New Stuff: Liquid Soaps!

Introducing my new liquid soaps available in Lemongrass, Rosemary Mint and Lavender Lime Fennel! I made this liquid soap from scratch with all natural ingredients and organic oils of Sunflower, Virgin Coconut and Castor Oil. I added organic aloe for it's soothing properties and all natural plant essential oils for fragrance.

All in all it is just a really nice gentle soap and I really hope that you like it!

Each 8 fluid oz bottle comes with an easy to use pump and is just $9.50 per bottle! 64 oz Refills coming soon! For sale in my Etsy Shop!

New Yoga Mat Spray just $6.50 per 4 fluid oz bottle! Made with the same organic oils and blend of antibacterial essential oils including cinnamon, rosemary and lavender! It cleans your yoga or workout mat and smells great too! A scrubby companion soap is coming soon!

Winners of the English Apothecary Giveaway

Thank you all for the wonderful comments! The winners are:
-->Ben.ar.dett - Grand Prize: A full size bar Soap, a full size Sugar Scrub and a full size Liquid Soap
-->Jenn U  - Grand Prize: A full size bar Soap, a full size Sugar Scrub and a full size Liquid Soap

Other winners will get a soap sampler, a full size bar of soap, 7 oz scrub and soap sample, full size scrub, or a full size liquid soap! Here they are (picked a couple extra!)
-->The Soap Sister  
-->Kristine  
--> Jessie Yang  
-->Lesley  
-->Alexandra C  
-->Suzanne  
-->Kandice Smith  
-->Lolapooch  
-->Renee  
-->Minuscule Dot  
Adrianr
-->Ana Maria 


If you are a winner please send your address to erin@naiadsoaparts.com with "EA winner" as the subject line. Include the name you used to make the comment so I can match you up and if you are international please include a paypal email so i can invoice you for 50% of the shipping. If you are an international winner and have changed your mind let me know and I will redraw for your prize. I ship First class international but if you want to be upgraded to priority for an additional cost let me know.


Your packages will go out as soon as I get your addresses!
Thanks!

English Apothecary™ giveaway

The English Apothecary™ line was conceived in January of 2010 during a rainy morning walk, where here in Southern California we are in the middle of rainy season and all of the flowers are in full bloom. I caught the scent of something sweet, floral and citrus and had to run home to try and recreate it. I wanted English Apothecary™ to be an all natural line but strayed on my initial products, which were very popular but did not adhere to the 100% natural criterion I had drawn for the brand so I wanted to start over. I got stuck, then I got busy, then I got married, and so the line has been dormant for over a whole year!

I really wanted to do English Apothecary™ right with the product line clear and packaging all in order. It has been slow going, as it sometimes is when you are the R&D, Production, and Packaging departments but I am finally ready to launch the first products!

I would love to hear what YOU think about the new scents! I am giving away sample packs of 1 oz. bar soaps, full 5.25 oz bar soaps, full 14 oz. jars of sugar scrub and full 8 oz. size liquid soaps! There will be 12 prizes in all with two lucky recipients getting bar soap, scrub and liquid soap!

There is a catch - I want your feedback! Let me know what you think about the products and be honest! I will try to post a survey once everyone gets their samples and has a chance to try them, but feel free to leave a comment in this post.
Note - some of the packaging is not finalized in case your label falls off (wink).

To enter just leave a comment below. I will announce the lucky 12 this Saturday August 6th at 5 pm PST. Shipping to the USA is free but if you are outside of the country I will ask that you cover 50% of the shipping so please note this when entering.

The bar soaps will be available in
Lavender Chamomile
Lemon Honey
Orange & Blossoms
Peppermint Tea Tree
Bergamot, Lime & Basil

Scrubs in:
Lavender Chamomile
Lemon Honey
Orange & Blossoms

Liquid Soap in:
Lemon Honey
Orange & Blossoms

HSMG Soapers Showcase 2011

The Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild Conference in Miami was a blast, tiring (in a good way), and jam packed with amazing speakers. I was so happy to hang out with friends and meet new people -  I will tell you all about it later but I thought for now I would get up some pretty pictures of soap for you all to drool over! I didn't write down the names of all of the winning soap makers so if you see this and are one of the winners that I didn't have a link for please leave me a comment and I will add you!

