Making an everyday soap that survives a full moon and is named after a bear
Perhaps it’s an unreachable itch comes from a background in product development and manufacturing, but ever since we immersed ourselves in Nature’s Common Scents back in April the idea of making my own therapy soap bar was ever present.
There were a few hurdles, of course. First, being, well, how to comfortably make any soap, let alone my own. The second was simply finding the time between keeping up with the business and settling back into Virginia after a couple decades away. Third! Picking up enough knowledge about herbs, oils, and lye to make a soap that doesn’t melt bathroom tile or dissolve completely when there’s a full moon about (soap making is a close cousin to alchemy after all, and I’ve seen all those Disney movies with cauldrons and such).
Fast forward half a year and I feel that I’m comfortable enough with the soap making process to give it a try. Knowledge in hand, the first order of business was to figure out what the soap should remedy. This was the easy part as I knew the only person that would volunteer to test it (me).
A Mighty Few
Outside of olive oil and cocoa butter, this is everything in the “everyday” bar.
Simple enough. Okay. In the morning, not only do I want to be clean, but I want something for soreness as well as whatever is out there to clear my head. Wake me up.
With an unfortunately healthy knowledge of inventors, scientists, normal people who test on themselves (and all the mangled limbs, burns, and other scars they accumulated) in the back of my mind, I decided that it best to not veer too far from what works. Which happens to be what is in my mom’s Nature’s Common Scents catalog already.
Finding an oil to reduce soreness and inflammation is no easy task outside of walking out of the shower and into work smelling like Icy Hot. I most certainly didn’t want that. Thankfully, there’s frankincense. Yes, that herb from one of the three wise men. It has been found to help with just what I’m looking for. It has even been shown to help with arthritis.
The second essential oil that would be perfect for clarity and waking you up seems a little more simple at first glance. Wintergreen, peppermint, pine, eucalyptus are all common and likely used in your daily soap.
I settled with Scots Pine (Scotch Pine or Pine Scots). Not just because it has a bit of a sweeter smell to offset slightly musty frankincense, but because my wife is in love with her Scottish heritage. From mining the BBC’s Walking Through History with Sir Tony Robinson for Scotland episodes all the way to hit show (beautiful, but racy!) Outlander.
The scent clears the head. Some say it enhances mood and is uplifting.
Next up was the fun part. From here I just used simple olive and sunflower oil and a bit of cocoa butter. I’m still working on the exact levels of each but I’ve already got a great bar that I’m testing out daily!
KING GEORGE THE BEAR’S EVERYDAY SOAP
King George
Here he is near the driveway. “You probably shouldn’t tell people there’s a bear that roams around the shop,” they say.
That’s the name of the soap.
Why George? and Who is George. We have a black bear that likes to roam around the Nature’s Common Scent’s property here in Front Royal. He likely resides in George Washington Park that’s not much further than a stone’s throw from here. I figured, name him George. We’ve seen him twice in the last five months or so. He’s very shy, but friendly. We, and everyone around here haven’t had any problems or bad run-ins with bears in the area. It’s only rarely that they lumber out of the woods. When they do, they become Ring and Facebook stars. Maybe that’s why they do it.
The first person I told about the name “George” was Sondra (my mother, born in England), and her first thought was “King George.” Which is great. I think had I told Larry Sr. first it would have been General George.
After testing and some tweaks to the recipe, we will have this available at an affordable/competitive price and likely in packs between 4-8.
In the meantime, we will make test bars available sold as a set with Castile Soap for anyone who might like to try it out. We wanted to pair it up, so that way you can compare and contrast and get a great NCS favorite.
Tada!
Here it is. King George the Bear’s Everyday Soap. Handmade in Front Royal, Virginia.
We expect the final product to be up by the middle of this month.
Thank you for reading,
Larry Jr.
