Welcome to Simply Portugal Soaps
Here you will find details of our soaps, all beautifully handmade in Portugal from olive oil, goats milk, shea butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil and natural essential oils.
Take a look through our selection by clicking on the tab ‘The Soaps‘ above.
If you would like to find out more about us please visit the ‘About us’ tab, or if you would like to order please also see our ‘Order your soaps‘ tab above.
All of our soaps are £3.85 per block, the blocks are around 120 grams (not exact as they are all hand cut), cupcake soaps are £4.50 and cake slices are £4.00
NEWS FEED:
New cupcakes!
I think we all agree that the cupcakes are a total delight. Since we launched them they have been flying off the shelves, and out of the markets, and we have fallen ever more in love with them! Now we have developed some adorable summer treats for you, and what could be more summery than ice cream! These new cupcakes are based on three ice cream classics: Banoffee, Neapolitan and – the best of British – Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae! With amazing decorations these soaps are nearly a work of art, but don’t let that put you off, once in the shower or bath they transform into rich and creamy soaps with gorgeous long lasting scents.
We will be in Sherbourne’s Digby hall this Saturday the 5th of May from 10.00 until 4.00 so come and have a look at our range and a chat about the new arrivals!
Ice The Cake…
We are very happy to announce that we have joined forces with brilliant Ice The Cake, a wedding directory and support network (also note the fab badge for the site on the right which links to their website!). They have everything you might need for your celebration, and offer wedding ideas and inspiration. You can find us in the Directory under ‘Favours’.
Be it your wedding day or a special party, as favours for your guests, or keepsakes for those who deserve a special thank you we can provide our beautiful cupcakes, cake slices or 1/2 bars of our lovely soaps. Choose your fragrance and style of gift, be it in a gorgeously sumptuous organza bag to match your colour scheme, simply presented in clear wrapping, or discuss your own thoughts with us. Contact us through our facebook page or email simplyportugalsoaps@gmail.com for more details, or a chat!
Spring has sprung!
As it is now officially 
spring, we are pleased to announce our new spring specials! These utterly gorgeous cupcakes are inspired by spring hedgerows, and look as beautiful as they will make you feel. Creamy silky lather packed full of fresh spring floral scents, these are definitely not one to miss. Priced at the usual £4.50 for cupcakes, get in touch via email or facebook to snap yours up! Or, if you are near Yeovil this weekend we will be meeting the lovely people at Vintage Fair for their craft market, from 10.00am until 3.00pm. As well as these new cupcakes we will have all the classic soap bars, and the Lavender cake slices, so come along and say hello!
Market time again…!
Spring is in the air which means we’re back on our market stall! If you will be anywhere near Sherbourne’s Digby Hall this Saturday 3rd March between 10.00am and 4.00pm come and say hello! We will be joining the team of amazing producers selling our wares at the craft market, and had a fantastic day last year so are very excited about kicking off the season with a swing. Come and see our new look soaps, the cupcake soaps and the lavender cake soap…we look forward to seeing you there!
More cake?
We all loved our cupcake soaps so much that we have branched out into full cakes! Our absolutely amazing Lavender Cake Soap looks good enough to eat, and smells gorgeous when lathered up. It looks stunning in your bathroom and is a great talking point for guests. Only £4 per slice, or £4.50 for a cupcake soap. Send us an email, or message us on facebook and we’ll cut you a slice…!
Valentine’s is around the corner…
The cupcake soaps were such a runaway success over Christmas that we have extended the range for the spring in time for Valentine’s day! Our regular customers will know how soppy we can get at this time of year, but we think these Valentine’s cupcakes are just incredibly gorgeous. Scented with the classic ‘Love Spell’, including Mandarin and Orchid Blossom, these soaps don’t just look good but also smell divine. Why not indulge yourself to beat the February blues, or pick up the perfect gift for that special someone on Valentine’s day! Retailing at the usual cupcake price of £4.50 from us directly via email, or from Vintage Rose Country Interiors in Chard.
Now you can find us at Vintage Rose Country Interiors!
