Smells That Trigger Memories

What is the best place to relax and just let your mind wander?? A nice, relaxing bath! How many times have you been using a certain bar of soap and the scent causes memories to come flooding in? Have you ever wondered why it is that our brains associate a smell with memories? I have, so I did a little research to find out exactly why this happens. How many times have you smelled chlorine and it takes you back to your childhood swimming pool? What about the Balsam Fir candle you open the lid to smell and Christmas memories from the past coming rushing in? You get a whiff of the oatmeal cooking and it immediately takes you back to sitting at the kitchen table in your "jammies" when you are six years old? Here's a weird one for me.....every time I smell the pungent odor or tar, it takes me back to my Kindergarten classroom room at North School. They were tarring the flat roof on the school the first year I started.  It seems like it took them forever to get it done! The smell permeated the building and classrooms, and every time I smell that smell I am taken back to Mrs. Gibb's Kindergarten classroom! That is probably one of the most distinct memory grabbers for me! Weird I know, but it's a great example of how the brain pulls memories from smells.  The information I gathered on how this works is this.....The olfactory lobe in the brain is part of the limbic system. The limbic system is an area associated with  memory and feeling. It's sometimes called the "emotional brain." Smells can call up memories and powerful responses almost immediately. The olfactory lobe has access to the amgydala. This processes emotion. The hippocampus is responsible for associative learning. Smells still would not trigger memories if it were for conditioned responses. When you smell a new scent, you link it to a person, event, or thing.  Say when  you smell lilies, it's linked to a funeral home or fresh lumber smell with your first new built home. Your brain puts together a link between the smell and memory. The emotion it triggers is different for everyone, depending upon the experience that was had when the link was made between the smell and event.  That is why some people like a certain scent and others may hate it! So there you a have it...a very simple explanation on why we are attracted to certain smells and why it drums up certain memories.

Every season or holiday I try to come up with a new soap or two to represent that particular time.  A couple of my summer soaps were Summer Days...which was a citronella soap and Lemon Delight...which is an uplifting yellow bar scented with Lemongrass. A couple Fall bars were Orange Cocoa Spice....scented with Clove and Orange oil and Dejavu....scented with Patchouli.  My Christmas bars are...Rosemary Peppermint, Balsam Fir, and Honey Almond Oatmeal....Those are just a few examples of how I try to gear my soaps towards the season or holiday! Like I said in my first sentence above....when you are relaxing in a warm relaxing bath, I would imagine you would want scents that take you to places or bring up pleasant memories while relaxing.  I put a lot of effort in to trying to accomplish blending my scents with the holidays or seasons.

So.....if you want you memories stimulated with bathing or showering, I am sure one of my soaps can help you accomplish this! Go to www.heidisartisansoap.com.  If you would like a bi-monthly subscription delivered to your door every other month with three different soaps go to www.sudsybox.com.

Benefits of Shea Butter

As I have mentioned many times before, shea butter is one of the main ingredients that I use in my soaps. I love when I go to make my soaps, butters or balms and opening up the container it comes in.  It smells amazing all on its own. It has an earthy, organic, nutty smell. I love it! I always go on and on about my products containing shea butter and how wonderful they are for your skin. I will go a little more in depth about what shea butter is, the wonderful things in contains, and how amazing it is for your skin!

Shea butter is a fat that is taken from the nut of the African Shea Tree.  It is off-white in color and has the consistency of cookie dough! (But it's not sticky) In Africa, it is used in food preparation and it is edible. The Shea Butter I use comes from Ghana.

Accounts from as far back as Cleopatra's time where her caravans would contain jars of valuable shea butter for cosmetic uses. The history of Shea Butter can be traced back to ancient Egypt where it was and still is used to protect the skin and hair from the extremely drying conditions of the fiercely hot sun and drying winds of the dessert and savannah of Africa. The process to get the Shea Nut to butter is not a quick one.  Below I pulled some information from Wikipedia to explain how it is done.

