Inner Earth Soaps

Dude Soap

2012-01-20T11:51:00.001+11:00

Part of my plan this year is to offer more men's soaps. I mean, they like soap too right? I know my hubby does! This is what I've been working on this week ...

Deep Blue for Men

This one is scented with an interpretation of Davidoff's Cool Water for Men. It's a masculine blend of lavender, jasmine, oakmoss, musk and sandalwood. Very cool and refreshing! Available from 14th February.

Commando for Men

A sexy, masculine blend of exotic woods, oakmoss and musk. Available from 17th Feb.

These are limited edition for now ... just 24 bars of each to see how they go. Well, 23 of each really, because I know DH will snag one of each for himself!

Sweet Nothings

2012-01-09T11:43:00.000+11:00

Another limited edition Valentine's Day soap I made last week ... just cut this morning. I love the colours of this one!

Sweet Nothings is scented with lemon sugar & candied violets. It's hard to describe exactly what it smells like ... the lemon sugar is definitely there as a feature note, blended with an upscale floral. Very pretty and feminine.

Sweet Nothings will be available from 4th February.

Changes for 2012, and a Big Fat Sale

2012-01-03T15:32:00.001+11:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful, fun-filled, relaxing time!

We have some changes happening at Inner Earth Soaps for 2012:

1) No More Bondi Markets. I've had enough of the set-up; pack-down; exposing my products to wind, dirt and rain; parents allowing their children to handle (and damage) products without so much a care; trying to explain to misinformed customers that yes, soap really does contain LYE and it's not bad for you ... etc etc. I'm just totally burnt out on all that stuff. I will miss my lovely regulars, but in the end it's just not enough to keep me going. I will say this though: if you live in Bondi and you'd like to save on postage, and you spend $50 or more, I will happily deliver to you free of charge.

2) More Soap, Less Other Stuff. If I have learned one thing in this year, it's that I love making soap. Can you tell? Lol. This year I will be pouring my creative energies into more seasonal and limited edition soaps, and even branching out into children/fun soaps which I haven't really focused on before. Hand & Body Creams will be down-sized to just 4 or 5 permanent scents. Perfumes will be the same, with a few limited edition ones here and there. Facial Masks will be discontinued completely.

3) Perfume Roll-Ons. You may remember a while ago that I changed from roller-ball perfumes to dripolator bottles. Well, it turns out most people don't like using them! And guess what? Neither do I. So new perfume roll-on bottles are on order. The catch is, I won't be shipping them overseas, because that's when they seem to have leaking problems, probably from being in the hot/cold air pressure in transit for so long. Now if you are outside of Australia and you want perfume oils, I can send the roll-ons at your specific request (but at your own risk), or make custom ones for you in the dripolator bottles.

And lastly, we are having a big fat SALE to spring clean the shop and get ready for the new changes. Perfumes in the dripolator bottles, xmas soaps, selected hand & body creams, and facial masks are all just $5. Yes you heard me, $5! If that's not enough for you, I'll sweeten the deal: if you spend $30 or more in the $5 Holiday Sale Section and use the code FREESHIP you will also receive free shipping!

FREESHIP discount is only applicable for Australian customers, and will only work in the $5 Holiday Sale section - if you add items from other sections regular shipping for that item will apply. You must spend $30 or more to receive the free shipping.
If you are outside of Australia and would like to take advantage of the $5 sale items, please email me for a paypal invoice at innerearthsoaps@yahoo.com.au (but full price shipping will apply)
You can use the FREESHIP code until midnight on Friday 6th January (Sydney time), after then items will still be on sale but no free shipping.
Sale items are only available from our Big Cartel store.
No custom requests at the $5 prices, only what we have in stock, until they run out
No reservations ... first in, best dressed! Happy shopping!

Soap for Valentine's Day

2011-12-30T12:04:00.001+11:00

I made this soap yesterday to coincide with Valentine's Day. It's called Love Potion, and the scent is inspired by Chanel's "Coco" fragrance.

Top scent notes are mandarin, jasmine, mimosa and coriander; middle notes of rose, carnation and a hint of cinnamon; and a warm base of amber, vanilla and honey. That's alot of notes to try and imagine together I know ... so let me just say it's a soft, feminine and warm floral scent. Really quite beautiful.

Love Potion Soap will be ready around 27th January, and it will also be available in perfume oil. Snag one in time for Valentine's Day ... or just because!

Caramel Vanilla Coffee Soap

2011-12-17T19:14:00.001+11:00

I had a little poll over on my facebook page on Thursday, to see which new scent would go into my soap pot this week. Caramel Vanilla Coffee was the winner, hands-down, and here it is!

I like the swirly top. I was thinking, you know, caramel syrup over whipped cream ... like they do at the coffee house.

Cut into logs.

And into bars. The base of this was coloured using real organic coffee, I think it gives it an extra kick! And I know I say this about all my soap, but it really does smell awesome. Just like my favourite caramel expresso chiller from Gloria Jeans :-)

This is probably the last new soap I will make for a little while ... the silly season has left me high and dry in the soap stakes! Many scents have sold out, and others are getting very low. I was hoping to keep the soapmaking up throughout December, but I have barely had time to blink, let alone make soap, in the last three weeks. So lots of re-stocking for me in January.

Also this is my last blog post before Christmas ... I can't believe it's almost here! I hope you have had fun reading about my soapy adventures throughout the year, as I have certainly enjoyed sharing them with you. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and lots of fun, love and relaxation over the holiday season :-)

Cinnamon Spice Soap #2

2011-12-07T13:28:00.001+11:00

Cut these this morning, my second batch of Cinnamon Spice (view the first batch here). To my original blend of cinnamon leaf and clove I've added cinnamon bark, organic ginger and vanilla absolute. It's coloured using red and pink clays. I like it much better!

Cupcakes & Cake Slices

2011-12-03T17:10:00.001+11:00

Our Lemon Cupcakes and Lemon Meringue Cake Slices will be ready next week! These are so cute. I was originally going to take these to the markets only but I think I'll list some online as well. They are scented with pure lemongrass essential oil so they are 100% natural, and would make a lovely little gift.

Cake Slices - these came out in three different sizes ... ahh, the beauty of handmade! Lol. The smallest ones are 75g-85g and will be $4.00, the middle size around 100g for $5.00, and I have a couple of larger 120g pieces for $6.00 each.

Cupcakes - these are a hefty 140-150g size, and will be $7.00 each.

If you would like a pre-order, let me know!

Sandalwood Vanilla Soap and Some New Things ...

2011-11-24T15:05:00.001+11:00

I cut these soaps last week, and I'm ridiculously proud of them.

The scent is Sandalwood Vanilla, and it smells dee-vine. Sexy and woodsy but with the sweet creaminess of vanilla to soften it.

Because of the vanilla content I'm expecting these to darken a little, but hopefully not too much. They will be ready by 16th December.

Also a couple of new products in store today ... this Soap & Rack Gift Set.

A new scent is available in our creams, Lemon Cheesecake. Yes, it really does smell like it sounds. I must warn you though, this stuff may make you hungry!

Lemon Slices Soap

2011-11-17T11:25:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I made a new batch of soap, Lemon Slices. It occurred to me that I've never made a lemon soap before (except Kakadu, but that's lemon myrtle). Which is odd, because I LOVE lemon-scented things! This scent really came to life once it was soaped. It's fresh, bright and lemony, with a hint of sweetness.

In the mould, freshly poured.

Sliced into logs.

Cut into bars.

Bars all lined up. The yellow colour looks a bit paler here than in real life. It's a lovely lemon yellow with white swirls. The batch will be ready by 15th December, just in time for summer!

P.S. A reminder that if you are outside of Australia and would like to grab some soaps for Christmas, our cut-off date is 25th November, which is just over a week away!

Early Bird Discount

2011-11-09T17:32:00.000+11:00

Do your Christmas shopping early with Inner Earth Soaps and save! Use the coupon code "earlybird" to receive a 10% discount storewide between now and 30th November. Available only through our Big Cartel store http://www.innerearthsoaps.bigcartel.com/. Happy shopping!