We are very happy to announce our soaps, cupcake soaps and new bath infusers are now available from Vintage Rose Country Interiors, 15 High Street, Chard, Somerset. We are so happy to be able to stock our soaps in this fabulous shop packed full of lovely gift ideas and vintage ‘pre-loved’ painted furniture; it’s well worth a visit!
We would also like to take this opportunity to wish all our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thank you for all your support during this last year. It’s been a fantastic year of fairs, markets and new ideas and can’t wait to get started on a soap filled 2012!
Anyone for cake?
Introducing our new limited edition cup cakes! These cupcakes are packed full of our usual creamy soap mix, but with a little extra magic thrown in we think they will look fantastic on your bathroom shelf (or in the toe of a stocking!). We have a zesty citrus cupcake, packed full of tangerine and lime, a classic chocolate with a twist of fruity berry, and a floral cupcake. For that extra Christmassy touch we also have a mix of cupcakes decorated with a winter and Christmas theme, two of our popular Christmas fragrances Snow and Deck the Halls, and a cheeky Carrot Cake for those who like things a little less sweet. They will be available for £4.50 each but don’t wait too long to order as they are a limited edition, so get in touch via email to simplyportugalsoaps@gmail.com or come along to one of our fairs to grab your slice of the cake!
An early preview of this year’s Christmas Soaps!
Although it might be a little early to be thinking of Christmas, we were too excited by Shelley’s gorgeous ideas for this year’s Christmas soaps not to share them with you all! Full details will be on a specials page soon, and the soaps will be available at the usual price of £3.85 each. Don’t hesitate to order early if you have your eye on one in particular, it always pays to be organised for Christmas!
We will have:
‘Deck the Halls’ (top left), a rich, festive fragrance with fig and slightly sweetened with warm blackberry, clove and peppery notes resting on a woody backdrop. Enriched by aromatic notes of cedarwood, raspberry and sultana.
‘Snow’ (top right), with a mild menthol with a hint of pine giving way to middle notes of spruce and eucalyptus. Lavender and cedarwood round out this delightful seasonal fragrance.
‘Frankincense & Myrrh’ (bottom left), a woody-oriental fragrance with citrus top notes mingling with warm base of frankincense, myrrh and amber, with real crushed frankincense to top it off!
‘Mulled Wine’ (bottom right), a spicy fragrance with citrus lemon top notes leading to a spicy floral heart, all of which rest upon a base of vanilla and mulled Portuguese wine rather than goats milk.
And here they are…
The finished soap dishes, which will retail from us at £6 a dish plus the usual postage charges:
They are the perfect partner for our soaps, with ridged bottoms to keep the soap in top condition and all hand made and decorated by our independent potter in Portugal. If you would like to place an order then let us know which design you would like in an email, and we will get it on the way to you!
Soap dishes are on their way…!
If you’ve been following us on Facebook, or have seen us at fairs recently then you might have noticed our new line of soap dishes. We fell in love with the Portuguese potteries, and couldn’t help but try out a few to see if you liked them. It looks like you did, because they were a resounding hit, so we’re pleased to announce they will be a permanent fixture!
We have managed to find a fantastic artisan potter in the south of Portugal who will be hand making and painting the dishes for us, so they should be ready in a few weeks. Once we have them ready to go then there will be pictures for you to browse so that you can place your order. A gorgeous way to accompany your soaps, or make them into the perfect gift!
Paypal…
Unfortunately for once our news is slightly less fun than usual, as we’re sorry to announce that we can no longer accept Paypal as a method of payment. We have been trialling the service for some time now and sadly cannot cover the increasing costs of using it as a method of receiving payments. We didn’t want to pass those costs on to you so instead have decided to go back to old fashioned bank transfers (which many banks will now let you do online or over the phone) or cheques in the post! We hope this doesn’t cause a problem for you, we aim to make the whole process as easy as possible, so please do get in touch with your orders and we will give you all the information you need to complete the order once we confirm the final costs with postage. Thank you!
Castles and Cocktails!
Please excuse the slow updating recently, but we have been really busy creating some lovely new soaps for you, and dashing about meeting you all at the local markets! There are two pieces of news for today, firstly, we are very excited about the wedding fair at the Castle Hotel this Sunday from 11.30am onwards. If you’re going to be in Taunton please do pop in and say hello, and have a chat about any party or wedding plans! Our soaps make lovely table favours or gifts, and we can offer a variety of colours and scents to suit the occasion.
