Mă întreb Lapte

Milk soaps have been around for centuries...used by those who love to have beautiful skin the world over.  What makes milk soaps so favorable?

Soaps made with milks are mild and gentle on the skin, they promote softness and well-conditioned skin.
The most common type of milk used in artisanal soaps is goats milk.  Goats milk provides lactic acid, just as cow's milk, although soaps made with goats milk are said to be creamier in texture, and much closer to our natural ph level.

For those who want a creamy soap, but would desire a vegan product, there's almond, soy coconut and rice milk soaps.  I choose to use plant-derived milks because everyone can truly use them and quality control is easier to manage.

I have chosen to use almond milk in my newest milk soap, "Mă întreb Lapte"...which translates to Wonder Milk. Almond milk contains lots of vitamin E that hydrates, and helps protect your skin. Bathing with any milk soap helps to restore your skins vitality and helps to remove dead skin cells so you'll have a healthy radiant glow.

I made "Mă întreb Lapte" with your skin in mind. It's a gentle handmade soap that has a wonderfully soft vanilla scent, that includes ripened Mediterranean fruits. For more information on the benefits of almonds and almond milk, please visit FitDay.  Also, for a clear and glowing complexion, try out this wonderful almond facial scrub that you can make yourself!

Homemade Almond Scrub

1 tbs baking soda
1 tbs honey
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs ground almonds

* use a coffee grinder or a rolling pin to crush and grind your almonds. You'll want to make them fine, yet a bit crumbly for good exfoliation!  Mix all of the ingredients and apply to freshly cleansed wet skin. Use your fingertips and massage in circular motions. Be sure to avoid your eyes, then rinse off the scrub with warm water. Use this scrub twice a week, you can always make more and keep in the fridge!

I hope you enjoy this easy to make scrub recipe, and please share with friends and family. Looking for a great facial soap? Visit our online store and pick up a couple bars. Ashes 2 Ashes is great for oily/combination skin, "Lavender Ovaz" works well on normal and sensitive skin types, "Zapada" is a great bar for all skin. www.curatclean.com

Do you have a favorite scrub or mask that we all can make? Please post your recipes..thank you!

I watch "Master Class". a show on the OWN network. It's a wonderful time to get to know about celebrities and their take on life and overcoming obstacles. My favorite is with Morgan Freeman. I have known Mr. Freeman since my childhood, not personally, but on the Electric Company!

On this episode of Master Class, Morgan Freeman takes us through the time when he thought he may not successfully obtain the title of ACTOR. What a life he has led and all the courage he faced to get to where he is today. The reason why he succeeded is....PROVIDENCE. If you haven't watched his special, please do it now. It rekindled my beliefs in the 'why' of life. And although I knew of this, and many friends have told me to "hold on", "there is a reason why it's not your time", or a reason why this certain aspect of your life has come to an end. I didn't listen...but God knew I would listen to my childhood mentor, Morgan Freeman!

So I made a soap that puts all of my beliefs back into perspective. And hopefully this will also be the catalyst to rekindle the beliefs of others.....PROVIDENCE!!

And here I am....a return from the long hiatus. It's been a long time since I posted a new blog, however, there's always new goods on the Curat-Romania FaceBook page so make sure you're hooked up to that!

I have been busy with lots of things, mainly cosmetology school, and for those of you who aren't aware, I have been a makeup artist for twelve years an counting. With the recession I decided to go to school for a trade I'm familiar with, Hairdressing, to gain new skills and connect with agencies.

Soap has not taken a back seat! Curat is in many locations ans of course, there's the online store that has been going strong. Blogging has been lost in the shuffle and that is about to change dramatically! Not only have I missed posting, but also missed the great posts by other blogs. My favorite is The Soap Bar Blog. Joanna is always on top of the suds, around the world. I had to catch up on her posts and photos, and what a wonderful way to spend an afternoon or evening. All the newcomers and masters of saponified oils along with sumptuous photos that you will adore are on her blog, so make sure you're visiting her spot every day or you may miss out on something fantabulous!

Okay, back to Curat. There has been a few great soaps made and new ones coming on the scene soon. When I last posted on new offerings it was the trio of Ouija, Alabaster and Mr. Pepperton.  Mr. Pepperton made a fantastic debut, selling out of Butterfly Boutique after every delivery. Men love this soap!

