Hog Wild Festival 2015

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the post being a day late, I had computer troubles yesterday.  Electronics always seem to act up when you need them the most!

Any-who.. I had a wonderful day at the Hog Wild Festival this year!  My Mom and I were setting up by about 6:30 that morning.  It was bright and sunny alreay!  We had put the tent up the night before, so all we had to do was actually set up the display.  We finished just a little after 8:00.

It was a beautiful (if very hot) day!

Where our booth was located, we were surrounded by political booths.  Side rant:  I hate political booths.  I personally would rather see them out in the community showing what they can do to help rather than berating everyone in earshot with how they're going to help.  We all know 9 times out of 10 that they never do what they said they would...  Also, the booth to my left was a woman running for office and she thought it was the best idea to come stand in directly in front of my booth (not her own!) to pass out her materials... End of rant.

The booth to my right was an airbrushed t-shirt booth.  That was really pretty neat as I could peep over and watch him work while no one was visiting my booth.  I was also pretty much in the food vendor area, so I was smelling delicious barbecue, corn dogs, and funnel cakes all day long.  I'm not entirely sure how, but my mom and I went all day and only bought a snow cone!

I did fairly well at the festival.  I almost tripled my booth fee despite a threat of thunder storms all day and a few short showers.  I will definitely be going back next year.

Here are pictures of my booth!

Thanks for reading!  Check back Friday for what I've been doing.  (Hint - I've expanded!)

Look What's New!

This week has been a little hectic here at Rustic Silk Soaps.  Business has picked up exponentially and I've outgrown my kitchen (and my entire house for that matter!).  Soap stuff is literally crammed in every nook and cranny to be found.  It takes up half of my living room, a whole hall way, closets, and usually my kitchen counters...  So I'm moving out!!

Well, I'm not moving out, but everything soapy related is.  I'm finally getting my own soaping studio!  I am literally so excited I feel like jumping up and down.  I'll finally have my own place that is for nothing but creating wonderful, deliciously fragrant products.  And I guess reclaiming half of my house is a plus, too.

Moving everything isn't going to be any fun, but at least I'll have a chance to reorganize again because everything has become quite chaotic.  I got my hubby to agree to a soap studio because I told him either I need new shelving in the house, or I need my own space.  He quickly agreed to a soap studio.

Anyway, other things have been going on this week as well!  I've released my first products in my skin care line.  My Rose & Aloe facial toner and facial moisturizer are currently available for purchase in my Etsy shop.  The first stock is limited, but more will come very soon!  I'm also working on an oatmeal based line.

Rose & Aloe facial toner and facial moisturizer.  Naturally colored
a soft pink due to the brilliant red rose water used to make them.

I've also finally gotten my Bubble Cookies listed on Etsy.  Right now, there's only four fragrances, but many, many more are to come!  You can find them in my Bath & Body section, along with a few other items.

Last, but not least, I've spent all week preparing for the Hog Wild Festival.  I'll have a booth there tomorrow and look forward to seeing you!  I'll have all kinds of products available - soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs, salt scrubs, bath bombs, and all of the products mentioned above!  Looking forward to a great day meeting people and talking about soap!  I'll do an update Monday about the show.

Thank you so much for reading!

About Rustic Silk Soaps

Hello out there!  I just wanted to welcome you to my business's blog, and give you a little info on Rustic Silk Soaps.

Rustic Silk Soaps opened January 16, 2014.  I knew that I wanted to start a business that would provide people with safer, more effective, and more environmentally friendly products.  For a time before I opened, I tossed around business name ideas and, finally, one stuck!  My product line is ever expanding and I am constantly testing new creations.  I want you to have the best product I can give!

I started out making only melt and pour, or glycerin, soaps in small batches in my kitchen because, to be honest, I was afraid of the lye used to make cold process soap. But my growing curiosity helped me to quickly overcome my fear because I have never settled for the simplistic or easy route. I decided that I wanted more of a challenge than the melt and pour was able to give me so I started making cold process soaps. I have even joked that melt and pour soap was the gateway drug to my soap-making addiction! Since then, my addiction has spread to other bath and body products such as lotion bars, salt and sugar scrubs, bath bombs, and more!

Of course, all of my products are made with the highest quality and most luxurious ingredients available. Many of my recipes include luscious shea butter or mango butter, as well as luxury oils such as avocado, hemp, and jojoba oils. I hardly ever use just plain old boring water in my products as I like to incorporate other liquids, such as herbal teas, milks, or coffee into my recipes to make them even more unique!

Rustic Silk Soaps' soaps are artfully crafted with natural and sustainable ingredients through the time-honored cold process method. My soaps provide a rich, creamy lather that will leave your skin feeling clean and wonderfully refreshed.

I make both vegan and non-vegan products. Some of my recipes are made using wonderful and skin-loving animal "products" like beeswax, honey, or milks. My beeswax and honey comes from a local provider who does not use pesticides or antibiotics on his bees.  I carefully choose products that come from sustainable and responsibly harvested resources only so as to make our products more environmentally friendly.  For this reason, I only use RSPO certified palm oil products.

Thanks for reading!