Baby Bath Gift Basket

I'm not one to stray away from gift registries. Obviously they're there so you can get people exactly what they want. But one of my oldest and dearest friends is having a baby boy in 9 weeks (oh my gawwwwwd!) and I couldn't just give her any old gift. Sure, the things she has on her registry aren't just any old things to her. She wants them. But I felt that I had to kick it up a notch. So I decided to make a baby bath gift set. Not just any old baby bath gift set. A Crave baby bath gift set. So you know it will be awesome. Plus, it'll be made with love.

I researched some ideas of what to put in it since the last time I received one was when Armani was born 3 1/2 years ago. We didn't have a baby shower or sprinkle with Athan since we had everything we needed. I wrote a list and decided on these things:

Soap
Baby wash (why a wash when I'm giving her soap? I'll explain why in a minute.)
Baby powder
Bath/massage oil
Lotion
Washcloths
Diaper rash ointment

So why give her baby wash when I'm going to give her soap? Simple. There's NO such thing as tear free natural soap. There's a myth that's been going around for years about tear free soaps and shampoos having numbing agents in them but everywhere I've researched says it's just that, a myth. What I've seen is that these products aren't actual soap. They're synthetic detergents. Some do say "soap free" right on the label

I've also heard of neutralizing the soap's pH with chemicals. Natural soap is alkaline, hence why it stings. I've always used tear free baby wash when washing the boys' hair and faces. I use our soap for the rest of their bodies.

For baby soap, I make 100% olive oil soap with goat milk and leave it unscented. This gives an ultra mild, moisturizing bar for baby's sensitive skin. I was running low on my stash so I made some more. I used my flower mold because it gives the soap ridges which helps in holding it while wet.

  

Yeah. My OCD kicked in when I realized I didn't have enough soap to put in that last flower. Here are the Baby Booty Bars all done

I made some lavender baby powder and put it in the cutest jar ever. I'm brainstorming what things I need to put in shakers just so I can buy these for myself. How cute is this?!  I know she'll love this just because of the jar.

I made some baby bath oil that can be used as massage oil too. I infused the oil blend with calendula and chamomile. The lotion I still have to make but I've already labeled the bottle.

I'm not diggin' the labels because I had to cut them down to fit but what I am diggin' is the idea of having a baby product line. Crave Baby. Yay! That'll be coming soon.

The diaper rash ointment is going to be our Natural Body Jelly. It's a moisture barrier plus has vitamin E for healing any rashes.

And for good measure I got Sir David Jr. this

I figured it was wildly appropriate considering that his mommy and I are veterans. I got Athan one too. I couldn't resist.

I'm so excited to give this to her! Stay tuned for Crave Baby line of products making their debut!

Happy sudsing!

Don't judge a soap by its label

So you know how you’re not supposed to believe everything you read? How about don’t believe everything you DON’T read? While this is floating around your head not making any sense whatsoever, I’ll explain what I mean.

One of the main reasons why us natural body product artisans do what we do is because we love using natural ingredients. We know that Mother Nature is equipped to help with a lot of ailments. We can make a soap that relieves eczema, another to relieve dryness, and yet another to prevent acne. We’re fortunate to have access to nature’s bounty to help with various problems without the use of harsh ingredients. So we buy all these wonderful ingredients, make amazing products, package them up, and stock the stores. Then the consumers go to the stores. They search for soaps to help with a specific problem, say acne, and yet they can’t find one. They search in vain for a soap that says it helps with acne and are disappointed when they go home empty handed. So they reluctantly go back to their commercial soaps, lotions, etc. 

Why is this? I’ll tell you why. It’s not because handmade, natural soap doesn’t help what it claims to help. It’s that we’re not allowed to claim what we KNOW it helps.

 Soap isn’t regulated by the FDA. Because of this, natural soaps don’t need any labeling. Since they are natural and not a detergent, no ingredients list is required. For those of you that don’t know, most commercial soaps are actually detergents and are not real soap. FYI. OMG. SMH. This being said, natural soaps are labeled mainly as a courtesy to the consumer, so that they know what’s in the soap. Those of you with allergies understand the importance of that. Anything making a medical claim, however, will fall under the FDA. 

 No claims can be made about the product. None. A claim that it helps, prevents, or cures a medical condition such as acne or eczema will mean that it falls under the drug category and thus require testing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a laboratory in my back yard. Or in a basement like Dexter. (My friend Mely would appreciate that one.) The same goes for other soapers and small business owners. We don’t have the resources for that. So this means our ingredients list doubles as a warning for allergens as well as advertising. You can see what’s in the product and derive from that what benefits you’ll get. The only thing we're allowed to do is provide info on the historical data proving the use of ingredients. This is why you’ll see a lot of brochures and pamphlets with listings of ingredients and their benefits. May seem weird that we can give you brochures that make claims about ingredients but we can't put it on the labels of products made with the same ingredients. But isn't it the norm for our government to do things that don't make sense?

The next time you’re at a store or a booth at a market, don’t be afraid to ask questions. The sellers will love to tell you how awesome their products are and how you’ll benefit.

So remember, don't judge a soap by its label, a book by its cover, or a woman by her cooking. That'll just leave you dirty, unread and, well, that last one's just plain dumb to do. 

Happy sudsing! 

Solid Facial Scrubs

It’s a beautiful rainy day today. Sometimes rain makes me gloomy but it’s summer and I have both of my little men with me. There’s never any gloom with these two little rays of sunshine. Rain sometimes actually gets my creative juices going. So while Armani’s occupied in his playroom and Athan’s strapped to me, I mean it, he’s strapped to me

I decided to take on some product development. I’ve seen solid sugar scrub cubes a long time ago and thought they were a cute idea. I tried making them with a recipe that called for melt and pour soap and I didn’t like it. They seemed to be very popular but it was something that didn’t click with me. So I put that project on the back burner (the way, way back one) and decided to try it again later. 

Well, later’s here. I formulated a recipe that didn’t call for melt and pour. I decided to use cocoa butter since it’s a hard oil. If for some reason it doesn’t set up properly, I’ll either reduce the amount of liquid oils or just add some candelilla wax. Here are the cubes molded

I added sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, and avocado oil to these yummy lil thangs. Actually, if it doesn't get hard I'll just add the wax. I don't want to sacrifice the bada**ness of these oils by reducing them. These cubes are going to be facial scrub cubes and I want my customers to get all the awesome goodness these oils have to offer. These also have lavender and melaleuca (tea tree) essential oils to help with problem skin, but can be used on all skin types.

All hardened out of the fridge. I couldn’t wait to see how they felt so I stuck them in the fridge but I’ll have to let them sit at room temperature to see if they hold up. 

Can’t wait to see how they feel and how many uses I can get out of them. That’ll determine how I’m going to sell them. I was thinking in packs of 4 or 5. . . .

 

Even if I have to tweak the recipe a bit, I plan on having these listed at Crave by the end of the month.

Happy sudsing!