Body Butter -"lotion" without chemicals

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.

TLC Bar makes its debut

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!

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.

Brain cloud or inspiration?

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

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.

Mint Chocolate Chip Soap reviewed by The Soap Bar

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.