Lavande de Bois

Still time to send off a little handmade goodness: here's my virtual gift boutique!

2011-12-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Most photos by Judy Richards of This Moment Photography

One of the challenges of keeping an online store as well as an in home showroom is having enough quantity on hand to offer the item online. At the same time I love to put together gifts that are unique. As a result, in my showroom I offer so much more than I am able to offer on the online store. I've put together this virtual gift boutique so you can take a peek at the incredible variety of gifts I have available. It's sort of wordy but it gives you a lot of options to choose from if you're still looking for some handcrafted goodness to send someone's way! Place orders by phone at 208-761-9775 or by email.

Any items that I talk about that are also available on the store will have a link behind them so you can click on that item and order or just get additional information.

Candy Cane gift sets are a huge seasonal favorite! Supplies are quite limited at this point. But I do have 6 full size soaps available and I just put them back on the store as well as two Soap with Saver sets. I also have one Candy Cane Body essentials gift set. And one super cute gift that contains a Cocoa Mint Lip Balm, a Peppermint Hand Salve, a pair of red striped mittens and a jingle all the way emery board for $12. There are still several Coco Mint Lip Balms for $3.75. The combination of peppermint and chocolate is amazing and full of lip smacking, lip soothing goodness. A perfect stocking stuffer. The lip balm is also available in Vanilla.

These bath sponges come with a 1.75 ounce soap. Currently available with a lavender colored sponge and Lavande Bleu Handcrafted Soap or Lavender Mint Handcrafted Soap for $5.25.

The combination of Rosemary and Mint essential oils occurs in several products. This is a combination that I just love mostly for therapeutic reasons but the aroma combination is awesome too! Rosemary essential oil is antiseptic and stimulating and is also great for inflammatory conditions and combines superbly with spearmint which is great for stimulating lymph drainage and is excellent for headaches. I soak in my Rosemary Mint Therapy Salts at least two times per week. A large bag of salts is available for $9.95 and contains four cups of salt. A medium bag containing 1.5 cups of salt is available for $5.25. And the super cute small soap and salt set is still available for $7.25 in Rosemary Mint or Candy Cane.

I also have a Rosemary Mint Foot Kit for $16.95 and a Rosemary Mint Foot Balm packaged with a pair of cozy socks and a mini pedicure kit for $14.00.

The Citrus Salts contain grapefruit and orange essential oils and are available in the large bag for $9.95 or the medium bag for $5.25 and I have a couple of my Ginger Passion Massage Oils yet.

Also in this picture on the bottom shelf are my Lavender Therapy Salts large bag for $9.95 and the medium bath salts for $5.25. I have a several gift sets containing the medium salts with a Lavande Bleu 1.75 ounce soap available for $9.25.

I might be able to come up with one of these Lavande Bleu soap with saver gift sets. And I still have plenty of Lavande Bleu, my signature handcrafted soap as well as the face soaps in the right side of this picture in Pomegranate and Rain.

I'm completely out of the Lavender Body essentials gift set shown but I do have several Soap and Butter gift sets for $10.75. Includes a 1.75 ounce soap in either Lavande Bleu or Lavender Mint and a 1.25 ounce Lavender Mint Body Butter.

Another popular aroma is my Mojito which is made from Lime and Spearmint essential oils, a super fresh and invigorating aroma. I have one Body Essentials Gift Set available as shown. I have a few guest soap sizes, one full size soap, a set of soap shavings, and one soap with saver gift set and several body butters.

Again, I invite you to shop online, in the showroom or by phone at 208-761-9775 or email at susanne@lavandedebois.com.

12 Days of Gift Giving Values - Day 12: Lavande Bleu Handcrafted Soap

2011-12-12T12:01:00.002-07:00

It's my birthday! So today I thought it would be fitting to offer my signature soap ON SALE! My Lavande Bleu Handcrafted Soap embodies my business, in that it is beautiful to use and to look at, it's comprised of mostly organic ingredients (as are most of my soaps), AND it's made from lavender essential oil! Initially, my dream was to have a field of lavender growing at my back door, currently I have a cottage garden lavender patch of over sixty plants. I've been so busy with product development the farming aspect hasn't quite gotten off the ground yet.

Lavande Bleu is my top selling soap! And it is also my most expensive soap to create, hence, I rarely offer it on sale. But ... today is a day to celebrate ... so I'm sharing my favorite, signature soap today only for $6.25, regularly $7.25, so you might want to stock up.

You might be wondering why it is so costly to create this handcrafted luxury item, well it's basically the cost of the essential oil. It costs me over quadruple that of any other essential oil that I use, primarily because I'm pretty particular about my lavender essential oil. The oil I uses comes from France, it's grown in the high alpine region and is comprised of a "population" of lavenders, meaning that it's comprised of multiple varieties. The high altitude creates a more complex aroma that is mellowed by the long daylight hours. The addition of Shea Butter to this recipe creates loads of creamy lathering and moisturizing bubbles and gluten free ground oatmeal is added for mild exfoliation. I invite you to enjoy this beautiful and luxurious bar of handcrafted natural goodness!

Place orders directly on the store at www.lavandedebois.com.

12 Days of Gift Giving Deals - Days 10 & 11: Soaps that arrive dressed up for gift giving!

2011-12-06T22:03:00.001-07:00

I'm running the next two days of deals together because I am going to be out at Wood River Cellars for the weekend with my product line and unable to update inventories. Stop by for wine tasting and relaxed shopping. I've marked seasonal favorites Candy Cane and Orange Chip Handcrafted Soaps out of inventory as I am almost out. Call or text me at 208-761-9775 and I can set one or two aside for you.

I've put two items on sale that I think I'm unlikely to run out of. The first deal is my premium holiday wrapped soaps for $6.95. Choose between top selling soaps: Mint Chocolate Chip and Lavande Bleu. Soaps arrive packaged in brown paper wrap and tied with raphia and a holiday gift tag. Or choose a wrapped soap from my classic line for $5.95. Soaps make fabulous gifts to tuck in a stocking, or attach with a gift card or a note. These small luxuries are the perfect add-on gift for anyone on your list.

Or try these multiple soap gift sets:

Three soaps in holiday packaging.

Two soaps in holiday packaging.

Let me do your wrapping and shipping! Shipping on individual gift sets is only $5!

12 Days of Gift Giving Deals-Days 8 & 9: Soap Balls and Shavings

2011-12-06T21:55:00.001-07:00

Today and tomorrow I'm offering my soap balls and shavings ON SALE: $5 for a bag of shavings or two soap balls. Shop online now or keep reading.

From start to finish soap making is a handcrafted process. The final step of taking it out of the mold and cutting is quite time consuming. After I've cut the soap into the size bars I want, I plane the top of each bar of soap with a cheese cutter, then when it's smooth to my satisfaction I bevel all the edges, that way the soap is smooth in your hands from the very first use.

The byproduct of all this work is my scraps which have become some of my most popular items! I select the prettiest soap curls to put in bags for sale. My customers love to use these little soap shavings to make aromatic displays in their bathroom and they also double as single serve guest soaps. Even though soap is not a hospitable environment for harboring germs, for some people there's a preference for using their own bar of soap. Well here's your answer! One soap curl will be enough to lather up an entire person in the shower, in fact, they'll probably be in there a little longer attempting to use the whole piece!

With the smaller scraps, I hand mold them into soap balls. When I start making more soap in January I will be molding all my soap balls into an egg shape in preparation for spring. Last years egg soaps were wildly popular.

For the next two days you can purchase my soap balls, odd size soaps, and shavings ON SALE! Shavings are regularly $6 and Soap Balls are regularly $3. During the sale get two soap balls or a bag of shavings for $5. This is definitely by far the best value on my soaps, when considering ounce per $. Soap balls vary in weight but they are typically over 2 ounces and the bags of shavings are over 4.5 ounces.

Mint Chocolate Chip Soap Balls

Bags of Soap Shavings

Mint Chip Shavings and Soap Balls displayed in dish.

Mint Chocolate Chip Soap Balls and Shavings in this Estate Canister from Willow House. This filled canister is available for $25 or purchase your own empty one from Willow House.

A basket of soap balls wrapped and ready for gift giving, I have several available for $25 each.

Place orders online, by phone at 208-761-9775, or by email.

12 Days of Gift Giving Deals - Day 7: Bathing Essentials Gift Basket

2011-12-06T21:17:00.001-07:00

Today's deal is my bathing essentials gift basket in Lavender or Citrus. This basket is just what you need to really pamper someone on your list! Includes bath salts and a massage oil that can be used as a bath oil or for a post bath massage, a soap for luxurious bathing goodness and a body butter to finish off the experience.

Brief product stories:

Bath Salts: my salts are from the dead sea and have an complex mineral composition that aid in softening your skin as well as helping detoxify. I recommend soaking in your salts at least twenty minutes per soak.

Body Butters are lotion without chemicals. Read my Body Butter blog post to find out more about this luxurious treat for your skin.

My all natural handcrafted soaps are really the premium products in my line. I start with a fabulous all vegetable oil recipe that is over 40% olive oil which yields a very gentle bar of soap, then I add beautiful aroma, from essential oils only, and other ingredients that add moisturizing properties to the soap.

I think the highlight of this basket might be my massage oils, comprised of my tried and true favorite aroma combinations, Relaxing and Ginger Passion. If you have a moment you should read this post, it explains how different aromas impact us and what I created these particular blends: Aroma Inspiration.

The Lavender basket includes:

Lavender Bath Salts

Lavender Mint Body Butter - 1.25 oz

Lavande Bleu Handcrafted Soap - 4 oz.

Relaxing Massage Oil

The Citrus basket includes:

Citrus Bath Salts

Island Sunset Body Butter

Orange Chip Handcrafted Soap

Ginger Passion Massage Oil

Place orders directly on the store, by phone at 208-761-9775 or by email.

12 Days of Gift Giving Deals - Day 6: Lavender Sachets

2011-12-06T06:41:00.001-07:00

Today's deal is an item that is new to the store AND I'm offering it on sale today! The regular price will be $6, today you can purchase these lavender sachets for $3.25. These lavender buds have been harvested from my organic cottage garden, then placed in these medium organza bags and to finish it off I tie the bag with a hand stamped fleur-de-lis tag. Tuck these aromatic beauties in a drawer or set by your night stand. A little squeeze each night will release the relaxing aroma.

Order online or contact me by phone or email!

My sachet's are comprised of lavender buds from the four varieties I grow: Royal Velvet, Hidcote Giant, Super and Grosso.

Here I am harvesting:

Ahhhh, the smell of lavender! Beautiful! Dreamy!

Looking back at my son with one of his chickens.

12 Days of Gift Giving Deals - Day 5: let me do your wrapping and shipping!

2011-12-05T09:19:00.001-07:00

Today I've put several handcrafted soap gift set collections on sale that you can put in your cart and the shipping will only be $5! That is, when you have just that item in your cart. If you have family or friends that live out of town and you'd like to bless them with some natural handmade goodness this is the deal for you! Place orders directly on the store, for each recipient you'll have to place a separate order, OR if it's easier, shoot me an email.

I make it pretty! Presentation is everything. And who doesn't love a beautiful gift? Many of my soaps have beautiful swirl designs, all of them have some artistic merit, whether it be in the aroma blend made entirely from essential oils and other natural additives like cocoa butter or chamomile, or the color or cut of the soap. And then I love to package it just right. Your gift will arrive packaged in this recycled kraft pillow box tied with wraphia and hand stamped gift tag.

Gift set collections available in the following varieties, click on individual collection to see the wide range of options available. You choose the aroma combinations you want to send. I wrap it and ship it for you!

Three full size 4 ounce bars of soap for $20! With $5 dollar shipping your gift is out the door for $25!
OR
Two full size soaps for $13.50! With $5 shipping your gift is out the door for $18.50!
OR
Three 1.75 ounce guest soaps for $10.50! With $5 shipping your gift is out the door for $15.50! This set is also a very popular teacher gift. Order multiple sets sent to your door, shipping is slightly more. Locals, click "will call" in the shipping options menu, then drop by and pick up your order.

12 Days of Gift Giving - Day 4: White Chocolate Peppermint Body Butter

2011-12-04T07:51:00.001-07:00

Photo above by Judy Richards, This Moment Photography

One of the things I've been enjoying about offering these twelve days of Christmas gift giving values is being able to offer items that I sell in my showroom and at events, but since they're in limited supply I don't put them on my webstore. Today's feature is my White Chocolate Peppermint Whipped Body Butter. This stuff is amazing, if I do say so myself. This item is made in limited quantities because it just takes a lot of extra effort, and things have to be timed just right so that I'm whipping it and cooling it. And not cooling it too long before I whip it again. But anyway the results are amazing! This butter is whipped to perfection, the consistency of frosting. Unlike my other body butters where you have to warm the product between your hands before massaging onto the skin, this just sort of melts and smooths on effortlessly. And well the aroma is just amazing, chocolate and peppermint, is there anything more to say?

This amazing little luxury is featured in my Candy Cane Body Essentials Gift Set and I have a Candy Cane Soap and Butter gift set for $10.75. Today only you can purchase one large White Chocolate Peppermint Whipped Body Butter for $13.75 or two small for the same price. Place orders by phone at 208-761-9775 or email or directly on my webstore.

Whipped to perfection!

Loaded and ready to go in the fridge to cool some more.

12 Days of Gift Giving - Day 3: Lime Basil Handcrafted Soap

2011-12-03T07:39:00.001-07:00

Today's deal is my Lime Basil Handcrafted Soap. This soap is my favorite green color, with swirls of dark green suspended in limeish green soap. The aroma is out of this world: lime and basil essentials oils are earthy and fresh! On sale today for $4.95!

This batch of soap was made last spring so it's reached the point in it's soap life where I don't sell at full price. My soaps have a two year shelf life. This soap has plenty of shelf life left, but what happens with soap is the aroma will start to evaporate off. But the truth is these "older" bars of soap will last a VERY long time in your shower. They have continued to cure over these past months yielding a harder bar of soap that will stick around in the soap dish longer.

Order yours at the webstore or by phone at 208-761-9775 or send me an email!

12 Days of Gift Giving Deals - Day 2

2011-12-02T07:02:00.001-07:00

Today's deal is a 6 ounce salt scrub in Mojito or Island Sunset. Sorry scrub pictured is lavender but it's this container and size.

Salt scrubs are amazing little bathing luxuries! A must have in your shower. I recommend using once per week to gently exfoliate dry surface skin and moisturize. These scrubs are made with a base of Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil which lends it's coconut aroma to the mix and Safflower oil. The Mojito aroma is a blend of lime and spearmint essential oils with a hint of vanilla. The Island Sunrise blend is orange, tangerine, and lime essential oils with a hint of spice, an exotic and more complex aroma. These are my own unique essential oil blends, this is a great opportunity to give it a try. Regularly $9.25 on sale today only for $7.00.

