Let What You Love Inspire You

Like it or not, dear reader, the holiday season is upon us. It has blown in and caught me by surprise. Our year is spent working toward the holidays. My schedule is planned a year in advance, and I am never really present in whatever season is upon us because I am always thinking ahead to the next season. In the spring, I am preparing for our summer market season, and in the summer, I am creating fall products. In the fall, it is all winter all the time. In winter, I am preparing for spring and early summer. My weird little ADD brain thrives on this, but it can feel like seasonal overload for sure. Often, by the time the actual season arrives, I am over it and feel the need to move on. Such is the life of retail and products. 

Way back in January of 2025, I planned our holiday products. Now, one would think that with planning that far in advance, I would have a well-executed plan in place and have holiday products ready well before October. Unfortunately, dear reader, that is not the case. Life always seems to get in the way of my well-executed plan. However, we have finally created the three new scents I was so excited to create for you. They are not the wow factor I had hoped to manufacture, but they are lovely and smell incredible. In a few weeks, we will release three new holiday scents: I Smell Snow (If you are a Gilmore Girls fan, you know), Christmas Tree Farm (I live with a Swifty-if you know, you know), and It's a Wonderful Soap (I live in Indiana, PA, home of Jimmy Stewart).

All three soaps are inspired by my life, my loves, and places that are important to me. I Smell Snow is a quote from Lorelai Gilmore. We hear the main character say this several times throughout the series, and each time, it is magical. The Bean and I watch Gilmore Girls every fall. When we went on our girls' trip to Gettysburg, my darling daughter created a Gilmore Girls playlist for us to listen to on the road. We took inspiration from our favorite show, stocked up on snacks, stopped at quirky little coffee shops, shopped independent book stores, stayed at inns, and, of course, ate pizza. I Smell Snow is my favorite new soap, probably because The Bean and I created such lovely memories on our road trip. I Smell Snow, smells like freshly fallen Snow on a cold winter's day. Top notes of Siberian fir needle meld with tart Granny Smith apple, lemon zest, and pineapple. A floral middle of lily of the valley and frosted jasmine petals descends a large snowy slope to bottom notes of glacial woods and rich patchouli. It's complex, but it's amazing.

 Christmas Tree Farm is 100% The Bean-inspired. My girl loves the scent of pine. She loves going to the Christmas tree farm and picking out a tree. She loves decorating the tree. She adores Taylor Swift, so the fact that Tay-Tay grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania and wrote a Christmas song of this title is all for my favorite human bean. Christmas Tree Farm is not your average pine scent, and it certainly doesn't smell like a chemical-laden pine cleanser. I've taken a clean fragrance oil from my favorite small, family-owned company and blended it with fir needle essential oil to create this delightfully complex, clean, crisp, and yes, piney scent. The Bean declares it her favorite smell in the whole world, so you've got an expertly discerning opinion. Let's face it, sixteen-year-old girls don't really like anything, so this is a win. 

Lastly, It's A Wonderful Soap. My hometown celebrates the holidays with an It's A Wonderful Life theme. Jimmy Stewart was born and raised here. We have a Jimmy Stewart museum on Main Street. Jimmy Stewart's voice tells us when to walk at the downtown crosswalks. It's a thing. I thought it only fitting to create an It's  A Wonderful Life soap. It's A Wonderful Life epitomizes the innocence of a bygone era—an innocence that I long for if truth be told. I felt this soap needed to smell like innocence. What does innocence smell like, you may ask? For me, it smells like clean, fresh linen hung out on a clothesline to dry in the sunshine and fresh farm air. When I was a kid, I had a Woobie. My Woobie was an old terry cloth towel that had been washed to perfect softness. I slept with my Woobie from the time I was four or five until I was fourteen or fifteen. If it were more than just a threadbare strip of fabric, I would probably still be sleeping with it to this day. However, my absolute favorite smell was when my mom washed my Woobie and hung it on the clothesline to dry. That scent is what symbolizes innocence to me. So, dear reader, It's A Wonderful Soap smells like fresh, crisp, clean linen.  

All three new soaps will have a coordinating moisturizer because we all know layering our favorite scents is a real thing. These new soaps will be available in a few weeks, just in time for your holiday shopping to peak. It's something to look forward to and smile about. I hope you enjoy them and they evoke wonder and good memories. On this seasonal November day, stay safe, be smart, let what you love inspire you, and keep washing your hands.