I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again now: making handmade soap would not be half as much fun without the internet.
Exhibit A…
Recently, Julia from Cocobong (one of my favorite soap blogs) came up with the clever idea of sending some soap around the world, a sort of round-robin for soap bloggers. Each soapmaker receives 3 bars, takes one and replaces it with one of her/his own. Then each participant agrees to blog about the whole process. What a great way to share our soap with each other (and the world) through our blogs.
Lovely soap package
First Julia sent 3 soaps that she had from different soapmakers to US soapmaker Joanna of The Soap Bar. From there they went to Serbian soapmaker SenMi, and now they are here at my house in California.
What a treat to have 3 different soaps to handle, smell, admire. But I had to choose only one to keep, and after much thought decided to keep the one from Mianra, all the way from Cork, Ireland. I love the way her soaps look, with the paisley stamp. But the deciding factor is that this bar has silk in it. I’ve never tried a soap with silk before. Although it seems to be quite popular with European soapmakers, it doesn’t seem to be so with the soapmakers that I know around here. I’m looking forward to experiencing it soon!
I’m replacing that bar with one of my Honey Bee Mine bars, sending a little bit of Valentine’s Day back to Europe. And now I say, “Bon Voyage” to this little soap trio: it’s off to France next! Look out Soap Session, some globe-trotting soap is heading your way!
Make Me Some Soap... 
If you ever do this again, let me know. I’d love to participate! My company is Green Barn Soaps from Maine. 🙂
Hi Heather! I’ll keep you in mind. I’ve been thinking that I could start my own batch of traveling soap…or you can start one, too!
Wow! Isnt that amazing to see one’s soap making such a mileage :)! Thank You Ruth for welcoming my bar in your home! Hope you’ll enjoy it- would love to know how you found it. And fairwell to Honey Bee Mine !!!
xxx Hajni
Hi Hajni! Yes, your soap has really seen the world! LOL I feel so fortunate to have the chance to try one of your soaps! 🙂
what a brilliant idea! Okay, Ruth, I expect a report-out on what that bar with silk feels like. 😀
You bet, Jen! I’m looking forward to catching a peaceful moment to really enjoy it.
This is so much fun! I would have trouble deciding which bar to send off to it’s new mystery owner.
So true! The upcoming Valentine’s Day helped me decide a little. 😉
So cool!!! So many great soapmakers are involved in this little project. I’m having fun reading about all of them!
Yes, Amy, it’s great that we get to following all the soap all along its journey!
HI Ruth! I love your photos! Thanks for the mention. Wow, I cannot wait to read the next chapter of the soap voyage!
Ksenija, SenMi Soaps
Thanks, Ksenija! The package is coming back across the Atlantic. It’s a good thing that soap is so sturdy! 🙂
It still kind of baffles me that went ‘pregnant’ with this idea for so long, thinking people wouldn’t be interested and then…nothing but positive responses all around. Then I read that soap makers are wanting to start their own soap travel project, in France, in the US, and on and on..amazing that none one before came up with such a simple concept of exchanging soaps on a global level
it’s such a great idea Julia. There are so many soapmakers to discover . Thank you for initiating the soap travel.
in France we have not yet launched a similar box, but as there are requests for it, we certainly will.
I think it’s a great way to share our love of soap with each other, and also with our blog readers. Everyone benefits! Super idea!
I can not wait….to get the parcel her….
Such a nice idea
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What a really neat idea and you get to try others soaps from some pretty far-flung places that you’d ordinarily never get to try.