Order online at www.lavandedebois.com or click here to order scrub.

12 Days of Gift Giving Deals - Day 1

2011-12-01T11:27:00.001-07:00

Wow! It's December 1st! I'm kicking off the month with twelve days of gift giving values! This will allow me to a feature a different product each day and you'll get the best value! I'm kicking off the deals with my Royal Velvet Lavender Bundles. It's totally fitting: the dream of starting a lavender farm grew into creating a product line revolving around my love of lavender.

As I'm beginning my fifth year in business, sharing Royal Velvet lavender with you is the perfect way to launch the month. And this variety takes the cake. It stands up to Idaho's hot dry climate and the color is amazing! This deep purple hue is preserved perfectly in these aromatic bundles. Put a bundle on a shelf or in a vase or take it apart to put in your crafts and arrangements. Regularly $6 per bundle, on sale TODAY only for $4.50. Shop online or directly at the webstore or place your orders by phone at 208-761-9775 or email.

Check out photos below for more values not on the webstore.

Photos by Judy Richards, This Moment Photography

Royal velvet bundles on sale for $4.50 or purchase a bundle with this glass ornament in soft colors for $2 more.

Royal velvet lavender with lavender salt scrub:

Royal velvet bouquet in Camille Vases, on sale this month at my Willow House online store.

Hidcot Giant lavender bundles make a stunning display. Bundles are twice as long as are the flower heads. Not the same deep purple hue as Royal Velvet but create a stunning display all the same. Not available at the online store, but available in the showroom or by phone or email order. Also $4.50 per bundle today. I recommending purchasing three bundles to make your own stunning display.

Hidcote Giant bundles on display in the showroom.

http://boiselavender.store.willowhouse.com/product.aspx?zpid=6005

Lavande de Bois Gift Guide

2011-11-15T11:58:00.001-07:00

Photos by Judy Richards, This Moment Photography

Every year in early November I host my annual Anniversary Sale & Gift Boutique. This year I'm celebrating four years in business!!! Wow it's been a journey ... of fun, inspiration and learning; and ups and downs too. The Gift Boutique in my home showroom was last week but I've had several requests for a list of gift ideas. So for those who couldn't make it ... here's the virtual gift boutique:

Handmade soaps are such extraordinary expressions of appreciation. It's not run of the mill manufactured, it's handcrafted aromatic goodness. Each soap is unique and then packaged by hand. And basically everyone who baths needs soap! So why not give an aromatic luxurious and unique gift. Here are my suggestions by price category:

Gifts under $5
I basically started my business about the time the economy started going down the tubes. And each year I've discovered that people love to give small tokens of appreciation during the holidays; but their budgets are decreasing. So each year I try to put together ideas in smaller price points. Soaps and lip balms fit the bill: Handcrafted 1.75 ounce guest soaps are wrapped in cello and tied with wraphia for $3.75 each. Or consider a lip balm in Coco Mint or Vanilla.

Gifts under $10
Hand Salves in Peppermint, Lavender, Lemon Drop & Snickerdoodle for $5.25 are perfect for the hands that help. Shea butter and naturally good aroma team up to moisturize and heal dry parched hands! Or pair it with a soap in a gift set that arrives ready for gift giving for $13.50

The Soap and spa salts gift set in medium for $9.25 and small for $7.50 are super popular. They come in Candy Cane, Lavender, Citrus, and Rosemary Mint. My spa salts are direct from the dead sea and the complex mineral composition creates the perfect aromatic and therapeutic soak for tired bodies! These little bathing beauties are not available on the website, you may order by contacting me by phone or email.

Of course, any soap would make a great gift. My premium and classic handcrafted soaps are priced between $6.25 and $7.25, many with complimentary gift wrap options. Click here to see the entire selection of handcrafted soaps.

Gifts $20 and under
The Body Essentials Gift Sets in Candy Cane, Mojito, Lavender and Citrus Blast was so popular last year I brought it back this time in Citrus as well. Head to toe goodness arrives packaged in this sweet little organza bag tied with raphia and a handmade gift tag. Salt scrubs are amazing little bathing luxuries, paired with my all natural body butter made with a large percentage of organic Shea Butter, and a handcrafted aromatic and moisturizing soap.

Not sure what aromas they like? Consider the handmade guest soaps gift set. Four soaps arrive packaged and ready for gift giving.

The Lavande Gift Set was created to give a few little aromatic lavender somethings, sure to please the lavender enthusiast.

For the ultimate personal gift, consider creating a gift basket. Call me for details at 208-761-9775 or email me at susanne at lavandedebois dot com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Awesome and Easy GF Mini Cheesecakes

2011-09-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

These little cheesecakes are SUPER easy to make and they are my absolute favorite dessert to add to any party. Of course, if you'd like to make a "glutenous" version you could make a traditional graham cracker crust and put in the bottom of each muffin tin. The advantage of these little mini cheesecakes is they are easy to serve and make a pretty display on the dessert buffet.

Ingredients:
shredded coconut or granola
fresh or frozen berries
16 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar (I use organic)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins and sprinkle with shredded coconut or gluten free granola. Place a few fresh or frozen blueberries or other berries over first layer.

Cream together softened cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Divide the mixture evenly among 12 muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until almost set in the middle. Cool completely.

Serving Variations:
-Garnish with fresh berries and whipped cream.
-Make a chocolate ganache by melting white chocolate chips and a little cream and smooth over cooled cheesecakes. Add fresh berries if you like.
-Make a fruit puree using fresh or frozen berries and dollop a little on top of cheesecake (prior to baking) and swirl together.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-09-11T21:38:00.000-06:00

These cookies are full fat and full of sugar but they are gluten free and super delicious. I've had several requests to share this recipe so here it is:

Cream with mixer two cubes of butter (softened).

Add:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup organic sugar

Cream together. Then Add:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Cream again and add the following ingredients combined:
3 cups teff flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthum gum

Add chocolate chips to taste.

Roll into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. I use a meat mallet to "smash" or you could use a fork and make a criss cross pattern.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Disclaimer: I am not a recipe expert, just a novice sharing ideas that help me provide options for my gluten free family. Enjoy!

Gluten-free Thai Chicken Salad

2011-09-10T21:28:00.000-06:00

I really don't know where the original recipe for this salad came from. But I've always remembered the ingredients and when my husband stumbled upon the Gluten Free Thai Peanut Sauce from San-J we were so thrilled to start making this salad again.

Here's how it works:

Grill or stir fry your chicken. Toward the end of cooking baste chicken with Thai Peanut Sauce. Add to any type of lettuce. We use mixed greens or romaine lettuce and put out in individual serving bowls the following: Mandarin Oranges, Cashews, Green Onions, and Cilantro. Since everyone in our family has slightly different preferences they each build their own salad and dress with the Thai Peanut Sauce. Super yummy! And easy! A perfect last minute dinner.

Lavender Harvest - Part II

2011-09-08T14:40:00.000-06:00

This timeless quote from William Henry Channing inspired in part the reflections of Lavender Harvest - Part I. Please enjoy the quote and the rest of my harvest photos.

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, to all bravely await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony."

Arbak and Robin scurrying through the lavender patch.

Basket of freshly harvested lavender on my deck:

Lavender bundles, all ready to be hung to dry.

The lavender patch ... my favorite row: Royal Velvet Lavender!

Royal Velvet row with garden and blackberry patch in the background.

Lavender on the deck.

Lavender bundles hanging to dry in the showroom.

Lavender harvest - a symphony of sorts - Part I

2011-09-07T14:08:00.002-06:00

Yes I'm writing about my July lavender harvest in September! It's apropos really, read on.

This year's harvest, my third, since I began growing my lavender patch "test plot" of fifty graceful and stunning plants was so different than previous harvests. Past harvests were spent scampering around, cutting lavender, dripping with sweat and thinking "why does this smell so lovely and yet I'm not enjoying this?" as I sandwiched time to harvest between camping trips, family outings, and art festivals. This year was different, not because life wasn't as full and busy as usual but because I made a choice to sit and be still; to work unhurried, to let the sweat roll off my brow and appreciate that 95 degrees at nine in the morning on a hot summer day in Idaho is part of the package of living where I love. I took moments to stop and inhale deeply of the intoxicating aroma that beckons me to days gone by where life was unhurried. I listened to the sounds of our little homestead in the city: our chickens clucking nearby, the birds chirping overhead, our dog barking at a passerby, and cars scurrying down the highway nearby. My neighbor dropped by to chat as I worked and she harvested a bouquet to enjoy in her kitchen. My daughter stepped out to ask if I was still making pancakes that day. And my ten year old son dropped by to help bundle and stack lovely little aromatic lavender bouquets.

What was different exactly? Me. I chose to let time pass me by while I sat still in the lavender patch taking it all in; being quiet, reflective, prayerful. Letting those around me pop in without feeling the need to protect the quiet still moment I was enjoying.

These moments in the lavender patch are small glimpses of the new skills I am learning in this career we call motherhood. As my children are growing and leaving my nest, there's this intense desire to clutch them, to hold on for dear life. The desire to keep what I have is so intense, I feel it in the depths of my soul. My oldest son's entire senior year I wanted to flash freeze and not let another moment pass our family by. But after eighteen years of holding that babe in my arms, the most difficult of motherhood tasks came: to let go. It's an irony to be sure. Our entire goal as a mom is to grow them up; but then when they've accomplished the goal, it's like really? I'm just supposed to let them fly off? I found myself wanting to create these great family moments where we were all together having a grand time. I quickly discovered that a moment can't be created, it must be caught and reveled in as it passes by.

So now as my son has headed off to his second year at the university, and my daughter embarks on her senior year, and my youngest son finishes elementary school I stand at this precipice in time, a choice: to hold on to what I am losing or to revel in what I have. I choose to revel. Not that there aren't still many moments where I secretly mourn the passing of family life, but I now see there is still so much family life to be had as it moves and grows and changes. And as I sharpen my skills of letting go, it invites my children to experience a fullness in their own life, to explore uninhibited. And the still watchful mom can continue to revel in and celebrate these moments as they pass by.

More Lavender Harvest Photos coming tomorrow in Part II.

Resist the Daily Dupe

2011-02-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

The irony that plays out everyday across our country hit me between the eyes the other day as I was picking up Valentines for my family. "Health/Beauty" is a section of every grocery, drug and general merchandiser across the county. It's an oymoron to be sure, aisles stashed with hair care, make-up, and personal care items loaded with toxic and harmful chemicals are grouped with items that claim "health". Not to mention that so many of the "health" items might not be so good for you either. Consumers are being duped daily by the idea that personal care items are healthy. Resist the daily dupe by getting informed about the harmful chemicals in personal care products and household products that have the potential to cause illness to you and your family. Here are some links that I've found helpful:

Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database has been an exceptional tool. You can search by product, ingredient, or company to find out what your exposure risk might be of using that particular item.

Here's a great article by the NOW foundation with loads of ideas for protecting yourself from harmful chemicals in cosmetics and household products.

Organic Facts has a list of eight chemicals you should NEVER use.

And here's my personal favorite: Think before you stink! I absolutely love the name and it addresses my daily challenge: people wearing cologne carry toxic chemicals on them that make me sick (quite literally).

I'm hosting a Lavande de Bois giveaway

2011-01-19T09:29:00.001-07:00

Massage Bar Three Pack

This month I'm giving away a Massage Bar Three Pack. I know the recipient will just love these Moisture and Massage Bars made with Cocoa Butter and Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to soothe and moisturize dry skin with essential oils added for inspiring aroma. A wonderful aromatic treat for winter parched skin.

Enter the giveaway drawing by giving me your feedback on the following topic:

What does the term natural mean to you? This is not a regulated term and it seems to float around there on the web and on product labels with varied meanings. I'd love to know what you think natural means and what you would like a manufacturer to mean when they use the term. Read Lavande de Bois's natural page if you're interested in knowing how we handle the term.

Post your comments here. I'll announce the winner on January 26th so be sure to check back then.

New year, new beginnings, Part II

2011-01-10T20:34:00.013-07:00

Becoming a Willow House design consultant is just another way for me to do something I absolutely love, that is, to redecorate! I've talked to more girlfriends this month who have the redecorating itch. I think it just comes with the territory of being January. We've all taken down Christmas and it left some empty spaces that need to be filled up again. Who knows what was there before Christmas, but the itch to redecorate, reorganize, clean out cupboards, redesign our universe, has arrived. I have so enjoyed using Willow House's high quality and innovative products to reinvigorate my living spaces and entertain my friends and business associates; I think it will be loads of fun sharing their products with others.

The new spring inspiration guide is here! And loaded with new products and ideas that are true to Willow House's reputation for bringing fun, beautiful, versatile, and design savvy merchandise to our fingertips. Whether you need an organizational lift in your home office, or a new motif in a corner of your house, or just some fashionable pieces to make entertaining a simply elegant event: Willow House as some seriously good ideas.

I invite you to experiment with a whole new world of innovative decorating and entertaining ideas. For more information visit my new Willow House website at www.boiselavender.willowhouse.com.

New year, new beginnings, Part I

2011-01-10T09:31:00.004-07:00

The new year seems to bring a mental readiness for me to try new things. It's also a time for reflection about how the past year has been and what I might consider changing. Last November I celebrated the third anniversary of my business. I've had three awesome years of learning and growing, both personally and professionally. It's been a sweet roller coaster of discovery. I say roller coaster because time spent in the lows of business development tend to produce more productive highs. These three years have been full of learning so many things. How to build a website, how to promote my business in a changing e-commerce marketplace, how to make new products, experimenting with aromas as often as I can, etc. etc. It's been so amazing and fun. Full of everything ... except a paycheck.

I started Lavande de Bois in the fall of my oldest son's junior year. Anticipating college ahead I figured I'd have two years to experiment, and learn, and then return a profit, just in time to pay the looming cost of college. After two years, it wasn't quite there but I thought I'd give it another year. And really, 2010 was amazing. It was sort of a break out year in terms of building my customer base. Things just seemed to grow exponentially as my loyal customer base gave my naturally good soaps and bathing essentials to friends and relatives and then recommended me to the same. I am so grateful for the tremendous support and encouragement I've receive from my customers who continue to love and share my products!

So it begs the question, why is it not this huge success? There's still more to analyze for me to fully answer that questions but here's where I've discovered the most success: direct sales. The people who meet me and listen to me talk about my products for a few minutes or read about them hear my passion and open their mind to trying something that seems in their mind expensive, after all, it's just a bar of soap. But when they discover that it's more than just soap, it's a beautiful package of aromatic and natural goodness that uplifts your spirits and nourishes and cleans your skin, then they appreciate the value of this premium labor intensive handcrafted product. Appreciation translates into sales.

