Beguile Soaps

Yep, I caved under the pressure :)

2011-11-18T19:59:00.000-08:00

Over the past few years the requests for cupcake soaps have increased till this year and the begging began lol. So, I caved...

Gotta give our customers what they want after all!

On top we have Flirt and Tempt, then on the bottom we have Cherish (orange) Ritual (brown) and Delish (purple). I've been playing around with different tips and moulds, so will be sticking with the standard 'ripple' base, and using a mix of 3 different tips I think, I love the different effects you can create!

That time of year again! Christmas Soap!

2011-11-11T16:31:00.001-08:00

Just like opening a pressie! I love taking the lid off my moulds the next morning, and seeing a sea of wavy soap tops :) Here they are - Candy Cane, scented with my unique blend of Raspberry fragrance and Peppermint essential oil...

Soap Dragon!

2011-11-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

What a cool find when I cut this new batch of revamped "Evoke" the other day!!! A hidden Soap Dragon :D

Spring Sale 2011!!

2011-09-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

Starting at midnight tonight, I'll be having a 15% off sale for 5 days!! All products will be marked down, so there are no codes to enter, just add what you want to your cart, and pop off to checkout :)

Depending on the rush, I may have to make up fresh batches of ones that move the fastest, but will let you all know as I usually do!

Latest Soapy!

2011-04-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

Here's the soap I made to celebrate the birth of my daughter. I wanted a sweet soft floral scent, a little girly, so blended a gorgeous rose fragrance I recently got from the USA with sweet spearmint essential oil, and am very happy with the results!

I think I'll call it "Blush" - what do you all think? I'm starting to run out of new soap names haha! It was meant to have a black swirl, but it went more of a muted grey, which I actually think looks better! I also infused organic red tea into the base for some texture :)

Now that I'm back at it!

2011-04-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some piccies of some new soaps, and ones that I've jazzed up a bit :)

"Bliss" - Calming Lavender and yummy Aniseed Essential Oils.

"Fable" - Uplifting may chang essential oil, blended with patchouli essential oil.

"Infuse" - A blend of lemongrass and the light aroma of infused green tea.

"Cherish" - A sweet, citrusy blend of sweet orange essential oil with juicy kumquats.

A new look for "Sancha" (don't think I'll do this one again, don't like the shade of green!) - Scented with Eucalyptus and Lemon Myrtle essential oil.

Why no posts?

2011-04-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

There's been a reason why I've not been in the blogosphere lately - my little girl came into the world!

After a smooth pregnancy in the last 6 weeks things got a bit scary, and my little girl ended up being born by emergency c-section, and then shortly after her birth had to be admitted to the special needs nursery due to rapid weight loss :(

All is now going wonderfully thank goodness, she's putting on lots of weight thanks to mummy's good milk, and is now just over a month old - and we've fallen hopelessly in love with her :) Isn't she a cutie! (Yes I'm biased lol!)

Christmas Soapies!!!

2010-11-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

Here are the my two new latest soaps - limited editions just in time for Christmas!

First up we have Ginger Snap - a unique blend I created that's full of warmed ginger and cinnamon spices, drizzled over a sweet orange base, YUM!

Secondly we have Candy Cane - ohhh yeah! My own custom blend of juicy, fresh raspberries perfectly partnered with the cool, crisp zing of peppermint :) Let me know what you all think!

Blog Issues

2010-11-13T14:25:00.001-08:00

Hi All - a lovely reader alerted me to a problem she was having when looking at my blog using the new template, and that a nasty virus warning was coming up :(

I've switched back to the original version this morning, so hopefully everything is back to normal!

I've got some piccies of my new limited edition soapies coming up soon so stay tuned *wink*

Bought home the gold - two years running!

2010-09-16T22:56:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone :)

For those of you that follow me on facebook, you'd know I entered the Hunter Valley Olive Show again this year, and last week was invited to attend the awards night! Last year I entered one soap, a 100% castille scented with my 'Charm' blend of Lemon Myrtle and Lavender, with Calendula Petals - and last year it won the Gold, Best in Class, and also the trophy Best in Show!

This year we had more soapmakers submit entries, so I was quite excited to meet some new faces and talk soapy shop this time around :)

So this year I entered the same soap that won Gold last year, and a then second soap for the other category, using a recipe that had to have a minimum of 60% olive oil :) I scented this one with my ever popular 'Cherish' blend - Kumquat fragrance and Sweet Orange Essential Oil.

We got there early at 5pm, since I'm now 15 weeks pregnant I wanted to allow for lots of loo breaks during the 2 and a half hour drive haha! The show steward remembered me from last year, and was chatting away, then dropped a bombshell on me saying "Oh by the way, I've added another section to the awards, a Q&A session at the end, and I'd like you to chat about what makes a good soap" - ahhhhhhhhhhh public speaking OMG!!!!!

