SOAP MOLD OVERSTOCK. Up to 60% savings

It's time for us to clear out the warehouse shelves for incoming 2008 stock. We have discounted a number of soap molds that are overstock, discontinued, or end-of-season designs. These are "top quality" molds and quite honestly, it's a "steal deal".

Take advantage of these year end savings now!

You'll find a complete list of the molds at GoPlanetEarth.com.

2008 Soap Making Trends

Pictured above: French-milled soaps for your A-List Baby from Noodle & Boo.com. Just another one of the "premium" type bath and body to expect in 2008.

Keeping up with consumer trends is essential to building a profitable product line for your E-Biz. Rarely do trends pop out of nowhere. In most cases, they are a blending of mulitple trends that merge into the next big trend. Statistics show that the annual income of an online shopper is $75,000 plus, with many more millionaires taking the online leap.

Begin to study magazine ads and read trade articles; look at what is currently hot, start to analyze and sharpen your skills to spot new trends that will give rise to new products within your industry. Ultimately, the goal of trend watching is to explore new ideas that will lead to profitable product innovations. Here are three trends I see for 2008.

1) The Premiumization of everything and anything. No product will escape a premium version in the next 12 months. With money to burn, more and more consumers will be looking for quick status fixes derived from premium products.

A great example of this trend is represented by The Laundress. Lindsey Wieber and Gwen Whiting, co-founders of The Laundress™, created this luxury fabric care and specialty detergent line to take the chore out of laundry. They saw the necessity of properly caring for their clothing and homes, but were not able to find products on the market that met their standards of delicacy, fragrance and sophistication. This propelled these entrepreneurs to design a luxurious brand of detergents and fabric care with their own uniquely developed fragrances.



Expect to find the same trend with lotions, shower gels, soaps, and other bath and body products. Start looking for ways that you can "Premiumize" your current product line or, develop new lines that are a step beyond the average. and then market them as up-scale, sophisticated bath and body products.

2) Eco Status Sphere is not stopping in 2008. In fact, expect to see trends for both green and blue. Consumers will continue to seek out products that are organic and ego-friendly. Consider using bath and body containers that can be recycled or refilled. Products geared toward fitness and outdoor living will continue to grow. Foot and hand care, body soaks, lip balms are all products that can be developed to greenify the life's of a ego-conscious consumer.

3) Expect online sub-cultures like Face Book and My Space to begin dominating the advertising and selling world. Do-It-Yourself and Make-It-Yourself will continue to emerge from this thriving online sub-culture.

CafePress.com is already offering this type of online platform, but you will begin to see FaceBook and MySpace users doing the same. The days of offering a limited number of choices to online customers, is becoming a thing of the past.

A make your own "virtual" bath and body product web site may be something to consider. Generation C is here to stay. What is Generation C? The Wikopedia definition: People who use the web to create user generated content and participate in the co-creation of products and services.

As 2007 comes to a close, I wish each of you great success in your 2008 business ventures. GoPlanetEarth.com will continue to supply you with products that will help you reach your goals. As the owner, I sincerely thank each and every one of you for your continued business and support. So many of you have become like family to us. We look forward to servicing your soap making needs in 2008.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to all of you!

Denise & the GoPlanet Team

Etsy: A DIY Crafting Community

Pictured: Chunky pieces of peppermint bark -- entirely made of soap.

Etsy.com is an online community with a mission that enables people to earn a living "making" things. Esty.com then connects those makers with online buyers. In a nutshell, they are creating micro-economies within corporate America. The vision of Etsy is to build a new economy and present a better choice of goods. These goods, by the way, are all handmade.

As posted on the Etsy site:


"The connection between producer and consumer has been lost. We created Etsy to help them reconnect, and swing the pendulum back to a time when we bought our bread from the baker, food from the grocer, and shoes from the cobbler. "


If you are not yet familiar with Etsy.com, I encourage you to check it out. It's a haven for those making hand-made products. Even if you don't make anything hand-made, you'll find it the place to buy ALL things handmade.

