Category Archives: M. GRACE

DIY Hair Mask made with 3 natural ingredients…

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The Happier Homemaker Hair Mask

Photo courtesy of the Happier Homemaker

As I mentioned a few weeks ago one of the projects I want to tackle this summer was trying some natural recipes that M. GRACE and I find interesting and hopefully you do as well.  The first tutorial we posted about was the DIY Eyelash Growing Serum from Whipped Green Girl.  Today we are intrigued with the 3 Ingredient Moisturizing DIY Hair Mask from The Happier Homemaker.

I love the personal reason Melissa from The Happier Homemaker mentions for her need to develop this recipe because I too love my hot iron.  Plus she’s right about the wonders and benefits of coconut oil.  This recipe is fantastic because it needs only 3 ingredients and I like things to be as simple as possible.Pure GRACE Soap Hair Mask

M. GRACE (8) and I made this recipe per the directions.  Actually she did all the mixing including cracking the egg.  She added the coconut oil to the bowl first, then the avocado and mashed them together.  Finally she added the egg and mixed again.  I began to work the mask into M. GRACE’s hair.  Melissa mentioned the coconut oil will warm up in your hands and traditionally this does happen for me but since the egg and avocado were both straight out of the fridge I was having trouble getting the oil to warm and mix into the rest of it.  M. GRACE has pretty short hair for a girl so I worked plenty of mask into her hair and sent her to go look at herself in the mirror.  I wanted to try the mask as well and there was plenty left but first I warmed it in the microwave for about 30 seconds and it was long enough to begin the melting of the coconut oil.  I was able to smooth out the oil and really incorporate it into the mask mixture better than before and it made the process much easier for me.  I had enough mask left to do my whole head of above the shoulder but thick hair.

M. GRACE and I enjoyed wearing this mask for about 15 minutes and then rinsed it out.  She was most thrilled that the water came out green.  Our hair felt great and looked shiny, fuller and softer.  We will probably try this treatment again possibly once every 2 weeks like The Happier Homemaker recommends.  We would definitely recommend this mask to our readers.

If you end up trying this recipe we would love to hear about your experience in the comments.

It’s our One Year Anniversary…

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June 14 2014Happy Anniversary to us!  It’s been a whole year since M. GRACE asked to be part of our local Farmer’s Market and we developed Pure GRACE Soap.  Our first show was exactly one year ago today and it was the Herb Faire, a fantastic show we had shopped for years before ever thinking we would be vendors at it.  That year we had wonderful weather and a happy M. GRACE standing at the front of our tent asking people if they would like to smell her soap.  She was a natural, speaking with new customers and telling them about the products we had been working so hard on.  She won them over that day with her sweet smile and young entrepreneurial skills but whats been more exciting is that they continue to come back week after week and month after month seeking us out at different shows and online for our all natural products.  Who knew a simple request from a then 7 year old girl and a mom who would want to encourage her daughter to live out her dreams and learn some life lessons along the way would turn into a real company that is (if we do say so ourselves…) doing some pretty cool things!

So a HUGE thanks to all of our customers and clients who have supported us every step of the way.  We could not do it without you.  You HAVE made a difference in our lives.  And we LOVE you all!  Keep a close eye on us to see what this year brings.

Resident Business of the Month Article…

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Southern Deming LivingWe were honored to be including in the local magazine, Southern Deming Living, as the resident business of the month this month.  The article in its entirely can be found below:

Pure GRACE Soap
Written by Julie Manson

Over a year ago my daughter Madeleine asked if we could participate in the Terre Haute Farmers Market. Madeleine had spent a lot of Saturday mornings at the Market getting fruits and vegetables (and cupcakes) with her dad while I was home with our infant son. My husband Tom always made the trip to the Market fun, including a yummy father daughter breakfast from Clabber Girl or Square Donuts after getting supplies. While considering Madeleine’s request, she told me how she thought the vendors seemed to have such a good time and genuinely enjoyed being at the Market. She liked having conversations with them, learning about how they grow their produce and why they made the decisions they did about selling their wares. I knew then that opening a booth at the Market would not only provide Madeleine and me with a great opportunity for some one on one time (she was feeling the stresses of a new baby brother), but it would allow me to teach her life lessons that she couldn’t get from a book and fulfil her wish to sell “something” at the Market. So I agreed, we’d open a shop, and with that, Pure GRACE Soap was born.

