This past weekend, while doing a walking tour of the wonderful & beautiful Historic Inns of St. Augustine, I stopped into the Old Drug Store at the corner of Orange Street & Cordova Street to visit Old City Remedies. I had visited their shop in the past just prior to moving here & purchased some soap, but this time decided to purchase an ounce or two of Tea they have available (in addition to other handmade bath & body products)! They have a huge selection of teas... black, red, green, white, rooibos, organic herbal, oriental... you name it, they have it!
First I tried their sample tea, I think it was Red Berries Fruit Melange, which was a melange of different fruits including blueberries (great antioxidant). I was very VERY surprised at how deliciously thick this tea was and enjoyed it's naturally sweet flavor which was not overpowering!After drinking the sample, I got busy sniffing all the samples of tea, and decided on two: Cocoa Cardamom: black tea, cocoa chips, cardamom, & cinnamon. Smells like cocoa tea! :-D Lemon Chiffon Rooibos: South African rooibos, lemongrass, marigold flowers. This truly smells like lemon chiffon, but the rooibos & a hint of lemon shows through when enjoying the tea!I'm looking forward to trying some of their organic herbal teas as well. They have a website that includes a large selection of their popular teas in a variety of areas and all their handmade products as well, but it doesn't include the flavors I mentioned above! Be sure to ask them for those flavors or... you'll just have to visit St. Augustine to find them! '-DVisit: Old City Remedies
I've discovered a whole world of *new* natural & organic products in the natural food markets after moving here this Fall! One particular product that really stands out is Ecover. They use plant-based ingredients & fragrances, it's biodegradable, and their containers are recyclable. I haven't had any irritation issues with the product either... which is a nice plus! 
They have a variety of products available, but the products I've used most often since I've moved here are their fabric softener which comes in several nice soft scents, this one being "Sunny Day". I also like that they print the ingredients on the bottle as well as on their website. This is something that I myself feel is important especially with skin sensitivities... and people have a right to know what's in the product their buying for their own bodies! :-)My clothes & towels come out so much more softer now as compared to other organic fabric softeners, and I can tell you I've tried them all!! To me, it's worth it to pay a little more for something that works -- as the saying goes: You get what you pay for! '-)Visit: Ecover
I found a wonderful store just two doors down from my favorite organic body products shop on St. George St, here in St. Augustine... Scents of St. Augustine! A nice variety of soy candles greet you as you walk into the shop... but these aren't just your average soy candles! The owner, Carol, creates her "unique" candles by adding a variety of butters to the candles so they can be used as a lotion on your skin as well -- Moisturizing, nourishing, & healing! So, after lighting the flame, and the wax melts... you can dip your fingers in (since soy wax isn't that hot), and smooth some on your skin at the same time! Magic to your senses as well as your skin! '-D 
One thing I've found is that it's hard to find a REALLY GOOD candle that uses essential oils and still smells great! But, Scents of St. Augustine has a variety of essential oil scents as well as fragrance scented candles. I've already tried the Peppermint Eucalyptus (essential oil) and Sunflower (fragrance). Both smell wonderfully while burning, and just as nice when not burning -- leave the lid off to scent your room! In fact, the peppermint eucalyptus had a very nice soothing & relaxing scent. I have to say that these candles are just as wonderful to burn & have as long a lasting scent as the others I used to sell -- but of course the fact that they can be used on the body is even MORE of a bonus! :-D And they're double wicked too, which means that the candle burns evenly down the jar until there's none left, so then you can reuse the jar! '-) The candles come in a variety of sizes as well from 4 oz. to 12 oz. She also makes an "Odor Eaters" candle which I'll be ordering soon... and am looking forward to trying! Be sure to check out & order from their website, unless you'll be up here sampling them yourself!! I know you won't be disappointed!Visit: Scents of St. Augustine
... with some of Jackie's new Old Fashioned Laundry Soap, that she'll shred for you too! :-D After unpacking many boxes, I finally found the laundry soap I purchased from her before I moved! As you may already know, her laundry soap is handmade and is scent & color free! I ordered mine pre-shredded, which means she shreds it for you... makes it lighter to ship that way too! And when it arrives, the package smells SO Fresh & Clean! There's a REALLY EASY recipe that comes along with the soap, so be sure to buy a bottle of orange essential oil* from her too... and don't forget the handmade bar soap!Visit: Handcrafted by Jackie Turbot*Orange essential oil is recommended as a degreaser. Have Fun!!
