Ok so now a year has gone by and there seems to be one common denominator within the questions asked by our customers and that is ..."what can I use for my sensitive skin?"
The truth in the answer comes from 26 years of making cosmetics and having both a skin care clinic and a soap store and that is............"we're ALL sensitive..its just how we deal with it both emotionally and physically"
Sounds pretty abstract but in the simple vein of the answer it is true that we all have issues whether mild or extreme at one part or time of our life.
Some people have legitimate concerns with regard to actual problems like eczema or environmental stressors that are hard on our largest organ.
Some people are simply whiners who like the whole world think they are so special that even the mildest product will create havoc with their skin, life, mental state. Its a wee bit tiring as its those people who can't smell a lovely lemon verbena soap but I find them smoking five minutes later.
.....aaaaaaand there is a whole slew of people somewhere in the middle.
In actuality the less we do for for our skin, the better. It has become increasingly clear to me that, the skin, if given the opportunity to balance itself out, will do so.
This is not to say that anyone with a legitimate skin condition ignore advice of a trained professional but I always ask and listen to people when they say they have an issue and what they are using to try to alleviate that condition.
As Oprah would say..."what I know to be true is"........often people are "bandaiding" a problem rather than getting to the root of what is ailing them.
A great example is a busy hair cutter/stylist comes into the store from last January to just yesterday and complains bitterly that his hands are dry and cracked, raw and bleeding. This guys hands looked terrible and he had tried everything to great distress and financial strain. The first day I saw him I mentioned that using commercial shampoo on his customers hands, especially a super foamy, traditionally made salon formula (which is super stripping as it has to get all the gunk that people have on their heads so color and perms take well) will simply be the problem.
Sooooooo five months later hes back after trying everything and more and he is back from vacation......two weeks of vacation..........where he was not using any shampoo in the salon..........and simply allowing his hands to heal............and he sheepishly asked for our new body mousse cream.
"hows yer hands? I asked.
"Great!...seems Mexico and the rest did wonders" he nods.
"......and no shampooing clients maybe?" through a wincing smile I offered.
The light came on.
"Use gloves at work!!...duh!!" I laughed.
"oh yeh...duh.....!"
"and use your Moisture Mousse sparingly.....its a great formula....is that on your visa?"
Another case is a wee girl (well she was 16 or so....wee to me) says to me that her skin has been bad since she was 12 and the only time it gets better is in the summer.
We figured out that there was no case for a CSI investigation after more chatting but more to it that she is a swimmer in the summertime....outside....at a lake...where she wore no cover up make up (an evil material) and it was the combination of sun, exfoliation, letting herself sweat, and lack of the make up particles that let her skin balance and normalize itself to its own best ability.
The list goes on with dozens of cases but getting back to the "sensitive" factor I know for a fact that most people are less sensitive than they think and more stressing on their bodies so that it cant take the BS we put it through.
Chocolate Pudding Cake...Soap !
yummmmmm!!!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Soap in Vancouver...the Good the bad and the ugly!
Lately we have been making soap fast and furiously as the only shop in Vancouver to do so right in the store. Busy little beavers have we been in the "soap making area".
This leads the store to smell like a cornucopia of lemon and chocolate, almond and patchouli and a lot of other food grade essential oils.
This would be the GOOD....or the great. All day long we hear how it smells just so much better than other certain stores that sell soap..........do we really need to name them? No.....ok yes....LUSH!!
You know which one I am talking about. You can smell the synthetic soap ingredients a block away and they have had more than their fair of disputes with their neighbors who somehow did not like the smell of the products wafting into their cafes and retail stores.......this would be the UGLY.
I am actually pretty pissed at Lush for making millions of people shy away from scent!!!
Sometimes people come to our door and shy away for fear that it is smelly.....then they linger and say "oh! this is way better than other stores I have come across".
"yes......we know...." is the response.
So now for the BAD. I can only tell you that if the product in a so called store looks just like the one in the Drug store......it IS!
