Can't believe it's that time of the year again.
I mean, where did the year go? The busy times are moving aside, and soon there will be time to catch your breath, wind down, reflect and be thankful for all the good and bad things, and for what Christmas could mean for all of us.

Been dealing with some big orders and been so busy doing other bits and pieces in life, and just finally starting to get my head around thinking about making some soaps for Christmas. 

So I came across discovering these little cuties while searching for inspiration the other day...

They are about a coin-size tiny erasers - oh, I love little things like these.
​So the idea pops into the head, and on with the making.

Here's how it went:

So there's twelve cute designs:
​A sleigh, Christmas cupcake, Snowman, Santa, Rudolf, Knit Glove, Christmas wreath, Jingle bell, Present box, Christmas tree, Christmas stocking and the Santa's hat.

The soaps came out quite well, and I think they'll make a fun gift and a great stocking filler, especially for children who will be rewarded a cute eraser for washing their hands so well!

The soaps are sold as a gift set of 4 or individually.
​You can find them at the Shop. 

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas - God bless :)

Okay, I spent quite a bit of time urging you to avoid manufactured products that contain SLS, SLES and parabens in my previous post. Need a reminder? I could go on all day.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is a skin irritant that penetrates into your body's tissues and causes harm in a long term, but it amazingly ended up being used in just about everything we use in a daily sense, including soaps, shampoos, body wash, laundry detergent, shave cream, facial cleanser, toothpaste...

This evil chemical also helps other harmful chemicals to easily enter into your body. So, if you consider the amounts of soap, shampoo, body wash, mouth wash, toothpaste and what else you might be applying to your head, face, body and mouth in a day, you can't say a bit of SLS won't do any harm, especially if you keep building it up e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y.

Still not convinced about what the big deal is? I'll give you a starting point for your research here.

A typical toothpaste label will read like this:

Yes, even the ones that indicate "Natural", "Propolis", "Baking Soda" as their main ingredients, read the labels, they all have SLS.

The bad news is that, it's not just SLS that's the potential problem. It's also FLUORIDE.
Yes, fluoride is now being debated as a toxin chemical if used in a long term, and especially for children who tend to swallow larger amounts than adults. It is worth researching the topic.

Read about the toxic chemicals in your toothpaste here.

So I went to buy a toothpaste last night and could not find a single one without SLS on the supermarket shelf.
​Okay, if I got to making my own soaps, I should be able to make my own toothpaste, so off I went, and was surprised at how super EASY it was.

After searching through a few articles and blog posts, I found this to be the easiest option. And boy, it was too easy and it made me feel so stupid that I loaded my body up with those chemicals for all these years.

So please do try this at home. It honestly takes less than 5 minutes.

You need: 2/3 cup full of baking soda, water, sea salt (optional) and peppermint essential oil. That's all!

​So I've measured 2/3 cup of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt and 10-15 drops of peppermint essential oil in a bowl like this:

Then mix it up by pouring little amounts of water until you get the consistency you like:

Done! How long did it take? Less than 5 minutes. 
And it smells so nice with peppermint oil. It's a shame that I can't upload the scent to add to the photo!

Make sure you store it in a glass jar with a lid, not plastic, so you can preserve the essential oil.

This is how I'll be keeping mine, with a little plastic spoon so I don't have to dip the toothbrush in the jar. They say it doesn't matter, so I'm just being a clean freak.

So I've tried using it and yes, the texture and taste is not like your normal toothpaste. I think I've put too much salt in mine (giving too much credit to the salt minerals) but you can choose not to have it at all or have very little if that salty taste is not your thing.

It's also less foaming than your supermarket toothpaste - but I LOVED the aftertaste. I feel that it beats onion and garlic breath better.

I haven't tried this myself but if you're concerned at all about swallowing essential oil (which I'd rather do because it is a natural product than putting chemicals in my mouth: which do you think will be worse?), I guess you could try putting these instead as they are used in baking. 

It's been a busy month but finally got around to making some ice cream soaps that I've been meaning to make for some time.
So glad the way they turned out, I've been putting them in the gift set orders received this month and had lots of happy customers!

Will be trying a variety of colours and mixtures, because there are how many ice cream flavours? Endless! 

Also tried some pastry looking soaps... T'da!

With little plastic wafer biscuits dipped in the middle, they look seriously c-u-t-e. 

