NEW Soapcake Minis

Yes, pretty exciting really we have been waiting to get the time to trial some of these using a completely new technique which means we can make these little soaps in bulk without having to invest in lots of 4" silicone cake tins - thats even if you can find any for sale out there!

They have worked out really well, I only just put them up on the website and have already sold two!  We designed them as a way of bridging the gap between our really successful but quite expensive 10" cakes and the much smaller standard cupcakes.  These really are an affordable way of getting lovely cupcakes to sell either as wholesale or retail.

See how nice they look next to a full size cake....

They can be fully customized, we can make to order and basically make any design, colour or fragrance required.  All the soap is CP and the piping is all done by hand.  We are looking into a way of personalising them (probably for a little bit more money per cake) which will make them lovely as a very unique wedding present for example.  We could write the Bride and Grooms name as well as the date of the wedding on each one.  As soon as we have images they will be posted.  If you are interested in wholesaling our soaps go to our wholesale page

Do let us know what you think also if you have any ideas for interesting decorations or styles.  Thank you for reading our blog.

TEA TREE OR NOT TEA TREE? This is the question

Ok now Im confused....

For quite a few years now one of my best selling soaps has been my Dirty Dog soap, designed for washing your dog with great natural ingredients and only essential oils and natural colour.  The oils I use are Citronella and Tea Tree.  Citronella because it makes the dogs coats smell lovely and fresh and bugs hate it, Tea Tree because I always understood it was a natural antiseptic, was soothing and helped to reduce skin problems.

Now it seems this is being questioned, sometimes quite alarmingly.  Here are some links from the many I found on Google -

Against

Dogster.com Forum

Pet Poison Helpline

For - (with advice)

Pet Meds.org

Manor Vets

As a real dog lover I, of course, do not want to be in a position where I inadvertently cause any problems to any animals that have my soap used on them (many people use my soap to treat Horses with fly problems, its even been know to be used by a shepherd washing off his sheep's rear end!).  I understand that problems occur with products that stay on the skin and potentially get licked off, thereby being ingested.  But I dont want to take any chances at all so, a little sadly, I have changed the fragrance formula and gone for Lavender essential oil to replace the Tea Tree.  Lavender is also soothing, calming, safe to use on the skin and smells great.  I was unsure of the combination but, after cutting up my first batch, I am hooked, its really, really lovely.

Isnt it funny, sometimes you are forced into a change, then when its done you wonder why you never made the change before?

Trying to simplify and keep calm

I just realised how long ago it was that I last posted, deep shame and embarrassment....

The only excuse I have is the busiest Christmas EVER! and the fact that I have been trying to recover and simplify ever since, well along with new soaps for Valentines Day and new Spring Soaps of course.  So, today, just a few pictures for you.

New Marshmallow Rose top

And the same soap cut into bars

Fruity and Juicy, with peppermint, 5 fold orange and Lemongrass

Ginger and Grapefruit made specially for a customer

Revamped Honey Bee for 2013

Lots more new soaps to follow but I hope you will forgive me, I have been busy honestly.....

Happy New Year and Many Thanks to all our followers and friends on Facebook and Twitter.
JoAnne Poskitt was our 1000th liker on our facebook page- and a little box of goodies is on its way to you JoAnne!
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/Purosoaps

Schwarzwaelder-kirschtorte in soap!

Hi everyone, apologies for the lack of blogging lately, been really, really busy with lots of lovely Christmas orders.  We have one or two new things for you all this year which are pictured below, before that though I wanted to tell you about a new soapcake I have just made.  A lovely customer of ours from Germany sent me an image of the famous Schwarzwaelder-kirschtorte (Black Forest Gateaux to most of us!) and asked it I could possibly make it in soap.  What a challenge!  I so loved the look of the cake that I was really keen to make one myself, obviously with a bit of a Puro twist.
this was the image I was sent, a truly beautiful cake and very inspiring.

So I started by making the base first.  Chocolate fragranced soap swirled with vanilla.  I created two layers and covered the first layer in cherry soap balls.  You cant actually see this until the cake is sliced - I will try and remember to photograph that for you.

Then iced the sides of the cake with plain white icing soap

 then the top - this is done with the cake on a turntable just how you would make and ice a normal cake.

The cake with added piping and the soap decorations, all made in advance.
Soap cherries, chocolate fragranced balls and wafer sticks dusted in cocoa powder, chocolate curls made from old chocolate soap finished off with chocolate gratings.

Detail of the centre of the cake

The finished cake with added sparkle!

So that will be winging its way to Germany as soon as it is cured.  I did make two so there will be some available for sale either on the website or at the various Christmas Fairs I am attending soon, you should also be able to buy slices at Darts Farm, Topsham.

Now a quick run down of the Christmas soaps on offer.  Hurry up, they are going very, very fast this year!

Christmas Puds
Designed to hang on your Christmas tree or as part of your home decorations.  They will make your house smell lovely and spicy and, best of all, you can use them afterwards!  Great stocking fillers too.  Click here to go to the website page.

Gingerbread couples
Absolutely adorable gingerbread people, again for hanging on the Christmas Tree, fragranced with the same lovely Christmas Spice smells.  These little guys are sold in pairs, Mr & Mrs Gingerbread!

Ice 'N Snow Cupcakes
Beautiful fresh fragrance, reminiscent of a crisp frosty morning.  Fresh, minty ice blue icing with a glittering snowflake of soap on top and sweet glittery stars studded around the side.  Website link is here

Soapy Snowmen
A lovely one for the kids, natural soap with no added chemicals or preservatives, each little snowman is made by hand with hand piped coal eyes, mouth and buttons as well as a really jaunty little hat and scarf.  Comes in 3 colours which will be randomly selected for you.  Visit the page here

And lastly our two soap bars especially for Christmas.  Christmas Spice Cake and Follow The Star

To see more of our soaps visit out website or join our facebook page, this is where you will keep updated and find out about all our new soaps first.

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment, thank you.

Vindima! (grape harvest)

It's that time of year again when everybody in  the rural areas of Portugal are working hard on the 'Vindima' or grape harvest. As some of you may know we use my neighbours red wine in one of our soaps- 'Vinha doce' or 'Sweet Vine' which has recently been re-invented for this autumn with a beautiful grape and vine leaf detail

I love taking part in the picking and always try to set aside a day to help our neighbours. It's a really sociable occasion, usually with the ladies picking, and the men carrying the buckets of grapes up the steep terraces and into the press (which is in my neighbours garage).

 Lots of banter, sometimes a bit of singing and no shortage of wine and food- usually a huge lunch and several breaks for a 'Bucha' (a plug or a mouthful!).

Red wine is full of anti-oxidants and makes a wonderful skin care ingredient, with regenerating and lather-boosting qualities, so it's a fantastic addition to soap and we can certainly say this one is made with passion!

http://www.purosoaps.com/Sweet-Vine-p/sv1.htm

 

                                        

                                                                                                                                     Shelley

Summer Markets in Portugal

We've been selling at a few of the local markets here in Central Portugal. Our soaps have been received really well and we've been lucky enough to be invited to several events and fairs.

 Setting up in these beautiful settings is always a pleasure. We've been by the river at the organic market in Barril de Alva, under the amazing Plane trees at the Sandomil artisan market, and even the Botanical Gardens of  Coimbra. http://www.uc.pt/jardimbotanico/

 

We'll be back in Sandomil this Sunday so if you're local come and find us!

tp://www.facebook.com/pages/Mercado-Aberto-de-Sandomil/127156340743716