Meet Lavender Crème

It was time.  Probably overdue, even.

We've gone so long with only one salt scrub, the Heaven Scent, that it really hasn't been fair to you.  Silly, really. Well... meet our new Lavender Crème salt scrub.

Just as good as Heaven Scent, with premium Dead Sea and Epsom salts and skin-loving olive oil, this one's scented with real Vanilla essential oil, and a dab of Lavender for good measure.

It's amazing!

So what made me think of it?  A Secret Santa exchange, actually.  My recipient said she loved vanilla bath products, especially French vanilla.  Well, as a business that uses only essential oils and no fragrance oils, we're a little restricted when it comes to that sort of thing.  We've got Vanilla essential oil, but alone it doesn't smell quite right to me.  A touch of Lavender mixed in, though, and it's just unbelievable.

Have I mentioned how much I love making up new custom scents?  I do!

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

Father's Day Sale!

For one week, and one week only at Reef Botanicals:

Our new "Father's Day gift baskets" are 25% off, costing only $30 instead of the regular $40.  The temporary price is already reflected on the site.  Just order one and we can ship it directly to dad, or to you so you can see his reaction when you hand it to him!

This basket is packed full with:
*One Smooth Operator shaving soap, scented with lavender.
*One matching Smooth Operator shaving oil.
*One Clean Cut shaving soap, scented with patchouli, lavender, fir, and rosemary.
*One matching Clean Cut shaving oil.
*One Mashed In:  Spring Seasonal, our luxurious beer soap, made with Sam Adams beer, crushed hops, and ground barley for a wonderful scent of baking bread.
*One sage green and very soft organic cotton washcloth.

It is the ultimate in pampering for the men in your life!  Dad can enjoy a shower with our amazing beer soap, and then get down to shaving... a soak with a nice hot washcloth, some skin-loving pre-shave oil, and then the amazing lather of our luxurious shaving soaps that contain spa-quality Rhassoul clay to avoid the need for gels and glycerines.

The basket will continue to be available long after Father's Day, for the regular price of $40, so it'll be great for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, or any other gift-giving event... but get it now for Father's Day for just $30!

As if that wasn't enough, the sale continues:


Every item in the Reef Botanicals Men's Line is on sale for one week, buy two items, get one item of equal or lesser value for free.  Just purchase two items and then let us know in the paypal comments or via email what you'd like for free!.

You can choose our Smooth Operator Shaving & Bath Soap.

Or our matching Smooth Operator Shaving Oil.

If you like your shaves a little spicier, try our Clean Cut Shaving & Bath Soap.

Or our matching Clean Cut Shaving Oil.

For a terrific bath or shower experience, there's our Mashed In:  Spring Seasonal, soap made with Sam Adams, hops, and barley, and scented with just the barest touch of cedar.  This one's my favorite!

Get three of the same thing, or mix & match!

Sale ends at midnight on June 15.

It's for boys, but I like it.

Eric has developed a pre-shave oil, just like you find in the high-end stores and at the fancier barber shops.

It's the first step in a pampering, close shave.  The oil is used before shaving to soften the beard and prepare the skin for a close and comfortable shave without leaving an oily residue.  It's ideal for men with sensitive skin, ingrown hair, razor burn, or tough beards.

They're formulated with only natural, healthy, skin-loving oils and essential oils for scent.

Why do I like it?  Because after Eric soaks his face with a hot, wet washcloth, then uses his pre-shave oil, and then his shaving soap to shave, he's got a really smooth face and it doesn't scratch me when I try to kiss him, that's why!

He's done two scents so far, to match our current line of shaving soaps.  That means there's a Clean Cut Shaving Oil, made with patchouli, fir, lavender, and rosemary essential oils and there's a Smooth Operator Shaving Oil, made with just lavender essential oil.

You can find them on their own on the Reef Botanicals site, or as part of our special Father's Day gift basket, also on the site.  The basket's got one Clean Cut shaving soap and matching oil, one Smooth Operator shaving soap and matching oil, one Mashed In bar soap, and one sage green, very soft organic cotton washcloth for that great pre-oil soak before shaving.

The baskets are currently listed at $40, but look for a sale from June 7-15, when they'll be 25% off!

This post is part of the "I Made It" Blog Party at "Everything Etsy."

