Seasons Greetings from A Wild Soap Bar!

The stockings were hung on the bookshelf with care...

in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

 

From our home

 to y'alls...

With much love & gratitude, 

The Hanus Family Elves

Maggie & Mike

Jory & Jackie

Cael, Tina, Aubrey, & Caden

 

Merry Christmas!

I Bid You Farewell & "Hope" We Meet Again

I really enjoyed the past 13 months I spent at Hope Farmers Market (every other Sunday) and it's with a touch of sadness that I have to leave now.  There's just not enough days in the week.  I hope I can hook back up with you someday!  Our farmers market soaps were a big hit. Farewell my friend ...for now.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Scenes from Wild Ideas: My Favorite Charity Gig!

I broke away from the Wild Ideas Shopping Event this past weekend to snap a few shots of the beautiful Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.   Every time I visit this world renowned research facility I see something exciting and new.  This is the entrance, complete with enchanted lily pond.  A nearby sign instructs visitors to throw their coins into the cash register in the gift shop, not into the pond.

At the center of the cobblestone courtyard lies a small, crystal clear spring fed pool.  Be careful, it's much deeper than it looks!  Even though I don't really like water much, I always feel compelled to dive in....of course this is NOT allowed (and trust me, you don't want to see me in a bathing suit anyway)!

 Look to the right and you'll see the rustic Visitors Gallery.  This is where we were housed for the holiday event.  One entire wall is floor to ceiling glass.  Nothing like being in a room with a view!  I saw hundreds of luminarias scattered throughout the grounds in preparation for their upcoming Luminations celebration. Can you imagine all those twinkling lights at night amidst the gorgeous native landscape?

Here's a couple of shots of the interior of the  main gallery and the artisan's wares.  I wish I had taken more close ups, but I was trying to capture the grandeur of the room.  It always inspires me.

Of course this is me, manning my booth...and feeling a little embarassed that I didn't hide those unsightly electrical cords.  One of them belonged to my artistic friend David Busch who was next to me, so I'll blame it on him.  OK?  (he's awesome)  I'm lucky enough to own one of his original watercolors too.

On the other side of me was Flat Flower, a mother and son team with major talent!  I splurged and bought one of their original botanical creations last year (similar to the one in the middle).  It graces the wall over my couch.  The detail in their artwork is simply astounding.  I absolutely LOVE it!  Pardon the glare here. My iPhone photo just doesn't do these justice. 

If you go downstairs to the bathroom and peer out the windows along the way, you'll notice that you're underground.  Whoa.  That's pretty cool.  There's all sorts of artwork scattered about down there too, like this lovely handcrafted mesquite wood bench.  I wonder if Lady Bird ever sat in it with Lyndon?

Getting back out into the light of day, I wandered through the demonstration gardens out back where I found this funky eight foot bottle tree...part of the traveling Texas Folklife Yard Show.  Someday I'm going to put one on our property, I just know it.  Someday.

 The crowning jewel was this colossal Cathedral of Junk type sculpture by Austin yardist Vince Hanneman.  I honestly thought I spotted a few relics from my husband's own junk pile in there....but nah, couldn't be....this was ART.  Right?  Ya gotta love it! 
Only in Austin.

 KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD... and WILD!

To Market To Market

To buy a fat pig?  Or maybe a fat bar of soap?  The farmer's market season is mostly over for us (as far as selling goes anyway, we have only one gig left), but we still have some of our exclusive truly natural farms2market soaps left and they're available for purchase online just in time for gift giving.  Each of these specialty soaps contains some type of locally grown organic produce.  Like tomatoes, basil, and cucumbers from our own organic garden.  Or fresh mint from Johnson's Backyard Garden (nice folks....one of my favorite farms!).

Before now, these hand-stamped soaps were only sold at our local markets and they were a huge hit by the way.  So don't wait too long to get yours, because we expect them to go to seed pretty quickly.

Don't get me wrong now.  I'll continue to buy from local farmers when I can...because in central Texas they grow tasty stuff pretty much year round...but it's usually just too dad-gum cold during the winter (even here) for me to stand out there and sell soap!

I prefer the cozy comfort of the virtual world.  Know what I mean?