But it did give me a little hint that I'd done well again in the awards *grin*

As it's an olive show, so there's LOTS of yummy, delicious olive oils, infused ones, flavored ones, gourmet tables olives (my favorite of the night were Kalamata Olives in a garlic infusion = heaven!) tapenades etc - I was getting really hungry!

Then the soap section came up, and the first category was the castille, which I'm proud to say I won the only Gold award in again this year, as well as Best in Class - yay! Then the second category, 60% Olive based soaps came around, and I won the only Gold in that one as well, along with Best in Class, then to top it off, I was awarded Best in Show against all entries for the Cherish soap - woot!

I won't go into detail about my 'talk' - I have a habit of talking waaaaay to fast when I get nervous, so I've no doubt I sounded like a chattering chipmunk, but a few people asked questions, and then came up after to sniff the ones I'd bought with me, and to take some cards and flyers.

So it was a great evening all round, even if a loooooong one - we didn't get home till 10:30pm last night! My hubby was wonderful as always, proudly telling everyone that it's "All her" when asked what he 'did' in our soap business haha - he may not help me with the business directly, but he's my rock and my support, and without him I couldn't have come this far *love*

New Look For Lavish!

2010-09-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been craving sharper colours, and more variety than I can get from using oxides, clays, herbs and spices. So I've caved in and bought some FD&C colours to start playing with!

Here's the new look for my 'Lavish' soap - Lavender and Grapefruit essential oils.

What do you all think?

Bath Bombs have made a comeback!

2010-09-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

For all my lovely customers who have been nagging me to make bath bombs again - here they are :)

I've gone back to the round bath bomb shape, as doing them in the ice cream scoops was getting to darn fiddly and time consuming!

Aren't they cute!

Why I've been MIA :)

2010-09-03T01:03:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Here's the reason I've not been blogging much lately. I'm pregnant!

I fell pregnant in June, and my first trimester had me lose ALL my naturally abundant energy - I'm normally a get outta bed at the crack 'o dawn kinda gal - but I was barely able to get out of bed before 10am!!!! Ouch!

Luckily now I'm in my 14th week (yay! all is going wonderfully!) my energy has started coming back, so I've been busy starting to make stockpiles in preparation for having time off after the birth. I'm aiming to have an extra couple of thousand bars on hand so I can spend the first month 100% with our new bub - wish me luck!

Our baby is due on my birthday, the 9th March, 2011 :)

After having a miscarriage at 6 weeks last April, this little one is extra precious to us, and we are thrilled that so far everything is going perfectly *super big smile*

I hope you are all travelling well, and that everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Photography Lessons

2010-06-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

I've finally worked up the courage to start learning how to properly use the new camera I bought last year (Cannon EOS 1000D). The reason I'd been nervous is because it involves changing settings - arrggggghhhhhhhhh!

The various default 'point and click' settings never seemed to work well for my product shots, as I found I couldn't get the depth of field, shading and focus that I wanted /cry.

I'm pretty happy with how I've come along so far - still lots to learn! This photo has only been cropped to size, and I adjusted the shadow/highlight setting a teeny bit in Photoshop :)

New Ritual...

2010-05-25T02:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I got some fresh new fragrances imported in from the USA late last year, and among them was a DIVINE rendition of vanilla beans and all things sweet. So I've finally soaped it!

I'll be replacing the current 'Ritual' vanilla and caramel blend with this new one - it's totally amazingly vanillery, buttery yet sweet and rich at the same time - mmmmmmmmm!

And just cause i thought this crossroad layout looked inspiring - I snapped it! 200 soapies cut and ready to be lightly beveled on the edges - yes I'm pedantic about not leaving edges rough!

Front is a new design for Amber, the new Ritual on the right, Embrace on the left, and at the back is Entice :) Enjoy!

The New Factory!

2010-05-11T01:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! I've finally put up some piccies of the new Beguile factory :)

You can check them all out over on my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sydney-Australia/Beguile-Bath-Body/193876953716

Here's my new labelling and wrapping area for starters!

I still have a fair bit to do, staining the woodwork, putting in my wholesale packing area, mounting shelves above the long workbench for my frequent use essential oils etc etc...

I'll be sorting the final places for things out for a while to come, as I find my 'groove' working in a totally new setup! Overall though I'm very happy with how it's coming - it's quite different going from 300 square feet of space to nearly 650!!!!

Cupcakes!!!!