Fizzy Bath Bars: A How-To

Before I started making them, I'd never used a bath bomb!  Can you believe it?  And that's what our Fizzy Bath Bars are, bath bombs, just in a different shape than the traditional.

Now I've determined that I can't live without them.  It's just so nice to sink into a hot tub and drop one in, have it fizz all around and release the scents into the air.  I'll stay there until the water goes cold and I turn completely into a prune.

It got me thinking, though, what about others who'd never used them?  Some of you may never have even seen them.  Or heard of them!  What do I do?  A demo!  Of course a demo.  We have our very own Reef Botanicals YouTube channel, after all.

Wicked Faire 2010

It was great to have a booth at Wicked Faire this past weekend, tiring as it was.  We got to meet so many people who've been following us, even ones we didn't know about!

And we got to debut so many new things - our Healing Tea soap (made with green tea and eucalyptus essential oil), our facial scrub (made with almond, oatmeal, honey, Bentonite clay, and sweet orange essential oil), and our Heaven Scent salt scrub (made with epsom and dead sea salts, and scented with lavender and rosemary)!

All of these will be available on the site imminently; we just need to rest for a bit after those crazy long days and nights at Faire, and we'll be taking photos and listing them very soon.

As Promised, One For the Girls

Shaving soap without the masculine smell! The very same recipe as our Clean Cut Shaving Soap, but scented with only lavender essential oil. This one is Smooth Operator Shaving Soap, a nod to those women who may let the men around them think they have the upper hand but know they're truly the smooth operators in the bunch.

Enjoy!

A Re-Introduction

I already told you about our Fizzy Bath Bars, but here's the visual!

Awaken is made with sea kelp in the mix for green specks and some wonderful properties it has.  It's scented with lemongrass, sweet orange, and eucalyptus essential oils, and is amazing for getting your mind going!

Romance is a pretty pink bath bar, containing cocoa butter and scented with geranium, clove, and lavender essential oils that combine to smell like roses!  It's still all natural - the pink comes from the bit of cocoa powder we've included, as well as some amazing freeze-dried powdered raspberry!  Yes, really!

And last, but not least, Serenity contains yellow kaolin clay for a nice creamy color and the wonderful properties of the clay.  It's scented with lavender and rosemary, for a heavenly relaxing scent that fills the whole room and turns your bath into a haven.

Even more new stuff!

I know, I know, it seems like we've got something huge and new going on every day. I feel the same way, believe me! It's all just moving so fast.

We've been busy! So busy that we haven't been able to take photos, but those are coming soon, I promise. In the meantime, we've made some new things for you to check out.  They're all up on the site, even though we haven't got photos, because we wanted them to be available to you.

Just in time for Valentine's Day and the need for kissable lips, we've got - count 'em - FOUR lip balms! Each is in a quarter-ounce pot, easy to use, easy to just chuck into a purse or a pocket.

The first is for those of you who are no-frills. The ones who shun the flavors and smells and reach for that original Chapstick. Our Totally Tasteless Lip Balm is all of the healing without the bells and whistles. Moisturizing oils, cocoa butter, beeswax, and Vitamin E are all you'll find in this one. We even stayed away from the almond oil and shea butter for those of you with mild nut allergies.*

*Note: Shea is a nut, for those of you who didn't know. Eric is a nut too, but he's not an ingredient so you don't need to worry about him. Also note, our equipment is all likely to have touched nut products, so those of you who have severe nut allergies should beware. The last thing we want is for you to get hurt.

Our second balm is the Eucalyptus.  Made with an assortment of moisturizing oils, as well as both shea and cocoa butter, beeswax, and Vitamin E, it started off great.  We didn't stop there, though.  Eucalyptus essential oil is both great for healing dry, chapped lips and for helping to clear your nose when you're stuffy.  So having it on your lips, right there beneath your nose, is perfect!  Is that it?  Oh no!  This one also has sea kelp!  Not only did it give the balm a really cool sage green color, but it also is loaded with vitamins and minerals, is full of antioxidants, and has elastic properties that are used in anti-wrinkle creams.  Top shelf!

Funniest name of the night goes to our Orange You Glad I'm Your Honey Balm.  This one's got all the oils, the beeswax, the Vitamin E, and the butters... but it's also got honey!  Honey is a natural antioxidant that's also got the ability to retain moisture, so it's perfect for a lip balm.  Scented with sweet orange essential oil, this one smells amazing too.

