Stirring the soap pot . . .

Heavenly smell in my studio right about now

How I came to be a soap maker.

I recently learned (reading wikipedia about soap making) that Marseilles, starting in the 15th Century, was the leading soap manufacturer for all of France.
This makes sense to me, because back in 1982, when I was an exchange student in Aix-en-Provence, I discovered that the big fat bars of unscented Marseilles soap, sold in the farmer's market, was the best thing I'd ever used on my skin.

Here is how it happened:

My story starts, like many, once upon a time in a land far away. I was an exchange student in France, living in Provence, loving the local market produce, the bread, the shops, the way of life that included slow meals and lots of walking. I lived with a family with 6 boys (not so strange for me since I have 3 brothers) and I got to immerse myself in the language and culture, and endure some amount of daily challenge. One challenge was the food - I always have to watch what I eat very carefully, and I just could not resist the bread. There is just nothing in the world like a crisp crunchy French Baguette.

Here I must digress a bit - I have Celiac disease, allergy to wheat gluten. At that time, I did not know it. So here I was, a stranger in a strange land, eating what was poison to my body unknowingly.

So we come to skin. 

Celiac disease often expresses itself in skin problems. I could not get rid of persistent itchy rashes, Wandering in the market in Aix-en-Provence, I found wonderful large blocks of "Marseilles" soap - which by French law must be a minimum of 72% vegetable oils and have no fragrance or color. These bars are made with ancient recipes, cooked for days, and poured directly into molds in the concrete floors, before being lifted and and chopped into chunky bars.  My skin LOVED this pure, natural soap. I bought what I thought was a huge supply when I left (3 large chunky bars or so) but never have found it here in the U.S.

Another amazing health-saving product I discovered while in Aix-en-Provence was Vervain. Even though I am a true coffee addict, I found a digestive infusion/tea that was served in all the cafes was very helpful for my symptoms. I replaced my coffee addiction with the vervain addiction, and it soothed my Celiac symptoms and was very helpful.

Vervain is a member of the Verbena family that is grown in the Mediterranean, used by Druids and Romans as a sacred herb, and one of the original Bach Flower remedies. Vervain is closely related to the new world Lemon Verbena, but the latin names are different and the healing properties of the plants are slightly different. Vervain was another product I never could find here in the states. Our life paths have a funny magical sort of way of unfolding, and I found myself in very dry Colorado 30 years later with a greenhouse, a burning desire to grow Vervain, and the urge to finally make myself some soap that my skin would love. My experiments resulted in these bars. Super moisturizing, full of olive oils and shea butter, no fragrance or dye or any drying chemical additives which commercial soap is made of,  I finally can hold that ancient wisdom of Provence that heals right in my hand in a bar of soap.

Starting in November - look for this year's batch in my ETSY shop.

Thinking about this new label for the 2014 batch

What can verveine do for you?

Verveine has been used since Egyptian times for a variety of symptoms, and in modern South of France, almost every traditional cafe offers une infusion de verveine as a relaxing drink.

From http://www.herbs-info.com/vervain.html:

"Brewed as a mild tisane via infusion (in this case, dried leaves are employed), it makes for a perfect relaxing drink as well as a general tonic said to strengthen the immune system. Despite having a somewhat inferior aroma to its relative lemon verbena, vervain possesses some, if not all of the medicinal properties of the former. When used in combination with mint or dill, it makes for a perfect pick-me-up, especially during, and after suffering from a bout of flu. Its expectorant properties make it useful for individuals who experience whooping or wheezing coughs, while moderate consumption of vervain tisanes help to settle the stomach and soothe frayed or overstressed nerves."

English spelling is typically vervain, but I choose the French way of spelling: verveine.
Either way is grammatically correct.

Here you can see the verveine bits added to the soap for the healing properties, the fragrance, and the scrubby-dubby exfoliation action:

Starting in November, I will have soap from this year's batch available in my Etsy Shop.

Lemon Verveine Soap for the holidays

I have started production for the holidays of my lemon verveine soap.
The studio is now filled with the fragrance of verveine, lemon, olive and avocado oils, and shea butter.
As I test each batch, I wash my hands with the sample end, and my hands are becoming magically soft and healthy with the rich shea butter-infused soap.  In this dry Colorado climate, moisturizing is so essential, this soap does it best for me.

Someone told me it looks good enough to eat!
I agree:

This soap will be available in my Etsy Shop starting in November.

endorsement

I got a nice note from a fan about our lemon vervein soap, I wanted to share it here:

"Our Doctor recommended soap that left my skin so flakey that I could write the word 'dry' on it!  But with your soap, oh my gosh, my skin is so soft and plush and my wife can't keep her hands off my skin!  I love it!"
--Shiloh

Thanks!  I love hearing how healing this soap is, I know it saved my skin.
I am glad to know it's helping.