Once a company gets so big it has to contract it's product base to other companies who then subcontract to someone else there is no quality control. I don't care who the company is. This is how Kathie Lee Gifford found out her products were being made in less than stellar conditions for a while. Kudos to her and her husband Frank though for catching the problem and helping to implement stricter controls for manufacturing.
We will always know what is in our product lines.......cause you are important to us.....thin skinned or thick..we love it all.
Darren
This leads the store to smell like a cornucopia of lemon and chocolate, almond and patchouli and a lot of other food grade essential oils.
This would be the GOOD....or the great. All day long we hear how it smells just so much better than other certain stores that sell soap..........do we really need to name them? No.....ok yes....LUSH!!
You know which one I am talking about. You can smell the synthetic soap ingredients a block away and they have had more than their fair of disputes with their neighbors who somehow did not like the smell of the products wafting into their cafes and retail stores.......this would be the UGLY.
I am actually pretty pissed at Lush for making millions of people shy away from scent!!!
Sometimes people come to our door and shy away for fear that it is smelly.....then they linger and say "oh! this is way better than other stores I have come across".
"yes......we know...." is the response.
So now for the BAD. I can only tell you that if the product in a so called store looks just like the one in the Drug store......it IS!
Once a company gets so big it has to contract it's product base to other companies who then subcontract to someone else there is no quality control. I don't care who the company is. This is how Kathie Lee Gifford found out her products were being made in less than stellar conditions for a while. Kudos to her and her husband Frank though for catching the problem and helping to implement stricter controls for manufacturing.
We will always know what is in our product lines.......cause you are important to us.....thin skinned or thick..we love it all.
Darren
Friday, April 8, 2011
Bulk products at The Granville Island Soap Gallery!!!
Hey fellow bubble lovers!
We have been slammed damn busy these past few weeks but we are taking the time to launch a very exciting new product line(s) here in the Soap Gallery.
It is our bulk line of products!
We have been asked by so many if our SIGNATURE LINE scents can come in any other products than what we presently carry and after long thought we have created an eco friendly and gorgeous lineup.
The concept had to be carefully cogniscient of the packaging dilemma while still creating a nice package.
The result was a "fill a bottle....bring it back...we will recycle it for you and get a deal on your next fill"
This reduces the plastic footprint...you can decide to have a label IF you want and our recycling program is efficient and clean!
We are very excited to also be bringing several products with a focus on the organic and essential oil compositions such as:
Shampoo
Conditioner
Bubble Bath
Bath and massage oil
Body wash
Peppermint foot cream
Body lotion
Body cream
Aloe eye gel
Body scrub
Lip balms
Foot balms
...and more!!
we plan to do these up in our Signature "Creamy French Vanilla", our "Summer Garden" scent and of course scent free!
Our launch is targeted for May 5th.
Come on by to test what we have!
cheers,
Darren Monette
We have been slammed damn busy these past few weeks but we are taking the time to launch a very exciting new product line(s) here in the Soap Gallery.
It is our bulk line of products!
We have been asked by so many if our SIGNATURE LINE scents can come in any other products than what we presently carry and after long thought we have created an eco friendly and gorgeous lineup.
The concept had to be carefully cogniscient of the packaging dilemma while still creating a nice package.
The result was a "fill a bottle....bring it back...we will recycle it for you and get a deal on your next fill"
This reduces the plastic footprint...you can decide to have a label IF you want and our recycling program is efficient and clean!
We are very excited to also be bringing several products with a focus on the organic and essential oil compositions such as:
Shampoo
Conditioner
Bubble Bath
Bath and massage oil
Body wash
Peppermint foot cream
Body lotion
Body cream
Aloe eye gel
Body scrub
Lip balms
Foot balms
...and more!!
we plan to do these up in our Signature "Creamy French Vanilla", our "Summer Garden" scent and of course scent free!
Our launch is targeted for May 5th.
Come on by to test what we have!
cheers,
Darren Monette
Glycerine soap vs traditional soaps at The Granville Island Soap Gallery
Hey all!
