It's true.

This time of year, we say the F word an awful lot in the soap room. 

You hear it occasionally throughout the month of February.

But by March, it's all over the place.

Farmers Markets.

What'd you think I was talking about?!

We are getting applications in the mail, and plan to return to all of our usual spots.

We spring cleaned the soap room to get ready for the onslaught of insanity that is about to hit as we scurry to make enough soap for all our Farmers Market peeps.

So shiny and organized!

And of course this year we'll be letting Evie, our two year old, run the show again.

That's behind the scenes last season at the Homegrown Alabama market in Tuscaloosa.

You'll find us faithful every week at : Calera Farmers Market on Tuesdays from 3-6 pm,  Homegrown Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Thursdays from 3-6 pm, and Helena Market Days on Saturdays from 8-noon. We hope to see you there!

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And now announcing the winner of the ginormous giveaway for this month, chosen by a random number selection...

 Andi L., who loves geocaching and letterboxing in the spring and shared the giveaway on Facebook, AND signed up for the newsletter! After all that hard work, you need some Cheeky Maiden, Andi! Email me your address at missi(at)cheekymaidensoap(dot)com and we'll get your prizes right out to ya!

 Happy Spring!

Your Cheeky Maiden

It's March! We've almost made it through the winter. (Was that winter we just has here in Alabama? Hard to tell!)

Not only are we here to help you get your skin ready to radiate in the sun, we have some new stuff to give away this month!

(Stick around for details on the giveaway below)

First, the radiating in the sun. Or sweating. Or glistening, like we Southern Belles do. We have a new flavor of Pitty Party for you! It's been my privilege to test this out and I am beyond thrilled. I put some Geranium Lime PittyParty on yesterday morning. It powered through my day with five kids at my heels. It kept me nicely scented all night long with a newborn, and y'all.... I still smelled great after my workout with Jillian Michaels this morning! I'd say we have a winner here! If you like to smell pretty at your pitty party, try some out!

Last summer, many of you got to try the Cedarwood and Lavender Pitty Party and have not ceased to ask for more. Finally, I am happy to present it to you as a nice manly addition to our line of under arm warriors. It's here to stay, people. Get it before it's hot. Hehe.

And finally, one last new kid. I've been wanting to make a lip balm that was slightly tinted and shimmery for a while now, and I finally did it. Oh, and I added a splash of Vanilla. Because anything yummy and shimmery should include vanilla. A little Pink Grapefruit and Vanilla shimmer for your pout!

We did sneak one in that isn't new, but it does look a bit different than you might be use to seeing. We are now infusing the Nettle extract into the oils we use in our Nettle Shampoo Cube instead of just sprinkling them in. Thus, it has a darker color now. We think you'll find it has made your favorite shampoo cube even better!

March Specials!

We had to do a play on March 17th being St. Patrick's Day. It's some sort of unspoken rule. So, we present you with 17% off our favorite get ready for the warm weather products!

And how about that Photoshop job, hmm? Pretty fancy if I do say so myself. And I do. Pretty fancy!

For the month of March you will get 17% Off:

• All flavors of Pitty Party Natural Deodorant (Geranium Lime, Cedarwood Lavender, Spearmint Rosemary, and Clary Sage Lemongrass), only $4.14 this month!
• The Ultimate Foot Scrubbie (PACKED with ground Pumice Stone. You will no longer be embarrassed to show your heels or exhaust your pedicurist. ) Only $4.14 this month!
• Sleepy Feet Foot Balm (Unrefined Shea Butter with Vit. E and Lavender and Mint! Perfect for waking up tired feet or putting achy feet to bed. And great for those embarrassing heels as well.) Only $4.97 this month!
• Chunkie Super Fat Soap. It's super moisturizing, but it's also super cool. We love that peppermint in the shower all year long, but it's super cool when the weather warms up. Also, we have a lot of it in stock right now. Only $4.14 this month!

The Giveaway!!!

One LUCKY winner will receive:

• Their choice: Geranium Lime or Cedarwood Lavender Pitty Party
• Their choice: Pink Grapefruit Lip Balm or Balmy Obsession Lip Balm (Should a man win, we assume you might not want a tinted shimmery lip balm.)
• One Chunkie Soap!
• One Foot Scrubbie
• and stop the madness....One Sleepy Feet Foot Balm!!

