Dawn of the Dead

Eric is awesome.  My birthday was July 28, and he got me the best presents, but I'll get to those in a minute.  First, let me show you what I made.

A zombie!

The pattern for it came from this book, one of my birthday gifts from E.

Am I right about him being awesome, or what?  Not sure yet?  Well, I also got this book.

And this one.

And this tea and chocolate and fondant ribbon cutter.

And the coup de gras, a Brookstone back massager!

Oh, and by the way, we got to eat our first cucumber from the garden!

Was awesome!

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Cucumbers!

We have 4 or 5 that we found.  Here are the best of the photos I got.

Woohoo!

The Words of Others

I decided today that I'd share some of the emails and private messages that we've gotten regarding our products.  I won't bother repeating here the messages you can see on the Reef Botanicals Facebook page, since you can just go there to read them, so these are just private messages we've received.

So... here goes...

"The shaving soap is the BOMB.  Been using crappy razors ... and using them way past when they should've been tossed ... and NOT ONE NICK since I started out using that stuff.  Still have to use conditioner even with your shampoo, but my hair is ridiculously thick and coarse.  BUT ... I got my hair colored right before you sent my package.  I only shampoo about once a week because ... it fades my color like CRAZY and I want to keep the red as long as possible.  So I've used your shampoo about 4x now.  I'm used to seeing the water turn a pinky color when I rinse shampoo out ... and with your shampoo?  NO PINK.  NONE.  Not even on the VERY FIRST WASH after the color.  I am AMAZED.  I'm a hairdresser's kid ... I've used only the very 'best stuff' on the market my entire life.  I've been coloring my hair since I was 14 years old.  And that's NEVER EVER happened."

~Lacey, Oklahoma

"I've been using [Reef Botanicals] shampoo since March.  Still use conditioner and I think that's because it's colored 'cause my hair is fine and short, but I just love it.  Will never go back to anything else and I'm an ex-hairdresser.

On another note I just started using Purity for cleaning [face painting] sponges and man does it rock.  If you aren't using it on your sponges you are surely missing out.  It's great."

~Nora, Texas

"I really do like the Purity.  The dry skin I was having issues with on my hands and the other spots like elbows and feet, has completely eased off.  It works great on our hair too - no tangles!"

"Both mom and I are using Purity soap for our hair.  I don't need to use conditioner either, if I use shampoo I HAVE to use conditioner to get a comb through my short hair!  Works great for us."

~Shannon, Canada

"I got a grease stain on the front of a favorite t-shirt months ago.  Washed it and washed it, pre-soaked it, tried a couple different cleaning sprays, nothing worked.  So I relegated it to wearing around the house.  When I got home from my last gig, the Purity did such a good job on my sponges and brushes that I got to thinking.  What about my t-shirt?  I pulled it out of the laundry basket, wet the bar of soap, and gave the stain a good rubbing.  I let it sit overnight and then washed it in hot water with my regular detergent the next day.  Ta da!  Stain's gone and I get to wear my shirt in public again.

All hail Larissa, Goddess of Clean!"

~Nancy, Virginia

"My order of soaps arrived yesterday.  Thank you for such great service.

As I told you, I was hesitant to try any kind of soap on my face because my skin is so dry and the climate here only adds to it.  Well, I tried the oatmeal honey soap on my face last night and WOW, it was fantastic.  My skin was actually softer afterwards and not dry at all!  I am delighted.  Why don't all soap manufacturers leave out the drying crap?  This is wonderful and I am sold."

~Joan, Arizona

"So, since I spent the whole day decluttering stuff ... I decided to reward myself with a nice, long warm bath scented with  my favorite oils, and finished with [Reef Botanical]'s sham-soap and lemon-sugar scrub.  I SMELL SO GOOD, and I FEEL SO GOOD!  My skin is like velvet.  :)"

~Cindy, Minnesota

"Just wanted to let you know I received my soap and I love it.

The packaging was very nice.  The Cool as a Cuke is my favorite.  Very nice lather, almost no fragrance, and it leaves my hands really soft.  Cleans up the face paint REALLY well on my fingers.  The lavender is nice too, but doesn't seem to lather as well. ... still, very nice and perfect for my guest bath.

I'm sure myself and my family will purchase more.  We love homemade products that are part of the solution for this Earth AND are made by small Mom and Pop businesses here in the USA.  You and Eric have done well.

~Laurie, California

"Today was my husband's birthday and I gave him the shaving products I bought from you.  He loves them, especially the soap!  He says it's the best lathering soap he's ever had, and he's had some expensive stuff before.  Just wanted to let you know.  I'm sure I'll be ordering again!"

~Teresa, North Carolina

Wounded, But Worth It

Cool as a Cuke soap is almost here!  Yes, that's cucumber soap, made with real pureed cucumbers and coconut milk.  That awesome light green color comes entirely from the cucumber peels.

This is our first soap with nothing scratchy in it.  It's a nice, smooth, cool bar that does not exfoliate.  About time, right?  We've been so nutty about putting all sorts of things in our soaps, trying new recipes, that I finally had to step back and suggest a smooth bar.  It worked!

We were both exhausted when we got to soapmaking, having worked all day.  And Eric got slightly wounded when the unadulterated sodium hydroxide hit his arm, but it was just a few specks, and he's fine.  It's amazing that making soap can cause injury and yet the soap itself is so innocuous, even helpful.

The funniest part was the "zap test."  I generally leave that part to Eric, since I'm not keen on some of the soap to my tongue to see if it tingles and therefore isn't ready yet.  Well, it's not like any of the soaps we've made actually ever taste good, but this one was hilarious.  Either it tastes worse than our other soaps or Eric was expecting it to taste a little better from the cukes, but I've never seen him make faces this funny.

It was worth it, though.  The Cool as a Cuke soap is this amazing shade of light green, our first soap with a real, funky color to it.

Eric is going crazy over it, because of the lather.  When I got home the other day, tired and wanting to sit, he dragged me to the bathroom to try it.  He'd just taken the "extra" off of our equipment, smushed it all together into a blob, and used it, even before it's completely cured.  It's safe to use, just still very soft at that point.  So I tried it, and it didn't disappoint.  We found a mix of oils that gives a huge lather, instantaneously.  He, of course, had to use it again and started blowing bubbles between his hands from it.  He's like a kid!  But he's right, it's pretty kickin'.

He actually risked shaving with the lather from this soap and ended up, happily, nick-free and incredibly smooth.

This one will be available soon, once it finishes curing.  It's on the racks now, getting ready!