Gift Buying For Him

A selection 

It's coming up to that time of year again and the (sometimes) painful task of buying gifts is here!  I have noticed over the years that the people who are the least frazzled by gift buying seem to follow a few simple rules:

1. buy early;
2. buy thoughtful; and
3. buy small.

I think buying for men is particularly difficult for some people, but here at Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez, I have a few solutions for you:

Top Row
The Emperor's Chai  delicious cardamom
Mister X...               green and earthy vetiver
Lemon Meringue       lemony may chang

Middle Row
Smokey Joe             sophisticated smokey cade
Evening Star            aromatic star anise and basil
A Siberian Wood      a dry wood

Bottom Row
Spearmint Julep       fresh spearmint
St Clement's             zesty sweet orange and may chang
The Fez No. 1          the gin and tonic of soap, lemongrass, may chang, juniperberry and
                              wormwood

Each soap is available from the Shanghai Lil and the Scarlet Fez shop for $7.50, plus postage.  Each soap is hand crafted from all natural ingredients, vegan and without palm oil.  Packaged and labelled in a range of beautiful boxes, these soaps make a thoughtful (relaxed gift-buying person's number 2 rule) and small (relaxed gift-buying person's number 3 rule) gift for men.   Buy now and I can help you with relaxed gift-buying person's number 1 rule too!

My further advice is, if you have to buy a gift for a fellow like curly-locks below, I'd suggest Smokey Joe.  He looks the type.

Photo from Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez collection.

Winter's Last Hurrah

...out on a rainy night

I was sitting at my desk sorting through some old photographs and there was a box of Smokey Joe sitting on a pile of books next to me.  The soft smokey scent of cade and vetiver reminded me of the smell of tobacco pipes, overcoats, old port and the sound of distant trains clickety clacking over the tracks on a cold, silent night.  Of course, I thought of this gentleman.  A found photo of a young man taken somewhere in Germany in the early 30s, it is so atmospheric with his face wonderfully lit by the dim street-lights.  Moody and melancholy.

Feel the mood with Al Bowly singing Bie Mir Bist Du Schoen:

 

Smokey Joe is Back in Town

Freshly cut off the block, here is the result of yesterday's batch of soap, using avocado oil (and olive, coconut, caster and rice bran oils!).  This is a personal favourite; I find it is very gentle on my skin, which is prone to dryness.  The lather is creamy and rich.  The scent is cade and vetiver.  Smokey Joe!

Gone to earth

Today, I sliced the experimental soap (see yesterday's very exciting entry...).  I used a rich dark brown oxide to colour the swirl, which reminds me of a lovely Sienna marble.  It's warm and earthy.  The vetiver and cade worked well; if anything, perhaps a bit more of the smokin' cade.  I'm a fan of vetiver, so I love it.  This little number will be called "Smokin' Joe".

I've put it away now to cure.  If it passes the Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez soap test, it will be released for sale sometime in May.

Experiment

The hot weather has killed off some of the grass in the garden.  If we don't get to it with a hose soon enough, that is what happens!  Of course, it saddens me to lose the grass because I'd rather it be lush and green, but when I turn the sprinklers on late at night or early in the morning, the dead grass offers up a surprising treat.  The damp air wafts up and brings with it the subtle scent of hay.  It's sweet and green but smokey too.  It lasts a few seconds before the smell of the hot cement coming into contact with water takes over.

So today I have experimented with some of the essential oils I have left.  I want to suggest that green, smokey smell and put it into a soap.  To start, the soap is made with lush olive oil and superfatted with meadowfoam seed oil and castor oil.   I love this combination of oils because of the extra smooth feel they give to the soap.  Not to mention the skin nourishing qualities, of course.

Some of the oils getting ready to have some soap fun.

The soap is currently wrapped up, doing its soapy thing, so tomorrow I will be able to have a look and see if it has worked.  And the essential oils I have used?  Vetiver and cade.  Both are pretty strong, so I pulled back with the amount I added to the soap.  Time will tell if I have been too cautious.  I'll post more about the soap when I cut it in the next day or two.