As we move into a new year, may each of us be aware of the social and environmental implications of our purchases and become a consumer conscious of the true value of handmade goods. My personal New Year resolution is to buy handmade whenever possible.

Pictured is Death by Cinnamon. It's a heavily scented soap topped with cinnamon "syrup" -- a thick bar, lusciously creamy and excitingly spicy. It's available at Esty.

Beating Heart Soap

The things one can find to do with melt and pour soap. I've been in this business a good number of years; I must admit, this is a first for me.

This link gives instructions on how to make a flashing soap that emulates the beating of a heart. I would take heed to the writer's words of CAUTION about using an LCD battery in soap. I'm certain this can work, BUT I would sure hate to lose any of you to a heart throbbing soap explosion. Might be best if you just let this spark some inventive soap making ideas for the new year.

A thank you gift from Tuesday Soap Night

This beautiful holiday wreath arrived today from a local florist. It was sent by my next door neighbor in thanks for hosting Soap night (see my prior post). It was a delightful surprise, and I immediately hung the wreath outside the front door of my home.

The card read, "Thanks for an evening of good "clean" fun. I am blessed with the best neighbors anyone could have."

This post is for Nancy. My wonderful neighbor and friend. Everyone should be lucky enough to have great neighbors. I have been fortunate. All my neighbors (including former neighbors) are still very much a part of my life. Even with moves, life changes, kids growing up... we've kept in contact and remain close friends.

Life is good when you're surrounded by friends. Today, I give thanks for the gift of friendship.

Tuesday Soap Night

On Tuesday I hosted a "Holiday Soap Night". It was an evening of soaping, socializing, and sipping wine (what's a soap night without a little wine??). Everyone made four soaps for our grandkids (one duck pond soap, one bendable holiday character soap, and two cupcake soaps) . I've posted a few pictures of our event.

Post Script: I am fortunate to have one of the most wonderful group of lady friends. The more time I spend with them, the more I treasure and appreciate their friendship. Life is good when you're surrounded by incredible friends.

All of the supplies used can be purchased at GoPlanetEarth.com.

Missy (far left), my long-time employee, is showing the gals how to add the snow effects to the top of the duck pond soaps.

Betty is putting the finishing touches on her bendable holiday soap.

Our lovely, crazy Mo (short for Maureen) showcasing her work.

A few Christmas Decorating Ideas

The holiday season is upon us and I thought a few decorating ideas were in order. Hope these inspire you to dig out those boxes of Christmas lights from the attic and make this year's Christmas merry and BRIGHT!

If you're looking for more holiday decorating ideas, pay a visit to uglychristmaslights.com. I guarantee you'll find something that strikes your fancy.










In the above picture, I'm guessing the canopy tent is where the manger scene is set-up. The homeowners didn't want Jesus, Mary and Joseph to be out in the rain or snow. It just wouldn't be right.

The house with all the lights.... again, I'm just guessing, but I bet there were no lights left at the local Wal-mart after this homeowner left the store. Thankfully, none of these homeowners are my neighbors! In fact, these pictures inspire me. Not to decorate, but to send a wonderful gift to my neighbors for NOT decorating.

Sure hope all of you are making time to enjoy this joyous holiday season.

Bath Salt Sundae... a great holiday gift

Instead of an ice cream sundae, how about a bath salt sundae? This is a great project to do with kids.

Here's what you'll need:

1) Ice cream sundae dish. I suggest checking Dollar stores and restaurant supply stores in your area.

2) Bath Salts

3) Nylon Bath Puff

4) Sea Salt Colorants (if desired)

5) Fragrance Oil (if desired)

6) Plastic sundae spoon. Check out your local ice cream shops.

Color and scent the salts. If you want to get creative, you can layer the salts in different colors. Place the sundae spoon into the dish and then add salts. Finish off your soap sundae by attaching a bath puff to the salts. You can use a glue gun or drizzle some melt and pour soap over the top of the bath puff allowing the soap to seep down in th salts so that it seats the puff. Top off the salt sundae with a red cherrie made from soap or a red bath bead.

Use the spoon to sprinkle salts into your next bath. You'll be saying Ooohh-la-la the next time you soak in the tub.