Last, but definitely not least, is the Chocolate Chip Mint Lip Balm.  It's got all the oils, butters, Vitamin, E, and  beeswax, of course, but this one's also got... wait for it... dark chocolate!  Yes, that's real dark chocolate melted into the recipe.  Scented with peppermint essential oil, I can't think of anything but ice cream when I'm wearing it.

Is that all that's new?, you ask.  Is that what she's so hyped about?  No, that's not all.

We already had, of course, the Clean Cut Shaving & Bath Soap.  You know all about that one.  Great soap, awesome close, smooth shave, but a pretty masculine scent, what with all the fir and patchouli involved.  What about the girls?  Yeah, what about them?  Well, now we're covered too!  Our new Smooth Operator Shaving & Bath Soap, made from precisely the same recipe so you get all the benefits, is scented with 100% lavender essential oil for a more woman-friendly experience.  It doesn't leave the guys in the dust, though.  Lavender may be a flower, but it's probably the most guy-friendly flower around.  I promise, using Smooth Operator, even if you're a man, won't get you beat up on the playground.

We done yet?  Nope, not quite yet.

I've been dying to try bath bombs... or rather, our version, which are Fizzy Bath Bars.  Remember those awesome soap molds my sister and brother-in-law got us for the winter holidays?  It occurred to me that those would be perfect for Fizzy Bath Bars!  So I was really dying to try them.

In fact, I did try some a while back.  There's a reason you didn't hear about it.  It's mostly because they were not a success.  See, I'm not a patient person.  You could say, and still be accurate, that I'm a fairly impatient person, in fact.  Rather heavy-handed.  A bull in a china shop is what I might be likened to by an observer, and the observer wouldn't get an argument from me.  So when I studied up on these things and read "very little liquid," well... let's just say that the correct version of "very little liquid" and my version of "very little liquid" diverged.

I used somewhat more liquid than I should have.

If you don't know how these things work when they're working properly, it goes like this:  You run a nice, hot bath, take a very dry Fizzy Bath Bar, hop into the bath (just don't literally "hop," I don't want you hurting yourself), and drop in the nice, dry Fizzy Bath Bar, which proceeds to fizz as it reacts with the bath water.  As it fizzes and dissolves, it releases the benefits therein into your bath.  The scents from the essential oils fill the room and take their aromatherapeutic effect, any butters or other ingredients housed therein do their stuff.  That sort of thing.  It's really nice.

When it works.  The key, you might have noticed from this narrative, is that it reacts with water.  Yeah.

What happened on that particular occasion, the occasion when I first tried to make Fizzy Bath Bars, is that I used too much water in the bar itself.  I didn't notice right away, mind you, because it still looked pretty dry to me.  So I took the mixture, pressed it on into the mold, ... and then pressed it again.  And again.  Only it kept growing.  So I took some off and put it into another bar of mold.  And the third one too.  And then all three were growing... and growing... and growing.  As Eric put it, we had in our kitchen the Stay Puft Marshmallow Bars.  Finally, I gave up.  I wrestled the puffy, sticky messes out of the mold and onto a sheet of freezer paper, where they finally stopped reacting with the excess water in them and stopped growing.  By then they were indecipherable blobs with slightly crusty outsides and mushy insides.  Not what a Fizzy Bath Bar should be, to say the least.  Completely unmarketable, in fact.

We didn't waste them, though.  We had to try them anyway.  So we popped them in the bath, one after another, and they fizzed, bubbled, and dissolved.  I must say the smell from the essential oils was wonderful.  So I knew I was on the right track, just not quite there yet.

Now I'm there.  Our first Fizzzy Bath Bar is Serenity, made with a mix of lavender and rosemary essential oils, a heavenly and relaxing combination.  This bar is perfect after a long day of work when you just want the world to disappear for a little while until you can face it again.  It's also got a touch of Yellow Kaolin Clay in it, with all the benefits that carries.

You can expect to see a couple more within the next few days, also just in time for Valentine's Day.  If you need a gift or want a romantic bath with your honey, this is the way to go!

New Things

Lots, in fact! New photos of our already-in-circulation products, a change to a current product, and a new product...

First, the photos.  You remember the Cool as a Cuke soap, yes?

How about the Honey Chocolate?  Also, this is a new batch, so the bars are now the same size as our other soaps, rather than being smaller and fatter.

And you can see the Peppermint Pumice Foot Rounds much more clearly now, in their new setting of actual peppermint and the very pumice that's in them.

