Stormy Mountain Soaps
If you live in the Pacific Northwest and follow the folk music scene, you probably know about the Northwest Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington. Four days of music, food and fun over Memorial Day Weekend with a smattering of product booths from chocolates to hand-woven clothes to hats and soap. Somehow in my four years of visiting this festival, I had probably walked by Stormy Mountain Soaps twice a year and never fully noticed it until now. How could I not stop? And then, once I stopped, I had to smell them all, and then I had to buy several.
I ended up buying four bars of soap, although they also do carved soap that look almost like Christmas ornaments - these are sadly not available online. And there is a lovely contribution by one of the owner’s daughter that is a soap ball made of leftover pieces filled with wildflower pieces. They were lovely, and I would have happily picked one up but I was done with floral scents for the time being.
I gifted three of them away before I took photos. I got excited. Pumpkin Spice went to AG, our lemon-obsessed Kristin was given Lemongrass, and I gave Sage and Oatmeal to my favorite Starbucks Barista, for whom I don’t have permission to release his name. I kept Apple Dumpling for myself.
Apple Dumpling is the spiciest soap I have ever smelled. And the smelliest (This is a good thing.). I waited about 10 days before I cut into it. I was very excited to review Future Primitive and then Fortune Cookie’s seasonal box came in. I left this bar on my desk during that time instead of adding it to my bathroom soap pile. My desk is right by our balcony door, so I received lovely little wafts of apples and cinnamon for those days.
I finally cut into it for a shower. Holy smell! There was even more scent when freshly cut. The soap is made from olive oil, creating a wonderfully moisturizing bar with beautiful cleansing capabilities. I lost about half of the cut in my first shower-probably from both how much I used it- I did not want to stop- and the number of oils in it dissolving the soap faster than another bar soap.
After we purchased these, we were walking home and stopped by Starbucks, and my favorite Starbucks Barista was working. (I’ve fed him Thanksgiving dinner- people I’ve fed always become my favorites.) He asked us about our afternoon, and we mentioned buying soap, which turned into a smell party while he was making Mr. J’s complicated vanilla latte. When I mentioned we bought Sage and Oatmeal, he got excited and said how much he loves oatmeal soap and that it’s the only thing he uses. He also mentions that he buys very expensive oatmeal bar soap from the Metropolitan Market usually. So Mr. J gestured to me and I said, “Here,” and held out the soap. He grabbed it to sniff it again, and Mr. J and I both claimed we now lacked ownership of the soap and it was his now.
He fell in love with it. He loves oatmeal soap. He was telling me that the sanitizer at work just leaves his hands dry and covered with cracked skin. The oatmeal is just abrasive enough to clean off the dried skin and the moisturizers help with put back in what the sanitizer destroys. He didn’t mention anything about scent, but I remember this being a softer scent with less pervasiveness than any of the others.
AG adds: I haven’t broken into it yet, but in dry bar form it smells almost entirely of clove, strong enough to make my nose tingle, It’s backed up by a bit of cinnamon and a tiny whiff of smoke. It’s such a perfect Fall smell, I’m keeping it for then.
Kristin adds: I currently have three lemon scented bar soaps sitting in slices on my sink. This Lemongrass one smells the most crisp of the three - to be expected as the others are variations on baked lemon goods. The soap lathers well in use though as Jessye mentioned above, it does seem to disappear faster than other bars. It also takes a bit to rinse off. The amount of oils in this soap does make it much more moisturizing than other soaps but it also requires a fair bit of hand-wringing before the residue rinses away or absorbs. This is definitely not a quick rinse and go bar.
I would happily buy from this company again. There are several other scents I want to try out- Huckleberry Heaven, Patchouli (mixed with a little sweet cinnamon), Rose Geranium, Peppermint Ice? Oh man, all of these sound beautiful, and at only $4.50 a bar, they are wonderfully reasonable and I am looking forward to another purchase from them. They were so kind and so sweet to me when I chatted with them. It was a wonderful little shop to find.
What do you think readers? Have you picked up any local gems?
If you live in the Pacific Northwest and follow the folk music scene, you probably know about the Northwest Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington. Four days of music, food and fun over Memorial Day Weekend with a smattering of product booths from chocolates to hand-woven clothes to hats and soap. Somehow in my four years of visiting this festival, I had probably walked by Stormy Mountain Soaps twice a year and never fully noticed it until now. How could I not stop? And then, once I stopped, I had to smell them all, and then I had to buy several.
I ended up buying four bars of soap, although they also do carved soap that look almost like Christmas ornaments - these are sadly not available online. And there is a lovely contribution by one of the owner’s daughter that is a soap ball made of leftover pieces filled with wildflower pieces. They were lovely, and I would have happily picked one up but I was done with floral scents for the time being.
Apple Dumpling is the spiciest soap I have ever smelled. And the smelliest (This is a good thing.). I waited about 10 days before I cut into it. I was very excited to review Future Primitive and then Fortune Cookie’s seasonal box came in. I left this bar on my desk during that time instead of adding it to my bathroom soap pile. My desk is right by our balcony door, so I received lovely little wafts of apples and cinnamon for those days.
I finally cut into it for a shower. Holy smell! There was even more scent when freshly cut. The soap is made from olive oil, creating a wonderfully moisturizing bar with beautiful cleansing capabilities. I lost about half of the cut in my first shower-probably from both how much I used it- I did not want to stop- and the number of oils in it dissolving the soap faster than another bar soap.
He fell in love with it. He loves oatmeal soap. He was telling me that the sanitizer at work just leaves his hands dry and covered with cracked skin. The oatmeal is just abrasive enough to clean off the dried skin and the moisturizers help with put back in what the sanitizer destroys. He didn’t mention anything about scent, but I remember this being a softer scent with less pervasiveness than any of the others.
Kristin adds: I currently have three lemon scented bar soaps sitting in slices on my sink. This Lemongrass one smells the most crisp of the three - to be expected as the others are variations on baked lemon goods. The soap lathers well in use though as Jessye mentioned above, it does seem to disappear faster than other bars. It also takes a bit to rinse off. The amount of oils in this soap does make it much more moisturizing than other soaps but it also requires a fair bit of hand-wringing before the residue rinses away or absorbs. This is definitely not a quick rinse and go bar.
I would happily buy from this company again. There are several other scents I want to try out- Huckleberry Heaven, Patchouli (mixed with a little sweet cinnamon), Rose Geranium, Peppermint Ice? Oh man, all of these sound beautiful, and at only $4.50 a bar, they are wonderfully reasonable and I am looking forward to another purchase from them. They were so kind and so sweet to me when I chatted with them. It was a wonderful little shop to find.
What do you think readers? Have you picked up any local gems?
sounds good
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