Mark your calendars for cozy!
And a chat with Heather about handmade soaps
Kick off the season with two special events
FARIBAULT TRUNK SHOW
Friday, Nov. 3, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
(A trunk show means we’ll have a lot more product to choose from, and a rep from Faribault in-house to answer questions!) Faribault is an American wool mill that has been supplying the military with wool blankets since the 1800s. Their designs (including traditional and contemporary) are incredible heirlooms, useful and rugged and also beautiful.
B-BLESSED FLANNEL SHIRT TRUNK SHOW
Nov. 4, noon to 6 p.m.
Lisa, the maker, will bring her entire collection so you can have your pick of one-of-a-kind, distressed flannel shirts. You can’t have just one!
Heather Warren at Gardenesque with her Natural Olive Oil and Goat Milk soaps. Courtesy photo
You know what else is cozy? A hot bath and a bar of all-natural, locally made soap from Heather Warren at Gardenesque. You know Heather, she’s the one with the beaming smile and big straw hat at Farmer’s Market. We’ve known her for close to ten years, and met with her to develop soaps for the General Store before we’d even opened our doors. When you pick up her soaps, you can smell the pureness of her ingredients, from the custom Blithe scent she does for us, to her seasonal specialties (pumpkin, cinnamon…)
Why are your soaps so much better than the store you buy at the supermarket? (They really are!)
Between the combination of oils I choose and my mad soap making skills, I can create a soap bar which is gentle, yet cleansing- sudsy, yet conditioning. I also love that I can source local olive oil and botanicals for my products. The fatty acid profiles of the oils chosen by a soapmaker in a soap recipe can offer breadth and depth of skin benefits in a resulting bar of soap that commercial bars can’t touch. Too, handcrafted soaps are made using oils which still contain their natural glycerin which is otherwise often removed in commercial soap making processes.
What made you start making soaps?
In the early 2000s, the soapmaker whose soap I had purchased and used for years was moving out of state and no longer going to make soap! This soap was so good to my skin that I couldn’t let it go. I purchased her supplies and she taught me her soapmaking “secrets” over several days.
What’s the weirdest scent you’ve used that you ended up really liking?
Leather. I liked an earth scent (aka dirt) rather well too.
Favorite thing to do in Paso?
I’m a California girl and there’s no place I’d rather be. I love the Paso area hills and canyons, the smell of oak trees and sun on the soil. I adore being a passenger (or a pedestrian,) gazing around, seeing things I might not have noticed when I’m driving.
Thank you, Heather, for the care you bring to your soaps, and the smile you share when deliver them : )
See you November 3 & 4! ~ The General Store Team