The other area of success and intrigue is in creating custom soaps that are just the right expression for someone else. Whether the soap is for a wedding or an adjunct to a businesses marketing plan or private label soap I love creating custom soaps.

Where I haven't been successful is in retail outlets. My soap just tends to sit on the shelf. It gets dropped, it collects dust. A retailer doesn't have the passion and care that I do for my soap. So they tend to end up with older product that doesn't look so good. And the truth is it takes a lot of time for me to service these accounts and my wholesale pricing leaves little room for profit opportunity, especially when the volume is not there.

So for now I'm going to keep networking and sharing my naturally good handcrafted soaps and bathing essentials with you all and I'm going to be more selective about my retail outlets. In addition to creating new soaps and bathing essentials throughout the year, I've decided to start another new thing! I've decided to become a Willow House Design Consultant. And I can't wait to tell you more about it in Part II of this post.

My tips for feeding your gluten free family

2011-01-07T16:58:00.002-07:00

Originally posted on spirochicks, I thought the new year would be a great time to "reshare" my tips for feeding your gluten free family:

It seems that one of the hallmarks of Lyme sufferers is having to struggle with multiple food sensitivities and chief among them is gluten. I've eaten a gluten free diet for well over ten years. But in the past several years I've discovered that my sons are gluten intolerant as well. While feeding myself had been challenging enough, feeding my kids gluten free was even more challenging. With school lunches, birthday parties, and social events, somehow I've had to figure out how to provide options for them that free them up to choose what their body needs while still engaging in everyday social activities. It's been hard! Here I share a few tips that have made this endeavor a little easier.

Breakfast on the go:

This Multi-grain waffle recipe from Ali of Whole Life Nutrition has made on the fly breakfasts possible. On Sunday mornings my husband and I make this recipe for our family. Today I made them while my husband went out and picked our blackberries. So we had waffles with fresh organic blackberries. Yum! And then there's always plenty left over to pop in the freezer for on the fly breakfasts throughout the week.

A sweet treat:

My gluten-free brownie recipe has way too much sugar but it's decadent and way too good for those glutenous eaters to turn their noses up. I make these and wrap them individually and put them in the freezer at school. Next time the birthday treats roll through the classroom there's a super yummy scrumptious treat in the freezer for the teacher to pull out for my son. He doesn't feel quite as deprived, after all their his favorite!

Pizza Pizza:

I think the hardest food for my boys to give up is pizza. Thankfully I found this super easy pizza crust mix from Namaste Foods that tastes soooooo good. For tips and pizza sauce recipe see my pizza blog post. I haven't taken the boys off dairy ... yet. So for now they get Mozarella cheese and I get goat cheese which tastes delightful by the way. But maybe we can get Kim to share her "cheese" recipe made from cashews, another great alternative to make this a dairy free treat as well. I make this usually once per week so I can tuck a pizza in my son's lunch for a little change from the usual.

Super packed on the fly nutrition for mom:

Green smoothies are the best invention ever. I feel so good when I drink these! I use it as a meal replacement or midday snack. It's a super fabulous way to load up on greens without having to eat a salad loaded with dressing.

My favorite green smoothie:

2 cups water

3 large handfuls spinach

1 apple or pear

dash of cinnamon

blend to smooth consistency with blender

Blender tip: after breaking two blenders in the first four months of smoothy making I broke down and purchased a Vitamix. Smoothies made with the Vitimix taste so much better than the ones made with others. It's now a necessity in my kitchen.

Another staple I can't live without:

I shared the recipe for Maple Granola in this blog post about Progurt. But it's worth mentioning again as it's a staple in my home. I make Maple granola usually once per week. It's fabulous to add on top of yogurt or eat for breakfast. I buy the gluten free oatmeal from Bob's Red Mill and get organic coconut shred in large pieces. Super crunchy and good for you too.

I highly recommend this cookbook from Whole Life Nutrition. It is packed with useful information and tried and true recipes. Also Ali's recipe blog is an invaluable resource.

I know we'd all love to hear what other tips you all have for living a gluten free life. So please share.

Enter the drawing to receive a FREE Candy Cane Handcrafted Soap

2010-12-03T20:05:00.011-07:00

Readers ... here's an opportunity for you to win a free soap! First, read the feature about me on Lymenaide Holiday Bazaar. Then comment on my booth at the bazaar. You'll be entered in the drawing to receive a FREE bar of awesome good handcrafted Candy Cane soap.

I'm sad to say that I had to mark my Candy Cane Soap out of inventory on the webstore. I took the last 7 bars with me to Sun Valley where I'll be at the Papoose Club Annual Bazaar sharing naturally good soaps and bathing essentials. I have one bar set aside for the give away. So unless you're in Sun Valley this weekend this will be your last chance to get one (until next year that is).

Mint Chocolate Chip Soap, forerunner and close cousin to my Candy Cane soap, is still available! So if you need a mint and chocolate fix ... that's the one to go for!

Susanne's Holiday Gift Guide

2010-11-27T17:37:00.012-07:00

One of the things I love about my business is helping people select aroma therapeutic gifts that are just the right expression of their thoughtfulness. With the lingering economic downturn, for many of us shopping this season is more difficult than ever. I've noticed that most people still want to remember friends, neighbors, co-workers, teachers, and family with a small gift of appreciation but may be shopping in a different price point than in years past.

I always encourage my customers to make selections that truly fit within their budget. I put together this short little guide to help with just that. Natural handcrafted soaps and bathing accoutrements make wonderful consumable gifts that aren't food! Consider my chocolate soaps for an indulgent no calorie treat.

Gifts under $5 make great stocking stuffers or a little something to put on a co-workers desk with your holiday card. Consider ...

Handmade Guest Soaps wrapped in cello and tied with raphia. Looks like candy but packed with aroma goodness for the nose and skin. $3.50.

Naturally good Lip Balm - $3.25

Gifts under $10 -sized just right to tuck in a stocking or give your child's teacher with a nice card attached. Consider any of my handmade soaps, or choose a seasonal soap like Candy Cane or Cinnamon Spice.

Hand Salve in Peppermint, Lavender, and Lemon Drop. Choose the free gift wrap option and your gift is all ready to tuck in a stocking or give the hands that help you. $5.75

Consider a Moisture & Massage Bar or Massage Oil to tuck in your significant's stocking.

Gifts under $15

A Body Butter or Salt Scrub is a wonderful aroma therapeutic gift to really pamper a girlfriends' skin. Consider festive Candy Cane Salt Scrub!

Who doesn't use soap? All natural handcrafted soaps make great gifts, consider the Two Soaps Gift Set or Guest Soaps Gift Set. Or perhaps a soap and hand salve together.

Gifts $20-35 ...

Really want to pamper a girlfriend? Consider the Body Essentials Gift Sets in small for $19.75 or regular for $35.00. Comes in Coconut Mojito or Lavender. Contains three aroma therapeutic products: a salt scrub, a body butter, and a handmade soap.

The Body Essentials Gift Basket contains several aroma pampering products in a sweet little basket.

If you don't see exactly what fits in your budget here, contact me to discuss your gift giving needs at susanne@lavandedebois.com.

Body Butter -"lotion" without chemicals

2010-11-13T07:08:00.009-07:00

Several years back, when I made a decision to eliminate chemicals from my life (as much as possible, as we have daily exposures that are out of our control) as with all my personal care products I started reading the labels on lotions. And I really couldn't find a lotion didn't have ANY harmful chemicals or preservatives. Lotions contain water and the introduction of water into a recipe requires the addition of preservatives.

Living in a dry climate the search for an alternative moisturizer was on. I started dabbling in making body butters almost from the start of my business. Several trials and pitfalls have led me to a long process of experimentation. I'm thrilled to now offer naturally good aroma therapeutic Body Butters in Grapefruit Twist, Coconut Mojito, and Lavender Mint.

For some, a Body Butter is just "too greasy", and that is an objection I understand, but for me the "greasiness" is worth it to avoid the chemicals. What I've discovered about personal care products is it's really about your threshold for chemical exposure. My threshold is zero. For most it's much higher than that. I've incorporated ingredients that offer wonderful moisturizing benefits for your skin but are easily absorbed by the skin within a few minutes. The best time to apply body butter is after getting out of the bath or shower. The warmth of your skin helps it smooth on. Get a dab out of the jar, warm it between your hands, then massage onto skin. I wait a few minutes for everything to absorb then finish dressing. It takes a little extra time but knowing I'm taking care of my skin without chemicals is worth the extra effort.

My body butter recipe incorporates a large percentage of Shea Butter, known for it's ability to nourish dry and sun damaged skin with Vitamins A, E, and F. It is known to be anti-inflammatory and has been used to heal scars and combat wrinkles. It is easily absorbed by your skin.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil adds soft coconut aroma and antioxidants known to limit damage to skin by free radicals. It is easily absorbed by the skin penetrating deeply into connective tissues to promote healing.

Kukui Nut Oil provides moisture and renewal to aged and dry skin without leaving a greasy feel. Contains Vitamins A, E and C, antioxidants that protect your skin.

Beeswax is commonly added to natural skin care products for a number of functions. It helps to lock in moisture as well as form a natural protective barrier on you skin. It also has a high melting point so the butter is less likely to melt if exposed to warm temperatures. And I just love the soft, warm and subtle sweet aroma it adds to any formulation.

And then I add a bit of Vitamin E and Rosemary Oleoresin Extract to extend the shelf-life of the oils. My butters are made in small batches and I ship only products that have plenty of shelf life left in them.

The finishing touch of any creation that comes from my studio is inspirational aroma. My personal favorite is Grapefruit Twist. Luscious sweet grapefruit essential oils combines gracefully with lavender and just a hint of basil for earthy, fresh, and sweet aroma.

Lavender Mint is a tried and true favorite in my product line. Lavender and mint combine superbly, a hint of cedarwood adds woodsiness to this sweet and herbaceous combination.

In my Coconut Mojito Body Butter, lime and spearmint combine beautifully and bring out the coconut undertones in the butter. Smells fresh and tropical, just picture yourself on that next tropical vacation!

Orders can be made online. For product inquiries contact me at susanne@lavandedebois.com.

Lavande Bleu - it's blue, it's lavender, it's luxury in your shower

2010-10-14T10:05:00.008-06:00

When I first started this blog it was in response to my customers interest in knowing the stories behind my soap creations. Soon I began writing about all things natural and life anecdotes here and there and sort of forgot to write the soap stories. Today I'm telling the story of Lavande Bleu. In a way it might be called my signature soap, or rather Lavande Bleu embodies everything I am about.

However I can't talk about all the unique ways this soap embodies the priorities of Lavande de Bois without first giving credit to my mentor, Lori Nova, of the Nova Studio where I learned to make soap. Lori is an amazing teacher and taught me to take very detailed notes of all my creations. She also explained to our class that even though the recipes in her workbook were available to be used as a starting point; it is uncool in the soap community to flat out copy another soap artist. Part of what makes the cottage industry of handcrafted soapmaking so unique is the individual stamp that a soapmaker puts on their soaps in the form of oils, botanicals, aromas, and colors, etc. The realm of possibilities in soap are endless.

So when I wanted to create a soap with lavender essential oil and oatmeal that wasn't such a unique idea. Do a search on lavender soap and you'll find plenty. After all, there was a recipe in my workbook for a layered soap, oatmeal on one side and lavender soap on the other. It is a way cool soap, one side full of exfoliating goodness, the other aroma pleasure in a fabulously smooth soap.

But Lavande Bleu is special. Swirls of oatmeal soap are intermingled with lavender blue soap (a technique Lori taught our class). Shea butter adds extra luxurious soft smooth lathery soap bubbles. Right now I have Lavande Bleu by my bathroom sink and it leaves my hands feeling smooth and moisturized. No need to apply lotion! And I walk away with the soothing aroma of lavender still on my hands. Oh and lavender, did you know there are a gazillion varieties of lavender? Hence a variety of lavender essential oils.

Perhaps the most used lavender essential oil is lavender 40/42 which is a blended essential oil. Typically consumers want consistency, that is they want their product to smell the same as the last one they purchased. The 40/42 is comprised of a variety of lavenders blended together to maintain a level of consistency. In terms of cost it is typically low to medium priced among the lavender essential oils. I'm not a big fan of this blended oil. When I started making soap I fell in love with a single essential oil, a Lavandula angustifolium from Bulgaria. It smelled so fresh and it reminded me of the aroma in the air when I walked by my own lavender plants. I built my product line around this essential oil. Then one day my supplier started purchasing the Bulgarian lavender from another farm. To my nose, it smelled like turpentine. So I could no longer use it. That's just how lavenders are, different soil, different, climate, different aroma. I'm happy to say that I settled on Lavender Population, also a Lavandula angustifolium, this time from France. I have to admit all that time I was using lavender from Bulgaria while borrowing from the French language for my business name I felt like a traitor. So now it all feels right, French lavender, borrowed French words, ah symmetry. When I take in a deep inhale of this aroma I can imagine myself walking across fields of lavender in Southern France. It has a beautiful complex and pure aroma. This oil is by far the most expensive essential oil I incorporate in my soaps. It costs almost twice as much as the lavender 40/42, but I LOVE it! So that's what I use.

Another cool thing about this soap is it's color. It's blue, but it's also lavender. It's a very blue lavender. So it goes with so many bathroom decors. I was at a friends house one day, and used the bathroom. It had a very masculine decor, navy blue and hunter green. I was surprised at how well her Lavande Bleu soap coordinated with this masculine theme. It just seemed to bring out the blue in the soap even thought it looks lavender when you put it with soft colors.

Despite the exquisite beauty and aroma of this soap, nothing is as important as the ingredients themselves. I'm trending toward going all organic, but I'm not there yet. I'm happy to say that since January of this year all my soaps have organic palm oil and organic coconut oil in them, making my soaps over 50% organic. I'm heading in a direction that is very important to me and look forward to someday having an organic certification.

So in a nutshell how does Lavande Bleu represent the priorities of Lavande de Bois? My priorities are all about incorporating the aromas, ingredients, botanicals, and things that I love and weaving them into a bathing essential that is visually and aromatically pleasing and full of good for you ingredients. Whether I'm using organic ingredients, or my favorite essential oil, I use them even though they may cost more than the alternative. Of course, I can't keep making them if the consumers don't buy it. But fortunately for Lavande Bleu, consumers are willing to pay for the price of quality. It is by far the most expensive soap I create, it is also consistently my top selling handcrafted soap.

Aroma Inspiration - Part II

2010-09-15T11:26:00.004-06:00

One aspect of essential oils I touched on in Aroma Inspiration - Part I is this idea of synergy, that when blended together the different properties of each essential oil work together to create distinctly different influences on mood than each of the single oils might suggest by itself.

