Soaperstar - Made in Ireland Feature in No. 1 Magazine!

The weather is blowing a gale outside, the rain is lashing against the windows, it's pitch black and yet I'm smiling! Why? Because an envelope dropped through the door this morning with a copy of the November issue of No. 1 magazine who featured Soaperstar's fabulous new Sheer Luxury Lip Butters in their Made in Ireland article. 

It's great to have a mention in nationwide press and have our products listed as one of their "Must Have's".  No. 1 magazine is published in Cork and is billed as Ireland's No. 1 health and beauty magazine. 

If you'd like to purchase our Sheer Luxury Lip Butters or any of our products, please check out our online store at http://www.soaperstar.com/ - fabulous new Christmas Gift Bags on sale now!

Christmas Gift Bags from Soaperstar

Well, it's exactly 7 weeks to Christmas today! Eeeeekkkkkk.. I hear you scream! Yep, 7 weeks.  Not long at all... but we've put some small gift bags on our site today to help you sort out some of the present buying woes and, the best thing is, you can buy from the comfort of your own armchair!

If you have friends or family living anywhere in the EU, we're more than happy to send their gift directly to them - we can even include a small Christmas gift card with the present (you just need to email me with what you'd like me to write on the card).  Just order via the website, use your friends/family address as the delivery addresss and drop me an email to say it should be sent as a gift and the message you want to send and let me take care of the rest. 

Also, these are the perfect size for gifts for your kids teachers, for stocking fillers, for your work collegues, your girlfriends, your Mum in Law, your Dad or brother.... for everyone in fact!  A perfect size, two luxury goatsmilk & glycerine soaps made in Ireland, at only €10 per gift bag (excluding P+P).

We've put together a great selection (over 10 different combinations to choose from) so you're sure to find one (or more) that suits.  What a great gift - handcrafted luxury goatsmil & glycerine soaps, made in Ireland, all for only €10!

The gift bags you can buy are:

Think Pink Gift Bag

contains one My Sweet Love and one Velvet Heart

My Sweet Love - with added Golden Jojoba Oil, this fragrance is a fresh, floral bouquet with fruity accents reminiscent of sweet raspberries based on a warm wood-musk foundation; coloured with stunning raspberry pink and white swirls - a sheer fruity floral beauty

Velvet Heart - with added Apricot Kernel Oil; this fragrance is a beautifully soft, romantic blend of Red Roses, Sweet Violets and soft White Musk; coloured using natural micas to create the softest, most romantic glistening pinks which play beautifully against the pure white of the goatsmilk soap

Only 6 in stock

Fleur Frais Gift Bag

contains one Lazy Summer Sunday and one Aqua Haven

Lazy Summer Sunday - with added Organic Unrefined Nilotica Shea Butter; this fragrance has a heart of jasmine, orange blossom, lilac & rose, supported by a woody base of cedarwood, patchouli, vanilla & musk; coloured with deep tones of blue and purple natural mica

Aqua Haven - with added Golden Jojoba Oil; this fragrance is a heady mix of marine scents with a soft woody, citrus & sea salt; coloured using a mix of blues, greens, aqua turquoise and white with a sizzle of shimmering mica to represent the crash of sea spray from salt water waves

Only 3 in stock

Symphonie de Jardin Gift Bag

contains one Lavender Champagne and one Rain Shower

Lavender Champagne - with added Apricot Kernel Oil, this fragrance is a blend of uplifting citrusy lemon against a background of calming, soothing French Lavender; subtly coloured to reflect the citrus lavender with a touch of glistening natural mica

Rain Shower - with added Avocado Butter, this fragrance is a fresh aquatic blend of lily of the valley, gardenia, raindrops, mist & clean green countryside; coloured with a blend of soft turquoise with cool green and pure creamy white and a hint of glisten through the use of natural mica

Only 6 in stock

Island Cocktail Gift Bag

contains one Pineapple Beach and one Mango Island

Pineapple Beach - added pure Organic Coconut Oil, this is fragranced with a delicious, fresh, sweet & juicy pineapple scent; coloured using a blend of two different natural glistening micas

Mango Island - with added Mango Butter and fragranced with the sweet exotic tropical fragrance of Mango; coloured with tones of yellow & orange with white goatsmilk swirls and a luxury glisten from the natural mica

Only 6 in stock

Glitterti Gift Bag

contains one Orange Blush and one Good as Gold

Orange Blush - added Apricot Kernel Oil, fragranced with a fresh cologne, blending perfumed bergamot and sweet orange blossom with delicate cottony florals on a base of precious powdery musks; coloured using stunning bronzed swirls created using a blend of orangey bronze coloured natural mica alongside bright orange and white goatsmilk swirls

