On the Curing Rack!

We have several soaps on the curing rack but I can't wait for this one to be ready to use! Our Hawaiian Ginger beer soap was resurrected by customer request. She found a bar she didn't know she had and said it was the first time she smiled in the shower in along time.  We couldn't refuse that request and since our Hawaiian Ginger fragrance is almost gone for good, we thought this soap would be a perfect way to say goodbye. 

We used a rich spiced chai ale in this soap which is a dark ale that was brewed with actual chai tea. When I was mixing the soap together it was a beautiful honey brown so I topped it with a little bit of bronze sparkle and calendula petals.  It has lightened a bit but oh does it smell so good!  This soap will be ready for sale on May 29th and we'll announce when it's on our website.

Lip Service

Did you know that your lips do not have oil glands?  Because of this, it’s very important to make sure they are properly protected when you plan on being outdoors in harsh weather or wind.  As you probably know already not all lip products are created equal.

When looking for a lip protectant you want a product to have emollients with rich oils and butters such as shea butter, lanolin, or cocoa butter. There will usually be a wax but avoid products that are mostly wax as they do very little to provide emollient to the lips.

I use waxes in my lip butters because I like using specialty oils that are known to moisturize the skin such as tamanu, pumpkin seed, and cranberry seed oil. The oils, when combined with butters will not form a balm so wax is needed to thicken the product. Also waxes help with the duration the product stays on the lips and with moisture retention.  I like using just enough to firm up the product but it leaves a nice creamy buttery feeling on the lips. 

An important item to take note of is what flavoring ingredient the lip product contains.  If it has camphor, menthol, or peppermint avoid it.  Many of the medicated type lip products contain some or all of them and those ingredients in a lip product cause skin irritation which will keep lips from healing and keep them feeling chapped. I don’t make peppermint type lip products for that reason. There’s nothing worse than reaching for a product you believe to be helping your skin and it does the exact opposite.

If you have chronic irritated lips due to over use of medicated lip products, I highly recommend talking to your doctor.  Several years back, my doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory ointment that I applied to my lips a couple times per day and after a week or so, my lips were healed and back to normal.  On advice of my doctor, stay away from medicated lip products! Now I use lip balm only when they feel dry or I plan on being outdoors for more than a few hours and I have happy healthy lips that don’t need constant slathering to feel good.

Is Antibacterial Soap Really Necessary?

I recently came across a new website, http://www.fightgermsnow.com. The site’s primary focus is to alleviate concern about the safety and effectiveness of antibacterial soaps. While I’m unimpressed with the new Fight Germs Now web site, I’d like to scream from the rooftops, “Antibacterial soaps aren’t necessary!”  

Antibacterial soap manufacturers want consumers to believe what this site is selling…antibacterial soaps kill more germs than regular soaps. Yet both the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) have made statements that hand washing with regular soap is just as effective at removing germs as antibacterial soaps.

According to WebMD, “…An FDA advisory panel considered the question of the effectiveness of antibacterial products in the fall of 2005; the panel overwhelmingly concluded that there was no evidence proving that antibacterial soaps were more effective than regular soaps for preventing infection.”

If you want to make sure you’re getting your hands clean, read the CDC’s basic hand washing techniques. These techniques will get your hands squeaky clean with regular soap and water.  In fact, these same techniques need to be practiced even when you are using antibacterial soaps. So my question is…why do we need another product with another chemical that really doesn’t deliver?  Save your money, a good old fashioned hand washing works just fine.

Skin Benefits of Comfrey

I’m always searching for great herbs to color our soap and skin care products with. Recently I’ve discovered a plant that not only provides a beautiful green color but also provides wonderful skin benefits. Today, I’m going to tell you a little bit about comfrey.

Comfrey is a plant that isn’t given much attention, most likely due to the potential for liver toxicity if ingested. It is frequently used as a fertilizer/compost tea and mulch because of its intense nitrogen content. As an herbal remedy, it has wonderful benefits for the skin.

One of the main components in comfrey leaf is allantoin, a compound that is used to hasten skin regeneration. Comfrey leaf is also known for healing bruises and scrapes quite effectively. Studies in Europe show it’s effective in treating eczema, dermatitis, and viral skin infections. For skin applications, it’s best used as a poultice or infused into liquid to be used as topical treatment only.

My newest creation containing comfrey is a gardener’s soap that has a gentle exfoliant and scented with a peppermint rosemary fragrance. I thought it a refreshing way to end a day of gardening.

Why Soap?

Soap..one of the most frequently used products in our daily lives yet few stop to think what is in that soap we use on our skin.  Frequently, commercial soaps are not as safe as they pretend to be.  Many commercial soaps, though cheap and plentiful, also come with a wide variety of chemicals that can jeopardize both human skin and human health, deprive skin of moisture, and generally are unnecessarily harsh.

So why handmade soap? Real soap naturally and gently cleanses without stripping your skin of it's natural oils.  Stripping those oils has not only been found to cause dry, itchy skin but also can leave the skin inefficient in blocking various environmental hazards.  Real soap also has natural glycerin, a humectant that attracts moisture to the skin.  Handmade soap also effectively kills germs without the use of such harsh ingredients as triclosan.

Soap is also more soothing because of the addition of extra skin nurturing oils at the time it's made.  Most importantly soap is absent of the drying detergents, dyes, preservatives, and other chemical additives found most often in the commerical bars you find in stores.

When presented with the overwhelming amount of evidence as to what is really in commercial soap, it is easy to see that natural and handmade alternatives are a better choice. However, few consumers know this, and are putting up with the negative effects of commercial soap without being fully aware of what they are putting on their skin day after day.

In my future posts, I will discuss some of the good, bad and ugly about soaps and other skin care products, as well as, provide simple solutions and recipes for helping you maintain a healthy and happy outer exterior. 

Thanks for stopping in and hope to see you soon!