Slow Is Lasting - Slow Fashion Movement by The Valente

We are so very please to have been included in The Valente's Slow Fashion Movement!

Taken Directly from their website, they describe Slow Fashion ..."Our economy is running on a fast fashion treadmill. Goods are being produced at a rapid rate, sold for as much as a cup of coffee, and disposed of quickly and carelessly. Here at The Valente we know we can do better, not only for ourselves, but for the consumer, the industry's workers, and the environment. Slow Fashion products are created in an ethically sound way and with quality materials. The artisans behind this movement put time and thought into the construction and design of their products, letting us assure you that your purchases won't be unutilized with the tags still attached. Slow Fashion items are investments that impact not only your wardrobe, but the world around you."

The Velente provides a transparent buying experience, letting you know exactly what you are buying, what it is made of, who made it- and also where it was made. 

The Valente boasts all American Made products, supporting small designers right here in the U.S.

We have been working with The Valente for months in order to bring you our products, as well as products made by other amazing artists. 

Please, please, please go support our partners over at www.thevalente.com !!

 

Joining the Fair Goods Family

We are so pleased to have joined Fair Goods, over at www.fairgoods.com. The staff is wonderful, and extremely helpful! We couldn't have asked for a more welcoming community.

What Fair Goods is all about:

"Our favorite, most-loved items are often the ones with a story behind them. But really, every product has a story. Someone had an idea and it evolved into a finished, lovely thing. That's what Fairgoods is about: putting the maker at the forefront. And documenting the process of how things are made, from an idea in a sketchbook to the finished product. It’s about letting you into the process, into the work itself — and celebrating it.

We sell a curated selection of accessories, housewares, apparel, and decor, as well as digital goods like type. Some of our products are things we’ve created with makers, some are things we’ve made ourselves, and some of them are existing products we love."

You can visit our Maker Profile here! And while you are there, check out some of the other awesome items they have available!

New! Introducing our Sugar Scrubs

We have finally rolled out our Sugar & Oil Skin Treatment products, as well as a new fragrance, which I will post about next.
Our products can be found on our website, and our OpenSky

Enjoy!

The Art of Soap Making

Here is a short summery taken from our promotional hand-outs. We just updated some of the information, and thought it would be a good idea to share it with you all!

Well, soap making wasn’t always an art. In fact, for most of history it was a household chore. One that took all day. Typically our ancestors used olive oil, but where there were no olives, such as in colonial America, animal fats sufficed. In the Philippines and Caribbean Islands they used mostly coconut oil. For early soap making, there were no recipes or measurements to follow, they just kind of guessed. Early soaps were also not quite solid, not quite liquid– but had properties of both. It had a consistency similar to a slush that you scooped with your hands or a ladle. It was greasy, unpleasant, and people preferred to wash without it. Early soaps also had no fragrances or colors. That didn’t come till the 19th century, the Victorian era.

During this time woman wore less make up, and put a strong emphasis on scented oils and natural beauty. The industrial revolution brought new technologies: assembly lines and steam power. This streamlined the manufacturing of goods, including bars of soap. They were scented with herbs like lavender and rose, and used “new” ingredients such as palm and coconut oils, and glycerin. For the first time, recipes were constructed, documented, and are now available for people like us. These soaps were considered a luxury item– affordable to only the wealthy. One company still known today, Unilever, had their start during that time.

But as the need for good hygiene increased, so did the availability of specialty soap. It was realized by Dr. Lister (Listerine anyone?) that washing your hands with running water decreased the instances of disease, a revolutionary discovery that changed the medical universe forever. Previously– they believed the exact opposite, that washing your body exposed you to harmful diseases. While soap is not antibacterial, it does do a great job at washing away excess oils containing harmful bacteria– while simultaneously leaving good bacteria behind.  It is no wonder why soap has become a staple to nearly every home around the world.

Two new places to purchase our goods!

We have been diligently building our online presence these past few weeks, and I am excited to inform you all about these new additions, and others.

First off, thank you to all of you who joined OpenSky in support of opening our shop. Thanks to all of you, or store opened last Friday. We are excited to be a part of OpenSky. I have found a great community there, and enjoy shopping myself.

You can visit our store, or just browse around at other neat shops.

We have also opened a Facebook Shop, which is powered through our website. This is such a neat feature, but it may be confusing- we have our facebook fanpage, and then a separate page for our shop.
Unfortunately that was the only way it will work, and we will eventually be abandoning our fan page and move over to using only the Shop page.

We are still working on getting our webstore open on www.scumsoaps.com, but that will be next!

Our New Scents

Over the past few months, we have been working hard choosing the best possible scents to represent our line of products. We went from over 100 fragrances and narrowed it down to just 5. We couldn't have done it alone, though. With the help of our fans- new customers, old customers, and long time friends, we narrowed our line down to the best-loved 5 and even gave a few of them new names: Forest Floor, Dusk, Lavendula, Wild Berry, and Honey Almond.

We are proud to announce our scents:

FOREST FLOOR:

The inspiration for this scent came from deep within the Appalachian Mountains. Nothing is more beautiful than moistened earth, green trees, and miles upon miles of untouched land. Bring yourself back to the goodness of the outdoors with our Forest Floor products.

DUSK:

Dusk- the moment when daylight turns to night, and the world seems to change in ways we can only feel. The mystery of darkness is the primary inspiration for this classy fragrance. Indulge your body and home in deep masculine notes such as patchouli, amber, and musk. You will never be the same.

LAVENDULA:

Lavender is such a classic in the industry of bath and body, and something we could not complete our product line without. The use of lavender in soaps dates back farther than we can know for certain and is still in popular demand today. We use a unique hybrid blend of two Lavendula species, which provides the best blend of bitter and sweet.

WILD BERRY:

What better joy than coming across a beautifully untouched raspberry bush growing unrestrained. The love and appreciation for fresh ripened fruit brought about this wonderfully sweet fragrance. Hints of vanilla add to the already indulgent notes of berries to complete this fragrance.

HONEY ALMOND:

Instantly brighten your senses and your home with our Honey Almond line of products. There is something wonderfully refreshing about the scent of roasting almonds, warm honey, and heavy cream. Loved by men and women alike- the overcoming power of this fragrance is undeniably comforting.