It didn’t take us long to figure out what we wanted to make and sell at the Market. Like a lot of other kids, Madeleine had dry, chapped lips in the winter months. It had gotten so bad that winter that I had taken her to our dermatologist in Indy and she had prescribed three different prescriptions to get the issue under control. Once I saw the list of ingredients, mostly chemical words I could not pronounce nor understand, I said no way, there has to be a better solution. Luckily there was. Coincidently a friend had made our family some all-natural lip balm for a Christmas present and after trying it and seeing it heal Madeleine’s lips seemingly overnight we knew our direction.

We have always been a rather “green” family. We compost, we try to eat as organically as possible. We have gardened on and off. I tossed the plastic years ago in exchange for glass. I made my own baby food when it wasn’t on many others radar and have been crafty on and off for years. I began researching soap and other body products and quickly put together a rough idea of what our Farmers Market booth would be – soaps, scrubs, salts, lotions, lip chaps, detergents and wool dryer balls. At the core it would be products we believed in – products Tom and I would feel comfortable using on our kids and products which were all natural, homemade and made in small batch. Many recipes and test batches later Madeleine, who goes by M. GRACE for business purposes for Pure GRACE Soap, and I were ready to setup at our first show.

Our first show was the Herb Faire at Fairbanks Park last May 2014. It was a wonderful experience! We met so many amazing customers who were interested in all natural skin care and bath and body options just like us. Madeleine would stand at the entrance of our booth and invite them to smell her soap as they walked by. It was pretty hard to resist a sweet girl asking you to smell soap and eventually they would come in to the booth to see what else we had for sale. The Farmers Market season began in June and it was great to see Madeleine enjoying her request to be part of it. She was even featured in a newspaper article during the opening weekend which was a highlight for her.

Since the Herb Faire and Farmers Market we have released dozens of new soaps. Our product line and customer base has grown larger than either of us ever could have imagined. We have added moisturizing bath bombs, facial sugar scrubs in addition to body sugar scrubs, a complete line of men’s soaps and spa soaps made exclusively with essential oils and skin benefiting clays. We have a new activated charcoal facial soap bar coming out soon along with two types of shampoo bars which are great for travel. Our dryer balls have somewhat of a cult following – they are an no static all-natural alternative for removing chemically laden dryer sheets and fabric softener from your laundry routine.

Through this experience Madeleine has learned more than I ever anticipated she would. She has learned to step outside of her comfort zone and approach (friendly) strangers, she can speak extensively about our products. She has helped to develop many of the recipes and scents. She provides her insight as to what pictures to place on the website and social media. She has real thoughts about what makes a product worth a certain price and what quality really means. I am glad she came up with the request to be part of the Farmers Market, we have both enjoyed seeing Pure GRACE Soap grow and develop.

You can find us at area craft and art shows throughout the year along with the indoor and outdoor Downtown Terre Haute Farmers Market. Our online store and a listing of our retail locations can be found on our website at www.pureGRACEsoap.com. We ship worldwide and routinely take custom orders.

This May is not only our one year anniversary of being in business but also our first Hobnob Marketplace show of the season. We will be launching our Spring/Summer line of soaps at this show and the Herb Faire (Mother’s Day weekend). We will be featuring special promotions and have lots of Mother’s Day gifts ready for gift giving. The outdoor Farmers Market begins again the first Saturday in June and you can expect to see some great Father’s Day gift ideas from us including Bacon Soap, Beer Soap and the launch of our Beard Line including beard oils and waxes and our new Men’s Shaving Line of soaps.

We’d love to have you keep up to date with what we are doing on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pureGRACEsoap and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PureGRACESoap. You can contact us anytime at info@pureGRACEsoap.com.

Earth Days 2015…

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Article April 2015We had the privilege of vendoring at two Earth Day events this month.  The first was midweek at Indiana State University and the second was the following Saturday at Saint Mary of the Woods College, White Violet Center for Eco-Justice.  We really enjoyed both of these events.  The weather was spectacular each day and there was a comfortable, happy feel in the air.

