Review of Pure Suds Soapery

I have a weakness for handmade (and perfumed) soaps and skincare. I've been pretty much searching everywhere for good quality handmade products and found Pure Suds on Facebook (Check out: https://www.facebook.com/puresuds ). Pure Suds have handmade as well as artisan soaps. I have purchased many handmade soaps before so I think I am qualified to write this review  :P

I contacted the proprietor Ms Bhavan Doshi, and I kept asking her about the products and scents (I'm very particular on fragrances) and she was nice enough to explain everything patiently.
I went ahead to order Beach bum  and Oatmeal Milk and Honey Creme Soap 


I asked her for a few samples to help me choose for further orders and she was generous to give me some amazing ones.

Coming to my order here is what I received:

My entire order

At first when I opened the package I got a myriad of fragrances that were overwhelming, and I couldn't figure out anything. But then I took each item, and individually they smell amazing!

MY ORDERS:

1) Oatmeal Milk and Honey Creme Soap- Oh My! This one smells amazing. The concept is simple. It has a whipped consistency like cake frosting, you need to take a bit, wet your hands and lather to use it as a regular soap. Being handmade, it does not lather much, but it has this very delicate lather which leaves an amazing scent behind. Somewhat like vanilla and honey cake batter! Cream colour like oats.

Oatmeal and Honey Creme Soap- INR 250/-

2) Beach Bum (Bar Soap)- I saw this pic on her facebook page and loved the colours so decided to buy it. Unfortunately some bits of the soap broke and got smooshed :'( . Thankfully the bar was one solid piece and I could use it. It is supposed to contain mandarin, jasmine and ocean mist, but I got more of a cool water, fresh clean laundry kind of smell. Its a very refreshing clean scent. The bar has a buttery feel to it. Amazing colours : Cream, Indigo, Dark Blue and Brown with glitters and swirls on top.

Beach Bum-INR 280/-

SAMPLES:
1) Chanel No 5 w/Yogurt (Bar Soap) - This is my absolute favourite, both in terms of appearance and fragrance. The minute I smelt it, it had a lovely mature feminine fragrance and I absolutely loved it. this one also feels buttery smooth to the touch. She uses the Chanel No 5 Perfume so no wonder it smells mindblowingly good! She also has cupcake soaps with the same scent. It has a dusty pink base with black and white (zebra style) accents.

Chanel No 5 w/ Yogurt -Will be remade later priced 300 for 110g

2) Vanilla Latte (Bar Soap) - This is a rather luxurious soap. Apologies for the picture quality as I had already used it (It smells divine). It works up a good creamy lather and smells A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. The texture is just like melted chocolate and my entire washroom has a vanilla caramelly fragrance. Since it is a luxurious soap she informed that it is going to be limited edition (fewer pieces) and will be priced higher. This soap also has a much more smoother and creamier feel than the other soaps in the order. It has a chocolate fudge like appearace. (Check the cupcake version of the soap here- Link)

Vanilla Latte-Will be priced INR 400 for 150g

3)Fresh Cut Roses (Bar Soap) - This will be liked by those who love strong rose scents. Though I love floral scents, rose is a bit strong a scent for me.(So this is not one of my personal favourites) This soap also has the buttery texture and the complete soap looks really good with dried rose petals on top. It looks pastel pink with a few white, cream and light green swirls

4) Rosemary and Mint  (Bar Soap)- The sample had a really minty and energizing scent, a little like certain balms. I also liked this one. Same texture. It looks minty pastel green in colour with blue swirls.

Fresh Cut Roses (Left)-Priced at INR 350 for full size, Rosemary and Mint (Right)- Not sure about pricing

Check out her business card and her personalized message!

Overall Review:
Pure Suds Soaps are really fragrant, smooth and buttery. Unlike commercially available soaps they don't froth so much, but have a creamy and light lather. Bhavana's choice of fragrance is what impressed me, all are mature scents and the fragrance lingers on for hours after use. Also she uses very different fragrances for each one, so each sud is a different experience. And all of these are well scented (they are not lightly fragranced by any means).

My favourite was the creme soap, it has a nice yummy smell as well as the Chanel no 5 for its creamy feel and amazing smell. Vanilla Latte is a close contender. These are luxury gifts and are priced high, but you can make out the striking difference between ordinary soaps. After using them you end up smelling so yummy like a dessert, They make great gifts too. She makes various other products like gel masks, body butters and so on, so check her out :) Happy Lathering!