Soap Cutter: Update

2011-11-09T11:31:00.001+11:00

I thought I would show you some of the soaps I have been cutting with my new soap cutter (if you haven't read the original post you can find it here). I've had mixed results, with some bars coming out with bumpy bits, and others not at all. The water discount is the same for each of these batches, and each was cut about 24 hours after gel.

Not too bad ... although the white one (Snowflake) seemed to get alot of bumps on it!

Christmas Is Coming ....

2011-11-01T17:36:00.002+11:00

... and I'm up to my elbows in soap! Here are a couple of things I've been working on:

A fresh batch of Winter Woods soap, made this morning.

It was almost too late for me to squeeze these in for Christmas! Lots of cupcakes and two big cakes, scented with lemongrass essential oil. You can't see from the photo but the base of these is a pale yellow. I think they'll look cute when I unmould them later in the week.

This was a wholesale order I packed today ... looking at it makes my fingers ache, thinking of all the wrapping! Most of these are custom soaps, the one in the foreground is an all-natural Candy Cane soap (peppermint & spearmint) and next to those is Santa's Spruce (lavender, cedar, spruce, fir & pine).

What are you working on this week?

Soap Porn

2011-10-27T13:52:00.000+11:00

I was cutting a batch of Pomegranate Soap this morning, and was captivated by the crispness of these swirls. Had to share!

Christmas Products

2011-10-20T13:27:00.000+11:00

Folks, Christmas stock has just been listed online! Check out the yummy scents we have on offer this year.

Winter Woods - balsam pine and spiced cranberry. Available in soap and perfume oil.

Candy Cane - fresh peppermint and sugared vanilla. Available in soap and perfume oil.

Plum Pudding - decadent plum and soft spices. Available in soap and perfume oil.

Snowflake (NEW) - almond marzipan icing, milk and honeyed amber. Available in soap (perfume oil is coming soon!).

Aloha Christmas (NEW) - pineapple and coconut with hints of fresh citrus, balsam and poinsettia leaves. Available in perfume oil and hand & body cream.

New Toy

2011-10-19T10:29:00.002+11:00

A couple of months ago, I purchased this hunk of awesomeness:

For those of you not in the industry, it's a soap cutter. In fact it's a custom soap cutter, made to my specifications. For those of you who ARE in the industry, who don't have a soap cutter of their own, you are probably drooling into your coffee cups right now ... I know I have drooled over these myself for some years!

This has actually been sitting in the cupboard since before the wedding, and I hadn't had a chance to test it out yet. Today is the day.

Here is my slab of soap, fresh from the mould.

I still have to split the logs by hand, but that's ok. It only takes about 10 minutes. You can see my trusty double-handled knife there in the background.

Loaf goes into the cutter.

Pull the handle down through the soap.

Ta-da! Soaps all cut in one fell swoop. You can see it also cuts the little end pieces off.

Cutting these logs would normally take at least half an hour ... now all these can be done in 5 minutes. Not bad!

DRAWBACKS?

1. The wires leave some slight striations on the soap, normally my bars would be much smoother.

2. I was hoping I wouldn't have to bevel the edges of the bars, which can be time-consuming. However you can see that there has been some drag, so the bottom of each bar needs to be bevelled.

These minor problems could be chalked up to the recipe ... I didn't discount the water because I'm using a floral scent that can be tricky. It will be interesting to see how the next batch goes through. Anyhow, once these babies are bevelled they look pretty damn fine! Overall I'm very happy with it :)

Wedding Photos

2011-10-10T21:32:00.000+11:00

I won't hold you in suspense any longer ... here are some of our wedding pics!

If you'd like to see more, I've uploaded a mini album of wedding and honeymoon photos onto the Inner Earth Soaps facebook page. We had such a lovely day, and even better honeymoon. Couldn't have asked for better :)

Wedding Peek

2011-09-25T17:51:00.002+10:00

Our wedding was yesterday, and it was amaaaazing. We had the best day. There aren't any proper photos yet, but for now I'll leave you with these ones that were snapped before the ceremony.

With my beautiful bridesmaids.

With my proud step-dad Mark, just before he gave me away.

We are all packed and ready to head to the airport at the crack of dawn tomorrow ... Thailand here we come!

Spring Clean Sale!

2011-09-09T10:48:00.002+10:00

Spring has officially sprung here, and we're having a clean-out to make room for new products. She'll Be Apples, Lavender Noir and Honey Toffee soaps are just $3.50, and She'll Be Apples and Lavender Noir Perfume Oils are just $6.00 ... that's half price! Once these sell out they won't be coming back, so check out our Spring Clean Sale section to grab a bargain.

UPDATE: The soaps are officially sold out ... we had a frenzy of soap buying this afternoon. Thank you to our lovely customers!

Sneak Peek

2011-09-03T11:46:00.000+10:00

This is a sneak peek of Winter Woods, one of our Christmas soaps. Some of you may remember it from last year, the scent is balsam pine and spiced cranberry. Very fresh! I will also be offering Candy Cane and Plum Pudding (same scents as last year, but with slightly different looks), plus one more that will be a suprise :)

Drumroll Please ...

2011-08-31T07:35:00.000+10:00

... and the winner is ... Oakwood Soaperie! Congratulations!

Rosehip Facial Giveaway

2011-08-23T13:03:00.001+10:00

Our rosehip facial soap will be ready next week, and as promised we are going to host a giveaway. Not only will the winner receive one full-size bar of Rosehip & Shea Facial Soap, they will also get a full-size jar of our coveted Rosehip Facial Cream! If you haven't already, check out our earlier post on these lovely products.

TO ENTER:

1) Be a follower of our blog (mandatory) and leave a comment below.

2) Extra entries for linking this post to your twitter page, facebook page or blog.

3) Entries close at midnight on Tuesday 30th August (Sydney time).

This is a world-wide competition, so anyone can enter ... the winner will be announced on Wednesday 31st August. Good luck!

Heads Up

2011-08-19T22:34:00.001+10:00

As some of you may know, we are getting married on the 24th September (boy, it's getting close now!). I was originally going to keep the online stores running right up until the 22nd or 23rd, but since we have family arriving the week before we will be closing a little earlier than that. Etsy and Big Cartel will be closed from Sunday 18th September, with any orders placed over that weekend shipping out on the Monday. If you need your soap fix, please make sure you place your order before the 18th! The stores will re-open on Monday 10th October, when we get back from honeymoon.

And yes, there will be photos :)

Enchanted Soap

2011-08-19T12:36:00.001+10:00

Pretty new soap cut this morning.

The scent is a dupe of Laura Mercier's L'Heure Magique. Being the soap nerd that I am, I did a little research for the design of the soap and found they say this about the perfume: 'L'Heure Magique has captured the one single hour, where just before sunset the light reflects perfection and a woman looks her most beautiful.' So this soap is coloured in pink, orange and purple to reflect the sunset.

The notes of the scent are pikake petals, bergamot, white rose buds and pink geranium, with a base of soft spices, sandalwood, amber and cashmere musk. To my nose I can smell the warm amber base, with an overlay of pretty florals. If you like our Spiced Amber, you will probably like this one too ... it has a similar perfume note but with more emphasis on the floral.

Enchanted Soap will be ready by mid-September and will be limited edition ... I am only making one batch of these, about 50 bars.

Garden Rose Soap

2011-08-15T15:26:00.001+10:00

A little soap porn for you ... this is a new bar that will be ready in a couple of weeks, Garden Rose. It smells just like a bunch of fresh roses. I've also added pink clay, and sprinkled the top with organic rose petals.

And just because I can ... a big bowl of soaps.

P.S. Like my new blog layout? :)

Rosehip Facial Products

2011-08-03T14:17:00.002+10:00

My absolute favourite ingredient to use in facial care is rosehip oil. It's such an amazing oil, full of vitamin A, vitamin C, antioxidants and essential fatty acids. It's what's known as a 'dry' oil as it absorbs quickly, without feeling greasy. It can help reduce the appearance of scars, stretchmarks, wrinkles, even sun damage. I've been using nothing but pure rosehip oil as a facial moisturiser for about 5 years, and I love the way it makes my skin look and feel. It was with this in mind that I decided to expand my facial care range (I already carry pure rosehip oil) to include a facial cream and facial soap, using this wonderful oil.

