Great Christmas Gift For Under Twenty Dollars

The Christmas season is officially here and it's nice to get some of your Christmas shopping done early.
We have the perfect go to gift for teachers, co workers, hostess, neighbor in your life.

"The International Merry Christmas to you" gift.

5 mini all natural, vegan soaps wrapped in holiday colors, all saying Merry Christmas in a different language, presented in a reusable tray. The gift looks so good, there's no need to wrap, so your ready to go.

We also have lovely gift baskets, filled with natural, vegan skincare products, so check us out at 

www.soaptheearth.com or on Etsy at Soap the Earth

The Malibu Collection Vegan Gift Basket

Introducing our new Gift basket

"The Malibu Collection", selling exclusively on our shop, Soap the Earth at Etsy.com. 

Direct from Malibu to you, this gift basket will bring the essence of a perfect Malibu beach day and the California sun. Restore and rejuvenate your skin and your senses with this vegan gift basket, packed with hydrating, refreshing products, all handcrafted with organic ingredients and pure essential oils. You can have the feel of ocean, sun and fun at your fingertips. From sea salt "surfer suds" soap, "citrus fresh" sea salt scrub and "California dreamin "soap, you'll pick up the vibe. 
Hang ten!
Great for birthday, shower, or anytime you want to give a special treat. 

Basket includes;
1 organic, vegan “Surfer Suds" soap
1 organic, vegan "California sun" soap 
1 organic, vegan “Scrub a dub dub” Citrus Fresh Body Polish 
1 organic, vegan “Citrus Fresh" liquid hand and body soap
1 organic, vegan "Citrus Fresh" liquid hand and body lotion
1 organic vegan "Luscious lips" lip balm with natural sun protection
1 organic, vegan "Daylightful" face moisturizer with natural sun protection
1 natural hand made exfoliating wash cloth
1 reusable basket approx. 12x6x5 Baskets may vary in shape, color and size.

There is no such thing as coconut essential oil

I have been noticing a lot of natural products that have coconut essential oil as one of their ingredients.  These products have a nice strong coconut scent, however that is not coming from essential oil. I know it's confusing because the Internet companies advertise coconut essential oil, however there is no such thing.

There is coconut oil, which is a semi solid oil made from the coconut fruit, and can have the aroma of the coconut, or you can buy coconut fragrance oil, which is a synthetic scent oil, however there is no such thing as coconut essential oil. There are certain plants that you cannot extract the scent from, in the form of an essential oil, other examples would be peach, apricot etc.

If you have a product with the scent of one of these it would be scented with a fragrance oil, ie synthetic fragrance.

Essential oils are difficult to extract and take a lot of the plant to get very little oil, that's why it's so expensive. These oils are volatile and liquid aroma compounds from natural plant sources. They are usually prepared by fragrance extraction techniques such as steam distillation, cold pressing or extraction. They are often highly complex mixtures of hundreds of individual aroma compounds, one of the reasons they smell so incredible and pure.

I use coconut oil in all my soaps and they have all the wonderful benefits of coconut oil, however they don't give the strong aroma that a synthetic fragrance oil does. We only use pure essential oils to scent our products and believe in the less is more concept.

Anytime we can eliminate chemicals and synthetics it's better for our bodies and the environment.

Coconut oil has high amounts of lauric acid, capric and caprylic acids, the properties in these acids are anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti fungal, antibacterial. Coconut oil is also very soothing and helps prevent dry, flaking skin. It also delays the appearance age related wrinkles and sagging, as well as helping to treat various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and skin infections.

So if you want the benefits without the chemicals and synthetics, why don't you try one of the following soap selections.

You can check us out at www.soaptheearth.com or on Etsy

Vegan Dry Skin Treatment

Winter is nearly upon us and harsh cold winds and extreme weather always play havoc with your skin.

Never fear the solution is here!

Try our "Later Gator" the best cream for dry, cracked and rough skin problems. Perfect for hands, feet, elbows and knees, or anywhere you need some soothing, hydrating relief.

