Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Lots of new goodies!

Hi all :)

I've got lots of new goodies in the shop, & coming your way soon! First up, new face care products! I have a new cleansing face scrub, made with creamy whipped soap, camellia seed oil, vit e, and scrubby apricot kernel seeds and adzuki bean powder!



I've also added organic essential oils of lavender & tea tree to help heal and balance troubled complexions.

Next up I've got 2 new DRY face masks. First, Chocoholic's Therapy!


Made with real dark cocoa powder, kaolin clay and creamy coconut milk powder! This is formulated for most all skin types!

Next DRY face mask is Revitalizing Papaya!


Perhaps for most all skin types, but especially beneficial for oily and problem skin! Made with real papaya extract and creamy coconut milk for a skin pampering experience!

Check out the shop to see all my new products! Take care lovelies & hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Cooking 101

Hi everyone!

So this post will be a bit of a departure from the norm around here. I usually talk about my soaping adventures (or disasters! lol), my Etsy shop and product ideas and so on. Today I'm going to post about... food!

I don't necessarily consider myself a foodie (well... maybe just a little bit, lol) and I've never had any formal training, I just love to cook! I like experimenting, and I'll often just make things up as I go along. I understand that can be hard for people who feel they can't cook, but it's honestly very easy.

Unless this begins to take over, I'm planning on writing foodie posts every so often. I like sharing my food pictures on my Facebook, and I thought hey... why not share recipes too!

A couple of my fav ways to create dinners are "bowls" or "fancy salads" ... this is also a great way to get kids to eat loads of veggies I've found!

With a bowl, it usually starts with rice (sometimes noodles) then I add a variety of things, depending on what's in the fridge. Chopped tomatoes, chopped avocado, grated cheddar, varies salsas, black beans, grilled chicken, fresh cilantro, broccoli florets, red onion... as you can see, the combinations are virtually endless! It's yummy, satisfying and can be eaten hot or cold. Mmm!



Fancy salad is my fav lunch, or hot summer day dinner... starts with various lettuce and spinach leaves. Next add any combination of the following .... chopped tomatoes, sliced cucumber, sliced hard boiled egg, grated cheddar, blue cheese crumbles, crumbled bacon, grilled chicken strips, mini corn (Is that what it's really called? I'm not sure.. lol), sliced olives, various salsas, black beans, crutons, and any dressing you like. This also makes a super satisfying meal, and is very filling! Sorry, no pics of the fancy salad at this time... we always devour them, and then I think... oops, forgot to snap a pic! Oh well, next time!

If there's interest in learning my recipes and cooking style, I might make a separate blog for that. For now, enjoy and if you try a yummy bowl, or fancy salad, let me know!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Soaping Disaster!

Oh man I had a soaping disaster last night! lol It's funny now, but wow was I feeling frustrated last night!

First, I haven't soaped in a couple of weeks. I've been busy with the start of the new school term, and then I've been sick, and felt too weak and dizzy to try and soap. Over the weekend I began feeling much better, so last night I got out my equipment and began.

I decided to make Honeysuckle soap, since honeysuckle and lilac got the votes on my scent poll. :o) First disaster, I spilled the bottle of fragrance. On the kitchen floor. It smells faintly floral in there now. ha!

So I grabbed the bottle of lilac fragrance, and violet soap coloring and got to work. On a whim (never a good idea once the soap is cooking!) I decided to add titanium dioxide to the batch, to hopefully, give it a more pastel look.

Second mistake! This caused my soap to heat up so fast, and become a thick, pasty mess that when I tried to add my color it didn't want to incorporate. Grrr.

All in all, the soap got into the mold, smelling like lovely lilac, but looking rather like .... mud. lol

We shall see, colors often change slowly over a period of days/weeks so it may turn out all right yet. Fingers crossed! If the color does NOT pretty up, then I'll offer this soap at a discount, it smells great, and will work just wonderfully, it just won't be so pretty to look at. lol

I think I'll soap another Spring/Summer scent today, maybe Blue Hawaii! Mmmm, I love that fragrance. :)

Fingers crossed no disasters this time!