Sisterhood of the Traveling Soap

January 22, 2012 at 10:29 pm 17 comments

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again now: making handmade soap would not be half as much fun without the internet.

Exhibit A…

Recently, Julia from Cocobong (one of my favorite soap blogs) came up with the clever idea of sending some soap around the world, a sort of round-robin for soap bloggers. Each soapmaker receives 3 bars, takes one and replaces it with one of her/his own. Then each participant agrees to blog about the whole process. What a great way to share our soap with each other (and the world) through our blogs.

Lovely soap package

First Julia sent 3 soaps that she had from different soapmakers to US soapmaker Joanna of The Soap Bar. From there they went to Serbian soapmaker SenMi, and now they are here at my house in California.

What a treat to have 3 different soaps to handle, smell, admire. But I had to choose only one to keep, and after much thought decided to keep the one from Mianra, all the way from Cork, Ireland. I love the way her soaps look, with the paisley stamp. But the deciding factor is that this bar has silk in it. I’ve never tried a soap with silk before. Although it seems to be quite popular with European soapmakers, it doesn’t seem to be so with the soapmakers that I know around here. I’m looking forward to experiencing it soon!

I’m replacing that bar with one of my Honey Bee Mine bars, sending a little bit of Valentine’s Day back to Europe. And now I say, “Bon Voyage” to this little soap trio: it’s off to France next! Look out Soap Session, some globe-trotting soap is heading your way!

Entry filed under: handmade, soap. Tags: .

Faux Funnel Fruitopia! New home for Mianra soap

17 Comments Add your own

1. Heather @ Green Barn Soaps | January 23, 2012 at 8:40 am

If you ever do this again, let me know. I’d love to participate! My company is Green Barn Soaps from Maine.
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- 2. Ruth Esteves | January 24, 2012 at 10:29 am
  
  Hi Heather! I’ll keep you in mind. I’ve been thinking that I could start my own batch of traveling soap…or you can start one, too!
  Reply
3. Hajni | January 23, 2012 at 3:46 pm

Wow! Isnt that amazing to see one’s soap making such a mileage ! Thank You Ruth for welcoming my bar in your home! Hope you’ll enjoy it- would love to know how you found it. And fairwell to Honey Bee Mine !!!
xxx Hajni
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- 4. Ruth Esteves | January 24, 2012 at 10:31 am
  
  Hi Hajni! Yes, your soap has really seen the world! LOL I feel so fortunate to have the chance to try one of your soaps!
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5. Jen Grimes (@loftsoap) | January 23, 2012 at 9:04 pm

what a brilliant idea! Okay, Ruth, I expect a report-out on what that bar with silk feels like.
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- 6. Ruth Esteves | January 24, 2012 at 10:34 am
  
  You bet, Jen! I’m looking forward to catching a peaceful moment to really enjoy it.
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7. The Nova Studio | January 24, 2012 at 10:18 am

This is so much fun! I would have trouble deciding which bar to send off to it’s new mystery owner.
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- 8. Ruth Esteves | January 24, 2012 at 10:34 am
  
  So true! The upcoming Valentine’s Day helped me decide a little.
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9. Amy Warden | January 24, 2012 at 6:35 pm

So cool!!! So many great soapmakers are involved in this little project. I’m having fun reading about all of them!
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- 10. Ruth Esteves | January 27, 2012 at 5:05 pm
  
  Yes, Amy, it’s great that we get to following all the soap all along its journey!
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11. Ksenija | January 26, 2012 at 1:27 am

HI Ruth! I love your photos! Thanks for the mention. Wow, I cannot wait to read the next chapter of the soap voyage!
Ksenija, SenMi Soaps
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- 12. Ruth Esteves | January 27, 2012 at 5:06 pm
  
  Thanks, Ksenija! The package is coming back across the Atlantic. It’s a good thing that soap is so sturdy!
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13. julia kalkbrenner | January 26, 2012 at 4:35 pm

It still kind of baffles me that went ‘pregnant’ with this idea for so long, thinking people wouldn’t be interested and then…nothing but positive responses all around. Then I read that soap makers are wanting to start their own soap travel project, in France, in the US, and on and on..amazing that none one before came up with such a simple concept of exchanging soaps on a global level
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- 14. swanee | January 27, 2012 at 4:52 am
  
  it’s such a great idea Julia. There are so many soapmakers to discover . Thank you for initiating the soap travel.
  in France we have not yet launched a similar box, but as there are requests for it, we certainly will.
  Reply
- 15. Ruth Esteves | January 27, 2012 at 5:08 pm
  
  I think it’s a great way to share our love of soap with each other, and also with our blog readers. Everyone benefits! Super idea!
  Reply
16. Zwerg | February 5, 2012 at 2:23 am

I can not wait….to get the parcel her….
Such a nice idea
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17. Soap Travel Project // j’en suis !! | Soap Session | February 14, 2012 at 6:27 am

[...] des USA. Le colis contenait 3 savons, un de chez Cocobong, un de chez SenMi Soap et un de chez Sirona Springs. Il y avait aussi une jolie carte explicative, avec les signatures de toutes les [...]
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