We decided to demo how to felt a bar of soap at our first Earth Day celebration.  The process is not difficult and one we really enjoy.  Jessica, our assistant, was on hand with me (Julie) at the show.  She took care of helping customers with their purchases while I demonstrated the felting process and answered questions about it.  We had several thousand students and visitors come thru during the time we were set up, it was great to meet and talk to so many new people.spring 2015

The process of wet felting wool onto a bar of soap will actually make the bar of soap inside last longer than a traditional bar of soap.  When the wool gets wet it does not feel rough or scratchy, rather it softens up and provides a gentle exfoliation.  Using a wool felted bar of soap feels much like using a washcloth and soap all in one.

Indiana State University sent out a press release on our demonstration plans and we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves on the front page of Valley Life the Sunday before the event.  It prompted us to make several wool felted soap kits so our clients could make their own bars at home.  They were a success and everyone seemed to like them with a few customers even sending us pictures of the bars they made at home.  The kits come with all the supplies needed to make one bar of felted soap along with directions and your choice of bar of soap.

Although we did not do any demo at the following event at Saint Mary’s we did have a great time connecting with our customers one on one.  The pace of that show was a little slower and just perfect for visiting and catching up.  The campus at Saint Mary’s is old, well maintained and stunningly beautiful, if you ever find yourself in the area I would highly recommend you take a few minutes to relax, recharge and reconnect with the Earth there.

 

New Branding with Labels…

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New labels frontIt seems like we have been working on our new branding and product labels forever, but its really been only a couple of months.  When we first launched Pure GRACE Soap we quickly developed a brand and look we liked, it worked well for us for a year until we were ready to add a more professional appearance.  We are lucky to live and work in a college town where there is  no shortage of talented artists.  We quickly found a wonderful local graphic artist who is about to graduate college with her degree and was more than happy to help us with our project.  We like to support local and small business just as you support us!!Orange Almond 1

Initially we knew what type of function we needed for the product labels and had some ideas of what we liked and what we wanted to keep from the old label but did not have a true design in mind.  Our graphic artist was able to present a few different ideas which we have massaged and worked over until we arrived at where we are now.

New labels backIt has been great seeing the design evolve.  M. GRACE and I both really like the new, clean, simple look and we hope our clients will too.  We have been releasing “sneak peek” looks at the labels as they are being finished on our Facebook page.

The new labels include stickers for the lip chaps, lotions, bath bombs, sugar scrubs, laundry detergents and deodorants.  All of the soaps will have a new round double sided paper label attached with pretty colored butchers twine.  The bags which are now available in two sizes have had a makeover and we have new little “enjoy” stickers which will be included on our shipped orders.  Even our wool dryer balls have a new look with special business cards which explain how to use them.  Perhaps our most exciting design element, however, is going to be part of the men’s line.  Watch for a new more masculine bird to roost on all of the men’s line products.  Look for the entire line of products to get their new labels in May.  Until then let us know what you think by leaving us a comment below.

We are Now Available at Local Retail Shops….

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The Parlor Hair Salon Oct 20142In case you didn’t hear we were happy to have our product stocked at not one but two retail locations last week. Select Pure GRACE Soap products will now be available year round at Harvest Bakery located at 905 S. 25th St Terre Haute, IN. Stop in and tell Marta, the owner, M. GRACE says HI!

The second retail location Pure GRACE Soap products are now available is The Parlor Salon located at 5 S. 7th Street, Terre Haute, IN. A variety of soaps and lotion sticks are currently available. We are very excited to have our product here!

Show us your Pure GRACE Soap in Action…

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We ran a fun giveaway this week on our Facebook page.  We asked all of you to show us your Pure GRACE Soap in action.  We asked everyone to choose a setting which would appeal to M. GRACE and show us your soap having fun.  We didn’t care if it had already been used or was brand new. We suggested you might want to make your soap read a book or dress up in a Halloween costume.  The funnier and more imaginative pictures, the better.

We had some very creative entries and it was very hard for M. GRACE to pick one winner.  So we didn’t.  We picked two!