As a "novice aromatherapy philosopher" I'd like to share a few of my favorite essential oil combinations and why. One quick note though, in the world of aromatherapy, essential oils can be used to treat physical ailments as well as mental ails. As a philosopher about my own experience of essential oils I discuss primarily how the essential oils impact mind and spirit, i.e. well being.

Lavender & Mint

Lavender is obviously a huge favorite of mine. One of the amazing things about lavender is that chemists have discovered over 150 different chemical components in the lavender plant. That explains why there are a HUGE variety of healing applications for lavender. Lavender is known most popularly for it's ability to calm and balance mood. It is also known to refresh and stimulate. So when combined with mint that is also refreshing and stimulating it's a pretty good "refresher". Surprisingly my Lavender Mint soap is a huge favorite with the guys. I think the strengthening component of Spearmint adds just the dose of masculinity needed to strengthen lavender's softer "calming" side. (We all know the guys could use a dose of calming influence now and then.)

Add in a hint of Cedarwood and the Lavender Mint combo becomes more calming. My favorite massage oil is, of course, called "Relaxing" and it contains this combination of essential oils. I often have difficulty falling asleep at night, if unable to use the Relaxing Massage Oil to massage my neck and send me fast asleep, my husband has been know to put a little in his hand and say "Here smell this." He claims it works like a charm, I'm often on my way to sleep within minutes with slow relaxed on my way to sleep breaths.

Orange and Ginger

Once I started experimenting with essential oils, orange quickly became a huge favorite of mine. It is truly the happy essential oil. Also know to be warm, sweet, sensuous, and refreshing. It really is an energy infuser for me. You can read about how making Orange Oatmeal Soap (recently renamed Morning Sunshine) quite literally recharged a gloomy January day while enduring 30 days of no sun in this post Painting My World.

The health benefits of ginger root essential oil are many, however it is widely know to be anti-inflammatory. But did you know it also has aphrodisiac properties? So what do you get when you cross an aphrodisiac with the happy essential oil? Let's just leave it at that. I use this essential oil combination in an aptly named massage oil, Ginger Passion.

Chocolate and ?

One of my favorite ingredients to work with is cocoa butter. Often the chocolate aroma is removed from cocoa butter to add this luxurious ingredient to products without adding the aroma; but I LOVE the chocolate aroma. When added to soap the cocoa butter not only adds a hint of chocolate aroma it also adds extra creamy luxurious moisturizing bubbles to create a treat for your shower to be sure! Chocolate works great with spearmint and peppermint. I regularly carry my Mint Chocolate Chip Handcrafted Soap. But during the holidays I make a Candy Cane soap that could be called White Chocolate Peppermint and a Chocolate Peppermint Body Butter. I've met quite a few people that really don't like chocolate in their body care regime, but I love it and am truly inspired by it. After all, it's no calorie chocolate! What's not to like? Another fun chocolate combination is orange essential oil and cocoa butter found in my Orange Chip Soap and from time to time I make a Chocolate Coconut Massage Bar.

Coconut and ?

Another truly favorite ingredient is Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. You may have read about the health benefits of using this oil in baking and cooking, but it is a fabulous additive for skin care products as well. And not only does this oil add extra moisturizing properties in skin preparations it adds wonderful coconut aroma. Remember using that Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil when you were a teenager? Before we really understood the effects of sun damage we were coating our skin with this stuff and baking to create that sun kissed look. Those were the good old days ... laying around in the sun without a care in the world. Well that's what Extra Virgin Coconut Oil reminds me of ... carefree days. So when I add this ingredient to a body essential it creates for me this memory of care free days and vacation, of course coconuts remind me of Hawaii. Since the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is not a suitable additive for soap, I usually use it in various body essentials. I make two Coconut Salt Scrubs that are the bomb, Coconut Mojito and Island Sunset. The essential oils in both of these scrubs complement the coconut creating an exotic and inspiring aroma.

Well that's it for now from this aroma philosopher. I'd love to know your favorite aroma combinations and how they impact you.

Aroma Inspiration - Part I

2010-09-10T11:43:00.010-06:00

I am an aroma nut! Aroma can be so regenerating! And then some aromas can be rather debilitating! Chemical sensitivity has been a driving force behind so many of the handcrafted soaps and body essentials I create. What I've found is the synthetic component of fragrance is what's so disturbing to me. That's why I use all natural, nothing synthetic, essential oils. I use essential oils that are steam distilled from living plants creating plant essences. Steam distillation quite literally puts the essence of the plant in a bottle. Wouldn't you like to capture the aroma of this bouquet? My youngest son, apparently a budding florist, harvested and arranged these bouquets for me. Essential oils do just that, they preserve aroma for years to come.

While I am NOT an expert on aromatherapy I am a novice aromatherapy philosopher, that is I am confident about sharing my own experience and research into how aroma can impact our senses, but I am not a trained aromatherapist. I think I'll put that on the to do list.

In any case, I'm getting ready to post a "Pamper Me" sale on the webstore and I thought this would be a great time to share a few tidbits about some of the essential oils I routinely use and how our sense of smell can impact our well being.

Our sense of smell, one of our earliest developed senses, is amazing! Aroma passes through the nose, past the cerebral cortex right to the limbic system, the innermost control center of the brain. Aroma stimuli in the limbic system release powerful neurotransmitters that provide inspiration, feelings of well being, relaxation, and so on. According to Susanne Fischer-Rizzi "Within the limbic system resides the regulatory mechanism of our highly explosive inner life, the secret core of our being. Here is the seat of our sexuality, the impulse of attraction and aversion, our motivation and our moods, our memory and creativity, as well as our autonomic nervous system." (I highly recommend her book "Complete Aromatherapy Handbook, Essential Oils for Radiant Health")

Following are some highlights about some of the essential oils you will find in my all natural body essentials. Keep in mind that when essential oils are blended together they have synergy that can create distinct influences on mood. More on that in Part II.

Cinnamon Leaf Oil – warm, spicy, sweet fragrance, smells just like cinnamon - stimulates creativity.

Found in Orange Spice & Red Hot Honey Handcrafted Soaps, also Island Sunrise Salt Scrub

Clove Bud– spicy, warm and sweet with antiseptic properties.

You might try Orange Spice or Shaving Spice Handcrafted Soaps

Lavender - lavender essential oil is obviously a favorite at Lavande de Bois (French for Lavender of Boise) – a spicy, sweet, woody aroma with a huge variety of applications for physical healing, however, most widely known for its ability to calm, stimulate, and refresh the mind.

Consider trying Lavande Bleu, TLC Bar, LaVader, or Lavender Mint Handcrafted Soaps or a lavender Salt Scrub or Hand Salve.

Lemon– smells like fresh squeezed lemons – antiseptic and detoxifying for the skin, refreshing and uplifting for the mind

Try Lemon Creme Handcrafted Soap, Lemon Drop Hand Salve, Lemon Poppy Seed Salt Scrub

Lemongrass– refreshing and mentally stimulating – great for those who have trouble getting started in the morning

Found in Lemongrass Poppy Seed and Morning Sunshine Soaps

Lime– a sweet and lively aroma – stimulating and refreshing

Try Coconut Mojito or Lime Basil Handcrafted Soaps

Orange– fragrance is sweet, radiant, and alive – stimulates positive mental energy – awakens creativity, stimulates happiness

Found in Morning Sunshine, Orange Spice, and Orange Chip Soaps

Rosemary - a strong and clear scent – strengthening with antiseptic properties, good for sore muscles

Try Idaho Mossmint or Rain Gentle Facial Cleansing Soap

Spearmint – refreshing and cooling aroma – increases concentration and memory with antiseptic properties – used in aromatherapy for a large variety of ailments

Consider trying Coconut Mojito, Lavender Mint, Mint Chocolate Chip, or Idaho Mossmint Handcrafted Soaps

Awesome pizza crust from Namaste Foods

2010-06-13T18:59:00.000-06:00

I just have to share my new favorite gluten free staple. This pizza crust from Namaste Foods is the bomb! Feeding a family gluten free has serious challenges. And sending the kids to school with gluten free lunches is one of them. When I discovered this pizza crust from Namaste I was so impressed with the taste and the ease of use. I had engineered my own favorite recipe for pizza crust, then dropped it for this one. The taste is awesome. I load my corner of the pizza with goat cheese, fresh basil, and sun dried tomatoes and I feel like I'm having a totally gourmet pizza. The kids load their corner of the pizza with their own favorites. I used to buy boboli for my husband and daughter so they could have their own gluten pizza. But last night I didn't have a boboli so they had to eat our pizza. My husband thinks it tastes better than the boboli. This recipe not only tastes great but it has simplified my life! I usually have what I need and it's super easy to make and not time consuming, a great last minute dinner option. I usually make an extra one for leftovers for the boys to take in their lunches. I'm not big on the gluten free mixes and I usually make everything from scratch. But this one has really been a life saver.

Here's a link to the pizza sauce I use from my absolute favorite gluten free chef! Homemade Pizza Sauce

Gluten free brownies

2010-06-11T14:14:00.003-06:00

I get so many requests for this brownie recipe I thought I'd type it up once and for all and post it. I have this old tattered recipe card that's about 25 years old. One of the things I love about recipes is their history, every smudge and drip adds a little bit to the story. I got the original gluten-ous version of this recipe from Freda Stowers of Riggins, Idaho, a town where I did a lot of growing up. For many years this was our family favorite. When I converted to a gluten free diet this is one of those recipes that I started to experiment with. Over the years I've used a lot of different flours but I've found that the teff flour version is favored by almost everybody. I buy my teff flour from a local grower, The Teff Company. I buy it in bulk, 25 pounds at a time because I use so much teff flour in my gluten free household. But you should be able to find small bags of it at your local co-op or order the smaller bags from The Teff Company.

A little disclaimer is in order here though: these brownies are loaded with sugar! My personal needs have required me to cut out sugar, and eggs, and butter but since I have two boys who also eat gluten free I make these for them. This brownie recipe is just so scrumptious the way it is; I feel like my boys need some delectable options that rival the gluten-ous ones to keep them on their diet. So without further adieu here it is ...

Yummy gluten-free brownies

1 cup melted butter

2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp xanthum gum

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups teff flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup nuts (if desired)

1/4 cup chocolate chips (if desired)

Melt butter. Add dry ingredients, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in nuts and/or chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Drawing the line at zipper allergies ...

2010-06-01T13:11:00.005-06:00

I have a long history of food and environmental allergies and chemical sensitivities. Unfortunately the list of allergens continues to grow. When I became allergic to zippers and jewelry I proclaimed in a moment of total exasperation "I'm drawing the line at zipper allergies!" My husband was amused at this defiant control I seemed to believe I had over my immune response. (It's obvious that I would have taken control by now if I could). He wisely quipped "What are you going to do about it? Start a line of zipperless clothing? Or maybe you should just go with 24 karat gold zippers."

I really don't have the wherewithal to now start making clothing and jewelry that meets my needs, but the truth is, he really isn't that far off the mark. My personal need is what drives my creativity in my product line. My business didn't start out that way but as my need for personal care items has grown my experimentation has grown. Whether I'm working with essential oils to create beautiful uplifting aroma that won't give me a headache (most products use synthetic components to create fragrance) or creating a body butter because I can't find a moisturizer that doesn't have chemicals in it, it's all driven by my desire to have products at my disposal that smell good and feel good without eliciting an immune response or chemical exposure.

So in a sense, I really am drawing the line. I'm drawing the line by finding substitutes that meet my needs. And for now in the clothing and jewelry departments, it's no metal. Which is a total bummer because I'm getting pretty plain Jane over here. First no make up, now no jewelry. But that's just how it is, for now ...

Do it yourself Salt Scrubs

2010-05-16T17:43:00.010-06:00

Salt scrubs are bathing luxuries that no one should be without! This morning I saw my lonely jar of Lemon Poppy Seed Salt Scrub sitting high up on the shelf and I had a little extra time so I went for it. I often forget to use it but each time I do I think "my skin feels so incredible why don't I use this more often!" Salt scrubs are made with oil and salt and you simply massage the scrub onto your skin and let warm steamy shower or bath water wash away the salt leaving behind soft velvety skin. The fresh inspiring aroma will linger on your skin long after you leave the shower.

Salt scrubs are super easy to make. Since I am producing a product that I want to repeat I measure everything. But here are my recommendations for someone wanting to whip one up for personal use: start with a little bit of oil. Safflower is my favorite, but sunflower oil works well and probably olive oil too. Then add salt until you have a paste like consistency. Then add a few drops of essential oil, but don't overdue it, and any herbs or botanicals for color and texture.

Or if you prefer you can purchase your bathing luxury from me. All my bathing essentials are created to inspire on three sensory levels. I want it to appeal to your eyes, nose, and skin. I call it the multi sensory approach to bathing. Salt scrubs exemplify this approach perfectly. The aroma just fills the shower and co-mingles with the feeling on you skin as you gently exfoliate and moisturize. And why is it important to me that the product please your eyes? Because the way it looks affects your sense of smell. I have made soaps where the aroma and color didn't go together and they just don't smell right. So in order for the scrub to really pamper you it needs to please your eyes. I add botanicals and clays to accomplish this, to give it color and texture.

Here's a few more salt scrub tips:

Use it on your hands - I LOVE the way my hands feel after I use salt scrub on them. I definitely don't need hand lotion after that. So keep a little jar of salt scrub by your sink for those days when you need to soften 'em up.

Use it on your feet - yeah you can really get some of that roughness off your heels! I like to sit in the bath and massage my feet with the salt scrub then let them soak for a while.

Use it in the bathtub - scrubs are great in the shower, but even better in the bath. The oil kind of disperses throughout the water and adds moisture to all your skin, and even your hair. In fact I love the way it softens my hair!

Dose of creativity ignites enthusiasm for the mundane

2010-05-07T20:21:00.009-06:00

As my business has grown and I've moved from making small trial batches of soap here and there to larger batches on a regular basis the haunting question has been "will my creative brain be able to continue to make the same soaps over and over again?" So far I've been able to keep it interesting by bringing in seasonal soaps and by harnessing my creative efforts for becoming more efficient and cost effective.

Meanwhile one of the surprising regular customer questions I get is "what's new?" At first it felt like a lot of pressure to come up with something new all the time. But now I'm realizing the"pressure" to come up with new things is what keeps soapmaking fresh for me. Because the reality is there's always something that needs to be done. So it's hard to carve out time to let my creativity fly. It's easy to get lost in the routine and mundane, the litany of things that need to happen within my business and within my personal life. So this week when I felt like I needed to stretch ... to create something new ... it began as a moment of pressure. But it became a much needed spark in my energy field.

