Sending you a sunshiney hello as we wave goodbye to the summer holidays! Only three days left until school starts again, which I can hardly believe. I’ve taken a much-needed social media break over the summer because, as much as I am a soapmaker and a business owner, I’m also a mum and a daughter and a wife. I think having small children gives us the perfect excuse to reign things in a little and focus on sending out your lovely orders, making soaps, and getting things all ship-shape for the craziness of the festive season that is heading our way shortly!
As a by-the-by, I was also on BBC Radio again. This time I chatted to the lovely Ian Wyatt (he is up in that big pic up there at the beginning of this blog post) who was talking all things bathroom in light of Johnson & Johnson stopping production of their talcum powder in favour of using a cornstarch-based recipe instead. He was looking back through the shared communal history of remembered bathrooms and thinking about things that we used to have that have now – perhaps – been forgotten. And can you believe soap bars was one of them?! Well, I suppose I can believe it given the number of liquid handsoaps and hand sanitisers you see out in the wild, and maybe we are a little spoilt with our soap bars here at Bean & Boy HQ where we get all the tester bars to use.
Some of the other things people mentioned were coal tar soap (which has been banned in the UK since 2005), knitted toilet paper covers in the shape of dolls, and outside loos. Brrr. I thought I might knit up a loo roll cosy as a bit of fun – here are some I found online (click to see their sources):
This one seems to be the more traditional style crochet toilet roll holder dolly.
This is a cuter one I think! My kids would like this in the bathroom.
Drag Race UK-inspired loo roll dolls created by Shauna Richardson. I could have one of these!
The chat with Ian really got me thinking about how we make soap in the way that it has been made for tens of thousands of years, and I wonder what else has been lost in that time? I think it is a great research project to get stuck into! I’d also like to take opportunity to send a HUGE THANK YOU to the calls, emails and shop visits we’ve got from everyone who heard me on the radio waxing lyrical about soap bars and my passion for handmade beauty – you’re all amazing, and I’ve been thrilled to meet you, hear your stories, and chat about potential new scents.
Now that summer is winding down and it is officially autumn (2nd of September already!). I’ve hauled out the candle-making supplies and our giant pumpkin soap mould. Our plan is to have a giant pumpkin-shaped soap in the shop that you can slice up and pay per weight which is a bit of fun! I’ve got a bunch of candles curing, new soaps made and ready to package, and fun new products coming in to the shop every week ahead of Christmas so I’m officially ready for fall.
On the topic of new soaps… we’ve kept that a bit quiet, but we have 8 new soaps certified and ready to be made! I’m going to hold some back for later in the year as they’re definitely summer-ier smells, but this Christmas you can expect at least four new fabulously winter scents that will be your new favourites, I’m sure.
We’re also scheduling in lots of new soapmaking workshops as there’s been such a high demand. I’m thrilled to see that so many people are interested in making their own soaps and getting stuck into this age-old tradition. Check our workshops page regularly for new dates. If you’ve got a few friends that want to join you for an end-of-year treat, get in touch – we keep our classes small, and I can fit you in after our shop is closed, or on the weekends for a private class.
That’s all from me this overcast Friday. I’ll post more regularly with our news and updates and really love all your feedback! So if you have some ideas of bathroom things we’ve lost in days gone by, or want to chat about new soap “flavours” or other inspiring ideas, get in touch by email / instagram / shop.
With big soapy suds!
Stacey x