The first place winner was from our customer Meghan Salinas.  She and her daughter worked on this setup together and M. GRACE loved it!  Meghan and her daughter won twenty dollars worth of product of their choice.  Her caption reads: “Oh, no!  Splinter wanted to steal E’s favorite Pure Grace plum wine soap!  Thanks goodness Leonardo held him off while the other ninja turtles rescued the soap so that E can bathe tonight!”Meghan Salinas

The second winning photo came from Haley Scholz with the help of her gorgeous fur babies.  M.GRACE loves animals.  Haley won a bar of soap of her choice.  Her caption read: “Ughhhh mom we don’t want a bath unless it’s with your fancy soap…”Haley Scholtz

Thanks to everyone who participated and please watch for our next giveaway.
This giveaway is now closed.

Holiday scents, we are so excited…and our first GIVEAWAY…

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apple ciderSo we have been working on the holiday scents for several months.  We started in the beginning of summer thinking about what scents meant fall, winter and holiday to M. GRACE and myself.  We made lists and checked them twice.  We ultimately decided on seven different scents which we felt were most important to not only us, but that we thought you would like too.

So here goes…..
The first holiday soap is an Apple Cider soap and this might be my (Julie) favorite of all of them.  It literally smells like apple cider, in bar form.  This soap contains French Red Clay throughout which gives it a caramel color and dried apple peel on top.  We test all of the new soaps but I have to tell you, once I got to this one I kinda got stuck and haven’t yet moved on to some of the others – I like it that much.  I hope you do too.  This soap will be in stock all fall/winter season long.pumpkin spice 1

The second holiday soap is M. GRACE’s favorite – Pumpkin Spice.  The thing that really gets me excited about this soap is the inclusion of organic squash.  Squash is really great for your skin and body.  Squash helps to maintain healthy skin and prevents skin aging (its the Vitamin C in there that really does it).  Along with the organic squash this bar also contains pumpkin pie spice.  Why you ask?  Well, because it’s fall and pumpkin season and that’s what you put in pie so why not in your pumpkin soap?  The bar has a pretty two color swirl comprised of the dark color from the spice and the orange color of the squash.  It smells just like fall, comfort and warmth. This soap will be in stock all fall/winter season long.

holiday vanillaThe third holiday soap is a pretty versatile one which you might just wish was available all year long, we call it Holiday Vanilla, you might call it heaven.  This is a two colored bar with the bottom layer being brown and the top layer of the bar a natural color with added coffee grounds which not only look attractive but also provide excellent skin exfoliation.  The scent is a very true vanilla, none of that fake stuff here and the color contrast is very pleasing.  This soap will be in stock all fall/winter season long.

Wondering why I am mentioning which soaps will be in stock all fall/winter long??  Well because we have created some limited editions and guess what – they won’t be in stock all fall/winter long.  When they are gone, they are gone folks.spiced cream

Number four on our holiday countdown list – Spiced Cream Soap.   This is our lightest scented bar, hosting a creamy spiced smell.  The bar itself is a tri color swirl comprised of a dark spice color and scent, a caramel color and a natural color.  This bar is very dreamy.  This bar is a limited edition and once it runs out we will not make more until next year.

figgy soapSoap number five is Figgy Soap.  We struggled with what to name this bar but Figgy Pie just kept coming back to me – I really have never smelt a Figgy Pie, is it even a thing?  But if it was, it would smell alot like this soap.  So hence, we committed to Figgy Soap.  I like the smell of figs.  I grew up eating them off a tree in our backyard.  I would eat them until I couldn’t eat anymore.  I enjoy buying them now for my family and even just planted a fig tree earlier this summer in our yard.  So Figgy Soap excites me. Plus the coloring on this soap is really pretty.  It is a two toned bar with French Green Clay and Brazilian Purple Clay swirl.  Both are natural colorants which offer the skin lots of detox and purification properties while still moisturizing.  We have added mulling spices to the top just for decoration and because I think it makes this little bar of soap a little piece of art.  This bar is a limited edition and once it runs out we will not make more until next year.lump of coal

The sixth soap is just plain fun!  Titled Lump of Coal Soap, this bar smells a lot like gingerbread.  We made it especially for those folks who have been a tad bit naughty this holiday season.  It has a lovely black and brown swirl look to it.  The black is from activated charcoal which will help to dry out any oily skin while still moisturizing.  I know some people on my Christmas list who might be receiving this in their stocking…but I won’t name names. This bar is a limited edition and once it runs out we will not make more until next year.