2010-03-29T23:09:00.001-07:00

Here's a new bath product teaser *wink* They are NOT for eating haha!

Stay tuned for progress reports :)

New Soapies!

2010-03-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

As promised here are a couple of piccies showing the new 'Amaya' and 'Vixen' soaps just after I've finished sculpting their wavy tops *smile*

Cut pics will come soon!

Amaya - exotic rosewood blended with sweet spearmint - heavenly!

Vixen - lemony/orangey may chang spiced up with zesty ginger - mmmmm cheeky *grin*

Great News!

2010-03-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's my birthday today, and in addition to the new house settlement going through on monday, guess what else could be a better birthday present???

Finding out this morning that the word 'Beguile' is now fully trademarked and protected under my name in the beauty and cosmetic industry - yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!

I can now put that cute little 'r' inside a circle on my logo's, labels etc - how exciting!!!

It's been a very expensive and long drawn out process, that was started early last year, but it's been worth it :) Trademark number #1309579!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2010-02-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

This month, in addition to running around like a headless twit getting ready for our big move, I've been flat out these last couple of weeks making up soapy logs and soap cakes for a regular customer of mine in China *smile* They opened up a second soap shop over there recently, with a third planned for later this year :)

So I thought I'd share piccies of my "Great Wall of Soap!" The order was for just under 200 soap logs and cakes, and each log = 10 bars! Their customers love cutting the logs up themselves in the shop :)

I still have 45 logs to make and 6 more cakes (12 wedges each) so this is a shot of about two thirds of the order, and equivilent to 1,380 bars - that's a lotta soap lol!

We're Moving!

2010-02-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

Well it's now official, hubby and I move to our new house on the 11th of March! The soaps I'll move to their new factory most likely towards the end, as I need to have the building set out just the way I want it - it's got so much more storage space with a small mezzanine level, and my office area alone will be a whopping 7m long by 3m wide space - wahhooooo!!!!

I'll have to take a 'moving holiday' for two weeks in march, from the 1st to the 15th, to do all the usual packing and running around like a headless chook that moving makes you do *grin*

I'm so excited!!!! Yay!!!!!

Fresh from the Lather Lab today...

2010-01-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

100 bars of 'Embrace' - 50 to go new homes in Taiwan, and another 50 to a lovely wholesale client that I've worked with for quite a while now :)

I've had a half day today - the morning was taken up chatting with friends and seeing mortgage people, it's all happening full steam ahead!

I've also made 50 bars of pure goat's milk soap, lovely and gentle for all skin types...

On the move!!!

2010-01-25T22:10:00.001-08:00

Yipee!!! Hubby and I have had bought a new house, just around the corner from where we live now!

Know what the best part is??? The new property has a factory setup that's bigger and better than the one I rent for the business now - yeehawwww!

I'll post piccies up once we are in - the soapies will 'move in' a month or so after we do, as I want to spend some time fitting out the new soap factory just the way I want it *grin*

Please keep all your fingers and toes crossed for smooth settlement, at this stage we should be moving in just after my birthday in March :D

Busy Day :D

2010-01-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

I've been a busy little soaper this week - body butters, herbal balms, lip balms, sugar scrubs and soapies - phew :)

Here's a piccy of my main work bench before the action hits - I clean up at the end of each day, ready for the next! I have a big work table right next to the bench, that all the goodies go on :D

The lather lab always smells sooooooooooo good when sugar scrubbies are on the menu!

Here's a day's worth of 300 soapies all cut and lined up, ready to be tidying up and shelved for curing, then another 300 gets made the next day and so on :)

Enjoy!

Cosmopolitan Magazine!!!

2010-01-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

Go check out this months issue of Cosmo magazine, the wonderful team there have put in an advert for Beguile in the recomended businesses directory - ooooooohhh :)

The Jan edition has lots of good articles this month, especially a page layout on a fast workout session to tone up after all the overeating we do at Chrissy time hehe - I'm going to start this week!

I've been blogged!

2010-01-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

What a great way to start a friday morning! I woke up to see in my inbox an email from Joanna over at "The Soap Bar" - a terrific soapy blog showcasing all the types of soaps there can be, from talented soapmakers right around the world - that she had done a post on my soapies :)

So wander over and have a look - don't forget to grab a cuppa first as you'll start reading, and won't want to stop!

http://thesoapbar.blogspot.com/2010/01/oooo-australia-is-full-of-talented-soap.html

Enjoy :)

New Labels :D

2010-01-11T19:03:00.000-08:00

Over my holiday break, I was lucky enough to meet with some new innovative marketing and branding people, who deal with a few of the large beauty companies - so I grabbed the chance with both hands!

