Susanne's Holiday Gift Guide

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.

Do it yourself Salt Scrubs

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!

What do you use on your face?

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?

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?

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.

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?