Besides making soap on Saturdays though, I also enjoy spending time up at the local farm with the cattle. They are so friendly, and so well taken care of. We’re very close with the farmer and his family, which means we’re welcome at the farm whenever and once in a while it’s wonderful to put on the boots, and just go stay with the cattle for a while.  They are curious, docile and for me very relaxing to be around. I guess there’s just something about a farm.

After I got home from the farm this afternoon, I threw on MPBN and started crafting some new soaps for all of you. Today’s batches included Ohh La La! French Green Clay + Oatmeal, Raspberry Lemonade + Poppyseed and the start of an alcohol based soap we’ve never made before—red wine + chocolate. We’re still thinking up names for it, and here’s to hoping that once we get the soap made everything turns out awesome.

For now, here’s a sneak peak of one of the upcoming batches we made today, Ohh La La! French Green Clay. This is before it’s cut and what you don’t see is that it is a layered/swirled soap. I’m excited to see what it looks like tomorrow when we cut into it!

xo,

Heather

The simple fact comes down to this. We feel like the cost of everything in life is going up. From milk, to gas, to regular old  postage stamps. So, we decided that enough costs are driving up in your life and we weren’t going to be one of them. Some of you may notice we use the flat rate boxes as much as possible. Not only are they simple and easy, but I mean come on, they’re  flat rate—talk about convenience.

However, you may have noticed there has been another price hike in postage and this includes flat rate boxes.

But we have something to tell you.

We’re not changing. Call us stubborn, but we refuse to charge you more (or hike our soap prices to cover the difference). It seems simply ludicrous. So we’re here to tell you that unless the USPS skyrockets their shipping prices, we’re keeping our feet firmly planted in stubborn town and aren’t moving.

We’re still going to give you $5.00 shipping on your order, and our soap prices are remaining the same.

As we see it, everything else is going up—and you guys deserve one thing that isn’t going to be changing anytime soon.

-Heather

We have one suggestion though—have you ever been swimming after shaving? You might get that with this soap, depending on how sensitive your skin is, so this might be your couple times a week versus every day soap.

If you’re a fan of the ocean smell (the real ocean smell not the fragrance manufactured one), or you just love how your skin feels after a dip in the ocean, this might be the soap for you. Coming from New England, we don’t mind it a bit since we love the smell of salty ocean air. In fact, it kind of makes us want to throw on our bathing suits and head out for the day.

Ingredients:

• Coconut Oil
• Sweet Almond Oil
• Castor Oil
• Kelp Powder
• Rough Ground Seaweed
• Water
• Sodium Hydroxide*

*Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as lye, is required to make cold process soap. The lye, when combined with our high quality oils, is 100% harmless due to a chemical change called saponification. No worries, all you receive is a wonderful nourishing healthy soap!

In our effort to reduce-reuse-recycle, we don’t throw our soap scraps away. The little shavings off the side, the piece that is just too small—none of it goes to waste. Over the year we slowly fill up a large glass jar with these shavings, and then re-melt them down into an ooey, gooey, wonderful mixture to make a brand new batch of soap.

This is definitely one way to try everything, all at once. Since these are smaller scraps, and they have been in a jar, it means the scents have mellowed and melded together over time and so instead of a strong barrage of multiple scents, this soap just has a nice overall soft scent. It’s also provides a heck of an exfoliation experience (and we love it).

Because this soap was re-batched, it’s slightly softer than our regular soaps, but still holds up to the rigors. As with all soaps, keep them out of the stream of water when not in use, and use in a well drained dish.

Unlike our normal ingredient lists, this soap contains a little of each of the following—and maybe a few more things.

• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Castor Oil
• Sweet Almond Oil
• Mango Butter
• Shea Butter
• Cocoa Butter
• Cocoa Powder
• Rosehip Powder
• Cardamon Powder
• Clove Powder
• Oatmeal
• Poppyseeds
• Ground Coffee
• Fragrance Oils
• Essential Oils
• Water
• Sodium Hydroxide*

*Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as lye, is required to make cold process soap. The lye, when combined with our high quality oils, is 100% harmless due to a chemical change called saponification. No worries, all you receive is a wonderful nourishing healthy soap!

You can read more about the soap itself here.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Castor Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Bamboo Activated Charcoal
• Fragrance
• Water
• Sodium Hydroxide*

*Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as lye, is required to make cold process soap. The lye, when combined with our high quality oils, is 100% harmless due to a chemical change called saponification. No worries, all you receive is a wonderful nourishing healthy soap!

• Make it smell like the woods, but not dirt
• Something that can wash off and get out a hard day of work outside
• Make it large enough to get a good grip on

To get started we used a higher dose of castor oil, known for it’s properties of pulling impurities from the skin. Then we went ahead and added in bamboo activated charcoal to really grip the gross. Activated charcoal is one of natures least known wonders, at least in our opinion and is great for those with normal to oily skin—or those looking to really draw the dirt from a day in the woods off their skin. We then added in a fir tree scent so you can be clean and still smell like you’ve been in the trees all day, minus the smell of chainsaw and diesel.  The smell is one of fir trees but also of a spa and it is downright ridiculous (you know, in the best way).

Now, we make our soaps pretty hefty anyways, but on this batch we ramped it up even more with the bars averaging 6 ounces each. That’s just a couple ounces away from a half-pound of soap (and some of the bars verge on a half pound). It’s well worth the extra buck for your man when he comes home from buck hunting. Wait, was that lame? We apologize.

