Spring Joy Sale - on now 'til April 4th!

This is it - Spring has finally SPRUNG!

To celebrate, I'm running a sale! From now 'til April 4th all items are 10% OFF. Plus, you can get additional savings if you have received one of our savings cards from a prior purchase.

It's been a while since I last posted to our blog, but I've purchased a new computer and have a faster internet connection now. This means that sometime this year we'll be going live with our own website in addition to our shopfront on Etsy!

So come celebrate a little Spring with us and try something new from our ever growing line of all natural body products. Or sample the ancient world with exotic and flavorful Attarine market spice blends.

Blessings to you! May your Spring leap with Joy!

:o) Milaka

Purification Soap

Purification Soap - Magically Blended and Warded

Here is it! Today I made a custom cold process soap with ritual and magical intent. I'm most pleased - I've spent the better part of many days working and preparing for it, but now it's here and made.

Pic. #1 - the purification soap shows off it's rich, Rhassoul brown color beneath it's "lizard skin," an effect caused by the addition of Israeli Dead Sea Salt after pouring.

This new soap contains herbs traditionally tied to purifying the body and soul, as well as several spirit suggested ingredients, including the herbs Acacia and Asafoetida as wards against evil influences.

Pic. #2 - the wards set up to guard the soap as it cures. Fire spirits were roused for protection with flame and a natural siskiyou cedar incense burned as a token of love. A Pentacle of apple wood and an Ankh of pewter and lapis lazuli are potent wards against evil and malevolent spirits.

I should be able to cut the soap in two days time. If you're curious as to the details of the entire process, send me a note. I'd be happy to oblige you with the whole story! :o)

Blessed Be and Joyous Samhain!

Flora's Dial and a Sale Notice

Today's post is in celebration of the brief appearance of the sun after the torrential rains of yesterday! Enjoy!

From Flora's Dial: containing a flowered dedicated to each day in the year, and an appropriate poetic sentiment for each flower. By J. Wesley Handson, 1846

October 18

Rhododendron - danger

Before I gang awa from thee,
I'll speak my heart out fu' and free,

And gin ye listen now to me,

And wee bit wordie, -

'T will do ye good, my donsie, wee,

And bonnie birdie!

Och! dinna trust admirin' man!

He'll gain a heart where'er he can,

And grasp it wi' a cruel han, -

And wound it sorely!

And then, wi' man's and woman's ban,

Ye'll fare but puirly!

~ J.Wesley Hanson, Lowell, 1846

Two Strands Soap Works - Weekly Special! October 14th - 21st

Enjoy special savings on our cold process and natural glycerin soaps! Buy 3, Get 1 FREE!

Details may be found at our website: http://www.twostrandssoapworks.etsy.com/

Weekly Specials Through October

Weekly Specials Mean Super Savings!

It's as easy as pumpkin pie - you drop in once a week and enjoy 25% off on our chosen special!

Through October 21st, enjoy our Buy 3, Get 1 FREE soap event!

This is a great way to try something new or stock up for the holidays before the rush hits.

Depending on how popular our Fall Specials are, we may continue this feature into November, culminating in a BIG sale on Nov. 20th - my birthday! :o)

The picture above is of our new scratch tickets!

Autumn Sale ~ Buy 3, get 1 FREE!

Celebrate Fall with our big buy 3, get 1 SALE!

It's a great time to try something new - a new soap, a new spice blend, or maybe a new addition to your daily ritual . . . whatever that might be!



It's buy 3, get 1 FREE on everything. And it's just our way of saying thanks for a great summer!

Sale ends Monday, October 5th.

Harvest Time and Natural Beauty

Autumn comes!

Potent and bright, the air of Autumn is somehow clearer, as if a boundary or purpose is being defined for us. A reminder - it is time to prepare.

I love Autumn. To list the reasons is tedious, especially as they are mostly emotional, almost febrile in nature. Autumn leaves me tightly bound.

Last Friday I found myself out gathering, something I've done almost every Autumn for as long as I can remember. As a girl I carryied home pockets full of acorns, grass seeds, and rose hips. I remember the smell of windfallen apples in my parents' orchard, the way the apples gleamed with cold dew even in the late morning. I love that smell. I remember the darkness of rosehips as they withered.

What is it about this time of year that connects us so accutely to the Earth? It's the same feeling I get in the Spring when my hands yearn to be in the ground digging, sewing the seeds that will see the Summer harvest if I am fortunate and careful. It's as if I am inherently a farmer, an animal, and a nomadic woman all rolled into one. Perhaps it is cellular memory.

