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I can't wait to try these out!

I stepped outside the box just a toe to try out a couple things I'd been wondering about. I substituted a bit of the water for this recipe with some Aloe Vera Gel added it at trace,  I also added beeswax to the recipe cause rumor is it helps to make a harder bar.

Then, I added this refreshing, invigorating, stimulating blend of tea tree, eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils. Not to mention, I added a bit of poppy seeds for some exfoliation. I almost want to call these Wake Up Soap. I can't wait to see what these are like in the shower.

These have no added color to them and in my opinion look just beautiful white with the poppy seeds sprinkled in.

I'll give them a week to cure a bit before I take them for a test run and let you know how it went!

Lemongrass & Lavender

These bars smell so fresh!

This was my first use of Essential Oils and it turned out great! The combination of the Lemongrass EO and Lavender EO was a great choice I think. The Lemongrass is the stronger scent but the Lavender creeps in there at the end for a calming effect. I will definitely be using the combination again in the future.

The colors didn't do exactly what I wanted them to (yes, I know they're probably not the most perfect match for the fragrance, lol) I was originally going to try and do some swirls but I let the batch get too far into trace and wasn't able to. I still think they turned out pretty :)

I've already tried using a piece I sliced off and so far they have great lather and don't dry my skin out. They were made with olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, avocado oil, castor oil & jojoba oil.

I used the Oatmeal & Honey Bars for the first time this morning to wash my face in the shower and so far so good. No irritation or break outs, I'm going to continue to use it every morning to see if my skin dries out at all. Granted, I do use a moisturizer on my face after I get out of the shower but who doesn't?

I'll keep you updated!

Candles

Made my first candles yesterday. I was really pleased with the way they came out, the tops are really smooth with no holes. I still need to wait a bit before I can burn it to test the wick, scent throw and burn time on the larger ones. I'm burning a tealight right now and so far so good! It smells great!

As soon as I'm able to test them and if everything turns out ok, I'll put them up for sale. The scents I have are White Tea & Ginger, Cinnamon Stick, Pumpkin Pie, Gingerbread, Mulberry, Red Wine and Lavender

I'm super excited about these, I love candles!

Essential Oils

I'm taking the plunge into using Essential Oils tonight.

I ordered a handful from a couple different websites the other day and one of the shipments arrived today so I'm anxious to try them out! I've been reading up on them quite a bit and some of these oils have amazing properties.

I thought this was a great definition:

Essential oils, known as nature’s living energy, are the natural, aromatic volatile liquids found in shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, and seeds. The distinctive components in essential oils defend plants against insects, environmental conditions, and disease. They are also vital for a plant to grow, live, evolve, and adapt to its surroundings. Essential oils are extracted from aromatic plant sources via steam distillation, and are highly concentrated and far more potent than dry herbs.

While essential oils often have a pleasant aroma, their chemical makeup is complex and their benefits vast—which makes them much more than something that simply smells good.
Historically, essential oils have played a prominent role in everyday life. With more than 200 references to aromatics, incense, and ointments throughout the Bible, essential oils are said to be used for anointing and healing the sick. Today, essential oils are used for aromatherapy, massage therapy, emotional health, personal care, nutritional supplements, household solutions, and much more.

So I'm trying to come up with the perfect blend of scents that will please and intrigue customers. Wish me luck!

Last night I also tried a new shave bar recipe and I'll post the results of that in about a week, after the bars have had some time to cure.

 Last but not least!

Tomorrow my new lip balm tubes and the rest of the new flavors should be here so I'll be hard at working making up some new balms to sell!

So keep an eye on my Etsy Shop for those, or if you live near me, contact me directly so I can wave the shipping costs and we can arrange for a pick up.

Now this is an awesome idea!

While reading forums yesterday I ran across a post about an organization called Clean the World. Here's what the front page of their site says:

Clean the World recycles soap and saves lives.

Every day in North America, thousands of hotels discard millions of pounds of soap and shampoo. These products often end up in already overflowing landfills and contaminate fragile groundwater systems.
Impoverished people around the world die every day from acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease because they have no soap. The death toll is staggering. Each year more than five million lives are lost to these diseases with the majority of deaths being among children less than five years old. Studies have shown that simple hand washing substantially reduces the spread of these diseases. Unfortunately, the essential items for proper hand washing are unobtainable for millions of people worldwide.

Clean the World gets soap to people who really need it.

In an effort to prevent these needless deaths from occurring, Clean the World distributes recycled soap products, along with appropriate educational materials, to impoverished countries worldwide, and to domestic homeless shelters.

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It never would have crossed my mind that there was a use for all those extra soaps most of us have laying around but here it is! All it will cost you is the postage to send your soaps but I think that's a fair price to help save lives. Not to mention, it keeps these items out of our landfills. If you live in Orlando, Huston or Atlanta you can actually go and volunteer at their center.

If you're interested, the address to send your extra soap to is:


Clean the World
8026 Sunport Dr, Ste 306
Orlando, FL 32809-8108

Oatmeal & Honey Bars

I'm in love with the way these smell!!

I didn't add fragrance to them and I'm glad I didn't. The smell of both the oatmeal and honey really comes through and they smell wonderful. Same thing with color, I didn't add anything to them. I'm thinking possibly the honey helped add to the color of the bars, maybe the oatmeal also.

I'm going to be anxious to test these since I'm hoping they'll be a nice facial bar. I'm sensitive to a lot of cleaners and such on my face so I'll be a good test subject. It would be great to not have to spend a ton of money on facial cleansers anymore and to have that product be all natural is just icing on the cake!

Now, my question to whoever is even reading this, lol... would you consider purchasing and using a bar that looks like this? Is it aesthetically pleasing? What could I do to make it better if you don't find it so? Any input is welcome, both positive and negative. I want to come up with products that people "want" to buy and use... otherwise "Huston, we have a problem" ;)

oh, one thing I did notice... I didn't make them with oatmeal on the top but I put a bit on there for the picture, I think next time I may put oatmeal on the top, I like the look of it.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

A better picture

Here's a better picture of the Yuzu bars, you can see the green a lot better.. I think if I'm going to take pictures outside I need to do it when the sun is out so the colors show up more :)