Soap and Washcloth in One!

Look at what my soapmaking Friend Cheryl sent me!  These are felted soaps.  They are like a soap and a washcloth in one.  I have just discovered these recently.  And now I must learn to make them.  They are lovely soaps, surrounded with something called roving wool.  As you lather the soaps, the wool tightens around the soap.  It shrinks down as the soap get's smaller.  

I had a very hard time getting myself to use one.  But since that is actually a pet peeve of mine (When people won't use my soap, because it is too pretty.)  So I got brave and am using it. It is lovely.  The wool is soft, and feels like a washcloth.  And the lather is creamy and smooth.  

I hear the soap will last longer wrapped in wool.  And I am told that the wool is naturally anti-microbial, or something else like that.  I need to do more research.  But I can say I love using them.  They gently exfoliate and leave my skin smooth and clean.  

I must learn to do this, after the holidays!

Spooky Fun Soaps

This Halloween I wanted to make some fun and spooky soaps.  I have a little mold that I think may be normally used for making chocolates into little skull shaped candies.  But of course I thought it would be great as a tiny soap mold.

The Macabre Midnight skull soap smells very yummy.  The fragrance is black current with white tea, and an enchanting floral overtone.  The soap is much prettier in person, colored a deep purple with soft black swirling. These happy smiling skulls can decorate your sink, and then after Halloween, you still have a lovely soap to use for the fall.

I wanted to make something really special that I thought my grandkids would really like.  And what kid doesn't like skulls and dirt.  So these Disturbed Earth soaps are perfect for kids.  They really do smell like rich loamy garden soil, with a touch of pine and blackberry.  But mostly they just smell like dirt.


These soaps are very limited in supply, and I expect to sell out of them.  So get them while you can at Sego Lily Soap.

Have You Ever Used Real Soap?

Have you ever used soap?  You may think you have, but are you sure? If soap leaves you dry, tight or itchy, then there is a good chance that what you have been using isn't soap.  Did you know that grocery store soap is not soap? 

Years ago, I remember being in a little shop that specialized in handmade soap.  I remember thinking, these are all very pretty, and they smell nice, but what is the big deal?  I thought, “A whole store full of just soap?  What a waste.  I can’t use soap anyway.  It makes my skin dry and itchy and bothers my psoriasis.”  So I patiently waited while the lady I was with browsed the selection and made her purchase. 

A few years later, I went to the doctor with my kids for psoriasis and eczema.  Our normal doctor was not in, and we needed to see a different doctor.  Like I always did, I asked this doctor what soap we should use.  I expected him to say Dove or Carress, like they normally did.  This doctor's answer made my jaw drop.  He said that if I knew anyone who made “old fashioned lye soap”, then we should use that.

I couldn't believe someone would recommend that!  I had heard stories about old fashioned lye soap and it sounded pretty awful.  I thought that lye soap was stinky and harsh and would eat your skin.  This doctor explained to me that today's handmade soaps are the most gentle soaps available.  He told me the bars I had been buying were not even soap at all.  Most were actually detergents. He explained how a true soap is very gentle and beneficial to skin, and detergents are not.  

If the only soaps you have used are the regular bars and body washes available in the grocery store, then you are washing with detergents.   Detergents are great for washing dishes, but not so good on your skin.  Have you ever used these bars and gotten that tight, dry, itchy feeling?  Try a true soap, and that dry itchy feeling will go away.   

Here are the ingredients of a leading bar made for sensitive skin.  There are a few nice ingredients in this list, but most are harsh synthetics or chemicals.

Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (Synthetic detergent), Stearic Acid (fatty acid), Sodium Tallowate (soap) , Water, Sodium Isethionate(Synthetic detergent) , Coconut Acid, Sodium Stearate (Synthetic detergent), Cocamidopropyl Betaine (Synthetic detergent), Sodium Cocoate (Soap)  or Sodium Palm Kernelate (soap), Sodium Chloride (table salt), Titanium Dioxide (natural whitener), Sweet Almond Oil, Rosewood Oil (essential oil), Tetrasodium EDTA (water softener), Trisodium Etidronate(preservative), BHT (preservative), Cedarwood Oil (essential oil), Rose Oil (essential oil), Disodium Cocamido-MEA-Sulfosuccinate (synthetic detergent), Cetyl Alcohol (alcohol derived from fats), Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E).

