Friday, August 24, 2012

Mmmmm. Soapy Spoiling.

I am a very pampered and spoiled woman.  Look at these beautiful products that my far away friend Tina sent me.  Tina and I had our own little private swap.  These are the luxurious goodies she sent to me.

The Cuban Coffee Soap is the soap in the back.  It smells very yummy.  I just love coffee fragrance.  I am pretty sure Tina saved this bar just for me.  It's a very pretty bar in person, with piped soap on the top.  It looks good enough to eat.  The lather is very fluffy and silky.  The soap is made with a wonderful blend of vegetable and animal oils, and cow and goat's milk.  It left my skin feeling great.  I have used Tina's soap's years ago.  I loved them then, and I love them even more now.  Tina is an exceptional soapamaker.  Her's are some of my favorite soaps ever.  In my opinion, better than most other people's handmade soaps.

The whitish bar is a Mineral Salt Spa soap.  I can't wait to try it!  It smells yummy with a gentle fragrance.  And is full of Pink Himilayan Sea salt.  What a fun salt to try in a salt bar.  She was kind enough to give me the recipe she used for this bar, so I can test it out.  I made a salt bar a little while back.  I liked it, but don't love it yet.  So it will be fun to compare and see how the differences in our recipes affect the final bar.  One day I hope to come up with a salt bar that I really like a lot.

This was my first time trying Tina's Lip Bomb.  It is fantastic!  And is full of really pampering ingredients, such as Avocado oil, cocoa butter, mango butter, and shea butter (three butters!!) and more.  I  really like the texture of this balm.  I think it is the perfect balance between hard  and soft, and so smooth.  The Vanilla flavor and fragrance complement this balm well too.  It soothes as you put it on, and protects the lips nicely.  I am very impressed with this lip balm.

The sugar scrub smells delicious.  I have only tried it on my hands so far.  I am waiting for this weekend to do an all over pampering session with it.  On my hands it was great.  Nice scrubbing action, without just enough oil to be moisturizing.  It is made with saponified oils of Jojoba Oil and Cocoa Butter.   That must be why the oils and sugar are not all separating and messy.  I think it is a great scrub and I can't wait to try it out.

The Cocoa Butter Cream is probably my favorite thing that Tina sent.  Oh my goodness!  It is so nice.  Tina makes wonderful lotion.  It is creamy and rich and feels really good on the skin.  It has a great slip and is not too oily.  It sinks in quickly enough, with just the right amount of moisturizing feel after you rub it in.  It is very indulgent with Cocoa Butter, Jojoba, Coconut oil, and Aloe.  I love how it feels, but most of all, I just LOVE the fragrance.  The blend of essential oils is heavenly.  They are all luxury essential oils such as sandalwood, and neroli.  I can't remember the rest of them, because I am not at home now and I can't look right now.
But there are about 5 really nice fancy essential oils in this cream.  Tina has a talent for blending them.  I smelled so delicious last night!

Tina is the owner of Essentially Made Soap Company in Lake Orion Michigan.  She can hook you up with some really wonderful pampering products.

Thank you Tina!





8 comments:

  1. Oh, Katrina, you're a doll. I will write back later. I've got to get to the Fedex store right now. The scrub is made with Jojoba and Coconut though... and probably Sunflower. <3

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    1. So was the sunflower oil also saponified? I probably saw it was coconut, and not cocoa butter last night, but just had a brain cramp today. It is very nice. I'd like to try a scrub like that soon. I think I may try it with salt.

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  2. I think you tried that very scrub when I first came up with it in a scrub swap we did several years ago. You made your scrub with the ancient salts in your state. I did not saponify the sunflower. It is a GREAT facial scrub and brings up healthy skin, especially for teenagers.

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  3. I'm so glad you like everything. All the things I've created are inspired by God and so I keep making them! The cream honestly is a miracle and has controlled my eczema and heals poison ivy in about a week to the point of no itch, then another week to heal the sores that developed. My lavender-mint blend is what I recommend for PI because it relieves itch. I've had people with skin infections that couldn't be healed by prescriptions use my cream with success in a couple days. The scrub reduces inflammation in teenager's skin, but is wonderful for ladies our age as well since it sheds that outer layer of dead skin and brings up our beauty! I was so tickled to see this blog. I feel so very special!!

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  4. Oh Tina, I remember that swap. It was massively fun. I think yours was one of my favorites because of the texture of the scrub. I like how it is not too oily. And I like how it cleans and scrubs at the same time. I am going to do some experimenting and try scrubs with some of the oils saponified. I think I have potassium hydroxide. And one day I will try making a liquid soap. I think a liquid soap would make a delightful scrub. But I think I will first try it with sodium hydroxide. It is what I know, and sounds easier to learn with. Liquid soaps just sound difficult. Plus, someone borrowed my liquid soapmaking book, and I can't remember who. I also like scrubs made by emulsifying the oils with some kind of an ewax or something. That is not something I have tried either. Still, I like your idea of soap as a base the best. You are a clever woman.

    I should have my son try your lotion on his psoriasis, if I can bare to part with it. I have been using it every night before bed. I smell so good every night.

    I am almost done building my website. I am sure I will do some changes here and there after I get it officially up. It will be a work in progress all the time. But I want to have a "Grand Opening" of some kind soon. After I get a bit more done, maybe I can have you take a look at it and give me your opinion of how it looks and how the wording on some of the pages is.

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  5. great post! loved reading about why u liked each item! i will have to check out the website, especially after reading the comments on eczema and poison ivy!!! thanks for sharing!!

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    1. Thanks, Traci! You probably found out I don't have a website. If you want anything, you'll have to call me at 248 693 8910 or find me on facebook.

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  6. I agree with you about doing what you know when it comes to sodium hydroxide. A little secret of mine, because I made that scrub entirely by divine intervention and it worked the first time, is to make the worst emulsified soap you can think of and use that to emulsify your scrub. I have one lady that buys the cream for her psoriasis. I was surprised it worked, but she loves it. It was just a minor case though, so I'm happy it helped her and I do encourage you to use it at nighttime for best results. I would be happy to look at your website. Thanks for asking!! You are a step ahead of me in that area. I don't sell my soap except at farmers' markets since I spend the entire school year with my kids and their activities. I do not want to disappoint my customers or my kids and you know who comes first. How is your daughter, BTW? Put this testimony on your page.

    I tried Katrina's Lemon Almond soap several years ago and I was taken by the fragrance immediately. The poppyseeds, scent, longevity and feel of this soap are addictive. Such a nice product!

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