As always are cream is all natural, vegan and made with organic ingredients and pure essential oils.

So if it sounds good, why not order it today and make your skin happy.

Check it out at www.soaptheearth.com or on Etsy

Vegan Rosacea Moisturizer

We are so excited to introduce our new product "Blush Away" moisturizer. If you have rosacea or sensitive skin, this product is for you.

We have made a gentle vegan cream with Sea Buckthorn, which has many benefits.

I know I have espoused on the virtues of Sea Buckthorn before, but let me give you a recap.

Sea Buckthorn is known as the Holy Fruit of the Himalayas. It has been revered by the native Tibetans for centuries for its incredible health benefits.

It is a small orange red berry with a sour taste. They are native to China, Russia and Mongolia. Sea Buckthorn was used in China for 12 centuries where it was first used in traditional Chinese medicine.
It's not only a powerful antioxidant but one of the most complete super fruits on the planet, with an array of health benefits.

It has been discovered that it is incredibly healing and calming for sensitive skin and in particular for rosacea. We've added some more goodies, like cucumber, green tea extracts and vitamins to give you a healing, gentle cream that you can use everyday. We've been working hard and we are thrilled to introduce it to you now. We also have a "Blush Away" soap so check us out at www.soaptheearth.com or on Etsy

The BEST rosacea cream I've ever used - leaves my skin incredibly soft and smooth and with no breakouts. The green is very subtle but helps tone down any flushing. I've had lots of compliments over the last few weeks since I started using it, so thank you!' Colleen P.

Organic Massage Oil

If your tired and aching body is crying out for help, we have just the answer.

Our "Relaxation Therapy" massage oil. 

Organic almond is a light oil that penetrates easily into the skin, making it the perfect base oil.

We than added essential oils all chosen for their therapeutic qualities. It all adds up to a beautiful oil that has a sensual scent and will leave your skin hydrated and your muscles relaxed.

"WARNING" Once you try this oil, your body and soul will be crying for more.

Christmas gift under Twenty dollars

Christmas is just around the corner. It's nice to get some of those little presents out of the way. We have the perfect teacher, co worker or hostess gift. Buy early and have them on hand.

We have our "International Merry Christmas to you" gift pack. Five handcrafted miniature soaps all saying Merry Christmas in a different language. We present them in a wrapped reusable wooden tray with a Merry Christmas label on the front. Your gift is already for you to give, no need to wrap.

The best part is the price, only 15.95

So stock up early. Check us out at www.soaptheearth.com or on Etsy

Hanukkah Gift for Under Twenty Five Dollars

Hanukkah is early this year, starting on November 28, 2013.

We have the perfect Hanukkah gift already wrapped and ready to go.

Three vegan soaps made with organic ingredients, botanicals and pure essential oils, wrapped in holiday fabrics. All presented in a reusable wooden box with festive filler and a Happy Hanukkah label.

You don't have to be vegan to use our products, anytime you can eliminate chemicals it's better for you and the environment and that's always cool.

Get an early start on your gifts and check us out at www.soaptheearth.com

Deluxe Lavender Basket

This gift basket is full of organic, all natural hand made vegan body products. A great shower gift or anytime you want a natural chemical free gift for someone special. 

We use pure essential oils in all our vegan products and the highest quality ingredients.

We pride ourselves on making our products in small batches to ensure quality control and we even grow some of the botanicals and herbs, including lavender, that we use in our products, right here at our ranch in Malibu, California.

Our vegan lavender soaps have ground lavender flowers and a high percentage of coca butter for an extra special bar.

Our Lavender lotions and creams are extra silky and hydrating and our scrub a dub dub is made with organic sugar and essential oils, including lavender. Even the natural exfoliating cloth is hand made in England. Everything is handcrafted with love and care.

We know this special gift will leave you feeling pampered and relaxed. 

The basket includes,

2 organic, vegan “Pure lavender soaps”                                                                                    

1 organic, vegan “Scrub a dub dub” lavender face scrub 

1 organic, vegan “Later gator” deeply penetrating lavender cream for dry skin.