Good as Gold - with added Golden Jojoba Oil, this is a sweet, floral, nectarine and juicy mandarin complimented by peach and plum on a creamy vanilla base; coloured using a stunning golden natural mica alongside orange and white goatsmilk swirls

Only 4 in stock

Spots & Dots Gift Bag

contains one Oriental Crush and one Hawaiian Blossom

Oriental Crush - with added pure Coconut Oil, fragranced with a blend of zesty lime & mandarin, leading to a base of basil with warm accords of precious woods & amber; coloured with glistening brightly coloured spots of glycerine soap in shades of lime green and mandarin

Hawaiian Blossom - with added Mango Butter, fragranced with the sweet exotic tropical scent of frangipani, a native Hawaiian flower; coloured with tones of yellow glycerine and white goatsmilk soaps, with added natural mica to give a glittery sheen

Only 5 in stock

Blue Moon Gift Bag

Specially designed for the man in your life and contains one Midas Touch and one Mister Blue Genes

Midas Touch - with added Apricot Kernel Oil, fragranced with a lush green woody citrus blend of sandalwood, cedarwood and tobacco leaf and deeply coloured with black and two different types of golden natural mica to give it a gold rush feel

Mister Blue Genes - with added Golden Jojoba Oil, fragranced with a stunning blend of apple and mandarin, within a heart of exotic jasmine and violet, ending on a deep musk base - the fragrance is has fresh notes from the fruit, a mild floral heart followed within a deep musky base; coloured with the deepest blue mica to create lustrous blue swirls mingling with black and white swirls

Only 3 in stock

Gentleman's Club Gift Bag

An alternative gift bag for the man in your life & contains one Indian Rainforest and one Mister Blue Genes

Indian Rainforest - with added Apricot Kernel Oil, deeply fragranced with a wonderful blend of cedarwood, giving a warm woody masculine base, alongside the deep earthy scent of patchouli, a fragrance element used in many commercial aftershaves for men; coloured using two different natural micas, a deep forest green and a lighter green gold, alongside the white goatsmilk - giving an impression of dark deep Indian Rainforest

Mister Blue Genes - with added Golden Jojoba Oil, fragranced with a stunning blend of apple and mandarin, within a heart of exotic jasmine and violet, ending on a deep musk base – the fragrance has fresh notes from the fruit, a mild floral heart followed within a deep musky base; coloured with the deepest blue mica to create lustrous blue swirls mingling with black and white swirls

Only 4 in stock

Champagne Cocktail Gift Bag

contains one Lavender Champagne and one Hawaiian Blossom

Lavender Champagne - with added Apricot Kernel Oil, this fragrance is a blend of uplifting citrusy lemon against a background of calming, soothing French Lavender; subtly coloured to reflect the citrus lavender with a touch of glistening natural mica

Hawaiian Blossom - with added Mango Butter, fragranced with the sweet exotic tropical scent of frangipani, a native Hawaiian flower; coloured with tones of yellow glycerine and white goatsmilk soaps, with added natural mica to give a glittery sheen

Only 1 in stock

Blushing Blossom Gift Bag

contains one Orange Blush and one Hawaiian Blossom

Orange Blush - with added Apricot Kernel Oil, fragranced with a fresh cologne, blending perfumed bergamot and sweet orange blossom with delicate cottony florals on a base of precious powdery musks; coloured using stunning bronzed swirls created using a blend of orangey bronze coloured natural mica alongside bright orange and white goatsmilk swirls

Hawaiian Blossom - with added Mango Butter, fragranced with the sweet exotic tropical scent of frangipani, a native Hawaiian flower; coloured with tones of yellow glycerine and white goatsmilk soaps, with added natural mica to give a glittery sheen

Only 1 in stock

All of these soap duos are presented in a purple glossy paper gift bag and purple quality tissue paper and are only €10 each (excluding P+P) - a total bargain!!!

Check them out at our online store and, once these are gone, they're gone because we need to make way for new designs/fragrances and stock in 2011. 

Keep an eye out for two larger gift bags coming soon - Festive Orange Spice & Christmas Glisten with luxury soaps and matching Sheer Luxury Body Butters and our new Sheer Luxury Body Polish which hasn't even been released yet! Plus we're going to be giving you a special offer on our Sheer Luxury Lip Butters in free gift bags too!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Happy Pressie Shopping!

Selena just loves Soaperstar!

You may remember a couple of weeks back, I ran our first Soaperstar competition to win a Soaperstar tshirt and soap of your choice.

Anita Karir won the competition because by telling everyone, if she had the choice of any of the Soaperstar soaps, which one would she choose.... she said "Colour Bomb as I love rainbows, can teach my baby daughter colours using it, and it is so bright and cheerful and will put a smile on my face brightening up my dull life". 

Well, at Soaperstar, you know we're all about colour and fun and can't stand the thought of anyone having a dull life! So, the tshirt and soap were duly packaged and sent off with the mail fairies. 

