Multi-purpose Soy Candles...

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

I know it's THE place...

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!! LOL

Of 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.!

Luscious Lavender...

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

Become a "Spa Goddess"!

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...

A New Kind of Cleansing...

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... '-)

Where do we go to Eat?

Being an organic food lover, it's difficult at times to find a place to eat with healthy food choices... and make choices amongst the many non-organic food items. Living here in the Keys though tends to open up some of the food choices because of the wealthy abundance of fresh fish! Just yesterday one of the fishing charters (where I work) came in with a Swordfish!! It weighed 228 lbs.! I've never seen a swordfish, so it was a delightful treat to actually see one in person... it was a bit shorter than I thought it would be, with a small tail but a rather long sword. I've been told that they're THE BEST fish to eat... maybe the charter boat captain left us some samples! :-D

But besides the fish... we do have a few places in the Upper & Middle Keys for organic/vegan eating choices, although some are far & few between. One great place in Key Largo is Eco Eats. They create really delicious wraps full of chicken, fish, veggies that are large but not overly filling. I enjoy going to this small restaurant whenever I'm up in that area. I believe they're opening another (smaller) location at Froggy's, the local gym, in Tavernier.

On Big Pine Key, there's the Good Food Conspiracy! Wish we had one of these up in the Upper Keys! They combine health & organic food, organic products, good-for-you products, and a snack bar with awesome smoothies and cookies made by Deer Run (a Green Lodging B&B nearby-link is to the right). This is a definite stop on your way to Key West, and be sure to make time to visit The Crystal Loft next door for beautiful crystal gifts for yourself! :-D

There's a new health food store in Marathon, Food for Thought... I'll touch on this at a later date (after I've had a chance to visit & sample)! Sure wish a health food store w/organic snack bar would open in Islamorada! It would make eating so much easier & healthful!! :-D

If you're looking for a location somewhere else in the U.S., a great online source of vegan/organic restaurants is Happy Cow. I've tried some of the restaurants recommended while travelling and it's been an enjoyable eating experience!

Growin' Some Herbs...

In the late Spring, I took a class about growing herbs. It was given by a woman who owns Redlands Herb Farm with her husband and son. It was a very interesting class and she brought lots of herbs for us to grow in either pots or gardens. She said the herbs were very hard to grow in the heat of the Summer, not only in So. Florida but especially in the Keys. I remember reading that the Community Garden down in Key West had been harvested in late Spring/early Summer, and all will be replanting again in the Fall. But undaunted by this "impossibility", I purchased two herbs and two veggie plants, and repotted them in pretty clay pots and set them out on my front porch, which gets a bit of sun in the morning, then mostly shade by the afternoon.

What did I buy? Mint -- which has been doing rather well, believe it or not; I'll make some mint tea soon with those leaves. Another plant which is a cross between Parsley and Celery, but smells like Celery. I was fortunate to have some of this in my chicken salad one day... but that one has (just recently) unfortunately bit the dust. :-/ I thought it was "Borage", but I guess I got the name mixed up with another, 'cause borage tastes more like cucumber.

I also have some mini carrots -- they have to be the SWEETEST little carrots I have EVER tasted!! It's too bad their so tiny!! Perfect for a tiny person the size of an ant!! :-D LOL She said they should be potted in a deep pot so that they'd grow deep & long, but that hasn't happened. Maybe I'm supposed to do something else, I don't know. Maybe you know? :-)

...and English Lavender... she said this one was especially difficult to grow because of the Summer heat, but so far so good! It smells SO NICE when I run my hands through it! And believe it or not, it's holding up rather well!! I'm looking forward to drying & using in sachets maybe, or in my bath... or maybe in my food! '-D The woman who hosted the class made some sugar cookies with lavender sprinkled on top... how simple and how fun! :-D When I lived in IL back in the 90's, I had a HUGE garden full of lavender, right out in front of the house! It was wonderful... did I do anything with it, not then... just enjoyed the flowers and the scent mostly. NOW, I wish I had a garden full of lavender since I use it so much.

So, I've made it through a good part of this hot Summer with most of the plants! I'll take a picture to show... so you have a better idea! Coming real soon... '-)

Somebody recently gave me some pole bean seeds... but I'm not a bean person, so some lucky person may be receiving those from me. If you're interested, let me know! '-D

Trying some *New* Things...

