Last week I found myself mixed up in some soapy drama. Apparently soap is a cut throat business, who knew? This led me to feeling pretty discouraged, so I took a break for a couple of days. During that time I couldn't help but think about soap. I know that sounds silly to most people, but I love making soap!

Now that I've confessed my love for soap, I'll try to get to the point. When we find something that we love, it's so important to pursue it. I have met lots of people who craft all sorts of different things and the one thing that almost all of them have in common is passion. They are passionate about what they do and it shows in the quality of their work. The world needs more quality, so the world needs more people doing what they love. That doesn't just apply to crafters, maybe you love teaching or building houses or caring for others. If you love it, do it and if you don't, try to love it. Everything today seems to be about quantity over quality which is why customers haggle at craft fairs and why we just throw away broken things instead of fixing them. If more of us were passionate about the things that we do, we would find it easier to see the passion and quality in things that others do and that would make the world a better place.

Part of loving what you do is accepting the fact that there will be bad moments, sometimes bad days and that's okay. When we get knocked down we have to get up, brush the dirt off and keep moving. We can't allow others to take away our passion and discourage us.

I had no intentions of quitting when I took that break last week. I just found myself burnt out and wanted to clear my head. When you pour your heart and soul into something and someone tries to knock you down, it hurts. Like I said before though, I was still thinking about soap and after those couple of days I became even more fired up about making awesome, quality products to share with all of you!

So... Because I want to share the best quality products I can with everyone, I'm reworking some of my formulas to include even better ingredients. I am currently working on a new body scrub recipe from scratch and I also have a new Shampoo in the works.

Hopefully I didn't ramble too much. I hope everyone loves what they do as much as I love making soap! Wishing you all Blissful showers and baths. -Cassie

Until last year Pure Bliss Body Confections was just a part time gig. Up until that time I was making products for the holiday season and manufacturing soap for a larger company. Then it ocurred to me... why can't I make Pure Bliss full time? I'm a stay at home mom, which by the way is a much harder job than it sounds. My point here is that I realized eventually my kids will all be in school and I will be tasked with finding a job that fits into their schedule. I absolutely love making soap and I'm not afraid of hard work, so why not make my dreams a reality?

After lots of researching and planning I got to work. I spent months designing this website, creating and testing products and designing labels. Now that these things are becoming less time consuming I can focus on other aspects of Pure Bliss.

If you visited Pure Bliss at one of the craft shows that I did, you probably noticed that I had so many things to choose from and lets be honest my display was overwhelming. That being said, I have a new display in the works. As far as all of the choices, I needed to put a variety out there so that I could discover what customers were most interested in. Now that I have that first year under my belt I have a better understanding of what my customers are looking for. Over the next few months, some products will be disappearing, be sure to check the SALE category. Don't worry, the customer favorites will still be around!

To make products easier to locate I am putting them into collections, including Mythical Bliss, Cocktail Bliss, Lifestyle Bliss, Sweet Bliss, Essential Bliss, New England Bliss and Pampering Bliss. I'm still playing around with these so they may change a little. My hope is that it will be easier to find what you are looking for. This also means that I will be revamping the website a little too.

Another thing that I am considering to make shopping easier for everyone is listing a few of our most popular products on Etsy. Make sure you follow us on Facebook for updates on this.

Last, but not least I want to share some of the new products that are in the works! Mermaid is so popular that I've decided to add to the Mythical Bliss Collection. Fairy will be releasing this spring, followed by Goddess in the summer. Apres Ski will become part of the Lifestyle Bliss Collection and Namaste will be released and added to this some time in late Spring. New England Bliss (Maine Blueberry, Granite and New England Football) will be joined by Maple Sugar in the Spring as well. I will be adding other exciting products as other products are phased out.

I would love customer feedback on any of this. Feel free to let me know what your favorites are and if you are looking for any particular fragrances that you would love to see added to Pure Bliss. Wishing you Blissful showers and baths in 2017. -Cassie

***Mermaid Lovers, I am working on restocking the Mermaid Soap and Scrub***