I was asked as I often am about what the difference is between regular soap like a traditionally made soap and glycerin soaps is.
Well, as best as I can explain it and with the help of stealing some text from Wikipedia...
Traditional soaps are a chemical reaction between an acid (oil) and a base or caustic material (lye) whereby the materials combine to create something completely different and without any of the original (well mostly) materials left over. The reaction is called Saponification and soap is created.
When we make soap one of the byproducts is glycerine and.....
Glycerin soaps are soaps that contain glycerin, a component of fat or oil. The soap is recognizably different from other soaps because it is translucent. The clarity of the soap is due to the particular alignment of the soap molecules in this type of soap, which can be induced through the addition of alcohol and sugar. This is usually done for homemade glycerin soaps which are not remeltable.
The process for making glycerin soaps was well known as of 1857 in the Western world. In modern industrial soap-making, the glycerin is then usually separated from the soap to be resold and used in a wide variety of areas such as for personal care products, pharmaceuticals, chemical intermediates, and food processing.....mostly food processing.
Glycerin soap is made by melting and continuously heating soap that has been partially dissolved in a high percentage alcohol solution until the mixture reaches a clear, jelly-like consistency. The alcohol is added to a slow cooked hot-processed soap and then simmered with a sugar solution until the soap is clear or translucent, and then the simmered soap is chilled in a freezer. With home- and hand-made soaps that still contain glycerin left over from saponification the grating, melting and cooking can proceed without the addition of anything into the mixture, though sugar or more glycerin is sometimes added. Glycerin soap can also be produced without remelting soap through directly cooking raw home-made soap.
Modern clear glycerin soaps bases are produced by combining various glycerol and polyols with soap and other surfactants in a manner similar to traditional glycerin soap making methods. These modern clear soaps have the benefit of being easily re-meltable and are often sold in bulk to customers for melt-and-pour soap crafting.
For my store I have made up for me a pure vegan glycerine soap to my standards and formula. This soap is a very gentle, purely cleansing products that holds the essential oils cleanly and clearly......a super nice product.
I was asked as I often am about what the difference is between regular soap like a traditionally made soap and glycerin soaps is.
Well, as best as I can explain it and with the help of stealing some text from Wikipedia...
Traditional soaps are a chemical reaction between an acid (oil) and a base or caustic material (lye) whereby the materials combine to create something completely different and without any of the original (well mostly) materials left over. The reaction is called Saponification and soap is created.
When we make soap one of the byproducts is glycerine and.....
Glycerin soaps are soaps that contain glycerin, a component of fat or oil. The soap is recognizably different from other soaps because it is translucent. The clarity of the soap is due to the particular alignment of the soap molecules in this type of soap, which can be induced through the addition of alcohol and sugar. This is usually done for homemade glycerin soaps which are not remeltable.
The process for making glycerin soaps was well known as of 1857 in the Western world. In modern industrial soap-making, the glycerin is then usually separated from the soap to be resold and used in a wide variety of areas such as for personal care products, pharmaceuticals, chemical intermediates, and food processing.....mostly food processing.
Glycerin soap is made by melting and continuously heating soap that has been partially dissolved in a high percentage alcohol solution until the mixture reaches a clear, jelly-like consistency. The alcohol is added to a slow cooked hot-processed soap and then simmered with a sugar solution until the soap is clear or translucent, and then the simmered soap is chilled in a freezer. With home- and hand-made soaps that still contain glycerin left over from saponification the grating, melting and cooking can proceed without the addition of anything into the mixture, though sugar or more glycerin is sometimes added. Glycerin soap can also be produced without remelting soap through directly cooking raw home-made soap.
Modern clear glycerin soaps bases are produced by combining various glycerol and polyols with soap and other surfactants in a manner similar to traditional glycerin soap making methods. These modern clear soaps have the benefit of being easily re-meltable and are often sold in bulk to customers for melt-and-pour soap crafting.