1 organic, vegan Lavender “Relaxation Therapy” massage oil            

1 organic, vegan Lavender “liquid lavender” lotion

1 natural hand made exfoliating wash cloth

 Deluxe lavender basket

Peta certified.

Phthalate, petrochemical and paraben free. 

Check it out at www.soaptheearth.com or on Etsy

A great gift item for birthdays or showers

Organic lavender face scrub

Cooler weather is on the way, but it's still important to protect and take care of your skin.
Use a cleanser daily to remove dirt and oils, and a scrub a couple of times a week. Even after cleansing, your skin can become clogged and dead skin cells can build up blocking pores and leaving your skin looking dull. That can leave you looking older because lines become more visible.
Soap the Earth has a organic sugar facial scrub called "Scrub a dub dub" This scrub will exfoliate and brighten your skin, leaving it fresh and glowing. All without the use of chemicals, artificial colors or fragrances.

Made with organic sugar, beneficial oils and a beautiful scent form essential oils

Rosacea

Sea Buckthorn and oatmeal soap now available at www.soaptheearth.com

As I've mentioned on previous blogs, sea buckthorn has many benefits for the skin and seems to help calm rosacea.

Check out our new soap.

www.soaptheearth.com

Sea Buckthorn soap

Making a new soap is always an exciting day around here. We just poured our first batch of "Blush away" a soap for people with rosacea and sensitive skin. Made with Sea Buckthorn and oatmeal, to sooth and calm.

From our research we have discovered that Sea Buckthorn is a berry from a hearty bush grown in Asia and Russia.
This super fruit is packed with powerful antioxidants, vitamins and essential fatty acids and has all the Omegas 3, 6, 9 and the rare Omega 7. These high levels of vitamins and antioxidants are necessary for healthy skin. It has long been known to heal a myriad of skin problems. It appears to prevent the effects of aging and help restore damaged skin.
Radiation clinics and burn centers have used sea buckthorn oil to help heal skin. If you have old burn tissue, scar tissue, acne, dermatitis or rosacea, you may want to try sea buckthorn and see if it helps.

We will soon be offering both our sea buckthorn soap and moisturizer.

We 'll keep you posted when they'll be available on our website and on etsy.

Roseberry Soap

Our most popular soap is roseberry. A cranberry and rose soap with coconut and cocoa butter.

It's a very gentle soap with a lovely scent. 

Our regular soap is $6.50 per bar

You can also choose roseberry for our wedding and event favors

Name of our new moisturizer

Well after lots of suggestions we decided our moisturizer with seabuckthorn will be called
 "blush away".

We've made it especially for rosacea and sensitive skin.

We are now going to make it with a slight green tinge, which helps when you have red undertones to your skin.

So, it will be ready to buy on our web very soon.
We'll keep you posted.

Hippy Stuff

My sister and niece and I decided we needed to unblock some energy, so we got our hippy groove on.
We took salt (sea salt of course), water (our lovely well water) fruit, flowers and incense, all as gifts for the universe.
We went under our magistic oak tree and said our intentions and wishes out loud and spent a little time in reflection. It was so cleansing and we all felt more centered afterward.
I think it's important to take a little time every once in a while to refocus and be grateful.

I can just imagine there are a few out there a little doutful. Don't laugh until you've tried it :)

Using the Seabuckthorn in a cream

So, as I had mentioned last week I did go ahead and make a recipe for a moisturizer with seabuckthorn in it. We were experimenting to see whether it would be good for rosacea and my sisters skin.

We are very excited because it's very soothing and calming. My sister said that it seems better than even the prescription creams she's used in the past.

I made it with the powder, but now I've also ordered some seabukthorn oil and will add that to the recipe. We'll let you know if it's even better with the added boost of the oil.

I need to come up with a great name, so anyone who can think of something good, let me know. If I choose it I'll give you a free soap and moisturizer, so get your thinking caps on.

