Good Karma for 2012 with Anna's new "Flower & Herbal Anti-Aging Soaps

Our newest soap for the spring is out of the molds and onto the drying racks. It’s called Karma & Hibiscus, and it’s meant to bring good things into all our lives. Karma is the second in a series of three soaps in our new “Herbal Flower Anti-Aging Soap Line.”

I’ve been planning this handmade artisanal soap for a while. The important difference in this special soap is that it is made with an infusion of herbs and flowers specifically chosen for their skin-care properties, and especially anti-aging ones. Because of its anti-oxidant qualities, hibiscus is one of the primary ingredients. However, there are others. From Asia comes an herb called Fo-ti, which is valued for its ability to protect skin from free radical damage. This wonderful, mysterious herb has been touted for centuries in the East for its anti-aging properties.

Have you heard of an herb called cleavers? It is excellent at providing relief for skin inflammation, eczema and psoriasis. It also has the wonderful ability to tighten skin as it loosens with age. Licorice is another herb with skin healing properties, relieving sunburn and insect bites, as well as being an anti-inflammatory.

There are oils that are also especially helpful in anti-aging formulations, and one of those is avocado oil. We used a helping of that as well as shea butter and mango butter, along with our tried-and-true friend, olive oil, to give this soap a deeply emollient quality.

And what does it smell like, you ask? Karma is a work in progress (which means the soapmaker intends to tweak it until she’s satisfied), but in its first iteration, I’d describe it as soft, relaxing, deeply sensuous and alluring. This blend is comprised of: Patchouli, Orange, Lavendin, Pine, Lemongrass, Elemi, and Gardenia Extract. It takes only a little imagination to decide this complex blend truly is the bearer of some excellent karma.

The wonderful thing about being a small artisanal handmade soap enterprise is that we can do the research and come up with products that are uniquely effective. We have no huge advertising budgets, and our soaps are packaged simply (but attractively we think). We distribute them and even do most of the sales ourselves (with the occasional help of some really good friends). The bottom line is that we can prepare amazing products at a fraction of the cost of commercial products. And I maintain we offer quality far beyond what those commercial manufacturers even dream of.

So thank you to all of Anna’s EsSCENTials’ friends and supporters. We hope you enjoy this latest addition to Anna’s herbal flower anti-aging soaps. We’ll have it ready to go at the Kentucky Crafted: The Market trade show in Lexington March 3-4.

Kentucky Crafted: The Market 2012

KENTUCKY CRAFTED: THE MARKET
Lexington Convention Center
Lexington, Kentucky

Saturday, March 3, 2012                     10 a.m. – 8 p.m. EST
Sunday, March 4, 2012                       10 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST

It’s that time of the year again…and Anna’s EsSCENTials will be a vendor again at this very popular trade show. It’s a long four days…five if you count set-up. The first two days are for wholesale buyers on March 1-2. The second two are a free-for-all, with thousands of people jamming the aisles, tasting samples of goodies, looking at the amazing crafts produced by Kentucky artisans and enjoying the stage shows. It’s a great opportunity to see the best-of-the-best Kentucky has to offer.

There are plenty of accompanying pre-show jitters. WHAT have I forgotten this year? I’m going to introduce my new soap, Karma, with essential oils from Anne-Marie Faiola of Brambleberry. This is one I’m really looking forward to! Watch for it to appear on this web site as soon as it is ready for photographing. And there may be another surprise or two in store at Anna’s booth #318. So stop by if you can. Go to http://1.usa.gov/Market2012 to purchase tickets and view a complete program of Market activities.

This year's special treat—Anna's Winter Skin Care Serum

My friends this year can thank my mirror for a special skin-care serum I developed before Christmas. It was one of those “oh no!” moments looking into the mirror and not recognizing the face that looked back that did it. I made for the soap studio and brewed up a batch of what came to be known as “Winter Skin Care Serum.” I took it home, tried it for a week, christened it worthy, and gave it away for Christmas to friends and supporters of Anna’s EsSCENTials who made their way to the studio.

Once word got out, quite a number of people managed to snag a jar, and, I am happy to say, there were rave reviews. That’s always satisfying.

