Does it Lather?

That's a common question I get when people are checking out my booth. I think I need to set up a portable sink so I can give them the answer to their question with a demonstration, because look at this stuff!!

Sweet Lavender For Mother's Day

When I was a little girl, someone gifted me with a bar of Yardley's English Lavender soap. It was a special treasure that I kept in the box and savored before I finally brought it to the tub. Now I can make my own lavender soap anytime I want! Here's yesterday's new listing, a lavender bar that would make a sweet Mother's Day gift or a special treat for yourself.

Waiting is the hardest part

I've made four kinds of soap this weekend and if I could I'd list them all now!! But they must cure, so off they go to the curing shelves. I can, however, give you a sneak peek. For right now, here is my favorite of the four, a jasmine-scented pink soap with a bold black swirl.

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 lye it takes to saponify each unit of every type of fat a soap maker might use.

So what was that word, saponify? That is what happens when you mix a fat or oil with an alkali or 'base'.(lye is an alkali). As explained at Wikipedia: "The fats and the bases are hydrolyzed by water; the free glycerol heads bond with the free hydroxyl groups to form glycerin and the free sodium molecules bond with the fatty acid tails to form soap".

Huh? All that means is the chemical reaction breaks up all the molecules of the lye and oils, and they go back together in different formations. The newly formed substances are glycerin and soap. No soap can be made without an alkali like lye, and no lye is left in properly made soap - it has all been used up creating the soap and glycerin molecules.

So no, there is no lye in my soap. :)

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 Anne Bramson's book Soap. I was immediately fascinated with the idea of being able to make something so completely necessary and useful, and not being a fan of commercial bar soaps that stripped my sensitive skin, I was excited about making a soap I could actually use.

I walked over to the local grocery store. At that time, grocery chains still cut some of their own meat and the store had a tallow bin. I confused a couple of employees with my request for tallow, but eventually they got me to a butcher who knew what I meant and he reached into the freezer bin and pulled out a wrapped lump the size of a ten pound bag of sugar, and equally heavy. I lugged that thing home, and spent the next couple of days rendering it. Not the most pleasant task, to be sure, but the satisfaction of seeing the pot yield a clean, white disk of tallow was all the encouragement I needed to keep going.

Next chance I got, I set up my soap making assembly line and mixed the ingredients with my fingers crossed. I had no stick blender at the time, the book I had referred only to hand stirring, and the internet was not a common household name then; I was on my own. So I stirred, and stirred... eventually the mix came together into a creamy thick consistency and I added some cedar essential oil and a decoction of rosemary (It amazes me that even with my first batch, I jumped right in to scenting and adding botanicals!)then I poured it into a shoebox lined with plastic.

Little did I realize when I started this batch that I would end up with about 12lbs of soap!! But I still remember turning out that gorgeous, white block of soap... what a beauty it was, even with all its wrinkles and bumps... I was hooked.

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 effective for acne as bezoyl peroxide. I've added French Green Clay as it is traditionally used for acne-prone or oily skin. These bars will be available for purchase at my Etsy shop the end of April.

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.

Shea Butter Scrubs!

I decided to make another batch of shea butter scrubs to offer at my Etsy shop. Although they are not as long-lived as the cocoa butter recipe, I've been using one and it is so nice on my skin, I haven't had to apply any lotion after my shower. The shea sinks in so well and leaves my skin soft. I just couldn't keep them all to myself! This batch has lots of soothing oatmeal as well, so they are a creamy natural color instead of the bright swirls I've done on past scrub bars. I added Blackberry Sage fragrance, and it's the perfect sweet/tart/fresh scent, lingering lightly on my skin after I get dressed. Click on the photo to go get some - Enjoy!

The Soap Bar blogs about Savonara

Joanna of Product Body has published a lovely post about my soap at her blog, where she says some very nice things and shares a few photos of bars I did a while back. Thanks for the mention, Joanna, very kind of you. :)
I hope to cross paths with Joanna again soon as I will send a few soaps for review once they are cured.

