08.15.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Everyday Journal, Farmers Markets at 6:37 am by admin
Here they are … the Farmers’ Market series on the curing racks
I’ve been waiting all summer for this! We had such a cool, wet spring and early summer, and all our great Kentucky vegetables have been late coming on. Finally last week I felt the “really good stuff” was out there at the farmers’ market. I gathered up great produce, including wonderful heirloom tomatoes and organic cucumbers for this year’s Farmers’ Market soap series. This was a group of soaps I produced last summer made from locally-grown vegetables, and they were very popular. In fact, they were sold out by Christmas, and by that time all the good vegetables were gone. I’ve been waiting all year to get these soaps into production again, and this time I made a double batch.
What’s prettier than a red, ripe tomato?
They’re all shea butter soaps, so of course I started with that and olive oil. Shoppers are becoming more savvy at the market and seeking out heirloom tomatoes. We have several heirloom tomato growers around here, and I came home from last week’s market with three beauties. They got mashed in a blender, and I used the entire fruit, skin and all, deducting that weight from the water phase. They were enough to color this soap batch a bright orange color … no artificial color needed here! Heirloom Tomato Rosemary soap is now on the curing shelves.
Cucumber Basil Mint smells like a fresh, Kentucky morning
The Cucumber Basil Mint soap is lovely as well. When you sniff it, you just want to keep on sniffing … it’s as fresh as any Kentucky morning. Plus cucumbers bring that cool, calming quality to skin care.
This got me to thinking about the amount of locally-grown products I include in my soaps — everything from honey (Petzinger Farm) to tomatoes (Hazelfield Farm) to carrots and cumcumbers. Then there are other additives not locally grown but helpful to skin care such as oatmeal, almonds, Rhassoul and Rose clays, corn meal, green tea, spices and dried herbs.
Being able to create these soaps reminds me of how grateful we should be to the good farmers and gardeners willing to bend their backs to their task every year, and to the land itself that gives us good harvests again and again.
Sharon
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Posted in Uncategorized, Blogroll, Everyday Journal at 5:58 am by admin
Anna’s EsSCENTials Bodycare (that would be me) got interviewed for about five minutes at 7:15 a.m. this morning on a Frankfort radio station. They were doing a series on farmers’ market vendors, and the host, Stacey, called yesterday and asked me to do it, which of course I did not want to do. I’d rather be hit with a sledgehammer than speak in public, but that’s part of this industry too. Those of us who make soap must also be educators in a sense, because there are very good reasons why our handcrafted products are superior to commercial ones.
All in all, it went pretty well I think. It started with a short history of my company and why commercial soap isn’t so good for you. I managed (I think) to squeeze in a little of my philosophy of making excellent products available at reasonable prices affordable by most everyone. Also, this week I finished my farmers’ market soap series for the year so I got to talk about that, and Stacey asked me about my new Ultimate line which I described in detail, listing ingredients such as mango and shea butters, pomegranate seed oil, aloe, calendula and all the rest. I also remembered to get my Web site address in (www.annas-soaps.com), thanks to my son reminding me last night to do so.
Well, I’m glad that is over since I didn’t sleep very well last night just fretting about it. Tonight is our second evening farmers’ market here in Owenton, with one more to go in October. Can it really be August already?
Sharon
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08.02.08
Posted in Everyday Journal at 11:53 am by admin
I just returned from a soapmaker’s conference in Texas. Sponsored by the Texas Soapmaker’s Association, this is one I look forward to attending each year. The registration fee is more reasonable than some others, the agenda is top-notch, and I get to spend time with my best soapmaking buddy who also makes the trip.
That’s me in the red shawl, freezing to death in a Texas hotel meeting room, and Charlotte (Laughing Rabbit Soaps). We may look a little goofy, but we’ve been listening to serious speakers and seminars for two days and we’re having fun!
This year I came back with some fine new information and several things to think about.
For example, there is a new essential oil I cannot wait to get my hands on. Called Owyhee (which for people who care about things like this is the old-fashioned spelling of Hawaii), it was developed by Jeanne Rose, a well-respected aromatherapist who also spoke at the meeting. She gave us samples of the oil combined with a California lavender and I thought it was luscious! To me it made the best properties of lavender even more pronounced, adding just a touch of a “fruity” note. Its therapeutic properties are impressive as well since it appears to be a substitute for expensive Roman Chamomile.
Another new product that struck a note with me is called Olive Squalane which also has a number of therapeutic properties. Additionally, there is no greasiness to it, and it permeates the skin quickly. It can be used in either lotions or soaps. Originally squalane came from shark liver, but this is a totally vegetable product and is highly stable.
Purple carrots anyone?
There were others. Anyone ever hear of Black Carrot Juice? The truth is that carrots should be purple! That is their original form, and purple carrots contain 50% more beta carotene than orange ones. How did they get to be orange, you ask? Well…remember from history class the “House of Orange”? They were a royal family line in Europe who, the story goes, decreed that all their vegetables should be orange! The mutation to orange carrots grew from that time, and purple carrots are now almost unknown. I think farmers market vendors should seriously think about growing purple carrots. For myself, I am interested in using them for the color and beta carotene they bring to a soap.
Other products discussed were neem oil (great pesticide, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, pain suppressant, etc.) and caffeine powder, which is being used in creams and scrubs these days, promising a little “lift” along the way. The lift part is not studied yet, but I have to say it smells good.
Big Batch Soapmaking or How to Make a Business Out of a Hobby
I was grateful to hear several speakers focus on moving from a small, one-person operation to more serious business models. It is not an easy jump to make, and many of us are not sure we want to anyway. But generally we all feel we want more income from our efforts, especially in times like these as we see our material costs skyrocket.
To be honest, one of the things that bothered me as speakers talked about this subject was that, with a couple very stunning exceptions (keynote speaker Sandy Maine and Jan from Round Top Soaps), examples focused on grabbing market share with products I would not choose to make. They used artificial scents and colors and looked to me like a junior version of Bath & Body. I won’t get on that soapbox again, but I really want to see more soapmakers opting for products that add serious healthcare benefits.
Interesting facts
Did you know there is a mention of lavender in Arabic and Muslim literature some 3,000 years ago?
Keep your citrus essential oils in the refrigerator. Also all blue oils.
For every 2 ounces of essential oil distilled from plant material, there may be about 200 quarts of water, or hydrosol, produced. That hydrosol also contains properties of the plants and could be very useful in our products.
Beekeeping and cheesemaking equipment can sometimes be useful for soapmakers (cutters, thermometers, heat tapes, pots, etc.)
For efficiency’s sake, it is possible to pre-blend pigments and solid oils and use them as necessary.
If Proctor & Gamble used natural lavender essential oil in their products, they would use seven times the total supply of lavender the world produces!
I thought this shelving idea was a nice one. A vendor at the conference brought shelves like this, with a slanted front allowing for a sample soap to sit.
Enough for now
That gives you a taste of this year’s conference, held in Austin, TX (which I thoroughly enjoyed). We went looking for Willy but didn’t see him. We did, however, enjoy some great Southwestern food, and then about sunset 750,000 bats took off right on schedule from beneath a big bridge while we tourists stood on top watching in awe.
Thanks to all the conference organizers. I know it’s a huge task, and it’s only done for love. And once again, thanks to Charlotte and Dan of Laughing Rabbit Soaps, who shared the weekend with me and made it a joy.
Sharon
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