This is my Rosehip & Shea Facial Soap, freshly cut this morning. Lots of olive oil, shea butter, and of course, rosehip oil. I've also added gentle French rose clay, and it's lightly scented with litsea cubea essential oil. This soap will be suitable for all skin types, but particularly dry, mature or sensitive skin.

This is the Rosehip Facial Cream. I've used a good amount of rosehip oil ... I wanted this to be the 'star' of the cream, and not just something that would look good on the ingredients list. I also added olive oil, which is very close in PH to the oils naturally produced by the skin; plus cocoa butter for an extra hydration boost. It's very lightly scented with litsea cubea.

I find this cream wonderfully rich and nourishing, but not at all greasy. Having oily/combination skin myself, I find this is a perfect day cream, and I still continue to use the pure rosehip oil at night. For those with more dry skin types, you can combine the two: use the rosehip oil as a serum underneath, then apply the cream over the top.

Both of our new rosehip facial products will be available towards the end of August, and stay tuned as there might be a giveaway on the cards :)

Cupcake Soaps

2011-08-02T09:26:00.001+10:00

I had some spare time over the weekend so I decided to try my hand at making some cupcake soaps ... something I've been wanting to do for ages! It is definitely not as easy as I thought, but I'm pretty happy with my first attempt.

The base is scented with vanilla sugar cookie, and the 'frosting' scented with fresh apple.

They are not perfect, and I realised when I was frosting them that I need to invest in some proper equipment, like a piping bag and a frosting tip. These ones I simply squeezed the frosting out of a plastic bag with the corner snipped off ... if you've ever tried to do it that way, you'll know you get frosting that looks like a pile of doggie-doo! Lol. But I messed around with the tops until I was happy with them, and actually I quite like the rustic hand-iced look these have.

After making these I watched a couple of videos on how to ice cupcakes (real ones, not soap). I bought a proper frosting tip, so my next batch will have a more polished look to them. Stay tuned!

Pumpkin Head Is Here

2011-07-29T16:18:00.001+10:00

Just listed is our limited edition Pumpkin Head range. Yum! This halloween scent is comprised of sweet pumpkin, vanilla, spices, and a hint of decadent rum. I'm not normally a fan of spice scents myself, but this one is amazing.

Pumpkin Head Soap - I love how the design turned out ... the black swirls are supposed to look like cobwebs :)

Pumpkin Head Perfume Oil

It's quite early for us to be having Halloween products I know ... but actually we will be away in late September / early October (wedding! honeymoon!), so I wanted to bring these out before then. These would be cute additions to any Halloween goodie bag.

Bloke Soap for Father's Day

2011-07-25T14:54:00.001+10:00

Well it's getting close to that time of year again ... Father's Day. In honour of which, I've brought back my Bloke Soap for a short time. It's made with real beer (Carlton Draught, if you're wondering) and scented with patchouli, cedarwood and clove. It makes a great gift for dad, or for that beer-loving man in your life!

And no, they don't make you smell like a brewery! The soap itself has a subtle, malty-sweet aroma, which compliments nicely with the earthy/woody essential oils :)

Versatile Blogger Award

2011-07-20T09:11:00.000+10:00

The lovely Michele of Tierra Verde Soap has honoured me with a Versatile Blogger Award. The concept behind the award is to follow a few rules and then pass it on to whatever blog you think deserves it. The rules are:

1 – Make a post and link it back to the person who gave you the award (and include their website address)
2 – Share 7 random things about yourself
3 – Award 7 recently discovered bloggers with this award and contact them to let them know they have won

Ok, so 7 random things:

1) My favourite movie, and book, is Gone With The Wind.

2) In my former life, I spent 5 years working in photo labs, developing and printing photos.

3) I have both Chinese and Maori in my ancestry.

4) I love animals, and my childhood ambition was to be a vet.

5) I used to be in navy cadets.

6) I drive a little yellow Hyundai named Tweety (named by my mum, and it has stuck!).

7) I love sweets, especially chocolate. My guilty pleasure is sitting down with a box of handmade chocolates and a good book.

Ok now to pay it forward ... this is actually a fun way of learning new things about each other!

A Canuck in Oz
Beguile Soaps
Bobishi & Suki La
Briny Bar Soaps
Feel At Home
Red Bamboo
Unique Dichroic

Bondi Markets

2011-07-17T18:08:00.001+10:00

This was our stall at the Bondi Markets today. Had a wet morning, but the weather cleared in the afternoon and we had a wonderful day.

Pumpkin Head

2011-07-07T11:48:00.003+10:00

I just cut these bars this morning, and they're scented with pumpkin pie ... sweet pumpkin, spices, vanilla and a hint of pastry crust. It's not a scent that many aussies will be familiar with, however I think it's scrumptious! This are limited edition bars for Halloween, and will be available from early August.

Pumpkin Head will also be coming out as limited edition perfume & body cream.

Stained Glass Soap

2011-07-06T14:56:00.001+10:00

Stained Glass Soap has just been listed! You can find it here. I think this is my favourite version so far, the plain white base really shows off the colourful soap pieces. Scented with geranium and patchouli essential oils, it's a floral/fresh scent with a hint of earthiness. I have a bar in my bathroom right now, and it's delish!

Mobile Friendly

2011-07-01T12:46:00.006+10:00

I attended a business seminar recently on mobile devices and how they are integrating with businesses in a whole new way. When I say mobile devices I mean of course iphones, smart phones, ipads, androids .... you get the idea! One of the statistics that struck me most was that 75% of online browsing is now done via these mobile devices. 75% - can you believe it? I don't own an iphone, so for me this was a huge discovery.

Of course one of the first things I wanted to do when I got home from that seminar was check to see whether my website was mobile-friendly. And, as it uses flash player, I found out it wasn't.

So what I've done is this: I've created a site so that if you head to http://www.innerearthsoaps.com.au/ using your mobile device, you will automatically be redirected to a mini mobile-friendly version. It has information, photos, contact details, even a link to my Etsy store (you can even get an app for Etsy). If you have your mobile device handy, check it out!

Wedding Soap

2011-06-29T13:03:00.004+10:00

I just cut these this morning ... these are the soaps we will be using as our wedding favours in September. The colours are very similar to our wedding colours - the bridesmaid's dresses are a soft mint green, and our bouquets will be a combination of peach, pink, and orange flowers.

It will be a spring wedding, so I scented these with Spring Grass fragrance. Very light, fresh and green :)

FREE Think Pink Body Cream!

2011-06-24T16:40:00.003+10:00

I have five of these limited edition squeezy tubes of our luxurious body cream to give away, each is 100ml in size and scented with our popular Think Pink fragrance. What is Think Pink, you ask? Well think all things pink ... sweet, sugary candy floss with hints of marshmallow and strawberry. Yum!

You can get one of these FREE simply by heading to Inner Earth Soaps on Etsy and making a purchase of $40 or more. The first five customers to do that will get one of these delicious creams in their parcel ... but be quick, they won't last!

New Soaps

2011-06-23T11:12:00.003+10:00

Cinnamon Spice

One of my lovely customers requested a strongly-scented cinnamon soap, so this week I made Cinnamon Spice. It's an all natural blend of cinnamon with a touch of clove.

Think Pink

This scent I offer in perfume form, and I have a few customers who have been asking for aaages to make it in soap. It's a sweet candy floss scent, very nice, although I think it will discolour a bit due to the vanilla content. These bars were fresh cut yesterday. For now I'm just loving the in-your-face pink of them!

Jasmine

2011-06-16T14:42:00.006+10:00

On my facebook page I've been asking people which scents they like best, and what they would like to see expanded into other products (ie what might be available in perfume, but not soap, or vice versa). One of the scents that came up was Jasmine. A funny thing, because I used to carry this in both soap & perfume form, and it didn't sell very well. I recently brought in back in perfume and it's gone crazy! So yesterday I made some Jasmine soap, and soon I'll make some cream as well.

This batch will be available around 14th July.