The wonders of Seabuckthorne

My sister and our niece and nephews are staying for the summer. My sister has rosacea and the change in climate and water is making it flare up.
We've heard that Sea Buckthorn can work wonders. So we ordered the berry powder and I'm going to make a recipe for both a soap and lotion.
After researching, I feel that this could be a really good addition for sensitve skin. We'll let you know as our experiment progresses.

Some info on Sea Buckthorn:

Sea buckthorn is known as the Holy Fruit of the Himalayas. It has been revered by the native Tibetans for centuries for its incredible health benifts.

It is a small orange red berry with a sour taste. They are native to China, Russia and Mongolia. Sea Buckthorn was used in China for 12 centuries where it was first used in traditional Chinese medicine for strengthening stomach, blood circulation and respiration.

It's not only a powerful antioxidant but one of the most complete superfruits on the planet, with an array of health benefits,.

It has 190 nutrients including:
Vitamins A, B1, C, D. K and P
Omega 3,6,7 and 9
42 Lipids
17 Amino Acids
Folic Acid
20 Minerals

It's rich in macro and micro nutrients and contains carotenoids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenes and at least 20 mineral cofactors.
Sea Buckthorn is anti-inflammatory and benefits the cardiovascular system, the skin, memory and regulates emotions.

Stay tuned for more info.

Healthy and nutritious soap :)

OK, so if you have to wash your child's mouth out with soap, be sure to remember to use only all natural vegan soaps. The variety is purely up to you. :)

We personally think toothpaste would be a better mouth cleanser, however some of our most popular soaps would be,

Check our soaps out at www.soaptheearth.com

Summer Lovin

It's summer and that means hanging at the beach, boogie boarding and swimming. I love the water and especially the ocean. Although too much sun is bad for your skin, I always think the sea salt feels great. It's full of minerals and it smooths and exfoliates.
You can get all these benefits in our "Surfer Suds" soap.

We've included spirulina (seaweed) for a high mineral content and to deeply nourish and hydrate we added avocado oil and cocoa butter. The scent is a clean blend of clary sage, lemon, peppermint, basil and eucalyptus, so you'll feel like you just had a refreshing dip in the ocean and of course we added sea salt for all it's great benefits.

So even if you can't get to the ocean this summer, feel like you've got your toes in the surf with our "Surfer Suds"

One of my favorites, I LOVE the feel and scent of this soap.

If you are looking for a fun summer gift, check out our summer fun pack.
Choose "Surfer Suds", "Sunshiny Day" and "California Dreamin" in our 3 soap gift pack and we'll put a Summer Fun label on the front for you.

Check out these and more of our soaps at www.soaptheearth.com, or go to our shop on Etsy

The wonders of Aloe

So here we are in Albuquerque. Our friend George is a costume designer and is here on location, doing a movie with Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany and Rebecca Hall called Transcendence.  We came in for the 4th July weekend to hang out and go to Santa Fe.

We've been poolside a lot and our skin is feeling the effects of both the chlorine and the intense dry heat.

Luckily for us we brought along some of our "Liquid Lavender" lotion, which has a high percentage of Aloe vera in it.

Aloe vera is a succulent plant native to Africa, however it grows in hot, arid climates and can be found growing in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California. Aloe flourishes at our place and we often snap off a leaf and apply directly to our skin to sooth and hydrate.

The juice of the aloe vera plant is known to have healing, curative properties when drunk or applied topically. 

It is best known for its lubricating and anti-inflammatory properties. It's used to heal burns and skin conditions, such as eczema, acne, sores, insect bites and of course sun damage. 

Whether you use the juice from aloe vera leaves or a commercial aloe vera gel, the skin-benefiting properties are numerous. 

That's why we've added such a high Aloe vera content to many of our products. If you want a great hydrating lotion with a wonderful scent, try our liquid lavender.

My skin cries out for help after enjoying pool and sun time.

A light, hydrating, soothing lotion.

