Have you seen the Forbes article circulating about the cancer causing agent that is  in Johnson & Johnson baby products? The company is now under the gun because they have removed these ingredients from their baby care line in other countries, but not in the United States. In the good old US of A you have to pay double for their "natural" brand. And please read the ingredients before you do so. I think you'll find some pretty unnatural ingredients listed there.

I thought everyone knew that Johnson & Johnson products contained Quaternium-15 (aka formaldehyde) since it is clearly written on the label. But I've been surprised to see the surprise on several friend's facebook pages as they spread the news.

I thought everyone knew that the word "fragrance" listed in any ingredients list is actually an abbreviated term for what could possibly be thousands of different chemicals. Chemicals that are not listed on the bottle, and good luck finding out what they are.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics would have you believe that you should be outraged and demand legislation against these companies to "protect" you from these ingredients. You might be surprised to know that someone as staunchly stuck up and picky about ingredients as myself, does not think this is necessary.

It's been right there on the bottle for years, folks. Johnson & Johnson did not hide the fact that they were putting quaternium-15 in their products. This is why you should be reading labels for ingredients, not just for what you eat, but what you are putting on your skin.

Don't wait around for the government to "protect" you by banning these ingredients. Make the choice for yourself NOT to use products containing them! Vote with your wallet, and companies will stop using them!

I will take this opportunity to TOOT our own horn and remind you that we have NEVER used any synthetic or unnatural ingredients in our Cheeky Baby Bar. All of our products are free from carcinogens and any ingredient known to cause birth defects. It's because we feel responsible for what you put on your skin, since we made it.

  (Pictured: Cheeky Baby Bar)

But ultimately the responsibility is yours. Put on your thinking cap and protect yourself. Read labels. Stick with the simple stuff.

 (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!

Each Friday we'll be dumping photos from the week's happenings here in the soap room. You are now the lucky recipient of a bonafide backstage tour of Cheeky Maiden Soap Company. (We are twice as crazy as you think we might be). See if you can spot some new creations, available soon! Click on the thumbnails to view an enlarged picture. Have a happy and safe weekend, y'all!