I am really pleased with the performance, but I hope that more chicas will start honing in on this aroma bar.
With the formulation, I wasn't out to hook the dudes on it solely, but that's the way it turned out. Not complaining, but more femme admirers would be appreciated, lol!

Alabaster has really made some headway in the beauty sector of suds....it's very unique and as far as clay soaps go, I am really proud of how this bar turned out. You know I'm alll about being different and giving you guys non-traditional combinations of essential oils and fragrances, so as a clay "break out" soap, not bad.  But once again, the guys jumped on thiis first, I KNOW....RIGHT!!  At first I thought maybe they were purchased as gifts, but nope. Richard E. of Miami had sent me an email about this bar, and he wanted to see it in a larger size. I had asked was his wife/girl friend/ lady friend using it all the time, because maybe we could do a special rate. He told me his wife used it occasionally but he was the fan. Okay, again, not complaining.....just thought the chicas would grab this one first too...wrong, lmbo. Thanks Richard!

Ouija was a given hit. I knew it would fly. How? Because after I made it...I didn't want to sell it!! Yes, it's good and I'm thankful for that. I will let you in on a secret. As a soaper, I get nervous if something will sell or sit. I've had a few bars that sat for the longest. Some I had to ditch making because only a handful of users would love it. One being Pudge!  Sometimes they catch on a little too late and I get discouraged. Ouija is a licorice soap. Licorice is not loved by all of Mankind. So....it was a risk. I had invested in the essential oils and I went all out on this soap. I'm glad it's a top seller..Thank you Lord! And thank all of the Curaties who love this unique soap!! My favorite user being, Jenny Elig, the most vocal about Ouija.

So there you have it....updates on the last three soaps I had introduced months ago...now on to the new new!!

I'm In Skool...Cause I'm Kool!.....................................YEP!

So, I have enrolled in a trade school this fall...lot's of new experiences over the last four weeks, let me tell you! I'm having fun, learning new skills that will have a positive affect on my career, I am so happy.


But..I am still making lots of soap. So please don't worry about not being able to get your Curat fix. Only thing is, I have classes on Saturdays too, normally the days reserved for festivals and markets. Please purchase your Curat soaps from retailers if you live close, also there's the Etsy and Curat online store!

Thank you so much for your support and use of Curat products. I will post about the upcoming holiday sets that are sure to be a hit!

Wordle! You can do it!

Great idea from "The SoapBar" vixen, Joanna, who in turn got this from Celine of "Soaperstar".

Wordle takes your words via plain text or a blog and jumbles them into cool works of art. Here's more..

Via Wordle:    Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends. 

And here's the Curat "Wordle" art! As you can see, Curat is all about your skin! We care about everyone's skin, not just the skin we're in! Enjoy. 

ASHES 2 ASHES...a cult favorite!

When I first introduced this bar, I knew 3 things.

1. The product works. Period.

2. It's relevant.

3. The soap is universal.

So when "ASHES 2 ASHES" first debuted, it did sell pretty good for the first month or so. Then, nothing. Sales dipped way low and I wasn't getting any feedback on the product. I thought, okay....well, let me reformulate or rename this soap because something is wrong here. I knew it worked on me and my girls, but I thought maybe it's not working for EVERYONE. After looking at the formulation I decided I wasn't going to change it. I would just promote it as much as possible, maybe it wasn't getting enough notice.

And what happened next....I received great feedback! Ashes 2 Ashes is first on the list for many people who care for their skin and want to get great results from a product that's great to use and AFFORDABLE. i did reformulate the bar. I was concerned about the pieces of fennel, so I ground them a bit finer.

Most folks want to know what it is and what it does, so here...let's discuss the benefits of activated charcoal! Activated charcoal pulls impurities from your skin and absorbs toxins that your face is exposed to on a daily basis. Charcoal absorbs more poisons than any other substance known to mankind.   Activated Charcoal is charcoal that has been processed with oxygen to make it extremely porous and to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. 

Prolonged use of an activated charcoal product like ASHES 2 ASHES, promotes clearer skin and vitality! I like to make a nice lather in my palm and apply it like a mask to my face. Leave it on for 10 minutes and rinse with warm water. Pat dry with a towel, add your favorite moisturizer and there you go! It's a great skin treatment to use twice a week for clear skin!

Curat Factoid: ASHES 2 ASHES was gifted to Julian Casablancas..lead singer of THE STROKES..