A lot has been going on since the last post. We finished the last 4 bars that were low in stock -- all 12 bars were made over the last 20 days. "Sin Ye Mon", "Neither is the Man without the Woman", "Morning Tea", "Chocolate Covered Roses" were the last 4 and the last one is in its insulating stage as of 1 hour ago. "Valley of the Gods" will be the first to cure up on August 18th. A few changes were made that I will note below for those interested.
If we start moving inventory much quicker some adjustments may be made to help increase production. The biggest thing is that packaging may become "cigar band" style to speed the packaging process up. Right now it takes a very long time to package a freshly cured batch. Some of the bars looks might be altered if we get more equipment; we will let you know if that happens.
The last shampoo bar attempt turned out pretty funny. The bar holds up better than expected for being a softer bar than any others we make. But it would not lather! From the configuration of oils it seemed like it would lather quite well, but not so. The bar is a complete side step, it is amazing at conditioning but hard to spread around. Also the pH was better than expected. After a short break from soap making and a little breather we will attempt another shampoo bar. The next one will be a hybrid of the first bar and the last with some added apple cider vinegar. Hopefully this next one is very close to what we want in a shampoo bar. If the next shampoo fails we may need some different oils to play with -- we'll see.
Some body butters were sent out by mail and sampled around locally. The overall feedback has been a lot of love. The first negative initial review has been that it is too oily and smells too chocolaty. We will make it clear in its description, on the product page, to help alleviate any purchase if they would not like that. Most people have really enjoyed its absorption rate, scent, looks, how long it lasts and so forth. We are still waiting for more feedback and money from soaps to move forward. Body butters should be the next addition to the Earthen Step product line. We have made 8+ micro batches to fine tune the recipe and think we have figured out a winner -- stay tuned for more information on that!
Changes made to the soap bars curing:
- Morning Tea: On the top of the bar the oatmeal was ground to a finer grain, the moringa was increased, and green clay was added. On the bottom the oatmeal was left out so it would have an exfoliating top and a gentle bottom. (Kind of like people!)
- Chocolate Covered Roses: The Moroccan red clay was doubled so it is now red through the entire bar. The top has a light coating of chocolate soap to make the name more fitting.
- Poppy Fields: The oatmeal was ground a little finer. Half of the poppy seeds were ground up as well, and the other half were left full. This is based on feedback -- hopefully groups from "it's too scratchy" and "I love how scratchy it is" are both pleased with this new change.
- Minty Fresh: Green clay was added to the bar and both mint essential oils were increased slightly.
- Earthen Dream: The indigo color was doubled in strength so the blue swirling can stand out more.
All of the bars are subject to change or discontinuation based on feedback, ingredients available and so on. Thanks for reading!