Other products coming soon include Think Pink soap, and various body creams in Think Pink, Pomegranate, Lavender Noir and She'll Be Apples. Any more suggestions? :)

Body Creams

2011-06-12T16:21:00.007+10:00

I'm very happy to announce that I've just finished listing our brand-new body creams online. I feel like I've been talking about them for so long! I actually had the creams made up last week, but had to find the time to scent & bottle them, then photograph them. Anyway, without further ado, here they are!

I'm offering just five scents for now: Vanilla Buttercream (I have that one in the bathroom right now, so good), Pear & Lily, Gardenia, Spiced Amber, and Lavender. I'll get some more scents up over time. Any requests welcome!

The cream itself is just divine. It's light and silky, yet wonderfully moisturising. I've been slathering it on after my shower for the last week, and loving it!

And with the introduction of the creams, we will be phasing out the scented body butters. If you like these, now is the time to grab one, as once they sell through they will be gone. With the exception of the unscented body butter ... that one we will keep for those who need that extra hydration boost.

You can find both the body creams and butters online here. P.S. for half-price Coconut Lime and Honey Toffee Body butters, check out the clearance section.

Mango Papaya Soap

2011-06-08T13:26:00.004+10:00

This is just soap porn, pure and simple ... a fresh batch of Mango Papaya soap I cut this morning.

Chamomile & Lavender

2011-06-07T12:40:00.006+10:00

Another new soap ... Chamomile & Lavender. I replaced the water component with organic chamomile tea. It's loaded with lots of gentle kaolin clay, lavender essential oil, and a touch of roman chamomile essential oil :)

These are limited edition bars, but if you'd like one you can find them here.

Listed Online: Bergamot & Rose

2011-06-01T11:39:00.004+10:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I've just listed the Bergamot & Rose soap online. Like I said in an earlier post, most of these are earmarked for a custom order ... but I do have 10 bars left over. So if you like the sound of these, get in quick! Available through Etsy or my Online Store.

A couple more limited edition soaps will be put up online next week: Cedarwood, and Chamomile & Lavender.

Soap Favours

2011-05-26T12:18:00.007+10:00

I've been making lots of custom soap favours lately ... here are a couple of orders I put together this week.

A mixed selection of soaps with custom labels. These are for a 29th wedding anniversary.

These are mini Pear & Lily soaps wrapped in paper labels and placed inside pretty pink organza bags. They are for a baby girl's christening.

Each label features a little fairy on the front, to match the invitations. Cuteness!

New Perfume Bottles

2011-05-23T19:51:00.005+10:00

My new perfume packaging has arrived! And although I usually take Mondays off ... I just couldn't help myself, I had to get these up right away.

These are the new bottles, with new labels as well ... the labels were the final shipment I was waiting for so I could make these up.

The dripolator (and NON-leak) cap makes the perfumes versatile, as they can now be added to an oil burner or a few drops into a warm bath, which couldn't be done with the roller-ball bottles.

Well, what do you think? Would love to hear any feedback.

Patchouli Soap

2011-05-19T12:17:00.003+10:00

I cut this soap last week ... it's a special request, scented only with patchouli essential oil. I love how it turned out.

New Soaps

2011-05-06T10:53:00.007+10:00

My fourth blog post for the week, folks I must be on a roll!

This is round 2 of the Stained Glass Soap. The base is scented with patchouli and geranium, which compliments nicely with the citrus/mint scent of the soap pieces. These are a custom order, so they won't be available in my shop, but I had to share them. So pretty!

These bars weren't lending themselves to a good photo, perhaps it was the early morning light. The green is deeper in real life, almost an olive colour. And I love them! Some batches I know exactly how they will turn out, and others suprise me ... this was one of the latter. The scent is mostly cedarwood, with a touch of Australian sandalwood. It reminds me of freshly-cut firewood, and there is a hint of smokiness that makes me think of a campfire. Guys will love this one (and so will girls who like sitting by campfires ;)). This is another custom order but I will be keeping a few ... in fact if they sell well, I will make them part of the permanent range.

Leaking Perfumes

2011-05-04T17:46:00.003+10:00

Today I've made the decision of changing the packaging of our perfume oil bottles. In the last month I've had two customers with leaky bottles in the post ... not good! Try as I might, I can't seem to make them leak here at home, even after shaking them and leaving them sitting on their side. It only seems to happen in the post. Anyway I'm not taking any more chances, and I've temporarily removed the perfumes from the website.

The new bottles will be the same size (10ml) but with a dripolator cap instead of a roller ball. Quite handy really, because with the dripolator they can not only be used as a perfume, but you can put a few drops in the bath or in an oil burner.

Dennise (our recent competition winner) - I really, really hope your perfume doesn't leak. But if it does, let me know and I'll send you one in the new bottle.

Anyway, stay tuned for the new perfumes, it will take me a few days to get them bottled with new labels. But they will be back!

Bergamot & Rose

2011-05-04T11:39:00.003+10:00

Introducing ... Bergamot & Rose Soap. Bergamot is the main component of the scent, with some sweet orange and may chang to anchor the citrus notes, and rose geranium and rose hydrosol to lift the scent and add a hint of floral. These bars were fresh cut this morning.

Bergamot & Rose is a custom order for one of my wholesalers, so most of these are already spoken for. However I will keep a few bars for the shop as well, so keep an eye out if you'd like to grab one! Available around 1st June.

And the winner is ...

2011-05-02T07:49:00.002+10:00

I'm up bright and early this morning to pick our competition winner .... using random.org 's random number generator. And the winner is comment #24, the lovely Denise from Briny Bar Soap. Congratulations Denise! You have a wonderful soapy prize pack coming your way :)

Thanks to everyone who entered, and liked my facebook page. I hope to keep things interesting and fun for you!

Giveaway Time

2011-04-27T15:31:00.007+10:00

I'm holding a giveaway to promote my new facebook page. In honour of upcoming Mother's Day, I have chosen four of my most girly, feminine products up for grabs :)

The lucky winner will receive three full-size soaps in Pomegranate, Pear & Lily and Gardenia, PLUS a full-size bottle of Blushing Petals Perfume Oil.

How to enter? Simply head over to 'like' our facebook page, then come back here and leave a comment below (if you are already like us, then you can just leave a comment) ... extra entries for tweeting, blogging, or promoting this giveaway on your own facebook page. The winner will be selected on Monday 2nd of May, via random number generator, from the comments below.

Good luck!

Bondi Markets

2011-04-18T07:55:00.004+10:00

I thought you might like to check out my new soapy packaging at the markets yesterday ... all lined up in a row!

At least once at every market I have someone who looks over from a distance and thinks I'm selling fudge. Well, it kind of looks like fudge doesn't it?

I had a wonderful day at the Bondi Markets yesterday, which was fantastic as I almost didn't attend. It was one of those iffy days where the weather was predicted as 'few isolated showers'. Here in Bondi that could mean anything from a tiny sprinkling of rain, to a huge monsoonal downpour! We were incredibly lucky as we only got one very light shower the whole day, and even some lovely sunny patches in the afternoon.

Body Cream

2011-04-14T16:08:00.004+10:00

I'm going to diverge from soap for just a moment today, as I wanted to share my FIRST EVER batch of body cream! I have always wanted to turn my hand at creams/lotions but I shied away from it as it seemed rather complicated. However this week I bit the bullet, got some ingredients together and made a batch ... and was pleasantly suprised at how easy it was! At least, easier than I thought it would be.

I made the cream yesterday and let it sit overnight, this is how it looked this morning. Like whipped cream ... I love the texture. I used cocoa butter and sweet almond oil as the emollients, and scented it with a tropical kiwifruit fragrance.

Here they are potted up ... I think they look gorgeous! I'm going to give these to some friends and family to try and see what they think. Obviously the recipe still needs some tweaking, so I'll soon be ordering some extra ingredients that I can play around with. I'd love to know what you think!

New Packaging & She'll Be Apples

2011-04-11T11:45:00.007+10:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was re-thinking my soap packaging, and finally here it is. I decided against the shrink wrap ... after investing in some wrap, a heat sealer and heat gun, I decided that I didn't like the way my soaps looked shrink-wrapped. Lol! So instead I've wrapped them in cellophane, with a label on the outside.

