A while ago I met an old friend of mine (I don’t mean he is old … I mean I have known him for a long time…

My friend was always a bit of a magician ! Well I mean he comes from a family of magicians his Dad and him have been soap makers for ever. Not the bubble kind of soap makers … Or the fashionable kind of soap makers … No I am talking about the traditional, cold press, organic, with our own herbs kind of soap makers.

My friends family set up Caurnie soaps over 90 years ago (yes almost a century) and the more mature of customers still talk about Jim s dad who rode his van around with soap boxes … Now that is service for you … You make a great soap and you make sure that all your customers get it in time month after month …

Nowadays you can find Caurnie at the farmers markets around Scotland or via the modern “online” but if you fancy it you can also drive to Canal street in Kirkintilloch on a Tuesday and ring the bell at the door of the little blue shed. You might even be lucky to find that the magician himself opens the door !

The most beautiful scents await you there and from Jim s original soap you can now get your wedge of “ginger and orange”, “rosemary and thyme” “vanilla and peppermint” “geranium etc etc etc but the best of all is the humble Nettle soap do very good for your skin despite its beginning as a prickly weed…

 For more than a decade Nettle soap, Nettle shampoo, Nettle conditioner, Nettle moisturiser have been working their wonder on Eczema sufferers, psoriasis  parias, and other poor souls with terrible dry flaky skin… The wee humble weed has been giving them a beautiful soft skin smooth and so very beautiful again. Sometimes the most simple solution to the worse problem … You want a beautiful skin … Wash it with the best soap !

 I have been at the blue shed the day before they set off for a show.. It’s an amazing hive of activity with much cutting and pressing going on all with the original equipment from Jim s dad s time.

The smell and the scents are so strong then it’s almost like a perfume factory…

You know how perfume is so very part of your life and in a flash a recognised odour will bring you back some cherished memories … Well my grown up daughter opening the door of our room where I had a bit of soap seating there said … “This is the smell of my childhood” she used to for a very long time keep a small bit of soap in a paper bag in her socks drawer…

But back to beautiful skin … Jim s customers will all tell you … There is no better soap around if you want a beautiful skin so grab urself a wedge of it and go wash !!!

Betty xxx
Ps you will find Jim at the Farmers markets around Scotland or check his website http://www.caurnie.com