The traditional method of preparing unrefined shea butter consists of the following steps:^[10]

• Separating/cracking: The outer pulp of the fruit is removed. When dry, the nut, which is the source of shea butter, must be separated from the outer shell. This is a social activity, traditionally done by Women Elders and young girls who sit on the ground and break the shells with small rocks.
• Crushing: To make the shea nuts into butter, they must be crushed. Traditionally, this is done with mortars and pestles. It requires lifting the pestles and grinding the nuts into the mortars to crush the nuts so they can be roasted.
• Roasting: The crushed nuts are then roasted in huge pots over open, wood fires. The pots must be stirred constantly with wooden paddles so the butter does not burn. The butter is heavy and stirring it is hot, smoky work, done under the sun. This is where the slight smoky smell of traditional shea butter originates.
• Grinding: The roasted shea nuts are ground into a smoother paste, water is gradually added and the paste is mixed well by hand.
• Separating the oils: The paste is kneaded by hand in large basins and water is gradually added to help separate out the butter oils. As they float to the top, the butter oils, which are in a curd state, are removed and excess water squeezed out. The butter oil curds are then melted in large open pots over slow fires. A period of slow boiling will remove any remaining water, by evaporation.
• Collecting and shaping: The shea butter, which is creamy or golden yellow at this point, is ladled from the top of the pots and put in cool places to harden. Then it is formed into balls. (Wikipedia)

Shea Butter melts at body temperature.  It readily absorbs into the skin as a "refatting" agent. At 76 degrees or higher it will become soft, and in warm temps it will actually melt to pure liquid.  That is one of the reasons I cannot ship my butters in the warm months.  

So the next time you hear me going on and on about the large amounts of Shea Butter in my products at Heidi's Artisan Soap, you will understand why I am so excited that I have created such an awesome product that contains this great butter! The products that I make that have Shea Butter in them are Soap, Shea Balm, and Body Butters.  Give them a try, you won't be sorry! www.heidisartisansoap.com

Why is Heidi's Artisan Soap Different From Other Hand Crafted Soaps??

Why is Heidi's Artisan Soap different from other hand crafted bars of soap?  There are several reasons and I would like to share them with you!  When I first started out this business, I decided I was only going to use ingredients of the highest quality with no preservatives, no chemicals, no artificial colors, and no artificial fragrances.

Imagine you are at a luxury spa in Bali......ahhhhhhh.  What kind of ingredients do you think they would be using in their soap and other products?  Would it be Palm Kernel Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Tallow, or Palm Oil? No, I don't think you would find any of these oils in their products.  Do you think they would use artificial coloring in their products like micas, food coloring, or by-products of coal tar? Synthetic colors contain impurities like lead and other heavy metals that are toxic to the nervous system.  We've all heard of Red #3, right?  Soap has to have amazing smells, right? I can promise you that there would be no synthetic fragrances used in their products either.  Synthetic fragrances are chemically created to lower the cost of manufacturing. I am sure you have all smelled some pretty wonderful soap scents, but let's say that awesome smell of lilac that everyone loves is infused into this great bar of soap. That wonderful fragrance that you are smelling is purely composed of as many as 25 chemicals to create that smell. What about taking a look at labels.  Labeling requirements require you put the ingredients with most to least. A company may say they have Shea butter in their bars.....but take a look at where it is sitting in the ingredient list.  It may be last on the list using a very, very small amount and they claim that there bar has shea in it, but it's probably not enough to even make a difference. It could be less than 1%.

Now I will go back to the main question....Why is Heidi's Artisan Soap different than other hand crafted bars of soap?  The oils I use in my bars of soap are: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, and Castor Oil. (Castor is what creates the foamy lather in my bars.) I actually use 5 times the amount of Shea butter than most soap makers put in their soaps. In all reality, most soap makers do not include Shea Butter in their bars at all because of the high cost of it.  This makes my bars extremely luxurious! Next ...what do I use to give my bars the awesome scents that they have?!  I use essential oils. Essential Oils are derived from steam distilling or cold pressing plants.  They are very therapeutic and are extremely good for your skin.  I could very easily have saved costs with cheap oils, using fragrance oils (which are MUCH cheaper than essential oils), and omitting Shea Butter all together.  I wanted to create something that anyone could use, even those with the most sensitive of skin like babies and the elderly.  I was able to do that and am so excited to be able to share my products with you! I am also excited that I am able to keep my soap very affordable.  If you would like to learn more about my soap and products, go to www.heidisartisansoap.com.  You won't be disappointed!

