Soap Travels ...

Ages ago I joined in an international soap swap ... a box of soap, with three soaps inside, was sent across the globe and has been from America to Australia and Europe and a ton of places in between.  Originally the idea of Julia from Cocobong Soaps, this has taken quite some time to get to me.. in fact, I'd forgotten about it entirely!

The box arrived in my house in the middle of a very busy time at home so I, sadly, had to wait a little to be able to really give it attention - apologies to anyone who's been waiting on the box next and I hope you understand that, sometimes, life takes over from the soaping world.

Anyway, out of the three soaps, I picked my choice based on a) fragrance b) quirky looks and c) incredible ingredient list. The soap I choose is from Les Savons de Chauvirey based in France.  Sylvie Cecini is the soaper (waves Hi and Hello!) who started soaping in 2008 after visiting Canada to learn cold process soaping.

The soap has some fab ingredients including Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Hemp Oil, Olive Oil, Castor Oil and Sunflower Oil and is fragranced with May Chang or Litsea Cubeba.. a fab ingredient list you'll agree.  Now, there's something odd on the label and it says "Pommes de Terre Cuties" which means Baked Potato and I don't know if there's actually baked potato in there! You can see what I mean by quirky! Also , at the side of the label it says "Patate Câline" which means Cuddly Potato!!!

Now keep in mind the potato theme... the soaps comes in a little hessian bag which made me think of a potato sack and when I opened the bag, there is a soap that is oddly shaped, light pink and not unlike a potato so I'm thinking the whole theme is a potato in it's own potato sack! I'm still wondering if there is real potato in there!!!

So we took some pics of the box and the other soaps, along with the Cuddly Potato soap too:

The contents of the box as it arrived

  The three soaps together

 One of the other soaps

 Another of the soap box contents

 The Cuddly Potato soap wrapping

 The Cuddly Potato soap wrapping and ingredient list ... you can see the Pommes de Terra Cuites which means Baked Potato 

And the Cuddly Potato Soap!! 

Very quirky, funny soap with a fab ingredients list and an incredible scent of May Chang... this did make us laugh and I don't mean badly, it was just a funny soap that tickled our sense of humour.

Thanks to everyone involved in the soap swap, apologies again for the delay in sending out the box again but life does have a way of taking over.  The box, with my own soap in replacement of the Cuddly Potato, is being posted out on Tuesday of this week (as Monday is a Public Holiday).  I hope whoever decides to keep my soap is happy with it.  

If you'd like to check out Sylvie's site her website can be found at http://www.les-savons-de-chauvirey.fr/content/4-le-lavoir-de-chauvirey.

Versatile Blogger Award

I have been given a Versatile Blogger Award by Ger Holland who writes the blog, It's My Jovi Life - thanks so much Ger!!

The concept behind the Versatile Blogger Award is to follow a few rules and then pass it on to whatever blog you think deserves it. The rules are:

1 - Make a post and link it back to the person who gave you the award (and include their website address)
2 - Share 7 random things about yourself
3 - Award 7 recently discovered bloggers with this award and contact them to let them know they have won

Pretty simple really I guess! So I'm going to post on Ger's blog to say thank you so much and then list the 7 utterly random things about me that you may not know already.

1 - I probably have a touch of OCD - I have a few little rules to live by and have a few phobias too, nothing too crazy or weird but somethings just set my teeth on edge... like sticky things for instance or the feel of newspaper... ugh!!!!

2 - I met my husband online, on a forum based on a US newspaper - it was a very generic forum which talked about things as deep as the meaning of life and as silly as what colour will I wear today.

3 - I've almost died 5 times, each time from meningitis (you might remember I did a blog post a while back about recognising the signs of this disease). Thankfully I came through fine after each episode and have no lasting issues

4 - I have an "Honorary Daughter" called Titch - we met online a few years ago and became the best of friends... so much so that she now lives with my husband and I as she's starting a Post Grad Diploma in Dublin this September

5 - I prefer to drive an automatic car - I can drive a manual no problem but I just prefer an automatic ... especially fast ones!

6 - I have an enormous sweet tooth and I'm trying to reign it in at all times so half of my life is spent on a diet ... the other half is spent eating chocolate!!!

7 - I used to knit and design knitwear professionally for a time - sadly it was so costly that I couldn't live on it wholly plus it was the root cause of a very bad case of carpel tunnel syndrome thats now calmed down since I stopped.

Hmmmm were they very interesting? Not so sure!!

I would like to nominate the following blogs to receive the Versatile Blogger Award also:

http://brinybarsoap.blogspot.com/ I love Dennise's blog, she writes so well and has such passion
http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/ I love Amy's passion about soaping and the fact that she is so willing to share her ideas
http://www.lovinsoap.com/ I love Amanda's experiments and tutorials; she takes great pictures and I love her way of writing
http://jenorasoaps.blogspot.com/ Jennifer's journey into the soap business is fascinating and her blog is well worth checking out
http://scent-trail.blogspot.com/ Suzanne's blog is great and her growth in the soaping business is reflected in the blog
https://www.platypusdreams.com.au/blog/ I adore Sharon's soaps, they are simply stunning plus she uploads  some fabulous videos too
http://cocobongsoaps.blogspot.com/ Julia does the best reviews of soaps as well as making her own beautiful creations - this is one of my ALWAYS-read blogs ever!

Hmmm only 7 blogs to recommend? No fair, there are too many more to read!!! Oh well, it'll have to be 7 ... for now!!!

Thanks so much ladies for giving this soaper great inspiration and enjoyment and I hope you enjoy your Versatile Blogger Award! And if any of you are big Bon Jovi fans, make sure to check out Ger's blog at http://www.itsmyjovilife.blogspot.com/