You can find our "Liquid Lavender"  at www.soaptheearth.com or on Etsy

As you all know our skin care products are vegan. We also have a blog about all things vegan, info recipes etc.
If your interested and want to check out our Quick and Easy Vegan
go to http://thegeordievegan.blogspot.com

Check out the recipe for Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies Yum Yum!

Help protect your skin from the summer sun

Summer is finally here, yeah!! and we have to protect our skin from the intense rays. Keeping your skin hydrated after a day in the sun is also critical to good skin care.
Soap the Earth offers an after sun lotion called "Here comes the Sun" We chose the essential oils for the exceptional benefits they provide to your skin, as well as their lovely scents.
We included lavender, geranium, sweet orange, benzoin, neroli, blue chamomile, peppermint, tea tree, palmarosa and ylang ylang.
These oils have many benefits. Everything from soothing, hydrating and cooling the skin to having anti inflammatory, healing and moisture retaining properties. All this goodness wrapped up in a light, non greasy lotion. Keeping skin hydrated also helps keep your tan longer. Don't be without a bottle this summer. This is a lovely lotion.

Don't take our word for it. We've lowered the price for the next two weeks, so you can see for your self.
To get the sale price go to our web wwww.soaptheearth.com. This deal is not on Etsy.
Our "here comes the sun" is on sale for $13.95 and is 228 grams

Certified by Peta

We are proud to say we are now certified by Peta. All products and ingredients have to meet their strict, established standards. They want to make sure the products are cruelty free and vegan.

We can now use their cute pink bunny logo, if we wish, on our labels and of course tell everyone we are Peta certified. Yeah!

So, all of our products are Peta certified and full of organic, all natural ingredients. Check them out at  www.soaptheearth.com or at Soap the Earth shop on Etsy

Make your own signature scent

With all the many chemicals in perfumes, I always make my own scent. It's very simple and you get to choose from a panoply ( Just heard this word for the first time a couple of Weeks ago. Been dying to use it, sorry couldn't resist, definition a complete or impressive collection of things:) of gorgeous essential oils.
All you need is a carrier oil, Almond oil works great and whatever essential oils rock your boat.
A few tips:
Some essential oils blend with each other better than others.
Also you may want a certain feel to your blend e.g. a fresh scent, light, heavy, summery etc.

Here are a couple of guidelines that may help you on your way. However don't be afraid to experiment.
A good way to check out whether you think one oil may blend well with another is to put two or three bottles together, caps off and pass the bottles under your nose, inhale and see if you like the blend.

When making a blend it's best to try and get a combination of 
base notes
middle notes 
and top notes 
that way you'll have a balanced blend and the scent will linger on your skin for longer. Some oils will fall into two of the three notes i.e. lavender and clary sage can both be considered top and middle notes. 

Here are a few ideas of oils that fall into categories of scents

Tropical blends often incorporate citrus, vanilla, ylang ylang, lavender oils.
If you want to make a scent a little heavier, patchouli, sandalwood or vetiver are considered exotic.

Fresh scents i.e. mint, eucalyptus, basil, lemon oils.

Floral oils i.e. lavender, neroli, jasmine, ylang ylang

Earthy oils i.e. vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss.

Summer oils i.e Citrus, peppermint, clary sage, chamomile, geranium, rose, palmarosa, ylang ylang


Some examples of top notes: Anise, basil, bergamot, eucalyptus, grapefruit, lavender, lemon, lime, orange, peppermint.

Examples of middle notes: chamomile, clary sage, dill, geranium, palmarosa, rose, spruce, tea tree, ylang ylang.

Examples of base notes: balsum of peru, benzoin, cedar wood, ginger, myrrh, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver.

There is no hard and fast rule to blending, it depends on what your preference is. However just to get you started.

Start off small so you don't waste oils. Once you have perfected your blend you can make it in larger amounts. 

    If you want your richer base note to be predominant then a guide would be to 45% base, 35% middle 20% top notes.  If your someone who wants a much lighter blend and doesn't want the base to be predominant, you may change it up and use 20% base, 50% middle and 30% top.