Dangers of Commercial Hand Sanitizers

I think we have all read about the dangers of using commercial hand sanitizers at one time or another. I am going to give you a refresher! Here we go.  So, a two ounce bottle of hand sanitizer contains the same amount of alcohol as 4 shots of vodka.  If a small child would get a hold of it and ingest it, they could definitely get alcohol poisoning.  So along with the extremely high alcohol content come the chemicals. Benzalkonium Chloride.....it's actually soluable ethanol and companies use it in small amounts in hand sanitizers and other disinfectant products. We have to remember that our skin is our largest organ and it's porous, therefore it absorbs whatever is put on the body. The way the chemical kills the bacteria is it disrupts the lipid bi-layers in the cell membranes. Next, Triclosan......I think that is the chemical that has recently drawn the most attention in the hand sanitizers.  There are reports that 75% of people in the US excrete Triclosan in their urine because it is so widespread. Triclosan is an antibacterial, and that seems great on the surface, but it's becoming more associated with bacterial resistence. That could eventually cause the birth of super-bugs that are resistent to antibiotics. In the beginning, bacteria succomb to the Triclosan, but there are always those few that don't.  Those few are able to reproduce despite the Triclosan. It is also being associated with disrupting the endocrine system, which means it can cause problems with growth and development when exposed to the chemical. I don't know about you, but I will pass on these cute little bottles of alcohol and chemicals.

After all of that being said, Heidi's Artisan Soap, www.heidisartisansoap.com,  has developed an all natural hand sanitizer!  It is called Naturally Clean Hand Sanitizer.  I will list the ingredients and inform you on the antibacterial properties of each one.

Clove oil - Did you know that Clove essential oil killed more than 60 types of bacterial strains, 15 strains offungi plus several viruses? (Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2004)  Did you know that Clove essential oil reduced Candida by 75% after 8 days which is equivalent to the use of Nystatin? Nystatin is the most common antifungal drug used to treat Candida. (Journal of Drug Targeting, 2005)

     

Tea Tree Oil - Tea tree oil is used an an antiseptic and to kill germs. It has been used to treat burns, minor  cuts, athletes foot, and insect bites. It is also used to treat bacterial infections of the skin and nails.

Lemon Oil - Lemon oil is anti-infectious, antibacterial (especially with spores), antiviral, antiseptic, and a disinfectant. (Natural-aromatherapy-benefits.com) 

Lavender Oil - Recently, studies have confirmed the effectiveness of lavender essential oil against different strains of bacteria and types of fungus. Several varieties were tested by direct contact and each showed effectiveness. Of particular significance is a study by scientists in the UK. They found the antimicrobial activity of lavender oil to consistently inhibit the growth of methicillin-sensitive and resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA and MRSA). MRSA is one of the reasons it is so dangerous to go to the hospital. Created by western medicine, it is responsible for thousands of deaths every year. They have no cure for it, as it was created by overuse of their antibiotics; it is completely resistant to them.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/039317_lavender_antibiotics-resistant_bacteria_staph_infection.html##ixzz34SUlzjL1

The other ingredients that I use are:  Aloe Vera Gel, Vitamin E Oil, and a very small amount of Witch Hazel.

The ingredients I use  not only kill bacteria, but they are also great for your skin....every single one of them! After just one use your hands feel soft and moisturized from the Vitamin E and Aloe Vera. It does not dry or sting your hands like the commercial alcohol products. It is AMAZING!

