Bohemian Rose Bath & Soap on Etsy is the hot spot for all your pampering needs
By guest author Brigitta Kral
You’ve Come a Long Way Baby
Jenn is the proud owner of the fabulous bath and body shop Bohemian Rose on Etsy. As a wee one, Jenn could crawl backwards but not forwards. Oh, Jenn had places to go and people to see; she just had her own creative way of getting there.
One sad day, poor baby Jenn backed herself into a corner and had some, ehem, trouble freeing herself (this is when some forward crawling would really have come in handy). These days though, ain’t nobody putting this lady in a corner!
This happily married full-time elementary music teacher is a weekend and night-time artisan. Jenn handcrafts all of the glorious delights in her Bohemian Rose Etsy shop including soaps, body scrubs, solid perfume sticks, lip balm and cuticle balm.
Jenn’s favorite product to make, though, is an oldie but a goodie in the life of Bohemian Rose: handcrafted all-natural (and usually vegan) artisan soap.
Why soap? Because, says our gal Jenn, “I love trying out new additives, fragrances, essential oil blends, or coloring the soap in a different way. Making soap lets me be as creative as I want to be.”
Some Like it Cold
Jenn, who has a degree in music education and is currently helping to set the elementary music program for the schools in Mansfield, Texas, is a cold soaper. And no, that’s absolutely nothing like being a cold fish and don’t you even think it. (Smile.)
Apparently, and please forgive me dear reader if you already know this, if you’re making soap from scratch you can do so using one of two types of processes: cold or hot. Jenn likes it cold. “The cold process method,” she explains, “doesn’t use any external heat. So I mix my melted oils, lye, and water together, pour it in the mold, and let the heat from the chemical reaction between the lye and oil do the work for me. The first time I ever made soap, it amazed me just how much heat was generated.” Hmmm, perhaps it should be called ‘the deceptively hot process.’
What You Really Wanna Know
OK, OK, enough about soap – though hopefully you’ve gleaned that soap is merely one item in the wonderfully self-indulgent line of products from Bohemian Rose. Here’s the quick dish on what Jenn enjoys beyond the world of Saponification.
Jenn adores the movies Love Actually, Out Cold and That Thing You Do. In addition to Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jenn holds a place in her heart for the Outlander series (by Diana Gabaldon) and the Harry Potter books; and she loves any book written by Sherrilyn Kenyon or Maggie Shayne.
And, drum roll please… Jenn and her hubby are the proud expectant parents of a baby girl due this September. Eager to learn even more about Jenn and Bohemian Rose? Check out the links below to do just that!
Researched and written by Brigitta Kral, a sarcastic pessimist and freelance writer/editor/teacher who loves to laugh and craft. For examples of her craftiness, check out Brigitta’s shop, BrigaBauble, which features handmade gifts designed for women and men. Follow BrigaBauble on Twitter for random musings and special deals.