I'm very happy with them. One of my original ideas was to go more eco-friendly, such as wrapping in brown paper or tissue. But I wanted people to be able to see the design of the soap through the wrapping ... I spend so much time designing and making pretty soap, so I don't want to hide it away behind packaging. However I will still be offering tissue paper as an option for online orders, for those who really don't want to use the cello wrap (or those who don't care about wrappings and just want to use their soap as soon as possible!).

I wrapped my soaps with the new packaging at the markets over the weekend, and definitely noticed an increase in interest and sales of the soap. I found that when soap isn't wrapped in some way, customers tend to take the soap at the back so they don't get the one that people have been touching. With the new packaging they don't have to worry about that - I just leave one bar of each out for smelling, and the rest are safely wrapped up and ready to go.

In other news, I just listed the She'll Be Apples soap today. So, so delicious! You can find the soap here. Also available in matching perfume.

Lavender Noir

2011-04-08T18:02:00.004+10:00

Lavender Noir scent is here! Just listed today. A blend of lavender, with warm amber and a hint of earthy oakmoss. The scent is sensual and almost powdery-sweet. The perfume behaves a little differently - as most perfumes do. Straight out of the bottle it smells very similar to the soap, but on contact with the skin the lavender notes fade a little over time, and the amber & oakmoss take centre stage. This is not a bad thing - it smells divine! I love how perfumes change throughout the day.

Lavender Noir Soap

Lavender Noir Perfume Oil

Orange Clove

2011-04-01T12:38:00.003+11:00

Another new batch coming up for autumn, Orange Clove. The bright, sunny orange notes are very much in foreground, with hints of clove, cinnamon and ginger (you might remember my Mandarin Clove soap from Christmas, well this one is quite similar except the orange notes have more punch). It's an all-natural essential oil blend. I'm totally loving the pumpkin orange colour of these!

Available 28th April.

Finally!

2011-03-31T11:03:00.004+11:00

Those of you who read my earlier post on goat's milk soap will remember the trouble I was having ... well I've finally had success again. And it was as simple as switching back to my old brand of goat's milk. Silly really, after years of using one type I suddenly decided to use another, and who would have known there would be such a difference? Anyway ... I'm happy. Goat's milk soap is back!

Available from 27th April.

Vanilla Honey Lip Balm

2011-03-25T09:02:00.004+11:00

I want to share with you my latest product ... Vanilla Honey Lip Balm. These have been in the works for a few weeks now, and I'm very happy to finally bring them to the shop. They are 100% natural with lots of nourishing oils and butters, and the natural scent comes from the unrefined beeswax, fresh honey and pure vanilla absolute. The aroma is rather subtle, but lovely, like fresh vanilla beans and honey.

I've already sold a few of these online and at the local markets, and was delighted to get this feedback recently through Etsy:

"I gave this to a lip balm loving friend, and she says this is one of the best that she's used, if not THE best. So moisturising, and a lovely subtle scent." ... thank you Sam!

All Natural Vanilla Honey Lip Balms are available through my Big Cartel or Etsy stores.

In other news, I've been working away behind the scenes on some new soap packaging. I think this is always a soaper's condundrum, wanting something that is not time-consuming, yet eye-catching and economical! After experimenting with a few ideas I think I will be using shrink wrap. This works on so many levels for me: it allows customers to see the full design of the soap (great for markets and gifting); it protects the soap (great for retail); it looks professional; and it's fairly quick and easy to do. Online, I will still be offering the option of having the soaps wrapped in tissue paper - for those who don't want to use plastic and be more eco-friendly. Stay tuned for photos coming soon!

Soap Rack & She'll Be Apples

2011-03-17T10:58:00.005+11:00

A full soap rack is a thing of great beauty, wouldn't you agree? Lately I've had both the time and inclination to get some serious soaping done, so I've filled 'er up. There are actually more soaps than I've managed to fit in the picture, but you get the idea!

Yesterday I cut the second batch of soap that will be part of the limited edition for autumn. I have to admit I've got a weakness for 'foodie' scents and this one is no exception! The main scent is tangy, juicy apple (apples always remind me of autumn, somehow), complimented with notes of sugared pastry and a hint of warm spices. Available 12th April.

Lavender Noir

2011-03-11T15:13:00.002+11:00

I won't keep you waiting any longer ... here is the Lavender Noir soap that I cut yesterday.

I love the colours of this one, so deep and moody. For me, the swirl is a little bit too blended - I would have preferred each colour to be more defined. I was erring on the side of caution as I hadn't soaped this blend before, so in hindsight the trace was a little too thin. However, she is still very pretty (yes ... this batch is defintely a SHE). And it smells divine too - sweet lavender, combined with warm amber and a hint of earthy oakmoss. This will make a beautiful perfume oil too ... will hit the (virtual) shelves around 6th April.

Sneak Peek

2011-03-08T14:36:00.002+11:00

Here's a sneak peek at a batch of soap I made today ... a special limited edition batch for autumn, that I'm going to call Lavender Noir. More pics and details soon.

Also just to let you know that some new soaps I featured recently are now available to buy online: Cocoa & Shea, Ylang Ylang, Scrub Off and Shaving Soap. Check em out!

Nominate Your Favourite Soap Blog

2011-03-05T08:46:00.004+11:00

The lovely Amy of Great Cakes Soapworks is giving soapy Oscars to the best handmade soap blogs, how cool is that? There are so many great soap blogs out there. If you have your own blog, or would like to nominate a blog (there are a few categories to choose from!), head on over to Great Cake Soapworks Blog and leave a comment.

Edited to add...
The poll is now open to vote as well!
Click here to place your vote.

Sale 15% Off

2011-03-03T17:29:00.004+11:00

Been wanting to treat yourself to some Inner Earth Soap's goodness? For one week only you can enjoy 15% off storewide using the code "discount15". Just enter this code at the checkout at either store, and it will be deducted automatically!

Etsy: www.innerearthsoaps.etsy.com
Big Cartel: www.innerearthsoaps.bigcartel.com

Sale ends at midnight, Thursday 10th March.

Inside Look: Vanilla Buttercream Soap

2011-03-02T10:14:00.010+11:00

A little of what I do on a daily basis ... unmoulding and cutting a batch of soap.

This is the top of the Vanilla Buttercream soap while it was still in the mould. I wanted to texture the tops to look like icing. It reminds me of a cake, very appropriate considering the scent!

Here I'm taking the soap from its mould. I had these wooden slab moulds custom made a couple of years ago, the best investment I ever made. The two sides come off, allowing me to slide the soap out.

Here's the soap out of its mould. Yep, it definitely looks like a big cake!

Ah, my favourite part ... cutting the soap to reveal the pattern within. Even with soaps I've made dozens of times before, this never grows old for me. They look different every time! Here I was actually experimenting with a different swirl technique, and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

All the logs cut - one slab yields 4 soapy logs, or 48 bars.

And after the cutting ... is a bench covered in soap!

Here are some of the more interesting swirls I got from this batch. They are quite different from each other. At the moment this batch bears more than a passing resemblance to my Scrub Off soap. However, once the vanilla scent takes hold the colour will deepen, giving a darker brown base and tan swirls.

And finally, this batch of soap joins its friends on the curing rack. In the next couple of weeks - when they are a little harder - they will be stamped with our 'Inner Earth' logo.

Soap Favours & New Website

2011-02-21T14:10:00.004+11:00

I snapped a couple of quick photos this morning as I was packing these soap favours. They're for a wedding this weekend. The bride chose to have her soaps scented with lavender & rose geranium, and the navy blue, violet & cream match her wedding colours.

Also I wanted to share with you my new website! Check it out and see what you think - any feedback is most welcome :)

Brown Soap

2011-02-10T15:15:00.005+11:00

Here are two more new soaps, and they are both, well, brown. But I like them :)

This soap doesn't have a name yet. It's a super scrubby bar with poppyseeds, walnut shell powder and vanilla bean powder, plus a an essential oil combination of lavender, cedarwood & lime. This one will be perfect for hard-working hands or feet, or to use as an exfoliant on the body to help slough off dead skin cells. Will be available in early March.

Cocoa & Shea Soap. This little soap is enriched with cocoa butter, shea butter, and organic cocoa powder. No fragrance or colour has been added, so this will be perfect for sensitive skin. I love the creamy brown colour, it reminds me of chocolate! Available in early March.