As a result of things we talked about, the more creatively professional direction I want to go in, and after hearing you all say 'we liked the different coloured labels' I had last year, I've had the beguile skincare labels re-designed, and the new piccies are starting to go up.

They incorperate the vintage victorian feel I love, and are a range of GORGEOUS pastels colours, that mimic those in my soapies - Let me know what you think :)

Purty Packs!

2010-01-10T00:57:00.000-08:00

I made up 40 custom gifts packs for a new wholesale client in Taiwan - and they looked so purty all lined up I had to take a piccy!

Hello 2010!

2010-01-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start 2010 with a quote that I hold close in my life;

"The generosity of your time is the most valuable gift you can give" by Sara Henderson...

Now onto the goss!! *grin*

This year I'm planning a few changes in the studio behind the soapy scenes, that will make it easier for me to cure up to 4,000 bars (there's up to 3,000 curing at any one time usually, so I plan to try and keep ahead a bit better).

I'll be bringing back some old favorites - Passion, Sublime, Anise - and this year I'm planning on having seasonal offerings in LIMITED editions, at only 50 bars a batch. Of course if any prove die hard popular, they'll move to the standard offering lineup *smile*

I have a few new treats in mind, so have been busy formulating and testing those for the past couple of months. All things going well, the first new body product should be released by the end of the month *smile*

So keep checking back, and I'll be popping up some new photos over the next couple of days!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T00:17:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to wish all of you a wonderful night of celebrating New Years Eve :) May 2010 be whatever you want it to be!

Beguile Fan Page!

2009-12-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

Well I've finally succumbed to customer requests to start a Facebook Fan Page - so here it is!

www.facebook.com/pages/Beguile-Bath-Body/193876953716

I've got more piccies up there, and plan to use the Fan Page to announce specials, release new products, host my bi-monthly newsletters, and get discussions going on about what you'd like to see in the Beguile range :)

So pop on over, and feel free to start commenting!

My Holiday Break...

2009-11-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

This year I'll be closing the Beguile studio doors on Tuesday 22nd December (so last minute order can still be sent out monday the 21st) and will re-open them on Tuesday the 5th January, 2010.

2009 has been a very eventful year, and I'm definately looking forward to a good, long relaxing break with my family, to recharge and refresh my creative drive *smile*

I wish each and every one of you a safe, joyus and cheerful holiday season - a time where we can all rejoice about what's most important, in my opinion - life, and enjoying it with our loved ones...

A record breaking month in sales!

2009-11-29T19:11:00.000-08:00

No wonder I've been feeling extra tired this month *grin* Thanks to all you wonderful customers, here at the Beguile studio we've had a record breaking total of 2,302 bars of soap sent out to new homes this November!

We've also begun exporting to Taiwan, which was very exciting! Our soapies are becoming worldwide travelers going to China, Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Norfolk Island - they see more of the world that I have haha!!!

Holiday Rush!

2009-11-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas orders have been flooding in, so to those who haven't bought your soapy gifts yet I just wanted to give you the heads up to check the website for what's currently available, as soaps are selling out FAST! I'm making soap most days, and so a lot of the new batches will be ready by mid December, so if you order soonish, I can put soapies aside for you so your orders can go out as soon as they are cured *smile*

I have a new soap planned especially for the holiday season - radiant Sweet Orange, Cinnamon and Cloves - mmmmm citrus spice, just like pomanders!

Stay tuned!

Branding 101!

2009-10-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

Hello all you beguiling beauties *grin*

I'm in a feel good, positive mood today after reaching a decision my marketing company has been telling me to go with for ages! They've told me to stick with a few colours as my 'brand' colours, to create a more uniform look accross my different products, which in turn will re-inforce brand awareness with my lovely customers :)

I've usually always gone with different colours per scent, but in a retail setup it gets a bit confusing for people looking at the different products, thinking they are not from the same 'company' and so I've decided that my 'brand' colours will be the purple I love, along with accents in black and white.

I'll be using different shades of purple in some products, like my new face masks, to show that each is for a different skin 'type', and after doing the first new purple themed label mock ups, I have to say they look AWESOME :)

New product shots will be done soon, so stay tuned!

New product soon to be released!

2009-10-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

FINALLY last week I got word from my organic ingredients supplier that fresh shipments of Craneberry, Apple and Papaya Fruit Powders had reached our shores, after impatiently waiting for the past 3 months for them - yay!!!!!

Each fruit powder will be going into special blends for my latest product - facial masks! I've formaulated three different 'types' - for oily skin, for combination skin, and for sensitive or mature skin.

