Busy with Christmas hampers!

It's been a busy few weeks at the Soapworks, as we get back into the swing of things.  At this time of year, it's all about making products for hampers since so many people love giving natural soaps and bathing items as fragrant Christmas gifts.  Our Stourbridge shop now has a lovely range of gift hampers ready to take away, and we're also busy working through the Christmas orders too.  As you can see, the Fizzing Butter Melts are coming along quite nicely!

We're also busy making loads of bath bombs too, since we know how many people love their Bath Crackers!  As usual these are available in 3 lovely fragrances:  Christmas Rose, Relax and De-Stress and  contain a standard bath bomb, a petal bath bomb, and an organic cocoa butter bath bomb.   They're a lovely small gift, and are great if you're having difficulty finding a suitable Secret Santa gift!    Again these are now available on-line and in our shop, and we'll be taking loads to the Festive Gift Fair (at the NEC) later this month...and possibly the Frost Fair at Attingham Park if we still have any left.

These types of bathing products are always at their best when they're really fresh.  So this is why we tend to leave the manufacture until quite close to Christmas - we think that newer bath bombs are really fizzy bath bombs!  So we hope that customers enjoy using them...and if our workshop is anything to go by, then bathrooms up and down the land are going to smell just lovely! 

Sad news

Due to a recent family bereavement, we'll be operating reduced opening hours this week in our Stourbridge shop.  We'll update our opening hours in the coming days, and apologise for any inconvenience.

Website orders may be slightly delayed but they will be processed as soon as possible, and we thank customers for their patience.

UPDATE 14th October 2013
During this coming week, our shop will be open most days apart from Friday when we'll be attending the funeral of Paul's Dad who sadly passed away last week.  Thank you again to everyone who's taken the time to contact us and express their condolences.  Your kind words and concern during this difficult time has been much appreciated.

Christmas is coming....

We released our Stourbridge Christmas Catalogue last week, so thanks to everyone who's popped in to the workshop to pick up a copy.   We have loads more for collection, and judging by the reaction to our new hampers it feels like we're going to be a little bit busy this year!!   Stourbridge customers can enjoy an extra 5% off workshop orders placed before 30th September .... so remember to get your order in quick!

Here's a sneaky peek at some of the 2013 hampers and gift ideas:

The Selection Box is back again for 2013, and this year it contains one of our new cute organic cracker goats milk soaps (in Christmas Spice), a hand decorated organic Frankincense and  Myrrh goats milk soap (these are taking ages to decorate, since the holly decoration is actually made from soap  - all moulded hand and then hand painted with shimmery cosmetic micas so it looks really pretty), a 10ml Christmas Spice essential oil blend (affectionately known as 'Christmas in a Bottle', since it is so perfect for creating that Christmassy smell in the home) and a Rosebud Fizzing Butter melt - for the long relaxing bath after all the cooking and preparations are done! 

We also have a new hessian gift bag, containing a bottle of our ever popular luxury bathing salts with a 100g goats milk soap and a bath scrunchie - this makes a lovely smaller gift for anyone who loves bathing and the little bag is quite handy to use afterwards too!

We've also introduced some lovely new recycled cardboard tube packaging to our range.  We love these since they're made from recycled materials so are very environmentally friendly, but look really elegant once we've added our trademark ribbons and pretty decorations!    They're going to be available in a few sizes, with hamper contents including our soaps and Natroma facial starter kits.

This year's organic Natroma Christmas goats milk soaps are:  Christmas Spice and Frankincense & Myrrh (we'd have a riot if these weren't available!) and the special edition is Christmas Rose.  This contains a lovely blend of rosy scented essential oils with the addition of musky frankincense - lovely!

These hampers, and many more will be appearing on the Natroma and Natural Soapworks websites very soon.

Soap making classes will return in 2014!

We haven't run any soap making or natural cosmetics making classes since 2010, but we've continued to receive lots of enquiries.  So the wait is finally over - we've decided to run a small number of courses during the early part of 2014! 

The 2014 classes are currently being uploaded to The Natural Soapworks website. Places will be very limited, since we only allow a maximum of 8 people on our courses - so it's first come, first served on bookings! We think that smaller class sizes are better for participants since it allows more one-to-one tuition and gives participants the chance to ask more questions.  The courses are always lots of fun and are offer a mixture of tuition and practical sessions during the day.  Course participants will need to walk up about 20 steps to reach the classroom area, which is upstairs in our workshop. All equipment, protective clothing, tuition and materials are included as part of the course fee, and participants will keep the items that are made during the practical sessions. 

Soap Making Courses
This is a  comprehensive one day course for anyone who wants to safely make cold-process soap as a hobby. It includes: selecting the right soap making equipment and ingredients, the chemistry of soap making, understanding SAP values and lye calculations, safety issues and equipment, using natural colourants and fragrances with an introduction to essential oil blending. The course is led by our Clinical Aromatherapist who has over 10 years expertise in natural soap making, and it's always a fun day which balances theory with practical work. By the end of the day, you will have created your first batch of cold process soap (8 bars) which we'll cure, cut and post out to you once it's ready. You'll receive a soap making booklet on the day of your course and a personalised letter when your soap is posted to you offering feedback on your soap with suggestions for the future.  Due to the nature of cold process soap making, this course is not suitable for anyone who is under 16 years old.

