Shameless…soap opera

One not so special September day in 2007 I had wandered into a little boutique in Antioch’s old town district; loving the character of old town  architecture and always up to explore unique little shops I found a few little treasures to buy.  One being a soap made by a local soap maker; and being a bit of a soap fanatic couldn’t wait to dirty myself up so that I would have an excuse to use it. Well I was so impressed with the soap that I decided to write the maker a little email telling them how much I enjoyed their product and appreciated the craftsmanship involved. Well needless to say be quickly became good friends and I was so happy to have someone to mentor me while I turned my candle hobby into a small business of my own. 

And now for some shameless nepotistic promoting. 

The soap I was talking about was Ginger Lime, a wonderfully refreshing soap perfect for warm summer days. But not even that lovely concoction is what I really wanted to talk to you about; my ultimate favorite is the Black Tea & Rose soap. 

Now hold on a minute,

I know what you’re thinking and a lot of people tend to shy away from anything with “rose” on the label, but this ain’t your grandma’s perfumy rose shaped, decorative soap in the guest bathroom; not by a long shot! This wonderfully fragrant soap is fresh, clean and sophisticated and even the guys will like it! And if you're like me and suffer dry itchy skin in the winter, this unassuming moisturizing worrier's got your back; literally! So try this, buy the soap and remove the label and stealthily put it in the shower and see what happens, I’m willing to bet you that whoever happens to suds up in that shower will use it; and happily so. For me, I think it’s the black tea that really gives it this old-world-sophisticated aroma; and when you add that oh so subtle watery-rose scent, and the steam of your shower becomes a scaffolding for the aroma to envelope you;  its soap opera that will keep you coming back for more performances!

Click HERE to visit Delta Moon Soapworks Today!

So dirty; so good...

Not too long ago I received a costly chunk of Tuberose wax, this wax is a byproduct that occurs during the process of extracting the essential oil from the waxy flower. The wax has a beautiful goldenrod coloring that looks as if were a giant piece of bee pollen and is intensely fragrant. This bold earthy aroma reminds me of damp earth, smoky wood, stargazer, jasmine and vetiver; a combination that might only be fully appreciated by true down and dirty aromaphiles. By blending this dense wax with other natural vegetable waxes I plan to us it for a special edition Tuberose candle that will be available in the Whitehall Essentials line. Stay tuned for more!

It is said that King Solomon...

declared opoponax to be the noblest of fragrant resins. About three weeks ago I ordered Opoponax essential oil from a terrific supplier located in the Pacific Northwest. Opoponax, also known as Sweet Myrrh is a gum-resin that comes from a small plant that grows in various countries’ that surround the Mediterranean & Black Seas as well as the Indian Ocean and has been used for its fragrant and healing qualities for thousands of years. Early on it was mostly used as incense; however it has become a staple used in fine perfumes over the past hundred or so years and more recently it is even found its way into high-end candles. The particular sample I received is from Kenya and has a very earthy-sweet slightly medicinal smell which I could best describe as a combination of an anasic lavender, isopropyl alcohol and balsam. In its pure form, it may seem harsh and unpleasant to some so it is almost always blended when used for personal and home fragrance. I have chosen to mix it with a bourbon vanilla and bergamot and the ending aroma is a both regal and exotic. Now that I’ve given the blend of oils a week to marinade  in my test tube, I will blend a larger portion and use it in a candle; which if successful will join the Whitehall Essentials Line.

Whitehall Essentials

Well January is here again and that means its time for me to start thinking about what new things I’ll be doing for the year. While I had a great holiday season as far as sales went; things were slower than usual this last year, partly because I missed 3 important events and moved 2.5 hours east making my trips to the WC Market rather limited. So frustratingly this means a number of my “branding improvement projects” will continue to sit on the back burner, so no custom canvas totes or gift wrap stickers this year and the launch of my new line “Monarch” will continue to sit on the back burner.

But do not despair, I will be introducing (finally) No.21 Lemon-Verbena and No. 23 Lavender-Verbena to the Signature Collection which I’m quite sure will be very popular with you fine folks.

Also I launched, albeit rather late in the year; the new Whitehall Essentials line last December for all the diehard purists out there. Just like my Signature Collection, these candles will also be made with pure organic soy wax and cotton wicks but scented with fine Essential Oils only. I wanted to use a type of “brown Kraft” box that is made from 100% recycled paper and has lovely horizontal lines embossed onto the box. And wanting to keep with the more natural “organic” look, I sketched out a design onto paper, sent it to my graphic designer and asked her to make up an image that could be made into a rubber stamp. After a few revisions to the artwork, I sent the design to Berkeley Rubber Stamp Co for them to create the rubber stamp; and wouldn’t you know it turned out better than I could have expected! I just love raw look of the stamp impression on the box and it also helps to emphasize that it’s a product lovely made by hand, one at a time. At the moment I have French Lavender and Lemongrass-Sage available in the Essentials line with more exotic fragrances on the way.

