s u m m e r t i m e

Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong



Citrus essential oils for summer

ruby red grapefruit

lemons

oranges

lime

rose white

This fragrant soap is scented with an essential oil blend of Rose Geranium and soft Bulgarian Lavender. We've added Calamine Powder for rich lather and topped with a layer tinted with rose clay. Rose White is very floral and is popular with women.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Essential Oils of Bulgarian Lavender & Geranium, Calamine Powder, Rose Petals

new look to an old favorite

Vetiver Balsam - Smokey vetiver with just a hint of slightly sweet peru balsam (essential oils) combine to give this soap an earthy, faintly musky yet clean fragrance. White clay makes for rich, dense and stable suds. The scent is considered a masculine blend, but in our experience, men & women like it equally. - Please note that this soap does look different, it is the same formula and scent. I just needed a change.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Balsam Peru, Vetiver Oil, White Kaolin Clay

motorhead soap

Motorhead is a little larger than our usual soap. It weighs in at 4.5+ oz and contains pumice, poppy seeds, clay oat flour and zinc oxide. It has a bit of scrub, but not enough to scratch. The fragrance is a clean blend of sweet orange and fir needle. I love this blend. The fir needle and sweet orange complement each other very well. This is a good soap for hands and feet. Not recommended for face or body.

Ingredients: olive oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, water, sodium hydroxide, pumice, Australian washed blue clay, essential oils of sweet orange & fir needle, oat flour, poppy seeds, zinc oxide

Motorhead.

ebay? good luck with that!

ebay has implemented its new feedback policies. I have never been a 'fan' of ebay, but generally regarded it as a (somewhat) necessary evil. Between the ridiculous fee increases that were advertised as decreases (1984 anyone?) and the new buyer-favored feedback policies, I realize just how unnecessary ebay really is to me.
    Coupled with their already lopsided handling of deadbeat buyers, these new policies are just impossible for me to work with. Without any additional neutrals or negatives, their 'new math' has caused my feedback to drop from 99.8% positive to 99.1% positive. No wonder so many sellers were afraid to leave negatives for deadbeats.
    The new policies make it impossible to leave anything other than a positive for a buyer. ebay has assured its sellers that the buyer will receive an unpaid item strike for non-payment. That hasn't been my experience. I had two deadbeats who claimed illness in the family which made it impossible for them to make payment on time. Naturally I never received these non-existent payments. So I am carrying three negative feedbacks from two deadbeat buyers. Funny thing about these two fools is that while they were too busy taking care of sick relatives (do you hear the violins yet?) to pay me, they were able to purchase from and pay others. The incredibly rude customer service people at ebay should be more diligent.

ebay: - I'm glad I'm not one of your stockholders. :)

If you were a customer of spartasoap on ebay, I have a website @ spartasoap.com or if you feel safer going through a middleman, I am on spartasoap on etsy.

moo cards

Moo cards are like business cards only smaller. Moo card dimensions are 28mm by 70mm, which is very roughly 1" x 2 3/4" just to give some idea.

Cards are purchased 100 at a time and you can use up to 100 different images. Info is on the back, so you get full use of the front of the card. They are fun and new enough so that people take notice when you share them. Moo cards may be purchased from MOO.com.

Here are my past and present cards:

ebay woes

Lately, approximately 10% of my sales to new customers on ebay are not paid for. These sales are usually to new ebay accounts with less than 10 transactions. 'Buyers remorse', I suppose. I hope this trend doesn't continue for long or increase. It is time consuming to keep track of when to file for non-paying bidder so I can get my final value fees refunded.

black tea leaf soap

I posted this image on my flickr account and it immediately received quite a few views. Here it is complete with description.

Black Tea Leaf - Our Black Tea Leaf is scented with Clary Sage & Cardamom. It reminds us of a strong cup of black tea. This bar is loaded with black and orange pekoe tea leaves to give it quite a bit of scrub.

Ingredients: olive oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, water, sodium hydroxide, rice bran oil, essential oils of clary sage & cardamom, black & orange pekoe tea

-> Please note that our exfoliating soap has quite a bit of texture. If you have a more delicate skin, you may want to avoid this soap or limit it's use to feet and hands.