Bath Bomb Making Courses
Spend a half day with us, learning how to make great bath bombs.  The course includes sessions on: selecting the correct ingredients and equipment, safety issues, successful mixing and moulding, using botanicals, colourants and fragrances with an introduction to essential oil blending.   The course is led by our company’s bath bomb expert, and is a fun and informative class which balances theory with lots of practical work.  By the end of the morning you will have created your first bath bombs which you’ll be able to take home with you.  (We find that class attendees make lots of bath bombs during the practical session!)  You'll receive a bath bomb making information booklet on the day of your course. Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a fee paying adult. 

Introduction to Aromatherapy Courses
Spend a half day with our Clinical Aromatherapist, learning about the safe use of essential oils around the home or for well-being.  Includes sessions on: essential oil safety and storage, usage and profiles of 10 of the most common essential oils, practical tips and ideas for using essential oils with an introduction to essential oil blending. The course is a fun starter course in aromatherapy, and balances some theory with practical sessions.  By the end of the morning, you will have created your first 10ml essential oil blend which you’ll be able to use around the home or for well-being.  You’ll also receive a starter kit of 6 aromatherapy grade essential oils worth over £25* (these are supplied in 10ml bottles, and we’ll help you select the right ones for you on the day), a blending bottle and some fragrance blending strips. Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a fee paying adult.  *Please note that we carry a large variety of aromatherapy grade essential oils, but some are very expensive so there will be an additional charge if these oils are used.  

Course participants will have the chance to purchase soap and bath bomb making materials and ingredients, and essential oils on the day of their course.  We’re also pleased to be able to offer a 10% discount off natural soaps and skincare products purchased from our shop on the day of the course. 

We'd stress that these courses are intended for anyone who wants to have a fun day learning more about soap making, cosmetics or aromatherapy as a hobby. They aren't suitable for anyone who intends to sell cosmetic products. If this is the sort of training that you need, you'll find that there are a number of other courses advertised on the internet that provide the legislative training that is required.

Dudley Mayor and Mayoress visit The Natural Soapworks

Yesterday we were delighted to welcome the Mayor and Mayoress of Dudley to The Natural Soapworks!

 

We're supporting the new Recycle for Dudley scheme so they called in to see us, and we explained how we make our luxury soaps and natural skincare products.  As you can see from the picture, the Mayor seemed pretty impressed by the rich, creamy lather of our soaps!

 

We'd like to thank them both for spending time with us on a lovely visit, and hope that Dudley Council residents sign up to the new recycling scheme.

Feeling hot, hot, hot...

Visitors to the workshop this week, will have noticed that we're struggling with the heat.  Unfortunately our workshop has such a large expanse of roof, that it absorbs lots of heat from the sun during hot weather making the workshop feel very warm.  So we've spent the last few days moving our products and ingredients into cool places, and we'll be operating reduced shop opening hours during the next few days.

But even though our shop will be temporarily closed, it's business as normal!   (Behind the scenes, we're busy working on our Christmas gift range which will be launched during August). Customers can still contact us by e-mail and website orders will be processed as normal.  Stourbridge shop customers can contact us by e-mail or phone, and we'll make special arrangements for collections of products and orders.  Fingers crossed we'll be open again very soon, and in the meantime we're sorry for any inconvenience.

Enjoy the sunshine everyone, and see you soon!

UPDATE:  Thanks to everyone who popped in to see us last week, and tolerated the heat in the workshop!  The weather is still causing problems, so we'll be opening our shop (whilst processing website orders), at various times but these opening hours may be subject to change at short notice.  Thanks again to everyone for their support, and understanding and we hope that things will return to normal again soon.

We're supporting recycling in Dudley!

We're very pleased to announce that we're supporting Dudley Council's improved recycling scheme.  There's a new website, which contains lots of information on the new recycling service, collection details and other ways to reduce waste.  This will enable Dudley borough residents to recycle even more materials, including plastic bottles and cardboard.  Dudley borough residents who sign up to the scheme can also access an incentives page on the website, where local businesses like our own are offering discounts and special offers as a thank you to those families that "do their bit" for the environment. 

We've always been passionate about environmental issues, and take great care when selecting packaging materials for our products since we dislike unnecessary and wasteful packaging.

• Our hamper boxes are either made from recycled materials, or are made from card that can recycled or composted.  (Although we know that many of our hamper boxes are re-used again or kept as keepsake boxes!)
• The packaging for our goats milk soaps is deliberately simple.  There's no need for a wasteful box, so we just use a paper wrapper and bio-degradable cellophane hygiene cover (this special eco-film will completely disintegrate in 1-2 years).
• Our bathing products are packaged in cellulose bags - this allows them to be composted.
• We always try to use PET and recyclable plastic containers for liquid products, with a preference for supplying products in either glass or aluminium wherever possible.
• We only use paper tissue in our hamper boxes, and paper carrier bags in our Stourbridge shop.
• We re-use any packaging or cardboard boxes received from our suppliers, and only purchase bio-degradable loose fill packaging and bubble wrap. 
• We encourage the use of re-usable items such as our washable muslin cloths, bathing mitts and scrunchies and offer a range of re-usable shopping bags in our shop.  Even our fragrant decorations will last indefinitely if they're periodically topped up with essential oils!  (More natural and far better for the environment than spray or plug in air fresheners).  
• We actively encourage the idea of customers re-using their glass packaging (discounts are available), by offering a refill service for certain items on our Natroma website.  Stourbridge shop customers can obtain refills on many items including hydrolats, facial oil serums, botanical oils, essential oils, balms, and crystal deodorants.  

All of these actions often mean that we have to pay more for our packaging but we think it's the right thing to do, since it supports the environment and minimises waste.   We're really pleased that Dudley Council has been able to widen the scope of the items that can be placed in the black recycling bins, and hope this improved recycling scheme has a significant impact on reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.