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Product Monday – New Goat Milk Soaps

Posted in In The Soap Shop, Products, tagged Goat Milk Soap on February 15, 2010| 6 Comments »

Several soaps graduated from the curing racks this weekend. I will be adding them to the goat milk soap store this week:

Goat milk Confetti Soap (pictured above). Goat milk soap chips are imbedded in a shea butter soap base.
Cucumber Melon goat milk soap (pictured below). I will be including samples of this soap with orders for the next few weeks.
Honey Oatmeal III. This soap has the same creamy qualities as my standard honey oatmeal soap, with a different twist to the looks.
Love Spell type goat milk soap. No coloring added. Wonderfully scented.

Cucumber Melon Goat Milk Soap

As always, if you have any questions, any special requests, or if you find the need to talk soap, drop me an email at any time (anniesgoathill@gmail.com), or comment here.

Enjoy your Monday!

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Slick As A Whistle Soap

Posted in Humor, In The Soap Shop, tagged Goat Milk Soap on February 12, 2010| 10 Comments »

Even if you do not make soap, can you tell me what is wrong with this picture?

The past several weeks have been filled with a lot of extra chores that range from digging out from two snowstorms, taking care of a special needs kid, and listening to the barn monitor to ensure no kids are born in the middle of a single digit temperature night.

I am a zombie. But the brain does still function…partially.

Today, out of necessity, I made soap.

This lovely batch got mixed twice. The second time with everything that should have gone into it the first round.

It may not look so neat and pretty…but darn if I didn’t save the soap.

I still marvel at how nicely the soap poured out of the mold back into the mixing pot. Slick and smooth. Like melted butter. Someone was looking over my shoulder, you think?

I may be reporting from the Funny Farm if I do not get some sleep.

At least I will still be able to laugh.

God gave us humor for a reason, didn’t He?

“Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.” Richard Bach

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Instructions That Read Like Gibberish

Posted in Humor, In The Soap Shop, tagged goat milk soap photographs, In The Soap Shop, instruction manuals on February 9, 2010| 12 Comments »

Lavender Sweet Orange Goat Milk Soap

Is gibberish a real word? According to Wikipedia: “Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but carries no actual meaning.”

Raise your hand if:

you have high hopes of being able to use an new electronic device right away without detailed instructions
you find it necessary to print the instruction manual that came with a new device because you find it too confusing to follow from a CD or PDF file
you find detailed instruction manuals tedious, similar to taking a difficult latin course

I answered yes to all 3 questions. Did you?

Enough said! I caved in. The photo above was taken with my trusted cell on Monday after I cut a new batch of soap. Today I hope to sit down with a printed instruction manual (not a “green” thing to do), and actually learn how to use a new camera!

Have a beautiful, stress free day! Enjoy the gibberish as it comes your way, tee hee!

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Product Monday – All Natural Goat Milk Soaps

Posted in AGH Business News, In The Soap Shop, Products on February 8, 2010| 8 Comments »

Lavender and Sweet Orange Goat Milk Soap

Today’s Product Monday is not about a product that is available in the online soap store. I am making an announcement.

My 2010 plans include heading back into all natural, and mainly near natural soaps. I will be dropping soap recipes scented entirely from artificial fragrances.

After I began making soap in 2003, I drifted into adding fragrance oils to my products. Fragrance oils allowed me to bring scents into the products that were not available via essential oils, however, using fragrance is “bugging” me at this time. I purchase product supplies, including fragrances, that are skin-safe and very much quality minded…but that does not erase the fact that some of the fragrance is not entirely natural.

A business owner, and people in general, go through welcomed transitions in their lives. They end up doing what is best for their businesses, their lives, and their customers, and getting there means always remaining flexible enough to change! With this particular change, I see Annie’s Goat Hill returning to the original track, using essential oil and all-natural blends that I am very pleased with, blends that reflect the bounty that nature provides!

