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Vetiver Racinettes Soap V.01

Vetiver Racinettes has arrived back from S.C. - my student and soap maker down in Oregon. And the timing couldn't be better for the Artisan Fragrance Salon in Los Angeles!

We had some challenges with this experimental batch as we tried a few ingredients that are not normally used in soap, so we will have to make another test batch this fall. However, it only affected the look of the soap, and not it's other important attributes: V.01 still performs wonderfully and smells incredibly true to the scent that inspired it.

This cold processed soap has amazing lather - in fact, enough to challenge most shaving creams, and can be easily use as such. It is also quite moisturizing, with castor oil added to the mix for that purpose.

The soap is scented with refreshing, invigorating and quirky notes of vetiver, cardamom, espresso and kaffir lime leaf. I'm especially grateful for this clean scent in my shower while staying in over-heated Los Angeles (highs of 32c/89F today). Makes for a very fresh start for the day and a much-needed cleansing experience in the evening. The scent lingers on the skin after the shower and even garnered some unsolicited comments from my lovely hostess Persephenie!

Vetiver Series Sample Package

Due to popular demand, I'm pleased to announce that the entire Vetiver Series is now available via my Etsy shop. This little gift-wrapped jewelry box contains all 4 mods that lead to Vetiver Racinettes: Vetiver Blanc, Vetiver Noir, Wilde Vetyver and Vetiver Rouge.

Thank you for your interest and support of this fascinating project!

Funny Tea


My grandmother called me yesterday afternoon to thank me for a little care-package I sent her. She asked how business is doing as usual (she's always a fan and also has invested in Ayala Moriel in the past in more ways than just money!), complimented me on the latest news via my newsletter (she even started spamming her friends at the Bridge club, finally getting back at them with all the Powerpoint presentations they bombard her computer with); and told me how impressed she was with my tea.
At this point I started feeling very worried because I could not for the life of me remember sending her any tea in the package (my package included some gourmet British Columbian harvested jams, chocolate and a few other little treats). Now, I sure am not getting younger but I don't expect my memory to be that bad already! I asked her how it was packaged and she said it was in a little fabric bag. At this point I just couldn't help but laugh my head off. This was no tea, this was the Vetiver Racinettes sachet I've sent her! With cardamom pods inside and infused with nutmeg and cardamom essences it sure smelled good enough to eat! My grandmother wasn't the only one who enjoyed the tea, she even shared it with my two brothers and my sister in law when they came for a visit and everybody liked it. We both laughed and laughed...

Thankfully, there was enough left to use the rest of the "tea" as a sachet as intended. I did not send her tea because she told me she only drinks one kind of (herbal) tea- dried lemon verbena from her daughter's garden... But it does encourage me a lot to make my next tea with Dawna, this time with some vetiver root in it and candied ginger. My grandmother is a huge candied ginger fan, and if she enjoyed vetiver with cardamom, I can only imagine her delight with her favourite spice and that earthly root thrown in...

Now I'm off to make myself some tea with some vetiver thrown in, and also call my mom to make sure she does not make tea from her Film Noir sachet (I don't want to imagine my mom drinking patchouli tea, she already has enough 60's influence in her life without that!).

If you are interested in sachets in general, I have them in several scents from my collection, available via AyalaMoriel.com as well as my Etsy shop (listed under home fragrances).
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