Soap Notes

I forgot to mention that I will have my "Tulip Fields" soap at the two shows this week. I make a smallish batch of tulip soap each year especially for the Tulip Festival show in Mt Vernon, and I just bring it around with me in the spring until it's gone.

It's bright pink and scented with a so-called tulip scent. They don't actually have much fragrance, especially when they are in a small bunch. But when you get out in the fields, you can smell a bit of floral and a lot of green leaf and stems. So I've tried to re-create that somewhat. It's lightly floral and pretty, with a sprinkling of aloe vera and grass to make it really fresh and not powdery or bathroomy. The scent changes a bit year to year, because I usually toss in a little fragrance oil samples or left overs, but it's quite similar too. Like sourdough bread starter, I have a largish bottle of the base fragrance that I use and just add a little bit new to it each time.

And I'm breaking the news here first that the Havana soap scent is done. Maybe I've said it before, I don't know. But it's the pipe tobacco scented soap that I've had for years and years. I don't always have it with me, but it's been on the web site pretty consistently. It's a little bit of a cult favorite, and if I had to describe it, it's a bit on the sweet side with an almost chocolatey-vanilla-coconut undertone. Not smoky at all, but more like the old time pipe tobacco in big glass jars on shelves behind the counter. Anyway, the fragrance was discontinued, oh, about 6 years ago. I had stocked up at that time so I had a big bunch of it that would last until I could figure something else out. I made the last batch of that stuff in January. And I'm down to just a few bars.

In the meantime, I've searched high and low for a replacement. Really, I've searched every nook and cranny for years. I've tried a million samples of other types. I've begged the original suppliers to get it back and the answer was always no. But last November they replied that they were considering bringing it back after the first of the year. Well, nope. Then it was March or April. Now it's probably hopeless. It's just not popular enough across the board. And they had to find a new supplier to try to match the old formulation, which didn't go well. So the party is over -- at least for now. I'll keep my eyes open, but I'm not that optimistic. And frankly, all the other tobacco fragrances out there that I tried were absolutely pukey, so I'm not going to pursue that.

If anyone is truly dying for it, give me a call. I will dole out the last dozen bars or so to the most desperate. And as of now, it's off the web site and in safe keeping.