  All of the products at Heidi's Artisan Soap improve the condition of your skin. I am really excited about this new product, and I cannot wait for everyone to try it!

www.heidisartisansoap.com

     

Sea Salt and Your Skin

Salt.  Simple, pure and natural.  Until recently, I had no idea of the many benefits of sea salt for our skin.  I knew that it was "good" for the skin.  That's what a lot of spas use in their treatments, right?? I just never knew the in depth health benefits that it had.  The best way to receive the benefits of sea salt is just soaking in it! Sea salt is a natural antiseptic.  Once it comes in contact with your skin it forms a barrier against harmful microorganisms. The skin is like a sponge and it draws in the beneficial properties of the sea salt and channels them through your body. A salt bath has the ability to re-balance the body's PH. After strenuous exercise or activity, the body sometimes tends to build up acid in the muscles causing soreness.  A simple bath in sea salt strongly reduces the acid as the salt soaks into the skin. Sea salt has the power to fight off disease and heal skin infections.  So before you go to the store and spend a lot of money on expensive creams or oral medications, try soaking in sea salt! 

Types of Sea Salt

• Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
• Dead Sea Salt
• Celtic Sea Salt
• Sulfur Sea Salt
• Atlantic Sea Salt

The salts listed above are just a few of the many different types of Sea Salt. Heidi's Artisan Soap has added Pink Himalayan and Dead Sea Salts to its product line.  The Pink Himalayan will be scented with Lavender essential oil, while the Dead Sea Salts with will scented with a Eucalyptus Mint essential oil. I am so excited about this product! My soaps are so wonderful for your skin, and the Sea Salts are just another "little bit of luxury" that can be added to your bath time! Just using these salts once a week is sufficient to give you the benefits of the sea salt.  These in combination with my soaps will improve your skin tremendously.  You will definitely notice a difference. :-)

Soleseife Soap

Soleseife Soap is a new product of mine also.  It is a a German soap that is made with a Sea Salt brine. This soap has the same added benefits of a salt bath, but it is in a soap form.  It has also been called a "Brine" soap.  This one is not available until June 12th because it is still curing. I cannot wait for it to be ready! Your skin is your biggest organ, and the research I have been doing on the benefits of Sea Salt for your skin has me very excited.  I hope you will give these two new products a try.  www.heidisartisansoap.com

My Summer Soaps!

Every season I try to have a few soaps that represent that particular time.  Right now, obviously, I am working on my "Summer Soaps".  I have three that I think will represent the season just lovely!

Lemon Delight

This soap is wonderful!  It has the essential oil of Lemongrass.  The smell is very uplifting, and if you love the smell of lemon, you will adore this soap.  I have blended French Green Clay into it.  The clay helps draw out impurities.  It is a natural absorbent and it acts like a sponge as it cleans away dirt and oil.  This is an awesome soap for the sweaty, hot, summer days of being outside.  Having been working in the garden, getting your daily run in, coming home from a hot and sweaty ball game........this soap is what you need to clean away the grime from those long, hot summer days.

Honey Almond Oatmeal

This is one of my newer soaps that I just recently released.  The three ingredients that make this soap so amazing for your skin.....honey, sweet almond oil, and oatmeal. Honey is known as a natural cleanser and it exfoliates your skin and leaves it glowing. Honey is also knows to reduce scarring and is a great moisturizer.  Sweet Almond oil is also an amazing moisturizer for the skin.  It has also been known to have a calming effect on people with skin allergies and inflammation. Lastly, oatmeal.....ahhhhhh, who doesn't love oatmeal? I have ground raw oats into a powder before I add it to the oils.  There is a bit of texture to the soap, but it is NOT abrasive at all. The oatmeal you see on the top is for decoration. I think everyone probably knows that oats are great for the skin one way or another! Egyptians and Arabians had oats in their skincare as far back as 2000 BC to beautify their skin. Greeks and Romans took oat baths for skin healing ailments.  We still do that also I believe. It acts as a natural moisturizer by removing dead skin cells. It contains beta-glucan that forms a fine film on your skin as well as penetrates deep into the skin to help retain moisture.  So after all that how can you go wrong with this bar?! The summer days of bug bites, skin irritations, and just the need to revitalize your skin from the days spent outside....grab this bar! You will love it! I know I do.  Oh...and the smell....wow.  There are no essential oils used to make this smell good.  It is all in the honey and oats....it is really amazing!