I've been away... went up to NJ to visit family and had a really NICE time! Also enjoyed visiting my favorite shopping area: New Hope, PA... an artsy quaint town in Bucks County, PA, right on the Delaware, across the river from another favorite town, Lambertville, NJ. I met a friend in New Hope, besides having lunch, we perused the shops. I hadn't shopped there in 20 years!! LONG TIME!! LOL But... it was fun to see which shops had stood the test of time and which ones moved on or closed entirely. This was the type of town that had the quintessential bong shop (and I think I still saw part of it in the Vintage store on the corner!) amongst other artsy shops, eateries, and of course, the best ice cream shop in the valley!

A wonderful shop we stopped into was Strawberry Jam... the owners have been running this beautiful little shop in the same location for 35 years! It seemed like a quaint shop with lots of exotic cards, glass, vintage jewelry, and bath products (my kind of store!). Most of the bath products weren't organic or handmade, but they sure did smell good! They featured a soap from Portugal -- HUGE bars with very colorful wrappings and wonderful scents... but a little on the pricey side. One product from Stonewall Kitchen in Maine was Lavender Mint soap... had to bring a bar of this home to try. I just checked out their website... and they have SO MUCH MORE than just soap! :-D Lots of yummy looking pancake & waffle mixes (m-m-m-m-m!)... seems like they have lots of cooking/specialty foods, things for the kitchen/home, and I finally found the soap... under "Fine Home Keeping"... that's a New one (shown at right)! Lots of all natural products and essential oils in this soap plus Shea butter. They also have a nice selection of gifts for Mother's Day, which is right around the corner!

Another shop we stopped into called Heart of the Home had a lot of pottery from various U.S. artists, unique handmade purses w/rather exotic pictures, soap & body products (another +++ for me!), handmade jackets, 2 garden rooms with outdoor treasures, two floors of perusing -- I LOVED IT!! LOL My original reason for going into this shop was for a handmade mug I saw in another store (being used by the owner). Although I was interested in possibly purchasing this handmade mug, it was a little out of my budget. Instead of a handmade mug... I found this collection of organic soap that I found on the internet a few weeks prior called "Fraiche" (pronounced "fresh"). A little on the pricey side, but I figured this was my (only) opportunity to try it -- bite the bullet & buy it!! As soon as I do try it, I'll fill you in. But the Set of 3 soaps I purchased (similar to that shown above right): bare naked/lavender fields/soothe me smell really awesome, and are all finished off naturally on the top portion of the soap (Bare Naked bar at left). You'll see more when you visit the website! These are definitely organic soaps, and they promise "an unforgettable bathing experience"! I'll let you know... :-D LOL Another product I found that I did purchase for my Mom was a Lotion Bar made entirely of Shea butter from Footbridge. What a WONDERFUL bar this is (shown at right)! Just rub it right on to your dry skin and the shea butter sinks right in! She loved it and I can't wait to get one for myself! '-D LOVE the Dragonfly!! LOL

I perused a few of the shops on my own after my friend left to go back to the Philadelphia area. I lingered as long as possible, enjoying the cool air and the warmth of being in an area of which many past fond memories were created... always wanted to live there, one never knows what the future holds! '-) But I hope it doesn't take me 20 years to get back there again! LOL

Conclusion(s): The Fraiche soap: Bare Naked. Very nice soap, no grittiness, nice scent... great on my dry skin. If the cost of it doesn't kill you, try it! Actually, the best way to try it is to buy the "Trilogy". Then you get (3) 1/2 bars and you pay roughly $6.25/bar. Each bar lasts approx. 5 days on the average person. :-)

Note: I also found the Fraiche soap at The Gallery at Morada Bay in Islamorada.

Visit: Strawberry Jam, Stonewall Kitchen, Fraiche, Footbridge, and Heart of the Home

Organic Liquid Hand Soap...

Have you been seeking an organic liquid hand soap to use at your kitchen or bathroom sink(s)? Well, search no more... I've been using Terressential's Real Soap for Hands for several years now. Made with organic tea tree oil, organic essential oils, organic extracts, and other organic ingredients it comes in nice scents such as Chillin' Mint, Zingin' Citrus, Lovin' Lavender, and Jammin' Spice.

Terressential's products are hand made in Maryland. They're very particular about their products being as organic as possible, so much to the point that they refuse any shop that's not strictly health food or organic-related to sell their products. They also give you a list of the ingredients in each bottle -- what they DO put in and what they DON'T put in!

