Desert Flower

I love the smell of this one, Desert Flower is fragranced with sweet orange, grapefruit, jasmine and geranium essential oils, it's a very soft and feminine aroma.  I don't normally use sparkles on my soaps, but I thought I'd try something new, I wanted the yellow a bit brighter, but sadly it faded a bit during the curing, I think I'll have another go at this one, but add a bit more yellow next time, but I'm liking the sparkles, what do you think?  sparkles or no sparkles?

French Lavender

Hi everyone, it's been quite a while since I last posted, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas:)  We had a lovely Christmas spent with family and a brand new puppy addition to our household.

This is French Lavender and it's fragranced with french lavender and rich, sensual patchouli essential oils to help calm and relax.  Made from Olive, Coconut and Rice Bran oils and Shea Butter.
Pure Handmade Soaps

Tribal Dance

Well I promised something a bit more colourful this time, this is it!  I'm reading a series of Australian books by Peter Watt at the moment about outback Australia.   He talks about how badly our native people were treated and how the Mounted Police almost wiped out their entire race, they certainly tried their best to do so; it's just terrible how badly they were treated! 

Anyhow these books and the spirit of our Aboriginal people, gave me the inspiration for this soap.  I wanted the colours of the outback so I've used Australian clays and I've fragranced it with essential oils of Lemon Tea Tree and Lemon Eucalyptus to continue the Australian theme and added a touch of spice, not Australian but just because.  I thought Tribal Dance suited, I hope you like it:)

White Rose

Thought I'd go with something a bit plainer this time because I've got something pretty colourful coming next post..... White Rose is made with lots of Mango and Shea Butters and yes, essential oils of rose geranium.  I've changed the colour on top from pink to this apricot colour, it looks really pretty.

Nature's Garden

 A new batch of Nature's Garden's ready, I've added Mango and Shea Butters to enrich it, coloured it with oxides and micas and fragranced it with essential oils of course:)    Another faux funnel pour, I'm really loving this method, no two soaps look the same, but they all look so pretty. 

Colours, colours, what colours will I use next? so many to choose from and I sometimes get confused as to what colours go with what, but so far I've been happy with how they've turned out and colours in soaps seem to be very forgiving, most blend together nicely.   I seem to get more excited about using colours today than I did back 7 years ago when I first started.  But that's got to be a good thing, right?   well that's what I tell myself anyhow, I'm just not too sure if my hubby agrees with me lol.

Lovin the blue!

I’m calling this one Sea Spray, can you see it?  I wasn't feel too well when I made this and the ocean always makes me feel so much better.  Just about finished curing, another week and you'll find it on the website.

The darker blue is my own mix of different blues and greens mixed together, so I’m feeling pretty happy with how it turned out.  Ahhhh the ocean……..

Vanilla & Spice

Well it's been quite a while since I last posted, where does the time go? I've noticed that Goggle has changed quite a bit since I last used it and boy is it taking me a while to find my way around. Never have been too good with computer stuff!  Anyhow, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

This is the Vanilla & Spice soap I made for the Christmas period, I added extra Apricot Kernel and Cocoa and Shea Butters on top of my normally used Olive, Coconut and Rice Bran oils.  Made from Vanilla Oleoresin and orange, clove and cinnamon essential oils, it smells really yummy.

Lavender & Mint

Well it's been a while since I've posted, but with Christmas gaining on us very quickly I thought it was time to show a few soaps I've been busy making for Christmas.

Lavender & Mint is a lovely uplifting bar, made of course with Lavender and Mint Essential oils:) A 100% natural bar, it is coloured from Green Clay and Alkanet Root, I've added both Shea and Cocoa Butters for super pampering and it's available now from our Natural Aroma.

Twilight

So sorry I haven't posted for ages, I was sick for a while and time just seems to have gotten away from me. One of my latest soaps is Twilight, why Twilight? I just thought it looked a bit like a full moon??? I'm not very good at coming up with soap names, I find it just so hard sometimes trying to think of something original, so I hope this is OK.

I had some left over soap that I wanted to try and use up and thought I'd go with the old faithful ball, but this time I embedded some extra soap squares into the balls to try something a bit different.

I've fragranced Twilight with French Lavender, Patchouli and Cedarwood, I think maybe I could have added a touch more fragrance, but for those who don't like lots of fragrance, then this would be perfect.

OK, over and out and I'll try not to take so long to post again next time:)

Choc Mint

I must have food on my mind lately, this is the third post in a row that has handmade soaps that look, yes I have to say it, good enough to eat! I hate those dreaded words, it seems that everytime I hear them it means "No Sale".

They are the words I really don't like to hear at the markets, the how pretty, how gorgeous, how beautifuls, all mean sales, but the "it looks good enough to eat" NO sale!