Summer Days

Those of you reading this are actually getting a sneak peak at this soap!  I have not yet released it or shown any pictures of it.  It is still in the curing room for another couple weeks, but it will definitely be worth the wait!  The combination of oils that I used worked surprisingly wonderful! The two I used cannot get anymore summery...is that a word? It is now! The ones I used are Lime and Citronella! I cannot keep my nose away from this one. To begin with....Citronella.  I love this smell! I believe everyone knows that is repels insects, but did you know that it also acts as an antiseptic and anti-microbial? It helps skin tone and tightens up pores also! So when you are out enjoying the summer evenings and smelling your citronella candle burning, you can now think of citronella in a different way, it's also good for the skin! Next.....Lime Oil.  I bet you didn't know that Lime Oil was good for your skin.  I didn't until I started doing research on the uses and benefits of it.  It is used as an antiseptic, anti-viral, astringent, and aperitif.  I know, you are asking...what the heck is an aperitif? The smell of lime makes the mouth water. It serves as an appetizer or aperitif. It also activates the secretion of digestive juices before you start eating and increases your hunger and appetite.  I know exactly what that all means.....you just have to smell this soap and you get it! I don't think I have to mention why this is a great summer soap.  Like I said...it will be available in a couple weeks!

I want to wish everyone a wonderful and happy summer.  Use it to re energize after our LONG and dreary winter.  My advice is to purchase my summer soap to help your long summer days start and end with a reminder that summer is finally here!!

www.heidisartisansoap.com

            LAVENDER

The scent of Lavender has to be one of my favorite smells.  Lavender has been said to help promote relaxation and sleep.  I have actually placed Lavender drops on my pillow at night and truly believe it does help promote sleep. Four or five drops on my pillow, I put on my headphones, turn on relaxation music and off to sleep I go!  I have also put it on my temples when I have a migraine.  This also seemed to help.  I've always wanted to grow my own lavender.  This may just be the year I do it!

Lavender is also used in many skin care products.  I use it quite often in many of my products at Heidi's Artisan Soap.  I use it in a couple different soaps, in one of my body butters, and in one of my scrubs. I am currently working on a face serum that will include it. Lavender is said to have anti-inflammatory properties and helps with evening skin tone and calming sensitive skin. You can never go wrong with this scent! It is great for all types of skin types. It is known to help a variety of skin conditions such as acne, sunburns, rashes, bug bites and eczema. When Lavender is inhaled the oil molecules go to the olfactory system to a gland in the brain called the amygdala.  Since smell is the only way to stimulate this gland, lavender can play a big role in reducing stress and insomnia.

Lavender oil is made by steam-distillation via a closed distiller. Steam is gently forced through a mass of lavender flowers, dissolving the oil glands on the calyx of the flowers and attaching the oil particles to the steam. The steam is then cooled by a condenser that returns the steam and attached oil to a liquid. The liquid is then passed through a separator that separates the oil, which floats on top of the water. The water from the distillation which lies below the oil is called "hydrosol", and this is the only way to create pure lavender essential oil. "Answers.com"

So next time you are stressed, can't sleep, or just need to relax, try some Lavender essential oil!  Better yet, go to www.heidisartisansoap.com and order a product that contains Lavender.  You won't be sorry!

What is a Subscription Box??

The newest and trendiest way to get goods delivered to your door is "box subscriptions". It started with Birch Box and now there are many boxes out there for anything you can think of.  The three main reasons the subscription trend is on the rise is convenience, affordability, and it's exciting!

So, Heidi's Artisan Soap decided to create a sister company called Sudsy Box.  Every other month a box of three different soaps is automatically delivered to your door with a small gift included.  The soap will be geared towards the season as much as possible.  Sudsy Box would also be a great gift idea.  The gift that keeps giving all year long!  If you are slow on using soap, use your left overs for gifts or thank yous.  If you are like me, I go through about two bars a month so three every other month would work out well.  It's so easy to subscribe.  Just go to www.sudsybox.com, pick a subscription, and wait for it to be delivered to your door! In most of the other subscription boxes, samples are the only product in the box.  In Sudsy box the bars of soap are full sized 4 oz. bars.  You can go to www.heidisartisansoap.com and look at the quality of soap you will be getting.  They are all luxurious bars that pamper your skin every time you use them. As our logo says...."Everyone deserves a little box of luxury".  Seriously, we do!

