It Was a Blast!

Tonight, Eric and I took Reef Botanicals on the road for the very first time.  The event was Halloween in December, a fundraiser for Isaac Bonewits, a well-known Druid leader and author in the Pagan community.  He's got cancer and is undergoing chemo, and his family is having difficulty keeping up with bills.

So we packed up our soaps, sugar scrubs, and candles, and hit the road, down to the IHOP in Somerset, NJ.  IHOP graciously agreed to close its doors for this "private party," so the event organizers could collect $5 per person toward Isaac's recovery from anyone who entered.

The soaps went into these great baskets we found, that gave us just the natural feel for which we were looking.

I also made up three gift baskets.  One, a Chocolate Decadence basket, we donated to the fundraiser's silent auction.  The value of the basket was $40, but the lucky person who was the highest bidder got it for $20, half  price!  Even with the discount, the basket was the highest-paid prize of the auction.

The basket contained a small round pillar candle in our Chocolate Decadence scent, a 10 oz container of our Cafe Mocha sugar scrub, two large Fudge Chunk soap bars, and two Fudge Chunk hand soaps.

We have two more gift baskets still in stock.  There's another Chocolate Decadence basket, this one with a larger square pillar candle in Chocolate Decadence, a tea light in Chocolate Decadence, a 10 oz container of our Cafe Mocha sugar scrub, one large Fudge Chunk soap bar, and two Fudge Chunk hand soaps.

The other basket is Citrus Splash, featuring our square pillar in Lemongrass & Sage, a votive in Lemongrass & Sage, a 10 oz container of our When Life Hands You Lemons sugar scrub, a Lemongrass and Sage soap, and a Root of the Matter soap.

Setup of our table was... fun.  Actually, it was, but it was definitely a challenge.  We had a booth, so our wares were tough to reach at times, and soap tends to be a fairly hands-on item.  People want to touch it and smell it.  We worked it out, though.  Our baskets were perfect, and the signs I made for them turned out to be very pretty with the two-tone green.  Our candles were something of a hit; the Chocolate Decadence sold out immediately, and our blue Winter Wonderland candles were a hit as well, as were our pale yellow-green Lemongrass & Sage candles.

Our Lemongrass & Sage soaps sold out entirely, and our Honey Chocolate isn't far behind!  We'll be making more of both imminently.

All in all, we were very well received and very happy with our experience.  Even from people who didn't purchase immediately there was a lot of interest, taking of business cards, and inquiries as to our next appearance.  As a result, the remaining sugar scrubs are up on the site and ready for purchase, and the candles won't be far behind!

On top of everything else, we were glad to be able to help out a family in need.

Not for Guitarists!

Eric has been using solely our soaps and sugar scrubs, and noticed tonight that all the callouses on his hands are gone. As he was "lamenting" their loss, he commented, "I'm glad I'm not a guitarist." They need their callouses, y'see.

Tonight, I finished the batch of Cafe Mocha Scrub for the Halloween in December event this Sunday evening.  It's... it's... OK, I'll say it, it's great.  It smells of the brown sugar, coffee, cocoa, and spices from which it's made.  Eric says that he plans to use it every morning because the spiced coffee scent helps him wake up.  And there's nothing like waking up to the smell of fresh coffee, is there?

I couldn't stop there, though.  Oh, no!  We now also have a batch of When Life Hands You Lemons Scrub.  This one is my personal favorite, because I just love citrus.  I'm in heaven with the scent of light homemade lemonade to wake me up in the morning.  And yes, I squeezed the lemon juice myself!

The jars and tags make them look so gorgeous too.

Right?

So you figure then we went to bed, yes?  No!  No, because we wanted candles.  We already made a few Chocolate Decadence candles for the gift baskets we'll be bringing to Halloween in December, one as a prize for the silent auction and two for sale.  These candles are mottled mahogany brown and scented with Fudge Brownie and Vanilla Hazelnut.  Yum!

And we already had our Thanksgiving Harvest candles, in a deep mottled orange-red, with an apple spice scent...

... and our Healing Tea candles, in a mottled sage green, scented with green tea and eucalyptus.

Well, tonight we poured Winter Wonderland candles, which will be a beautiful light blue, mottled with snowflakes.  Because, y'know, there won't be enough snow this weekend!  Ha!  Of course, this weekend at Halloween in December only, the candles will be dubbed "I'm Dreaming of a White Halloween" candles.  It's only fitting.

Photos will follow tomorrow!

Something New

While we wait for our last very interesting batch of soap to cure - and I really can't wait to unmold it to see what it looks and smells like, since there's ginger involved! - Eric and I decided to try something new tonight.

It's a success, I think.

We have made our very first sugar scrub!  It's brown sugar and oils, together with cocoa and some other spices to make it smell just heavenly!  (So it's vegan-friendly.)

It'll be debuted this Sunday at Halloween in December, a fundraiser for the family of Isaac Bonewits, a noted author and teacher who is fighting cancer and as a result has a lot of bills to pay.  Eric and I would have been attending anyway, but now we're donating a gift basket to the fundraiser's silent auction.  Plus, we'll be vending, selling our products and donating a portion of the proceeds back to the fundraiser as well.

Please note that the container in the photo is the one that will be used for this initial batch of sugar scrubs only; it will not be the jar that will appear on the website.  This is a glass container, and because we are concerned for your safety in the bath, future scrubs will be available in a clear plastic jar with a white lid.

Eric and I both tested the scrub tonight, and then washed our hands with our Oatmeal Honey soap.  Even after washing, our hands were notably moisturized and softer.  We're so excited that it worked!