a giveaway and a great review

I’m hosting a giveaway on this great green blog, Going Green with Noah.  Melanie, who runs the blog, came by my booth at the Cowtown Indie Bazaar last month and later contacted me about reviewing my products.  I sent her a few things to try, and offered up some freebies for a giveaway.  It’s always nice to hear such wonderful feedback from someone new to my products – read her review here.

Now for the good stuff – freebies!  You can win 2 bars of soap and a lotion bar, and the giveaway runs until October 25.  Lots of ways to enter, so head on over to the blog and check it out 🙂

P.S. – don’t forget to subscribe to my new blog address:  www.thesoapaddict.com/blog . I won’t be posting at this URL for much longer.

My first YouTube review!

I recently sent some products to Cathrine (misscathid on youtube) in Norway who does a YouTube beauty channel about cruelty-free products.  She posted a review this week, and I’m so excited!  It’s a really nice review, and I’m so psyched for it to be on YouTube.  Check it out!

my weekend market finds

The spring craft show season is winding down, and this was my last busy show weekend for a while.  One of my favorite things about doing different shows is shopping all of the other booths!  I usually try to just look and not buy anything, but I lacked will power this weekend.  Here’s what I scored from other local artisans around Fort Worth.

On Saturday I was at Arts Goggle in Fort Worth with several other great artists in my immediate area.  The later it got, the fewer people there were, so what else am I to do but shop?

I love everything that Cindy at Revel Designs makes, and I got this reusable sandwich wrap for my husband who takes sandwiches for lunch all the time.  It has chalkboard fabric on the front, and she had tons of cute patterns to choose from.  This was the most manly of the bunch, so hopefully hubby won’t be picked on by the other less savvy men at the office.  He’s man enough to take it.

the open sandwich wrap doubles as a place mat - how cute is that?

Soy based hand poured candle, made by Deletia R. Basden (drbasden@gmail.com) of SCENTILATING.  I got a fragrance blend of peppermint, rosemary, lavender and grapefruit.  A great candle, and I love the simple, classic packaging. 

peppermint, rosemary, lavender and grapefruit - yum!

Sunday I sold my soap at the new Beach Street Market that takes place the 3rd Sunday of every month.  A food market like this is especially dangerous for me – I’m a bit of a foodie, and a sucker for anything handmade.  I was somewhat contained, and only walked away with 2 items:

Almond Rocca from Cece’s Citchen in Fort Worth, Texas.  OMG – this is soooo good.  Chocolate, toffee and almonds.  Need I say more?  I’m staring at the bag right now trying to control myself.  Nope, can’t do it…going for another piece.

Organic, fair trade, fresh roasted coffee from AduroBean in Fort Worth.  I’m not really a coffee drinker, but have some big soap plans for this fabulous smelling coffee.  It’s fresh roasted and this variety has a little chocolate smell as well.  I see a mocha soap in my future.  I was parked right next to Rupert from AduroBean at the market and we ended up chatting for much of the market.  Great guy and great coffee.

Wonder what I’ll find next time?

I promise, your hair won’t smell like vinegar

I read this article a few years back about all of the uses for vinegar.  It can be used for cleaning, in the garden, in cooking, medicinally and as a beauty product.  I was amazed – I had no idea the stinky substance had so many uses!  My most recent use for vinegar is as a hair rinse.  Turns out vinegar is really good for hair and skin.  Vinegar helps balance your hair’s pH and gets rid of residue left by products and heavy shampoos and conditioners. Since I am addicted to all things soap, I figured I should try this out.  

 Here’s the breakdown. 

I used an old wine bottle and mixed the following: 

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (white vinegar will work too, but apple cider is best for your hair)
• 2 cups chamomile tea (you can also use water, or I’ve read beer is works too.  Not sure I want my hair to smell like beer though)
• 5 drops essential oil, your choice (I used lavender and rosemary)

my vinegar hair rinse in an old wine bottle. A squeeze bottle would sure work better, but I can't find one this big.

 

After I shampoo my hair, I pour some of the vinegar mixture onto my head and rub in a little.  I usually let it sit for a minute or 2, and then rinse out.  Some people leave it in, but I prefer to rinse.  Rinsing eliminates the vinegar odor faster, which I have to say was a little hard to get used to at first.  No worries – the smell doesn’t linger….as soon as you rinse it’s gone.  Makes my hair feels silky and soft, and I don’t use conditioner anymore.  

If you’re wondering what essential oils you should use, here are some suggestions that are all hair friendly: 

• lavender
• rosemary
• mint
• eucalyptus
• geranium
• parsley

You could also make an herbal infusion and mix that with the vinegar instead of water.  Enjoy!