I was at a trade show recently and typically I’m in a frenzy as I move through the isles of all the vendors. But this time I had the most wonderful experience.

I could smell everything and I mean everything … the good, the bad and the not so fragrant.

I’m an essential oil snob but I must admit that the high use of fragrance oils that were being used in most products did not attack my nasal passage as they typically do.

A few vendors caught my attention and here’s what they were selling. The soap makers were really on it this time. With green tea being one of the most talked about ingredients in skin care, hair care and food, I came across a vendor with Green Tea Soap. She used fragrance oils of Jasmine and ginger and added actual green tea with jasmine blossoms. Go figure! What a wonderful aroma.

Then there were soap bath ball with wheat germ, witch hazel, rosemary and sweet orange fragrance oil. They looked like herbal tennis balls.

On the other side of the table were soaps that looked like pebbles and that’s what she named them, Pebble Soaps. The actually had ground allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, wheat germ and dried parsley flakes. She then topped it off by adding amber fragrance oil. What a treat!

If you’re all about your skin, I came across what were called Butter Bars that were made of Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter. Not only did this soap contain shea and cocoa butter, but it had a coconut oil base and was scented with maple fragrance oil. The soap maker often substitutes vanilla fragrance oil in place of the maple. What a luxurious feeling.

Every show has what I call its naturalists and they lived up to their names. There were soaps made from oatmeal, wheat bran, powdered milk and honey. They were in bars, balls, loafs and even surrounded loofa’s that make great exfoliating soaps for your skin.

Was this a soap maker’s show? Not at all, their scents just made the greatest impact on my nose.

You can do the same thing ... make soaps that is. A good recipe book will provide you with the same pleasures of smells and feels that I experienced at the trade show. Let your creative juices provide you with a new experience, Soapmaking.

Life Never Smelled So Sweet!


Juliette’s Website,
http://nyrajuskincare.com