I made enough to sell some also, and in the spring I’ll try for a lighter version for warmer weather. In the meantime, I’ve been using it twice a day, morning and evening. And look at a few of the ingredients—Wow. For starters, it has a base of sweet almond, hemp, avocado and olive oils. Then it has both shea butter and mango butter mixed into fresh-brewed green tea and green tea extract. It has wheat germ oil, emu oil, neem oil, rose hips and carrot seed oil, fractionated coconut oil, marine collagen, glycerine, horsetail, vitamin E, and essential oils of rose, neroli, clary sage, sandalwood, plai, rose geranium and high-altitude lavender. Plus a few other secret ingredients.

Well, if you’ve ever researched skin care ingredients, you’ll know what a powerhouse list this is. Now it’s true that if I don’t like a product, I don’t make or sell it. I just don’t have the stomach to do that to customers and friends. But I have to say even I am impressed with this little gem. In my imagination it has removed five or ten years already!

But thanks to the staff at the museum, we had a table full of cookies and punch and other goodies, and people to help vendors load and unload our cars. The rains came down all day, which kept the crowds down, but knowing this was the last event of the year for me made everything OK. I am really really looking forward to having a two-day weekend for a couple of months.

Here in Owenton, the Owen County Arts Council held a holiday sale in the courthouse with a number of excellent artists setting up. My friend, Sandy, sat at a table for me, and it turned out really well. Everyone said the event was well-attended and people had a good time. Luckily, the rains held off here until after the parade took place.

I can hardly believe our year of markets and festivals is finally over. It’s a long haul. And of course this also means winter is really close, when mentally I’m still back in late summer. However, I’m got my wool socks on, and I’m not sure what’s a more reliable forecaster of winter than that!

I will be at a benefit holiday show to raise money for the Portland Museum in Louisville, KY, on Sunday, along with my good friend, Veronica, and her luscious breads and baked goodies. This is an annual event, raising much-needed funds for a wonderful neighborhood museum that highlights the history of Louisville and especially this area of the city. Neighborhood museums are almost a thing of the past, and this event is especially important. There is a large group of artists signed up to attend and lend their support, so it also should be a good time and good event.

Unfortunately, the rains are due to return to water-logged Kentucky on Sunday but who knows. We’re pretty hardy people here. It may turn out to be grand.

I’ll write a bit next week on how things turn out. Come on out, everyone. Local artists can use your support, and it will be a chance to purchase locally handmade gifts for the holidays. I’ll have my handmade Christmas soap there along with other special gift items. See you there…or somewhere!

This year's muscle & joint massage cream for Lucarroll is finished.

Every year I am privileged to make a special batch of my muscle and joint massage cream for my friend and massage therapist, Lucarroll Craig. Our tiny town is so fortunate that she takes time to help us with the sore backs and muscles and all the rest. Lucarroll is a talented therapeutic massage therapist, and has a growing clientele in this northern Kentucky area.

So I am privileged to help provide her yearly holiday gifts for her clients. And she tells me they often ask for more during the year as well. That’s great news! Actually, this massage cream has a special ingredient, an herb from Thailand which has been used for many years there to relieve muscle and joint pain.

This year’s batch is finished, and I’m off to deliver it! Lucky clients, Lucarroll.

Actually the holiday show at Larkspur Press couldn’t have been nicer on Saturday…weather was in the 60s, sun was out, everybody was happy. We were wall-to-wall people for seven solid hours. It’s the way a handmade soap vender always hopes it will be…and it isn’t. Except this day, it was, and it was also like old home week with good friends greeting each other and being very happy with their purchases of handmade holiday gifts including so many handset books from Larkspur; broadsides from Kentucky authors; taper candles; hand-dyed silk scarves; greenery, wreaths and pots of paperwhites; hand-bound books and photo albums; unusual handcrafted jewelry; and of course, all of our handmade soaps and body products.

That was Saturday. But it was quickly followed by Sunday when the rains set in around 3 a.m. When I arrived at Larkspur around 11:30, the creek was running fast but it didn’t look like it was up. By about 2:30 in the afternoon, someone came in and said it seemed to be rising so after a quick reconnoiter, we had to pull the plug. It was the fastest packing job I ever did. And naturally, two more carloads of customers drove in just as we made the decision to close down. It was a good decision though. By the time I drove back over the bridge, which is normally about six feet above the water line, the creek was up to within inches of the roadway. How fast it came up…what a lot of water!

Well, in all the years I’ve been invited to this show, my favorite of the year, this is the first time we’ve had to pull the plug and make a run for it. Larkspur Press sits back in a little valley about a half mile…such a beautiful spot. However, I was glad to not have to move in with Gray and Jean for the week until the creek receded, especially since it’s still raining and is due to go for another day and a half. Now whenever I heard that ditty I will have powerful memories of exactly what it means!