The BEST way for me to know whether a new town that I'm considering moving to is the right place is when I find THREE (3) handmade soap & body product shops, especially when one is organic & vegan!! :-D JACKPOT!! LOLOf course, I'll share these three wonderful shops with you... they all have a website, but it's worth visiting St. Augustine to check out their distinctive little shops & smell all the goodies to spoil yourself with! The first place I wandered into is called Bath Junkie. It's an interesting shop with lots of colorful soaps, soap beads, bath salts, bath products... and empty bottles, etc. Your delite & treat is to custom create & blend your own bath & body products! Even though they have products made with essential oils, I actually found a handmade soap made by Nikki's Naturals. I tried Cranberry, and was greeted with a soap having a variety of oils with a spunky cranberry scent! It lasted a long time too... as I'm still using it! Apparently the Pet Soap is very popular on the 'net with a lot of pet shops; since I don't have a dog, I can't say how good it is. Anyway, Nikki's Naturals is a one woman soap company (just like Jackie's) out of Arkansas. Her soap is definitely one to try as it's available in a variety of scents, sure to please everyone, including your dog(s)!The next shop... Hickory Ridge Organics was definitely a TREAT! Originally when I sought out this shop, I was looking for Dead Sea Salts in particular. I found a wonderful jar of Lavender Dead Sea Salts, and also Vanilla Ylang Ylang. I decided to try the Lavender and was NOT disappointed! The first night I used it in my tub it was SO relaxing with little bits of lavender seeds floating around, I had the deepest night's sleep afterward! :-D LOL It had a very nice strong scent of Lavender; 
I'm looking forward to trying the Vanilla Ylang Ylang next! The owner, Lisa, and I had a really great conversation about organics available in the St. Augustine area. She also included a free sample of Lavender soap for me to try... that's next on my list! Next time I visit, I'll be purchasing a few bars of her soap as well as the perfume! She has a website also, and I noticed she has an interesting type of soap available also... Felted Artisan Soap! Sounds interesting, huh? :-D With an order from her website, you receive (2) Free soap samples, which is a nice bonus, PLUS Free Shipping for orders over $50! Very nice incentives for shopping online! '-D I also learned that the B&B I stayed at, the Centennial House, has contracted with Hickory Ridge to purchase their soap & body products for the B&B! A very NICE choice!! This B&B was also a wonderful place to stay... I'll elaborate more in another article. '-)The last shop I visited was in the "Oldest Drugstore" on Orange St. After looking at a variety of antique drug store products (of which I noticed they had no antique Johnson & Johnson items) further perusal of the shop in the back led to a variety of handmade soap, face, & body products, as well as large glass jars of blended tea, all made by Old City Remedies. 
I purchased a small package of Peppermint Dead Sea Salts as it smelled so minty fresh, I could imagine it clearing my sinuses while bathing with the salts! I also purchased two handmade soaps: Pear Berry and Black Licorice. It was really a tough decision... as the Vanilla Silk smelled like warm caramel, but I decided to try that one the next time, along with the facial products. I did try a sample of the shea butters -- very nice, looking forward to purchasing a container of that also!Stay tuned for more tidbits from my north FL visit to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S.!
Found a truly wonderful soap @ Whole Foods a few weeks ago, and even my friends agree that it's a wonderfully scented soap & very luxurious! 
While shopping I came upon a table with huge blocks of soap and little pieces cut off. I bought several scents to try & gave some to a Lavender-loving friend. Very aromatic & nicely priced, Hugo Naturals also has a nice variety of body products, baby hugo, & soy candles products available at their website! Go get a sample of this bar at your local Whole Foods... or just take my word for it & order it! '-D
My! It's been an awful long time since I've written... my apologies! My journeys up to NJ have taken up quite a bit of time in March & April. '-)In the meantime, I DID receive this marvelous organic soap in the mail and the essential oils used are THE MOST aromatic I've ever encountered in a soap! Obviously, I LOVED my samples & refreshing bar, pictured below. 
