When the soap maker messes up...

It's always interesting when something goes wrong during production of a product.

Yesterday afternoon I was working on restocking the Whipped Body Wash and decided to make a double batch since it was so popular last time... However, I was distracted and messed up somewhere. I spent hours trying to mix and stir and get it to the proper consistency, then spent two more hours troubleshooting with a soap making mentor of mine.

I sat there going through the steps in my head, trying to remember everything I did and while looking at my recipe realized, I didn't remember adding double the amount of one of the most important ingredients!

On Making convenience shopping even more convenient!

So today while updating the website with some new products, I started going through things and realized that, once again, I have been over-complicating things for myself and everyone else!

In the past, when I have created new products, you would have to wait for me to make and photograph a sample in each available fragrance. However, this made things a little difficult for me, since with 4 kids at home and another full time business, it can be quite time consuming to make them all, not to mention my house would be overrun quickly with products haha!

Spring Cleaning and Thoughts on New Soapmakers

Recently I have been seeing some local businesses posting soaps from local soap makers... while I'm thrilled that more and more people are interested in using amazing natural and handmade products, and supporting small local businesses, I also want to caution against putting your trust in people who are too new to the craft.

How Soap Changes During the Curing Phase

People sometimes ask me why I don't make my soap available for sale right away. There are a few reasons, the simplest of which to explain is that because most of my soaps are made using the cold process method, the first few days of curing, the soap is still potentially going through the saponification process. This is the chemical reaction between the Lye, Water and Oils that creates the soap. It's important to not use the soap too soon because if this process is not complete, it can lead to chemical burns and harsh soap that can be irritating to skin. The longer soap cures, the more gentle it will become.

On Supporting Local Businesses

I love visiting other local businesses to support them. Today while in Belfast dropping off soaps and other goodies at some stores, my husband and I decided to kill some time before Rollie's Bar and Grill opened for lunch and we visited a few places, including Vinolio where we purchased some yummy Tuscan Herb infused Olive Oil. We've already tried their Garlic infused olive oil and their Balsamic Vinegar (both yummy btw!)...

New Product: Oatmeal Clay Mask & Scrub

I don't know about you, but I know that being a dry skin sufferer, living in the sometimes frigid temperatures of Coastal Maine, my skin really takes a beating every year. I have naturally dry skin, and the fluctuating temperatures, paired with living in a home that is primarily heated with wood, definitely takes its toll on me.

I'll also admit to being chronically dehydrated from not drinking nearly enough water. Shame on me, that part is my own fault.

Adventures in testing new products

So yeah, whoops! This is what happens when you forget to rinse the soap making dishes before putting them in the dishwasher... Oh well, that floor needed to be cleaned anyway haha!

I haven't blogged since I got things rolling again this past fall, but if you follow me on Facebook then you'll know I've been staying quite busy over here!

Back In Business 2 for $5 Pre-Order Sale!

The time has come... After more than 3 years without making any soap, I am back in the game.

The last 3 years have been busy and overwhelming, but I'm excited at the prospect of getting back to work making soap along with working my photography business.

Since it has been so long since I have made any soap, my inventory has been completely depleted except for the single batch of Lavender Rosemary Bliss that I made earlier this week, but because I know there are SO many people who were such fans of my soap, I thought this would be the perfect way to relaunch!

So here you have it... Get two bars for $5 of your favorite scent! Bars are usually $3.75 each, with flat rate shipping!

I'll be working on getting my official website back up soon but in the mean time, you can place your orders through the mini order form below... Soaps will be made to order and will be shipped as each type becomes ready for use. You will be updated on the status of your order with each change!

New Product: Wax Bark - An Original and Unique Gift Idea!

Inspiration strikes at the strangest of times... today it was 6:30am on my drive home from dropping the hubby off at work. Thinking to myself "The kids are back to school, I told myself I'd get back to work as soon as that happened, how can I get excited about Lupine Ridge again?" and it hit me.... A new product idea.

Wax tarts are a huge seller, everywhere, but that's just the problem. Everyone sells wax tarts. I'm also currently out of containers, so couldn't work on adding new fragrances. That's when inspiration struck.

