Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I was promised a recession.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

After roe, women are no longer free.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

No one could have predicted…

We are aware of all internet traditions.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

You are here: Home / Artists In Our Midst / Soap Recommendation

Soap Recommendation

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As you know, I am at heart either a bougie bitch or a hippie, or some odd mix of the two, and I buy the majority of the soap I use at the farmer’s market from people who handcraft it. Well, I don’t know what the status of those will be this summer, and I was running low on soap, so I popped on over to our own Satby’s Etsy shop, and picked some out. It arrived today, and it smelled so good I am leaving one bar out in my office.

I also got this great argan oil cuticle stuff, which is nice because I spend so much time using my hands and mani/pedis are out for the near future, and the sleeper was the Lavender lotion. Now my hands smell so good I would date them if they were a woman.

I like soaps and lotions. They make you feel good, they smell good, you take time to slow down and relax and enjoy them while applying/using them, and they are an inexpensive way to treat yourself. Plus, when you know there are no harsh chemicals and crap in them from a manufacturer, you can use them without worry.

Reader Interactions

57Comments

  2. 2.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Now my hands smell so good I would date them if they were a woman.

    I am not quite sure if “TMI!” or “Phrasing!” is the way to go here.

  3. 3.

    Mary G

    Using smell to relieve stress is great, and I don’t mean those heavy essential oils that assault the sinuses. I go out in the driveway to my herb box and smell sage, rosemary, and especially lemon thyme and I can feel my muscles unclench. And yes, satby’s soaps and lotions are awesome.

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    Well, as you so often work yourself into a lather….

    :)

    bougie bitch

    Translation for English speakers, please. A bougie is a surgical instrument.

  5. 5.

    West of the Rockies

    Okay, I admit it:  sometimes I enjoy a facial mask.  Always feel clean and detoxed after the effort.  Yup, I’m a dude.

  6. 6.

    theturtlemoves

    I partake of the local fare here in Oregon from Slab Soaps up in Salem.  Good stuff.

  7. 7.

    Roger Moore

    I’m almost exactly the opposite.  The water where I live is ridiculously hard, so I’ve found I can’t use soap at all; it leaves a soap scum deposit on my skin that gives me a nasty rash.  I have to use the sodium lauryl sulfate based cleaners.  And I don’t like scented anything.  Some natural scents are OK, as long as they aren’t too strong, but strong scents, especially strong artificial scents, drive me up the wall.  I try very hard to get only unscented cleaning products.

  8. 8.

    CaseyL

    I do like a strongly scented soap, but mostly prefer scents like cedar, lemon, rosemary, and the combos that are called things like “Ocean” or “Forest.”  I like ’em earthy. (Except rose and lavender: I do love those.)

    I adore patchouli (that’s the old hippie in me) but I can’t wear it.  Patchouli reacts badly to my body chemistry and winds up smelling like insecticide or industrial cleaner or something.  Bleh.

    The problem with scented soaps is that the scent fades quickly in most of them as they’re used.  I don’t know why, maybe the essential oils rise to the surface during production and no longer permeate the whole bar.

  11. 11.

    laura

    My most recent Satby order came with a jar of rose scented hand cream. It is lovely in every sense. Just applied an overnight layer minutes ago. Citrus, clove sharp pine or cedar licorice and eucalyptus all have a certain time of day or year or season where they shine in relaxing or soothing or invigorating.

  12. 12.

    Kent

    I buy the Kirkland Signature bar soap from Costco in the 15 packs about once or twice a year and I’m done. Works fine for me:

    https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-bar-soap-with-shea-butter%2c-15-bars.product.100643940.html

    We live in a rather “granola” area and every Christmas get given various hand-made artistic soaps of various sorts. I never know what to do with them so I put them in the guest bath where they sit untouched.

    I guess I’m a Philistine.

  13. 13.

    BigJimSlade

    The hand-made stuff can be nice, but I go for Ivory – just a bar of soap that doesn’t stink up the joint (I’m looking at you Dove).

  14. 14.

    James E Powell

    @Mary G:

    Garden smells are great, but I’m even more relaxed by cooking smells. Bacon frying. Bolognese sauce simmering. Bread baking. Most anything baking.

  15. 15.

