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Savonara

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Savonara (velcromom)

Etsy Shop:: www.savonara.etsy.com

Website:: www.savonara.com

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Savonara's Blog

The Lowdown on Lye

I've often received the question, "Does your soap have lye in it?" from potential customers who worry that soap made with lye may be harsh and unpleasant to the skin. In the past, lye was made from wood ash and the strength of the solution was variable, so that the soap maker could not measure precisely how much to use. Grandma's lye soap was remembered by generations as being awfully harsh. Now of course we can measure quite precisely, and research has been done to determine exactly how much…

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Posted by Savonara on March 21st, 2008 at 9:33am — No Comments (Add)

How I Started Soaping

A recent forum topic asked how the members got their start soapmaking, so I thought I'd share here as well.

In 1996 I was a single mom living in the center of a small town. My way of relaxing was to research "lost arts", and learn them. This satisfied my creative needs as well as provided useful and pretty things that I couldn't afford to buy myself. One day I was browsing inside a local bookstore/boutique just to look at all the wonderful treasures for inspiration, and I came across A…

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Posted by Savonara on March 2nd, 2008 at 11:08am — No Comments (Add)

Tea Tree

I've one more Castile-style soap on the curing rack right now, and while the fragrance isn't exactly the kind you'd wear for perfume, I'm finding myself inhaling deeply when I walk by it. Tea tree is an essential oil with antiseptic and antifungal properties, with an herbal, medicinal smell, and it makes me feel squeaky clean just thinking about it. This bar would be appropriate for skin that isn't perfect, like most of us have. Studies have shown that a preparation of Tea Tree Oil can be as eff…

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Posted by Savonara on March 1st, 2008 at 10:34am — No Comments (Add)

Featured At...

It's always fun when other artisans take note of your work, and this week a fellow Etsian has featured my Soapstone Hand Soap at her blog. You can see the entry at Lucky Duck Designs. She's created a perfect gift pairing of the Soapstone with one of her cards, a clever duo to give to someone who could use a little appreciation.

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Posted by Savonara on February 29th, 2008 at 11:42am — No Comments (Add)

Shea Butter musings

I have been enjoying my shea butter Body Scrub Bars so much, I got to thinking about why, for the past three years, I have kept some unrefined shea butter on hand at all times.

I started out with shea by purchasing some refined shea butter to soap with. It was pure white, smooth, odorless and, well, an awful lot like shortening. I couldn't see what the fuss was all about. So for my next purchase, I chose the unrefined version. Then the light bulb came on - this was totally differen…

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Posted by Savonara on February 27th, 2008 at 4:18pm — No Comments (Add)

Comment Wall (10 comments)

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At 1:49pm on March 2nd, 2008, Smidge said…: Thanks Savonara! I hope to see you on Smidge :)

At 5:52pm on February 27th, 2008, mmmm handmade soap said…: Hi!

Always good to meet a fellow soap maker1

x

At 9:04pm on February 25th, 2008, DripStick said…: Mmm... Your soap looks delicious!

At 6:41pm on February 23rd, 2008, Jan Thompson said…: Your soap are beautiful. I just wish we could smell them.

At 11:31pm on January 17th, 2008, Sticky Kitten said…: Thank you! Beautiful soaps! =)

At 10:00am on January 15th, 2008, Elefent said…: Thank-you! I love your mosaic soaps :) Very pretty!

At 4:54pm on January 13th, 2008, Ruth Hill Radcliffe said…: oh yummy...soaps, I can never get too clean and what fun getting there. Yours look really great, ah temptations.