The seasons must be a’changin’! The kids are underfoot as two weeks of March break gets underway. The redpolls are voraciously attacking the feeder. And, some distinctly fresh spring soaps are making their way off the curing rack!
Firstly, our daily visitors:
the common redpoll (Carduelis flammea)
Now for two new soaps being released: ‘Hardiness Zone Zero‘ pays homage to the undaunted northern gardeners who can coax life from the thinnest of soils in the shortest of growing seasons. This is one they can wash up with or just sniff until their own crops come in!
Poppy seeds and cornmeal give a gentle scrubbiness while tomato paste and a good dose of soybean oil and shea butter kindly cleanse skin. The fragrance is all ‘Tuscan’ garden (ie oodles of tomato leaf and basil…, like crushing the fresh leaves in your hand). This one is a keeper all year ’round!
Our second new release is ‘Spring Break Up‘ (no, not of the boyfriend variety). This is a limited edition salt bar that is reminds me of opening the window to a brisk Great Slave breeze coming off the melting ice (and that is a real chunk of glacial ice from the far North behind the soaps)!
Jojoba and apricot oils combine with loads of sea salt to soften skin and prepare it for short sleeves and spring sunshine. We are big fans of salt bars as they can really soften skin without drying it out. This is one incredibly fresh bar well suited to the season (and washing away the hard work of spring cleaning).
We are finally getting around to listing our very popular ‘Sweet Sugar Kisses soap bar (formerly known as ‘devil’s in the dimples’). The Crafter has to work hard to keep this one from turning a dark brown colour. She may, down the road give in to the brown, but for now those sweet sugary-warm bars will stay pale:
An interesting soapy fact: many (if not most) delectable fragrances contain vanilla or vanillin (like great baking scents, sandalwoods, perfume dupes and other rich blends). This will turn artisan soaps any shade from beige to deep dark chocolate depending on the concentration. We can sometimes wrestle control over the process with stabilizing fragrances, but not always with great success. So don’t be turned off by brown soap…. Smell first, wash next, then celebrate the browns!!