Eric and Philip helping build a handmade soap tower at the Frankfort market.

Today was the last farmers’ market for the season for me. The Owenton market finished at the end of October, and the Frankfort market is finishing today, the last Saturday before Thanksgiving. It’s a mixed blessing. At both markets I have good friends, really special people who work hard to bring the best quality products they can to their customers. It’s such a pleasure to buy fresh food from vendors who have picked or dug it the day before. I know it hasn’t gone through multiple stops getting to me, or been shipped from hundreds of miles away.

Also, the money I spend here goes around in my community several times. For instance, the sweet potatoes I bought from Connie will be delicious, and the money she received from them will go to the local children’s “Nutcracker” dance recital, and so on. I understand the efficiency of “big box” stores, but I like it when we can balance that with supporting our own local communities and vendors. None of us are rich, but at least we can keep on keepin’ on.

So I will miss my friends at the market, and the many lovely people who loyally shop with us every week. I will miss the market “young ones” who show up every week with their parents and help….heck, I’ll even miss the array of dogs, cats and other animals who visit from time to time.

On the other hand…won’t it feel fine to sleep in next Saturday and not get up before dawn to pile on layers of clothes to survive those early frost-bit mornings? In this life, there’s lots to love and be grateful for.

Sharon

Good olive oil handmade soap—a humble luxury

This time of year reminds me of the joy and pleasures that come from humble things. I cannot say it often enough that the deep friendships I’ve been lucky to enjoy over my lifetime, the continuing surprises and love from my family, the opportunity to continue learning and growing, and the ability to give back just a little with this humble luxury of handmade soap are the things that gain in worth as the years go on.

Since this space is dedicated to the hoorays and oops’s of handcrafted soapmaking, I’ll stick with that part of the equation. This is a time in history where we are rediscovering the value in locally made or produced items, from food to crafts. I feel very fortunate to be a part of that movement. I am convinced that no large corporation could put as much care and thought into their products as those of us in that movement do.

For example, I know the benefits of using olive oil on the skin…not just a drop or two but large amounts. And I enjoy adding ingredients such as shea butter or mango butter or rice bran oil, among others. What corporation’s recipe for handmade soap could compare to mine? NONE. Then add pomegranate seed oil, hemp seed oil, avocado oil…the list goes on and on.

Bottom line…the product may cost only $5.50 or $6 or $10, but that’s because I made it part of my initial goal many years ago to make the best products and put them in the hands of almost anyone who wanted them. They’re certainly worth a lot more.

So…happy holidays everyone. And thank goodness for many humble luxuries.

Sharon

Handmade soaps and bodycare at last year's holiday show at Larkspur Press

When it gets close to Thanksgiving, something in the back of my mind and heart comes alive. I know it’s time to plan for my favorite show of the year. It’s held in a breathtakingly lovely spot, back into the holler along Sawdridge Creek in Monterey, Kentucky. Gray and Jean Zeitz live there and have a letterpress workshop to die for called Larkspur Press. Gray and cohort Leslie publish many Kentucky authors in their sought-after series of handmade, hand-bound books that are treasures for their workmanship.

Once a year, on the Saturday and Sunday following Thanksgiving, Gray, Jean and Leslie open up the workshop and invite everyone to come for a weekend holiday festival. A number of local artists are invited to set up, including Anna’s EsSCENTials Bodycare. You will find hand-dyed silk scarves and hand-dipped tapers from Dara, Christmas wreaths, flowers and bulbs from Teresa, handmade beads and jewelry from Fred the Shed, handmade booklets from Leslie, and handcrafted books and broadsides from Larkspur Press.

Wreaths, jewelry, tapers and more at the Larkspur Press Holiday Gift Sale

Another thing that makes this event so special is the number of people from far and wide who attend and look forward to it every year. It’s like old-home-week. And the snacks and food are excellent as well. So come join us Nov. 26 & 27, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The address is 340 Sawdridge Creek Road. It’s a great day for an outing.

And by the way, if you’re of a mind, “like” us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annas-EsSCENTials-Bodycare/261607955466. We’re also experimenting with Twitter (search for AnnasEsSCENTial), and will take part in a Kentucky gifts Twitter program beginning Nov. 15. If you become a follower,  you will get all the news.

Larkspur Press is the site of our after-Thanksgiving holiday show for 2011.