the r3VOLution continues in minneapolis!

as my two sons and i prepare to fly to minneapolis tomorrow for ron paul's rally for the republic i feel a renewed sense of hope for this country. a peaceful rEVOLution is sweeping the land and i'm so very proud that my family and i will be a part of it! if you're not familiar with dr. paul's mission of hope or his unwavering stance on personal freedom and limited constitutional government, i ask you, what do you have to lose? you owe it to yourself to check it out. real change IS possible but first, american's need to wake up and realize that they are allowing their freedoms to be taken away by big money and big government. and there's no REAL difference between the republicans and the democrats! i seriously hope you'll give dr. paul's revolutionary message some thought... because "it might just be that freedom is popular!" - ron paul

this video sums it up rather nicely i think... the times they are a changin.

soaps du jour anyone?

our new anise fig and peppercorn soaps du jour are fresh off the drying racks, and i can't stop sniffing them! (in case you didn't know, soapmakers are often caught sniffing their own soaps, it kind of takes the pressure off a long day at the soap shop and lifts spirits when the workload is heavy). these 2 new soaps may not have quite the eye appeal that some of the others do, but their out of the ordinary scents make up for it. no problem.

with notes of sharp black pepper, freshly squeezed lime, garden basil and a hint of bay leaf, spicy peppercorn makes a hot statement. this is NOT your grandmother's fuddy duddy bar, so don't even bother if you're into ordinary.

sweet anise fig, another unique scent you won't find lying around just anywhere, is filled with juicy, ripe, freshly picked organic figs and a complex anise & sweet orange essential oil blend... the perfect marriage of sweet, fruity and spicy. (this one holds a place of honor in my old clawfoot tub right now)



you can check out all of my original soaps du jour here ... (but if you do try them, remember to come out of the bath before you get all wrinkled up!!!)

sweet tooth

there's a fabulous new natural sugar substitute on the market (it's actually been around forever) with zero calories, zero carbohydrates, zero chance of a spike in blood glucose levels, and zero aftertaste. it's stevia, aka stevia rebaudiana for all you latin freaks, whose leaves are up to 40 times more potent than sugar and who sports an impressive list of health benefits. though its approval as a food additive is still pending (but expected to pass), this latin american herb has long been sold as a dietary supplement in health food stores. it's far more healthful than sugar and all those toxic artificial sweeteners such as aspartame (nutrasweet), saccharin (sweet'n low), and sucralose (splenda). yuck.

ok, that's all well and good, but did you know that our very own tooth savior soap for teeth contains stevia? i suspect it's one of the ingredients that's made our tooth soap SO popular. if you haven't tried some you should definitely check it out. with premium herbs like wild white oak bark and organic aloe plus detoxifying french green clay, we're proud to say that our 100% safe & natural tooth soap really performs (and if our sales and re-orders of this phenomenal new product are any indication of that, we KNOW it does)!!!

just to avoid any confusion though, we do want to point out that our tooth savior soap for teeth is NOT sweet like all those sticky icky bad-for-your-teeth commercial toothpastes. it just leaves your mouth feeling fresh and uber clean. what's not to like about that?

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palm oil soap - who's responsible?

when it comes to unsustainable palm oil plantations (see my previous post) and the massive destruction they cause, i don't buy into the common argument that palm oil soap isn't a major problem, so we should be able to continue using palm oil in our formulas ... because soapmakers are obviously SOME of the problem, therefore they're part of the problem. no? nor do I agree with the futilistic attitude that everything causes destruction of something somewhere so we might as well just do what we want. this seems terribly indulgent & irresponsible to me. we have choices. we have brains.

of course no one can make ALL the right choices, that's impossible, but we can certainly all make SOME of the right choices. so pick a few that seem relelvant to your life and get to it. palm oil deforestation is just one of the many areas that adversely affect our world, but one that is particularly pertinent to soapmakers. don't you think?

the problem with palm oil

on wed. I got blasted with over 1600 emails sent out by rainforest action network supporters condemning our use of palm oil in our soap and actually threatening to sticker our products with warning labels in stores! EXCUUUUSE ME? we've been using sustainable certified organic palm oil from s. america grown on reclaimed land that was clear cut 30-40 years ago in our soap for several years now and before that, we were using NO palm oil in our formulas for that very reason! they were preachin to the choir and boy was I hot!

2 days later, after numerous emails, several blog posts, a couple of restless nights and one not so nice phone call, I was finally removed from that list. i shudder to think about the damage it's done to our business. hopefully, something good will still come of it. they're planning a new campaign to highlight businesses like ours that DO use sustainable palm oil. (and hey, I got a highly targeted email list that no amount of money could ever buy! hehehe)

so I made amends with the R.A.N. today (after all, we both want the same thing right, and they were wrong and they apologized) and as I lick my wounds...I encourage everyone to read and learn about the major devastation and destruction that conventional palm oil plantations are doing to the rainforest, the people that live there, to the orangutans, and ultimately to all of us. the problem with palm oil is real.

at risk plants

a wild soap bar is a member of united plant savers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and conservation of north american medicinal plants. in fact, we donate a portion of our profits every year to UpS because we believe that this earth is covered with useful medicinal plants for a reason. periodically united plant savers publishes two lists of medicinal plants that need help and attention. so if you see any of these plants growing in the wild, take care not to harm them. and if you can sow some of them in your own garden, all the better!

At Risk
American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)
Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa)
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
Echinacea (various Echinacea species)
Eyebright (various Euphrasia species)
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)
Helonias Root (Chamaelirium luteum)
Lady’s Slipper Orchid (various Cypripedium species)
Lomatium (Lomatium dissectum)
Osha (Ligusticum porteri and other Ligusticum species)
Peyote (Lophophora williamsii)
Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra)
Sundew (various Drosera species)
Trillium/Beth Root (various Trillium species)
True Unicorn (Aletris farinosa)
Venus’s Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula)
Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria)
Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa, other Dioscorea species)

To Watch
Arnica (various Arnica species)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Cascara Sagrada (Rhamus purshimia)
Chaparro (Casatela emoryi)
Elephant Tree (Bursera microphylla)
Gentian (various Gentiana species)
Goldthread (various Coptis species)
Kava Kava (Piper methysticum) (in Hawaii only)
Lobelia (various Lobelia species)
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pendatum)
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
Oregon Grape (various Mahonia species)
Partridge Berry (Mitchella repens)
Pink Root (Spigelia marilaandica)
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata)
Spikenard (Aralia racemosa and A. californica)
Stone Root (Collinsonia canadensis)
Stream Orchid (Epipactis gigantea)
Turkey Corn (Dicentra canadensis)
White Sage (Salvia apiana)
Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)
Yerba Mansa (Anamopsis californica)

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