Christmas Koi Fish Lavender Ice Cream

[candle holder]

Today I was invited to visit a friend’s glass studio in Placerville (Pamela Angelo 530-621-3688); she makes gorgeous functional art pieces such as bird baths, bowls and Candle Holders!! I purchased a very cool dual compartment serving dish with a cool retro design and she gave me a very special candle holder that I cannot wait to put to use! It actually accommodates my candle jars very well but it has inspired me to break out my pillar molds and play with some of the palm wax I’ve been sitting on for the past few years.

[serving dish]

In addition to visiting Pam’s glass studio she also lured me in with the promise of getting to harvest some of the lavender growing in her park-like garden. After the harvest, we sat down next to the most charming Koi pond filled with aquatic plants, turtles and several big fat koi fish that busily cleaned rocks of algae. It was so tranquil to sit and watch this little world go about its day while we sipped on lemonade and chatted about the ins-and-outs of selling handmade crafts.

On my way home I drove more leisurely, rolled all the windows down and listened to “La Wally”, “Nessun Dorma”, and “O Mio Babbino Caro”; the perfect soundtrack for this epic countryside!

[piping fragrance into a dram]

Back at the candle lab, I’ve been busy playing with some new fragrances for this season’s holiday collection. Last year I got a sample that smells of Christmas trees, citrus and cloves; it’s both earthy and fresh at the same time and if you’re a fan of my “No. 30 Christmas Tree” you’re going to LOVE this! I am also testing a Provence Lavender fragrance and a Lavender-Verbena fragrances that I hope will test well and can be added to the lineup. This naturally means I’ll need to make room by eliminating some slow selling fragrances, up on the chopping block are : No. 18 Apple Pie, No. 21 Anjou Pear, No. 41 Night Blooming Jasmine and No. 45 Black Berry-Sage.

Now I’m off to enjoy some of the homemade Honey-Lavender Ice Cream I made last night :-)~

[Homemade Honey-Lavender Ice Cream]

Cobbler, tomato thieves, freaky beetles & Citrus 4 ways

So sorry for the little blog sabbatical, I'm sure all 8 of you were just lost without my pointless ramblings!

Last night we went to Josh's parents for dinner, so I decided to bake a peach cobbler (recipe by Paula Dean) and I made homemade ice cream (recipe by David Lebovits). I’m not sure why I always decide to try a new untested recipe for social events !?!? The cobbler was way too sweet and the "crust" was more of a cake. The ice cream was the most decadent ice cream I've ever had! It was sooo rich and creamy and intensely sweet, I think next time I'll dilute the mixture by adding a 3 cups of milk after the custard is added. So in short, the cobbler recipe will be tossed, and the ice cream recipe will receive a few modifications and then be added to my binder of yum yum.

We came home and enjoyed a nice sunset on the deck with the buddies pretending to casually walk by the tomato plants but really trying to score some of the fruit! Sneaky dogs! And then this freaky beetle few into my face and back inside we went.

If you’ve ever been into my candle booth for an event, you may have noticed I really like the flora’s! I need to balance things out with some new citrus and fruit fragrances and lately I’ve been agonizing over these for different citrus samples on my desk. 1) Seems to have a lemony top note which makes me thing of two things, a clean house and the cleaner used to achieve said cleanliness. 2) Smells of blood orange and a hint of chocolate. 3) Has a pungent combination of lime, lemon and grapefruit and 4) smells of orange juice and mandarins. I’ve got my handy test strips so I’ll dip them into the oils and see what the dry out smells like tomorrow.

Hibernating samples Oktoberfest

Hibernation

Oh my, September is just a few days away and it’s time for this candle maker to come out of hibernation. Actually I seemed to have forgotten to set my alarm clock and over slept a whole month. Usually the plan is to spend June & July goofing off, working on diy projects around the house and come August start planning for the upcoming fall season. One of these years this plan will actually work out for me… one of these years.

Fall Preview

Tomorrow I’ll have to sequester myself into the workshop and not come out until I’ve packed up the samples for the fall preview and ship them out to my (new) wholesale accounts. I have managed to schedule a few dates for my return to my beloved Walnut Creek Farmers Market. My first day back for my 2010-2011 season will be Sunday September 12^th and I also plan to be there Sunday the 19^th & 26^th.

Oktoberfest

At the moment I’m still waiting to hear back from the folks at the Benicia Chamber of Commerce for the status of my application for the Fine Arts & Crafts Fair on the 18^th. So far I am confirmed for Clayton’s Oktoberfest October 2^nd & 3^rd which will be my second year attending this event and as always, any event in downtown Clayton is a blast! I hope to one day be able to attend not as a vender but as an attendee, maybe even bring the buddies (my two dogs Johann & Ludwig) as Clayton is a very dog friendly city. The city even has a fountain in the park for visiting dogs to have a refreshing drink of water; how great is that?

Photo: Clayton Oktoberfest 2009 by Shawn M. Cox