The Laney Line
When I started Alegna Soap®, my daughter Elaine and I collaborated on the Laney Line. She likes color in her soaps, so I made four different soap bars for her, and she named them all. She chose the name Lily for this soap because she said it reminded her of a lily pad floating on a lake.
I stopped making them a few years ago, Elaine lives in another state with her husband and son, and I no longer felt a connection to them. A few months ago I had an insight. What if the Laney Line grew up like Elaine did? Make the scent blends a little more complex and the color combination more sophisticated? Add some glitter because, why not?
Lily
Strains of Incense and Peppermints, the Strawberry Alarm Clock song from the 1960s, play in the tea shop Lily likes to frequent on the weekends as she hangs out scrolling through her social media while drinking a tall glass of iced chai. The words of the song fill the air: “Occasions, persuasions, clutter your mind; Incense and peppermints, the color of time…” She decides to Google the lyrics to figure out what the song’s message is. The album cover pops up and she examines the image closely—a group of young men in Indian-print Nehru jackets lounging on pillows around a throne-like peacock rattan chair. Taking her eyes off the screen, she scans her own gauzy Indian print tunic top, long hair and ripped skinny jeans and recognizes in the photo the similar Bohemian look she is rocking. Here it is, a good 50-plus years later, and she is feeling and giving off a similar vibe. “The color of time,” she thinks. “What’s old is new again.” The spices in her chai exude the East Asian fragrances and she recalls her favorite essential oils—patchouli and lavender—and the peppermint tea she drinks at night. The aromas and sounds of the 1960s and she was not even a part of it, yet she feels she could have been. As she gets up to leave, words of the song play in her head as they will for the rest of the day, “Beatniks and politics, nothing is new…Who cares what games we choose, little to win, and nothing to lose….”
Rock your own ‘60s hippie vibe with Alegna’s mint green Lily soap, accented with bits of hot pink color and a sprinkling of pink glitter on top. It is the essence of incense and peppermints, with a touch of lavender thrown in.
So what do you think of grown up Lily?
Yours in Gratitude,
Angela
Oh how fantastic. Both the idea and the story!!
Thanks Roberta!
This is so so sweet! What a neat idea to grow up your soap line with your grown up daughter. That’s a great idea, to mirror and celebrate both relationships.
Thanks Donna Maria. I had retired the line a few years ago, but recently something started tugging at me to bring it back. I wanted to do it a little differently than I did when she was younger, because she’s grown up and so has Alegna Soap®.
Your post made me smile
Thanks Venessa, your comment made me smile!
Love that song, fun to have a soap based on a song.
It’s interesting to me how music, or a certain scent can bring you back to a moment in your past. I love 60’s music too.
I love these stories. They really bring your soaps to life.
Thanks Donna. That is exactly what I was hoping to do.