On another note........

I want to let everyone know some of the things that Heidi's Artisan Soap is doing.  When we got into this, we wanted to make sure that we gave back somehow.  We definitely feel blessed with the way this business has taken off.  We are partnering with Open Arms Missions and will be supplying soap to their clients and to a senior home that they are affiliated with.  An organization called Clean the World is about getting soap to third world countries.  We will occasionally be sending soap to them also.  I truly love being able to make a difference with this business.   I also love knowing that I am making people happy with my products.  :-)

I want to thank all my friends and family who have "put the word out" about Heidi's Artisan Soap.  You guys know who you are and you were a huge success to the jump start of this business.  With my three kids all leaving the nest very soon, this has been a literal God send to me.  I knew I had to figure something out because my staying at home for the kids days were coming to a quick end, and I had to find something to do with my energy and time.  I am having a blast with it and only hope it continues to grow and be successful!

Summer Skincare

Believe it or not, one day it will be warm, our shorts will be on along with our tank tops, t-shirts and flip flops! Why not get ahead of the game and get yourself into tip top condition before we expose our wonderful skin? Every single one of my products contains large amounts of shea butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. Most products bought over the counter at stores claim to have shea butter in them, but the amount is usually pretty minimal. I use ALOT of shea butter!  That is the reason my soaps make your skin feel like no other soap you have ever used before. Start by moisturizing your body in the shower or tub with my moisturizing soap, and follow up with my luxurious Orange Bliss body butter. Of course I am naturally going to tell you that my products are wonderful, so I am going to back that up by explaining how wonderful shea butter, coconut oil, and olive oil are for your skin and the benefits of using them.

The fat of the nut from the African Shea tree is the source of shea butter. The traditional use of shea butter is to reduce fine lines, stretch marks, and scars. It also eases a variety of skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and sunburn. It melts on contact with the skin and is readily absorbed without leaving greasy residue. Shea butter has many healing qualities along with containing anti-inflammatory properties.  It also contains vitamins A and E and contains the same antioxidants that are found in the green tea plant.  Shea butter is excellent for dry weather skin care and after care when exposing your skin to the sun all day.

It seems we are hearing more and more and coconut oil these days.  You hear to feed it to your pets, cook with it, swish it in your mouth, take as a supplement,use as a massage oil, cure yeast infections, cure cradle cap on babies, improves insulin levels, and the list goes on and on and on. I will talk about the benefits of using it on your skin. Coconut oil is extremely moisturizing,  It naturally cleans away dirt and oil and even has some antibacterial properties. It soothes bug bites, helps with rashes, gets rid of dead and flaking skin, protects against sun damage, and helps keep tans longer. It sinks in deep and and conditions the skin.

Olive oil is known as "liquid gold".  It is the main ingredient in all my soaps and is used in all of my scrubs and body butters. The Egyptian, Greeks, and Romans used to use it an an anti-aging remedy.  The also used it to treat wounds and moisturize dry skin,  There were wars fought over Sicily motivated by the olive plantations. It penetrates into the skin deeply without clogging your pores. I use olive oil in my sea salt scrubs.  The sea salt exfoliates dry, dead skin cells and the olive oil deeply penetrates your skin and leaves it refreshed and glowing.

So it's time to decide what products you want to use on your skin. Always remember, what goes on your body, also goes in. I will never go back to the detergent bars that are sold in stores. There is such a huge difference in the way your skin feels when using natural products vs. store bought. One last thing I wanted to mention.  I will not be shipping my scrubs, lotion products or body butters after mid April.  The reason is because of the delicate butters and oils I use, they will melt in warm weather during shipping. I can still ship my soaps though!  I will still have them for local customers that I do not have to ship to. So......if you want to have Heidi's Artisan Soap butters, scrubs, and lotion bars for the summer and it requires that I ship them to you, get your orders in now and stock up for the warm months that are ahead and don't be without these moisturizing, skin healing products this summer! www.heidisartisansoap.com is where to get them!

Getting to Know My Products..........