Have You Seen A Castor Bean?

Actually, these are the fruits before the castor beans pop out, but I ask you...what could be finer?  These hardy plants have consistently performed in our landscape and this year is no exception. Beyond the landscape though, castor oil (from the beans) is an important ingredient in all of our premium natural bar soaps.  It conditions the skin, improves the lather and gives our soaps a creamy, luxurious feel.

Castor oil has also been used since pioneer days as a strong laxative, but you probably don't want to be reminded of that little fact.  Now do you?

The beautiful and useful castor plant has a deadly secret too.  Ricin, extracted from the seeds of the castor bean plant Ricinus communis, is one of the most feared substances on earth.  A tiny amount is enough to kill an adult, as witnessed in the bizarre "umbrella murder" carried out during the Cold War and feared during the mysterious ricin mail threat in the Senate back in 2004..  Ricin is classified as a biological weapon, and the castor plant even made it into Amy Stewart's dangerous new book titled Wicked Plants: The A-Z of Plants That Kill, Maim, Intoxicate and Otherwise Offend.  Oh boy.  Can't wait to get my hands on that one!

But in spite of all it's deadliness and doom, castor oil USP (the wonderful stuff we use in our soaps) is perfectly safe because the offending ricin has been totally removed.  Aren't you glad?  whew....

Everything's Coming Up Wildflowers

 

 Wildflower Soap reborn.

This new technique makes better use of our soap shavings. 

 Waste not want not.  What do you think?

When Only Premium Will Do

Sifting through the dizzying array of supposedly "natural" body care products on the shelf can be quite a chore these days.  The term "natural" is completely unregulated and many unscrupulous body care companies are taking full advantage of that.  But Whole Foods Market set out to change this back in 2008.  All of our natural soaps and natural body balms qualified for their Premium Body Care Standards at that time, and they still do.  We're pretty proud of that.  

Whole Foods Market Premium Body Care products are the most exceptional personal care products available because they meet the strictest standards for quality, environmental impact, efficacy, and safety.  Our premium natural native plant soaps are on sale for only $4.99 at all Whole Foods Markets in Texas now through Nov. 16 and our premium natural body balms are on sale online right now too.  They both make terrific stocking stuffers so load up for the holidays and save a bundle!  

And the next time you're wondering which truly natural soaps and body balms to use, choose A Wild Soap Bar with complete confidence ....when only premium will do.

Fountain of Youth or Just Another F Word?

          Magnified Plant Stem in 3D

According to Dermascope, plant stem cell technology is the most exciting and important breakthrough in topical skin care for decades.  Every plant possesses the natural ability to protect itself and to enhance its own life cycle.  By extracting certain cells from plants who excel at this and then cultivating them in the lab, scientists can deliver these protective ingredients with 1000 times more potency than those found in the original molecules.  Of course the implications for the multi-billion dollar anti-aging cosmeceutical industry are HUGE!

Because these fortified ingredients are cultured in the lab from only a minute sample of cells, this new technology is reported to be eco-friendly and sustainable.  After all, no plants are killed in the process, no vast amounts of farmland is required, and no water, fertilizers, or pesticides are needed for cultivation.  According to the cosmetic chemists and the big corporations they work for, this is the closest thing to the fountain of youth we'll ever see.  And they aren't wasting a minute of time to jump on the bandwagon either.

As with all untested technologies that seriously tamper with Mother Nature, I remain cautious and skeptical.  Are there any possible adverse health effects?   Environmental effects?  Whatever happened to growing old gracefully?  And what about genetic engineering?  The next thing you know they'll be artificially concocting super strains of edelweiss, lilac, and gardenia (3 front runners in plant stem cell cosmeceutical research) to cater to the millions of aging baby boomers who are so desparately trying to remain young... at any cost.

Can you say... "Frankenskin"?

Fall Flowers

The landscape outside the soap shop is exploding with beautiful wildflowers!  This medley of purple/yellow/orange is especially nice.  What colors your world?

A Major Deposit

We had a bumper crop of plump, juicy prickly pears this year...

as evidenced by this large deposit along the path to the soap shop.

Eewwww... but thank goodness it was odorless!

coyote, wild hog, possum or coon???