Well it seems the soap fairies are out in force at the moment, and as a result I'm discontinuing my Goat's Milk soap (the Cocoa & Shea, above, will be its replacement). Why? The last three batches I've made, I've had to throw away. There's no apparent reason, and I'm using the same recipe I've always used. The first batch was too dry and crumbly. The second had undissolved lye crystals through it - I kid you not!! And the last batch was too oily, still seeping fluid even after a few days on the curing rack. The only change I made was to use an organic & unpasteurised goatsmilk, whereas in the past I've just bought it from the supermarket. But I still can't fathom how it could have upset THREE batches of soap.

It might not be gone forever ... I'm thinking in winter I'll try another batch. But in the meantime, you can enjoy the (vegan) alternative of Cocoa & Shea!

Candy Cane Winners

2011-02-06T15:50:00.004+11:00

Thanks to all my lovely readers who responded to the Candy Cane post ... here are the lucky recipients of a free bar!

1) Shannon
2) Cass
3) Sonja
4) Gizus
5) Lori
6) Sam
7) Lakshmi
8) Michele
9) Sammy
10) Teresa

To claim your free bar, please send your name & postal address to innerearthsoaps@yahoo.com.au along with your Paypal email address, and we can sort out the postage.

For those of you who have recently placed online orders (you know who you are!), no need to email me as your soap will be coming tucked into your parcel. If there are any of you who would LIKE to place an online order to make the postage worthwhile, but haven't done so yet, just let me know in the email and I will hold your bar of Candy Cane until then.

For commentors 11) Robyn and 12) Crystal, please also email me as I may have a consolation prize for you.

Thanks everyone! xx

FREE Candy Cane Soap!

2011-02-04T13:55:00.008+11:00

The Christmas season is well and truly over. I had my leftover Christmas soaps on sale for a while, but I made sooo much Candy Cane that I still have some left ... and frankly, I'm sick of looking at them.

So my dear blog readers, I can giving away my last 10 bars free. Yes, absolutely free! All I ask is that you pay for the postage.

How it works:
- follow my blog, if you aren't already
- the first 10 followers to comment below will receive a free bar of Candy Cane soap (limit one bar per person)
- I will contact you, and send a Paypal invoice for the postage
- You will get a free bar of Candy Cane soap in the post!

Postage Costs:
Australia - $5
New Zealand - $8
US & Canada - $10
Everywhere Else - $12

Yes our postage costs are high in Australia ... robbery isn't it? But not so bad if you're getting a free soap ;)

Pear & Lily

2011-02-04T08:53:00.004+11:00

My limited edition Pear & Lily soap is pretty much sold out - well, I do have a couple of bars left, but they will be coming with me to the weekend markets, where they will undoubtedly be sold! But I've had so many customers who love it, and ask for it to become part of my permanent range, that I'm going to make more. So if you you missed out on the first lot, more will be coming soon :)

Soap & Perfume Porn

2011-02-02T17:21:00.007+11:00

My latest soap & perfume offerings ...

Ylang Ylang Soap - beautiful floral ylang ylang essential oil, complimented with vetiver, lavender and vanilla absolute. Available 2nd March.

Shaving Soap - made with a chamomile infusion plus roman chamomile essential oil to help soothe inflamed skin, cooling peppermint oil, kaolin clay to give 'slip' when shaving, and lots of castor oil for a big creamy lather. Available 2nd March.

Hippie At Heart - my newest perfume. Customers have been asking for a patchouli-based scent, so here it is! A big hit of earthy patchouli, plus sensual sandalwood and a hint of musk.

Aaaand ... perfume samples! I've finally gotten myself motivated to make these, and spent yesterday afternoon meticulously filling around 100 of these tiny glass vials. Each sample is 3ml, so they're not as cost effective as I was hoping (most perfume samples are 1ml), but the upside is these little guys will ship much, much cheaper than any of my other products. Each vial will be $5 and you can find them here.

New Soaps In, Old Soaps Out

2011-01-27T11:18:00.007+11:00

What have I been up to lately? Well this morning I cut this fresh batch of Coconut Lime soap, in a slightly different design ... this is another of my titanium-dioxide-free batches.

Feeling the new year spirit, I've been examining some of my permanent lines and have decided that Citrus Sunrise and Strawberry Fields soaps will be discontinued .... once these batches sell through that will be the last of them. So if you really like either of those soaps, now's the time to buy!

With the extra time & energy, I'll be bringing in some new soaps to replace them ...

Ylang Ylang - I poured this one today. It's a blend of ylang ylang, lavender and vetiver essential oils plus vanilla absolute ... quite a sultry floral. Pics coming soon.

Shaving Soap - With chamomile to soothe inflamed skin, cooling peppermint oil, lots of clays for 'slip' and castor oil for a big creamy lather.

Exfoliating Soap - my brother-in-law works with cars and he asked if I could make a soap that would help to remove the oil grease from his hands at the end of the day. I have lots of different types of exfoliants on hand at the moment, but I think for this one I'll use some poppyseeds, walnut powder and possibly some ground pumice as well. This will be a super-scrubby bar.

Stay tuned! xx

Romantic Rose

2011-01-17T13:29:00.003+11:00

Just listed today - Romantic Rose soap (and matching perfume) for Valentine's Day! The scent I used for these was inspired by Ralph Lauren's 'Romance' fragrance, which I thought was rather appropriate. A blend of fresh rose, marigolds, violets and ginger with a base of oakmoss and musk. Quite a fresh, floral scent at first, but once you use the soap in the shower (or put the perfume on your skin) the deeper notes will come through.

Romantic Rose Soap

Romantic Rose Perfume Oil

Rosy Glow Facial Soap

2011-01-12T10:22:00.003+11:00

I'm very excited to share with you my newest facial soap, Rosy Glow. I made this one to compliment the rest of my natural facial care range, and for those who might find the Charcoal Complexion soap a little too cleansing.

This deceptively simple-looking soap is enriched with sweet almond oil and shea butter for extra conditioning, 3 types of therapeutic clay (French pink, Australian red and kaolin) to gently remove impurities & toxins, plus an essential oil blend of palma rosa, lavender and sweet orange.

Palma Rosa: similar in scent to rose geranium, this floral essential oil is said to hydrate, stimulate skin cell regeneration and keep skin supple.

Lavender: a good all-round essential oil that is very gentle, relaxing, hydrating, and well, it smells good!

Sweet Orange: high in vitamin C, this essential oil is said to brighten dull complexions and minimise uneven skin tone.

Rosy Glow makes a wonderful facial soap for those with dry, sensitive or mature skins. It also doubles as a great body bar if your skin is dehydrated, or in colder weather when the humidity is low. Will be available by 9th February.

Titanium Dioxide - Is It Safe?

2011-01-06T14:25:00.005+11:00

Recently I've had some customers asking me about titanium dioxide. I've always considered it to be a fairly innocuous product, but lately there have been some concerns over studies where it has been shown to be a possible carcinogenic, causing fear in consumers. So let's bring it out in the open.

What is titanium dioxide?

It's a naturally-occurring mineral, mined from the earth. After mining it is processed to remove impurities, leaving behind a mineral pigment in the form of a white powder.

Which products might contain titanium dioxide?

Soaps, make-up, toothpaste, sunscreen, food, plastics, paints, ink and paper, to name a few.

Why use titanium dioxide?

Apart from in sunscreen - where the titanium dioxide is used to block UV rays from the skin - it is a mostly aesthetic ingredient that makes products appear more white or opaque.

Is titanium dioxide safe?

Titanium dioxide is listed as a safe pigment, with no known side effects. However there is some debate over a specific type of titanium dioxide: ultrafine or nano particles. This is the type of titanium dioxide that is used in sunscreens, because the particles are small enough to be invisible to the naked eye, yet still reflect the UV rays. The debate is whether these particles are small enough to penetrate the skin and become a possible carcinogenic.

Does Inner Earth Soaps use titanium dioxide in their products?

Yes, in some soaps we do. Where it is used, it is listed in the ingredients. However, we don't use the ultrafine powder that is the subject of debate.