I've found some ultra stylish frosted glass jars that my masks will be packaged in, as earth clays should not be stored in metal or plastic as they can 'draw' in chemicals and toxins! This is why natural earth clays are sooooo good for face masks, as they draw out all the excess oil and impurities, while softening and revitalising the delicate skin *smile*

Just have to wait for their labels to be finished, and have new photo's done with the little wooden scoops that will go with each jar, and they'll be fit for their release!

Happy Soap

2009-09-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with a few different swirling techniques, and loved finding this suprise when I cut up my latest batch of 'Sinful' - 5 bars out of 50 turned out with a smiley face!!!!

Even soap has a sense of humor lol!

Fresh from the Lather Lab!

2009-09-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Before heading to the awards ceremony last Sunday (read last posts below) I squeezed in a couple of hundred soapies :) Here we have the final look for my 'Tempt' soap - deep purple swirled with black, I was really happy with how it turned out! The cut bar photos will be on the website shortly!

You can see I decorate each of the 5 logs my batches make before cutting them up, and then cutting the 5 logs into 10 thick, 130g bars :)

Then we have one of my most popular soaps - Essence. Fresh Grapefruit, blended with rich Vanilla = heaven!

And the winner is!!!!!!!

2009-09-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

Me!!! Or rather my soap is *grin*

Following on from my last post, that I'd been told I'd won an award for my soap entry into the NSW Hunter Valley Olive Oil Association 2009 Show (what a mouthful!) and the invitation from the show steward to attend in person, I'm honoured to say that I was presented with three awards. This show was open to all professional/commercial soapmakers accross Australia, as long as they used Australian Olive Oil in their soaps, and I was told the 4 soap judges needed to spend a month to use all the different soaps entered in their daily showers, and judge them on various aspects - appearence, scent, texture, lather quality, meltability, longivity etc.

Firstly I was presented with "Best in class" for my castile soap - which is made from 100% Australian olive oil, scented with my 'Charm' blend of Lemon Myrtle and Lavender Essential Oils, coloured with infused Calendula. This is a specialty soap that I make for a select few of my customers as Olive Oil is one of the most expensive 'soapmaking' oils - more so for me as I don't use inferior imported pomace oil.

*** I learnt a lot about the different grades of olive oil by talking to the many growers, producers and judges there, and learning about what chemical solvents are actually put into Pomace Oil to produce it from the absolute dregs, pips, bruised/rotting olive fruit and othr waste - solvents which have been proven to be carcinogens (cause cancers) - so it now scares the heckers out of me, and I won't have icky pomace olive oil anywhere near me or my family!

Moving on *grin* - Next they announced I had won gold for my soap overall, and THEN they announce I had also won best in show above all other soaps entered in all classes - I was bright red by this stage and starting to shake from nerves with hubby rubbing my arm saying "calm down bub" and I'm like "ohhh lordy I have to walk up there again - stumble, stumble" LOL!

Here we have the two paper awards, and the huge plaque I won for best in show - it's the size of a large dinner plate - and the case is gorgeous!

Before they were announced, I was glad to hear the presenters tell us that the judging panel had been made up of both professional soapmakers and general consumers - so we were judged both 'technically' by the soapmakers, and then more overall by those acting as 'consumers'.

After the awards we had a gourment bbq dinner, and I had lots more questions asked of me, and met some amazing people! All in all a great day, and I felt very priviledged...

I'm getting an award!

2009-09-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

I got a lovely call yesterday from the steward of the NSW Hunter Valley Olive Oil association, telling me I'd won an award for my olive oil soaps - and that although he couldn't tell me WHAT award I'd won he said "it would be well worth your while to come in person to the presentation" - ooooooooo how exciting!!!

Here's a picture of the soaps that were entered, 100% pure olive oil soap from the boutique olive grove in the hunter region that I get my oils from (I try to support other aussie businesses and local produce wherever I can!) - I used my 'Charm' scent blend, a lovely upfliting combination of Australian Lemon Myrtle and Lavender essential oils, and scattered calendula petals throughout :)

The awards ceremony is tommorrow afternoon, so hubby and I wilk make the 2+ hour trip down at lunchtime 'ish and may stay the night in the region - not sure yet! :) The steward wants to have a business and promotional talk with me as well, as he wants to feature my soaps in the 2 day 'Feast of the Olives' that happens in the hunter valley every year - so I'm to bring down a large box of mixed soaps, flyers, business cards etc - this could turn into quite an interesting trip!

I'll let you all know what 'place' I was awarded when we get back - I'm excited, honoured and humbled all at the same time!

Envy - latest creation!

2009-09-12T00:32:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I've been dreaming up some new essential oil blends lately - and here we have one of the new ones :)

Envy - crisp tea tree with zesty, sultry lemongrass - perfect for the dark edge jealousy can have, with deep green swirled with whispy tendrils of black...