How to enter:

• Leave a comment on this blog telling us your favorite Spring Time activity
• Follow us on Twitter and retweet our Tweet about the Giveaway. Then leave a comment here letting us know you did!
• Follow us on Facebook and Share our Status Update about this giveaway! Then leave a comment here letting us know you did.
• Sign up for our newsletter by entering your email address on our home page. Then leave a comment here letting us know you did.
• Follow this blog! Add it to your reader or grab our RSS feed. Then leave a comment letting us know you did.
• PIN your favorite Cheeky Maiden product to Pinterest, or HECK, Pin this giveaway onto Pinterest. (You'll have to use the Pin It button on your browser for the products, or use THIS BUTTON Pin It to pin the Giveaway) Then... you guessed it! Leave a comment here letting us know you did!

You can enter as many times as you want using the above actions. Make sure you leave a comment on the blog below letting us know! Entries will be closed March 17th. So, get to tweeting, pinning, and facebooking. But don't hurt yourself.

and GOOD LUCK!

 Much Love,

CM

This time of year the heat is on and my lips are dry, dry, dry.

And Valentine's Day is coming up (in 24 days!!).

Perfect reasons to come up with a yummy scrumptious DIY Brown Sugar Lip Scrub recipe to share! This makes a perfectly sweet Valentine's Day gift. And even on a tight budget, you can make plenty.

What you need:

• Coconut Oil
• Brown Sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• Vit E capsules (optional)

• Cute small containers to gift it in.

I got those sweet "kiss" and "love" containers for $1.50 each from the Dollar General store, and you could easily find even more options in the $1 section at Target or elsewhere.

My jars hold 2-3 oz each and I wanted to make enough for four. So. I measured out:

• 3 cups brown sugar

• Melt about one cup of virgin coconut oil ( don't get it too hot or it will melt the sugar when you mix! Coconut oil has a low melting point.) Add this to your sugar.

• Mix in 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Break open 4 vitamin E capsules and squeeze into your brown sugar mix. (I usually poke a hole with a safety pin) The vitamin E oil will help preserve your sugar scrub and also nourish the skin around your lips!
• Mix it all up good!

• Spoon into containers.
• Make it a simple gift by picking up some treat bags

OR, make it an AWESOME gift and add a Cheeky Maiden Love Shack Bath Bomb and a Cheeky Maiden Balmy Obsession Lip Balm! 

Either way, you'll want to include a little note with instructions how to use. (Scoop out with fingers and rub onto lips. It's all edible, so no need to wash off, just lick your lips! This could technically also be use on the face or feet. But you don't want to lick those probably.)

Wanna win that set for yourself?

Simple way to enter: Pin this item on Pinterest (using either the "Pin It" button on your browser, or this one:  Pin It 

Then leave a comment below letting us know you pinned it! Make sure to enter a valid email address so we can contact you if you win.

Winner will be chosen via random selection.

No purchase necessary, void where prohibited by law (just kidding, I don't know what that means.)

You have until January 31, 2012 to enter!

Edited to Add: We forgot to put the give away in our last newsletter so there will be TWO winners! One winner amongst the few who commented before the original due date, and one chosen from everyone else. New Deadline: Saturday, Feb 11th! Now get to pinning! If you are new to Pinterest, join, and thank me later! ;) No one else commented after this note, so we're just choosing one winner from the original commenters.

Happy Valentine's Day! Now, go share the love! 

With Love,

Your Cheeky Maiden

 (Pictured: Chunkie Superfat Soap and Complexion Soap)

I hear it every now and then, but at our last fall event a lady kept saying it over and over again.

"So-and-so buys this lady's soap and they actually BATHE with it!"

My favorite, though, is when people approach our tent at a farmers market and aren't quite sure what they are looking at. Is it CHEESE?! FUDGE?! And horrifically enough, some have even indulged in biting into the free sample of soap they were handed. (I always feel really bad when that happens, but in our defense, we do say the word "SOAP" at least twice when we hand out a sample AND include a business card, also with the word SOAP on it, and our tent is fully decked out in Cheeky Maiden bling, which contains the word "SOAP" at least fifty times. Can you see how I get tired of saying the word "SOAP" sometimes?) Anyhow. Once they realize it's bar soap, then comes the $5 question:

"So...what do you do with it?"

Now, I was not raised in a hippie crunchy home. My understanding of salad ended with iceberg lettuce and I had no idea that one could make their own bread. But I knew what soap was for. Evidently the times have changed and people are use to bathing with chemical concoctions called "body wash"...or whatever.

