Coffee Shoppe Line

As some of you may know I love coffee. I love the smell of coffee brewing and I even like the smell of scorched coffee that is a result of mixing it with lye to create my soaps. I started off with Almond Biscotti.

 This was a melt and pour based soap that I added cocao powder and fine coffee grounds to. It was a hit!

Then I moved on to creating my Cold Process coffee soaps and became hooked. This is my unscented Coffee Shoppe soap made earlier this year.

 This is my Chocolate Almond Biscotti. I took what I liked from the first Melt and Pour soap and tweaked it a little for my Cold Process soap and ended up with a beautiful soap with a great scent.

 This is my Coconut Crème. Slightly sweet smell. Like coffee with coconut creamer added to it.

 Raspberry Truffle is my next offering. It has a light sweet raspberry syrup smell to it. Like what is used in most coffee houses.

 And lastly my Strawberry Chocolate. I love strawberry and chocolate syrups mixed together for milk so I thought "Why not for coffee as well?" And you know what? It works!! I have had too many people wanting to take a bite out of what I was making. It smells delightfully of strawberry creamer with a slight chocolate-y note to it.

 

I am so proud to say that all of these soaps lather so well. I can easily use up a 5 ounce bar in a week. I can't help it nor do I want to. To purchase these and other bars, visit my FB page www.facebook.com/TheChandlersRose and order. Love you all much. Have a safe and Happy New Year. I will be back soon.

Fractured Faerie Tale: Schneewittchen

I am only posting one picture of Schneewittchen or Little Snow White. I love this bar. The blend of Green Apple fragrance oil with  Silver Fir Needle essential oil is amazing!! I never would have thought to put those together at any other time. It soaped very well and is on its way to becoming the #2 favorite of this round of Soap of the Month Club soaps. Now on to the history of the tale.

 

The origin of the story that I based this soap off of is German. In early drafts the wicked queen that wants her dead is her own mother because she is jealous of the beauty that Snow White is to become. In all of the early tales she is between the ages of 8 and 11 years old. Her father is alive but is an absentee father. Later tales changed her mother/queen to a step-mother/queen. The apple in the story was silver not red or white. The dwarves warn her against opening the door to strangers and on three successive occasions she disregards their warnings and does so anyway. The last time was for the silver apple offered by the strange old woman.

 

In the Italian version Snow White is poisoned by a comb, a cake or dies by a braid that suffocates her. All the pre-Grimm tales are dark and a little unnerving. I love them just the same and I love creating soaps that go along with them.

 

Next month you will see Puss's Boots for the next Fractured Faerie Tale installment.

 

On The Chandler's Rose Facebook page I have started posting photo albums of soaps that are or will be for sale. Under each soap a price is listed. Feel free to browse, comment or place an order. Right now orders are shipped as soon as your postal money order, or PayPal payment clears.

First Soap Review : Dirty Sailor Girl Soap Company

Let me start off by saying this is the most attractively wrapped soap. I was hesitant to even take them out of the wrappers. So first, a little soap porn and then I will get into my review.

 

 

I hope these pictures have whet your appetite for the rest of the blog. I will say this quickly and then I will allow Ome Sanchez to tell you about her amazing products.

 

1. I cheated. I allowed Ome to pick product to send to me. But still go to the website for more delish product, www.dirtysailorgirl.com.

 

2. I could smell the soaps before I even opened the box. That is always a plus for me.

 

 

3. The packaging is Ah-ma-ZING!!! I cannot say that enough.

 

 

4. Each bar is worth the price. And she threw in the nifty little samples. Gotta love it!!

 

 

Each bar lathers quickly with thick bubbles in lukewarm  to cool water. Always a sure sign that I am going to love the bar in the shower. The scent from each bar lingers gently on your skin. No sticky tacky residue once you have dried off. I love it. Now, I have decided to allow Ome to tell you the rest. We conduct a phone interview Monday and here it goes...

 

 

Hi!! How are you? I received your package today and I must say that I am happy that it only took 2 days to ship to me!! How long have you been making such wonderful products?

 

First let me say how thankful and humbled I am that you want to review my soaps and that you want to interview me. It is a little nerve wracking to have a fellow soaper review your product. I have been making soaps for 2 years.

 

 Your packaging is amazing. I have never seen anything like this. Tell me about it.

 

I love glitter and shiny things and wanted a way to incorporate my love of glitter without heaping mounds of glitter, hence the rhinestone bands.

 

 

Well you did an awesome job. I am in love with your labels and packaging. I was loathe to take the bars out. How did you think to get that look. I love the dark and feminine contrast!

 

Well I was wanting to marry the love of antique and modern, masculine and edgy feminine. I designed and created my brand for women like me. Those who love luxury but are on a budget.

 

I can see that. If Steam-punk and a feminine counterpart it would be your branding. I love it. So what else do you have?

 

Currently we carry the Series 7 line. A playful take on the soft feminine with alluring heady mystery. Right now we carry body balms and body butters. Shower gels are a possibility in the future.

