Category: updates

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Now Selling Essential Oils

Many of you have asked the last few years why we don’t sell essential oils. We buy them in bulk for the stuff we make here, and it only makes sense that we would sell them as well.

We are pleased to announce that we are about to do just that. At this time we are putting the finishing touches on labels. We will shortly have product listed for sale and will post an update at that time.

Here is the preliminary list of Essential Oils that will be offered. Most will come in a ½ ounce (15 mL) size. Some of the rarer oils may be offered only in a smaller size.

  • Allspice Leaf
  • Amyris
  • Angelica Root
  • Anise Star
  • Aniseed
  • Basil
  • Bay Laurel – Laurus nobilis
  • Bay Rum – Pimenta racemosa (West Indian Bay Leaf)
  • Benzoin (resinoid)
  • Bergamot
  • Bergamot – Bergaptene Free
  • Bitter Almond
  • Black Pepper
  • Cade – Juniperus oxycedrus
  • Calamus Root
  • Camphor
  • Carrot Seed
  • Cassia
  • Cedarwood – Atlas (Cedrus atlantica)
  • Cedarwood – Chinese (Cupressus funebris)
  • Cedarwood – Himalayan (Cedrus deodora)
  • Cedarwood – Texas (Juniperus mexicana)
  • Cedarwood – Virginiana (Juniperus virginiana)
  • Celery Seed
  • Chamomile – German
  • Cinnamon Bark
  • Cinnamon Leaf
  • Cistus
  • Citronella – Ceylon
  • Citronella – Java
  • Clary Sage
  • Clove Bud
  • Clove Leaf
  • Coffee – Green
  • Coffee – Roasted
  • Copaiba Balsam
  • Coriander Seed
  • Cypress
  • Cypriol – aka Nagarmotha
  • Dill Seed
  • Elemi
  • Eucalyptus – Blue Mallee
  • Eucalyptus – Citriodora
  • Eucalyptus – Dives
  • Eucalyptus – Globulus
  • Eucalyptus – Radiata
  • Frankincense
  • Garlic
  • Geranium – Bourbon
  • Geranium – Egyptian
  • Ginger Grass
  • Ginger Root
  • Grapefruit – Pink
  • Grapefruit – White
  • Ho Wood
  • Jamarosa Root – Cymbopogon nardus
  • Juniper Berry
  • Labdanum
  • Lavandin
  • Lavender – Bulgarian, organic
  • Lemongrass
  • Lemon
  • Lime – (Key Lime)
  • Litsea Cubeba
  • Mandarin
  • Myrrh
  • Myrtle
  • Niaouli – Melaleuca quinquenervia
  • Orange Bitter
  • Orange – Blood Orange
  • Orange Sweet
  • Palmarosa
  • Parsley Seed
  • Patchouli – Dark
  • Patchouli – Light
  • Pennyroyal
  • Peppermint – Japanese (Mentha arvensis)
  • Peppermint – Supreme (Mentha piperita)
  • Petitgrain
  • Pine Scotch
  • Ravensara
  • Rosemary
  • Rosewood
  • Sage (Dalmatian)
  • Sandalwood
  • Siberian Fir Needle
  • Spearmint
  • Spinach Leaf
  • Sugandh Kokila
  • Tangerine
  • Tea Tree
  • Tea Tree – Cajeput
  • Tea Tree – Lemon (Leptospermum petersonii)
  • Thyme – Red
  • Tuberose – (nature identical)
  • Turmeric
  • Vanilla – (10 fold oleoresin)
  • Vetiver
  • Wintergreen
  • Ylang

This is a preliminary list and may be modified as we proceed.
2021-01-29 — 03:20

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Lotions – More – 29 Nov 2020

Here are the latest updates for Lotions now available for sale…

Lotion No. 11a is made with macadamia nut, hempseed, and jojoba oils, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin. Scented with Musk Rose, which smells clean and fresh.

Lotion No. 12a is made with fractionated coconut oil, monoi butter, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, and BTMS. Scent is provided by the Monoi butter, which is derived from a tropical flower similar to plumeria or gardenia.

Lotion No. 13a is made with fractionated coconut and tamanu oils, isopropyl myristate, olive squalane, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin. Scented with rosemary. The tamanu oil itself has a clean earthy smell.

The Tamanu oil, used in No. 13a,  is reputed to have special healing qualities, as does olive squalane. That said, all of the oils we use are renowned for being especially skin friendly.

Lotion No. 14a is made with walnut, olive, and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, emulsifying wax, and allantoin. Scented with Rockrose (Cistus essential oil).

  • Vitamin E and a minimal amount of preservative/germicide is added to all our lotions.
  • All have a medium consistency, neither thin nor thick.
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Lotion Update – 18 Nov 2020

Now available for sale is Lotion No. 10a which is made with meadowfoam, mineral, and jojoba oils, isopropyl myristate, stearic acid, BTMS, and allantoin (see link below). We add vitamin E and a minimal amount of preservative to all our lotions.

This batch is lightly scented with litsea cubeba, which is a refreshing, rejuvenating essential oil with a lemony aroma. We will have unscented lotions available as well.

No. 10a is a moderately thick* lotion. It absorbs moderately quick and leaves a soft powdery feel. Hands stay comfortable even after washing.

*Update – 29 Nov 2020: I would no longer classify this lotion as thick. Like all of the lotions we have made recently this one is about right in the middle, neither thick nor thin. – John

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Balm No.3 Now Available!

