There's something about living on a farm that makes you want to get back to the basics. To build, and grow, and nurture things with your own hands, your own heart. To celebrate nature, to celebrate living, to celebrate simplicity.

Living on a farm makes one understand what Thoreau meant when he urged us all to "simplify, simplify."

And that brings me to soaps and sundries.

What better way to simplify, to get back to nature, than to make and use products that we know will be good for our skin, that won't dry us out, won't clog our pores. Products that will gently scent our skin, not overwhelm the senses.

Did you know that most commercial soaps are in reality not soap, but detergent? Look closely at the label of your store-bought soap. If it doesn't have the

word "soap" on it, it's not soap. It's detergent. Yes, the expensive beauty soaps, the soaps you use on your face and on your children, are made with petroleum based chemicals, synthetic detergents, and artificial preservatives, scents, and colors. Sure, they'll get you clean, but what else are they doing to your skin?

Commercial soap makers also extrude the glycerin, the ingredient which soothes and moisturizes our skin, from their products, and then resell it...to us...in other high priced beauty products touted to soothe and moisturize our skin. It's about profit, pure and simple.

Here at Glencross Farm, we use only the best ingredients to make the finest products we can, natural vegetable and plant oils and butters, high quality essential and fragrance oils. There are no harsh chemicals in our handmade soaps. Otherwise, we wouldn't put our name on them. We promise, from us, you'll only get quality soaps, lotions, bath salts, scrubs, and anything else we make.

You can count on that.