Cork Balls or Oak Galls?

Lately I've been finding these curious little balls on the ground during my morning walks. They're extremely light, they look like cork, and they even float in water...but they're not made of cork at all.   They're oak galls, caused by wasps depositing their eggs in the tree which reacts by forming tissue around the eggs, and then the insect's larvae develop inside the gall and feed on the gall tissue.  Eventually the insects escape leaving the galls behind.  

Oak galls contain large amounts of tannic acid, which was traditionally used for making iron gall ink and for dying cloth.  Tannic acid has strong anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and astringent properties and has a protective effect on the skin.  Externally, tannic acid has been used to treat sunburn, ulcers, toothache, and wounds.  It also tightens skin causing an anti wrinkle effect and can be found in expensive facial creams and night serums.

Oak galls contain gallic acid as well, a potent antioxidant that has come into the limelight as a natural whitening substance in the cosmetics industry. Gallic acid removes melanin generated by UV rays. It also detoxifies harmful heavy metals and helps heal wounds.

Considering all the beneficial effects these natural little wonders have (along with the oak bark itself), I have an idea for a Mighty Oak Soap mulling around in my head.  Would anybody be interested in trying it?

 

...

Jory & Jackie's Hacienda is a-Happenin': 1st Story!

 

It's hard to keep your mind on soapmaking when you've got this whole construction thing going on in your backyard...but Jory handles both tasks beautifully.  Target date for having his dream home "dried in" is 12/31/10.  You go dude!

Have You SeenThis Milkweed?

Nope, it's not a spiny okra...or an old fairy with a beard!  I finally learned from Mr. Smarty Plants at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center that this is Matelea reticulata....aka the Pearl Milkweed Vine. It's one of those native plants that we don't see much here, but I guess it showed up this year with the overabundance of rain and all.  The long silky hairs of the opened seed pod glistening in the sun immediately caught my eye as I was passing from our house to the soap shop.   I haven't found any information on medicinal or useful properties... yet ....but something this beautiful should be shared, don't you think?
 

We're Featured in the Barking Section!

 

Our Woof Wild Natural Dog Shampoo Bar & Gift Set are spotlighted in the current issue of BellaDOG magaazine.  The perfect little gift for every dog owner.  Doggie tested.  Doggie approved.

Back to School Giveaway - FREE Body Balm!

Have you heard?  We're giving away 73 (yes 73) unlabeled shea butter body balms ($10 value!) to the next 73 people who place ANY order on our website. Why 73?  Because that's the year I graduated high school and I'm feeling nostalgic.  Now you know how old I am, but who cares?  You're as young as you feel and I feel great! 

This is our biggest giveaway ever, and you can take advantage of it right now.  No minimum order.  No code.  No nothing.  Just place your order online and reap your reward!  Our all natural body balms can be used on skin, lips, hair....everywhere.  Just the thing for the upcoming crisp fall air.  Our shopping cart won't add your free all natural body balm, but don't worry, the humans will. 

Psst...don't forget, this is on top of the FREE bar that comes with every $30 order and the 75FREE shipping code you can use on retail orders of $75 or more!  What's not to like about FREE?   Oui?

Plagued by the WWW!

Everywhere I go lately I run into the Wide World of Webs!  A spider slaps me in the face when I go out the door.  One lunges at me as I'm putting the clothes in the washer.  My entire morning walk is plagued with spider web barriers.   The little creeps even drop down from the ceiling on me when I'm in my easy chair!  They scamper across me in bed sometimes.  They crawl up my legs at my desk.  I'm not making this stuff up!  The Wide World of Webs is taking over!

But as creepy as they are, spiders are actually good for the ecosystem.  So maybe I should try to get all my spiders hooked on drugs like the ones in this video?  That way they'd have to go to rehab for a while and leave me alone.  For those of you who don't think that's such a great idea, here are some eco-friendly ways to get rid of spiders.  Anybody out there got any better ideas?

Ball Moss

I spotted a cluster of ball moss hanging over our campsite at Inks Lake last weekend.  Did you know that ball moss has shown significant anti-tumor and HIV/AIDS applications in vitro as well as in animal studies?  And it also has uses in the landscape.

