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For handcrafted soap visit the online store or the Etsy Store!

Lora's artisan soaps, an affordable luxury.

Friday, December 5, 2014

The Cost of Luxury

I always love it when someone says something that makes you see something completely differently.

 My friend once told me he sometimes associates a cost per hour to judge entertainment value of various options.  For instance, he doesn't like to go to a movie theater for a lot of reasons but one of them is the fact that it cost $12 to see a two hour movie.  That's $6 an hour for entertainment.  Whereas a book that cost $12 may give you 12 hours of entertainment, ending up costing you $1 an hour, a far better deal.

My mom even said something along this line when she was sporting a new, rather expensive jacket.  When I commented on her jacket and said it didn't look like the usual Goodwill find, she said she had started to figure the cost of clothing not by it's initial cost, but by the cost per wearing of it.  If she spends $150 on a new jacket and wears it 150 times, that's $1 per wearing.  If she buys a $20 jacket at Goodwill and wears it 10 times, that's $2 per wearing and ends up being the more expensive choice.

A person could easily apply logic like this to the purchase of any item.  Naturally, I thought of soap.  One of the main reasons I make soap is for the sheer luxury of the end product.  There's something very lavish about bathing with a new bar of handcrafted soap.  It's equivalent to drinking wine from a really nice wine glass or eating a meal off of fine china.  It just feels different, better.  It's a small bit of richness in an ordinary day.

The thing is, I can't think of any other luxury item (although I'm sure there are some) where the cost per hour of the luxury is as good as it is with handcrafted soap.  For $5 you get hours(?) of luxury.  Who wouldn't want this opulence for a product that one has to buy anyway, for mere pennies per hour?

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Prepping For The Holidays

It's been a while since I posted, however that doesn't mean soap hasn't been on my mind!  I have several varieties of soap curing currently and I have a couple more to make.  

Suddenly my inventory started to diminish and with the holidays approaching, I thought it best to get busy as it takes several weeks for soap to cure.

Here's a peak at what's curing now and some insight into what I still may make.


This is an old standby and one of my most popular bars:  Cinnamon Goat's Milk.  

















Cocoa Butter Vanilla Cream is a variation of another popular soap of mine.  Extra cocoa butter is added to this bar and the moisturizing effect it has is divine!  















Pink Himalayan Salt Bar.  This is a new one for me.  I've read some great things about salt bars like they draw toxins out of the body, increase blood circulation allowing the other benefits of the soap to soak into the body more readily, and  salt is wonderful at exfoliating!  I can't wait to try this one!  It has a refreshing lemongrass and eucalyptus scent as well!












Beer Bar and Shampoo.  This is another popular bar from Lora's Beauty.  It's a very pure bar packed with olive oil and beer.  A great shampoo bar!  I've reformulated it so it now has a natural cedar and basil scent!

There are still many bars of soap left to make.  I've been drying some lemon basil, mint and peppers from the garden for soap making.  I also purchased a FABULOUS juniper essential oil that I may try in soap. 

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Moisturizing Even The Roughest Hands

I don't think I've ever mentioned that I have dry skin.  It's gotten better as I get older, however when I was a small child all the way until I was about 30, I had such dry skin that I actually had bumps on the back of my arms.  My legs looked like a road map; dry, scaly lines crisscrossing all over.

My skin seemed to drink lotion.  I'd put it on and five minutes later it looked like I hadn't moisturized in years!  It wasn't until I was in my 40s that I started making my own soaps and body moisturizers.  I did this for a very practical reason, I was spending a fortune on moisturizers!  And the good ones cost many times more than the bad ones!

After some time perfecting my potions and experimenting on myself, I began to see dramatic results.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any before and after pictures to show because I really wasn't expecting to see much, after all I had spent a lifetime moisturizing to little effect. Then it dawned on me that I could do a before and after picture if I stopped using my products for a while.  


I decided to sacrifice one hand to the experiment.

Here it is, my hand after not using Lora's Beauty Body Butter Roll On and Whipped Butter Cream for one month.  For complete disclosure, I didn't use any moisturizer of any kind for one month.

I know, gross.  Now starts the process of healing.












Everyday I would scrape my hand with a pumice stone to remove the dead skin,  I then applied Whipped Butter Cream.  Through out the day I applied the Body Butter Roll On, probably about 5 times.

Day One of this procedure saw my hand looking like this.  Noticeably better and healing.




 Even better yet, Day 3 sees my hand looking like this:

I'm not sure how long it will take to get my hand back to normal and normal isn't even that pretty.  I still have pretty rough hands.  I often thought of going to a palm reader, my hands would probably blow their minds, but I don't want to hear what they'd say.

Day 4 now and we're almost healed!




Overall, I am quite please with the progress 4 days has made!  





Lora's Beauty Whipped Shea Butter Cream is simply shea butter whipped with coconut oil and cocoa butter so it's extra light and fluffy.  












Lora's Body Butter Roll On is rich in beeswax, sunflower oil and shea butter.



Both products are 100% natural, no chemicals are used. For best quality, they are handcrafted in small batches.

Lora's Beauty offers free shipping on orders $20 and over!

A Casual Summer Shower

A Casual Summer Shower


Lora's Beauty Pepperwood Goat's Milk soap blends hot peppers and hibiscus flowers together to make a very saucy summer soap!  Try some today!  Free shipping on orders $20 and over!


Hair clip accessory
hairflowers.net


Grey hat
emp-online.com


Rag Bone short sleeve t shirt
shoplesnouvelles.com


Rolled jeans
djpremium.com


Juice bottle
surlatable.com


Friday, August 1, 2014

Cinnamon Soap Escape


Time for a cinnamon escape?  Lora's Beauty Cinnamon & Honey Goat Milk Soap is a great way to stimulate your senses and soothe your skin.  Pick up a few bars today at Lora's Beauty!

Free Shipping on orders $20 and above!


Cinnamon Soap Escape