When I let myself indulge in the process of experimentation I felt my spirit start to ignite with enthusiasm and anticipation. I was looking for an essential oil to pair with lime and went through the whole cupboard and came up with basil. Yeah it sounds strange but I pulled the soap out of the mold today and it has this super fresh earthy scent. It's pretty different than anything I've ever made. Then I went to work on the color. Coloring soap is an art in itself, it doesn't quite look the same in the soap as it does in the small mixing container. And then I wanted to experiment with a different fixed oil so I decided to incorporate avocado oil in to the recipe. As I mixed the batch of soap and added the different ingredients at just the right time I felt my enthusiasm continue to build. Wallah it was in the mold the color looked superb, my kitchen was filled with the new aroma I had never smelled before. I was charged and ready for the next batch.

What was so fascinating to me was how creating something new and entirely different infused energy into my day. I started and finished the much needed batches of soap on my production schedule that day on a totally different note. So my soap artist tip for the day is ... keep being creative ... take a moment to do something entirely different and let the creative spark carry you through your routine.

A new twist on having it your way

2010-04-07T13:49:00.010-06:00

When I launched my business two and a half years ago I had no idea where it would take me. I started making soap, people liked it, they started buying it. It started out that simply. One of the unforeseen paths has become one of the most satisfying, that is, making custom soaps. I love making it "your" way. There is unlimited creativity in soap crafting just as there are unlimited personal preferences. I have had so much fun making it just the way someone else would enjoy it. Just this morning while dropping my son off at school, a fellow mom and customer reported back to me that her husband loves the Lemongrass Poppy Seed soap I made for him without the poppy seeds. Of course they had to buy an entire batch of soap to get it "their" way, but it is a truly satisfying experience knowing that it is just right for their family.

My philosophy on making soap and using it is not just about getting clean. Of course for many people that's what using soap is about, and handcrafted soap is an awesome cleaning agent. I didn't know soap had chemistry until I started learning about it, but I was floored to discover that soap when mixed with water actually does pull dirt and germs away from your skin. So cool! And you may be an individual where that's all you use it for. But for me the experience of making and using soap goes way beyond that, it's about blending the things that inspire me or others with bathing ritual to regenerate the moment. It's like taking time to enjoy the small pleasures in life. When I get in the shower and lather up I take in a deep breath and let the aroma wash over and in and throughout. Of course the aroma is one aspect of the experience, but the way the soap lathers is another and the way it makes your skin feel afterward is another. Some like creamy lathering bubbles, some like texture, some like extra moisture, some like that squeaky clean feeling. The variety of aromas, herbs, specialty vegetable oils, and botanicals that can be added to soap are limitless, just as personal preferences are limitless. So I've discovered that striking that delicate balance of preferences for someone is an extraordinary art and is a ton of fun.

Whether I'm making a batch of soap with just the right ingredients for someone who has allergies and skin sensitivities, or making luxurious aromatic soaps to match wedding colors for the bride to give her guests as a thank you, or creating just the right soap to help a company deliver their message; when it all comes together and fits for that person or that company it's incredibly satisfying. Of course, it often takes trial and error to get to the sweet spot of "fit". But that's part of the journey too, and there's always someone willing to take a cast off soap that didn't fit, because it just might fit for them!

One business who has used my custom handcrafted soaps to support their message is Willow Park, a Senior living community located here in Boise. Their motto is “people who care, caring for people”. Their soap is appropriately named “Distinctly Willow”. In every sense Willow Park strives to care for their residents in a distinctly caring way that goes above and beyond. They've created a living community that revolves around the distinct preferences of the individuals that choose to live there. Their soap was created to match their marketing materials in color, theme, and message. When a visitor leaves their establishment with a bar of Distinctly Willow soap they take home a small piece of the experience of being there.

Gullible or empathic?

2010-03-18T08:32:00.002-06:00

I just cannot take it anymore! I have just received a gazillion too many emails from foreign scammers. I just don't get it, are Americans that gullible that they keep attempting to prey on us. I get at least one email a week from a scammer with broken English attempting to hook me into some scheme. My favorite so far was the freight scam. They would "buy" 200 bars of soap that I would ship to an orphanage in Africa. I would commit to use the freight company they recommended and somehow pay the freight company while they didn't pay for my soap. I have to think these people are having some level of success or why would they still be attempting it? I'd like to believe that their success has something to do with the fact that we are empathetic. And they are so clever because every scam email I get has some appeal to my emotions. Using orphanages, and appealing to a cry to help an impoverished nation, etc. All stuff that I love, we love, to support. And then it's some pathetic scam trying to defraud me and using my empathy to do it. So sad.

What do you use on your face?

2010-03-16T09:46:00.008-06:00

If you've been reading my blog you know I gave up facial skin care chemicals over a year ago. It's been interesting exploring all natural products that are free of chemicals for my facial skin care. Apparently I've found a combination that works. Recently I've had quite a few people comment on my skin and ask me what I'm using. So I thought I'd do a quick blurb to give everybody some natural skin care options. Here's the low down:

For cleansing I'm using my new face soap that is now available on the webstore. I have one at my sink and one in the shower. And since I've been crossing paths with people interested in a shampoo bar, I tried the face soap on my hair and it works great. The jojoba in the face soap is known to be a great ingredient for hair products.

Next I use a moisturizer. I've been doing a lot of experimenting on this front. I think my top pick is the Organic Pomegranate Seed Oil I purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs. Of course I'm out of it right now and so is the supplier. And in the case of this oil there's a hugely noticeable difference between the organic and the non-organic. And since they're the only supplier I've found so far, I'm going to have to wait for them to restock. Of course, this is the star ingredient in my Pomegranate Face Soap. I like it straight as a moisturizer. Yes it's oily and it has an interesting fruity/nutty aroma which I don't actually like. But I put a little dab on my cheeks and within five minutes the oil has been absorbed leaving my skin soft and supple. I absolutely love it! I feel like my skin looks a little brighter too. But if this approach seems a little too au naterelle, my second choice is the Creme de Rose moisturizer from Simply Divine Botanicals. I've also tried their Skincredible Face Elixer which is very soothing. And I absolutely can't live without their deodorant. First chemical free deodorant I've found that actually works. Yeah!

Why face soap?

2010-01-30T09:19:00.016-07:00

Months ago I went on rampage to reduce my personal exposure to chemicals. I made a huge shift in my personal care products which meant ousting the skin care and cosmetics I had been using for over 25 years. Having been taught the importance of cleansing my face to prevent clogged pores and such I wondered what to use. I started using my soap and had favorable results. The Lemongrass Poppy Seed was surprisingly good on my face, as was Mint Chocolate Chip. They left my skin squeaky clean without feeling really dry. But soon I started researching facial cleansing soaps to find out what was out there and what people were using. I was surprised to discover that there were few natural handmade soaps formulated specifically for delicate facial skin. I started researching ingredients and off I was on a journey to create my own face soap. I shared early versions of the recipe with family and they were begging for more. After about a year of thought and experimentation I bring to you my new face soaps: Pomegranate and Rain.

The only claim I really intend to make about my face soap is that it cleans your face. When I started making soap I was surprised to discover that soap has chemistry, there's actually a chemical process taking place when you use soap and water. Water alone has surface tension but when you add soap to the mix it pulls dirt and germs away from your skin and they wash away. My all natural facial cleansing soaps being that they are true soaps are guaranteed to wash your face. Since I'm not a billion dollar company backed by a slew of researchers that's the only thing I plan to claim about my new face soap. But what has been surprising to me as I've continued to experiment with a variety of ingredients in my soap making adventures is that each ingredient, even small ingredient changes, change the properties of the soap making each soap recipe unique and different. So it's worth mentioning why I've incorporated the ingredients I have in the face soaps.

All my soaps seem to start with a high percentage of Olive oil because it produces gentle bars of soap. To that I typically add Coconut oil and Palm oil to enhance lathering and produce harder bars of soap, thereby extending the life of the soap. And there's always a smidge of Castor oil added to increase lather.

To the face soaps I've added several "secret" agents, here's why:

Jojoba Oil - most closely resembles the natural sebum in our skin making jojoba a wonderful additive for cosmetics. It also is high in antioxidant properties and is know to penetrate the skin without clogging pores.

Rice Bran Oil - the Japanese have long understood the importance of Rice Bran in their beauty regimens. Rice Bran Oil is high in natural antioxidants that play an important role in fighting free radicals.

Evening Primrose Oil -the GLA in Evening Primrose Oil is thought to control inflammation, it is also thought to be effective against acne and eczema

Secret agents in the Pomegranate all natural facial cleansing soap:

Pomengranate Seed Oil - I can't say enough cool things about this oil! It's my new favorite. I like to massage this oil on my face instead of a moisturizer. It just feels out of this world. And I love what it did to the soap formulation, I just had to name the soap after it! Research is finding great benefit in using Pomegranate Seed Oil to restore moisture and promote cell regeneration.

Shea Butter - also added to increase moisturizing properties, but I find it boosts the lather a tad bit too.

Grapefruit essential oil - added for its skin toning benefits, in aromatherapy grapefruit essential oil is thought to increase concentration. I just love the way it smells!

Secret agents in the Rain all natural facial cleansing soap:

Rose Hip Seed Oil - high in Vitamins A and E as well as omega-3 and omega-6, Rose Hip Seed Oil has been added for its ability to nourish and repair skin.

Lavender and other essential oils - the rain essential oil blend is extraordinary, I think it really smells like rain. I incorporated lavender in this blend first of all for what it contributes to the aroma, but it is also thought to be beneficial for fighting acne. I've also read that lavender is beneficial for dry skin. So I guess it's a universal good for you essential oil. But the long and short of it is, if you struggle with blemish prone skin, the Rain all natural facial cleansing soap might be the one to try.

Please come back and tell me what you think once you've had a chance to try the new face soaps. Ready to make a purchase? Here's some links:

Rain Facial Cleansing Soap

Pomegranate Facial Cleansing Soap

Face Soap Sampler Pack

Chemical free paint?

2010-01-20T19:11:00.006-07:00

Wow I just totally have to share that I am so impressed with this paint called The Fresh Aire Choice I picked up at Home Depot. For the past two holiday seasons I've set up my front room as a showroom for my soaps and body essentials. This year I decided to keep the showroom instead of returning it to it's past use as a parlor. Who needs a parlor anyway? So now I'm knee deep in a redecorating project for that room. I dropped by the Home Depot to decide on paint colors and got into a conversation with a knowledgeable salesperson. The conversation started out with me complaining about the Behr paint billed as an all-in-one primer and paint. I informed him that first of all it stunk real bad and I could hardly paint with the toxic smell and second of all it took three coats. So the primer aspect wasn't really working at all. He took the opportunity to point out that the all-in-one paint had a lot less chemicals than the regular Behr paint. So I was in this quandry about whether to buy a paint that stunk real bad in the name of fewer chemicals when he showed me The Fresh Aire Choice. If you're in the market for chemical free paint you should check it out because it really is chemical free. And we were so impressed with how well it went on and the fact that it virtually had no odor. The only downside is there are only 66 color choices. So for those of us match frieks it's a little bit limiting. But I made up my mind that I wanted to try it so I chose a color and off I went. You can see the results. The blue is kind of bright but I think it's growing on me.

The benefits of handmade soap

2010-01-04T19:11:00.006-07:00

For several months I've been the featured artist at The Wild Ivy Gift Shop. It's a wonderful shop nestled in Kuna. Owner, Kim Barton, does an incredible job of offering truly unique gifts and accessories. I highly recommend a trip out there if you haven't been. She will be featuring a new artist soon so I'm posting the original article here:

Susanne Schlador, Soap Artist, weighs in on the benefits of handmade soap

Lavande de Bois grew out of my personal obsession with lavender. Ever since I discovered my love of gardening I’ve grown lavender. I love the relaxing herbaceous aroma! After getting my kids off to school full time, I started researching product options for creating a business that revolved around my passion for lavender.

Soap making just kind of found me. I was signed up to go to a four day “boot camp” on making all natural body care products and the night before I was to leave I came down with a severe flu and was unable to travel. The instructor offered to allow me to attend the next “boot camp” which happened to be a soap class. I sat in the class thinking, “Why am I here I don’t even use soap?” I had been an avid shower gel user for years. But the soaps I brought home from the class were far superior to anything I had ever used. And they smelled great too! Soon I was experimenting with my own recipes. I haven’t used anything else since.

How are handcrafted soaps different than the commercially available alternatives? A big factor is ingredients. Large scale soap manufacturers have turned toward the most economical ingredients which often are synthetic. Also, commercial manufacturers tend to remove the glycerin, a natural by-product of the soapmaking process, to add to other products or sell. Glycerin is a humectant which means that it attracts and retains moisture on the skin. Another factor is method. Commercial producers typically heat the ingredients to high temperatures to force the chemical reaction of saponification to occur. I use the cold process method which allows me to combine the lye mixture with the oil mixture at around 110 degrees. At which point I’m able to add essential oils and additives that add skin softening properties to the soap. The saponification occurs over a longer period of time while the soap is laying in the mold for several days. I believe this process yields a gentler, richer soap with assorted benefits for your skin depending upon the additives of each unique recipe.

One thing I love about making soap is being able to blend the goodness of nature with bathing ritual to revitalize mind and body. I consider bathing the singular moment of my day that is for me. Having survived the early years of parenting when no moment is your own, I’ve come to appreciate the ritual of bathing. My soaps are replete with aroma that is uplifting and inspiring, ingredients that soothe and moisturize, and I love to make soap that is artistic. I call it the multisensory approach to bathing even if I don’t have a lot of time for it. I have a firm commitment to using only the finest natural raw ingredients. I use organically grown ingredients whenever feasible. I don’t ever use synthetic fragrances for one very good reason: I’m allergic to the synthetic component of fragrance. In fact, I have quite a few allergies, and I make only what smells good, feels good, and looks good.

Technique and artistry combine to create one-of-a-kind works of handcraftsmanship and quality. Each step in the soap making process involves the soapmaker. Each bar of soap is handmade, hand cut, hand trimmed, hand beveled, and packaged. No two soaps will ever be exact replicas, yet the goodness in the quality and aroma of the soap will be the same bar after bar. The inherent variations in this process enhance the individual beauty of my exclusive soaps.

I personally invite you to experience the all natural goodness of Lavande de Bois handcrafted soaps. Stop by the Wild Ivy to discover the naturally good soap that will nurture a unique you.

Please utilize my website as a resource for product information and as always I invite you to contact me with questions.

Click here for an Independent review of my Mint Chocolate Chip Handcrafted Soap

Happy New Day!

2010-01-01T10:34:00.002-07:00

I've talked to quite a few people lately who are looking forward to having 2009 behind them. Whether they've meandered through health crisis or financial trials, relational difficulties or whatever, it's nice to think "it's over" and hope for a different sort of year in 2010. Truth is, I had a particularly difficult year as well. It started with mono and spending weeks on end in bed, not getting out of bed but to go to the bathroom. I didn't even really eat. A multitude of cascading health problems continued to emerge which no local doctors were able to help me with. I made the bold move of seeking medical attention outside the state. The cost has been enormous, but I'm on my way to better health, albeit the path still seems uncertain, and many questions remain for the future.

