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Rebecca & Anthony......are a perfect wife and husband team who share a passion for crafting cold process soap. The focus of their eclectic and vibrant soap recipes are to invoke the olfaction sense and to model recipes of a by-gone era when soap was meant to leave the body feeling hydrated and invigorated. Handpicked harvest from our own garden helps to infuse oils and water which compose our soap recipes. We believe in utilizing environmentally responsible raw soap ingredients as well as packaging to minimize our impact on the environment.
BARR's is a play on the first names of our family individuals... B ... Brynne (our youngest daughter) A ... Anthony R ... Roslyn (our oldest daughter) R ... Rebecca |
How we came to make soap...
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Anthony, was on a plane flying back home from a meeting with a client, whom suggested to watch "A Good Year" with Russell Crowe. The movie location is based in Provence, France where Crowe's uncle passes away and leaves him with his wine estate. While Crowe is settling his inheritance (he planned to sell it), he stays at the estate and notices a small box of dried lavender on the window sill and throws it away. Little did he know, that little box of lavender kept the scorpions from coming through the open window at night.
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Well that little box of lavender sparked our interest to plant lavender (as well as mint and roses) in our backyard as a way to spruce up our small city backyard. We soon learned the delicate smell of lavender lingered around the patio which sparked our interest as to how we could use the lavender in our house. Quick internet searches directed us to drying the lavender flowers and using them to make "infused oils" to then use in handmade cold process soap recipes.
We made our first batch in the Autumn of 2014 and were so pleased with the result, that we passed samples along to several of our family and friends. The out pour of positive responses and the love for our new hobby gave us the confidence to turn our hobby into our very own "handmade soap business".
We made our first batch in the Autumn of 2014 and were so pleased with the result, that we passed samples along to several of our family and friends. The out pour of positive responses and the love for our new hobby gave us the confidence to turn our hobby into our very own "handmade soap business".
Crash course education...
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Early on, we were to determined to create a product of utmost quality for gifts to family and friends for the holidays. Our venture has now blossomed into an intrigued market of customers, inquisitive of our high quality handmade soap.
Understanding the key differences between commercially created soap and handmade soap is vital. "True" handcrafted soap is made from scratch by combining vegetable or animal fats, water, and lye. When combined, a chemical reaction called "saponification" occurs. During this process, the ingredients of oils, butters, water, and lye, turn into soap and glycerin and the end result is pure soap that cleanses and hydrates your skin. See how we hand craft our soap; click here! |
Commercial soap manufacturers produce soap with economical ingredients which mainly include synthetic "detergents". They also remove the "glycerin", by-product of producing soap, which helps to gently cleanse and naturally moisture the skin. It makes you wonder why so many manufacturers of "detergent soap" also sell "skin moisturizers".
Experience the 'Ol Sensation!
We prune our garden's harvest, stick stir our crafted cold process soap, and pour molds of soap to cure. All of our products are handcrafted, and comprised of high standard beneficial ingredients. Our pride is to deliver a product that has therapeutic benefit to the senses.
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Here are some of the other highlights of our products:
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