Nonetheless, they're products are authentic and great! They ARE worth it!

Check it out: Terressentials

Lots of Kisses...

Kiss My Face... have you heard of this line of beauty products? I first learned of this line while staying at a B&B on Big Pine Key, in the FL Keys. The toiletries given in the room were Kiss My Face shampoo & soap. It's rather rare that I find a shampoo in a travel destination that I like and will use again. But I found myself seeking out this natural & organic company, and buying the Whenever Green Tea & Lime Shampoo, twice now!! It has a wonderful lime scent, includes essential oils and organic herbs... PLUS it has no SLS! It can be used everyday!

I've also tried the Lip Balm, I think it was peach, nice fruity flavor w/SPF of 15. They have other tropical flavors including Coconut Pineapple, Ginger Mango, and more! The SPF 30 Sunscreen and After Sun Aloe Soother I found to be great suncare products. I've tried a lot of natural sunscreen products, but liked this product the most. Some natural products have too much TD (titanium dioxide) and it leaves your skin white while sunning, how attractive right? This product is very moisturizing, water resistant, and paraben free! Maybe they'll come out with an SPF 50 one of these days!

There's lots more products to try with Kiss My Face, oh! I don't want to forget about the "Kisses on Trial" Gift Collection you can purchase to try out their most popular products in trial sizes... that's my next stop! And right now... the website has 15% off storewide!
Go there: Kiss My Face

Other Memorable Body Products...

A very nice bar for very dry skin is the Calendula and the Cocoa Butter soaps from La Marguerite Farm. Missy sells her soap products on "Etsy", which hosts a variety of artists in every medium! It's a great place to explore if you LOVE buying anything handmade! You just need to create a User ID & Password to gain access. But if you're not logged in, you'll miss out on her products (as well as a host of others)! It's a real TREAT to explore Etsy and all the wonderful products & artists in there. I've purchased a variety of things from within and never had a problem. '-)

Jennifer of Alchemille's Garden has also evolved into a Master Herbalist with her exquisite selection of artisan & healing handblended teas, skin/body products, incense & candles, and readings & healings. She hails from France and has been studying Herbalism for 15 years. In her own words: MY PRODUCTS ARE INSPIRED AND INFLUENCED BY TRADITIONAL FOLK MEDICINE AS WELL AS THE WISE WOMAN TRADITION WHICH FOCUSES ON NOURISHMENT, HEALING AND INTERCONNECTEDNESS WITH NATURE & THE SPIRITUAL REALMS.

Her website gives a description of all her products with ingredients, however, if you'd like to order anything... you'll need to become a member of Etsy. There's a link to her Etsy shop on her website. I am a devoted fan of her teas. I did sell a variety of her teas in the boutique, most notable were the "Teeny Bits" Samplers.

Links to the above & most mentioned sites & products in this blog can be found on the right side of this blog.

Wonderful Body Products...

I can't say enough about the soap that Jackie makes. I even have customers who haven't bought her bars in a while (for one reason or another) come back and tell me they really LOVE her soap! It's made with all natural ingredients and lasts far longer than many handmade soaps! And what's "far longer"?? At least 2 weeks... :-) And I can tell you that I've tried a lot of handmade soaps that only lasted 4-6 days. Her scents are always fresh whether clean or fruity or warm out of the oven or made with essential oils! She also makes the best (that I've tried) lip balm and bath salts, and offers a variety of other bath products!

Some of my favorite scents include: Cranberry Kumquat, Sweet Pea, Green Tea & Summer Cuke, Sea Salt & Dead Sea Mud, Oatmeal Milk & Honey, Coconut Orange, Anise...


Try her soap & body products for yourself! Visit her website and place your own order... you'll get it lickety split via Priority Mail! Handmade by Jackie Turbot

Something New to Share...

There's lots of knowledge I acquired in my years of creating as well as owning a boutique full of handmade products. Even now, after closing the boutique (which running it was a rather awesome experience), there are still and always will be *new* products to try, suggest, and share with others.

This Blog has developed over a desire to share my acquired wisdom with you if you're looking for something new to try on your body or delightful teas to tickle your palate or maybe even a place to learn more about things you always wondered about (surprise!). And maybe it's a place to gather old friends, and make new ones with the variety of topics available! '-)

Feel free to post *clean* comments... '-) ... and WELCOME!