And today, on a day when I was more than a little stressed out anyway, some of the cutest pictures in the world dropped into my mailbox totally making me grin from ear to ear!

Anita had taken some of the most adorable photos of her little girl Selena (just gone 1) posing with the tshirt and soap... have a look see and tell me they don't just melt your heart!!

Hmmm... Mum, this doesn't taste as good as it looks

Hello, Hello??!! There's no-one on the soaphone!

Ok, so you MUST buy this fabulous soap dahlin' !

Aren't they simply adorable??! Thank you SO much Anita for sending these on to me - they really put a smile on my face today!

Remember, if you want to get your grubby mitts on some of our fabulously luxury handcrafted goatsmilk & glycerine soaps, then hop, skip and jump along to http://www.soaperstar.com/ and buy, buy, buy!!! Limited stock on some items, so order soon. 

Creation|Collaboration 3rd Women Wednesday Blog Hop!

Welcome to Creation|Collaboration's 3rd Women Wednesday blog hop, hosted by Beads & More by Lois, Soaperstar and Plans and Presents

Creation|Collaboration was set up by eight women, all existing friends, who run small businesses from their homes. We have started Women Wednesday blog roll to link up with other women in business, spread the word about Creation|Collaboration and basically just have fun visiting all of your interesting blogs!

We are also in discussions with regard to listing features companies (on a regular basis) as part of our promotional campaign so by joining in with the blog roll we can get to know you and your business and maybe you could be one of our first features.

Heres how you can join in with Collaboration Women Wednesday:

• Link up your blog name and URL to your Women Wednesday blog post using the McKLinky below (you only need to add on one blog to be seen on all of the McKLinky blog roll's) Please note that it's for blogs only and not links to your websites or shops.
• Follow our Creation|Collaboration blog and the hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.
• Grab our Women Wednesday button and feature it on your blog or Women Wednesday blog post.
• Follow and comment saying you're from Women Wednesday on as many blogs as you likes listed in the McKlinky box.
• Follow back any new followers from Women Wednesday!

It's that easy and a fun way to discover new and interesting blogs and us women at Creation|Collaboration get to meet other women in business!

A little something for myself

Well, I'm in the envious position of having a pretty much fully stocked store (if you want to change that situation, check us out at Soaperstar's Online Store and buy tons so I have to make more!!), I decided to make a few things for myself!!

Pretty much everyone who makes soaps and creams and all the yummy bath and body type things you can get, doesn't often get time to treat themselves and make something for just them! But I decided I needed a treat, and here they are:

All the soaps are cocoa butter based (very gentle on your skin) with our normal skin hydrating element plus added Sweet Almond Oil (can't help but make it pure luxury you know!) - the yellow ones on the right are a blend of Grapefruit & Lemongrass, the green ones are Peppermint & Spearmint and the orange ones on the left are Sweet Orange & Mandarin (the little two coloured one is a little bit of left over orange and grapefruit together).  All are scented using pure essential oils and coloured using natural micas (the green one, you'll notice, I could have mixed that in a bit better! D'oh!).

In the middle is a total experiment - handmade shampoo!!! With great hair loving goodies like Oat Protein and Panthenol (the pro Vitamin B you get in some big brand shampoo's).  I've never made a 'poo before so it was an utter experiment but it's a lovely pure white colour and a great texture (thickens up naturally overnight to a cream texture - which is good cos it sort of looked like frog spawn and pond water when I started!).  This is scented with Rosemary & Lavender essential oils - perfect for hair.

So, a few little pressies for me ... I really enjoyed making them and I hope you enjoyed having a peek at what we have in our bathroom!

If you need a gift for someone special or even yourself (and who isn't special enough to buy a gift for themselves!) check out our handcrafted luxury goatsmilk & glycerine soaps - and afterwards you can slather yourself in our Sheer Luxury Body Butter too! We're getting rave reviews back on these! Check out http://www.soaperstar.com/ for details - oh and we've got a new May special offer happening too!!!

Competition Winner!

We recently ran our first Soaperstar competion to win a fab t-shirt and a soap of the winner's choice.  We got lots of replies and I had to rope the hubby in to help me judge ... and the winner is.... Anita Karir. 

People were asked to have a look at our Soaperstar website, check which one of our handcrafted luxury goatsmilk & glycerine soaps they would like to win and why. 

Anita wrote "Colour Bomb as I love rainbows, can teach my baby daughter colours using it, and it is so bright and cheerful and will put a smile on my face brightening up my dull life" - I'm sure your life is far from boring Anita, with a little Selena to take care of!

Anita wins our Soaperstar t-shirt and a Colour Bomb luxury glycerine soap.  Congrats Anita, hope you love them!  

Can I be really cheeky and ask for a pic of you in the t-shirt?!!