The smaller sampler sized bars lasted several days and you just wouldn't believe the intensity of the scents, but certainly not overpowering... very clean & natural scents of citrus & lavender, blood orange & bergamot, forest juniper berries, peppermint, and oatmeal & aromatic spices (the latter not your average oatmeal soap)! Personally, I will definitely try all of these scents in the larger bar similar to the "Refresh" (peppermint) bar pictured. The larger bars are somewhat larger than the average sized handmade bar soap.There's also a nice variety of gift sets available so you can try a variety of these aromatherapy soaps or bath products all at the same time, or order the small bar soap sampler to try a variety of scents. This is a somewhat more economical way to try all the scents rather than ordering a large bar of each scent & not being sure you're going to like it.Also featured on the Spa Goddess Etsy site are "shower steamers"... this is something I definitely would like to try! Essential oils are released into the shower steam and are absorbed into the body! We're always looking for ways to make our showers into more of a spa experience, and this could be it!So... you can bet I'm not done trying the organic spa products of Spa Goddess/Angel Face Botanicals! Let us know how you like the products!On the web, Spa Goddess is known as Angel Face Botanicals. You can order from either site.Next I'll be sampling the products of Elegant Rose Boutique on Etsy...
Just for something a little different, I'm going to try some handmade soaps from several *new* Vegan soapmakers on Etsy over the next month or so. There's such a nice variety of handmade soaps available these days, maybe I'll find some others to add to my current favorite!Here's a list of those that seem rather appealing, and if you have any thoughts or soapmakers to share, please feel free to leave your comments! :-)*Burnt Mill Candles & Soaps -- very colorful soaps
*Elegant Rose Boutique -- essential oil soaps (plus bath salts)
*Spa Goddess -- organic soaps (plus bath salts & perfume)
*Long Leaf Soaps -- Nag Champa soap
Stay tuned for the results... '-)Guess you're waiting for the results, eh? :-D I'll be receiving soap shortly from Spa Goddess in a variety of essential oil scents: Peppermint, Lavender, Citrus & Lavender, Juniper Forest, and Blood Orange & Bergamot. Continue to stay tuned... '-)
Yesterday, the recycling efforts extended to the Bait Shop area! We'll see how that proceeds... it may take a little while to get it going as mostly men congregate back there. '-DPositive progress was also made with the Resort. The couple who runs it said they would welcome the opportunity to collect & sort guests' recycling! They've already started cleaning up the beach after I mentioned something about volunteering to do it. '-) YAY!Things are progressing nicely...! :-D
Wow... Someone nominated me for a FL Keys GLEE Award. I am very surprised and feel honored. Thank you. :-)It's definitely totally unexpected as my efforts & interests are for the good of the environment (as a whole) that we live in. :-)
Happy 2010!! I wish you all a new year filled with lots of surprises, happiness, prosperity, green living... and peace!At my new place of business, I've been fortunate to start a recycling program right in the store! I mentioned the idea of recycling in-store to my co-worker and she volunteered to take the weekly plastics/glass/cans collected home with her to be recycled. I would have done it, however, there isn't any recycling where I live... I'm working on changing that! '-DWe found an unused wire basket, approx. 2-1/2 to 3' tall, and placed it near the checkout area. We've been adding our items to the basket daily (although it's been so cold, we haven't drunk as much tea in cans lately), and the guys who work during the day have even contributed to the basket! We even have customers adding to it now as well! '-) SUCCESS!!I've found that these kinds of things/changes take time with my Supervisor. I even took an "imaginary" photo of him (with my fingers not the actual camera) cleaning out his bottle and tossing it into the recycling basket!! This was a MONUMENTAL thing to have happened!! I was SO happy when I saw that!Pretty soon... I'll suggest larger containers outside... for the guys who hang out in "Boys Club" as well as the guests in the timeshare/rentals. I just have to locate a place to put them that is accessible to both, but not unsightly! Then at some point... perhaps the Marina will become a "green" one! '-D Wish me luck!
First I tried their sample tea, I think it was Red Berries Fruit Melange, which was a melange of different fruits including blueberries (great antioxidant). I was very VERY surprised at how deliciously thick this tea was and enjoyed it's naturally sweet flavor which was not overpowering!
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