The convenience of wax tarts, with the aesthetics of Peppermint Bark, a holiday favorite!

And here you have it... A Lupine Ridge Botanicals original.... I couldn't find anything like it anywhere!

Wax Bark in our Fall Favorite: Pumpkin Pie Spice!

I'll be adding these to the website soon, and working on other fragrances.... Cinnamon Spice, Cinnilla Spice and more for the holidays!

June Fundraiser: Support for Dawn and her Children

"In the early hours of June 18, 2012, Dawn, a mother of five beautiful children, while sleeping peacefully in her bed, was brutally, and repeatedly bludgeoned in the head by her estranged husband with a hammer. Upon waking after the attack and calling for her oldest son, her attacker fled on foot and is now at large**. Dawn then embarked on a fight not just for her life but for the lives of all the children in her home. With the strength only a mother can muster, she took her children into her vehicle and drove them all to the hospital, saving not only her life but theirs as well. This morning she underwent brain surgery to fix the damage that had been done to her; damage that astounded ever her surgeon with its brutality. It is no wonder that a woman, who was able to think first of getting her children to safety above her own needs, has since survived surgery. She remains in the ICU in stable conditions, having plates and pins in place to help heal the 8 fractures that her skull received from the hammer. This mother has given everything she could to friends and family over the years, and is always there with an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on. " - Excerpt from the ChipIn page created to raise funding for Dawn and her children

Lupine Ridge Botanicals is donating a Gift Set to an auction being hosted by Simply Smurfy Crochet, and in addition to other efforts to help raise funding for this family, we have decided to host our very own Fundraiser for this family to help with the hard road they have ahead of them.

We have decided to donate 25% of all sales until the end of June to Dawn and her children. You can place your orders at http://lupine-ridge.com and if you'd like to include a message to Dawn with your order, put it in the Comment box in the checkout and we will forward all messages to her as they are received.

**In the most updated news we have received, the husband has been arrested and charged with attempted murder

ReLaunch Giveaway Winner!

List Randomizer - Random.org

Last week we announced a giveaway to celebrate the ReLaunch of our website with our new design over at http://Lupine-Ridge.com. All you had to do to enter was sign up for our email list or write a product review, or both! You could enter as many product reviews as you wanted (so long as you had actually tried the product!) and each one got you another entry. I sorted through the email list subscribers and the product reviews and removed any that didn't need to be there (such as my own email address, lol, I like to see what gets sent out like customers do!) and this is what I came up with after I put the list into a List Randomizer on Random.org.

As you can see, for security purposes, I removed the end of each persons email address, I can match them up to contact the winner, but no one other than me will have access to the information, and to keep the list simple I removed the details of the product reviews (like product name, etc) and just left the headlines of each product review, which I can match up in my dashboard with the winner!

Now to head over to the True Random Number generator and input 1-16 and let it pick a winner, hold on a sec while I go do that......................

Back!

And the winner is! Number 8 - Carol Price! And since that's an email address, it makes it even easier for me to contact her! Now, as stated when the drawing was posted last week: "Prize winner will have 3 days to respond to the announcement with details for their prize delivery or a new winner will be chosen." - Since the prize is a Gift Certificate and the winner was an email address, there's nothing to be done! Gift Certificates are emailed straight from the website to the recipient (You can send your friends and family Gift Certificates to Lupine Ridge Botanicals too!) so there will be no need to draw a new winner!

If you are interested in buying a gift certificate for someone YOU know... visit the Lupine Ridge Botanicals Gift Certificate page, fill out the form and after you have paid and the order is verified, the gift certificate will be emailed directly to the recipient!

Have a great week everyone!

5...4...3...2...1... BLASTOFF! Website ReLaunch Celebration!

© Pkruger | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

Get ready to celebrate! This week marks the ReLaunch of Lupine Ridge Botanicals! We have lots to celebrate and YOU will be the ones getting the prizes!

FIRST:  The new website! The votes are in, all of our testers have agreed, the website is FANTASTIC! Go ahead, pop on over, we'll wait! http://lupine-ridge.com

Agreed? It's awesome, isn't it? We thought you'd think so!

