FREE CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAPPING FOR DECEMBER

 

From December 1st all soaps ordered from Naturally Made Soaps Website will be gift wrapped with beautiful lace inspired, silver, grey and black wrapping paper and ribbon absolutely FREE!! 

All you have to do is make your order as normal and click the 'gift wrap' option for each choice, you can even ask us to write your label for you, just tell us what you want it to say.

Naturally Made Soaps can also mail our beautiful, natural, handmade soaps anywhere in the UK, just add a different delivery address to your order.  We really do try to make Christmas gift giving really easy for you.  don't forget we also offer any value Gift Certificates that can either be emailed or printed out and posted.  If you want them posted remember the 21st December is the last day for posting Christmas orders, we will be so busy that it would really be worth your while to get your order in earlier if you can.

Go on, why not grab a beautiful present from the best, natural soap ever......  Once you try it you will never go back to shop bought soap - and that's a promise!

Did you know - 10% from ALL sales of Dirty Dog Soap goes to the RSPCA?

Well it does!  Perhaps I have not made enough noise about it but it is true.

I am very proud of my dog soap DIRTY DOG SOAP it really is fantastic and a great seller.  Dirty Dog is made using natural essential oils of Tea Tree and Citronella.  It smells wonderful with a very refreshing zingy citrus undertone.  The soap is designed to be an easy, fuss free way of washing your mud magnet dogs, treating them to the same caring bubbles as yourself.

The invention of this soap came about because I have two dogs of my own!  They are totally lovely and a huge part of our family life.  Perdita (Perdy for short) is a semi coated, English bred German Shepherd Dog.  She is a really stunning example of how, for me, a German Shepherd should look.  I used to show them, way back in my past, and know how many different styles of this breed there are.  Perdy is a very pretty girl with a good straight back and solid bone structure, she is a true Black and Tan and has the most wonderful facial expression ever.  She is a soft as 'muck' and has a lovely, gentle nature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Beautiful Perdita

Well, Perdy is almost 6 years old now, however, aged 4, she was getting a little bit of the old 'single child' syndrome - in other words a bit clingy and a bit Mummy orientated so we decided to take the plunge and get another dog as a companion for her.

We happened to hear about our second dog 'Blue' by accident, through a mutual friend.  We had never considered a Spaniel at all but once we saw him and the way, as a puppy meeting a very big dog for the first time, he behaved towards Perdy, we were sold immediately!  Blue is an English Working Springer and he is an absolute dream!  Honestly if we could have organised the most perfect dog as a companion to Perdy it would have been him and it was a total chance thing................  sometimes I do believe they work out the best.

Anyway Perdy and Blue are now inseparable, they are the best of friends, sleeping in the same bed and playing together all the time.  They both do love swimming and mud though!  So I needed to come up with a soap that worked.

Blue!

 

 

Dirty Dog is designed to be so much easier than fiddly bottles of shampoo, just wet the fir, rub the bar all over, lather it up and rinse away for the best smelling soft fir ever.  Because this is one of my Totally Natural range it is fine to use in the waterways, take it to the river, get the dogs wet, rub the bar all over and throw in the stick to rinse them off, how easy is that?

Tea Tree is a natural antiseptic, its also great for itchy skin, Citronella is renowned for its insect repelling qualities (and fleas don't like it either) while also combatting oily, smelly dog coats.  Boy do our little lovelies need it sometimes.....................

Our 'beautiful' muddy Perdy with Blue in the background - getting 'stuck in!'

Not only is Dirty Dog such a great product, smelling lovely and really working to keep your dogs clean and sweety scented by buying it DIRTY DOG SOAP customers are also supporting the great work of the RSPCA as Naturally Made Soaps are donating 10% from the sale of every bar.  You can help by ordering from my website, just click on the link at the top of this blog, or the links within it.

Dirty Dog bars also make a fantastic Christmas present - PLEASE NOTE Dirty Dog Soap is also suitable for using yourself for a refreshing, uplifting shower and it is great to take away on holiday with you where you know midges and mossies are a problem - they HATE Citronella.

So far Naturally Made Soaps has donated over £150 to the RSPCA  Please help us to help - click on the link http://www.rspca.org.uk/donate/howyourgiftshelp to find out how much each penny you give goes to help abandoned dogs and other animals in the UK.