For my store I have made up for me a pure vegan glycerine soap to my standards and formula. This soap is a very gentle, purely cleansing products that holds the essential oils cleanly and clearly......a super nice product.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Natural soaps and a small footprint!....to boot!
We were chatting with a few people on a busy day here and someone remarked that they thought the store was really pretty and that idea was echoed by a few others.
I was and am extremely flattered as I explained that everything within the store has a "green" focus in that I re-purposed, reused, and recycled almost everything within the store. I used "eco" friendly, no emission paint and if I had to buy something it was second hand with the exception of two Ikea lamps that hang in the store.
It was almost like a game finding free stuff and reusing furniture and fixtures that would fit into a unified theme without looking like a flea market within itself. I even made the sign hanging outside out of an old door and some creative use of foam molding and some paint and dollar store letters......all second hand!
I am very proud of the way the store turned out and offer some advice to others who may be looking to start a retail establishment in that you can go high end and spend a lot on the interiors and yes, it will look great, or you can go creatively funky and save a bundle!
Unless the design is really mismatched and unusable the customers would never notice the difference and they would only focus on your products.
Only nerds like me go into a store and remark on the quality or cost fixtures as I have been in the business...and did I mention I can be nerdy?!?
Thanks again to our nice customers who complimented the look of the Granville Island Soap Gallery....I very much appreciate it!!
I was and am extremely flattered as I explained that everything within the store has a "green" focus in that I re-purposed, reused, and recycled almost everything within the store. I used "eco" friendly, no emission paint and if I had to buy something it was second hand with the exception of two Ikea lamps that hang in the store.
It was almost like a game finding free stuff and reusing furniture and fixtures that would fit into a unified theme without looking like a flea market within itself. I even made the sign hanging outside out of an old door and some creative use of foam molding and some paint and dollar store letters......all second hand!
I am very proud of the way the store turned out and offer some advice to others who may be looking to start a retail establishment in that you can go high end and spend a lot on the interiors and yes, it will look great, or you can go creatively funky and save a bundle!
Unless the design is really mismatched and unusable the customers would never notice the difference and they would only focus on your products.
Only nerds like me go into a store and remark on the quality or cost fixtures as I have been in the business...and did I mention I can be nerdy?!?
Thanks again to our nice customers who complimented the look of the Granville Island Soap Gallery....I very much appreciate it!!
Intermediate soap class!
Our Intermediate soap class is upcoming tomorrow on Saturday.
We are looking forward to the class as we are doing up some fun "cake" style soaps with gorgeous decorating techniques.
Check back with us if you miss this one by calling the store at 604-669-3649 to see when the next one is happening.
We are looking forward to the class as we are doing up some fun "cake" style soaps with gorgeous decorating techniques.
Check back with us if you miss this one by calling the store at 604-669-3649 to see when the next one is happening.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
New artist at the Granville Island Soap Gallery
We are super happy to have Marlyn Macdonald join us in the gallery with her gorgeous paintings
Marlyn was born in England and moved to Eastern Canada where she studied at the Ontario College of Art before moving to the coast. Strongly influenced by Nolde, Van Gogh and Matisse, Marlyn creates works which are both contemporary and abstract. Lush surfaces invite the viewer to approach her painting; layers are built up and removed using a palette knife.
Marlyn’s love of flowers enhances her interpretation. Using strong colour coupled with expression and movement, Marlyn’s paintings of floral still life typically elicit a joyous response from the viewer & are collected throughout Canada.
Marlyn’s love of flowers enhances her interpretation. Using strong colour coupled with expression and movement, Marlyn’s paintings of floral still life typically elicit a joyous response from the viewer & are collected throughout Canada.
Marlyn and I used to work together at a Jewelry store where I was designing and selling sparkly things as was she and she had a few paintings up in the store there that were often admired.
We will be doing a revolving stock of her work as it will go fast with the tourist season fast approaching. Please stop by to see her work and I will put up a few examples of it here on the blog.
Cheerio!
Darren
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