Tag Archives: Soap

A Special Day

So what does it take to make a wedding really special?

Let me tell you – it’s not the horse-drawn carriage, the Swarovski encrusted wedding bouquet or a 100+ guest ceremony. In case of my friends Anna and Joe it was the little things that made their day so incredibly memorable and heart warming. The ingredients included: friends that helped prepare the garden for an intimate party, family members that cooked the amazing wedding feast, Tuck the cat and Jack the dog, handmade prosecco coulis and delicious wedding favours. Take a look!

Wedding_Anna_Joe_3Wedding_Anna_Joe_1 Wedding_Anna_Joe_2Soap_Wedding_1Soap_Wedding_3 Soap_Wedding_2

Picture credits: (1)-(3) Caroline Mc Nally Photography; (4)-(6) Joseph Carr Photography

Soap Me Pretty Is Going To Market

If anyone thought Soap Me Pretty was taking it easy … far from it. We’ve been busy surviving the Irish heat wave and working on our appearances (well, we also played a little bit with our adorable pup who’s grown up to be a head-strong teenager now).

I am also excited to announce that Soap Me Pretty is going to market. Yeah! We are carrying our products across the road to the small and modest Ashbourne Crafts Fair in the GAA Club. For those of you who want to see us in action – please mark your calendars for Sunday, October 20. We’ll be there from 11am to 6pm.

In other news and relating to appearances: We have the first draft of our logo which will grace the website and our products eventually. Some tweaking is required but Austin has done a really great job. Take a look for yourself.

SMP logo 1All that’s now left to do is find proper wrapping paper, order shabby-chic tags, find jute strings (for the tags), figure out table arrangements and decoration for the crafts fair and yes… make some more great products. Autumn is just around the corner so some spicy fragrances will get us into the mood for – yikes – Christmas! Stay tuned. 🙂

The Downside of Perfection

Goats Soap

Perfection is a tricky business. Most of the time it’s a long road with the end destination not even in sight. I am pleased to tell you that Austin and I have finally managed to make perfect (yes, perfect!) soaps. No more panic attacks because the soap turns a strange colour or ceases unexpectedly. Instead, fluffy lightly traced mixtures that go through the gel phase like clockwork.

So what do you do once you’ve reached perfection? … You start missing the imperfections. You realise it’s the journey that counts not the final destination. The adrenaline rush surging through you when a soap goes off too quickly for example, or the anticipation which colour a soap will be after it cools down. Or the excitement mixing lye with coconut milk not knowing whether the mix will separate because you didn’t throw it into cold water fast enough. So I guess I have to raise the bar higher to get back my adventurous spirit.

With these words I’ll leave you with my beautiful goat’s milk soap recipe and some wise words on the wonders of goat’s milk in soap: It’s a fantastic soap for sensitive skin as it cleans and softens the skin without drying it out. The acids in goat’s milk help exfoliate the skin leaving new cells on the surface making your skin look smooth and healthy. And don’t get me started on the vitamins and minerals in goat’s milk. It’s just an overall brilliant product to use in soap!

Goat’s Milk Soap

400 gr. coconut oil
225 gr. sweet almond oil
100 gr. olive oil
270 gr. goat’s milk
80 gr. lye
fragrance oils (I applied a small amount of caramel and oatmeal fragrance)