What's up Love Buds! It's back to the grind after an extra long weekend of all kinds of splurging, be it good food, family and friends and grabbing Black Friday deals! But don't dread it, I've got a new mashup just for you!
This week's mash up is brought to you by Petals Bath Boutique and Clawfoot Bathworks.
As you may know, I am a product ambassador for Petals Bath Boutique. Hands down, Kia creates some of the best soap and body custard formulas I have tried. The amazing, rotating scents aside, the way her products condition my skin has to be one of the best experiences I have had with bath and body products.
This body custard is a rich cream, not a whipped butter and is perfect for nourishing thirsty skin and keeping it soft and moisturized all day long. The "Lola" fragrance is a playful, fruity scent that blends summer berries, orange zest and sparkling pink moscato.
I happened upon Clawfoot Bathworks on Facebook. I was happy to receive the "Mermaid's Purse" soap from them. The bar is firm and lathers well. Scented with a combination of orange blossom, honey and grapefruit fragrances, the resulting aroma of this soap has an almost jasmine like scent that is brightened with the citrus.
Together, these two products worked wonders for my senses that aren't quite ready for winter, taking me back to a beautiful spring day with it's fragrance. The overall combination was like frolicking in a meadow of sweet berries and beautiful flowers while sipping on a glass of bubbly wine. What could be better?
Until next time ~
Peace, Love & Lots of frolicking Bubbles!
A.
Have you entered to win a chance to review some handmade feminine cleansing products? Click Here for details
Earth to Love Buds...Come in Love Buds! This week's mash up is a heavenly combination that is a merger of essences all with deep roots.
I started with "Sweet Earth" from Joans Gardens on Etsy. This is a vegan, natural, cold process soap scented with lemongrass, lavender, tangerine and patchouli essential oils with added poppy seeds for exfoliation. This soap has great lather and skin conditioning and the poppy seeds weren't irritating to my sensitive skin. The fragrance is uplifting from the citrus oils yet the earthiness of the patchouli serves to ground it while the lavender brings a wonderful balance to the entire experience. At $5.00 for a 4.25 oz bar, this bar is a great value.
I then sealed with Lavender Body Butter from Cedar Ridge Soaps. I visited with Joan, the owner at her home in Western Maryland a few months ago. Her body butter is a rich, thick, shea butter based (no water added) sealant with the amazing scent of fresh lavender. When layered Sweet Earth soap, my skin was hydrated, sealed and felt amazing and the ethereal experience of the combination of essential oils from the soap lingered for quite some time, with just and added kick of lavender. Though rich enough to use in colder weather, I found that sealing at night with the body butter helped my skin remain moisturized all day, but it did not feel heavy or like I was overheating.
This combination is was really exhilarating! I know the common feeling about lavender is that it is very calming and relaxing. I find that for me, it really is an invigorating scent. I keep a bit of lavender essential oil on my night stand, but instead of using it to fall asleep, I take a sniff of it when I am having a hard time getting out of bed and I find that it gives me a little boost.
How do you feel about lavender? What Mash Ups do you have planned for this week?
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That's it for now -
Peace, Love & Lot's of Bubbles!
Jeanine of Custom Blends by Nine (Now Inviting New Energy) sent me a carefully packaged complimentary sampling of her products in exchange for my honest review.
The bath and body products I received were all scented with Mango Melon. I found this fragrance to be an amazing fruity combination that I really enjoyed. I LOVE ability of a product line to provide me with several different products in coordinating fragrances.
Included in my bath and body bundle were bath salts ($4.99), Sugar Scrub ($8.00 for a 4 oz jar), Whipped Body Butter ($4.00 for 2 oz, 4 oz jars also available), and glycerin soap ($2.99). I also received the hair butter balm ($6.00 for 2 oz), which has a slightly minty, herbal fragrance that I like as well.
I really enjoyed the body products, the scrub exfoliated well, the bath salts were relaxing and the body butter applied easily and was quickly absorbed, leaving no greasy feeling to my skin. I smelled amazing and was silky soft and moisturized. What did surprise me was the soap. It is a glycerin soap and I usually shy away from those. Most glycerin soaps are formulated with a high content of propylene glycol - used as a humectant. I have found that propylene glycol in high levels irritates my skin. The soap lathered well and left me clean without feeling like my skin was stripped. While I did notice a little more dryness in my skin than I have when using my preferred handmade soaps, it was not to the levels I have experienced with other glycerin soaps.
The hair butter balm worked very well as a sealant in my weekly hair ritual of cleansing, deep conditioning then braiding my hair while damp after applying a leave in conditioner and sealing it with an oil or butter, in this case, the hair butter balm. I also used it to oil my scalp. This balm is really light it was great for use during our really damp summer so far, but I think in the winter, I would need something heavier.
One issue I do have with these items is the abbreviated ingredients lists. Several ingredients are listed and then "and carrier oils" concludes the list. I think its important to know the ingredients in your products so that you can decide if the properties of those ingredients are things you are willing to put in/on your body.
The website is also a bit difficult to navigate and comprehend. Ingredients are not listed at all on the website.
I did find these products to be overall enjoyable with just a few minor labeling adjustments that I would make.
How do you feel about product labeling? Should all ingredients be listed or can some things be taken for granted?
More Custom Blends by Nine?
Peace, Love & Lots of Bubbles!
A.