They make a fun addition to our Novelty range and also to the gift sets, of course.

We've also added some new gift sets to our Shop, so please pop in and have a look!

Another addition to the Shop is a new product, Shaver's Handmade Soap. 

This soap is heavier with glycerin content and will produce more lathering foam than your normal soap, which makes it a great alternative to supermarket shaving foam products that may be high in artificial skin irritants. 

The rich foaming makes it an ideal product for everyday use, such as shaving and in the shower. This soap also contains coconut oil, which is great for protecting and keeping your skin moisturized.

Pleasantly and naturally scented with peppermint oil to give you a refreshing start or finish to the day :)

​Enjoy!

One day, about five years ago, I had a brief walk at the beach with my husband for about 30 minutes. It was a beautiful spring day in October and the sunshine was just glorious.
Look, this was taken on the day - it was spring in its full swing!

We had a lovely walk, thinking we're soaking up more than enough Vitamin D intake for the day from the sun, then came home.

Uneventful evening that night, then the morning came.
I started getting tingly sensation on my face, didn't think much of it. I've never had any skin troubles ever, in my life. Even acne didn't exist in my dictionary.

By the end of the day, I got tiny pores all over my face and mum was sure that I got food poisoning. Okay, so something felt wrong, so I went to see a doctor who gave me this verdict, "It's a type of acne."

Oh, no big deal. Slapped on some cream and went to bed, but woke up with my face full blown.

Bright red, hot, itchy and all swollen, altogether in one!

I couldn't recognize myself in the mirror. My nose was buried, it was THAT swollen. The itchiness spread to my ears, neck, hands and feet - the areas where the sunlight touched. I'll save you the shock of showing you a photo of my face then.

Long story cut short, it took about a month to settle and I finally met a skin specialist who told me what I had: PMLE. What?

Polymorphous Light Eruption. A fancy word for sun allergy.

But this was all of a sudden - I've never had it before.

Since then I discovered that the problem was essentially to do with my immune system being tricked into suddenly thinking that the sunlight could harm me. 

What really puzzled me was that this was all very new!

It is called an allergy when your immune system begins to react to something that’s usually harmless. Those triggers, which doctors call "allergens," can include pollen, mold, and animal dander, certain foods, or anything that irritate your skin. For me, it was the sunlight. A lot of people think allergy sufferers are born that way, but alas, many can develop it as they age, like myself, rather than be born with it.

There are many factors that contribute to an allergy to develop, which may be largely environmental things such as food we consume or product chemicals we're constantly exposed to.

One thing was for sure after my first PMLE surprise shock, I NEVER wanted to experience it again. I spent sleepless nights researching, and finally came to accept that there's no cure, but you can learn to keep it under control.

So I eliminated the following from my daily routine to reduce the chemical impact on my skin as much as possible:

• Perfume
• Soap, Shampoo and Conditioner with SLS, SLES
• Scented laundry washing powder
• Facial and body cream with heavy fragrance

Sun hat, sunscreen and long sleeved clothes are my best friends during the summer days, but I can still enjoy being outdoors and for the last five years, I have not experienced another outbreak.

I can't recommend using skin care products without SLS and parabens enough, for the benefit of your whole family. 

The harmful effects of these chemicals in our mass-produced everyday personal care items are well published in various places on the internet, but few people actually care enough to put it into practice. It is largely because these big brand products are a lot more accessible and way cheaper to buy.

But please read the labels. If it contains SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) and chemicals that end with "parabens", DO NOT BUY.
If you learn the long term effects of these nasty chemicals, such as cancer, the bargain price is simply not worth it.

I have more info and reference websites under Our Story, but also found this one to share:
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SLS FREE PRODUCTS

The best way to nurture your skin and prevent allergen contact is by using natural products. I have listed the skin benefits of many natural ingredients in our Well-Being Range page, which you may find useful for your own research.

So this is what got me here, on a soap-making journey, so I can help people nurture their skin naturally.
I remember having to take 2-3 weeks off work when I had the PMLE outbreak, sitting in front of a fan blowing on my face all day, and all I could think about was how horrible I felt under my own skin. So If you're experiencing any big or small skin issues, I know, and I feel your pain.
Using natural products may not have an immediate impact like steroids, but over time, you will not regret in giving it a go.

If you're interested in hearing more, have any questions or want to try the Well-Being soaps, please get in touch :)