Black Tea Leaf can be purchased at spartasoap.com

Gingered Spice - New spice soap for summer

We've reformulated our All Spice soap for summer. Gingered Spice has a more subtle scent and is lightly warm & spicy. The predominant scent is ginger.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Essential Oils of Cinnamon Leaf, Benzoin, Clove bud, Ginger, Nutmeg, & Allspice, Allspice, Paprika Extract

Note: People with sensitive skin should avoid spice essential oils and spices in soap.

Gingered Spice can be purchased @ spartasoap.com.

squalane - revisited

Sparta Soap is now offering Squalane in 0.5 FL oz square hand frosted bottles:


Squalane can be purchased from the Sparta Soap website: spartasoap.com
Use the menu on the left of the page and click on Squalane.

More information:
Olive Squalane is a colorless, light oil derived from olive oil. It has a silky feel, sinks in fast and is not greasy. It is excellent under make-up or before bedtime. Like olive oil, it does not interfere with normal skin functions. Our Olive Squalane is packaged in our own hand frosted 1 fluid ounce dropper bottle and a hand frosted 0.5 ounce square bottle. A few drops is all most skin types need. We've tried various serum pumps, but they often stop working before the product is used up. Our squalane is unscented and odorless. Ingredients: Squalane

almond apricot, rosemary tea thyme, rose white, chamomile

Almond Apricot, Rosemary Tea Thyme, Rose White & Chamomile (5 ways)are back in stock.

Almond Apricot - Our Almond Apricot soap is made with almond meal and apricot kernel. The scent blend of Bitter Almond & Palmarosa is a little sweet and a little "fruity". As always, the lather is rich and creamy!
Ingredients: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sweet Almond Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Essential Oils of Bitter Almond & Palmarosa, Almond Meal, Apricot Seed, Annatto Seed Extract (color)

Rosemary Tea Thyme - More than Rosemary, our Rosemary Tea Thyme soap contains an herbal blend of Rosemary, Tea Tree, Spearmint & White Thyme. The scent is herbal and very fresh. We've also added extracts of Parsley and Green Tea.
Ingredients: olive oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, water, sodium hydroxide, rice bran oil, , essential oils of rosemary, tea tree, spearmint & white thyme, extracts of green tea & parsley

Rose White - This highly fragrant soap is scented with an essential oil blend of Rose Geranium and soft Bulgarian Lavender. We've added Calamine Powder for rich lather and topped with rose petals. Please note that rose petals may be brushed off before use.
Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Essential Oils of Bulgarian Lavender & Geranium, Calamine Powder, Rose Petals

Chamomile - Our Chamomile soap is most luxurious. We've used Chamomile five ways for this soap: Roman Chamomile Essential Oil, our soap oils have been infused with Chamomile Flowers & Calendula Petals, Chamomile Tea instead of water, a little ground Chamomile added to the soap and Chamomile flowers on top. Please note that the chamomile scent is light.
Ingredients: olive oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, water (infused with chamomile), sodium hydroxide, rice bran oil, chamomile, essential oils of german chamomile & roman chamomile, chamomile, calendula & annatto seed extract

Can be purchased at spartasoap.com

monoi ylang

Our Monoi (pronounced Mah-noy) Ylang soap contains 21% Monoi de Tahiti. Monoi de Tahiti is made by soaking the tiare gardenia flowers in coconut oil. Our Monoi de Tahiti does not contain any added fragrance. We've added Ylang Ylang & Bergamot essential oils for the scent. Ylang ylang is a sweet floral, but we've tempered it with bergamot. But if you don't like ylang ylang, this won't be the soap for you. We've included white & yellow clays, which make for a very rich lather.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Monoi de Tahiti (Coconut Oil, Gardenia Tahitensis Flower Extract), Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Essential Oils of Ylang Ylang & Bergamot, White & Yellow Kaolin Clay, Jasmine flower extract

Can be purchased @ spartasoap.com. It will be listed under "extreme luxury" in left side menu.