All of my products have short descriptions about each one on my website www.heidisartisansoap.com.  I would like to go a little further with each one and explain why you might like or need anyone in particular.  So, I will start with:

Lavender Dreams - This is by far one of my favorite bars. You will find this one in my shower at all times! If I had a "spa" line, this one would be right at the top. It is so sudsy and creamy I feel truly pampered after I use it.  It has lavender flowers throughout the bar, but it is NOT an exfoliant bar at all. I also scatter lavender flowers on top of the bar right after I make it which add to the fabulous lavender scent the bar has. This bar is for those days where pampering is definitely needed! (Which I think we all deserve everyday!)

Rosemary Peppermint w/Green Tea - This bar has a light exfoliant texture to it that is made with the green tea leaves.  The uplifting scent is great for day or night.  Even though is does have a slight exfoliant texture, this bar is also very sudsy and creamy.  It has a very organic smell with equal notes of Rosemary and Peppermint.  

Orange Mocha Espresso Bar - I LOVE the smell of this bar.  This one is a true exfoliant bar.  It is great to slough away dry skin. It is also very creamy and sudsy. The sweet orange essential oil combined with the cocoa butter makes this bar close to my nose every time I use it or am around it! It is very conditioning with the cocoa butter and shea butter.  I could almost call it a double butter bar. We keep this bar at our kitchen sink also.  The exfoliant in the bar is coffee!  My husband uses it after working in the garage, I use it after cutting onions or garlic and the after effect is super clean smelling hands! A great bar for the hubby after working or whatever he might be doing to make his hands grimy.  This bar cleans great.

Cedarwood Lavender - This bar has a very soft woodsy scent.  The lavender is a great combination with the Cedarwood.  I love the smell of this bar, but my husband and boys like it just as well. This is made with the same great oils and butters as my favorite Lavender Dreams. 

Lemon Delight - If you love the smell of lemon, you will go crazy about this bar.  It also has french green clay swirled throughout the bar.  French green clay is great for your skin.  It draws out impurities and leaves you feeling soft and clean. Because of the artisan nature of our hand made soaps, we are continually working to create different looks of our product.  This one may be a little different next time you order it!

Morning Mist - This soap is great for anytime!  Who doesn't love the smell of spearmint? This bar has the same great base recipe as my other soaps.  It is very creamy and sudsy but never leaves  your skin feeling dry.  Spearmint is known to help elevate moods.  So, why wouldn't you want to use this one every time you shower or even wash your hands?! When I walk downstairs to where all my soaps cure, this is usually the first scent I pick up when I come into the room they are all in.  Love this one!  As the bar above, this one may be a little different next time you order it!

Olive Oil Face Bar - This has been one of my best selling soaps over the past few weeks.  It is 72% olive oil.  It also contains French Green Clay. This bar leaves your face feeling fantastic. The olive oil is not greasy at all, but leaves your skin feeling extremely soft and moisturized.  The french green clay draws out impurities.  I have had several people claiming how much better their skin feels. This bar nourishes the skin along with cleaning it, but never dries or irritates the skin. Give it a try, you won't be sorry!

Pure Face and Body Bar - This is my most pure bar that I make.  The ingredients are 72% olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and castor oil.  It is unscented.  When I first made the bar I was going to use it as another face bar. I think that would be selling the bar short if I did that.  There are many people who don't like scented bars or can't use them on their skin for one reason or another.  Also, I wondered what in the world people use on babies now a days? There is not one ingredient in this bar that will harm or irritate your skin.  

I just wanted to thank all of you who have supported me.  It's only been two months and I am overwhelmed with the positive feedback and response I have received.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for Heidi's Artisan Soap!

FUNDRAISING with Heidi's Artisan Soap!

As a mother of 3 grown children who were all involved in some sport or activity, I can remember the endless requests for sign up fees, team fees, uniform fees, equipment costs, travel cost, etc, etc, etc!!!!

