Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Mood of the Day = Soap of the Day

"Encantado" - means "Enchanted"
A Lavender & Rosemary Soap
"Plant rosemary at your garden gate, grow lavender for luck!" - Witches Proverb
Many of you know this proverb from the popular witch movie Practical Magic which enjoys a continued & popular following!

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Folks often ask me, "Which of your soaps are YOUR favorites, Carol?"

Truth is....it depends on the day, my mood, what my skin or pysche is crying out for at the moment.  Because bathing or showering for me is more than just "Quick, get clean!  Get on with the day or off to bed!"  And lucky for me, I have a wide selection readily-available.  Nope, we never run ot of soap at my house!  

I approach every bathing ritual as an opportunity to not only cleanse my skin in as nurturing a way as possible, but to feed my soul through aromatherapy, and celebrate the ingredients IN my soap!  
I'm sure many of you have noticed that many of my soaps have specific intentions associated with them.  This
follows a long, long history of herbalists including their garden's bounty in the soaps & others remedies, poultices, and salves they used on their skin to cleanse and heal.  Back in the good old days when every home had it's own garden to gather from, ...from the lowliest poor living in huts, to the richest of the rich living in castles. Herbal gatherings (dried and fresh) were used for each family like a medicine chest, or traded for a neighbor's goods.  Every village had a "Wise Woman" who knew plant values and how to apply them.  Many referred to her as "a witch" because her knowledge and healing prowess with plants could indeed seem magical!  Some feared this "power", most embraced it because it worked!  These were some of the earliest of medical professionals.......

I was fortunate to have had a Gran who had a magnificent garden she gathered from for every meal, for every ailment, for every food seasoning, and for every gift (bunches of flowers and herbal sachets!).  T'would be unthinkable to not include the garden's bounty in anything you could possibly use it for!  It was her pride and joy, whether served on the table in great platters of food, stored in jars or bushels in the cellar for winter, hanging from rafters drying, or powdered and put-up as ready-to-use herbs & seasonings!  

It's a shame more homes do not have a garden to draw from nowadays, or to teach children the blessings of plants and how to use them in their own lives.  It's sadly, becoming a dying art or financial & time burden no longer worth pursuing for many.  I attribute my Gran's devotion to it that she passed on to me, an oral education to pass on and keep alive........and I have; to my own kids as well as in my products for you to enjoy!  


This fine day, Encantado is my soap of choice! 


 For I adore the herbal scents of lavender and rosemary and their astringent purifying properties on my skin, especially after a vigorous work-out when I've sweated-out toxins, and now want to wash them away, and renew my state of mind, to tackle the day with heightened awareness! The lingering soft sweet herbal scents on my skin remind me of the rosemary and lavender bushes in my yard that I gather from.  How one of my cats likes to sleep in a giant potted lavender bush and then saunters into the house smelling of it and I nuzzle my nose in her fur...wondering if she slept so well in that pot due to the calming effects of lavender.....or because it's right next to my pot of catnip! She and I will both smell lovely today, one with the garden.....

And Encantado (because it contains GREEN, including finely-mortared & pestled rosemary powdered herb)  is one of our soaps on sale at 10% off, as mentioned in our March Sale through St. Patrick's Day!  
Enjoy! 

~Carol 
carolochsarts(at)aol.com


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