cocoa butter soap

We've created a soap with 25% cocoa butter. We are making one batch of this, so when it's gone, it's gone! The scent is a complex blend of cocoa, vanilla, sweet orange and geranium. This is a very luxe soap with rich lather. It is highly fragrant. The color is from cocoa powder. This soap can be purchased here beginning March 10th. It will be listed under "extreme luxury" in left side menu.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Cocoa Butter, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Essential Oils/Absolutes of Sweet Orange, Geranium, Vanilla, & Cocoa, Cocoa Powder

Ginger Lemongrass Salt Spa Bar

Salt bars (also called "spa" bars) are soap to which salt is added. Salt bars have a thin lotion type of lather rather than large fluffy bubbles. The scent is a blend of essential oils. It starts out with Ginger but is sweetened with Orange and brightened with Lemongrass. Can be used in place of your regular soap. There will be a little more lather when used with a washcloth or bath pouf.

Ingredients: Salt, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Olive Oil, Essential Oils of Ginger, Sweet Orange & Lemongrass, Ginger

Can be purchased @ spartasoap.com

fall soap

Available Oct. 25th:

sugarplum - allspice, cassia & palmarosa
pumpkin pie spice - cinnamon leaf, benzoin, clove bud, ginger, nutmeg, allspice & palmarosa
poinsettia - ylang ylang & clove bud
loofah - lemon & lavender with a loofah slice embedded
anisette - anise essential oil

chamomile chamomile chamomile chamomile chamomile

Our Chamomile soap is most luxurious. We've used Chamomile five ways for this soap: German and Roman Chamomile Essential Oil, Olive Oil infused with Chamomile Flowers, Chamomile Tea instead of water, a little ground Chamomile added to the soap and Chamomile flowers on top. This is an exceptionally nice soap for those who like hot baths in the winter. Please note that the chamomile scent is very light.
Ingredients: olive oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, water (infused with chamomile), sodium hydroxide, rice bran oil, chamomile, essential oils of german chamomile & roman chamomile, annatto seed extract

just rosemary

Rosemary Herbal - Rosemary has been a favorite of our customers (and ours!) for years. That isn't surprising. Rosemary has a fresh, herbal scent.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Rosemary Essential Oil, Alfalfa

We love single note fragrances. Rosemary essential oil is so nice by itself.

This soap can be purchased at spartasoap.com

black pepper soap - black pepper essential oil

Black Pepper - This luxury soap is scented with the oil of the same black peppercorns that you cook with. The fragrance is bold, but not strong. While we enjoy blending, we also love single note fragrances - especially this one. This is a favorite of men and women who buy for men! We've added a little cracked black pepper for fun.

Ingredients: olive oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, water, sodium hydroxide, rice bran oil, black pepper essential oil, black pepper
You can purchase this at spartasoap.com!

dragon's blood

Our Dragon's Blood soap is different from the rest. We have developed an essential oil blend (rather than use a synthetic fragrance) and added real Dragon's Blood resin. The incense-like fragrance is a complex blend of essential oils (see ingredients list below). This is a heavy, sultry scent that is popular with both men and women. As with all of our soap, this is sudsy, mild and oh so luxurious!

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Dragon’s Blood Resin, Essential Oils of Patchouli, Bitter Almond, Amber Essence, Peru Balsam, Bulgarian Lavender, Virginia Cedarwood, Geranium, Black Pepper

And just so you know: Dragon's Blood Resin is from the berries of a type of palm tree and is not from a dragon. :)

Get it here: spartasoap.com

soap: ginger lemongrass salt bar & vetiver balsam

	Ginger Lemongrass Salt Bar - They're back! Salt bars (also called "spa" bars) are soap to which salt is added. Salt bars have a thin lotion type of lather rather than large fluffy bubbles. The scent is a blend of essential oils. It starts out with Ginger but is sweetened with Orange and brightened with Lemongrass. Can be used in place of your regular soap. There will be a little more lather when used with a washcloth or bath pouf. Ingredients: Salt, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Olive Oil, Essential Oils of Ginger, Sweet Orange & Lemongrass, Ginger
Sparta Soap is at: spartasoap.com
	Vetiver & Balsam - Smokey vetiver with just a hint of lightly sweet peru balsam (essential oils) combine to give this soap an earthy yet clean fragrance. White clay makes for rich and stable suds. Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Rice Bran Oil, Balsam Peru, Vetiver Oil, Amber, White Kaolin Clay