******************

Even with this explained, some folks just don't feel comfortable using products containing titanium dioxide. So I've started experimenting with our soaps: some of the ones that currently contain titanium dioxide will be made without it. Below is our Honey Toffee soap. The one on the left contains titanium dioxide, the one on the right doesn't. You can easily tell the difference - the left one is much more opaque, and the layers more well-defined. I'm interested to see whether this new batch will be more popular.

What do you think? Do you use titanium dioxide in your products, or do you feel strongly about using products made with it? I'd love to hear your comments.

Summer Soaps

2010-12-31T14:14:00.004+11:00

Weclome back! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas. We sure did :) So yesterday I re-opened my online stores, and I've just listed three brand-new limited edition summer soaps which I think are pretty special. Check em out!

Pear & Lily - Juicy pear with just a hint of oriental lily. Really fresh and fruity. This one also kind of reminds me of freshly-washed hair, don't ask me why! It smells gooood.

Frangpani Kiss - A tribute to the pink frangipanis that bloom here in summer. The scent is a blend of frangipani, hibiscus, island gardenia, kiwifruit and citrus. Yum.

Cucucmber Mint - With real organic cucumbers, French green clay, peppermint essential oil and blue poppyseeds. Very refreshing for cooling for summer!

Also my Stained Glass soap is now available to buy .... you may remember my earlier post here.

Last but not least, I've put some of my items (including leftover Christmas soaps) on sale. Grab a bargain here! Larger quantities are available, just convo me for a custom listing :)

Christmas Wishes

2010-12-21T08:04:00.002+11:00

In a couple of days Nathan and I will be flying out to the lovely and scenic Christchurch, to spend Christmas with his family there. It will be the first time in eight years that all of his brothers and sisters spend Christmas in one place together, so a very special time for his family, and for us :)

Thank you to all my readers and customers for supporting Inner Earth Soaps throughout the year, I wish you and yours a lovely Christmas and even more wonderful New Year!

Christmas Orders & Summer Soap

2010-12-15T12:02:00.003+11:00

Okay folks, cut-off dates for Christmas have now officially passed. You can still place an order through my Etsy or Big Cartel stores, but I can no longer guarantee that your items will arrive by Christmas. If that isn't an issue (or you aren't buying for Christmas), please feel free to purchase! I will still be shipping right up to 21st December, after which the store will be closed, to re-open on 31st December.

When we re-open I will have three limited edition summer soaps available, pictured below. One of these fragrances will also be available in limited edition perfume oil & body butter. Exciting!

Sea of soap ...

2010-12-10T14:40:00.003+11:00

Today I set the whole day aside to pack for my market this Sunday - the Kirribilli Art & Design Market. It's my best market, and last year in December I sold out of pretty much everything by 12pm. But this year I am PREPARED.

All these soaps have been labelled and packed, plus oodles of sampler packs, 3-soap packs, soap racks, body butters and perfume oils. It will take some creative maneuvering to fit it all in the back of my little car, but we'll get there!

Candy Cane Back In Stock

2010-12-01T11:04:00.003+11:00

Candy Cane is back again! Boy I'm glad I made extras of this one, it has been so popular. And so it should, it smells fantabulous! You can get your hands on some either at my Etsy store or Big Cartel store.

New wholesaler

2010-11-24T09:16:00.004+11:00

This morning I shipped off these custom Bloke Soaps to our newest wholesaler, an organic store in Greenway, ACT (near Canberra). These soaps are an all-natural blend of beer (of course!) plus essential oils of patchouli, cedarwood, clove and ginger.

If you're in the area, check 'em out!

Barnmall Organic Skincare, Shop 46, Tuggeranong Hyperdome Shopping Centre, Cnrs Reed & Anketell Sts, Greenway ACT.

Stained glass soap

2010-11-23T12:07:00.003+11:00

I've been saving my most colourful soap off-cuts to make this pretty, stained-glass effect in a batch of soap. The base is chock full of skin-loving french green clay, and it's scented with a blend of lavender, petitgrain, clary sage and juniper berry. Quite fresh and floral, and pretty I think!

... also just a quick update on the limited edition Christmas soaps: Candy Cane has sold out. If you didn't get your chance to grab one of these, don't fret, I have another batch curing to be ready by 2nd December.

Christmas orders & opening hours

2010-11-17T17:49:00.007+11:00

The silly season is almost upon us now! If you'd like to order some Inner Earth Soaps goodness this Christmas, please make sure you get your order in by the cut-off dates:

- International customers: Friday 3rd December

- Australian customers in WA, SA,VIC, NT, or QLD: Tuesday 14th December

- Australian customers in NSW: Sunday 19th December

Express post WILL be available at extra cost if required! Just contact me first and I'll make you a custom listing. We also now do Gift Certificates which are a great last-minute present.

We'll be closed for Christmas Break from 5pm Tuesday 21st December and re-opening on Friday 31st December.

That is all for now ... I'll be back to my normal soap-porn posts soon. I promise ;)

More soap ...

2010-11-08T16:15:00.006+11:00

Well I'm up to my elbows in soap at the moment, as I'm sure every soapmaker is around this time of year! Not much time to blog for now .... but I wanted to quickly pop in to let you know that I've just listed some much-awaited soaps online :)

Spiced Amber - patchouli, amber, vanilla & woods. You may remember this one from my earlier post here. This is my mum's favourite, she digs scents with some depth and spice to them. This has also been super popular in perfume form!

Winter Woods - balsam pine and spiced cranberry. Fresh and lovely, with a glittery top inspired by snow-capped trees.

Mandarin Clove - mandarin, orange, clove, ginger, vanilla. This has been very popular at the local markets!

Christmas Soap!

2010-10-31T08:09:00.006+11:00

Today I listed two of my limited edition Christmas soaps (two more types will be coming in mid-November) - Plum Pudding and Candy Cane. I love getting into the festive spirit!

Plum Pudding - smells just like a plum pudding should: fresh plum, cherry, spices & brandy.

Candy Cane - remember the sneak peek from this one? This is my pick, out of all the Christmas soaps. It is the BUSINESS. It smells just like an old-fashioned peppermint candy cane: fresh peppermint and vanilla sugar.

Perfume Oils

2010-10-26T13:20:00.007+11:00

Perfume oils are HERE! I've been tweaking and testing these, and have come up with some blends that I think are pretty awesome :) These have been a hit at the markets (especially the Honey Toffee), and let's face it, a girl can never have too much perfume. Nearer to Christmas I'll be bringing out something for the guys as well.

Want to check em out? You can find them all here ($AU) and here ($US).

Custom soap favours

2010-10-23T10:09:00.004+11:00

These are just the cutest little things! I made these custom Citrus Sunrise soap favours for a customer of mine, for her daughter's baptism.

I am SO making soap favours for our upcoming wedding (what else??). They also make great gifts for parties, goody bags, baby showers, christenings, or anything else you can think of!

Something I had to share ...

2010-10-14T12:47:00.003+11:00

I have a lovely regular customer, who I shall name L. She lives in the US and orders products from me frequently. Because her orders are quite large I usually include a small gift in L's parcel - sometimes a sample soap, or a little tub of salt scrub, once I even included a full-size body butter to match the scent of the soaps she had ordered. I don't think anything of this, to me it's just good customer service. But L is always delighted to receive her little suprises, she always contacts me to say thank you and leaves glowing feedback. She is a jewel - and I feel blessed to have her as a customer.

Today I received a suprise package in the mail. The postmark said it was from the US, and I thought - that's odd, I'm not expecting anything. When I opened it there were 2 little boxes inside, and a letter. It was from L, and she had written to say thank you for everything. She had enclosed 2 pairs of earrings - one pair (pictured, courtesy of HelenesDreams) that she had seen in my Etsy 'favourites' list, plus another gorgeous pair of blue crystal studs she had bought at a local fair.

I was truly blown away by the gesture. How kind of her, and how thoughtful. Thank you, L - you know who you are! You made my day :)

Sometimes simple is best

2010-10-12T13:45:00.005+11:00

I'm so used to doing complex designs with my soap that I forget how beautiful the simple look can be. As I was preparing to to make batch of Spiced Amber soap, I asked Nathan to sniff the fragrance and what colour he thought it should be. He said light brown. I turned my nose up at his suggestion - plain light brown soap! But then I thought, why not? So I made the base a pale cream (it will get slightly darker over time), whipped up the tops, and sprinkled some luxurious gold glitter on the tops. I cut them this morning - and I think they're just lovely.