Thank you to everyone who has already bought a bar of Dirty Dog.

SHOULD YOU BUY A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOUR BOSS?

Thanks to Learn Vest for this blog idea.  Learn Vest is a fantastic blog  set up especially to provide unbiased financial information to all women so that they can make the best financial decisions possible.

A quote from their site. 

Why Women? Why Now?

Women have come a long way financially over the last three decades. Women today make up half of the professional work force and are found to buy or influence 80% of all consumer purchases in the United States yet they continue to lag behind men when it comes to managing their personal finances.  According to a 2006 Prudential financial poll,  80% of women say that they plan to depend on Social Security to support them in their golden years and 38% of women 30-55 years old are worried they will live at or near the poverty level because they cannot adequately save for retirement.  So even today–despite coming so far in many ways–too many women are still ignoring their finances.  LearnVest provides a solution that is relevant and timely – it is something women need.

OK it is an American site but I think that a lot of what they say is good and useful, they have a great set of budgeting tools which I love, especially the Checklist page which helps you to cross off your financial to-do lists, the checklist walks you through your financial problems step-by-step!  Don't we all hate money issues?  I know I do, I put off everything for as long as I can then get so stressed out when I have to do my tax return, pay bills, do financial calculations etc.  This does help.  Anyway, back to the title of this blog............. (Im good at rambling!)

 

I actually didn't mean a Christmas gift for your boss - literally, Its hard enough sometimes to find the right gift for our own Dad or friends for that matter.  So when it comes to workmates, perhaps that is expecting to navigate the murky waters of gifts just too deeply.  A gift can be the best way to say thank you for the hard work someone has done, but in other cases is may feel inappropriate.  You don't want to make people feel uncomfortable or as though they need to give you a gift in return.  Even Secret Santa gift exchanges in the office can lead to treacherous waters.  If gift giving is standard in your workplace (say through Secret Santa) then get everyone to set a price range, once you all feel there is a guideline there is no need to feel pressured to spend more.  Now I expect you are all thinking, she is going to suggest soap as the best thing? (well it does work well for Secret Santa) and yes I will give you a few pointers although that is not the only thing.  I have posted the etiquette guide from Learn Vest slightly changed to suit the English!

BOSS - not necessary, if you are friends it's perfectly fine to give a gift, just remember that they probably make at least twice your salary (in my case about 6 times) and they don't expect you to outdo or even match their extravagance  - so how about My Bridge Inn Beer Bar  or Vintage Rose 

BOSS BUDGET - £0 - £10 

WHAT? - Well obviously the above Naturally Made Soaps but the advice says...  Choose something that show's you have noticed her likes and tastes (I love the fact that this post  just assumes your boss is a female!!!!). So try an annual subscription to a foodie magazine, or a new iphone case, or, if you are at a loss, try a book with a hand-written note on the inside flap 

CO-WORKER - Giving a gift to a co-worker who is also a friend is appropriate, but if you are buying her a gift for the first time, don't go overboard 

CO-WORKER BUDGET -£0 - £7.50

WHAT? - Keep it light, so if your co-worker didn't get you a gift she won't feel awkward.  Beautiful Goats Milk and Ylang Ylang soap would be my choice but their suggestions are Homemade pastries, a desk calendar for the New Year (how exciting :-() or a £5 bottle of wine are simple and thoughtful.  I know what I would want!

ASSISTANT - Your assistant, whether personal or shared by the office, probably deserves the biggest thank you for his or her hard work in helping to keep your day-to-day straight 

ASSISTANT BUDGET - £15+

WHAT? - Cash is king, An American Express gift card or gift certificate (or better still a Naturally Made Soaps Gift Certificate - available soon)  is a nice way to say thanks.  An arrangement of her favorite flowers also makes a nice touch. But best of all, give the fab smelling, unisex soap - SNOWBERRY

INTERN - (Difficult for us English, usually means Work Experience or Student placement) As long as the intern did you proud and made your life easier, she/he deserves a small thank you at Christmas..... especially if they were unpaid (as most people volunteering for a Local Authority or other public services are) 

INTERN BUDGET - £5 - £7.50

WHAT? - Consider taking him/her out for a nice lunch as a gift - could be expensive, or check out some professional gift like a chic business card holder or a book that helped you get started in your career (hmmmmm - not so sure about this one).  If it their last day, type up and surprise him/her with a recommendation letter before he/she thinks to ask - I dont really think that is a Christmas present? - surely that is what any good boss/manager would do anyway   So how about giving them something that will really remind them of Christmas and all it stands for?  Christmas Spice Cake

Look out for the new Naturally Made Soaps gift vouchers, you bloggers will be the first to hear about it of course.