 

Let's take the Blush. I love this bar I cannot stop sniffing it. How do you come up with your blends and how long does it take?

 

A fragrance can take a few weeks to be complete and go into the final product. I don't shy away from fragrance oils. Essential and fragrance oils are a wonderful mix. I have the patience to ensure that whatever I come up with will be the best that I can offer to my clients.

 

I found out about you via the Cold Process Soapmaker Facebook page. Have you found these types of groups to be helpful in any kind of way?

 

Oh yes! I have found soap making forums to be a wonderful tool in discussing projects, ideas and to give and receive advice. There is a wealth of information on-line and the veterans in these groups have been a dream. It is so cool that I can ask a question at 10:45 at night and within  few minutes there are at least 20 answers. You can't buy that kind of help.

 

So, are you looking at opening a brick and mortar any time soon?

 

A store could be in the future. Right now I am focused on establishing my brand, mastering my craft and spending time with my family.

 

Okay, last question, How did you come up with your company name?

 

The name is in honor of my husband who honorably served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years. He's the Dirty Sailor and I am just the 'Girl'.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have spoken with Ome and let me tell you she is anything but 'just the 'Girl''. She is passionate, focused, humble and thankful. I love her products. My daughter loves her products (darn little thief!!!). Go to her site and order!!

 

Ome Sanchez

386-566-3318

www.dirtysailorgirl.com

dirtysailorgirl@gmail.com

Update

Hello, my Lovelies!! I have been busy getting holiday orders out, preparing to shut down The Chandler's Rose website and launching a new initiative to help out other soapers. Well, the last holiday order will be delivered this week. I am shutting down The Chandler's Rose because people don't go to the site to order. Most just send me  a message on Facebook. Therefore there is no need to keep the site up. I understand that people like having a website to reference but it is a waste of time for a business owner when people refuse to use said site. So, it will go the way of the Dodo on December 31, 2013. And, lastly in the many soap making forums that I belong to one of the great laments of most of the soap company owners is that sales are down.

This is an anguish that I can understand. In my opinion, this is 10% due to economy, 10% due to the fickleness of fads, 30% due to product itself and 50% due to lack of proper marketing. Some people can't fathom paying $6.50 for a bar of soap when they can go to the $1 Tree and spend $1 for 2 -3 bars of detergent masquerading as soap. Others found purchasing homemade, from local artisans and real soap cool trendy and above all fashionable. That sadly is no longer the case and very few people have stuck with the soaps that they found so alluring and as a 'must-have'. Some soap makers feel that they have a great product but it just isn't so. Unwittingly their friends and family will not tell them some simple truths. Their soap is drying, harsh, lost its fragrance from sitting on the company's shelf too long waiting to be purchased or has additives that  the consumer is allergic to. Mainly, the soap is not noteworthy or justifiable. The body butter is too greasy. The lotion separates in heat above 80 degrees. The bath bomb fizzed out in the bathroom cupboard before the customer could use it.

This is not the case for 80% of crafters but sadly it is the 20% that gets the most internet traffic from being bashed. One bad review can taint a small community like this for months and/or years. Human nature has been conditioned to seek out the bad publicity stories rather than the praises and success stories. Sadly, the small business owner doesn't conduct random checks on their company via the internet to keep such stories off the web. Which also touches on my last point. And lastly, the soap maker doesn't have the networking skills to get the word out about their product, takes poor pictures or no pictures of their product or doesn't using every avenue available to get the word out about their product. A lot of people just starting out can't afford to have a website designed for them, a logo created for them or to attend the many craft fairs just to get their name out there.

The market is saturated with people who learn to make body butters, soaps, 'whathaveyou' on Sunday, give them away to family and friends on Monday, open a business on Tuesday, do enough damage to the niche market due to substandard product on Wednesday, bitch about it on Thursday and Friday and then close up shop on Saturday. So having said all of this. I decided to start purchasing from these companies to evaluate: 1. The ease of navigation on their website. 2. The speed of receiving the product post-order (I'm talking pulling product and dropping it into the mail.) 3. The packaging. 4. Quality of product. I am by no means an expert. I know what I like and what will cause a miser like me to part with a penny. My promise is to only post positives. Any negatives will be brought to their attention via PM on Facebook or e-mail. I hope that you all will join me on this journey because I absolutely am excited to get my products from them.

** Up Next **
Fractured Faerie Tales: Schneewittchen
Coffee Shoppe: Coconut Cream
Coffee Shoppe: Raspberry Truffle
Caramel Apple Dip

Blueberry Fragrance Oil from TheChemistryStore.com
Chocolate Espresso Fragrance Oil from BrambleBerry.com
Turkish Mocha Fragrance Oil from BrambleBerry.com
Dragon's Blood Fragrance Oil from BrambleBerry.com
Arabian Spice Fragrance Oil from BrambleBerry.com