We Want You to Know

Really, we do.

We want you to know what you're using. We want you to pay attention to what your putting on your body. To that end, we have finally come up with Reef Botanicals labeling and packaging with which we're happy.  You can see it in the photo of our very cool Father's Day gift basket.  But to make it easier, here's a close-up.

Pretty, right?  Great for gifting to others or to yourself.  But it's more than pretty.

We wanted to keep the packaging as minimal as possible, so where outer packaging isn't absolutely necessary (like it is for our liquid products such as shaving oils and scrubs), we've done away with it almost completely.  Each bar of soap now comes to you like a gift, tied with a bit of natural hemp twine, which holds a pretty slip of paper telling you what variety of soap it is and every single ingredient contained therein.

Now... the FDA doesn't actually require labeling on soap, but we have nothing to hide and we actually want you to know what you're putting on your body.  As another rather intelligent soaper correctly said to me, and I might be paraphrasing here, if you wouldn't eat it, why would you want it on your skin?  After all, things you put on your skin eventually get soaked into your skin.  Want an example?  That's how nicotine patches work!

Of course, cosmetic (i.e. non-soap) items, like our scrubs, lip balms, and bath bombs, do require proper labeling, which is to say the labels need to comply with INCI nomenclature.  What the heck is INCI?  INCI means International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, and there's a standard way of listing each ingredient on an item.  Since we had to so that for the non-soap items, we just went ahead and did it for the soaps too!

From now on, every product you receive from us will be labeled as you see in that nifty close-up with the INCI ingredient list.  As we edit the site, they'll be up there too!  And if you have any questions about any of our ingredients, please feel free to email us at store@reefbotanicals.com.  We do pay attention!

And in case you're wondering, yes, we hand-make every single label and hand-tie it to every bar of soap.  Doesn't get much more handmade than that!

Artist Spotlight: Part Seventeen

I'm late with the post this week, after a crazy weekend.  Between being in a show and face painting at the Tribeca Film Festival, this is the first minute I've had to breathe!

At any rate, on to the important stuff... the incredible Jewelry by NaLa!

As the tagline on her blog says, it is indeed Delicately Elegant Jewelry.  Want proof?  Just look at these beautiful floral earrings.

 

Or these earrings too.

Gorgeous, right?

What about the artist herself, you ask?  Well, according to her own self-description, the creative side of her brain is definitely dominant, and she's a natural born crafter.  Despite her expertise in the area, jewelry making is not her first venture into the world of crafting, but it's her favorite, and I think her work illustrates that.

You can check out her available wares at her Etsy shop, but if you find something you almost like, she may just tweak it into a custom piece for you!

She designs her jewelry with her customers in mind, women who want jewelry that makes a unique statement about themselves and enhances their own personal sense of style.  With that as her goal, I think she's a success!

Artist Spotlight: Part Fifteen

The artist I have for you today is the very sweet Jennifer Mewes, of Mewes Mountain Arts.

She lives with her husband in the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains, just outside of Denver, CO.  They have proclaimed the beautiful mountain behind their house to be the Mewes Mountain, which I think is hilarious and actually something I would do too.  The beauty of Colorado and her religious faith serve as her inspiration, and so far, it those seem to be serving her well!

One of Jennifer's favorite bible chapters is 1 Corinthians 13, one that is common in readings used for weddings.  I know part of it, since my mom actually has a picture hanging in my parents' house that's got flowers and this part of the chapter done in calligraphy:

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always Perseveres.  Love never fails.


You really can't argue with a sentiment like that, but for Jennifer, it was more than that.  It was the inspiration for this lovely "Leap of Faith" lanyard, which is available both through Jennifer's Etsy shop and Handmade Artists Shop.

In those shops, you can also find this elegant butterfly necklace.

As Jennifer says, the first thing she thinks of with regard to spring is the butterfly coming out of its cocoon, so this piece is just perfect for the season!

Jennifer uses some wonderful stones in her pieces, like this cat's eye and Swarovski lilac necklace and this tiger's eye necklace.

Tiger's eye takes her back to high school, where the tiger was their school mascot.  I love that.  The necklace isn't actually in her school colors, though, so she also makes these fun bracelets for that purpose.  She'll custom make them to your school colors too!

For a more grown-up adornment, I just love these two bracelets, the top made with beautiful lampwork beads and the bottom with glass beads in a rich, deep blue.

My favorite of Jennifer's pieces, though, is this Celtic-inspired bracelet.

Which she replicated with alternate charms, at my suggestion!

On another front, Jennifer's passion for the push toward a cure for cancer led her to create this Awareness lanyard, from which she will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

To really get a glimpse of Jennifer's good heart, learn about her, and even get information regarding jewelry making, business tips, and other news, be sure to check out her extensive blog!