Also in the works are Bewitch (exotic Rosewood and smokey Vetiver essential oil) and Sinful (with sultry Patchouli, Sweet Orange, and spicy Cinnamon essential oils) so keep an eye out on my website for them!

I've recently gotten a new camera, so have been playing with it today - I'm amazed at the crispness of detail I can now get :)

I've relented - now Twittering!

2009-09-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, Okay, after repeated requests as to why I don't have a twitter page - here it is *wink*

It's pretty bare at the moment, as I've only 'just' created it, so feel free to drop me a tweet at;

www.twitter.com/beguiless

Bio: Creative temptress who crafts beguiling soaps, potions and lotions :)

Toodles for now - I have some new ideas and projects whizzing around my mind so am off to start writing down some formulations!

Ooooooo appearing in Vogue!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-04T01:35:00.000-07:00

How excited was I this morning to recieve the upcoming October edition of the one and only, Vogue magzine, and seeing my beguiling soapies and scrubs making their first appearence in their preferred business directory - waaaaahhhooooooo :)

I don't think I came down out of the clouds all day!

Ta Da - Aroma oils are in!!!

2009-08-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone :)

I've finalllllllly gotten the new labels for my aroma oils - and am positively stoked with them! I found some gorgeous white 'chests' ages ago, that are perfect for my 25ml amber bottles, so have been impatiently waiting for the labels to be printed :)

You can see all the different ones on the website, but here's my favorite photo - Flirt - ohh la la!

Fresh from the Lather Lab!

2009-08-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

This week I've been making my signature shaped bath scoops (my unique take on boring round bath bombs) so the Lather Lab has been sending wonderful wafts of scent throughout the Soap Studio *smile*

We have Essence, Cherish, Sancha, Seduce, Lavish and Flirt from front to back - don't they look terriffic all lined up!

Toodles,

Kat.

New Signature Scent Arrival!

2009-08-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to announce that my new 'signature' soapy has come out perfectly with the scent blend I've developed! The new blend has fresh notes of pink grapefruit, and these citrusy top notes flow seemlesly into a sweet, soft floral heart note, culminating in a heady base note of exotic jasmine and bergamot. They combine to create a seductive scent that instantly catches your imagination as you try to work out the evocative aromas. I'm naming this blend 'Tempt' as it's the perfect fit *smile*

I'm not 100% satisifed with the colour scheme yet, and think I'll try a purple and black swirl combo - but I'd love to hear your opinions so far, so check out the piccy below :)

Toodles!
Kat.

New scent to be released soon!

2009-08-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks I've been working on a new scent that will be the embodiement of what 'beguile' means to me - creating tempting, seductively scented handmade soaps and body treats :)

The talented Jenny over at http://averydirtygirl.blogspot.com/2009/08/enchanting-bewitching-blends-of-beguile.html recently did a lovely review on my luscious sugar scrubs and soapies, and referred to me as "beguile's masterful temptress" - wow!

This phrase has struck a chord with me, so my new signature scent blend will be called 'Tempt'. It's feminine, but not girly, it's sweet, yet almost impossibly light, and evokes a sense of powerful romantisicm - oohhhhh la lahh!

Stay tuned for it's release :)
Kat.

Mmmmmm Delish!

2009-08-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

In response to my last post showing my honey soap in the mould as a large slab, a fellow soapmaker (Erin from http://innerearthsoaps.blogspot.com/) asked me how I cut up my 50 bar soap slabs so neatly - so here's some more behind the scenes photos *grin*

Once the soap is ready to be unmoulded, around 12 hours after mixing and pouring, each batch comes out in a huge slab, that I need to cut into 50 large 130g bars. So I cut the slabs down into 5 logs each first, using a wire log slicer I made :)

The first batch is my ever popular 'Delish' loaded with juicy grapefruit and blackberries - then there's the tradtional favorite 'Lavish' full of soft Lavender - and lastly you can see a custom made batch of my unscented, uncoloured goat's milk soap, full of certified organic, and fairly traded shea butter - this one's for a new organic lifestyle company, and has been going like hotcakes for them!

Each log is then cut into 10 bars, and voila, you have 50 bars per batch. The bars edges are tidyed up (so there's no sharp edges or corners for you!) and then they get popped on the curing racks to cure/dry for a minimum of 4 weeks, before being wrapped and labelled.

Enjoy!

Honey, I think I love you!

2009-07-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

I love the smell of rich, fresh honey, so thought you all might like to see the fresh batch of 'Honey' soap I made yesterday. Each of my soap batches are huge slabs that get cut into 50 large bars, and in their moulds they weigh over 10 kilos - so I have very toned arms from lifting and stacking them LOL!

