It's mountain time...

Pals, I am absolutely thrilled to write today's post. You see, while we've been trying to self-contain as much as possible, we've also been trying to support local businesses to help keep them moving forward, even though the world has slowed down.

Instead of looking to big box retailers and chains, I set aside some time to do a bit of research on the awesome small businesses that are located within the town borders. This lead me to find Mountain Time Soap, a handmade soap company based in Golden, Colorado. Let me tell you: It's awesome to find a great local business to shop from, but it's even better when they hand-make their products using natural ingredients, without chemicals, and they even use totally recyclable and compostable packaging!

My new buddy, Stacy, created Mountain Time Soap to help reduce the number of chemicals that she was using on her body and ended up developing a gorgeous range of nature-inspired body products. She was kind enough to share her entire line with me (!!!) so since our masked meet-up in the post office parking lot, SunStars and I have had a grand time playing around with all of the different scents and earth-based goodies in her range.

Handmade bar soaps are really at the core of Mountain Time, and the 7 bars that we've been able to play around with smell crisp and fresh. The patchouli mint, which is a special soap in her line, is definitely my favorite. It's super minty with just a hint of patchouli, which of course, makes me feel like a happy (and clean) little hippie. SunStars has had a difficult time picking a favorite, but has narrowed them down to his top 2: Alpine Start (made with cedarwood, eucalyptus, spearmint, and coffee grounds) and True Grit (the sage and fir really shine through with this one... it reminds me of Christmas). Even without the lathering agents that are generally mixed into the soaps you'd find at a big box retailer, these all-natural bars are able to generate tons of suds.

In addition to the bar soaps, we also got to give the Mountain Time shampoo bar a spin. Since my hair is super crazy fine, I've often struggled to find handmade shampoo bars that don't leave my hair feeling super oily, and I'm happy to say that after years of searching, I have finally found a bar that leaves my hair feeling light, hydrated, and clean! Suffice it to say that I've also greatly enjoyed the muscle recovery soak (LOVE the way it is packaged), the shave soap, the lip balm in a compostable tube, and the whipped shea butter. I really especially enjoy the shea butter, not just because I'm a total hydration freak, but because it is hand-harvested by women on Northern Ghana. These women use traditional harvesting methods and are paid a sustainable living wage for their work. All that needs to be done with it at Mountain Time Soap is to whip it and package it in a sweet amber glass jar. Stay tuned for an update on the pet shampoo bar. We need to get our pup into the tub soon!

It seems that I have struck gold in Golden with Mountain Time Soap! Even if they aren't local to you, I'd highly recommend popping over to their website and taking a look at everything they have to offer! In addition to everything I've written about here, they've got a soap club that would be oodles of fun to try out!