About Us...Part 3

Hi everyone, welcome to part 3 of "About Us".  Okay, now for soaps. What gave us the notion to start making soaps? Well, I got this idea from my Grandma Mamie.  Yes, she has passed down this time consuming talent to me.  God bless her, she is now around 86 years young! See her in the photo below. This photo was taken several years ago. It is the only one I have for now but she still looks the same.

Our family really don't know her exact age because she has a couple of birth certificates with different birth years. She was born in the South.  Back then, it was not uncommon for there to be an error on birth certificates. When I was growing up, she never really wanted people to know how old she was.  I can remember when I was a little kid, she used to say "I am 21+ years old!"  As of today, we still don't know her exact age.  Her mission accomplished! She is too funny!  She is battling Alzheimer's and is winning everyday! We love you Grandma..

Anyways, when I was a little girl, she used to make these big batches of handmade soap in those black speckled roasting pans that you get at a local 5 and dime store.  Remember Woolworth's? I used to work there in High School.  Those were the good ole days! Okay, enough of that.  Back to soap.  All of the kids in the house (she was also a foster mom), used to laugh at her and say "that stuff stinks!"  Now I know, that it was the sodium hydroxide (lye) and the water combination that used to smell so bad.  Low and behold, I am now carrying on her tradition.

These days in time, the soap making process has modernized.  The process in general is more precise with the introduction of computer software to help with calculations of the soap ingredients.  My Grandmother used whatever oils she had in her kitchen to make handmade soap.  Today, the ingredients we use to make soap now include many luxury oils and butters such as Jojoba Oil and African Shea Butter.  These oils and butters were not as readily accessible to my Grandmother back then when I was a child.  Thank goodness for the Internet!  The Internet has made it possible to purchase these fabulous products with just a click of a "mouse."  We can now customize our soaps to compliment a particular skin type or create a certain characteristic feel.  How great is that?  How many different soap scents (natural of course) and color (we love color) combinations can you think of?  If I had all the time in the world and unlimited resources, the combinations I could create would be endless..  Until next time...