 Best In Show, Best Packaging Melt & Pour

 Best Packaging Cold Process/Hot Process

By the Sea Soap

Best Appearance Melt & Pour

 

Best Appearance Cold Process/Hot Process

 Best Scent Cold Process/Hot Process

Pepo Park 

Best Scent Melt & Pour

Best in Something Different

Some More shots of the entries:

New Market Specials 5.3.11

The Market Special is a limited edition soap sold by the slice without a box similar to how you may buy your soap in the market! These soaps are still 4.25 - 4.5 oz in weight but only $5.50 per bar!

This week Bromeliad and Wild Orchid and Lemon!

 Shop all Market Specials

Bromeliad: a light floral with hints of ginger and cotton candy sugar. The bright colors through the middle reminded me of vibrant Bromeliad flowers!

 Wild Orchid and Lemon: A bright sharp floral with lemon zest and coconut milk. If you like the English Apothecary Lemon Gardenia you will love this scent!

Ginger and Green Curry Soup

As many of you may know by now I am on a restricted diet due to some food sensitivities to Gluten, Soy, Eggs and Dairy so my kitchen has become a mini food lab for trying out new recipes and modifying recipes I love to make them free of the things I should not eat! Thai curries have been a great inspiration for me with their fresh ingredients and one of my favorite liquids Coconut Milk! I like to eat this soup topped with fresh sprouts and red cargo rice on the side!

 If you have an Asian market in your neighborhood I highly recommend visiting them for vegetables and especially the fresh Ginger root for this recipe. I find that the vegetables at these markets are always very fresh as vegetables make up the bulk in most Asian diets so the produce has a very high turnaround. The veggies at my market are not advertised as organic but since I always find critters in my produce and I take it as a good sign!

 I am always especially excited about the ginger at my local Asian Market. It is always juicy and fresh and they even have Galangal a root in the same family as Ginger and used widely in South East Asia. It has a similar flavor to Ginger but is milder with less heat and slight woody pine flavors. It is used to make Thai Curry Pastes and can be substituted with regular ginger if you want to try and make your own green curry paste. I have seen many recipes but all have the ginger or galangal, garlic, chiles, lemongrass, lime and a spice blend. There are a lot of ingredients on most Green Curry Paste recipes so I like to buy mine pre-made.

Ingredients:
• 32 oz of low sodium vegetable broth from a box or make your own here.
• 1 can (13.5 oz) of Coconut Milk
• 6 large cloves of garlic sliced (or more if you like)
• 3 Tablespoons of grated FRESH ginger root. I like to use a fine cheese grater. Powdered ginger will not give you the heat and sweetness. 
• 1 Tablespoon Green Curry Paste (more or less to your taste)
• 1 Tablespoon sesame seed oil.
• 1 heaping tablespoon of Brown Sugar
• 1 cup rough chopped basil (sweet or thai) 
• 6 green onions light green and white parts, chopped
• Black pepper and Coconut Aminos to taste. (Coconut Aminos is a soy free liquid amino acid seasoning alternative - it kind of tastes like a combination of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and is DELICIOUS! You can use Soy Sauce if you do not have sensitivities)
• Vegetables - you can use just about anything that you have on hand. I am using:
2 Red Bell peppers sliced
3 - 4 cups of Baby Bok Choy cut into 1 inch pieces
2-3 cups stemmed watercress cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 cup whole sugar snap peas
If you are ok with meat you can sub the Veggie Broth for 32 oz. of low sodium Chicken Broth and add one cup of sliced chicken to the soup. 


Method:
1) Wash and dry all of your veggies herbs and spices, cut up and separate into cooking times. Group 1: Garlic, Ginger, Green Onions, Red Peppers. Group 2: Bok Choy Stems and Sugar Snap Peas. Group 3: Basil, Watercress, Bok Choy Leaves. I like to have a few bowls going to hold my veggies as I chop then up since they have different cooking times.
2) In a medium Sauce Pan Heat your Sesame oil and saute Garlic, Ginger, Green Onions and Red Bell Pepper for about one minute to release the flavors - be sure to not burn anything!
3) Add the Sugar, Vegetable Broth, Coconut Milk, Green Curry Paste, Bok Choy and Sugar Snap Peas and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 10 minutes.
4) Add the Basil, Watercress and Bok Choy Leaves and boil for about 2 minutes.

Enjoy!