Selfish Tinkering!

Well, in honor of spring and the March theme for the Etsy SoapDish street team, "green", I was playing around with green for my latest batch of cocoa butter scrub bars... except that, after all the other ingredients were measured out I realized... no cocoa butter!! Ack. So, rather than order more and wait, I subbed in some shea butter, knowing they'd be softer than normal but with an ulterior motive, considering how much my skin adores shea butter.... the stuff I buy is unrefined, free trade shea - creamy, thick and super active with good things my skin responds to with joy and comfort. Selfishly, I determined if they are too soft to put in my Etsy shop, I'll just have to keep them all, muwaaahaahaa!! No, I'll keep a couple and hand out the rest to friends, lol. If you made it this far reading all my evil musing, here is a meager photographic reward. Don't drool on the screen. I promise I will order some cocoa butter and make some pretty, yummy smelling scrub bars for my shop, really.

Blackberry Sage scented Shea Butter Scrub Bars

Please enjoy this gallery of previous batches. Find my current offerings at http://savonara.etsy.com

Come on over...

To our new Etsy shop, where you can see what is currently in stock and purchase your choice of items.

Savonara's Etsy Shop

Spring is sprung

A spring update for everyone: Big news in the Savonara family, we are blessed to be awaiting the summer arrival of a new baby!

We will likely either cut back or cut out the farmer's market this summer due to the new arrival, but not to worry, we will keep soap in stock that you may order directly from us. As always we are flexible in arranging delivery when possible or mail order if needed. Give us a call!

MidWinter Update

Soon it will be time to get back in the soap kitchen and make up wonderful fragrant batches of creamy bars in my new oversized molds! The new molds will enable me to make more soap in fewer batches.

I would love to hear from you about what your favorite scents are - this year I will be keeping about six basic scents in each of my two soap recipes. You can have a say in which scents get to stay and which will be dropped for this year. Just leave a comment here telling me what fragrances you and your family enjoy the most, or if you are calling to place an order, you can let me know then.

Enjoy this winter sunshine while it lasts & we will see you when the People's Mountain Market opens in June!

Take a look...

A pair of colorful soaps just for fun.

Island Splash, a brightly colored layered soap that smells fruity and tropical. Sold Out





Next, a soap that is truly one of a kind - yep, there's just one bar. Like mosaic tiles, each piece in the design is placed by hand to create a unique pattern. This is just one of eight different Mosaic Soaps you will see at our booth in the next few weeks. Sold Out

New from Savonara: Olive Oil Soaps!!

In response to customer interest in natural olive oil soaps, we are introducing a new line. These Castile-style soaps are made with a blend of olive and rice bran oils and will also incorporate herbs, essential oils, clays and botanicals. We have been enjoying this unique recipe for over a year but recently decided to share it with our market customers due to the demand for a naturally colored & scented soap that fits the vegetarian lifestyle. But you don't have to be vegetarian to enjoy the natural aromas and dense foamy lather of this rich, creamy soap!

Here are the first three offerings in our new Olive Oil Soap line:




From front to back: Lemongrass Mint, Lavender Tea Tree and Orange Clove.



*Update*
Wow, response to the new line is great, and at the moment Lavender Tea Tree is sold out, with Orange Clove going fast... don't worry, we are making more! New scent blends are in the works as well, so check back now & then to see what new Olive Oil soaps are curing!

Announcing...

Savonara handmade soaps are now available at the Lotus Art Studio in Lotus, Ca. If you can't make it to the farmer's market in Garden Valley for our soap, please stop in and choose from the variety of bars that the Studio carries. At the moment you will find my regular line of soaps there, but in the near future you will be treated to an exclusive line of bars made only for the Studio with design & scent combinations you will not find anywhere else.

While you are there, check out what new owner Betty Norvell has done with the place - amazing! and well worth the stop. The Studio is becoming a valuable resource in our community, offering not only art and beautiful things to enhance your well-being, now there are yoga, bellydancing and drama classes going on!! The Lotus Art Studio is located on Highway 49 in Lotus, pull in at the pizza place and stay left down to the two story green building on your right.