Bar number seven is one I have wanted to work on for a long time, before we started the soap endeavor, actually.  It is a Peppermint Wool Felted Soap.  This bar of soap is made from Peppermint Essential Oils and Red Brazilian Clay.  It is then hand wool felted and instantly becomes the most attractive gift for the holidays.  Each one is unique in color and design. This bar is a limited edition and once it runs out we will not make more until next year.

Peppermint Wool Hand Felted Soap

So there you have it – our seven new scents for the holidays.  They will be released this weekend at the Farmer’s Market (Saturday September 27) or they are available for pre-order now.  All bars except for the Peppermint Wool Felted Soap will be available for $5 each.  The Peppermint Wool Felted Soap is $10 each.  We will also be bringing out holiday inspired sugar scrubs and lotions in early October so stay tuned.

So I promised you a GIVEAWAY in the title of this post – and who am I to disappoint??  We will be giving away two sets of two bars each of the new holiday collection to two lucky winners.  M. GRACE will announce the winners who will be selected by random draw on September 26, 2014.  You may choose to pick up your winner’s bounty at the Farmer’s Market this weekend or we will ship it to you if you are not local.  Best of luck!!

Here is what you want to to do enter.  Leave us a comment/reply on our soap product page about WHICH SOAP is your favorite and WHY.  If you haven’t had a chance to try any of our soaps yet – no problem,  tell us in the comments which one of the holiday scents you really want to try and why.  Link is here: http://puregracesoap.com/products/soap/

After you have finished leaving your comment go back to our Facebook page and leave a comment on the giveaway post telling us you left a comment on the website.  Link is here: https://www.facebook.com/puregracesoap

Want more chances to enter??  Who doesn’t??
Leave separate comments for us on ANY or ALL of the Pure GRACE Soap products you have tried.  Remember to go back and let us know on the FB posting.

AND, if you haven’t already LIKED us on Facebook make sure to do that for an additional entry.  Feel free to share this giveaway with your friends.  It is the holiday season and they might just gift you with some soap as a thank you!

Our booth and the farmer’s market update…

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It’s been awhile since we have updated everyone on our booth at the Terre Haute Downtown Farmers Market (Terre Haute, IN). The market runs every Saturday from the beginning of June to the end of October.  The early season hours are 8a-noon.  We are now in the late season hours which are 9a-noon.  It tends to be dark at 8a in the fall, not to mention, sometimes pretty chilly.  The market is located outdoors in the Clabber Girl parking lot at 9th and Cherry Streets, its hard to miss.

washing board sept 2014We are hard to miss.  We usually come with “The Pink Lady”, our 1950’s washing machine.  She is fantastic about letting us load and unload her each week.  She loves to display our laundry detergents.

Some weeks we roll with a two compartment sink.  This week we ran with a second vintage ironing board instead.  This is the area where we have the tester sugar scrubs.  And boy do they get some testin’.  The sugar scrubs are great for your body because not only do they gently scrub away that top layer of yuckiness but they leave behind some wonderful and nourishing skin-lovin’ oils which stay with you all day.sugar scrubs sept 2014

The wool dryer balls continue to be in high demand!  We love making these babies and love that our customers are as excited about them as we are.  Recently we had some Rose Hulman students come to market to ask several vendors about what products are sustainable, environmentally conscience and the like.  We are really proud of our wool balls which help to dry your clothes faster and with less electricity.  Not to mention, there are no chemicals involved and they do not have to be replaced, they last for years.  Several of the students were so impressed with the product they purchased some to use with their own laundry.

wool dryer balls sept 20142We have a new table we just started bringing to market.  We picked it up at a cool antique store in Jasper, IN and it was actually made there several years ago.  It has a white enamel top and white painted legs.  Currently this lovely piece sits out front of the booth showcasing all of the soap bars.New table display

Thanks to all of our wonderful customers, we are loving our first season at the Terre Haute Downtown Farmers Market.  If you have not had a chance to come out and see M. GRACE, the product and the booth we would love it if you took the time!!