Spiced Amber is a gorgeous blend of spices, warm amber, woods, patchouli and vanilla.

Goodbye, Lip Butters

2010-10-09T10:39:00.002+11:00

I made an executive decision not to make any more of my lip butters. I do love them - they're gorgeous and nourishing for the lips. But I won't miss making them. They're fiddly and messy and time-consuming. So they're gone from my website ... I still have a few here that I will take to the markets until they sell through, so if you do want to purchase one (ot two) just give me a holler and I can set up a custom listing for you.

I'm thinking next year I might come back to these in just one or two simple all-natural flavours - unscented, vanilla honey? - in little tubs.

Perfumes

2010-10-04T15:21:00.003+11:00

I've been thinking of making roll-on perfumes for quite some time now, and I have finally gotten the ball rolling. Yesterday I ordered some 10ml roll-on glass bottles and some DELICIOUS fragrances. Exciting! There will be some that match up to my soaps & body butters - notably my more popular fragrances such as Gardenia, Pomegranate and Vanilla Buttercream - but there will also be some new exciting blends ... Fresh Rose, Violet Blossoms, Spiced Amber, Candy Floss and White Musk, to name a few. I'm also going to get some little organza bags for these to make them more 'gifty' - they will make great Christmas presents. Watch this space!

Sneak Peek

2010-09-29T09:28:00.008+10:00

This morning I cut the first of my Christmas batches ... this is a

sneak peek of my Candy Cane soap. It smells so good, I kind

of wanna eat it.

Bits & pieces

2010-09-20T12:38:00.003+10:00

Well we're heading into the silly season and soapmakers all around the world will be gearing up for that all-important month of December. What I have been up to? ... I've been stock-piling soaps and working on some limited edition blends for the Christmas season - details coming soon. I'll have three, possibly four, lush Christmas soaps to delight the senses! I've also making custom soap favours for a couple of weddings and a christening. I LOVE custom work, it's what helps keep my job exciting and fresh. I'll upload some photos of those soon too.

I've also been getting stuck into markets ... here's a pic I snapped of our stall at the Bondi Beach Markets on Sunday:

I've got some new soap in store too, want to take a peek?

Guava Fig - now available - a limited edition bar for spring. If you haven't already, check out my soapmaking photos for this soap here.

Orange Mocha Soap - now available - fresh coffee, orange, bittersweet chocolate, vanilla, and a base of sensual sandalwood & earthy vetiver.

Weekend Sale!

2010-09-05T07:46:00.003+10:00

If you've been wanting to indulge in some delicious handmade soap or body products, now's your chance! For this weekend only I'm offering a whopping 20% off when you spend over $20!

Discount will be refunded via paypal, or wait for a revised paypal invoice. Items in 'sale' section are not eligible for further discount.

Honey Toffee Soap

2010-09-01T09:17:00.003+10:00

Recently when I ran my Father's Day competition I asked what your favourite Inner Earth products were - past or present. I had an overwhelming response for my Honeybunch soap. So ... I'm bringing it back! It will be called Honey Toffee this time around - here's the fresh batch I cut this morning.

For those of you who don't remember this beauty, the scent is a combination of sweet dripping honey, crunchy toffee and a hint of citrusy bergamot. And it smells DIVINE.

Soapmaking in action

2010-08-24T14:22:00.007+10:00

A new requirement for one of my markets is that the stallholders need to display photos of themselves making what they sell, works in progress, their workspace, etc. So I got my partner to snap a few shots while I made this batch of limited edition Guava Fig soap ... and thought I would share them with you as well.

Adding some pre-prepared pink soap pieces to my base.

Pouring into the mould. I probably didn't choose the best colour combination for the photo shoot, as this doesn't look particularly appetising! Smells good though.

The finished soap, ready to be covered & insulated.

The next day: cutting into logs.

Freshly cut bars.

Winner!!

2010-08-19T09:56:00.004+10:00

The winner of my Father's Day competition was lucky comment #14 - Samara from Maddo! Congratulations Samara!

Thanks to everyone to entered the competition, I really enjoyed going through your comments and seeing which were your favourites ... there might be a couple of soaps that stage a comeback this year!

Father's Day Soap Giveaway

2010-08-11T17:04:00.005+10:00

In honour of upcoming Father's Day, I'm giving away an awesome prize pack of three full-size bars of soap! The manly soap-pack includes:

~ Bloke Soap - made with beer
~ Kakadu Soap - lemon myrtle, eucalyptus & tea tree
~ Ocean Spa Soap - rosemary, lavender, lemongrass, mint & kelp

At the local markets, these soaps are the most popular with the guys. Any dad would be proud to have these in his shower!

All you have to do to enter the competition is leave a comment below letting me know which of my products you love the most - past or present.

Extra entries will be given for a) tweeting about this giveaway or b) blogging about this giveaway (please put each entry as a separate comment). Competition closes on midnight Wednesday 18th August, and the winner will be drawn using a random number generator.

Good luck!

New soap!

2010-08-11T08:59:00.003+10:00

I cut this new batch this morning. I'm still not quite sure what to call it. I used the same scent as for my original Cafe Vetiver soap (coffee/incense/vetiver) but I've added some creamy vanilla and sweet orange to the mix. It smells pretty good. Orange Mocha? Jaffacino? Jaffa Java? Any suggestions would be welcome!

Body Butters

2010-08-04T16:14:00.004+10:00

I just made these today - Coconut Lime Body Butter! I love this scent in soap so I wanted to offer it in a body butter as well. Zesty top notes of lime, lemon & grapefruit combined with creamy coconut and a hint of white musk.

I've also - finally - made a listing for big 250g jars of body butter. I get lots of requests for the bigger size (and, just quietly, this is the size I make for myself). Each jar is made fresh as its ordered, with all my popular scents available. Custom scent blends available on request!

Curing Rack - Part 2

2010-07-27T14:40:00.005+10:00

Over the weekend I expanded my curing & storage space

- check it out!

The furthest rack down the end now holds packaging supplies, oils, fragrances, clays, botanicals, and a whole range of stuff that never had a dedicated space before. The other two racks hold curing soaps (on top), cured soaps (below, in boxes to preserve the scents), body butters and other products. I tell ya, it feels good to spread out.

And yes - those are my slippers you can see on the floor. Those floorboards can get really cold in winter!

I also managed to sneak in a newbie soap this week, which I cut this morning. It's called Rose Amor and is scented with my own hand-blended fragrance of rose, rose geranium and lavender, plus hints of vanilla, sandalwood and clove. It also contains rose hydrosol and pink clay, so this would double as a fabulous facial soap. On the top I sprinkled rose petals and rosehip seeds. I think it's very pretty and feminine.

What's on the curing rack?

2010-07-21T12:16:00.006+10:00

Well I've been super busy with markets and wholesale orders lately so I'm making lots of soap ... my curing rack is pretty full at the moment! Actually I'm starting to realise I need more space, so in the next couple of months I'll be getting 2 more of these racks.

(from top left): Vanilla Buttercream, Berry Nice, Ocean Spa, Mango Papaya, Gardenia, Bloke Soap, Lavender Silk, Honey Bee Mine, Kakadu, Pomegranate, Charcoal Complexion.

I also have some great news ... In August I'll be starting back at the Kirribilli Art & Design Markets. They're on the second Sunday of the month, in the Burton St Tunnel, Milson's Point. I did these markets late last year and they really are awesome for high quality, handmade goods. So if you're in the area, come on down and say hi!

Bloke Soap

2010-07-15T13:55:00.002+10:00

I made a batch of 'Bloke Soap' this week - it's made with beer! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think I will make another batch next week because last year I sold out of this around Father's Day. In fact, I might even add this to my core range. Blokes seem to get a kick out of washing with beer ;)

The beer lends it a sweet, malty aroma, plus I lightly scented it with some sandalwood, cedarwood, cinnamon and patchouli. It smells very manly, kind of like a cologne scent.