The cost and expense of our kids activities were staggering. (Don't even get me started on travel baseball!) I always wondered why not have a fundraiser for my child's costs? We were given the traditional, sell the candy or cash out and pay the team $50. Or better yet, go bug the poor local business for a sponsorship to help reduce your fees. (That poor business was probably so tired of the same plea for support....) Sometimes we were not even given the opportunity to do fundraising for the sign up fees and just had to write the check. There were so many sports seasons where I wondered where would we get the money??

So.... This is why we decided to set up a fundraising program for individuals at Heidi's Artisan Soap. We believe that this is an easy program and the products will sell themselves. Who doesn't need a bar of luxurious, hand crafted soap! Or a mini spa day at home with a Sea Salt Scrub followed by the silky finish of a lotion bar! Your son may be reading this over your shoulder and saying no way am I saying that! But you can just look at him and say, moms get it and they will want to buy this...

We make this easy to start and easy to sell. We will provide a customized full color product sheet that shows all of the soaps, lotions and scrubs as well as a brief description of each item. Just fill in the order form and collect the money. It is that easy! Once we receive the order back from you, we will make the product and have it back to you in just a few weeks.

This is a great way to help reduce the costs and expenses of your children's activities. It works with sports fees, band fees, cheerleading fees, equipment costs, summer camps, youth group trips and the list goes on. 

It is our hope that we can provide a great program and great product that can help families lighten the load and reduce the financial stress of your child's activities.

Contact Heidi at heidisartisansoap@gmail.com or call her at 309-264-3660 for the 
details and to learn how easy it is to get started!

www.heidisartisansoap.com

www.facebook.com/heidisartisansoap

Why Bother With Hand Crafted Soap

The next time you are at a department store, grab a bar of  "soap" and take a look at the ingredients.  The reason you do not see the word soap very often is because it isn't really soap in the truest sense of the word. You may see the words beauty bar, moisturizing bar, etc., but soap doesn't really explain what commercial bars are made of.  The reason for this is because when they make the bar, it is chemically processed and they take out the glycerin.  Glycerin is part of the good stuff in the soap.  While the soap is going through the saponification stage,they remove the glycerin. Saponification is when the lye and the oils come together and a chemical reaction takes place, and that is what creates the soap! The glycerin is a profitable ingredient, and they sell it to companies to make moisturizers, and lotions.  Works out well for them because your skin is now dried out from the detergents from their bars of soap.  Now you are searching for a moisturizer that is needed to put the hydration back into your skin that was stripped by the detergent bar!

These bars are not good for you or for the environment. They contain synthetic lathering ingredients, and a bunch of chemicals we can't even pronounce.  Always remember that what goes on your skin is absorbed into your body,  In the antibacterial liquids there is a chemical called Triclosan. It is a chemical that is toxic and known to cause cancer.....really?

How is that different than handcrafted soaps? The ingredients used is most hand crafted soaps are natural and safe. Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Castor Oil.........those are the ingredients used in my soaps. Handcrafted soaps are naturally, high in oils and butters and create glycerin as a natural by-product. You can't get much more natural than that!  There are no chemical preservatives or colors. We use cold process to make our soaps.  There are a couple other ways such as melt and pour along with hot processed.  Cold processed takes longer, but hands down, makes the highest quality bar of soap!

So, I hope the next time you are in the grocery or department store you will walk right by the "detergent" bars and come home, go to www.heidisartisansoap.com and order your "real" soap! I promise you will not be sorry!


Heidi

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ACTUALLY DOING THIS!!

After being a stay at home Mom for nearly 26 years and on the brink of being an empty nester very soon, I had been trying to decide what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Over the past year I have been buying my soap from hand made soap makers. The reason for this is I know that whatever goes on your skin, goes in. Soaps bought in stores are basically detergent bars that are chemically enhanced. 

So I thought, "Why can't I do this?" And here I am at Heidi's Artisan Soap having fun making soap and lotion bars. All of my soaps and lotion bars are made with 100% natural ingredients like olive oil, cocoa butter, coconut oil and shea butter. I will NEVER use any artificial coloring or fragrances in my product. Our products are Vegan Friendly and Gluten Free! Any products of mine that are used on your skin will do nothing but nourish and moisturize. 

So... Let me be your soap provider. I promise you will not be sorry!