The featured soap in this post, by the way, is wonderfully scented with lavender and sweet orange oil. I cut the loaf into bars last night, lovely! I will post pictures today. I have also been muddling my way through the instruction manual that came with a new camera!

Have a wonderful day!

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Product Monday – Annie’s Goat Milk Soap Love Basket

Posted in AGH Business News, In The Soap Shop, Products, tagged Gaot Milk Soap, goat milk soap gift set, Valentine's Gift Basket on January 25, 2010| 10 Comments »

One of my goals in 2010 is to offer more gift sets, new products, and to bring in the candles that I have been talking about for much too long! I am excited to begin meeting goals with the announcement of a new gift basket!

The Annie’s Goat Milk Soap Love Basket is filled with luscious items that can help transform a bath into a spa experience! The products are scented with the beautiful Annie’s Love fragrance (similar to Victoria’s Secret Love Spell).

Included in the gift basket:

sugar scrub (with sweet almond oil, vitamin e and evening primrose oil) 6 oz.
fizzy mineral salts for the bath 10 oz.
goat milk lotion 4 oz.
goat milk soap approx 4.25 oz.
soy votive candle

Have you ever used a sugar scrub? A sugar scrub is wonderful for the rough areas of the body that suffer from the elements of winter. I use it anywhere on the body that needs a boost from gentle exfoliation (to slough off dry dead skin). I occasionally use the scrub on my face. But, I recommend going very gentle with a facial scrub. Facial skin is much more delicate than skin further down the body!

A gift card is available, as well as drop-shipment for gift sending. The gift set will be shrink wrapped, ensuring the basket arrives in excellent condition.

The basket itself is very attractive, with a removable liner.

The Annie’s Goat Milk Love Basket is now listed in my goat milk soap store.

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

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Do Not Purchase Goat Milk Soap…

Posted in In The Soap Shop, Products, tagged Goat Milk Soap, handcrafted soap on January 19, 2010| 8 Comments »

Please, do not purchase goat milk soap…unless you try handcrafted goat milk soap first!

Have you ever tried handcrafted goat milk soap? If you have, you know the luxury of a good bar of soap.

Goat milk soap is gentle, with a soft silky lather that pampers the skin.

There are a lot of goat milk soaps on the market. Try going a Google search. You will find an amazing number of goat milk soap makers! What I have found, however, by trying the soap myself, is that some larger producers sell goat milk soap that has more of a processed feel than the average handcrafted bar of goat milk soap.

I am not into knocking competition. In fact, I love seeing the varieties of soaps, creams, scrubs, and other cosmetic products! Most soapers are very much protective of their own product. There isn’t one I do not want to see succeed. Soap crafters seek and expect good results! They make their products gingerly, in small batches, using the utmost care. I support small business, especially the soap and cosmetic businesses!

The only thing I ask is…when you purchase soap, spend your money carefully. Watch the mass-produced cosmetic companies that stake a claim on goat milk soap. In my humble opinion, their soap is simply not the same.

I am jumping off my soap box again (for now)!

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Cutting a Solid Path for the Future

Posted in General Reflections, In The Soap Shop, Inspirations, tagged aspirations, Goals, Goat Milk Soap, Planning on January 18, 2010| 2 Comments »

Today, as I cut two batches of fresh soap, I thought about my shop, the past year, and how I plan to grow (in both a personal and business sense) in 2010.

Like loaves of soap, formed from an idea, cut into bars, ready to be placed on the curing rack until ready for use, my mind is carving out my future endeavors, deciding how to solidify my dreams.

Have you put together solid plans for 2010? Or, like me, have you made sure most plans are in order, ready for accomplishment (written and measurable), with a few ideas still dangling? Perhaps you know what you want to do, but you are not sure when or how it is going to happen.

I treasure the idea of making things happen.

