I think most of the world completely underestimates the potential of good soap. Lately I have become addicted to the stuff. Such a small thing can impact your life in great ways. Firstly there is the experience of smell, which has the power to make you to travel instantly to distant places, take a trip through a damp forest (cedar), or walking over a wild mint patch, or maybe through an olive grove. Sometimes the smell of a certain kind of soap will hook a memory so strong you actually travel back in time. One wiff of ivory and I am washing my face in my grandmother's bathroom, (my sister always described the smell of her house as a mixture of ivory and carrots). But there is also the texture of soap that makes it so enticing, how it feels in your hand, how it feels when lathered on your face. I have been experimenting with using different kinds of soap depending on my mood. Carrot soap when I'm happy, milk & honey when I'm needing comfort, citrus when I need to wake up. How different the world might be if there was really good soap in every restroom! Maybe people would stop for a moment to enjoy the smells, or ponder a happy memory. Maybe they would take more time for themselves and be less inclined to rush onto the next task. I always get excited when I go into a restroom and find some little unexpected treat, like hand lotion, fruity soap, or free tampons. I take my time, use my nose, and pamper myself. Little reminders like that can really make your day better.
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Another interview with yours truly, written by the talented Kathy Cano-Murillo.
In love soap! I have lately taken to old fashioned LUX mild soap.
Posted by: budderfly on May 13, 2004 10:41 PMOh, yes, good soap!
One of the things few of my friends and relatives understand is how different the bar of hard-milled, herbal-scented, REAL soap is from the stuff that comes in packs of eight at the local warehouse club.
Good soap is one of the few real luxuries I indulge in. Right now, I'm loving soaps by a company called Mistral that I found in a boutique shop - there are some that have bits of lavender right in them, and there's a sandalwood/hazelnut one that I just love.
someday I hope to have the time to learn to make handmade soap.
Posted by: fillyjonk on April 28, 2004 11:20 AMI am addicted to soap. I probably have taken it too far because I buy soap from all over the internet. I just can not get enough of it. You are right, there is just something about a good bar of soap.
I happen to love soaps from the following places the most
www.yodelingfish.com
www.lush.com
www.rustic-handmade-soap.com
for christmas I bought my friend some stuff that was red and green and smelled like christmas.. i liked it so much I bought a bar for myself and I'm jewish.. somehow chicken soup soap doesnst sound that appealing.
oh yeah and brown sugar soap...mmm yummy!
Posted by: Lori on April 21, 2004 05:51 PMLast night as I was walking down the aisles at Trader Joe's, the soaps caught my eye (having read your blog earlier in the day) and therefore caught my nose! It was so hard to choose! I settled on a fresh orange-camomile soap that was just Awesome to use after my morning run today! It's amazing the pleasure that spending just $2.39 can give you when spent strategically! Your suggestions & journal entries increase my enjoyment of life, Keri - thanks! Your recent vacation seemed SO long (I missed your entries!), but hopefully that was Very Restorative for you. May you have a sweet, carrot soap-smelling day! :)
Posted by: Carole on April 20, 2004 12:59 PMThe soaps all sound so nice! "Kiss My Face" makes a yummy liquid peach-scented soap. Perhaps I shall take up soap collecting.
I must ask - how do you store all of these open bars of soap?
My grandmother's house smelled like mentholatum and lavender soap; that's the smell I always associate with her.
Posted by: Vicki on April 19, 2004 03:37 PMOoooh, it's always so nice to hear good things about handmade soap. I feel the same way when I go into a really really nice bathroom. It's like the store owners are giving you a little hug. The quilt store near me has a bathroom to die for. It's done in tropical colors and has splashy panels adoring every surface.
I became a soapmaker about 6 years ago and have never found another craft that resonates with me as much as soaping.
Always a joy to read your journal,
Tina
http://www.fishdreamdesigns.com (my handmade soaps site).
Steph have you tried goatsmilk soap? Very good for ezema so might be good for sensitive skins too.
I LOVE good soap - current favourites are from Arran Aromatics which make a geranium soap and oranage/geranium made by Neals Yard. Currently got Lavender oh la la on the go from Lush.
I remember my grandmothers house smelling of ivory....and cigarette smoke.
Great idea on having multiple soaps at your disposal. Now we need to invent a way to store them in the shower...
Posted by: pinky on April 18, 2004 01:10 PMMy new favourite soap is from the Rocky Mountain Soap co. based in Canmore, Alberta. It's fun going to the store and trying to decide which one I should try next! Right now I'm delighting in "Mountain Air."
Posted by: arm on April 17, 2004 09:29 PMJust wanted to share two companies that make WONDERFUL soaps: www.limestonecreekherbals.com and www.enchantedarts.com
Enjoy!!!
Sue
A timely post - I have just bought some gorgeous soap from Lush. http://www.lush.com/cgi-bin/lushdb/catzoom?mv_arg=Soap%20Cut%20Off%20The%20Block It really is such a divine smell in there! I feel sorry for you, Steph, I really do! Maybe it's worth buying those big blocks of soap just to have a beautiful smell in your bathroom while you wash...
Posted by: Loody on April 17, 2004 02:31 PMSay yes to soap.
I recently had an unusually rich and satisfying dental hygiene experience with, y'know, just ordinary toothpaste and bristles and mintiness as I scubbed them eatin' bones all nice and clean. I know that it's possible to get another couple of flavours of toothpaste, but it's still a bit limited- not to say culturally hidebound- (isn't Indian toothpaste typically, um, fennel-flavoured or something?) My point being that I was in the mood for mint whilst massaging the molars that day. Who's to say another day might have been fenugreek day? Or garlic? (hem-hem). Or tea? Ah... tea. Better than soap? (Well, yes, to drink. Haven't tried washing with it yet...)I'm off down the plughole again. Ta for the cheery soap thoughts everyone.
Oh, I'm jealous of you all! My skin is so sensitive that it can't tolerate anything that smells pretty. I long for clunky, homemade bars of soap! Instead, I have dye-free, scent-free, sensitive skin formulated liquid soap. (Blah.) So please enjoy your soaps for me, too, Keri!
Posted by: Steph on April 16, 2004 08:53 PMOh, how true! The wonderful luxury of scents, textures, and skin joy!
I recently returned from a 5-day retreat, where I didn't have as much time to bathe as I might wish.
My friend's house, where I spent the night before I returned home, has a '40s vintage bathroom... not a lot of water pressure, but plenty of hot water. Her 18-year-old granddaughter lives with her, and the tub had a built-in seat that was covered with neatly arranged bottles of various shampoos, conditioners, skin cleansers and scrubs.
I used small dabs of maybe 5 different products I had never tried before: a facial cleanser, a fruity shampoo, a rich leave-in conditioner, a body scrub with tiny little scrubbie pellets that sloughed your skin.
I emerged glowing, freshly ready to face the world. It was a spiritual cleansing as well as a physical one.
Thanks, Keri, for bringing that memory back.
E
My seven year old daughter and I just picked up a wonderful peach soap at the One of a Kind Craft Show and we actually get excited in the morning that we will get to wash our faces and smell like summer, if for but a moment. We even bought the peach lotion so that we can carry the smell with us throughout the day on our hands!
Posted by: Helena on April 16, 2004 04:43 PMI used to be addicted to sandelwood soap. I should urgently find it again somewhere. But this is the first time in my life I hear of carrot soap, seems odd. It's funny, but I actually drew a bar of soap on my last drawing. I posted only a detail of the drawing on my blog, because it's not published yet. Unfortunatelly the soap is not included in the detail :-)
Posted by: eliane on April 16, 2004 04:41 PM