    This is just to get you started, once you get the hang of it, these proportions could easily change. That's the point of a signature scent, everyone is different.

    Very important is to write down what you are doing as you go. Trust me you'll forget and if you do mix the perfect scent for yourself, you'll want to be able to duplicate it.

    Most important rule, have fun!

    The blend I make on the video sat for an hour or so. I decided to make it a little stronger, so this is the finished blend.

    

    13 drops patchouli

    3 drops neroli

    3 drops clary sage

    4 drops of lime

    Essential oils will change over time. That's one of the things I find so fascinating, so I'll see as I use it, how I feel about my blend and if this is a keeper. Essential oils will also react differently on   

    every ones skin. So what might smell great to me and on me, may smell very different on someone else.

    I hope you find the perfect blend for you.

    

    Happy blending!

Baby gift basket

Always makes me smile, when we send off one of our vegan delux baby baskets and get to be part of such a joyous occasion.

Etsy shop

I wanted to let you know we now have an Etsy store, so check us out at

http://etsy.com/shop/soaptheearth

Day cream with sun protection

Summer is coming and we all know we have to protect our skin everyday from the harmful rays of the sun. 
There are several natural ingredients that can be incorporated into skin care products.
 Om Cinnamate is a natural suncreen occurring in certain plants, like balsam of Peru and cinnamon leaves. Used with other natural sunscreens like titanium dioxide they will give powerful UVA and UVB protection.  

It's so important to use products with sun protection included.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is known to produce erythema and pigmentation on the skin. When directly exposed to the sun, there is 10 to 100 times more exposure of UVA than UVB. UVB (considered the Burning Ray) has an immediate, harmful impact on the skin within minutes. UVA (considered the Aging Ray), which you do not feel, has been shown to damage the skin by penetrating deeply into the dermis  producing premature aging, wrinkles, and tumors.
Sun screens are inactive ingredients that are able, however, to avoid chemically or physically UV radiations (UVA and UVB) to penetrate the skin layers. They provide therefore effective protection from the skin damaging effects of the sun rays. Chemical sunscreens act by absorbing UV-light. Physical sunscreens reflect or scatter light in both the visible and UV-spectrum. 

"Daylightful" day cream has several different natural sun protection ingredients. Works great as added protection under your SPF face makeup and for normal sun exposure.

This is an all natural vegan product and is not  SPF rated. It is not recommended for sun bathing or extreme sun exposure.  

Check it out at www.soaptheearth.com

The Benefits of beautiful Blue Chamomile essential oil

Blue Chamomile is one of my favorite oils.

Blue Chamomile is truly blue.
It gets it's blue color from the high content of azulene, the active organic compound of chamomile. Azulene has anti inflammatory and skin healing properties.
It also has a sweet, gentle scent and is one of the reasons I love to use it in my baby products. However the more I learn about it the more I love it for all my products.
It can be used for acne, burns, skin wounds, eczema, skin rashes and sensitive skin. Because of it's strong anti inflammatroy qualities it's also great for working on muscles, relieving tension, spasms and tightness, it's even good for headaches.

This is the stopper from the bottle of chamomile. What a gorgeous blue this essential oil is.



Blue Chamomile has been used for years as a stress reliever, relaxant, insect repellant and of course in skin care products.

It is an expensive essential oil, but well worth the cost.

Just a few of our products that include blue chamomile.

Wedding and Event Favors

Yeah it's MAY and summers just around the corner.
We wanted to remind you of the great favors we have for your special occasion. Wedding, shower, birthday, birth announcements or any celebration, these vegan soap favors are the perfect way to observe your special day.
We wrap the soaps in a complementary colored material to match your event and personalize them with name and date. You can order the individual soap, an individual soap with organza bag or two soaps in an organza bag. We make all our soaps with organic ingredients and you can choose from 19 different ones.
Your unique favors will be organic, vegan, environmentally friendly and elegant.
Check these and the rest of our products out at www.soaptheearth.com