I am not calling it a night until I finally get our Balm No.3 listed on the website. We purposely chose to not just call it Lip Balm because even though it is great on lips it is simply an all around great balm for anywhere.

It is made with shea butter, macadamia nut oil, beeswax, and jojoba with a few drops of vitamin E. As I have said here before, I usually put a few drops of essential oil in each batch too. Last time I used Lemon and Bergamot. I always say I am probably not going to add the essential oils again in the next batch, and then each time at least one or two people tell me they like that I scent or “flavor” them.

A young friend of mine called me a couple days ago to say that she had received one of our Balms in her Christmas stocking. She is a lip balm aficionada, she said, and this balm was fabulous. The best ever. Her favorite lip balm before this had been an expensive one made by some company in New York, and she was almost out. I love hearing stuff like this, that people really can tell the difference when choice ingredients are used.

Anyway, the point of all this is that I am done testing these. They are poured in a ‘large’ tube that is 3-4 times the size of a regular lip balm. It holds about one half ounce. You may look for them on the site anytime after tonight. At $4.99 each they are a bargain… even if the labels still look kind of homemade.

John

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Alma-Clean in Square Bottles – Wow!

Square Bottles – Wow! – Yes, that’s meant to be humor.

We had such good sales of Alma-Clean this season that we ran through all one hundred of our 8 fluid ounce round bottles. Admittedly, that is a good problem to have. We had another hundred square bottles however, so we modified our labels to work on them until we get more round bottles in-stock. Same stuff, same size, just a different bottle. I can’t imagine anyone really cares one way or the other, but if you do have a preference I would be curious to know.

We did take the opportunity to note on the side of the “new” label that Alma-Clean is great for freshening scarves and knit caps – just a capful in a sink of cool water is all it takes. Soak, rinse, and hang to dry.

I love winter because I get to wear all the nice scarves I have, but they inevitably need a good freshening, even for a soapman.

Thank you all for your business this year!

John, still in Minnesota

Oh, and yes, I take all the photos here, including the bad staging. You are all kind to never make fun of it… although you can if you want! I make fun of everything!

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Bath Salts Added to Store!

We now have Bath Salts listed on the website. I made a dozen versions or so in the beginning, testing regular sea salt, Dead Sea salt, and even Epsom salts. We finally settled on No.3, with Lavender oil, and that is what is listed. No.3 uses regular sea salt.

There is also a fresh batch made of our famous “Balm No.3” (the lip balm I make in the large tubes). Labeled for the first time, I still haven’t gotten it listed on the site yet. I never really knew what to sell it for so I usually just gave it as gifts. What makes it so good is that it’s made with shea butter, macadamia nut oil, beeswax, and jojoba, with a few drops of vitamin E. I usually put a few drops of essential oil in it too. This time I used some lemon and bergamot, although I may not add any at all next time.

I received some nice compliments recently regarding the lotions we continued to make through last year, and wondering if they were still available. They were excellent lotions, I thought, and a lot of research went into them. I never understood why they were not a bigger hit, except that I think lotion must be a pretty personal thing. Then again, you may be saying that this is the first you have heard of them. I’ll tell you more about them in a coming post, and need to get these too added to the website. Labels are now made.

All present orders should be filled and on their way by tomorrow and we will be caught up for the first time in a while. I have really appreciated the orders… Thank you. ❤️

More to come…
John

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Alma-Clean Now Offered in Thieves Blend!

When doing our original formulating and testing of Alma-Clean in 2018, our own Thieves blend (formula #4) was one of the original scents that went out. It tested well, but in the interest of keeping things simple I chose to offer Alma-Clean initially in two choices: Original Tea Tree, and Basil & Thyme. Both are about equally popular, even if most customers have a definite preference for one or the other.

While taking orders this season however I had some unexpected queries of, “What happened to the Thieves?” In truth I had some on the shelf that I had held back for special requests, and we had all the oils necessary to make more. So we generated a “Thieves Blend” label, got some bottled, and were pleased to fill these orders.

Alma-Clean Thieves Blend – has now officially been listed for sale as well. Ho ho ho!

Thank you for your business, and Merry Christmas!

John

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Holiday Update – 7 December 2019

Another Facebook post from last week…

I have a friend who stays constantly angry at me that I don’t keep my posts here up-to-date. And for good reason. It’s really bad manners!

I poured soaps again all day today. I continue to update the online store, post new inventory, and new images. Will start getting some backed up orders out next week too.

I have a new Peppermint soap with bentonite clay that is really cool. It’s gorgeous, and it smells great!

I got the scent worked out on the Hemp soap, so those bars are good to go. They really look cool, and they’re good soap.

Many of our bars are larger this year, and/or the prices have come down. I have kind of been going against the grain of what some believe is the trend and have actually been working on lowering our prices – not raising them.

I added a new bar to the line-up, Playful Plum. I hope you will like it. It’s a pretty bar. It’s colored with ground madder root, something that has been used for millennia to achieve a gorgeous burgundy color in fabrics. I try to mostly use natural colorants.

I worked on a special bar for an old friend to go along with his product line and the pour turned out to be a disaster – laugh! Will have to revisit that one.

We have continued to add regular customers for the Alma-Clean, our highly effective laundry booster and all natural disinfectant, and I am really thankful for that. We have plenty labeled and ready to go.

Oh, I made like 40-50 lbs of lavender bath salts too, although I haven’t gotten them posted to the site yet. I have been making them forever but thought there wasn’t any interest in them until recently. Almost no one bathes anymore!

Running late to be somewhere… as usual!
❤️

John