♥ Natrually Made Soaps Review ♥

NATURALLY MADE SOAPS GET A RIGOROUS TESTING

A little while ago I was contacted by a very interesting and talented young lady Eden Humphreys.  Eden runs her own video beauty blog site using Youtube and it is really fun.  I fell in love with Eden when she contacted me giving me a link to her site, she is so honest and real and pretty damn good considering how young she is at 15 going on 16.  Eden has almost 1000 subscribers to her beauty site and finally started to make her own videos a year ago.  When you watch her videos you might be forgiven for thinking she is from America but she actually lives in Manchester, England where she was born.  She lived and grew up in Toronto Canada until she was 5 and never fully got rid of her accent - I don't think she ever should either, its a charming mix of USA/Canadian/English.

Eden asked me if I would provide her with a few of my soaps so she could do a review video and I was very happy to help.  I asked if, in return, she would complete a short interview.  She agreed and this is the interview:

Where did you get the idea of running your own makeup channel?

Many other girls make beauty videos but I didn't just want to be one of the crowd, I really want to help girls be confident and not be scared to try something new

What do you love most about doing it?

I love meeting new people (Virtually!) from all over the world.  I now have friends in Germany and the USA!

What is your aim for next year?

Next year I hope to be a youtube partner, which is where you can have longer videos and get a small fee for making videos and have many more subscribers and to have learned more things about the beauty community.

Where do you ultimately see yourself ending up?

I honestly can't say at the minute, I hope to go to university but that's all I can tell you right now, stay tuned to my video and see what happens in my live I guess that is all I can say!

What tips would you give to any other 15/16 year old's wanting to do something similar?

I'd say do it!  it's fantastic but understand that you won't get thousands of subscribers over night, it takes time! just be yourself and don't be afraid to do something different

What do you like doing best in your free time?

Making videos (obviously), playing guitar and most of all shopping!

Thank you so much Eden for your honest answers and making such a great video about Naturally Made Soaps.
So now for the video, please do find the time to click on this link and watch the video, its great and if you like it go to her site Sunset Beauty 15 and subscribe.  Also take some time to have a look at some other videos of hers.  I am also posting the video as a separate blog if you have difficulties with the link. 

Please do send me a comment and let me know what you think.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Origin - Latin patientia  the ability to accept delay, trouble or suffering without becoming angry or upsed.

OK Im not sure that reason two or three above apply here but THANK YOU ALL for being so patient waiting for the news of my new Christmas soaps.


They are here!!!

CHRISTMAS SPICE CAKE

I am so excited to bring this, my best selling Christmas soap, back this year. Its re-vamped and soooo much better.  This soap bar is Christmas luxury at its best, warm and spicy scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and mixed spice (I have also added a hint of sandalwood for extra warmth).  Let this lovely essential oil blend take you to the first time you take the Christmas Cake out of the oven and the whole house smells great. Made with whole fresh goats milk this bar is a creamy, bubbly delight. Imagine yourself relaxing in a hot bath with the spicy, scented steam rising around you as you sip your hot toddy, go on, you deserve it!! 

The top is decorated with dried  oranges, anise and cinnamon scented soap curls.  Also it's swirled with a rich bronze mica.  Its a feast both for the eyes and the skin.

 A real winter winner!

SNOWBERRY

OK....   I really love this soap - it sold like crazy on its first public outing today at Budleigh Farmers Market - everyone loved the scent, I wish you could smell it right now.



New for 2010 a totally gorgeous soap. The snowberries are pure white with a touch of glitter surrounded by creamy smooth goats milk soap. Some are outlined with black, some are pure white, its a randomly beautiful mix. This soap has a crisp, cool mix of scents reminiscent of a winters day walk - you know the ones, lovely crunchy frost, the smell of fresh forests and cold earth. The main scent comes from pine and eucalyptus essential oils with spruce and menthol and a tiny bit of lavender and cedarwood. It's divine, my favorite winter mixture by far. Very, very different from the spicy richness of Christmas Spice Cake. This is truly a bathing experience, soooo bubbly and soft, and will be loved by both men and women alike. I am very proud of this soap!!

