Back From Vacation

I'm happy to say that I'm back, and the Manor is open once again. All orders that were placed during the last two weeks will be shipping this week. Thank you to everyone for your patience. Please log in and check your account for updated status on your order box as it happens.

Festival Weekend

We've just had a great Mattoon Street Festival weekend. Saturday was pretty much washed out by Hurricane Hanna and kept a lot of people away. Today was a beautiful day, 75 degrees and dry, and the Festival buzzed.

I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by the table to say hello. I have two more days of packing order boxes and then I can start my two week vacation.

September Special

There's a sale going on at The Manor. 15% off your order, all week long. Just enter the coupon code AUTUMN15 at checkout to receive 15% off your order.

And during this week, with each bar of our latest wild child, "Choccy Orange Kerfuffle" comes a free sample of our chocolate face mask. Get yours now. What's not to love! Offer ends midnight Friday, September 5th.

Remember, shipping is still just five dollars, to anywhere in the U.S. Happy shopping!

This Month's Freebie

Every month I get to enjoy giving away a free bar of soap with every order. Never a mystery and always full size, the order box freebie for the month of September is a bar of Orange Tree Blast. Check out the freebie page to see what else can be free inside your order box this month.

Mmmm... Chocolate...

The change of the season is happening again. I never tire of watching the seasons come and go. Each one offering something new to replace the colors and smells of the season past. As summer begins to fade into fall, we welcome warm familiar tones and scents, while looking toward preparing our skin in readiness for the cool and bluster of the months ahead.

Cocoa butter is an ingredient new to the Manor. Pressed from the cocoa bean, it carries a wonderful chocolate aroma. But aside from its heavenly natural scent, it also holds excellent benefits for the skin, and has been used through the centuries as an effective moisturizer helping to keep the skin soft and supple. Cocoa butter melts into the skin with ease, creating a natural barrier between the skin and the harsher elements associated with our weather. Rich in antioxidants, cocoa butter helps retain moisture and offers emollience to dry or chafed skin.

There's a new wild child running the halls of the Manor. Set against a backdrop of sweet orange essential oil, and stirred through with moisturizing cocoa butter and rich cocoa bean powder, "Choccy Orange Kerfuffle" is an indulgent heavenly delight. It's a little chocolate commotion with a big feeling of lotion. On the website and available to chocoholics near and far. Get yours now, and prepare to feel the melt.

Mattoon Street Arts Festival '08

Labor Day is nearly upon us, and the weekend after Labor Day always means the Mattoon Street Arts Festival.

The Festival, celebrating its 36th year, is Springfield's signature festival, and one of New England's longest running arts and crafts fairs. With over 90 exhibitors displaying and selling handmade arts and artisan crafts on a wonderfully historic tree-lined urban street over two weekend days, it is as unique as the artists and craftspeople that participate in it year in and year out. Herringbone brick sidewalks, stately London Plane shade trees, and cast iron ornamental street lights all contribute to the charm of this designated historic district.

Next weekend will be my fourth appearance at the Festival, and although it is a lot of hard work preparing for it, I am looking forward to it. It's a chance for me to meet my local customers and for you all to come by and say hello. The third year was great because it was the first time people were coming up to me and saying that they look for me there "every year".

Mattoon Street Arts Festival, Mattoon Street, Springfield Massachusetts. September 6th and 7th, 10:00-5:00. Hope to see you there!

Beauty Counter Contest

Want to win some free Manor Hall soap? Head over to The Beauty Counter and enter their contest. The Beauty Counter is a beauty product review blog which covers everything from makeup to shower stuff.

Hil'Lesha, who runs The Beauty Counter, just wrote up a great review on there of a few different Manor Hall products. And now she's doing a contest giveaway of one of our Three Bar Gift Totes. Entering is easy. All you have to do is click this link, read the post carefully, and just mention your favorite Manor Hall product, name and email in the competition entry box. That's it!

Please remember this competition is happening on The Beauty Counter and not the Manor Hall Soap Blog. Commenting on this post right here will not enter you into the competition. You must go there in order to enter. The giveaway ends September 7th.

Good luck!!!