Meeting a Soapy Friend

Rainbow Sherbet and Raspberry Violet by Glad Heart Soaps

Isn't technology great? Through the magic of The Online, I have met many new soapmaker friends via forums and Facebook. Most of my soapy friends are virtual friends that I may never actually meet face-to face. But it can be a small world out there sometimes, and you may find that your virtual friends are closer than you realize.

And that is how, a couple of days ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Laura from Glad Heart Soaps in person. We first met online at the Teach Soap forum. Then I followed Laura's Facebook Page, and she followed mine. After chatting with each other a bit on our Pages, we became official Facebook friends.

It turns out, Laura and I live about 100 miles away from each other. Recently, she was planning a visit to my neck of the woods and contacted me to arrange a rendezvous. Last Friday, we met up for lunch to talk soap (and other things). We also swapped some soapy gifts. Laura brought me bars of her Rainbow Sherbet and Raspberry Violet soaps, as well as samples of Iced Tea, Peach Smoothie, Mojito, and Raspberry Lemonade. She also gave me samples from several of her other soaps and a gorgeous washcloth that her mother knitted. Her soaps look as beautiful as they smell, and I am sure that they will be a treat to use! I gave Laura a couple of bars of my Wasabi and Carrot, Orange, and Ginger soaps. I wish that I had brought more for her!

Soapy samples: Laura's Raspberry Lemonade, Peach Smoothie, Mojito, and Iced Tea

As you may know, Laura was selected to be a tester for Bramble Berry's S.O.A.P. Panel mystery fragrances. As a panel member, she received ten unidentified fragrance oils from Bramble Berry and was asked to soap with the scents, document her experience, and provide feedback on how the fragrances smell and behave. Laura brought the mystery fragrances to lunch, along with some samples of the soaps she had made so far. I had the opportunity to sniff each fragrance out of the bottle as well as in the soap.

So there we sat in our little booth at a crowded restaurant, sniffing from mysterious-looking amber glass bottles and taking notes. That's not weird at all, right?

It's very interesting to smell fragrances when you don't know what said fragrance is supposed to be. When you get a fragrance oil that is labeled "Brown Sugar & Fig," for example, you sniff it and think, "Ah, of course that's brown sugar and figs." But when you don't know what you're supposed to be smelling, your brain tosses a bunch of strange ideas around, leaving you confused.

Me and Laura

There were many scents that we sorta agreed on, but it seemed like we rarely both interpreted a fragrance in quite the same way. A couple of times we both had very different first impressions of the same scent. For example, there was one scent that Laura described in her notes as being holiday-like with notes of menthol and evergreen. I took a whiff and confidently proclaimed, "Pink bubblegum"! Another one I smelled as a citrusy, orange-tangerine fragrance; Laura thought it was more of a green or Fresh Snow-type scent. We both agreed that one smelled like a pear tart, though. To see more of both my and Laura's first impressions of the S.O.A.P. panel fragrances, head over to Laura's blog and read about our fun afternoon together!

And while you're at it, please check out Laura's Etsy shop, and follow the Glad Heart Soaps blog and Facebook Page!

Thank you again to Laura for a wonderful afternoon and the soapy gifts! I love trying out other people's soaps, and I can't wait to try hers. And I am also anxiously awaiting Bramble Berry's official unveiling of the S.O.A.P. Panel fragrances, especially after having the rare opportunity to sniff them myself!