#Mashup Monday Super Black Ops

One of my other loves is super heroines.  (Female super heros, not awesome narcotics - stop it! LOL).  My tee shirt collection is filled with shirts featuring the likes of Wonder Woman, Storm, Spider Gwen (look her up), etc.  I felt like a secret agent woman with this weeks' #MashupMonday combination.

From my visit to Hejin Body Works, I decided to pull the Alpha Girl soap and lotion.  Hejin Body Works is a quirky little store that was an absolute joy to visit!  Their products are high quality, reasonably priced and smell scrumptious.  Alpha Girl "has a mystifying rare scent that combines floral, peach, and Egyptian Musk", as quoted from Hejin's website.  This combination seems odd, but it is indeed super.  The scent is really a sultry musk with a little playful kick.  

Sandwiched in my process between the Alpha Girl soap and lotion is Black Orchid frosted sugar scrub from Antoinette's Bath House.  Antoinette's Bath House creates great bath and body products in a variety of scents that I adore.  Their soaps are very firm, bubbly and huge!  But more on those in another review...

The Black Orchid fragrance embodies the rich, heady scent of an exotic orchid.  This scent is to die for!  The frosted sugar scrub is similar in texture to the Mermaid Hugs scrub I highlighted in a previous #MashupMonday post, in that it feels like moist sand - it can actually be molded almost like play doh.  The exfoliation factor is very mild, especially if your skin is very wet because the sugar melts almost instantly.  There is very little lather - which is fine, because I did the heavy cleansing with the soap. 

The combination of these two seductive scents is magical.  I smelt like a goddess and that's a huge boost for my ego!

What products are you mashing up this week, Love Buds?

For more #MashupMonday posts click here

Peace, Love, & Loads of Lather!

A.

#MashupMonday: By the Grace of Mermaids

This Monday, I finally had the heart to use one of my gorgeous soaps from Sunlit Soap.  Jan, the owner, is a true artisan when it comes to the soap treasures she creates.  Not too far from me in Warrenton, Virginia, she has refused a video interview with me for my blog, but I'm not done trying....

This soap, called "Sunlit Beach", is described as smelling similar to Coppertone sun tan lotion.  I did not grow up using suntan lotion and I have to tell you I missed out on a lot!  I LOVE (did I say LOVE? because I LOVE) this fragrance!  Demure notes of greenery intermingle with delicate floral essences of jasmine, rose, lavender, and lilac describe this exquisite scent.  The soap itself looks deceptively small in the pictures.  It is a full 5 ounces and though I thought the square shape would be odd to hold, it fit comfortably in my hand throughout my shower and the lather was dreamy, bubbly and creamy.  

Prior to using the soap, I exfoliated with Willow & Honey's Mermaid Hugs whipped soap sugar scrub.  I previously reviewed their Mermaid Hugs soap and I absolutely love this marine scent. The consistency of this whipped sugar soap scrub is best equated with that of sand that is perfectly mixed with the right balance of water to build a sand castle.  When you scoop up a bit, you can actually mold it with your hands.  The scent is slightly different than that of the bar soap, which is contributed to it being a different product.  Not as salty a marine scent, but still nice.  This scrub provides light exfoliation and rinses clean.  This product has a high content of propylene glycol and I found my skin to be a little itchy after use, due to my sensitivity to this ingredient.  But following it with the Sunlit Beach soap and a cream moisturizer alleviated the itch for me.

Philosophy's line of skin care products has always intrigued me, but I have never used their products.  My mother, however loves their Pure Grace fragrance and today, I decided to give it a try.  By itself, Pure Grace is not a favorite fragrance of mine. Their ode to a pure soap and water clean scent to me, has a light musky undertone that I don't really like.  The whipped body creme has an amazing dense creamy texture that is rich and deeply moisturizing.

When I finished up my shower routine with the Pure Grace cream, my skin felt soft and moisturized and the scent layering of all the products left a fragrance that was fresh and water like at its essence with a light almost powder like finish.  The Mashup was a hit!

What products are you mashing up this week?

For more #MashupMonday posts click here

Catch you next time, Love Buds ~

Peace, Love & Lots of Bubbles!

A.

Review: Planned Perfectly

courtesy www.plannedperfectlyllc.com

I felt like "Pookie" when I received my complimentary items from Planned Perfectly.  Given to me in exchange for my honest opinion of the items (like how I got the mandatory FTC statement for disclosure of the receipt of free products in exchange for a review? LOL). Back to what I was saying... Don't front, you know who I mean - scratching my neck while doing a dance waiting on my next hit, lol!  Nicole, the owner of this bath and body company, lives in Jessup, Maryland - which is actually the same city in which I work.  She works in Laurel, Maryland, the city in which I live!  With her being in close proximity, Nicole offered to meet me in Laurel to hand deliver the samples to me.  Schedules clashed for a few days, but finally she was able to make the drop!