So why the heck do I keep making them? don't know! I just really like the look of them and besides when you have a Natural soap that smells good enough to eat, like peppermint as above, it just seems natural to have it look that way as well.

Oh well, I'll just keep making my "Good enough to eat" soaps, there are still some customers with good taste out there, who appreciate them lol.

Chocolate Biscotti

This one looks good enough to eat! looks like chocolate with biscuit pieces I'm hoping? made with cocoa and shea butters with a delicious aroma of orange, lemon and spearmint.
I was so anxious before I cut it, when I first took it out of the mold it didn't look so great and I really had my fingers crossed that once it was cut, it would look a lot better. I'm really happy with how it turned out.
Maybe a good handmade soap for Mothers Day? I know a few Mums who'd love this one.

What's New?

Hi everyone, well it's been quite a while since I've written a post, it's amazing how quickly the time flys by, I've had quite a lot going on since I last wrote, so I thought it was time I put pen to paper as it were:) As you can see on the right hand side I have my new Logo and I'm really happy with how it turned out, I hope you all like it. What's been cooking in my kitchen lately? A new batch of Cedarwood & Spice, I've been making this one for nearly 5 years now and it's still as popular today as it was back then.

Another batch of Spiced Lemon. the specks are Poppy seed and Lemongrass & Ginger tea, coloured naturally of course with turmeric and yellow clay.
Last, but not least another batch of "Naked Beer Bar", so called becaused it's made with lots and lots of Pure Blonde Naked Beer, another very popular one that's fantasic as a shampoo bar. Available for my lovely customers on my website now. Hope you all had a fantastic Easter!

Lemon Myrtle & Lavender

Well it's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I'd better put pen to paper and say hello. I received some much needed motivation from Jen, thank you Jen:) and you're going to see a few changes in the coming weeks.

I'm having a new Logo and Banner done for my website which really needed a pick me up, a bit like me I'm afraid, I'm hoping this will do the trick and help both my website and me:) Nat from Natty Jane Designs is doing them for me and I can't wait till they are done. But for the moment I thought I'd share my Lemon Myrtle and Lavender soap bar with you.

For those of you reading who don't know about Lemon Myrtle Essential Oil, it has an extremely lemony and crisp scent; a really fresh smelling essential oil, it is an extremely potent antibacterial and germicide and is reputed to be even more effective as a germ killer than the more familiar Tea Tree.

Put this together with Lavender essential oil which has a calming effect on the body and can be used to reduce anxiety, stress and promote sleep and you get one beautiful fragrance. I've added Shea and Cocoa Butters and Sweet Almond oil to pamper and natural colours from turmeric, yellow clay and alkanet root and where can you see them? just visit my website of course:) AromaBeauty:)

Moments of Madness - Christmas Soap

I’d like to share my newest soap bar made especially for Christmas with you. I wanted to make something really special to celebrate Christmas this year, so I decided to go though my essential oil box to see if something inspired me, as I had no idea what I wanted to make.

I came upon my prized Sandalwood Essential oil, not Australian or Indian Sandalwood mind, but Mysore Agmarked Sandalwood oil. Don’t ask me what was I thinking when I bought this oil, it’s so expensive, but I’d heard how wonderful Sandalwood smelt and in a moment of utter madness, I thought I’d buy some to try. So there it was, sadly sitting in my Essential oil cupboard, unused, because, well it was just too expensive for me to use, wasn’t it?

Then I thought, well how silly is that really? Am I just going to let it sit there until it goes out of date? I did want something truly special and surely this would fit the bill perfectly, so off I went to make this very exceptional bar of soap. I decided to add some Myrrh and Frankincense as well, as these were the essential oils given to Jesus on his birth, with a touch of vanilla and a bit of lavender, to finish it off and make the Sandalwood stretch a bit more.

The day after making it and when it came to unveiling this (hopefully) masterpiece LOL, I was too scared to even look in case it didn’t turn out, or worse still, looked just plain awful. When I cut it, I was thrilled with how it looked, it was just as I’d hoped it would turn out, a fitting tribute to celebrate Christmas.

BUT, something was missing; it just didn’t seem quite complete. It was then I had another moment of madness, I thought I might as well go the whole way and top it off with something very special and totally natural, gold, yep that would do it, I wanted real gold. I didn’t want mica or glitter, I couldn’t bring myself to put glitter over this special Christmas soap, it had to have the best.

So I tracked down some real, 24 karat, edible gold to decorate the top and there you have it, one VERY expensive, but hopefully special soap. I hope these moments of madness don’t come too often, just can’t afford it:)

Jenora Soaps - Salt Bar

A few weeks back I received a beautiful parcel from Jen which included a Salt Bar, that's the blue one at the back.

