of 2021, although we lived together for something like 13 years before we got married.
It looks as if it may be Hawaii-themed and you wouldn’t be wrong, but it was officially a flip-flop wedding! I wear flip-flops here in sunny Arizona or go barefoot, except when the cement is too danged hot!
I worked for 14 years as the database administrator in Arizona’s largest elementary school district. Yep, a geek gurl. Covid convinced me it was time to retire! Lol
So, soaping!
I’ve used cold processed soaps (which is what is offered here on the website) for about 20 years after a house guest gifted me with a wooden soap dish with a lovely soap tied to it with something that I don’t remember now. It was so lovely that I didn’t use it for a long time, but once I did – wow – what a difference it made on my skin! I loved it and I was hooked and didn’t use ‘commercial’ soap unless that was all that was offered in a hotel or at a friend’s home.
Flash forward 15 years to my 2 weeks off for Winter Break.
One year right after Christmas, I decided that I had to stop giving the kids store-bought ornaments and give them something homemade. Since I loved handcrafted soaps, I decided to try my hand at that (it has to be cheaper to make it, right?) (nope!) – and that’s where it started!
The husband and I went to a rather local soap-making store and spent a few hours asking questions and making purchasing decisions and pretty much learning everything we could in a short period of time. We came home with a box full of melt & pour stuff and I started making soaps! It was easy! It was fun! It was messy! Lol Of course, this led to cold process soaping with sodium hydroxide. I found using lye (sodium hydroxide) intimidating at first, but I totally remembered taking Chemistry in high school and so just followed those principles (and still do!) in handling lye.
The kids and siblings and nieces and nephews all appreciated their soaps so much and I loved to create new things, so it continued…
I found I loved cold process because of the freedom to use ANYTHING in my soaps that I wanted to try! Want a soap with carrots in there – go for it. Want to try some of that aloe vera plant that grows freely – take that skin off and use that aloe! Throw some annatto seeds in (bad idea – it stains washcloths and is REALLY scratchy!)
Every year for Christmas I send out big packages of handcrafted soap to my family scattered across the US and include some of the new things that I work on whether it’s a new recipe for soap, or lotions or body butter or… well, you get the drift! At this point, they’re my test market! If they like something, they generally request more and if they don’t, I don’t send that item again because it obviously was a flop!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this small insight into my continuing journey – I’m sure the best is yet to come! Thanks for hanging in there! 😊