Disclaimer- I haven't been paid for writing this review, and the prices mentioned in the blog may change. 

The Introvert

Greetings everyone. This is my first blog, so kindly forgive me if I make errors. I've always been curious about blogging, and finally today I decided to start. Probably nobody will read this, or even notice that  I posted this, but hey, I'm sitting at home jobless, my degree certificate pending, playing facebook games, so this is a much better use of my time. :)

 I've always been introverted, in my own little world, despite whatever scenario I've been in. Every time I went to my native place (which is a lush estate area in kerala), I would wander on my own, even if it was pitch black, talking to myself , lost in some other dimension. I was never afraid of the dark, in fact I found it rather comforting. When I was in school, my best friend was heavily extroverted, and had way too many friends. But I would talk less, and my mother kept asking me: "Why cant u be friends with everyone, and be smart like everyone else?" :\

  

Why would I want to be friends with everyone? It means I have to talk more. Basically small talk, which I essentially hate. Some people interpret my lack of mingling as arrogance. =|

So eventually I started "pretending" to be extroverted, talking to everyone, and many people liked me (many hated me too lol). However I never felt good. Making small talk, asking people about what they did and other petty stuff din't really help me in anything. I felt exhausted. So everyday I would lock myself in my room for hours to think and relieve my brain of the stress endured in talking to others. This annoyed my family (leave it to your mom to think the worst when u lock urself in a room :\) and caused more fights.

 So let me stop talking about myself and just emphasize on what introverts actually are like. The worst part of being an introvert is that people mistake introverts as being shy and incapable of interaction. This is not true. The introvert doesn't lack the ability, but the interest. The introvert has a beautiful imagination which will keep him so entertained, that he merely doesn't have the need to interact. It is not that he hates you. He really likes you, but at a distance. :P He doesn't need help or "influence" to get through life. He may not like parties. Or get-togethers or concerts. (Notice the word "may"). Sometimes introverts pretend to be extroverted, just so that people don't get offended. But he is really struggling to talk. Introverts love direct one on one conversations. He may hate phone calls, and might not even pick up the receiver. Again, this is not because he hates you, but because he doesn't prefer that  mode of conversation.

   The introvert has a magnificent mind, which is his strength. He can go on thinking, reading, doing stuff, without the slightest need of help. He is quite smart in the sense that he can analyze well and pay attention to detail. This is in contrast to the extrovert who feels the need to take many opinions, to get the courage to move on. Introverts are independent and original. Extroverts need some pushing. The extrovert gets lonely. The introvert is hardly ever lonely. 

   Don't take this blog as something against extroverts. The people I love the most are extroverts. The ONLY problem that I face with extroverts is that they expect you to be like them.You are belittled if you aren't. Sadly many introverts end up pretending to be like extroverts, because they are taught right from childhood that extroverts are smarter and liked more. I hope someday the world will just accept introverts as they are, and see the beauty in our difference.

      Introverts like me need recharging. And this is done by being alone. "Alone" is not a negative word, "lonely" is. There is a huge difference. Without time to think, we lose our individuality. Many great personalities were introverts. Introverts are better at judging personalities, and situations. They do interact well with people who they are close to. They are very trustworthy, and genuine.They can be very powerful, though being silent at the same time.Sitting alone at home is probably the happiest thing for an introvert. Or perhaps travelling alone. Or going for a walk alone, eating alone in a restaurant. A postponed social gathering makes him jump in joy :D. If you find these things weird, you are an extrovert. 

    

        Don't ever mistake a shy person with an introvert. A shy person needs help, an introvert needs to be left as he is. The  introvert may seem as a party pooper, you will be amazed if you have a direct conversation with him. If necessary the introvert can become the life of the party, but he will need a long time by himself to recharge. Many good qualities of introverts aren't shown to the world because introverts judge themselves harshly for not being able to fit in, and hence never express their true self.

          So in a world where "contacts" and "influence" is given more importance than individuality and talent, life is quite difficult for an introvert. Being judged as "shy", "under confident", "incapable". "not smart", "negative" since childhood is depressing. If you are reading this, I request you to accept all kinds of personalities and correct people when they make such remarks. I don't need to come out of any "shell" simply because there isn't one. I'm happy in my own palace. Solitude is always bliss. The wonderful feeling I get by being alone can never be compensated by the innumerable of contacts I'm expected to keep. 

I end this post with this lovely picture I found on the internet. :)