I have had multiple friends come to me and tell me my soaps are so pretty, they wished they could use them.  They said their skin was so sensitive or dry that they can't use soap.  I explained the difference between the detergents they were familiar with, and a true soap like mine, they would reluctantly give it a try.  Every time they have come back to me and told me how wonderful real soap felt on their skin, and how it even helped with whatever skin ailments they had.  

So have you ever used soap?  Read the ingredient list on whatever bar or body wash you use.  If you see things like this list, you are not using soap.  

Sodium Lauroyl isethionate       

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

ammonium laureth sulfate

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate

Ammonium Xylene Sulfonate

TEA Lauryl Sulfate

Cocoyl Isethionate

Sodium Isethionate

Ccamidoproply Betaine

Now read the ingredients of ANY handmade soap and compare.  If you have never used a handmade soap, then chances are you have never really used a real, pure soap.  You owe it to yourself to give it a try. 

All Is Well.

Welcome!  

This blog will, for the most part be about soap and soapmaking.  I’d also like to cover things such as properties of oils and what each oil adds to a bar of soap.  To me, that is insanely interesting!  I'd like to talk about what oils are good for your skin in balms and lotions.  And maybe even how to make some simple ones at home.  I’d like to share some of the behind the scenes fun I have with the wonderful art of soapmaking.  I could even teach a little about how it is done, for those of you that want to learn to make soap for yourself.  I think making soap is one of the best hobbies anyone can have.  And I like to share it with as many people as I can. 

Today, I’d like to tell you why I chose the Sego Lily to represent my soap business.  First of all, they are one of the most lovely little flowers I have ever run across in the wild.  The first time I saw a Sego Lily in nature, I was surprised at the delicate beauty the flower possessed, and how it seemed to thrive in the harsh, dry land.  I loved how it added elegance to our Utah desert landscape.  To me the Sego lily symbolizes life, strength, beauty and faith. 

The Sego Lily is a sacred plant in Native American legend. Sego is a Shoshonean word thought to mean "edible bulb."The bulb of the plant is between the size of a marble to a walnut.  It is said to taste like a sweet potato.  The Sego Lily helped the early Utah pioneers ward of starvation in the difficult period from 1848 to 1849.  The bulb can be eaten fresh or dried.  They can be prepared in various ways: steamed, roasted or baked.  They could be dried and preserved for winter use.  

In “Founding of Utah”, Levi Edgar Young tells this tale:

Many, many suns ago, the Indians lived in great numbers in these valleys of the mountains. They grew corn and berries in rich abundance. As they increased in yield, the Indians became jealous of one another and tried to see who could gather the most food for winter living, when the snows were deep and cold. Then they warred. The game stick was replaced by the tomahawk. Many Indians were killed. The Great Spirit was displeased. He dried up the corn and berries. The children were left without food. The sky became dark with great clouds for many moons; the earth refused to yield; the sands blew over all the land. The Indians sorrowed and prayed to the Great Spirit. One day the sun shone bright up on the hills, and the people saw a little plant growing everywhere, even in the canyons and far above to the very peaks. The Great Spirit had heard the prayers of the people. When the Indians tasted the root, they knew the Great Spirit had saved them from death. Ever after, they refused to fight where the Sego Lily grew. They called it the ‘Little Life Plant of the Hills’.

Although I think it would be fun to try to eat a Sego Lily Bulb, I am pretty sure I will never actually do it.  The Utah State Legislature designated the Sego Lily as Utah’s state flower.  So it is now against the law to pick, which is a good thing in my opinion.  They are so beautiful and wild.  I think these little life giving flowers are best harvested by taking pictures. 

I couldn't resist the title of this post.  :)  All this talk and thought about Sego Lilies kind of put me in a Pioneer mood.  And for me, All is very well.