Secondly, we have a fabulous new range of ‘Cocktail’ soaps, inspired by our favourite tipples. Kir Royale is decadent champagne and fruity cassis. For ladies ‘wot’ lunch Cosmopolitan is a gorgeous cranberry, tangerine and pomegranate scented soap. Mojito is for those who like it fresh, with lime, rum and mint. And finally, creamy coffee scented White Russian, for those who like a touch of mystery!
At the moment these are limited edition, but if you like them we can keep making them. Get in touch through the normal channels or come along to one of the markets (see below) for a smell.
Upcoming markets and fairs
We have been to some lovely fairs and markets since the beginning of this year and met some really lovely people. Here is a list of some more that we will be attending : -
June 11th – Ilminster Midsummer Experience food & craft fair, Somerset. 9am – 3pm
July 10th – The Castle Hotel, Taunton, Somerset. Wedding Fayre. 11.30am – 4pm
July 16th – Brownsword Hall, Poundbury Dorchester – 10am – 1pm
July 28th – Forde Abbey Summer Fair, Forde Abbey, Nr Chard, Somerset - 10am – 5pm
July 30th – Digby Hall, Sherborne, Dorset – 10am – 4pm
August 21st – Buckham Fair, Beaminster, Dorset – 10am – 5pm
October 1st – Digby Hall, Sherborne, Dorset – 10am – 4pm
November 6th – Hornsbury Mill Wedding Fair, Nr Chard, Somerset 11am – 5pm
November 26th – Brownsword Hall, Poundbury, Dorchester – 10am – 1pm
December 2nd & 3rd – “Magical Christmas fair at Monks Yard” Horton, Nr Ilminster – time to be advised
Hope to see you at one of the above!
And the winner is…..!
Congratulations to Di Harris whose name was drawn from the hat as our winner of the Spring competition, she has chosen a Dill & Green tea soap as her prize.
We hope you are enjoying it Di!
We have a competition for you!
We’ve got all excited with the prospect of longer days and sunnier climes, and have been thinking about all the new ideas we can have with soaps to come!
But, we need your help, and would love to know what smells you like and what you might want to see. We’re making it a little competition, running on our Facebook page so if you can comment there with your favourite kinds of scents, and why, we’ll pick the one we like the best and you’ll win a free soap of your choice from our Spring Range (have a look on the website for details). If you’re not on Facebook then why not comment here, or send us an email instead?
Floral or fruity, citrus or woody, or maybe something totally left of centre – we want to know what floats your boat and why. Are you addicted to one smell from childhood, or is there something you just can’t stand!?
To get the ideas started, at the moment we’re thinking of Frangipani or Magnolia as single scents, or Portuguese Meadow with a combination of gorgeous fresh floral and green notes, with a slightly woody undertone. If you come up with a great idea it might even make the next batch of new soaps for summer, so get your thinking caps on!
We’ll run this competition until the end of March, and then announce the winner on April the 1st (and we promise it won’t be an April fool) and then you can select your soap and let us know via email, so we can get it on the way to you as soon as possible!
Spring Specials are here…
Our soap maestro has been hard at work developing a special selection of spring soaps for you. With the spring coming slightly earlier in Portugal, she has been channelling the summery vibes to create a wonderful variety of scents to get you over the last days of winter. There’s Tropicana for those who like a fruity scent, Dill and Green Tea for the more earthy preferences, or the gorgeous new combination fragrances of Antique Blossom and Anastasia for the floral lovers. Don’t hang about though, we’ve only made a small amount of each soap as a one-off, so if you like the sound of them order early to avoid disappointment!
We also have a new permanent soap for those with sensitive skin, so check out our Soaps Page for full details!
Soap pictured: Tropicana
Valentine’s Gift Packs are ready to go!
We are very pleased to announce that we’ve gone all-out for you romantics and created gift packs to send to your special someone, or even to treat yourself! Take a look at our Valentine’s Gifts page and order via the normal routes. The packs will be £6.20 plus the normal P&P.