Farmer's Market Schedule

Hey everyone,
it was so nice to get back out to the market and see all the familiar faces! We'll be attending the market twice a month whenever possible this summer. Once we come back from vacation at the end of the month, we'll be back on track. We will post any changes to the schedule if needed.
See you July 1st!!

August will see us at the market on the 5th and the 19th of the month. Hope you can make it!

September schedule as follows:

Sept. 02
Sept. 30
Oct. 7 not definite yet

Summertime Soaps (sorry these soaps are all sold out!)

Lemongrass Mint, a castile bar with the fresh uplifting fragrance of mint brightened with a touch of lemongrass.






Blackberry Sage, a popular fruity scent with a brisk hint of sage – an irresistible combination! ***sold out***






Herbal Garden – a fresh, herbal scent a lot like the old style herbal shampoo, very unisex & soapy clean.






Pink Grapefruit, a castile bar with energizing grapefruit citrus in a three-color pink swirl. ***sold out***






Lavender, the pure classic scent in a modern color combination that incorporates a chocolate brown sphere against cream and lavender layers. ***sold out***





Just One – a very accurate dupe of a certain cologne by Calvin Klein, unisex, fresh, with a wisp of citrus. ***sold out***






Cucumber - a crisp, sweet refreshing fragrance - surprisingly enticing.

More soaps *update* sorry these are all sold out!

Tannenbaum - perfect Christmas tree scent; sweet, crisp and strong.
***sorry, sold out***


Lavender Chamomile, a soft relaxing blend in an elegant white-on-cream swirl. * Sorry, sold out!*



Pepperberry, a fruity berry fragrance ***sorry, sold out***





Plum Spice, a lightly spiced fruity scent in pale purple with a creamy white swirl ***sorry, sold out***



Clean - a fresh linen scent with a lemony hint.


Oatmeal, Milk and Honey fragrance - a soft sweet scent similar to baby oil, rich and creamy. *Sorry, Sold out!*



Chrysanthemum - an autumn fragrance reminiscent of fallen leaves and crisp November air. ***sorry, sold out***



Patchouli, the classic earthy fragrance. ***sorry, sold out***



Apple Jack & Peel type, the ultimate winter fragrance of apples, cinnamon, clove and a hint of citrus.
Only a few remaining, will be gone soon!


Bayberry, an old-fashioned holiday fragrace - deep, warm and comforting.




Lavender - just the pure scent of lavender, simply perfect. *Sorry, Sold Out!*



Amber - a feminine powdery fragrance, warm and rich *Sorry, Sold Out!*



Blue Moon, a berry blend with a smooth note of patchouli. ***sorry, sold out***


Bouquet - a soft floral blend that combines green herbal notes with a hint of lavender




Sierra Gold - an incense-like fragrance *Sorry, Sold Out!*



Sandalwood, earthy woodsy scent popular with men and women alike ***sorry, sold out***




Other soaps available but not pictured are:



Oat n Honey ( an unscented castile style bar, has a light sweet carmel-like fragrance from the honey, tan with oats sprinkled on top)






Check this out - if you haven't tried the improved version of my Glow Bars yet, you are in for a treat!!

Get Your Glow On! Exfoliating skin conditioner bars, a solid scrub with a cocoa butter base to leave your skin smooth and softly fragranced. A unique and convenient product that combines two steps in one. Priced at $3.75 each or three for $10.20

Below is an example of the appearance of my Glow bars, in stock bars vary. Currently in stock:

Lavender - classic scent, pink swirl on white bar
Cucumber - fresh strong and sweet fragrance, pale green bar



Lotion Bars

Convenient moisturizing for dry fingertips, elbows, heels and anywhere else that needs the touch of nourishing cocoa and shea butters, these lotion bars deliver soothing relief for dry areas, in a clear pushup tube. $3.75 ea.
Scents currently in stock:

*Sorry, sold out for now - new batches in the works so check in & see what pops up!