I just made a batch of the new facial bar and will be sending it out to testers as soon as it is cured. It contains aloe vera juice, a variety of luxury butters (shea, cocoa, and mango), australian clays - both pink and red, tea tree oil and lavender essential oil.
I am testing it specifically on those who have acne prone skin, so if this describes you - drop me an e-mail at southernsuds@gmail.com so you can test a sample!
I made my first batch of lip balms this week and am going to need to tweak the recipe a bit. Hubby reports that he finds it to be too firm/hard and I was not happy with how the flavoring incorporated into it. So I’m going to adjust the percentages and try again with flavoring from a different company. In case you were wondering, lip balm is fun to make!
I’m going to be carrying fragrance sprays. They are liquid and will spray on, but when you rub your skin it will feel silky smooth. I’m considering “dry perfume sprays“ as what I call them, but am not sure on that yet. Submit any ideas you have! They are going to be packaged in neat brushed aluminum bottles with fine spray mister tops.
I’m also experimenting with a batch of lavender fragranced clothespin sachets. They’ll be ready to test in a few days. What’s a clothespin sachet you ask? An old fashioned wooden clothespin that has been infused with essential oils and can be used as you would use any other sachet - in a car, closet, drawer, gym bag, etc.
I’m also adjusting my fizzing bath salt recipe. Those of you who are going to be my testers - it will be a couple of weeks before you get the samples to try.
Those of you who are saying “What? You need testers? Where do I sign up!?” - e-mail me at southernsuds@gmail.com with you name and address and I’ll put you on the list. Requirements to be a tester - willingness to try the product and give honest feedback in a timely manner. I don’t know how many additional products I’ll be adding, but having folks who are available to try things out is always a good thing!
I’d also like to get a bit of feedback from those of you who read the blog. I am considering having a membership, where on a monthly basis you receive a shipment. More than likely this will be primarly a soap subscription, but samples of other products would be included frequently. I’m considering offering 3 month, 6 month, and 1 year subscriptions. So my questions are - how many bars of soap would you want included each month? What would you expect to pay for this? (The subcription cost would include shipping costs.) Please leave your opinions as comments.
And finally - soap bar dimensions, they are a’changin! Why is this? Up until now, I’ve used a log mold to make soap. This limits my ability to do swirls and requires me to hand cut each and every bar - resulting in bars that are not always consistent in thickness. I have ordered two slab molds with dividers. These will not only double the number of bars I can make in one batch, I’ll be able to make beautiful swirls and the bars will always be the same size and thickness. Bars will continue to weigh between 3.5 and 4 ounces, but they’ll be a wee bit smaller and a wee bit thicker. They will still be a nice size to hold onto and I’ll still bevel the edges. I am not retiring the log molds entirely though. I’ll continue to use them for most custom batches and probably for scrubby kitchen and garden soaps.
Next batches to be made: A facial bar containing cocoa butter, shea butter, australian clays, tea tree oil and essential oils. Hubby is requesting this batch personally. Also, SIL is asking for more spa salt bars. These bars are hard and contain sea salt. They don’t lather like a regular soap, but have a more lotiony type of lather. Perfect for ladies to use when shaving! They are not exfoliating, but feel more like a smooth piece of granite. They are heavier than regular soap and last a really long time.
Until next time,
Christy