I'd heard so much about these so-called Salt bars and had never, ever, tried one before and was really itching to get my hands on one, I just couldn't wait to try it. I know some people love them and others think there is nothing special about them, they certainly do look different, but until you try one you never know. What do I think? I loved it, not only did the colour look wonderful, cool and inviting, I just really liked the way it felt on my skin.

I had no idea what to expect, I thought maybe it would be drying because of the salt, but no, not drying on my skin at all. It felt smooth like polished stone with a soft and silky lather with lots of bubbles, yep, I'm one of those people that like bubbles in my soap, I know some people prefer a creamy lather, but give me bubbles any day:)

The fragrance was just right, a lovely fresh, natural, clean minty smell, that made me think of the beach and being outdoors.

Loved it Jen, thanks so much. Can't wait to try the others:)

What do you think?

I've changed the look of my Juice Bar, why? I've no idea, just felt like it could do with a bit of a change. I've also added Sea Buckthorn Berry oil, which not only adds to the colour but is wonderful for your skin and fresh cream which also makes it extra special, but I'm just not sure if I should change its name as well.

I'd better tell you what other goodies are normally in the Juice Bar:) it's made with Organic Carrot Juice and contains olive, coconut & rice bran oils, cocoa and shea butters and carrot oil and now the Sea Buckthorn berry oil and makes a wonderful facial bar.

I was sort of thinking maybe, Carrots & Cream Facial Bar?? or does that sound silly? I'd love to know your thoughts, keep the same name of change it? or if you have a better idea, I'd love to hear that as well:)

This is what it used to look like, so please don't tell me you like this one better:) Well OK, would like to know that too, I can always change it back again next time:)

Tickled Pink!!

I just wanted to say a great big heartfelt thank you to lovely Jen from Jenora Soaps, for doing a post about one of my soaps. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to do a soap swap with Jen and I had been waiting on tenterhooks in the hope that she would like them.

You know the feeling when you give someone special a present and you have no idea if they will like it or not, until they open it. You really want them to like it, but that doesn't mean they will and you wait with butterflies in the hope that they will.

People have very different tastes when it comes to handmade soap, I think some are naturally drawn to ones made with essential oils and others prefer fragrance oils, some like lots of big bubbles and others like creamy soaps, what one person loves, another might dislike.

Jen is a very busy lady and a very talented soapmaker, so knowing that she liked one of my soaps and took time to write about it means a great deal to me, thank you so much Jen:)

You can see Jen's post about Lemon & Lime Loofah Bar on her blog Jenora Soaps.

Lavender & Mint

A new batch of Lavender and Mint is now ready, coloured with natural alkanet and green clay, and fragranced with the pure essential oils of lavender, peppermint and spearmint, it has a lovely fresh, uplifting aroma, really nice for cooling down on hot, steamy days, sorry to anyone who is now having cool weather, I'd gladly trade you anyday, the humid Mackay weather can be a bit hard to take sometimes:)

Naked Beer Bar

Another soap I’ve been wanting to make for ages is a beer soap, so I decided it was well and truly time that I got around to actually making it.

I can remember when I was quite young, my Mum using Beer as a special rinse after washing her hair to make it “nice and shiny” as she used to say, it didn’t hold much of a appeal for me at the time, but I’ve been reading about how good beer really is, especially for your hair.

Washing your hair in beer has even been claimed to make your hair grow faster (now I really don’t believe that one) but it is known to give body and shine to your hair.

Beer baths are particular popular in Europe where local lager is poured into tubs for guests to enjoy the rich and relaxing suds and people travel from all around the world to relax in their curative beer spas. They also incorporate it into their “Brewski” facials which are said to leave the skin smooth and supple.

Our Naked Beer bar is made with a whole bottle of "Pure Blonde Naked beer", hence its name. I’ve added extra rice bran and hazelnut oils and certified organic cocoa and shea butters to make it a truly special soap bar that has a wonderful bubbly lather and lime, orange and may chang essential oils to make our beer bar a very pleasant bathing experience indeed. Hope you like it:)

Lemon & Lime LOOFAH BAR

Well I'm back from our holiday in New Zealand and had a wonderful time, it is such a beautiful place and I really didn't want to leave. But it's back to the grinestone so to speak and while I was holidaying I had a few new soaps doing their thing and are now cured, ready to use and I'll be adding them over the next few days.

The first one is a Lemon & Lime Loofah bar which I've been wanting to make for ages. It is handcrafted from a fresh slice of nature’s own exfoliator, loofah and is then filled with our finest all natural vegetable soap which contains emollients such as shea and avocado butters to cleanse, enrich, soften and soothe.

Finally, I've added essential oils for their therapeutic value, Lemon, lime, rose geranium and palmarosa and the end result is the BEST Scrub & massage you will find anywhere. I just LOVE my loofah bar! it gently buffs away dry dead skin and leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth. Once you have one you will never want to be without one, I know I don't:)