Spring is just around the corner…it’s time for the market stalls
We’ve been hard at work here to fend off the January blues, and one thing which always makes us happy is to book in for markets. We enjoyed our Christmas stall so much we’ve gone all-out and are booked for the Spring markets in the lovely Ilminster Meeting House. If you haven’t visited before then do come along and see what there is to offer. With galleries, a cafe and the local produce market there’s something for everyone.
Check out their website here, or come along to one of the following dates:
Saturday February 5th
Saturday March 5th
Saturday April 2nd.
There are a few new soaps in the pipeline to tempt you with some lovely springlike floral and zesty scents to see us into the new season. We look forward to seeing you there!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We would like to wish our customers and friends a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year and to thank them for purchasing from us during our first year in buisness. We look forward to seeing you again in 2011, where there are already exciting things on the agenda for us, and some wonderful new soaps being developed for you!
Christmas market time!
A huge thanks to everyone at the Monk’s Yard Christmas Market, we had a wonderful two days there, feeling very festive and probably buying more from other stalls than anything else! A warm welcome to everyone that we met that day and who are just discovering us, please have a look around and let us know if there is anything you would like to order.
For future market dates to come and see (and smell!) our lovely soaps in person, keep an eye on our Facebook page.
- Even more updates with Facebook!
If you’re keen to know what we’re up to, and see where we might be selling our soaps in the markets around the west country, then why not befriend us on Facebook? We’ll let you know where we are, and how things are progressing, and you even get sneaky peeks of the new soaps as they are being created. Search for Simply Portugal Soaps on Facebook, click on the Facebook logo here, or on this link.
p.s. If you managed to miss it, the Christmas Soaps are now available, and heading out of the door fast, get your order in to avoid disappointment!
- Now even easier with Paypal.
We are pleased to announce that it is now even easier and more 
secure to buy through our site as we now accept Paypal!
You can pay through Paypal by using our email address simplyportugalsoaps@gmail.com, (click the Paypal logo above to find out more), but do contact us first to place your order and so that we can calculate the final total with P&P. Happy shopping!
- Christmas specials are on their way!
We’re pleased to announce that our Christmas soaps are now available for pre-order, and will be available after November the 14th! They are now in production but there is a limited supply so do email us with a pre-order to avoid disappointment.
Yes, we know, it’s a bit early to think about Christmas, but as there’s a bit of a nip in the air we couldn’t help but think of what amazing special soaps we could conjure up for you as a Christmas treat! Our soap maestro has been hard at work and has developed ‘Snow’, ‘Christmas Spice’ and ‘Cranberry’. Not only do our new additions smell amazing, they also look a picture, making them perfect individually for stocking fillers or as a selection for a wonderfully pampering gift. Check out our special ‘Christmas Soaps’ page for more details!
- Getting Married? Or know someone who is?
If you fancy something a little different from sugared almonds then why not go for a soapy wedding favour? We can make up beautiful wedding favours using our lovely soaps, whether you chose one soap (love spell or nectarine blossom would be perfectly romantic choices) or a selection. Why not get in touch and we can talk about how we can colour co-ordinate with your colour theme (and with your scent theme!) and what combinations we can suggest. Your guests will leave with a long lasting, lovingly made thank you from your special day, which they can remember every time they lather up!
- Showing our tougher side…..new soaps now here!
As the last news item said, we were developing some new smells, more for the boys or if you’re not feeling too floral or sweet. So, we are pleased to announce:
Blue Amberwood which has fresh citrus notes of grapefruit and lime, blue agava, warm cinnamon, amber and dark chocolate.
Lime, mandarin & basil contains zingy lime and mandarin blended with black pepper, basil and thyme.
Bay and Howood with warming bay and tingly howood so soothe your aches and pains.
For full details have a look at The Soaps page (tab above).
- Coming soon…
At the moment there is, perhaps, a slightly female bias in our soaps. Although there are many already that many men will love to use, (Lime Mandarin and Basil or Bay and Howood to name but two) we will also soon be expanding the more ‘manly’ side of our range. Ideal for the boys, or for the girls who prefer things a little less floral, the new additions should be an exciting new feature to our existing list. Keep a look out here to see what they will be and when you can order them!