    NotMax

    How often do people take time out to smell their own hands? Is this another Thing I’ve (thankfully) escaped?

    @Mary G

    Snob takes less effort to type. Or to say.

    :)

  17. 17.

    LeftCoastYankee

    Cole getting his sexy on.

    Yeah… 2020.  The year that made hallucinogenics unnecessary.

  19. 19.

    FlyingToaster

    My patio containers are based upon the “smell and touch” plot at the Jardin Botanique in Geneva.

    Me-n-WarriorGirl were out planting the patio pots yesterday (can’t plant the garden yet, since it’s still in the 40s at night), and two of the up-the-street neighbors came walking by, stopped, and said, “We love your garden; it always smells so nice!”.

    We have thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, a basil varietal (lemon this year), tarragon, chives, and 3 scented geraniums, plus the street side is lined with lilacs currently in bloom (preceeded earlier this spring by viburnam along the house), and the driveway side has roses about to go.

    The retaining wall of the garden (streetside) is always lined with 6 globe basil.  Then tomatoes, tomatillos and the remaining basil (genovese, thai, upright, upright variegated).  Plus marigolds and celosia.

    It smells good because we really, really rely upon it.  Especially now, since the Charles River bike path is too effing crowded most of the time.

  21. 21.

    mazareth

    My soap of choice is Kirk’s Castile Unscented. It’s coconut based and doesn’t dry out my skin as much as some of the major brands.

    As far as lotions go, I like anything that’s either cocoa butter or shea butter based. I’m on a pretty high dose of levothyroxine for hormone replacement and thyroid cancer suppression. Dry skin seems to be a side effect, at least for me. I pretty much have to use lotion year round. All the virus related extra hand washing has been pretty tough on me.

  24. 24.

    Peale

    Lots of people like Korean Soaps, although I I have a fondness for Thai as well. It’s a tough call. I enjoyed a Theory of Love, and Love with Flaws. Oh wait. Daring kind of soaps.

    I’ve also been working on my grooming during this time. Not so much new soaps. Those are for hands. More deep pore cleansers and anti aging eye cream. By this time next year I’ll look 13, but without the zits this time.

  25. 25.

    Amir Khalid

    @laura:

    I’ve heard great things about satby’s soaps and stuff, but I don’t think she can ship to where I am — the shipping might wind up costing much more than the product.

  34. 34.

    Jay Noble

    @mrmoshpotato: Working at Cabela’s we used to get lots of orders from Alaska with those kind of numbers. We would call up the customer and they were like “Ship away!”

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    @Jay Noble

    Some time back happened across a specialty cheese while randomly poking around on Amazon.

    Cost: $9.11. Shipping: $62.97.

    Did not buy. ;)

  40. 40.

    Jay Noble

    @Roger Moore: Back in the 90’s I switched to sodium lauryl sulfate based shampoo. I was living in a small trailer house with poorly ventilated bathroom. I was alway coming out of the shower coughing, hacking and wheezing until one day I happened to read the ingredients on the shampoo – Ammonium . . . I did some label reading (pregoogle) on my next trip to the store and only VO5 didn’t have ammonium and I’ve never had a problem since.

  42. 42.

    J R in WV

    @mazareth:

    Kirk’s Coconut Castile soap for us too. I have a little eczema from chemical exposure years ago, and it’s easy on my so damaged  skin. We use our Dr’s recommended lotion which is not scented at all.

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    @Mary G:

    Sense of smell. Having one. What is that like? It’s been long enough that I’ve forgotten. Flowers, spices, food. I can’t say what anything smells like. On the plus side nothing stinks either. Of course if something is warning you by it’s smell, I’m out.

    Never take for granted anything in life. It can fade away, it can suddenly be gone. Freedom, a not unreasonable life, less or zero pain, the worry about things you can’t change, the worry about things you can, a bug you can’t see – but that can see you, memory – when it works great, when it’s starting to fail you, fatigue – that stays with you no matter what, that day that you don’t feel tired at all, sleep – getting too much, not getting enough.

    Enjoy the little things, there are more of them, celebrate the big things – they come along sometimes far too rarely.

