Spring Planting and Other GRUBBY Endeavors

It's that time of year... We're well into spring and it's time to get out there and tackle those projects.  I've nearly completed my planting in the garden.  Well established are sugar snap peas, pole beans, bell peppers and strawberries.  My soy beans and zucchini were planted most recently and have just popped their heads up. 

Whether you too are gardening, or are onto to other projects like crafting or spring cleaning, you can lavish your hands while washing up for the day.  Try a bar of my GRUBBY soap - made with almond and shea butter for moisture, it's infused with ground coffee for a quick exfoliation. You'll be cleaned up in a snap without over drying.

$6.50 on my website --->  http://www.soapexchange.biz/shbugahas.html

(Tomorrow) ---> A Grand Day Out - South Coast Botanic Gardens Spring Plant Show and Boutique

I have set up my display in the Frances Young Hall.  You can find me at the very back of the hall, behind the jungle of plant life that will surely block me from seeing you.  Pass the geraniums, clivia and lillies and please find me on the left...  I will be waving my little flag as to not be forgotten in that remote corner of the show....  <snif>

Here's a bit of my inventory...

Gardner's Hands? - Try a raw shea butter from Ghana OR raw avocado butter

Gardner's Hands? - Try a raw shea butter from Ghana OR raw avocado butter

Cha-ching!  Cash is good...

Beach water soap w/lemongrass EO

Sweet

Sweet and Nutty

Manly

Foodie

Sultry

Fruity

Relax

South Coast Botonic Gardens

The South Coast Botanic Gardens offer both tai chi and yoga on Saturday mornings.  This morning I tried tai chi from 10:30 - 11:30.  Yoga starts at 11, which I want to try as well. 
 
Tai chi was bit tame for me, however, an enjoyable experience considering my surroundings, (and the better choice considering that I'm almost paralyzed from playing volleyball last week).  Have a look at some of my lovely encounters and consider trekking to the gardens next Saturday to see for yourself... Don't forget to drop into the Francis Young Hall to check out my soap!  I won't complain if you bring me a coffee...  (cream, no sugar) 

 South Coast Botanic Gardens

Raw Shea Butter From Ghana and Avocado Butter

As a soap maker, I have accumulated quite an array of butters and oils necessary in the soap-making process.  These oils are also used in the manufacturing of lotions and other moisturizing products.

As a person with my hands in either soap or dirt all day, (gardening), I have been in drastic need of a super moisturizer for my hands.  My store-bought lotions are good, but after raiding my stash of raw shea butter and avocado butter, I'll never go back to store-bought lotions.

Think about it..  lotions not only include a moisturizing element such as an oil or butter, but they also contain stabilizers, waxes and preservatives.  Why not put the real-deal on your hands in its most potent and unadulterated form? 

Avocado butter has a mild scent, almost undetectable,  and is so lovely and creamy - easily emulsifying onto warm hands.  Adding your own scent, such as lavender or rose, wouldn't compete at all.  It's SO yummy!  Light enough to wear all day, it promises you won't  feel like you're wearing an oil slick.

The shea butter I bought from Ghana is raw, natural and Fair Trade.   As it is unrefined, it is thicker than the avocado butter, however, has a bit more staying power... especially for rough feet and cuticles.  Shea butter comes from the shea nut, and unless you've smelled it before, the best comparison I can make is that may remind you of sunflower seeds.  Adding a scent over the top is do-able, but I'd suggest something earthy.  

Both of these products are now available here in my shop and they won't disappoint.  At least  1.5 oz - you'll love 'em!

~Sandy

No Dragons Were Injured In The Making Of This Soap

Several soaps I posted about earlier are now ready to go.  One of these is my new favorite, Dragon's Blood.

Created with a shea butter base, it has warming notes of amber, incense, Madagascar vanilla and patchouli, the Dragon's Blood Fragrance is lightened up with layers of romantic notes such as rose, jasmine and lilac. Top notes are the colorful, light touches of blood orange and grapefruit. If ever a fragrance made you want to go out and get a tattoo, this one is it.

The curing process has rendered it dark and earthy, just like you would expect.  Here it is in all its glory, available on both my website or on Etsy for $5.50.    

On a geeky side note, I investigated the actual Dragon Tree.  My travels brought me to the South Coast Botanic Gardens, located in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.  An African native, the injured tree runs red with sap, (resin), from its wound.  The red resin was used in ancient times as varnish, medicine, incense, and dye.  So there you have it...  more than you ever wanted to know.

~Sandy