But it would be tragic neglect for me to not pause and reflect on the incredible gifts that those difficulties have born in my life. If there were one word to describe the gifts I've received it's "adventure". In many ways 2009 has been the culmination of twenty plus years of chronic pain and mysterious health maladies. When several months ago I became allergic to zippers and jewelry I pronounced to my husband "I draw the line at zipper allergies!". He wisely quipped, "What are you going to do about it? Start a line of zipperless clothing? Or maybe you should just go with 24K gold zippers?" As funny as it sounds, there's profound truth in this statement. Out of the total frustration of impaired health new discoveries have abounded.

The wanderings and discoveries of the past year have led me to an organic lifestyle that involves not only purchasing organic foods whenever possible, but growing and canning it as well.

I've also gone chemical free with my personal care regime. After 30 years of mask wearing, I unveiled the real authentic me. I wear some eye make up several days of the week, but typically my face is authentic and naked! Wow this is huge. The other day a friend told me she could never do that because her skin isn't as beautiful as mine. I had to tell her, my skin didn't look like this until I made the bold move to stop wearing the mask. The quest for chemical free skin care led me to create my own face soap, yes it really will be out for sale this year, but for now I'm loving being able to use my own soap with NO chemicals.

And this essay on gifts born out of difficulty would be far from complete without recognizing the people I have met along this journey. Wonderful people who struggle that I might have not had the priviledge of knowing without my own wanderings through difficulty. I must tell this story because it is just a picture of the irony of the struggle. Earlier this month I met the "coffee moms" at our local hot spot for excellent coffee and atmosphere. They are a group of moms from my son's school who meet weekly for coffee. I show up sporadically and they are nice enough to include me. Anyway, on this day, three moms were already seated, and I started to sit down next to one of the moms, I hadn't even landed on my bottom when I found myself subconsciously abruptly changing directions to a standing position and emphatically stating that I could not sit there. The moms looked at me bewilderingly as I tried to explain. Which of course I had to quickly scan my brain for my own understanding. Turns out, as I inched closer to the sitting position, there was a fake Christmas tree behind the couch the gals were seated on and someone must have sprayed Christmas tree fragrance on it. The fake phony synthetic chemicals wafted over to me and I instinctively jerked away. I chose a spot farther away from the tree. Soon another mom showed up who in the past had expressed to me the fact that she was chemically sensitive and the spot near the tree was the only one left. So I casually mentioned to her that I decided not to sit there because of the fragrance and she immediately started backing away. Turns out she's allergic to artificial trees. She discovered the hard way, that artificial trees have latex in them. She has a latex allergy. Anyway the common enemy created an instant bond between us. When a nearby customer left we quickly inhabited his table farther away from the tree and delved into a conversation about how we feel like social outcasts because of our plight and were soon swapping discoveries, successes, failures, and survival techniques for chemically sensitive individuals living in a world that is oversubscribed with chemicals. All this to say, I had an unexpected new friend who understood my plight without me explaining it.

So yeah, while life is incredibly complicated dodging food allergens and chemicals that creep into my life in one form or another and searching for practitioners who are armed with the right information and arsenal of tools to help my unique situation, I am on the adventure of a life time. I am discovering new foods to fuel my body, foods that taste good that I never would have considered eating a year ago. I am finding out that unveiling the authentic face that I was born with actually feels like freedom from the burden to artistically remake it everyday. And I'm discovering people who struggle too that I understand without a word because I've been there too. It's not easy and I never would have chosen this journey. But it's the journey I'm on and I'm learning, growing, and discovering new things because of it. So it's the journey of discovery that I am truly grateful for. I stopped making new year's resolutions many years ago, because plans get redirected, and that always felt like failure. So now, I just take it one day at a time, and for the start of this year I look forward to spending a lazy day with my family!

Do marketers dictate consumer behavior?

2009-12-29T09:15:00.006-07:00

As our Christmas festivities were winding down I sat down and the television happened to be on. And when I saw my first commercial for some weight loss scheme I was thoroughly disgusted. Can't we revel in the enjoyment of the holidays before laying a burden on consumers that they now have to get back to obsessing about appearance? This obvious shift in retailer marketing from buying gifts and decorating your house for the holidays to organizing, weight loss, and cleaning has always fascinated me. It's like which came first? Consumer demand or marketers creating awareness of "need" by their marketing strategies.

The idea that marketers influence our culture to such a high degree really bothers me. But they do. Do you know anyone who has not now moved to considering a new diet or new way to organize their life? It's a sad but true state of consumer behavior. I have to admit, I am also contemplating going on a detox diet. And I'm considering how to reorganize my gluten free pantry to make all my flours more accessible and easier to work with. I think it's natural to emerge from the busy days of holiday preparations and festivities with a desire to clean out the old and bring in the new. But honestly do we have to let retailers dictate and influence our behavior to such a high degree?

I want to rebel! How should I do this? By not going on a diet and living in a messy cluttered house? I haven't figured out exactly how to rebel, if you have any ideas let me know. But one thing I know for sure, I do not look forward to all the extra people showing up at the gym in January. It makes it hard to get my spot in Pilates. Maybe the frenzy will wear off sooner this year. It's not nice for me to be so cynical about the new members new years resolutions. I AM very supportive of people trying to work out more, but the efforts never seem to last past the month of January. Perhaps I'll see you at the gym?

Shopping ideas for the women in your life

2009-12-02T13:44:00.017-07:00

Hey guys:

I'm getting ready to host a men's shopping night featuring my product line of naturally good soaps and bathing essentials. This shopping guide is broken down into two sections. One section is for gifts that would be great for any girl: moms, daughters, co-workers, someone who works for you, etc. And then there's suggestions for your significant woman, the one and only!

Any girl gift ideas for under $10:

A bar of soap made from luxurious all natural ingredients and replete with awesome aroma will be sure to please. Several soaps have a free gift wrap option, consider Candy Cane, Mint Chocolate Chip, Idaho Mossmint, Lavande Bleu or consider the two soaps gift set for $14.75, your choice of two luxury soaps come already packaged and ready for gift giving. If you have no idea what aromas your girl likes, stick with Lavande de Bois' tried and true customer favorites: Lavande Blue or Mint Chocolate Chip or Orange Spice.

A gift for the hands that help you: a naturally good soap paired with a hand salve provides practical yet luxurious care for her hands. Lavender soap with a Lavender Hand Salve or try Lemongrass Poppy Seed with a Lemon Drop Hand Salve. These will also make great stocking stuffers.

For your honey:

Bath Rx kits contain everything a woman needs to create a personal spa experience. Lavender essential oil, known for it's calming influence on the mind is the star player in the Relaxing Bath Rx. This kit contains an assortment of lavender bath products and our Relaxing Massage Oil blend which unites lavender with a hint of mint and cedarwood to create an aroma that relaxes and sooths the mind and body. The Happiness Bath Rx incorporates orange essential oil which is known to encourage feelings of happiness and creativity. The Ginger Passion Massage Oil marries citrus essential oils with ginger essential oil to create stimulating and energizing aroma.

Bath Rx Kits are $38.00 and include the following all natural handmade body essentials encased in woven mesh bag:

Salt Scrub

Handcrafted Soap

Wood Soap Dish (to extend the life of her soap)

Massage Oil (can be used as a bath oil or massage oil)

Spa Salts

What? Your honey doesn't take baths? In that case I can adjust the kit to contain only products that are suitable for the shower. And well you can provide the massage.

Have you ever thought of treating her with gifts for the 12 days of Christmas? Twelve gifts arrived gift wrapped for you to surprise her with. Please order by December 8th so you can start the gift giving on December 14th. Not so organized? Then fill her stocking with 12 pre-wrapped gifts. Kit includes: 2 Lip Balms, 2 Hand Salves, 2 Therapy Salts, Wood Soap Dish, 5 Handcrafted Soaps. All items are different. Retail value: $61.25. Kit price: $54.95.

To place an order call me at 208-761-9775 or email me at susanne@lavandedebois.com. Most of these items can be purchased individually on the webstore. However the Bath Rx and 12 Day of Christmas kits have to be ordered via phone or email. These kits can also be placed in a gift basket and wrapped beautifully for your honey.

TLC Bar makes its debut

2009-11-10T12:52:00.010-07:00

I’m so excited to present my latest soap creation, the TLC Bar! This soap has been in the works for a while, but what I’m excited about is I’ve decided to donate $1.00 from the sale of every TLC Bar to Turn the Corner Foundation, a foundation dedicated to support research, education, awareness and innovative treatments of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

The trials and travails of Lyme disease came on my radar last year when my little sis was diagnosed with Lyme disease. It was shocking to watch her go from active mom of two boys to struggling to survive. I’m so proud of her for staying with the fight and looking for answers to puzzling health problems. Thanks to Lyme aware doctors she is on the road to recovery! And she’s using some of the health she’s recovered to work toward the fight against Lyme disease. You can read about her story on her blog and on Spirochicks.

Recently I was diagnosed with Lyme disease as well. Alas there may be an explanation why chronic illness has been chasing me for 15 years!

The TLC bar? Well it’s full of naturally good ingredients, a bathing essential for people with chemical sensitivities and allergies. Olive oil, known to be gentle on your skin, is infused with calendula petals, creating an extra soothing oil base for this soap. Just a hint of lavender essential oils and ground calendula petals are added to create wonderful soothing aroma and soft texture.

I started experimenting with this recipe when I was looking to create a soap for my “Baby du bois” line. The feedback was that the ground calendula created light texture not really desireable for babies skin. But the aroma was out of this world! The ground calendula combines with lavender essential oil to give this soap it’s fabulous aroma. So I had to keep the recipe as is. And here it is!

I invite you to give this soap a try and join the fight against Lyme disease.

All of my soaps are made with naturally good for you ingredients and suitable for people with sensitivities. Of course, sensitivities are highly individualized. Please see the following pages for additional ingredient information.

LDB natural handmade soaps ingredient information

LDB natural goodness committment

What does natural mean at LDB?

Peppermint craze is back!

2009-10-30T21:19:00.006-06:00

I went crazy for peppermint last year when I created the recipe for my Candy Cane soap. In one season this soap cultivated a loyal following of customers who've been waiting all year for me to make it again. Well it's back with a new twist! Now made with local peppermint and some organic ingredients. I was able to acquire peppermint and spearmint essential oils from a local grower. I'm elated to say that I'm now able to incorporate locally grown and distilled mint into all my mint soaps. And this first batch of Candy Cane soap is comprised of over 60% organic ingredients. My organic supplier had some supply issues this fall, so the next batch of Candy Cane soap is less organic. If you're looking for the wholesome goodness of mostly organic soap be sure to purchase your Candy Cane soaps while supplies last.

Also available to satiate the peppermint palate is my Cocoa Mint Lip Balm. I experimented on friends and family last season by giving out White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn with a Cocoa Mint Lip Balm attached for their lip smackin' pleasure. It was a big hit.

And since I'm going crazy for peppermint these days ... you might be seeing some additional peppermint products soon ... like White Chocolate Peppermint Body Butter and Candy Cane Salt Scrub. Can't wait for them to appear on the webstore? Drop me an email of phone call. They're made and ready to take center stage at my holiday events.

Gluten free diet ... living without?

2009-10-18T14:00:00.021-06:00

Over twelve years ago a nutritionist challenged me to get off wheat. What I discovered is, after having a headache every day for fifteen years, I could virtually extinguish my migraine-like headaches by eating gluten free. Of course I've fallen off the wheat wagon many times. It is just plain hard to live in a world of glutinous options especially when you're traveling or eating out! But several years ago when my oldest son tested positive for wheat allergy, I had to regain my resolve, it wasn't just me who suffered when I didn't work hard at providing alternatives. A teenager living in a glutinous world had even more challenges. I called the school dining hall to find out what options there would be for him. The answer: "we don't do that". So it was up to mom to figure it all out. Through trial and error we soon discovered how important it was for him to adhere to the diet. I would pick him up from school and I could tell by the way he carried himself when he ate pizza. Not only did it make him fatigued it affected his entire demeanor and cognitive abilities. I'm really proud of him today, as an athlete trying to perform at the top of his ability he knows what he needs to do, and he's doing it! This past summer, I decided to try the diet on my youngest son who's symptoms were moodiness and chronic dark circles under the eyes. The result: a new kid!

Last year my little sis gave me a subscription to Living Without, a magazine for people with food sensitivities. It's been a good source of baking ideas and medical information. But one of the things that intrigues me is this idea that I'm "living without". It leaves me with this feeling that I'm somehow missing out. Well I'm here to tell you that embracing a lifestyle that chooses to eat the foods that fuel your body without burdening it with foods you're allergic to is far from living without. I guess you could call it living within. Sure, living within the constraints of my body's needs has been so frustrating. And having two kids that have followed my genetic disposition for food sensitivity has been really hard! At first I internalized it as pressure, I felt this great huge burden to provide for them. And while I have been working hard at providing options for them I've had this growing list of new food sensitivities to deal with for myself. So at times I would be providing sometimes up to three different meal options for my family of five! Providing food for myself and my family this past year truly has been one of the most challenging tasks of my parenting "career".

But what I've discovered as the key to success in this journey is as simple as the perspective shift from "living without" to "living within". It is that simple. I'm living within the constraints of mine and my family's needs. And what I've discovered is that food can taste really good, even without wheat, sugar, eggs, etc. In the past I hadn't been much of an experimenter in the kitchen. One of the things that becoming a soap artist has taught me is to experiment with new things all the time. And those experiments of good and bad have led to great new discoveries of what I like, things that I didn't know I would like. So now after years of following food recipes to a tee I'm finally experimenting with them. Having multiple food sensitivities of my own, and the needs of my boys, have pushed me to a new level of creativity in the kitchen.

But I could not have gone down this path without the help of people who were willing to share their ideas, people I REALLY appreciate! I met Jody last year, soon we were conversing about diet and discovered our common concerns. She being farther down the road than me has been an amazing source of ideas and inspiration. Thank you Jody! She also pointed me to Tom and Ali's cookbook and blog. Ali's recipes are amazing! She has totally engineered her recipes to perfection. I have not tried a single one that wasn't good, in fact, most of them are just downright awesome. I followed the elimination diet in their cookbook and on their website and it has been enlightening. One of my discoveries is that I'm allergic to rice. Even though many of Ali's recipes incorporate rice flour I've been able to adjust the flours in her recipes and they still turn out fabulous.

So here's a note of gratitude for the people who've shared their gluten-free experiences with me. And you know what I've discovered now that I've made the perspective shift to living within? It's really not as hard as I thought it was because mom feels so much better and so do the kids! And there's also something satisfying about taking an insurmountable challenge by the horns and going with it.