    John, enjoy the soap, satby makes great soap. I’ve found my soap, one of only two out of dozens I’ve tried over decades that I can use. It’s hard to find somedays but this bug made me have to look in places I’d never tried before, and I found a new and great source.

    Always look for the positive, it helps you sleep just a bit better.

  44. 44.

    Aleta

    Oregon Soap Company is a small kind-hearted company with amazing organic soap  that plants trees for soap sold.  Freq. sales,  good bulk discounts.    (I found them through one of John’s recs years ago that carried their amazing foaming liquid soap: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ )  It’s very easy on the the skin w/ a good refillable dispenser, and we’ve been giving it as gifts lately.  Their Oregon lavender is to die for and the citrus is also amazing.  Good for cleaning too.  We’ve been tearing through the aloe baby soap this spring.

  45. 45.

    JoyceH

    @James E Powell: “Garden smells are great, but I’m even more relaxed by cooking smells. Bacon frying. Bolognese sauce simmering. Bread baking. Most anything baking.”

    My local mini-mart has the greatest fried chicken. Their vent fans blow out toward the gas pumps, making it almost impossible to go there for gas and leave without fried chicken.

  46. 46.

    WereBear

    With all the handwashing, I invested in several of satby’s hand lotions with the lavender. Mr WereBear loves it!

    Check the labels. A lot of hand lotions have alcohol and you don’t want that.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    I have sensitive skin . I like natural soap. I love a citrus smell. I can attest to the quality of satby’s shop. Truly excellent.??

  48. 48.

    JeanneT

    I’ve been using Satby’s soap for a month and there are two things I love about it: one, even using a scented version, the scent is in the bar but doesn’t cling to my skin so my hands aren’t perfumed (to my nose, anyhow – I’m sure my dogs disagree) and two, my hands are no longer dry and itchy even though I’m washing my hands so many times during the day. Definitely good stuff!

  49. 49.

    J.

    @Roger Moore: Same problem, but Satby’s shop has unscented goat milk soap, which I’ve used in the past (bought from a goat farm) and like. And it doesn’t seem to cause soap scum.

  50. 50.

    satby

    Whoa! Woke up this morning to four online orders and wondered what happened. I’m so pleased you like them John, thank you!

    For everyone else, I sell unscented goat milk and vegan soaps and lotions too; I started making soap because I also have eczema and other skin conditions as well as a lot of allergies, so I always have it for sale for fellow sufferers. The scentd soaps are either essential oils or phalate-free naturally derived; turns out phalates was what triggered my own eczema so 10 years ago at age 55 I could finally enjoy a little scent in my products.

    Ivory and Kirkland’s Castile are good soaps. The difference between those and handmade ones is mostly that commercial makers harvest the glycerine that is a byproduct of soapmaking and home makers stir it back in, natural glycerine is used in the pharmaceutical industry.

    Bottom line always, use what makes you happy and feel good.

    Thanks for the sweet endorsements everyone, what a great thing to wake up to!

  51. 51.

    satby

    @JoyceH: You know, I’ve been tempted by some cooking smells like maple bacon for my DiL but thought no one else would like them. Food smells do pretty well, especially the beer, almond, coffee, and always, pumpkin ones ?.

  53. 53.

    Citizen_X

    I am at heart either a bougie bitch or a hippie

    There’s a difference? [runs]

  54. 54.

    satby

    @mazareth:  I should note that Castile soap is traditionally only made with 100% olive oil. Any other oils added makes it *not* castile soap, just a (usually) vegan one, the name is just branding. Though I happen to make a castile goat milk one. Castile soap takes much longer to harden up for sale, but it’s the most mild kind there is.

  55. 55.

    Z. Mulls

    A friend recently turned me on to Outlaw Soaps.    Small company with attitude, take great pride in their work and sourcing their materials and suppliers carefully, and the soap smells amazing.  They have other scented products as well.    All hand made.

     

    I just got my first order a couple of weeks ago and loving the ‘Hair of the Dog’ soap.

    https://liveoutlaw.com/

  57. 57.

    joel hanes

    @Roger Moore:

    The water where I live is ridiculously hard, so I’ve found I can’t use soap at all; it leaves a soap scum deposit on my skin that gives me a nasty rash.

    Try Kirk’s Coco Castile, the favorite of campers until Dr. Bronner’s came along.

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