Softer clothes & towels...

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 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.!

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...

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!

Spring Cleaning...

I've been trying all kinds of "organic" and green cleaners around the house. Seventh Generation isn't bad in some instances... but I'm not fond of their dish soap; hardly suds', I don't feel like anything is getting clean, AND you have to use too much of it! I guess as a society of using things that "suds up"... if something doesn't suds up enough, then we don't feel like it's cleaning very well. All these "suds" come from using coconut in the ingredients. Coconut oil or coconut-based "surfactants" (used by most commercial cleansers). I've been using the laundry soap and softener; the softener especially after I learned Mrs. Meyer's Dryer Sheets weren't softening the laundry. I like the laundry soap & softener, but my towels aren't as soft (as using Shaklee's Get Clean Laundry Soap). I've been using the Seventh Generation laundry products as a less expensive alternative to another series of products that I really like (Shaklee Get Clean), and for the money and it's not a bad choice.

But before I get to the Shaklee products... I'd like to comment on Clorox Green Works. I've been using this cleaner around the house, on the walls, in the tub, and toilet. I like how effective it is... green as well as cleans (well), it's affordable, and has a nice scent too! (I've used the Original scent plus Tangerine.) It appears that other users, like the Sierra Club are also "pro" for this product, which is really a plus+. Their A-P (all purpose) Cleaner is a MAJOR PLUS in my book -- it cleans everything! The stove, the countertops, the walls... just about everywhere! A pet peeve I have about some of these "green" products is they don't list the ingredients on the label. But Green Works does! I like that; I want to know what's in something I'm using whether it be a cleanser for the home or my body (especially my body!)!

A lot of people want to "go green" but a lot of people feel that it's expensive to "go green"... and I feel Clorox Green Works is a nice, affordable way to achieve those green goals for many people. I hope they decide to come out with a Laundry Soap... '-)

Above I mentioned Shaklee's Get Clean products. They are a little pricier, but buying one bottle of Basic H2 (an A-P cleaner) and using a few DROPS mixed with a spray bottle of water to clean your house (a little more for windows), just goes to show you how LONG you will have that one bottle. I bought a bottle of it last year and I STILL haven't bought another bottle since! And the Laundry soap... I purchased the largest box which if you measure it out equally for each wash, you should get about 84 washings out of it... that box lasted 7 MONTHS!! I don't have any laundry soap that has EVER lasted 7 MONTHS! Have you?? They also have this wonderful little compound, Scour Off Heavy Duty Paste (made from pitted cherries I think)... I've cleaned boats with this product! It's SUPER on fiberglass... gets all kinds of stains out, especially rust, and it's o.k. for the water ... and works wonderfully on the tub & tile as well! If you'd like to try Shaklee products, contact me. Their products work GREAT for the home as well as the body!

Of course, if you're not into any of the store-bought green cleaners, you can always mix vinegar or baking soda with warm water and still have just as good a cleanser! This way is rather economical and eliminates all those various bottles under the sink!

So... DO Tell what your favorite cleaning product is! These products I've described are available here. Maybe there are others available that I'm not aware of! Please share with us your experiences!

Feel Free to Visit: Seventh Generation, Green Works, Shaklee

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

Daily Om...

This is a rather interesting site that encourages nuturing of the mind, body, & spirit. I have found this Daily Om (mantra) to be rather uplifting in times when I've needed more strength, maybe for a particular day or transitions over time. I've also found that it manages to hit very close to home with whatever I may be experiencing at the moment.

Something I learned from a recent Daily Om has to do with "Opening our Hearts"...

To open our hearts to another person’s suffering is a revolutionary act that has energetic implications. Many experiments with meditation have proven that we can reach far beyond the boundaries of ourselves and heal others when our hearts are open.

After reading your Daily Om, other interesting things to check out are the Online courses available for a reasonable cost.

Visit: Daily Om…