So here our some of my favorites for Tom and Ali's blog to help get you started:

Gluten free waffles I have to make these every Saturday now! We freeze the leftovers and the boys eat them throughout the week. They taste great slathered with my new sugar free jam!

Cucumber Tomato Basil Salad I was eating this daily at the height of our tomato and cucumber harvest. So fresh and scrumptious!

Spicy Summer Black Bean Salad This was another amazing harvest salad recipe. Love the flavors all together, and the black beans for protein.

Maple Raspberry Scones Now this one is downright awesome. I was so sad when our raspberry harvest came to an abrupt end with the coming of frost.

Brain cloud or inspiration?

2009-10-09T11:52:00.012-06:00

Do I have a brain cloud? I just love the movie "Joe versus the Volcano", you know when his whole world is dreary, clouds in the sky, no windows at his desk, a buzzing florescent light bulb, a lamp that doesn't work, etc. Joe's life is depressing and when the "doctor" tells him he has a brain cloud, he believes it. Well, my life is not depressing, but there are days when I think I must have a brain cloud. And in many respects I do, it's called menopause and lyme disease. I'm not going to bore you with the sob story just the net result.

So I've been working on creating a facial cleansing soap for quite some time. This work was inspired by the events that lead me to leave my mask behind. And I've been testing my recipe on friends and family with rave reviews. (We don't product test on our chocolate lab, Chip, even though he is a member of the family, or any one else's pet for that matter. Although, when I start working on creating a pet soap I may have to bend the no animal testing rule just to make sure they like it ... we'll see). So anyway, lot's of people trying it and loving it and I start making it to add to my product line. And I let my customers know it's coming in October.

Then I'm laying awake in bed one night thinking about the ingredients in the new face soap and what to tell people about it. And I think about this one ingredient that was placed in the soap because it is so great for your skin called "wheat germ oil". Anyone who knows me knows I am allergic to wheat. I avoid it all costs, gives me migraines and other maladies. I also have a ton of other allergies. And because of that my customers kind of look to me to provide allergy friendly products. While I did not seem to react to this face soap many people who suffer from wheat allergies or celiac disease do not use any products that have wheat in them. So anyway it begs the question, how did "wheat germ oil" somehow cross the barrier and end up on my shelf. I would have had to order it, then look at the label every time I added it to the recipe. And mind you I've made this recipe quite a few times. Hence the brain cloud question. Anyway, I'm laughing it off. But as I tried to figure out how to explain to my customers why the face soap isn't here as planned the only thing I could figure out was to totally own my condition as chronically suffering from brain fog. So what next? Should I jump in a volcano?

While hiking up to the top of a volcano and jumping in it as it's about to erupt does sound rather exhilarating, I've decided to go back to the creative drawing table on the face soap. The net result, the new new face soap is going to be even better! I'm still in the testing phase on this. But you can look forward to rice bran oil instead of wheat germ oil, and some awesome additives, like pomegranate seed oil and rose hip seed oil. I can't wait to be able to offer it to my customers. But for now I have an awesome new face soap for my shower. And, well having a brain cloud isn't so bad when it leads you to rethink the equation.

Update on organic soaps

2009-10-09T11:17:00.005-06:00

As you may now from the post Organic Harvest I've been converted to this commitment to going organic. I have a supplier that has been great at providing organic base oils for my soap. Well apparently they completely ran out in early September. And I have been waiting for their organic oils to come in. And waiting... October is my biggest production month of the year as cold processed soap takes four to six weeks to cure. I couldn't wait any longer for their shipment to arrive and had to order from another supplier this week. So I'm said to say that for the time being my soaps won't be as organic as I'd like. But I do have a lot of soaps in inventory that have over 60% organic ingredients. So if that's important to you, let me know when you place your order so I can pick through my inventory and get the most organic ones for you.

Sugar Free Raspberry Jam

2009-10-03T20:56:00.004-06:00

I guess you could say I've been on a sugar free kick, or rather a sugar free lifestyle change. I just don't feel that great when I eat sugar, so why bother? Well it's really hard to find sugar-free alternatives. And most of the time sugar-free recipes call for chemical replacements. I don't do sugar chemical replacements either, they make me feel worse. So when it was time to make our traditional raspberry jam this year I was in a quandry. I started doing some research and discovered I needed special pectin to make jam without sugar. I found Bernardin and I've been pleasantly surprised by the results. I made three variations of the same recipe. I like them all, but I think the Raspberry with Blueberries and Acai berry juice is pretty sweet. A little disclaimer here: my husband, a lemonade addict, says they're all kind of tart. So here you go if you're looking for an adventure in Sugar Free Raspberry Jam:

Raspberry w/ Apple Juice
3 cups raspberries
1 cup applejuice
1 packet bernardin pectin

Raspberry w/ Apricot Nectar
3 cups raspberries
1 cup sugar free apricot/pineapple nectar
1 packet barnardin pectin

Raspberry/Blueberry Jam w/ Acai Berry Juice
2 cups raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup Acai/blueberry juice
1 packet barnardin pectin

I'm sad to say the raspberry crop is gone now that we've had several nights of frost. We picked by headlamp last week when we realized the frost was coming. But it sure was fun while it lasted.

Want to find bernardin? Go to http://www.amazon.com/Bernardin-Pectin-No-Sugar-Needed/dp/B000FRVVJW

Need more recipe ideas? Go to http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALRecipes.asp?R=660

Organic Harvest

2009-09-20T08:42:00.016-06:00

I had no idea that "going organic" would impact so many areas of my life and thinking. First it invaded my shopping and eating patterns. As part of a new eating plan I started last January I began a committment to buying organic foods to bump the nutrient density of what went in my mouth and to reduce chemical exposure. It's expensive yes! So I started slowly adding more and more organic foods each shopping trip while our budget adjusted.

Then it impacted my gardening principles. As I continued to purchase organic foods this conviction started brewing: "how can I buy and eat organic foods while at the same time loading my lawn and garden with chemicals?" So off to Barnes and Noble I went to find some books on organic gardening.

Applying organic gardening principles to my vegetable garden wasn't so hard, after all we were going to eat the harvest. We had utilized mostly organic principles for many years, it was just a matter of taking it to the next level: a firm conviction to add no chemicals. I knew the hardest areas would be pest and weed control. Well we did it. We made it through the entire growing season without using any chemicals on any part of our yard. There have been moments of doubt like when the squash bugs were attacking our pumpkins and zuchini. I scoured the shelves at the gardeners supply for an organic remedy for squash bugs. The salesperson sounded pretty doubtful when he said "this one is organic". We handpicked larva and bugs and sprayed the organic soap on the backs of the leaves. Admittedly, I was surprised when the effort saved our plants!

As far as the lawn goes, it looks terrible. It's full of weeds. We have a huge lawn so handpicking the weeds is, well, unlikely. Thankfully it will go dormant soon and we can take another whack at it next year. There are some good ideas in the organic gardening books that we can implement next time around, but for now, I'm choosing to live with the weeds, the look of not perfection, because I'm sticking with my convictions. If the chemicals are bad I can't contribute to the chemical mess by using them.

I guess going organic is contagious, or perhaps it's just that deep personal convictions tend to invade every arena of our lives. When I first started my business occasionally I would meet someone who was looking for organic soap. In my mind I thought that I might some day go organic or I might make a few organic soaps, but only if my customer base was looking for it and willing to pay for it. Even in this my thinking has shifted. I can't just create what I think people are willing to pay for. The things I create and bring to the world must be consistent with my own personal convictions. So I'm starting slowly in this as well. I've made a shift in two major ingredient players in my soap:coconut oil and palm oil. Now they're organic! And so far I've been able to do this without a shift in pricing. The net result is that my typical soap recipe is comprised of a minimum of 56% organic ingredients. And I have a yummy organic cocoa butter, so in the recipes that have cocoa butter: Orange Chip, Mint Chip, and Candy Cane (coming back for the holidays very soon!) almost 60% of the total ingredients are organic! Quick disclaimer: this is a go forward decision, and some of the soaps in my current inventory were produced pre-thinking shift. So bear with me as I complete the conversion.

Going organic has been an adventure well worth the effort. We're enjoying our garden's all organic harvest. Everything in the photo (above) is from our garden.

A Place Called Home

2009-09-03T22:01:00.005-06:00

Recently we took a ten day vacation that was just pretty awesome. Spent six days on the beach playing, reading, and sleeping, then another few days visiting friends in our old stomping grounds. It was all great fun and so relaxing. But this body of mine is not so adaptive to travel so when day ten came around I was ready to embark on the long drive home. We got a late start and ended up driving late into the wee hours of the morning. I dozed off several times. We were dropping out of the foothills into our valley when the familiar aroma hit me and wow did it smell good.

There's an irony in the "wow". I can only describe the aroma as a combination of cow manure, rotting mint, onions, and farmland dust. I have grown to love that smell and it evokes the sweetest memories. Of course I live in Idaho's treasure valley year round and I don't "smell" it. But when I leave and come back it's like this aroma pleasure every time I do. Who would ever have thought that cow manure, rotting mint, onions, and farmland dust could smell so good? Well it does and here's why: I've found this place I call home. It's not perfect, it just a place where we've put our roots down and we're raising our kids. There's trial and error, just as there are ups and downs, but it's where we are, it's home, and wow does it smell good even if there's a little cow manure thrown in there.

This post inspired by Switchfoot's song "This is Home" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwa8-3GXbuE. Yeah, I borrowed my teenage son's ipod while he was driving. I needed something to distract me!

When to hire a mold expert

2009-08-30T16:24:00.008-06:00

Don't bother. Recently we hired a mold expert to do indoor air samples as we were concerned about a mold problem in our home. The tests came back and according to our "expert" we didn't have anything in our home that needed treatment. Yes the air samples had mold in them. But according to the experts the mold we had in our sample wasn't statistically significant enough to point to an indoor source. He believed that what was in the sample had been tracked in by people and dogs. My symptoms told me otherwise. The expert looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I was sure we had mold.

At a loss for what to do next and a word for the experts that we didn't have a treatable mold problem, we installed an infinity air purifier to our HVAC system. The air purifier kills mold, dander, bacteria,viruses etc. Within 5 days I was feeling much better and actually in certain parts of the house had no symptoms. However, certain rooms would flare up my symptoms. So we bought an $8.00 mold kit from Lowe's. Big surprise ... the test was positive for mold! The picture above is our mold petri dish after 5 days.

So the hunt for a mold source was on. We removed carpet in our home office. We had already removed my son's carpet before the air samples were done, but when we went back in to remove the carpet in his closet we discovered mold underneath the carpet and up his wall and in his ceiling. So much for the expert advice! My recommedations for anyone out there with mold suspicions: "find it yourself!" In our case the expert did not lend a bit of help to the situation, in fact he temporarily through us off the trail of what we needed to find. I was getting sicker by the day. I am so thankful for my husband who hung in there with me on the hunt.

Moral of the story ... be your own mold detective. If you find yourself facing a mold situation you might refer to this website for information http://www.aehf.com/

Mint Chocolate Chip Soap reviewed by The Soap Bar

2009-06-21T21:10:00.008-06:00

I know I make awesome good soap because my customers rave about it. They say things like "the aroma lasts the whole bar. I've used soaps and the aroma dies before you're done with the soap." Or they say "Your soap lasts a long time". But honestly I rarely use someone elses handmade soap from start to finish. So I don't always know how mine is stacking up against the competition. Naturally I was thrilled when Joanna at the Soap Bar, an experienced soap maker and soap enthusiast, reviewed my soap. You can read her comments at http://thesoapbar.blogspot.com/2009/06/mint-chocolate-by-lavande.html

When I started blogging it was to tell the stories behind each soap recipe. Soon I started writing about life snippets and my quest to discover healthy life alternatives. But now would be a good time to talk about my Mint Chocolate Chip soap. This one is near and dear to my heart for one reason. I LOVE chocolate! I am an absolute chocoholic more recently converted to dark chocolate because of the health benefits. But this is a no calorie alternative for me. I get real mixed comments from first time soap converts. Some think chocolate in the shower sounds terrible. And others think it looks good enough to eat. The truth is the cocoa butter in this soap adds wonderful light bubbles to the lather. It is absolutely luxurious on the skin. This soap has an extremely smooth texture. The spearmint essential oil blends with the cocoa butter to create light refreshing aroma. The aroma refreshes your mind while the soap soothes your skin.

Leaving the mask behind

2009-06-12T21:46:00.004-06:00

Recently my doctor said that I am chemically sensitive. This was no great news flash to me since I’ve been very aware of my chemical sensitivities over the years. In the past year I have plunged into buying organic food and scouring labels for hidden ingredients that are counter to my quest for good health. The doc did have a new twist on this quest. He suggested that my cosmetics might be a source of chemicals that has left me with chronic illness. Wow …

I’ve been thinking about a whole new change to my cosmetics for a long time. I’ve been aware that there are chemicals that mimic estrogens in cosmetics. And for my body estrogen is the enemy. But once I started looking at the chemicals in my cosmetics … yuck no way do I want daily exposure to this stuff! So then I started the quest to find replacements. I thought that would be relatively easy in this day and age with so many progressive consumers seeking better more healthy alternatives in every venue of life. So off to the local Co-op I go and I return with some wonderful alternatives. But …

I brought home eleven new skin care and cosmetic products. I rechecked the ingredients through my online sources and decided that one of them was beyond my comfort level of scary ingredients so that one would be going back. The rest looked pretty good. So I decided to try the rest all at once. I proceeded to have itching and burning reactions. So after a long process of trial and error I figured out the four items I’m sensitive to, and the rest are working fairly well. This new quest turns out to be not so easy! I now have huge gaps in my face prep line up! What’s a girl to do without foundation to hide all the blemishes and uneven skin tones?

I have been using make up since I was a teenager. I was taught (by cosmetics companies of course) that you always put foundation on to protect your skin from free radicals and dirt that might cause blemishes and premature ageing. What they didn’t teach me is that the foundation has chemicals in it that are known to cause cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and a host of other things. I feel like I’ve been duped by cosmetics manufacturers into unnecessarily exposing myself to toxic chemicals under the guise of good skin care for over twenty-five years!

I find that I’m caught between this need, this drive to eradicate all things harmful from my environment and this compulsion to live in the culture as I always have, with my mask on! Can I do it? Can I put the mask aside, the foundation, the lipstick, eye shadow, blush, eyeliner, lipliner, and mascara as a step toward embracing healthy living? I’m starting small. I’m leaving off the foundation. I’ve found more healthful alternatives of the others.