The seasons run and flow together, ebbing with the Moon and the tilt of the Earth, with the vast force of the universe. It's a beautiful rhythm - a truth for all that lives! Something as ancient as the Earth itself and the dust of stars, all somehow part of the body that is me makes me feel somehow small, but special. :o) Perhaps it's just the spirit of being alive.

So I say this to you today on this cool September morning: take time to enjoy the season for it is truly amazing. Gather seeds, watch the birds and the animals prepare (for even in the city they do it), and harvest - even if it is only by gathering memories! But don't forget to relish the crispness of the air and the last dreaming days of Summer.

Blessed be! )O(

A New Grounding Soap is on the Way, Folks!

Making a new Grounding Soap and preparing Oil Infusions under Rainy Skies!

(the original pic. of my Grounding Soap)

I've been a bit busy this long weekend . . . .

Well, I could have been busier to be honest, but much like making candy, cold process soap tends to do odd things when the humidity is up. With the heavy rains we've had over the past 24 hours, making more than one batch this weekend just hasn't been possible.



So to make up for that wet fact, I've been busy blending and infusing oils. Infusing herbs in warm oil allows the oil to draw out the healing or nourishing properties of plants and resins, thus capturing them and making the oil potent. Since it's been dark and dismal around here lately, I chose to hot infuse the oils - on a low flame in a double boiler.



See - making this stuff is like cooking! Well, sometimes. :o)



The first hot oil infusion is a base of extra virgin olive oil and castor oil. I poured this onto several famous healing herbs, allowing them to become saturated. This infusion will act as the structure for my upcoming Arnica Healing Salve. Arnica is amazing - if you've ever been bumped, thumped, or banged on, arnica works wonders at speeding up the healing process.



The second oil infusion is a base of extra virgin olive oil, castor oil, and hazelnut oil. These oils saturated a mass of rich and earthy spices - all in preparation for a new batch of Bay Rum Soap. I added a few new herbs this time, just to tweak the recipe and amp up the richness Bay Rum is famous for. I can't wait to see how she handles in the saponification process!



Now as for that one batch of soap I mentioned, it's a new Grounding Soap. You know - the "patchouli for people who don't like patchouli" soap! It's a different twist on the old recipe, as I've added freshly ground patchouli to the almond meal. There's also a bit more sweet orange essential oil this time. I really like this soap and the way it smells once you've rinsed it off. It's breathy and gentle, earthy and tinged with possibilities. I can't wait to see how it pulls from the mold box. I'm having to let her set up a bit longer as the darn thing just didn't want to trace!



Well, that's just a heads up on what I've been up to this Labor Day weekend. I hope you got to enjoy the Full Moon - it was simply to cloudly here to view Her unfortunately. Didn't keep me from acting as befits however. ;o)



Many blessings on this wet, rainy afternoon!

Blended for Beauty with Lucky 13

Making it special, one oil at a time . . . or in this case 13!

I have a particular fondness for experimentation. When working with soap I find myself intentionally blending an army of ingredients just to see what will come of it. How does activated charcoal feel on the skin? How does myrrh effect the appearance? How do lavender and sweet orange smell when combined?

Something special does not result from a half-hearted effort. It takes intention and a curious spirit to bring forth something genuinely unique. For me soap is as much about exploring as it is about getting clean!

Perhaps it's The Muse of soapmakers or my guiding spirit, desert winds at his back as he prods me with ideas. Who knows? Today's exploration is a prime example. Today I am making Awaken Soap.

I've had more than one request from customers asking for more Awaken Soap, a golden bar colored with turmeric and scented with lemon grass. It was very pretty in it's own right, but being one of my first, it was a bit timid in it's ingredients. Wanting to maintain some loyalty to the original recipe, I kept the base the same but expanded it, blending an unbelievable oil base that I'm calling the Power Source or Lucky 13.

Check it out:

Hazelnut Oil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sunflower Oil

Coconut Oil

Palm Oil

Shea Nut Oil

Hemp Seed Oil

Safflower Oil

Jojoba Oil

Neem Oil

vegetable Glycerine

Natural Vitamin E Oil

wild flower honey

Of course, to protect the true nature of my recipe, I cannot tell you precise measurements, but that's 13 oils and liquid nutrients! It's the fattest, richest, most nourishing blend I have ever dared to create. I'm so excited to see how the soap pans out (literally) and how the addition of ground hibiscus and turmeric effects the color.

Lucky 13, baby! And not just any soap, mind you - this will be food for your flesh!

I'll get some pics up as soon as she is in the pan and setting up. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be making a new batch of patchouli and almond soap, Grounding. It's another one that's been missed at the shop and with my local buyers lately. I like to think of it as, "patchouli for those who don't like patchouli" soap!

Enjoy the day and remember to experiment. Half the joy is in the journey.

)O(