You can see my popular Sancha soap in the next mould - I usually make 6 soap batches in a day during my "working" week, sometimes less when I get a break for a week or two *smile*

Hope you enjoy this little 'behind the scenes' peek :) I'm off to make more soap today - toodles!

Kathy :)

New Scrubbies!

2009-07-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

Don't they look so pretty and colourful in their new labels - I love them!

Here's a sneak peek at the revamped version of my popular 'Cherish' soap - I wanted to add more character and detail to it, so used an orange pallete to get an interesting colour scheme thay I'm very pleased with! Here they are on the curing rack, and should be ready in a few weeks :) I still have 50 bars of the last design though, so hopefully the old look will sell out quickly!

Toodles! I'm off to make some new skin balms using some new organic ingredients!

A whole lotta soap!

2009-07-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

I've been making so much soap lately, that I treated myself to making lots of sugar scrubs yesterday :) Then I thought you all might like to see some of the wholesale soap that I've been making, in addition to the hundreds I make each week for my retail customers!

The first one shows 40 soap logs (each log equals 10 of my thick bars, so that's 400 bars - eips!) and a couple of fancy soap cakes at the bottom. This is all one order for a wholesale client of mine, and there's a few custom scents and designs mixed in *smile*

I took some close up's of the soap cakes - the red one is my new 'Blossom' scent, soon to be released on the website - Palmarosa essential oil, mixed with a touch of fragrance for a lovely, sweet rosey scent. The second is scented with Frangipani fragrance (which made me feel positively ill, so I'm so not using it again - ugh!). They wanted me to go heavy on the top decorations - do you think I did enough haha? Each cake weighs a MASSIVE 4 kilo's each - I'm doing weights each time I pick one up!

Toodles! Oh and keep an eye our for more piccies coming soon :)

Kathy.

New Business Name :)

2009-07-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Well it's final - my new business name is 'Beguile' and the new labels look wonderful!!! I'm aiming to have the photos done by next week, I've only gotten a few runs from the printers so far, but I'm verrry pleased with them *yay*

Hope you are all having a great week so far!

Toodles,
Kathy.

Good news!!

2009-07-14T03:09:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy right now!!!! Earlier this year, I'd asked my trademark lawyer if a particular word could be trademarked as my new business name. As the 1st of July (new website luanch date) was drawing nearer, and we didn't have a clear answer as to the name I really, really, really wanted, one of our graphics people recomended we go with 'Kaijo' since it's made up from my name (first, middle, and last). At first it seemed to work, but now I'm going through a case of "I don't like it!......."

Anyway, this afternoon, I finally got word that the trademark application has gone in, and there shouldn't be any problems - wahhhhhoooooo :)

This now means that I'm going to look very indecisive to you all, but I really want to go with my first wished "name" and that's what my instincts are telling me to do.

The name perfectly sums both myself and my products up - a bit cheeky, a bit girly, and all very unique *smile*

Soooooo I'm apologising to everyone for the current hiccups and what not - at times like this it's a bit frazzling running your own business and wanting/needing everything finished yesterday :(

Toodles for now, and stay tuned!
Kat.

Oooooo!! Going to be in Cleo!!!

2009-07-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

How exciting! I got a call yesterday afternoon from the lovely marketing executive who looks after the one and only - Cleo Magazine - and was told they wanted my soapies and body treats to appear in the August edition - oooooooooo yay :)

Of course I've taken up the generous offer, and they are now putting everything together for me to go over - what a terrific start to the new financial year already!

New Website in action!

2009-07-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone :)

Well, lots of things have been happening around here! To bring in the new financial year with some serious bang, I've had my website and overall 'look' get overhauled during the past 2 months, and will be choosing a new name to go with my new direction :)
--------------------------------------------------
Now, onto the other new stuff! There are a couple of new soapies in the works - Wyld (available now) and Blossom (to be offered shortly). A few soap names have changed as well, to keep things feeling fresh, and I'm also playing around with different colour schemes for some of the favorites, so keep your eyes out :)

I'm aslo going to be taking some 'behind the scenes' shots of the soap studio, or 'Lather Lab' as it's affectionately called - where all the creations happen!

New look for new financial year!

2009-05-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone :)

A lot had been going on for me in 2009, from my little business taking off to new levels this year, to sadly having a lot going on in my personal life as well.

All this has led me to seriously step back and look at where I want my business to go, and how I can create that work/family balance. Running your own business creates a lot more hassle than you'd think, and the working temptation to 'just finish off these 300 soaps, so I can be home by 10pm' is always there /sigh.