Since I've been talking about my quest to erradicate the hidden chemicals in my life people have been asking about how to get more info. So here's a couple links to try if you're ready to take the plunge:

Skin deep cosmetic safety reviews http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/

Consumer Health Organization of Canada http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990303213610

Gluten-free Dairy-free Egg-free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

2009-04-19T19:00:00.005-06:00

I've been baking gluten-free creations for many years now. More recently I've been presented with the challenge of baking without dairy and eggs as well. When I started searching for a recipe online nothing came up that met my needs ... so I took a gluten-free recipe and adjusted it. I figure after making six ingredient changes and amount adjustments I can claim this as my own. Enjoy!

¾ cup sorghum flour
¾ cup almond meal (I used ground almonds)
¼ cup tapioca flour
¼ cup potato starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoons flax seed meal whipped into ½ cup boiling water, let sit for 5 minutes
Juice from 1 lemon
1 cup almond milk (soy or rice milk would probably work fine)
½ cup agave syrup
8 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest from one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and oil muffin tins.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, xanthum gum, and poppy seeds.

3. In another bowl combine flax seed mixture, almond milk, agave, extra virgin coconut oil, vanilla and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not overmix.

4. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean. Makes 15 muffins.

The power of suggestion

2009-03-03T11:59:00.005-07:00

Ever since Rex mentioned the pedicure my feet have felt insanely dry (see post below "Real men use naturally good soap"). The mere mention of the pedicure heightened my senses to my own "need" for one. Have you ever stood in line unable to make up your mind and just ordered what the stranger in front of you ordered? I have. Crazy, that a stranger would influence my decision making. Well that's just how the world of consumerism works. We are influenced by people, especially those we respect.

I make this soap called Nature's Goodness. It's a soap packed with a ton of nutritive ingredients like aloe vera, sea kelp, vitamin E, rosemary, lavender, etc. Anyway, the sea kelp kind of throws the aroma, so it has a very unique fragrance and people either love it or hate it. Well I wasn't really selling a ton of it and it was destined for extinction until ...

A good friend hosted a soap naturally party for me to share my products with her friends. She raved about Nature's Goodness. Well, guess what? I sold out of Nature's Goodness that night. So Nature's Goodness was brought back from extinction and I've learned a great lesson: never underestimate the power of endorsement.

Real men use naturally good soap

2009-02-17T16:59:00.007-07:00

I just have to talk about this comment from my good friend BJ. This comment was generated from the post below "The best things in life are often not planned", check it out.

So here's BJ's comment:
Ok this it "BJ" the guy that likes the fancy, black soap (I also like quiche, occasionally wear a pink shirt and tie but still consider my self a real man....)and i do like this soap... it has a soothing smell. With the economy the way it, i consider it a small treat for myself (and white chocolate mochas).And black soap... who would tease a guy for black soap... awesome marketing plan...

I so appreciate this comment because I totally agree. A small luxury like awesome good soap to incorporate in your bathing ritual is a great way to beat the economy blues. As for my marketing plan, LaVader just happened upon me. I'm glad it did.

But BJ brings up an important point. What is the deal with men and soap? Why is it not okay for men to want to smell good? I just don't get it. When I do shows I see men walk by my booth with intense interest but like this inability to come in and smell the good stuff. Or they buy it for their wife or significant other. I am most inspired by the real men who come out and say, "I just love handmade soap". Like the other day, Rex, a very manly gentleman from my pilates class, came out and told us that he'd had his first pedicure and loved it. No Rex is not gay. He's just a man who doesn't need to prove his manliness, so it's okay to get a pedicure, and tell the world about it. Don't worry dear hubby, Rex is old enough to be your dad, and tall enough too! Anyway, guys enlighten me.

Insights from a 7 year old

2009-01-29T13:06:00.003-07:00

I went on a field trip with my son's class today. As I was driving down the road I felt like a fly on the wall of their conversation, it was amusing. But I also heard some practical insights that the adult world could benefit from. One little girl said, "I believe in monsters, and it scares me." Another little girl said, "then stop believing in them." I chuckled out loud and thought, "could it be that simple?" In this case surely it is that simple. But think of the things we are afraid of. How often are the fears that we have really just imagined threats to our security, like a monster living under the bed? It's just a thought ...

Ravenous for greens

2009-01-22T21:28:00.013-07:00

My doctor recently turned me on to green smoothies. It has turned my taste buds upside down! I'm like ravenous for greens now. Over the past several years I've noticed that I feel my best when I'm eating lots of leafy greens. But I usually get tired of chewing a salad before I get full of it. So this simple approach to adding more greens to my diet has really given me the energy boost I needed to get through the holidays and now the January funk that usually follows the flury of holiday activity.

To get me going on the green drink, my doc recommend Victoria Boutenko's book "Green for Life". I highly recommend this book, a great read, full of great information about how and why to consume more greens. She mentions that soon after consuming more greens she started looking at greens differently. I've had a similiar experience. When I walk to the produce section I get excited about experimenting on the next green drink. She explains the importance of using a variety of greens in her book. So trying new things all the time is definitely the way to go. I look at a handfull of carrot tops, you know the green part, and think, "I wonder how this will taste in my smoothie".

It took me a while to get started because I felt like I needed to read the whole book and get to the recipe section. But now I realize how easy it is. So I thought I'd let you know what I've discovered as three simple steps to more energy. Take your blender, add two cups of water, one piece of fruit, and two large handfuls of greens. Blend. It's that simple. I feel great when I drink it regularly. I look forward to discovering what the next smoothie will taste like depending on the fruit or greens I have available. And I look forward to shopping for the next load of greens (and shopping is something I really detest). My favorite smoothie is pear and spinach with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. Also, most of the recipes I've seen have more fruit than I use, so if you're just getting started and want to sweeten your smoothie up a bit add more fruit.

For more information on Victoria's book go to http://www.rawfamily.com/index.htm

Idaho Mossmint

2009-01-21T16:02:00.011-07:00

Soap with moss in it? Yeah it's kind of weird, but I LOVE it, and it's getting rave reviews from my customers, that is, they're buying it!

The story behind this soap is simple. I saw a soap with moss in it and thought it was cool. When I discovered moss growing on the trees at our favorite campspot I was inspired. The camp spot is on a secluded lake on privately owned land; my family has been going there for thirty years and it still looks much the same as it did when we first started going there - rugged, pristine, serenely beautiful. This camping experience represents everything I longed to return to Idaho for, the quiet beauty of the outdoors, largely untouched. So for me, making Idaho Mossmint soap is all about bringing the outdoors into my bathing ritual.

More on Idaho Mossmint Soap: I add spearmint and rosemary essential oils for incredible uplifting aroma. The moss creates beautiful lichen green highlights throughout the soap and feels like a very soft loofah. In all of my recipes the highest percentage of oil is olive oil, which produces a very gentle bar of soap, but to this recipe I also added safflower oil, and I've noticed this bar seems to produce larger creamy lathery bubbles than some of my other soaps while maintaining the same great gentleness.

Painting my world

2009-01-21T13:19:00.015-07:00

I don't know how many days it's been since we've seen the sun in Boise ... at least a week ... going on two. But really this is getting dreadfully depressing!

I'm so thankful I talked my husband into a painting project over the holidays. Color is so uplifting!

Today I made a batch of Orange Oatmeal Soap. Customers have requested that I share the story behind each soap I make. I decided that today is a good day to write about Orange Oatmeal. Orange essential oil is amazing! I was seriously down yesterday with a migraine too. The bright spot of my day was receiving an order of essential oils. I quickly opened the package and inhaled deeply the bottles of spearmint and orange essential oils. My daughter looked at me and said, "Mom, are you getting high off your oils." It was an attempt to be sure. According to Susanne Fischer-Rizzi in Complete Aromatherapy Handbook, "The essential oil of the orange is sweet, warm, sensuous, radiant, and alive. The oil is wonderful to use when we take everything too seriously and forget how to laugh - when we feel tense, nervous, and withdrawn." She also states that orange essential oil's "influence on mood is positive and joyful; it harmonizes feelings and awakens creativity." Making orange oatmeal soap today has been the best antitode to this inversion yet. I'm continually amazed at the effect that essential oils have on me, especially orange. By nature I tend toward the melancholy side of mood, but especially with the icky gray clouds looming over me, day after day, I've sunk into this aimless sort of existence. But today, I made soap, now I'm blogging, and I have a new outlook despite the gloom outside.

Back to the soap, I also add lemongrass essential oil to this recipe, it too has refreshing and mentally stimulating properties. An infusion of annatto seeds in the olive oil gives this soap it's radiant sunshiney glow, and to all that I add oatmeal for mild exfoliation. This is a great morning wake me up soap. It's kind of like having oatmeal and oranges for breakfast. Only in the shower, it is mentally stimulating, the orange essential oils really does make me happy.

This brings me to an important point, I started making soap as a creative outlet for me. But I soon discovered that having my family test the soaps was creating shared experiences and as my test subjects they were soon lending their creative ideas to the process. This led me to what has become the underpinning of my goals with making soap and bringing it to the consumer: to create soap that provides multisensory goodness on three levels. I want the aroma to be inspiring and revitalizing, the color to be soothing and of course match the aroma, and I want it to feel rich and luxurious on the skin. Because each of us is unique, I make lots of soaps with the hope that you will find one that will nurture a unique you. But honestly I use them all, and I have anywhere from five to eight different soaps in my shower, primarily because I test everything before it heads out the door, but secondarily because aroma and color have such a powerful effect on my brain, I get to pick the one or two I need for that day.

I am grateful for my husband who partnered with my in coloring my kitchen world so that when I'm in that room my mind is soothed. But since changing the color of my kitchen every day is not so feasible, picking the soap of the day is a way for me to color my world with aroma and color that nurtures my mind and body. So that's my tip for the inversion blues, pick up Orange Oatmeal soap, or if you don't have a bar, pick up an orange and take a good sniff.

If you'd like to get your hands on a bar of Orange Oatmeal Handcrafted Soap go to http://www.lavandedebois.com/

Peppermint Craze

2009-01-13T15:19:00.006-07:00

I went on a peppermint craze over the holidays. It began when I made my first batch of Candy Cane soap in September. When I took it out of the mold it smelled so awesome I immediately walked over to the pantry and took out a Candy Cane left over from the past Christmas ... and ate it. By the time I sold out of my 70 plus bars of Candy Cane soap I was making Peppermint Bark Lip Balm, Purifying Bath Oil, and then took the craze a little further to food, and made Peppermint Bark Popcorn. I gave the homemade popcorn away with a lip balm as lip smackin' treats to friends and family. Anyway, I'm posting the peppermint bark popcorn recipe here because several have asked for it. It was scrumptious and addicting. http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/643885-peppermint-bark-popcorn

Yesterday I used up the last little bit of my very last bar of Candy Cane soap and wondered if I would be able to wait until next September to make more. Peppermint essential oil has become one of my surprising new favorites. The aroma is intoxicating! In any case, you'll probably see peppermint appearing in more of my products soon.

The best things in life are often not planned

2008-11-29T11:20:00.009-07:00

One of the greatest life lessons that making soap has taught me is the best things in life are often not planned. I am a recovering perfectionist. When I started making soap I expected to produce perfect little bars of soap. When a batch of soap didn't turn out the way I had planned I sunk in discouragement. Or if I didn't cut it quite right I would be irritated. Well this is contrary to the whole notion of "handcrafted". The entire process of making handcrafted soap is this interaction between the soapmaker and the ingredients and tools producing bars of soap that are inherantly unique. I quickly discovered that the uniqueness of my soaps is what drew people to them. People who want perfect shape and form can get it that at the drugstore.

One of my favorite unplanned soap stories is "La Vader". I planned to make a goat milk & lavender soap that was a hazy purple color. Using natural colorants is tricky because each ingredient reacts with the others affecting the outcome, especially the color. When the soap went in to the mold it looked exactly like what I was going for. Two days later when I pulled it out of the mold it was black. I was bummed. But it had this beautiful aroma. Just a touch of lavender with chamomile, very mild. So last Christmas I packaged it up with a little note that read "La Vader Handcrafted Soap - Feeling melancholy? Try the dark side of clean. Let lavender and chamomile soothe your mind and body." I gave it to my friend BJ as a joke and he loved it. I told him it was an accident, and he said "No, I really think you've got something here ... keep making it." So this past fall I added it to my line-up of seasonal soaps. People really love it. It cracks me up because I never would have planned this.

I see this irony in life. I have struggled (in vain of course) to create life that is according to my plan. I have often resisted the things that go against my plan. But if I roll with the unplanned there is great mystery and goodness in it. I find the greatest fulfillment in life when I surrender my plan and appreciate what comes my way. I've lived this habit of being disappointed over the things that didn't go according to plan. By living in this mode I have missed the joy of appreciating the unexpected. Especially as we head into the holidays which are often replete with expectation I want to live out the soap lesson learned, to enjoy and celebrate the unexpected, and even look for it.

You can find out more about LaVader all natural handmade soap at http://store.lavandedebois.com/servlet/-strse-48/lavender-chamomile-goat-milk/Detail

Happy Anniversary

2008-11-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

This month marks the first anniversary of launching my business, Lavande de Bois! I'm celebrating by inviting my friends over for a little mojito twist and hors d'oeuvres. Of course, I've never made mojito twist, it sounds good doesn't it? Kind of risky, inviting friends over without a trial on the recipe first. Oh well, isn't that what a business venture is? Putting something out there for people to like or dislike everyday of the week?

The mojito will be my (twisted) variation of the cuban cocktail, Mojito, that has inspired the most recent addition to my product line, Coconut Mojito Handcrafted Soap. It's an awesome combination of spearmint and lime aroma with coconut milk adding luxurious skin softening properties. Swirls of mossy green and creamy vanilla colored soap create visual luxury too (at lease for those of us who like green, can you tell I'm on a major green festish?)

So back to the anniversary celebration, the invitation reads "celebrating one year of soapmaking and the inspirations behind it". I plan to make a toast to my friends for being "inspiration" for me; and to my husband and children for brainstorming with me, encouraging me, and taking part in the adventure. I also want to celebrate the things that have inspired, basically the world around, the cuban cocktail mojito, the colors of my daughters room, the moss on the trees at my favorite campspot, lavender (of course), herbs, aroma, everything! But ultimately it's not the things of the world that provide the inspiration, it's God who created them. Have you ever wondered why God had Adam name all the animals? I think it was our Creator's way of giving Adam a piece of the action, just like he gives us of a piece of the action when we use our creativity.

I so appreciate this gift. And I thank Him for releasing me from the things that have bound me to unleash creativity for me in a new arena. Not just in making soap, but in putting myself, my soaps, my business, out there for the world to see. I've spent a lot of years hunkered down, hiding out. I'm thankful He has pushed me way out of my comfort zone into a new wild adventure that is full of creativity, full of ups and downs (what would a roller coaster be like anyway if you didn't go down?), full of good things.