Upcoming Boutique

This Saturday, I'll be participating at a boutique in Magna. Mention this blog when visiting my booth and get a free lip balm. If you're in the area be sure to stop by.

Where: Our Lady of Lourdes - 2840 S. 9000 West, Magna, Utah.
When: February 22, 2014 from Noon to 7 p.m.

Hope to see you there.

Soap on a Rope Failure

The soap on a rope didn't work out so well. In November I posted about a batch of soap I saved. I'd forgotten to superfat the batch and couldn't sell it that way, so I grated it up and experimented with adding castor oil to it. Since I was experimenting I tried making soap on a rope. Here you can see a partially used one. It started out looking like a round ball of soap on a rope, but the problem is, as you can see here, that they knot is causing issues with the use of the soap being pleasant.

Live and learn.

However, I molded the rest of the batch and we've been using it.

Amazing what that castor oil did for the batch. Because of that I made a new batch of honey oatmeal a few weeks ago and formulated castor oil into the batch. The honey oatmeal is about cured and can be packaged soon.

As for the soap on a rope, there is probably some other way to do this.

Do people even use soap on a rope?

Would you?

Blog Tour Giveaway

SkinTastic Creations is sponsoring the Blog Tour hosted by Lucinda Whitney to promote Rules of Engagement. We are donating lotion and sugar scrub for the giveaway. They are both sweetly scented with Brown Sugar and Spice. Yum!

The sugar scrub is a fabulous way to exfoliate the dead skin while moisturizing. I love the feel of my skin after a sugar scrub. And the lotion is smooth and creamy, and made with plant-based oils that soak into your skin. Of course. We never use mineral oils or other petroleum products.

So join in the blog tour. I hear it's a fabulous book and can't wait to read it myself.

http://lucindawhitney.com/2014/02/blog-tour/rules-of-engagement-blog-tour/

Bath Bombs Galore

We had a big bath bomb making day and rolled out a bunch of them (my husband is so wonderful to help). We did several small batches with a variety of fragrances. Here are the fragrances we did.

Sunflower
Huckleberry
Ocean Breeze
Mango
Pearberry
Sandalwood Vanilla

Unfortunately a large portion of them cracked and can't be sold. Time for a big spa party at my house I think.

When the bath bombs don't crack they look beautiful though. One of these days I'll figure out how to consistently keep them from cracking down the middle. In the meantime I'll be giving a lot of bath bombs away.

Anybody want to soak their feet?

Do You Have Eczema?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Do you have eczema?

Many people do. I never knew how many until I started putting this sign out at my boutiques. Now people passing by stop and tell me about their grandchild or friend who struggles with eczema. Or better yet, they lift their pant leg or push up their sleeve so they can show me the struggle they are having with this annoying skin condition. Often they've tried everything from prescription creams to whatever else they can find that might work.

Eczema is complicated. Generally it is caused by some factor that can be hard to identify. Your doctor may have recommendations about changing your soap or what you put on your skin. If the condition persists they may begin testing for allergies or other things that may be triggering the miserable rash.

Over twenty years ago my oldest daughter started having problems with eczema. We would lube her up with lotion, not having a clue that the mineral oil and other petroleum ingredients in the product we were using only complicated the condition, instead of helping. When we changed to a natural soap and better skin products it all went away. Our struggle was a small one.

One of my favorite stories to tell is of a dear friend, who at age 65 had been struggling with eczema on his feet for twenty five years. He was using a combination of a quality cream on the market and a prescription cream. By doing this he had been able to manage the eczema, but never get rid of it. He decided to give our herbal balm a try. He religiously used the balm a couple times a day and was able to clear the rash completely for the first time in twenty five years. I suspect the reason this worked so well for him was that he was using a product with no preservatives or other additives, and certainly no mineral oil. The simplicity of the five ingredients of the balm are what make it so effective: olive oil, beeswax, calendula, comfrey and chickweed.

What have you tried for your eczema? What success have you had?

Apples for Healthy Skin

Eating right influences the health of your skin as dramatically as what you put on it. One source of skin loving nutrients is an apple. The vitamin C in an apple helps your body produce the collagen needed to give the skin elasticity and a plump appearance.

Apples are fabulous fresh, but the apple is versatile and adds the right touch to many dishes. Here's one idea for adding apples to breakfast.

When you have an abundance of apples, core and peel them, then cut them into bite-size pieces and dehydrate them. I use a Nesco dehydrator, which lets me dehydrate eight trays at a time.

Then add the apples to an instant oatmeal mix, like the oatmeal packets you can buy for the microwave. Here's the recipe:

2 cups oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powder milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup dehydrated apples.

Mix this all together and store in an airtight container.

To prepare measure:
2/3 cup instant oatmeal mix
3/4 cup water

Microwave for 2 minutes and enjoy your apples and one more way to healthy skin.

What variations of this oatmeal mix have you seen or tried?