Moving

We are finally Moving!!!
After many delays it's a go. The shop will be closed Saturday November 1st till Sunday November 9th. We will reopen Monday November 10th.
This Saturday we will be at the Pecan Festival here in Florence.

Getting things done

Always a million and one things to get done. I recently bought a new cell. My old one was 3 years old, very good basic phone. I thought it would be cool to take pictures....what a bag of snakes that opened up. All said and done, cost, special offers and all, I got a Blackberry Curve. Wow! Wow! Wow! This thing does it all. Calendar, emails, music, GPS maps, pictures, full Internet, IM, the list goes on. The best is time management. I got an application from RexWireless called "ToDoMatrix". You put all the things you need to get done in folders, it notifies you when you want. If you loose your phone its all backed-up online. No worries. No more - I forgot to call...., I forgot to get the milk, Why do I need to be at the store early? If you need to manage life better, it is something to look at. I have tried different things, but this seems to work for me. It will help save a couple of trees because of all the paper notes I have been using.

She Saturday Show, September 20, 2008

Was at that The "She Saturday" Show, Florence Civic Center this past Saturday. It was a large show. They have a health fair, were you can get many medical checks done free, and lots of shopping. Was about 130 venders this year. We set up a small booth this time. Took only soaps, herbs and a few sundries. One of the wildest booths was a Taser Booth. Buy your own stylish,

color coordinated, easy to hold personal taser. Made for a woman's hands. Was a little creepy hearing that clicky-buzzy sound every so often across the way. I kept waiting for the screams. Over 5000 people came out for the event.

This was the first public showing of a new brand at Harvest Moon Soapworks, Carolina Moon Soap. This is made by Patricia. She is in the shop Fridays and Saturdays. Its an all natural melt & pour soap base. All good, no nasty chemicals. Very rich lather, non drying to the skin. They will be offered on the web site soon. She will be offering seasonal shapes and fragrances.

When good soap goes bad - Update

After the last Vanilla Soap, I got some ideas. I liked the white topping. So I kept that and cut some of the last batch into chunks and dropped them on after it set-up for a little. They will get darker. Vanilla Soap is a light color when fresh but darkens during curing. You can see how the edges are already darker than the center. That looks wild. I like vanilla, it is a warm and relaxing scent. It's a strange one in the store. I'll sell a bunch over a week, then it will set there in it's bin for a couple weeks. Then it starts out the door again. Beside it are some logs of Cucumber Melon made the same day. The Cucumber Melon has some Oatmeal Soap slivers in it that adds a nice texture. A little scrubby on the skin, but not abrasive.
Everything comes around in the end. ;)

Time to be heard!!

If you make cosmetics or you buy cosmetic from a small business you should speak out. Cosmetics by the FDA are lotions, creams, anything basically used on your skin that are not drugs. This gets very complicated in the definitions. But the basics are....If you use something on your skin. With the new bill that is in the works, it will hurt everyone. Almost all the small business owners that make cosmetics will be put out of business. Its all the people you see at markets selling lotions and bath products and talking about how good theirs are for your skin. and local business that make things in there homes for you an your family. The wonderful products you buy at your local Health Food store that are good for your skin care. The only businesses that will survive this are the ones that are regular commercial set-ups. That is after very costly changes and fees to there business. Because of this, it would probably stop our production of cosmetic products. Even though they are VERY SAFE, some are all natural and are manufactured under "Good Manufacturing Practices" There are many groups helping to fight this. Below are links to information. This link is a survey for your voice to be heard. It is from Debbie May.

Globalization Act 2008
http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie_business/2008/06/stop-the-fda-gl.html
http://www.essentialu.typepad.com/
http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.blogspot.com/

The Fascinating World of Resin and Recycle Codes on Plastic Containers

I found this bit of information really good. She breaks down the recycle codes on bottles. We use #1 PET bottles and jars here at Harvest Moon.
Plastic info

When good soap goes bad

This slab look unique, a dark vanilla with a white icing? But something was not quite right. It just didn't look "right".

It had set there for a day in its mold, warm and insulated. Nice and safe. After taking it out....looked, well OK. But did not "feel" just right. So I cut 'em into logs. That's when I found out... It all started with making some Vanilla soap. Vanilla is a wee bit tricky. It sets up quick. Gets thick fast. Not time to doddle. Mix it to trace and get it in the mold. Well at the very end I decided to get creative. HHmmm maybe I will add a swirl. So I poured out some soap, added some white...mixed it well... then poured my vanilla in the mold. (which I did not mix well enough) Started to add the white and was not happy with the color. So I add some more... eating up valuable time... poured the white on and tried to swirl. Well the vanilla had changed to a concrete paste. I tried to fight it. Well you CAN NOT fight soap. It will do as it will. Just like a cat. Now I have this ....vanilla leaking, cratered up soap. Not an attractive site. But it looks pretty cool.