Crisp, clean winter freshness

CHRISTMAS TREE CUPCAKES

Now I was going to call these little lovelies Christmas Wishes but I felt that sounded a bit naff, why not call them what they look like?

This is such a pretty cupcake, new for 2010.

With a dark pink base and duo shaded green icing these little cupcakes look so good. Topped off with a frosted silver soap star they will really make you think of Christmas. Lightly sprinkled with green sparkles and larger star sparkles, they really catch the light and the eye. Fantastic stocking fillers and they even smell like a Christmas tree as they are scented with pine essential oil.  Also, this lovely cupcake has a mini version too.  If you want to put smiles on faces this Christmas then this soap is a sure fire winner every time!

 

Cupcake heaven with with a magical silver frosted soap star on the top, the best thing is that it smells exactly like a Christmas tree cut freshly from the forest.

And finally.........................

Back by popular demand......................

 

MINCE PIE SOAPS

Real soap mince pies exactly the same as Mum makes them! - Well this Mum anyway.  Soap scented with apple, orange, cinnamon and spice, smells exactly like the real thing.  Lovely bubbles for kids (and grownups too) this Christmas time treat makes the perfect stocking filler, just make sure they don't eat them! 

 

 

When people see these soaps they are totally flummoxed and I love it - then they realise they are soap and the smiles and laughs are worth all the hassle making them.  The new recipe, (handmade, natural cold process soap, no palm oil, no SLS, no parabens and no Melt and Pour) for this year is going down really well, they smell divine and look so lifelike, more photos to come.

PLEASE NOTE

We are going away to Portugal for Christmas - YIPEEEEEE!!- cant wait, probably a bad business move but I can't stop myself.  We have never been there for The festive season and are so looking forward to it.  What this means is, if you would like to make a very large order of soaps you will need to get the order in to me before Sunay 28th November to ensure delivery by Mid December.  Otherwise just order as normal via the website Naturally Made Soaps and as long as you order before Friday 17th December we should be able to get your soaps to you before Christmas.  If there are any problems we will get in touch.

We are taking over our new, beautiful Royal Blue ESSE solid fuel cooker (the same as the ones used on River Cottage) to get it plumbed into our already fixed underfloor heating system/solar system.  So, if it makes you feel any better, its a very hard working holiday, as usual!!  (tiling and grouting, clearing land, plumbing, etc)
We will be back in England on Wednesday January 12th although you will still be able to contact me via email, blog and (I hope) twitter

So I should get to blog before we go but keep looking at the NEWS section of my website to see where Naturally Made Soaps are appearing next, come along and catch up with me, it would be great to see you XXX

PS Please let me know what you think of my new soaps, I'd love to get some feedback, it all helps

Devon Cream Tea offer SOLD OUT and now over.....

Thanks so much to all of you who helped clear the decks for my Christmas soaps.  I really love creating new ideas however, I hold up my hands and admit to revamping some old stuff.  Firstly, my very special Mince Pies....  Ive still not got a photo of these yet as they are in the making, but almost ready for sale and photos.  Can you believe soaps that look and smell exactly like the real thing?  Well they are on the way.  These were my biggest Christmas sellers last year, they are so cute and smell fab too.

But really, I have to admit to re-designing my absolute favourite soap ever.....  Christmas Spice Cake, here is the first picture....

Spice luxury

Its soooo lovely.  I always loved this soap, last year it was my best selling bar soap.  I have redesigned it, and I am very, very happy with the result.   it has the most wonderful spicy smell, clove, cinnamon, sweet orange and sandalwood, it is packed full of the best oils and scents ever.  No Palm oil - of course, but Coconut oil, masses of olive oil, Shea butter and cocoa butter making it the best Christmas treat ever.  Just you wait until you see the whole bar, its big, creamy and bronzed on top, studded with real Portuguese dried oranges and star anise as well as curls of chocolate cardamom soap and glace cherry balls.

New 'Snowberry' soap as well as Chritmas Wishes cupcakes, both large and small,

COMING SOON...............  Keep watching, on sale in about a week