Lady of Luxury: Beautiful Handmade Christmas Gifts

My First Review! Thanks Angelina. :)

2007-12-06T03:51:00.001-08:00

Angelina Kastroll got some of my soaps a while back... and I received some of her (lovely) soap cozies. I just found out about her review of them via a Google alert. :) Here's what Angelina has to say about her soapies: (BTW, her hubby loves them too!)

You Can Wash that Man Right Out of Your Hair

If you're looking for absolutely fabulous soap, visit Lady of Luxury. Dawn makes her soap the old-fashioned way - handmixing, pouring, moulding, and decorating her one-of-a-kind, all-natural, vegetarian and vegan-friendly soaps.

These soaps are amazing - the first all-natural soaps I've found that don't disintegrate in the soap dish after two days. They are generous 4 oz bars that last and last. They lather wonderfully; even in my hard water. The scent is invigorating but not overpowering. And did I mention they are absolutely beautiful. Dawn pays attention to the tiniest details - coffee beans in the coffee soap, rosebuds on the rose soap, icy blue swirls in the peppermint soap, and a honey soap that's shaped like a honeycomb.

While you're there, pickup one of my fabulous soap socks from Dawn, or better yet, direct from me. I have one hanging in my shower right now, stuffed with a Deep Purple Lavender bar of Dawn's incredible soap.

So get washing already!
--------------------------

Thanks so much Angelina! I am glad you're loving the soapies. :) BTW... I only have one of her soaps socks left for sale. Most of them are going out with the 10 custom gift boxes I am putting together for one of my biggest supporters. :)

I've been featured @ Raw Soil

2007-11-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

I've been featured on the Raw Soil blog! I have never been featured in a blog before. Especially not for Cyber Monday... You can read Raw Soil here: http://rawsoil.blogspot.com

She has dually good taste as she's chosen a ring from one of my favorite Etsy sellers: Sojourn Curiosities.

Michelle and Sojo rock! (And don't let my bias stop you from finding out for yourself!)

Need Handmade Candles for your new Soap?

2007-11-21T00:32:00.000-08:00

My friend Paula is the best... she made me these lovely candles in some beautiful *true* cobalt blue glass a while back and I have been hording them to myself unwilling to give them up... but I finally decided if I wasn't actually going to burn them myself (because their handmade goodness is just too yummy!) than I should at least let them go to people who will appreciate them as much as I do.

These candles are exclusive to Lady of Luxury and available in a limited number of scents... namely, my favorites: Dogwood, Blue Bonnet and Vanilla Citrus.

The Dogwood is a nice clean fragrance while Blue Bonnet imparts a nice light spring floral scent. The seasonal warm scent is the Vanilla Citrus. These candles sort of "seal" themselves and may need to be given a little rub for you to smell them when they are not burning... but one large votive burning for about an hour scented my apartment. Though I can't say as I noticed it too much after a while (though my friend did) since my soaps make my place "stank purty" anyways.

New Toy! My tripod arrived.

2007-11-20T02:14:00.000-08:00

My tripod arrived today. I got it for $15 from Amazon.com and free shipping. A better deal probably can't be had anywhere for one as nice as I just got. It's very sturdy and I am already having fun putting it to use! :)

The Gifts of the Magi set:

Custom Soap Order: Gifts of the Magi

2007-11-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

This is a custom soap order for a local church. I will be placing a few extras on my site soon. The soap is the same as my usual Persian Gold (with Frankincense, Myrh, Amber and Patchouli) but with a custom soap band that turned out great! :)

Yummy! Cherry Vegan Lip Butter

2007-11-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

This lip butter is totally getting raves from all of my friends. (And my friends friends too!) This lip butter is very thick and long lasting. It's great for people like myself who are allergic to mango or have a latex allergy (no mango or shea butters).

When one of my friends who works outside a lot at a small airport compared my lip butter with his standard chapped lip reliever he said that his lips felt great for *hours* afterwards. I am sure his girlfriend is happy for a soft place to land her lips!

New flavors out next week: Ginger Peach, Pomegranate and Wild Berry!

Sandalwood Rose

2007-11-14T23:40:00.000-08:00

I thought I liked the rose I had... until I mixed it with sandalwood and now I can't stop sniffing it. It's the perfect pink because of the rose clay I use for coloring. I had a heck of a time getting some rose buds for the top of it but plan on buying *just* rose buds very soon so I won't have to weed through a bunch of petals first. :) The sandalwood rose will look the same as the old rose. :)

That's all for tonight!

The New Chocolate - Update!

2007-11-14T23:35:00.000-08:00

This morning it was kind of toffee:

And tonight it's close to a light chocolate:

Nov. 16th, 2007 (1pmish): Starting to turn the unscented swirl part brown through diffusion of the fragrance oil (that's my best guess!):

The New Chocolate - Update!

2007-11-13T21:05:00.000-08:00

Now a toffee color! The lighter part (unscented swirl) is swirl very vanilla/white chocolate looking. :)

The New Chocolate - Update!

2007-11-13T10:56:00.001-08:00

After about 18 hours out of the fridge.

The New Chocolate

2007-11-13T01:21:00.000-08:00

I decided to try a new chocolate fragrance which has turned out to be just as yummy as the previous one. To differentiate though I thought I would try a new design.

Chocolate soap naturally turns brown over a few weeks due to the vanilla in the fragrance oil. I decided to mix the soap a bit without the fragrance (bring it to light trace) and then take some out and swirl it with the soap that has fragrance added so that the swirled part will be a lighter color than the main body. A "blind swirl" as both parts begin pretty much equally pale yellow/white.

The darker part you see is the color change after about an hour or so after being out of the fridge as they were the same while they were still in the fridge. I may update with more color transformation photos later. :)

New Lavender Soap: Lavender Chamomile

2007-11-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

On Thursday while preparing to make some new soap batches... I decided to try a Lavender and Chamomile mix. The Chamomile is sweet and soothing appley smell... very nice (and fragrant) in combination with the lavender essential oil. I have it curing next to two molds filled with Lavender & Rosemary and the Lavender & Honey that I made a few weeks ago.

It's a deep purple swirl like the other two lavenders with a slightly yellow base to represent the chamomile flowers. :)

Etsy Dallas Trunk Show: December 8th, 2007

2007-11-05T08:52:00.001-08:00

Showing Off: These are my Western Store labels.

2007-11-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

My western store labels are a little more plain in comparison to my spa labels (see the lotion bottle) and the lip butters are so cute and fruity... they will fit anywhere really.

Etsy Dallas Trunk Show & Street Team

2007-10-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

There is a new street team on Etsy for Dallas peeps. We will meet up tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 27th, 2007) to talk about having a Handmade Holiday Trunk Show on December 8th (from 11am - 4pm). Hopefully a final location will be decided upon so that it can be posted up as much as possible before the show.

Etsy Dallas Street Team promotes local artists who use Etsy, a handmade crafts and art site. (Etsy also allows supplies and vintage but it's not Ebay.)

Soap Break & School Update

2007-10-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hi! I will be taking off for the rest of October and all of November to make soap and finish up school. I will be graduating in December. YAY!

At the soapers dinner on Tuesday I got two new soap molds just like the two I already have. Now I can make up to 63 bars at a time! :)

Last night I made a bunch of Lavender & Honey... they look delicious. :) Hopefully they will come out sometime tonight and then I will make some Persian Gold on Saturday or Sunday. :)