I see good things evolving. Many are reaching out to better themselves. Many are taking classes, planning businesses, re-thinking budgets, arriving at a calmer place in life. Some of these self-improvements were forced on by the economy, but evolved into wonderful opportunities for the future.

How many times have you said, “I’ve always wanted to do that!” Think about it…what have you always wanted to do? What is holding you back?

I am going to do what I have dreamed of doing. And the only way to do it is to take the first steps, then keep moving.

How about you?

May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future. Author Unknown

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Beware of the Claims

Posted in In The Soap Shop, Products, tagged cosmetic claims, labeling soap, soap, Soap Ingredients on January 14, 2010| 12 Comments »

Recently I have read claims made by handcrafted cosmetic and soapmakers that really “get my goat.”

First, let me explain to you in very simple terms, soap is considered soap until the manufacturer claims that the soap cures or prevents a medical condition. Notice how I am very careful with my wording in my Product Monday posts? If I claim that my soap clears acne, fights bacteria, you name it, I must call my soap something other than soap. It is obvious I do not have a license to sell drugs or medications, so I stick with selling soap.

I saw a claim today, via a handcrafted cosmetic ad, that stated, “Ward off H1N1 with these all natural ingredients.” Oh my word! People…I honestly want to take your ad to the shredder. First, you cannot stake those claims unless you are a licensed pharmaceutical company with a registered product. From what I saw, you are not. Secondly, you make it very difficult for us (soapmakers) to stay credible with the US government. It is your type of claim that causes the government to scrutinize the simple soap and cosmetic makers more than we know is needed.

I have learned a lot this year. And, we all make mistakes! I am much more careful with my product claims. I tell you the exact ingredients in my soap, and leave it to you to decide what it can or can not do (if anything) for your skin.

If you have a medical or skin condition, you should always seek advice from your physician!

Off my soapbox for today…I hope I (and other ethical soap and cosmetic makers) can continue to be in business, selling products that are wholesome, for many years to come!

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Honesty and Hard Work Does Make a Difference

Posted in In The Soap Shop, tagged Goat Milk Soap, milk soap making on January 7, 2010| 3 Comments »

Today I am sharing a story with you that goes beyond a lesson on soap making.

I have a valued customer that entrusted me with several large standing orders for rosemary peppermint goat milk soap.

She loved her first bars. Savored them. She said, “They are aromatherapy in the shower. Especially after a 12-hour shift at work.”

Then the troubles began.

I could not reproduce those luxurious soap, regardless of what I did. I checked and double checked. I followed the same recipe. I purchased ingredients from the same supplier.

No luck.

I began to fret. But I knew there was an answer. Patience, diligence and prayers were very much needed.

While batch after batch of soap failed, I continued to stay in touch with the customer. I was open and honest.

I finally called a person very well versed with milk soap. She was excellent. As soon as she asked me the first question about my shop I knew the problem. Yes, it was written on the wall, in bold black and white!

I turn the shop’s heat dial down in the winter months to save on electric bills. I had forgotten to adjust for the cooler room!

For those of you new to soap, or wanting to get into it, keep in mind, at times you need to adjust to the climate. For example, last spring I adjusted the pour temperature while adding the oils to the lye/milk.

Goat milk soap making is trickier than non-milk soap, especially with fresh goat milk. Milk differs from goat to goat (both in water content and fat), and from season to season (grass-fed vs. hay fed), which adds to the delicate workings when making goat milk soap. Milk also reacts differently to certain fragrances and essential oils.

And for those of you new to small business, expect challenges. Honesty pays. Diligence pays. Reaching out to others pays. If I had been less stubborn, and had asked for help sooner, I might have saved both time and supplies. I might have gotten the job done sooner.

Lesson learned.

A good lesson in life.

I have a beautiful 3-day old batch of rosemary peppermint goat milk soap on the curing rack for my customer. Soon, it will also be listed on the website again!

Have fun, stay warm, and remember…nothing in life is too challenging!

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