The package smelled amazing!  I really love the soap packaging!  It's like a little tray card that cradles the soap.  The little flower on the front was just cute as a dickens.    On the back, a sticker displayed the company logo, name of the soap and ingredients.  This 5 oz bar (nice size) sells for $6.00 on her website (nice price!).

I received the Pink Grapefruit Sorbet bar along with a sample size (2 oz, I believe) of the Green Tea Citrus Sugar Scrub (available on their website in 4 oz ($7.50) and 8 oz ($14.00) sizes).  Even though the Sugar Scrub was a sample size, I really appreciated the clear, easy to read label along with clear, easy to read, ingredients list on the bottom.  
 

The soap was really enjoyable.  It lathered nicely and is scented naturally with grapefruit and litsea essentials oils giving it a bright and uplifting fragrance.  Added sugar and paprika are to give light exfoliation during use.  I could barely feel it, which is great considering my sensitive skin does not like anything to abrasive.  Goat milk powder is also included on the label. Though this bar was delightful to use, I have found that I enjoy soaps that include a little clay helps give a bar more "glide".  All in all, I will continue to use this and would recommend it to those looking for a good soap at a good price.

As stated in my review "Three Scrubs in a Tub" I prefer creamy scrubs, but I was excited to try the green tea scrub.  The fragrance is a bit disappointing.  I expected to have a citrusy, green tea scent but the smell is almost medicinal.  Checking the ingredients, it includes green tea, but the only fragrancing agent is bergamot essential oil, which can be a bit sharp when not mixed with another fragrance or essential oil.  The scrub was nicely exfoliating, though a bit drier than I would like.  

Overall, I truly enjoyed my little bag of goodies from Planned Perfectly.  The price, especially for the soap is quite nice and their natural product line has some great options for those of us who want to treat themselves to wholesome body treats without breaking the bank.

Would you like to know more about Planned Perfectly, LLC?  Check them out on:

Website         Facebook          Twitter         Instagram

Peace, Love & Lots of Bubbles, LoveBuds!

A.

Recipe: Easy Creamy Sugar Scrub

EASY, CREAMY SUGAR SCRUB

(Citrus Lavender Edition)

Exfoliating skin is the best way to experience the maximum from your bath and body products.  As skin ages, the top layer dries up and dies (sad, but true).  This dead layer of skin is unable to absorb vital nutrients, conditioners and lipids (fats) that help skin to be healthy and glowing.  By scrubbing this layer of skin off you reveal healthy, young skin that will readily accept all of your awesome body products and put them to good use!

If you happen to be without a good sugar scrub or would like to save a little money, I'm going to share a very simple sugar scrub recipe that you can make in about 10 minutes and you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now!  

As far as scrubs go, I prefer a creamy texture versus those with the sugar and oil that separate, that way, I don't have to mix up the scrub each time I want to use it.  So, for my favorite creamy body scrub basic recipe you will need:

 

1 cup white or brown sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup Crisco (which is pretty much just hydrogenated vegetable oil and palm oil - you can substitute one or the other if you prefer)

1/4 cup olive oil (grape seed, sunflower, safflower, vegetable or any combination of these is also acceptable)

That's pretty much it for the base formula.  Simply mix them together until well blended and there you have it!  You can always add more or less of each ingredient to get a firmer or thinner consistency.  This recipe yields about 2 cups of scrub. 

I make a double batch and separate into jars then add different fragrance oils/EO's to have a variety of different scents.  For my personal use, I use simple deli containers to hold my scrubs - but you can dress them up to give as gifts.  There are tons of cute ideas on Pinterest for mother's day scrub gifts!

This recipe does not include preservative - so I wouldn't suggest keeping around for more than a month.  To help with shelf life, use a scoop or spoon to put scrub in your hand to avoid water getting into the jar.  Vitamin E or Grape Seed Extract ARE NOT preservatives and will not extend the shelf life of your scrub.  If you would like to add a preservative 4 or 5 drops of Liquid Germall Plus mixed in with the other ingredients can extend the shelf life for up to a year.

But wait, you say - what about the Citrus Lavender??!?!?!  Easy Peasy.  Simply add a few of drops of lavender essential oil and a drop or two of lemon, lime, orange and/or grapefruit essential oil and mix in well (Total drops of EO should be no more than 5).  Start with a few drops and mix well to test fragrance.  With essential oils, it will not take much to get a nice scent. I adore this blend it is very invigorating and great for the Spring and Summer.  If you have some dried lavender buds and/or dried citrus peel, add a bit to the scrub for extra exfoliation and they make it really pretty.

This simple recipe can be used as the basis for any fragrance of scrub with any additives you can think of (just remember if you're not using a preservative, do not add anything water based to the scrub).  Let your imagination go wild!  

What kind of scrub would you make?