Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Natural skin care regimen

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered some handmade soap bars and some all-natural laundry soap from an Etsy store called HeartJCreations.  I expected to pay between $4 and $5.50 for each bar, so I was pleasantly surprised to see she has a "Save on 7" deal - buy 7 bars, pay $27 USD.  That saves between 4 and 8 bucks, depending on which soap you select, so it's a great deal.  One pound of laundry soap (scented with essential oils of your choice) was $7.  I paid quite a bit in shipping, but it's totally worth it, I think, to support handmade.



In any case, the soaps I ordered were:
-lavender
-Woodstock '69 x 2
-rosemary peppermint x 2
-cracklin' birch
-spearmint eucalyptus

And the laundry soap I bought was spearmint eucalyptus as well.  mmmm.

She also included two little samples in my package: some cherry almond chocolate body butter and a little piece of dragon's blood soap.

I didn't get the package straight away, because for some reason the address changes I made on my Etsy didn't save and so the package went to my parent's place.  But that's ok - I got the stuff on Saturday, so that night I cut off a piece of the Rosemary Mint soap to use as face soap (I don't like having the whole bar out). 

I'm not sure if you know what's in commercial soaps and face washes, but believe me, it's not ideal.  Petrochemicals, parabens, other chemicals...no thanks.  Jodi includes the ingredients on each of her soap info pages, and the ingredients she uses in her soaps are:
-cocoa butter;
-coconut oil;
-palm oil;
-shea butter;
-olive oil;
-castor oil;
-glycerin;
-spring water;
-lye (for the soap-making process, you don't get soap without lye, but none remains in the soap!); and
-essential oils.

That's it.  Some of the soaps have ground herbs in them, like the rosemary mint has bits of rosemary for exfoliation.

The soaps are quite soft, because of all of the fats she uses.  Coconut oil has amazing properties, as do most of her other ingredients.  I found my skin didn't get itchy after I washed my face, which is a common problem with me.  I did use some organic coconut oil as moisturizer afterwards.  Coconut oil has antibacterial properties, so helps fight the bacteria that causes zits. 

I'm on day 4 as of today, and my face feels and looks great.  My skin looks rosier, it's smooth and soft, and not at all dry.  I will try some of the Woodstock '69 soap on my face next, because the essential oils in it are fabulous for skin.  I'll likely use the rosemary mint for my hair - oh, did I forget to mention the ingredients in her soaps are all things used in solid shampoo bars, too?  The castor oil creates nice bubbles, and the palm oil and other fats all help moisturize.  Rosemary has great hair health properties - it prevents and combats dandruff (not that I have any), encourages hair growth, stimulates the scalp, and more.  You could even use this soap on your dog to prevent fleas, since rosemary is a natural flea repellent. 


If you use handmade bar soap, make sure you have a good soap dish and keep your shower soap out of the direct spray of the shower.  Let it dry between uses and keep unused soaps out of direct sunlight in a cool place. 

Check out Jodi's shop!  Let her know BerryMac (Rebecca) sent you.

This is the coconut oil I use:
Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 15-Ounce Tubs (Pack of 2)