Click here to set the record straight on this much-maligned but useful plant.


Ball moss soap anyone? hmmmmmm

Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010? HARDLY! #opposesca

After many many months of asking, I finally got our company's name removed as one of the original signers of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, sponsored by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is tied to the deeply flawed Skin Deep database, which is backed by the Environmental Working Group (links purposefully not included).  While we once vigorously supported them all, we're desperately trying to disassociate ourselves with all 4 of these groups now.  So why would we want to go and do that?  You thought we were all about environmental responsibility and safe ingredients, right?  And who doesn't want safe cosmetics anyway?

Well...we are!  And we certainly do!  Nothing has changed in that regard.  What HAS changed is the radical and illogical direction that the Environmental Working Group and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has taken lately.  First it was their Colorado Safe Personal Care Act that was swiftly defeated after the real facts were presented (thankfully).  Now it's their new proposed "Safe" Cosmetics Act of 2010.  Don't be fooled, OK?... it sounds good, but this bill won't make your cosmetics one bit safer. That's the catch.

While I happen to agree with the CFSC & the EWG that many mainstream cosmetics may not be particularly safe (there's so much we don't know), this bill is nothing more than a grand example of excessive government regulation gone ape WILD.  It will effectively kill thousands of small responsible independent companies all across America (like ours) who are already making safe products because they won't have the resources to comply with its ridiculous & tedious demands.  Here's a fantastic blog post that exposes some of the untruths that are circling about, and here's one of the best explanations I've seen from a consumer standpoint of why all cosmetic users should oppose this bill.  (Hey, if you use deodorant, toothpaste, or a moisturizer, you're using cosmetics.)

As Libertarians and staunch defenders of freedom and personal responsibility, we oppose ALL forms of unnecessary, burdensome big government regulations that drive up costs and stifle small businesses, but especially the so-called "Safe" Cosmetics Act of 2010.  Every micro manufacturer of safe cosmetics I know also opposes this bill.  Won't you join us?  Sign the petition here and ask your friends and neighbors to sign it too..

Wild Juniper Berry Soap is Ready!

The recent hard rains knocked thousands of ripe juniper berries from our Juniperus virginiana trees. So what do you do when you're given an unexpected gift? You make Juniper Berry Soap, of course! Sprinkled with ground wild juniper berries and scented with an evergreen juniper berry essential oil blend, this invigorating soap is a forest lover's dream!

Wild ideas soaps du jour are whipped up in micro batches at the whim of a master soapmaker. Each hand stamped bar comes with an earth friendly glassine bag and a kraft ID sticker. 6 oz. jumbo bar. Hurry, supplies are very limited.

Are You Hip 2 Da Hop?

The native hop tree that is, aka Ptelea trifoliata or wafer ash?  The bitter fruit was used as a substitute for hops in brewing beer back in the day, but the aromatic bark, roots, and leaves have been used for home remedies too, and that's what gets my attention.  Not that I don't like beer mind you, but I'm just sayin...

According to Plants For A Future, "the root-bark is anthelmintic, antibacterial, antiperiodic, stomachic, and tonic.  It has been mixed with other medicines in order to give added potency.  It has a soothing influence on the mucous membranes and promotes the appetite, being tolerated when other tonics cannot be retained.  It is also taken in the treatment of intermittent fevers such as malaria, heartburn, roundworms, pinworms and poor digestion.  Externally it is applied to wounds.  The roots are harvested in the autumn, the bark peeled off and dried for later use.  The roots are a tonic, used in the treatment of asthsmatic breathing, fevers, poor appetite, etc.  The leaves are said to be useful in the treatment of wounds and also in the destruction of intestinal worms."

And here I always thought it was just used for making beer during the colonial days?  Now that I'm hip 2 da hop, I'll see this one growing next to my clothesline in a whole new light.  The flowers smell amazing by the way, and are intoxicating in and of themselves...anybody ever smelled them?

To Everything....Turn, Turn, Turn

There is a season....turn, turn, turn.

And a time for every purpose, under heaven.

Now's the time!  There's no better time than right now.  What time is it for YOU to do?  I swear it's not too late...