Soooooo, I've decided to invest in making some changes that will help me streamline the soapmaking side of things (remember each little bar of soap takes up to 4 weeks to be ready for you!) and also give my business a more professional look and feel, since it's not a home kitchen run operation *smile*

Over the next couple of weeks, you'll see the new website layout (I've been listening to my loyal customers feedback about their preference for a darker site, like I had since I opened online in 2006) and new labels. My new design company has also created a new name for the business, as while Bella Skincare had close family assocatiations for me, sadly there were unforeseen trademark issues, so my new business name will be totally unique!

Stay tuned to see the updates as they happen!

Cheers,
Kathy :)

New Soap Prices...

2009-05-13T03:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally happened :(

After keeping my soap prices the same for nearly 2 years, I've had to increase them as the cost of my raw ingredients has soared over the past 12 months. Some have risen by 30%!

On the flip side though, all my soapies will now be individually wrapped and labelled in biodegradable clear wrap I've sourced from Italy - they give protection to the soaps while being shipped, make the bars look extra pretty and shiny, plus are much more hygenic for my wholesale customers - they'll also make my life as the soapmaker MUCH easier, as curing and storing my soapies before they go to their new homes will be much more streamlined :)

Like a glass of Shiraz?

2009-03-31T22:56:00.000-07:00

Ohhh lookee lookee! My latest soapy, with red wine lees (which are the concentrated pressings from crushed grapes), superfatted with grapeseed oil, and scented with a refreshing blend of Lemongrass and Peppermint essential oils - aptly named 'Shiraz' *grin* Aren't they purty!!!

Early 15 mins of fame!

2009-03-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

I had a giggle today when I saw myself from a small photo shoot back in early 2007, that was for a newpaper article being done on my soaps. I hate being in photo's as I always feel awkward and silly lol!

Back in time...

2009-03-30T04:17:00.000-07:00

I was going through some of my old product photos today, and found a great closeup shot I'd taken of freshly cut bars with their wavy tops, scented with sweet orange and cedarwood, from 2006 when I started selling my handmade bars. Nowadays a lot of spamakers do textured, wavy tops styles, which was so rare when I started soapmaking in 2002, as I'd started out doing wavy, textured tops simply because I couldn't pour flat, rectangular soaps - they always looked too 'plain' to me, and the wavy top style allow me to unleash my creative toppings *grin*

I love looking back on old pictures, you get a real sense of past and present :)

Want to be desired?

2008-12-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous pinky red layers, with organic rose petals, and the exoticly sweet rosey scent of Palmarosa and Patchouli Essential Oils - all you could 'Desire' *smile*

Wow I've been slack!

2008-12-14T01:16:00.000-08:00

Gee time has flown for me this year - it's been almost 12 months since my last post here - naughty me!

The reason is though, that I've been sooooooooooo busy with my soap creations :) I get so much satisfaction from seeing how much my business has grown, and how well recieved my goodies are to all sorts of people - I get moved to tears sometimes hearing from some of my loyal customers!

Anyway, I'm going to try to do more regular posts now, so keep an eye out for the latest soapy happenings!

Latest Soapy Creation!

2008-01-23T02:24:00.000-08:00

I simply CANNOT stop picking this one up and smelling it deeply. Yummy, rich Vanilla and fresh, uplifting Pink Grapefruit essential oil form a heady scent that is just delish!!! I'm quite pleased with how the style came out as well :) Layers can be a PITA and take a lot longer than the rest of the styles I do - but it's worth it! To colour it I've used natural cocoa powder for the thin line, white oxide for the top layer, finishing with a sprinkle of cocoa again - isn't it gorgeous!

Stamp it up!

2008-01-23T02:16:00.000-08:00

I recently got a teriffic little toy for my soaps - a soap stamp! It really adds something to the bars I think :) This will look great on the soaps I take to my monthly markets! I'm not sure if I'll 'stamp' the soaps I sell online at my website (http://www.naturalsoap.com.au/) - hhhmmm decisions, decisions!

Hello to the world!

2008-01-23T02:09:00.000-08:00

Well I've finally done it! Started a blog :)

I used to keep a daily journal when I was younger, so I don't know why it's taken me this long to get my 'online' version going!

As you can guess, I make soap - a lot of soap! It's my craft, my passion and my business all in one :) I can literally spend hours playing with scent blends, formulating different notes with the pure essential plant oils I use from around the world, or creating a new and wonderful body treat - I love being creative!

Well... Now I've started my little blogspot I'll have to jazz it up a bit with pics etc, descriptions of what I've been up to, and what wonderous creations I've developed so stay tuned!!!

Toodle Pipski!