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering, this soap isn’t just for the men (sorry guys). You ladies will love this soap too. Whether you’re showing the boys how it’s done outside, or you’re just in the mood for a little something extra on a hot summer day you’ll love this.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Castor Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Bamboo Activated Charcoal
• Fragrance
• Water
• Sodium Hydroxide*

*Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as lye, is required to make cold process soap. The lye, when combined with our high quality oils, is 100% harmless due to a chemical change called saponification. No worries, all you receive is a wonderful nourishing healthy soap!

You would have thought by now I would have made one, but I didn’t—until a few days ago.

Why did I wait so long?!

Though this soap won’t be ready for another 4-5 weeks, I can tell you it is already my favorite soap to date. To help pull the long hard days outside off his skin I used a bamboo activated charcoal. If you’ve never heard of activated charcoal, the stuff is the powder of all wonders. It’s often used for those with normal to oily skin to help pull “impurities” out. I’ve found in my own personal skin care that it’s amazing. As far as the scent, I used a Fir Tree fragrance oil I’ve had for a while. It always smelled too strong in the bottle so I was concerned how it would turn out in the soaps.

Truth time.

I was way wrong. The scent transformed into some version of fir tree meets relaxing spa smell after it went through the heating process and I am in heaven. It’s one of my favorite scents ever, and now the entire soap room/office smells like it. I feel like I’m about to get a massage. I’m not, but I feel that way—and that is a relaxing feeling.

As much as this soap was made for the Woodsy Man in my life, I have a strong feeling the Woodsy Ladies (even ones that aren’t very woodsy) will love this one too. So, in about a month keep your eye out for these to be posted! We have just over 30 bars curing now and *shh* we even have a few guest sized bars!

In the mean time, I might get so relaxed I fall asleep. No no, must not sleep. Off to make a sea salt and kelp soap for you!

xo,

Heather

When I started Green Barn Soaps, it was incredibly important for me to do it as sustainable as possible. This meant buying products in containers I could reuse in the business, or personally—or recycle. It meant not using certain oils once I became educated on what it meant for the Orangutans natural habitats. It meant testing well water to make the soap with (or even snow in the winter!) versus buying distilled water in plastic containers, which had to be shipped using fossil fuels. One of the biggest things to me though, was our molds to make the soap with. We first started with cardboard boxes simply lined with non-wax freezer paper, but realized the insulation qualities left something to be desired. It’s pretty important to have your soap well insulated (insert chemistry mumbo-jumbo here), and needless to say though the soap was nice, it left me wanting more.

Then the day of the turkey happened.

My husbands client sent his company some smoked turkeys in a special package to help keep them cool. Though the turkey was delicious, I was far more interested in the packaging it came in. Good insulation? Check. Good shape? Check. Cover? Check. This baby had all the makings of a good soap mold. So there I was, making up a larger (for me) batch of soap to test this theory out, well knowing it could all be in the pot at the end.

I’ve never looked back.

After asking a few of the other guys if I could have their containers, instead of throwing them out, and finding a couple at a yard sale for $1.00 each (what are the odds?!) we’re stocked—and stoked.

I love the idea that something which makes your soaps so perfect and wonderful, was actually saved from going to the dump. The best part? If we really need more they are made right here in Maine. Since they aren’t manufactured to be a soap mold, they are cheap too!

If you follow us on Facebook you’ll know that a couple months ago I bought a few real soap molds off of Etsy. I was ecstatic. They were going to produce perfect loafs of soap which could be cut into perfectly cut bars of soap.

And you know what?

Not my favorite. Though we certainly like it, it’s just not worth the money. Not only is it not sustainable, they simply just don’t insulate as well and leave the same beautiful consistency soap you and I have grown to love. Plus, if all of our soaps looked perfect they wouldn’t be our soaps. Our soaps are handcut, which is half the fun of making them! Maybe I need to play around with them more but I have to say, every business has things they learn along the way and one thing I’ve learned is that newer isn’t always better.

And sometimes, just sometimes, what you’re really looking for is turkey.

xo,

Heather

On a side note, are any of you ready for it to look like this again? This is the farm with one of the Green Barns on it, and we can’t wait until it’s this lush outside once more.

So get those winter blues out of here, and imagine yourself with a tall frozen drink and your feet in the warm sand every time you use this soap.

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Castor Oil
• Fragrance
• Water
• Sodium Hydroxide*

*Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as lye, is required to make cold process soap. The lye, when combined with our high quality oils, is 100% harmless due to a chemical change called saponification. No worries, all you receive is a wonderful nourishing healthy soap!

A lot of you had asked for a super gentle soap for the little loves in your life, and for sensitive skin. So we double-double-toiled and troubled and came up with a super simple, no frills, 100% olive oil soap, also known as a castile soap. For those who want an absolutely pure, simple, few ingredients soap—this is for you. Because it is 100% olive oil, this means it is a very low to no lather soap, unlike our soaps which contain coconut oil. Just remember that bubbles=clean is a myth, we promise you’ll get just as clean with this gentle soap.

For use on babies we highly recommend rubbing the bar of soap in a wash cloth, and then using the wash cloth on your baby.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Water
• Sodium Hydroxide*

*Sodium Hydroxide, commonly known as lye, is required to make cold process soap. The lye, when combined with our high quality oils, is 100% harmless due to a chemical change called saponification. No worries, all you receive is a wonderful nourishing healthy soap!