Time to do the Laundry...

... 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!!

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... '-)

Some *new* soap...

I just ordered some soap from Jackie, and she has a *new* scent: Pomegranate Mango!! I am definitely looking forward to trying that!

She's also made some new guest & bar soaps for the Christmas holidays... I decided to try the guest soaps. My order is sitting at the post office presently... I'll pick it up tomorrow, and let you know how wonderful the *new* scents are!! '-D

I forgot that she also has a new Chocolate soap available also. I can't imagine using a "chocolate" soap, but if you love chocolate... you'll probably love this soap too!

See: Handcrafted by Jackie Turbot

Note: The Pomegranate Mango is absolutely delightfully sparkling! :-D It gives a wonderful lift to your morning shower! The Christmas Memories soap is also very nice... I'm looking forward to receiving the larger bars for the holidays this month!

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

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!