My very favorite farmers market story comes from our Helena, AL market. A woman purchased some Bamboo Charcoal Soap for her Irish Spring's loving husband. He was skeptical at first. She happened to be standing outside the shower when he first tried our Bamboo Soap and the Irish Spring's was immediately rejected, sailing right out of the shower and into the trash. I like to think that our soap liberated his skin that day. Some people just don't know what a good shower is like until they try some good soap!

Still others seem to think that handcrafted soap is for sitting in a pretty dish on the guest bathroom sink, never to be used. I can't tell you how offensive that is when the soap contains super high quality ingredients that make your skin practically shout for joy. Bad soap should be sitting in a dish never to be used. But good soap? Y'all, for Pete's sake, use it! Actually bathe with it! Have an all out euphoric shower experience, even if you only have five minutes to spare.

We like to make our soap pretty.

(Pictured: Lavender Oatmeal Soap)

But that doesn't mean that you can't use it. Cheeky Maiden Soap is too good not to use.

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Now for some bloggy business. We need to announce the winner of the Great Blog Giveaway of 2011.

Using an online random number generator, the winner is Comment #72!

 Aubrey Freeman commented on 13-Oct-2011 12:03 PM
Your in my Reader, darlin. ;) An just for the record, I would love to deliver chocolate cupcakes to your workroom. And help you eat them!

Aubrey Freeman, send me an email and lemme know which candle selection you want to call yours and we'll get your goodies right to your door! Congratulations!!!

I don't know that I've ever been more excited about a season as I have been about this Fall. And you just might get to benefit! (Pssssstttt.....thar's a giveaway at the end of this here blog!)

Introducing The Cheeky Maiden Fall Collection!

We'll get right down to the good stuff: Pumpkin Lavender Soap.

Y'all. It started off as a mild curiosity. But I knew the minute I mixed that pumpkin puree into the melted olive oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter, that something great was on the horizon.

And this week you could win a pound of it to call yours!

Details on the giveaway are below, but first I want to show off our new candle line.

Three Little Birds Beeswax Candles: These are made from our own mold! Each bird is fashioned from unrefined beeswax that we get directly from local beekeepers. If you can bring yourself to burn them, they will actually emit negative ions and clean the air as they burn (all beeswax does this, but the more pure the beeswax, the better....and of course, Cheeky Maiden doesn't tolerate dirty beeswax.). You can get them by the bird or by the set here.

Faux Bois Taper Candlesticks: Our family went on a nature walk just to find the perfect tree branches to use to form the molds for these candles. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but these candles totally delight me! When we light them each night for our family dinner, they create a magical fall forest mood. And that means a lot when you've got four little ones gathered around. ;)

 Each one really does look like it was taken straight from the trees! Every detail is perfect.

 Finally, the Star Pillar and Pumpkin Candles. Of course, these candles are made from our very own molds too, which means we are extra proud. (Many thanks to my family for giving me an entire Saturday out in the workshop, hacking away, sweating and making a ginormous mess! I think these candles are worth it.)

It's important for you to know about these candles, because also as part of the giveaway you get to choose one set as your own!

Wrapping up the Fall Collection is our fall beer soap: Pumpkin Beer Soap, made from Buffalo Bill's Brewery Original Pumpkin Ale.

It's got the super smooth silky lather you've come to expect from Cheeky Maiden's beer soaps, but a really zingy licorice scent, created by mixing Patchouli, Anise, and Clove. 

And you get a bar of this free too... if you win!

 So, did you take notes?

You could win: A pound of Pumpkin Lavender Soap, a candle selection of your choice, and a bar of Pumpkin Beer Soap

How to enter:

1. Get our RSS feed for this blog (click on the little icon at the top), and leave a comment on this here blog to tell us your favorite fall tradition.

2. Follow us on Twitter, (@cheekymaiden), tweet about the giveaway, including a link, and leave another comment here letting us know.

3. Like us on Facebook, share the giveaway on your own Facebook with a link here, and leave another comment here letting us know.

4. Deliver large chocolate cupcakes to the soap room, and leave a comment here letting everyone else know. You think I'm kidding?? Try it.

   You have until Sunday, October 16th, at midnight (Central time). We will be using a random generator to pick a comment number, so leave a separate comment for each entry! Comment on this blog please, not our facebook page. Thanks!
   

On your mark, get set, go!  

Happy Fall, Y'all!