So here are the details: Customers who had registered on our old website will already have accounts on the new site, all of that information has been transferred over, you will log in with the email address you used previously, however you will have to click the "Forgot Your Password?" link and get a link to reset your password emailed to you. For security reasons, we did not transfer that information. Your order history did not transfer, we are still looking into whether or not there is a way to upload that information manually.

Second: The Giveaway! The giveaway will run from Monday, June 11th to Sunday, June 17th, 2012. There are TWO ways to enter, each way gives you ONE entry into the drawing! The first way to enter is by signing up for our mailing list (at the top right of this page or on the top left of http://lupine-ridge.com). The second way to enter is by posting a product review on our website (simply find a product you have tried and post a review on the product page! Reviews are sent to the website once a day, so don't worry if yours doesn't show up right away.) You can post more than one review, and each review will get you an entry into the drawing! Be sure to include your first name and last initial in your review so we can announce your name on the blog as the winner!

Third: The Prize! All entries will be entered into the drawing and ONE randomly selected prize winner will be awarded a $15 Gift Certificate to Lupine Ridge Botanicals!

Fine print: All product reviews MUST be written by someone who has actually tried the product, we will check order history for validation if we feel it is necessary. Reviews must be honest. Good, bad, in between, it doesn't matter, we want to know what YOU think. Entrants must be at least 13 years of age or older and have parental consent if under the age of 18. Prize winner will be randomly selected and the winners name will be announced on Monday, June 18th, 2012 on the blog. An announcement will be sent on Facebook as well as our newsletter. Prize winner will have 3 days to respond to the announcement with details for their prize delivery or a new winner will be chosen.

ENJOY!

Great things are coming our way!

I know I've mentioned before about some of the upcoming changes to the website, and I've mentioned it on the Facebook page too, so I thought I'd give you all a sneak peek at what I've been working on!

Click to enlarge the picture!

Excited to hear what you all think! Feel free to post a comment and give me some feedback!

On The Curing Rack - Ready for the Week of June 24th

Lots of new soaps going on this week!

Oatmeal Tea Tree Oil - 20 Bars

Coconut Bay Rum - 20 Bars

Lavender Rosemary Bliss - 20 Bars

Giveaway Winners

I want to take a moment to congratulate our three winners of our 300 Fan Giveaway!

We are actually up to almost 360 fans now, and we ran the giveaway for a week so everyone would have a chance to enter. I ran the drawing this morning through Rafflecopter and the winners are:

Grand Prize Winner of the Minty Goodness Gift Set - Amber E.

The two second places winners of $5 store credit:
Christal L. and Elisha G.

I will be contacting each of you privately to let you know about your prizes!

I look forward to doing more giveaways in the future!

On The Curing Rack - Ready the Week of June 10th

This will be our first installment of "What's Curing?"

I want to help everyone stay informed of what's going to be available and when!

Soaps that were made last week and will be ready to go the week of June 10th are:

Dark Kiss Soap - 10 Bars

Lilac Soap - 20 bars

300 Fan Giveaway!

We promised that when our Facebook page hit 300 fans, that we would do a big giveaway! Well, here it is!

We will be giving away 3 prizes!

Prize 1:  Minty Goodness Spa Set (which includes a Rosemary Peppermint Soap, Peppermint Sugar Scrub and a Minty Green Soap Scrubby)
Prize 2 and 3: $5 store credit!

To enter you need to do three things:

1. Be a fan of our Facebook page
2. Leave a comment here telling us what your IDEAL product for us to carry would be
3. Join our mailing list (up at the top right!)

You have from May 16th to May 24th to do these three things and then the three winners will be announced here on the blog (and sent to the mailing list and Facebook page!)

Share this with your friends if you think this is something they would like!



a Rafflecopter giveaway When you post your comment, if you post as Anonymous, be sure to sign your name so I can match it with your entry :)

New Website

Over the next 3 months we will be working on a new website design and hosting plan for http://lupine-ridge.com


We have that amount of time left with our current host, and we are hoping that when that time is up we will be ready to make a smooth transition to our new host and have a big Re-Launch celebration!

Stay tuned for more details and information as progress is made!