Last, but definitely not least, Purity has never looked so pure as it does against stark black, showing the Reef Botanicals logo stamp to its greatest advantage.

As for the change in a product we already had, that's the Lavender Soap.  I know, I know, how could we make such a perfect soap any better?  By taking the suggestion of a friend.  I was asked by a friend who knows what he's talking about whether we had any soaps with chamomile or would be making any.  Great idea, I thought, why not make a line of products that include chamomile?  Why not, indeed.

So... our lavender soap now uses chamomile tea as the liquid part of the base (remember, basic soap is oil, liquid, and lye) rather than deionized water.  The tea, of course, is still brewed using deionized water, but it includes all the benefits of chamomile.

The new product?  No photos yet, but as requested, we've now got a feminine/unisex shaving and bath soap!  This soap is based on the same exact recipe as our Clean Cut Shaving and Bath Soap, but the scent is pure lavender essential oil.  As soon as we're able to cut it, I'll show you what our new Smooth Operator Shaving and Bath Soap looks like!

I'm planning to have more news for you tomorrow.  We shall see...

The Holidays Have Been Extended!

I was having a kind of "eh" day yesterday.  I wasn't feeling well and didn't get anything done that I intended while Eric was out all day.  So when the doorbell rang, I was not really keen on seeing who it was, but if I don't check, Meg (aka our "doorbell") doesn't stop barking.  If you have a dog, you know how that goes.

So I trudged to the front door, braced myself for the impending chill, and looked out.  The postman was just leaving, and in my vestibule was a fat padded envelope.  From the United Kingdom!

Did I mention I'm also a face painter and henna artist?  I am.  In fact, if you're at all interested in body art (or if you've got kids and should be interested in face paint safety for them), check out my blog on that subject.  This is relevant here only because I'm a member of several body art online discussion groups.  On one of those, many of us all around the world have become very good friends.  So a few years ago, someone suggested that we have a secret Santa exchange.

This was my gift!  What a pick-me-up for an otherwise ick sort of day.  In addition to some face painting supplies which I can't get here in the U.S., at least not easily, a beautiful card, and some wonderful organic chocolate, my secret Santa, a lovely woman, sent me a soap making book!

It's from a London publisher, and we haven't seen it in any stores here.  And man, has it got some good ideas.  We'll be incorporating those in the coming weeks and months, and you reap the benefits when the new stuff hits the store!  Well... of course, we reap the benefits too, since we do use our own products and creations, but we share, so you do also!

My favorite part of the gift, though, were the four essential oils she sent!  Lavender is a staple, so I was happy to see that.  We've got tea tree oil on order, but the order has been delayed and we really wanted to work with it this weekend, so that's a great boon to us.  And then there are cajeput and geranium!  Cajeput is a really interesting scent, close to eucalyptus, but a little bit sweeter, and with a hint of a menthol tinge.  It's used a lot in mixing henna, and is said to have beneficial properties.  It's used in aromatherapy because it's invigorating, purifying, and a natural expectorant.  It's also used topically to relieve arthritis.  I can't wait to try it!  I spent much of the afternoon researching good recipes for it and other scents that work well with it, because we like to mix.

I must say, I'm most excited about the geranium.  I really wanted some floral scents other than lavender, and was actually thinking of purchasing a geranium essential oil to play with.  It smells wonderful and will be showing up in several of our products, you can be sure.  Geranium essential oil also has been said to have various benefits, including promoting healthy cell growth, reducing scars, speeding up the healing of wounds, and in the treatment of various skin diseases.  Plus, it's scent is used for it's deodorizing properties and is an uplifting cross between flowers and mint.  I bet you can't wait for us to begin using it either!

Shh... Don't Tell Eric

So we  have the one shaving soap, Clean Cut (which also works well as a bath soap).  It's got a pretty masculine scent.  I mean, I imagine some women will like it, but it's not my style.  I'm a fan of the fruits and flowers, more than the patchouli and fir.  As a result, a friend of mine suggested that we do a female shaving soap!  

So... for testing purposes, and without him knowing, I swiped Eric's bar of Clean Cut and used it yesterday in the shower when I was shaving.  It rocks.  No, I mean it, it's great.

We need a feminine (or unisex, for that matter) shaving soap.  Expect one on the horizon.

Know what else I like about this soap, though?  It makes Eric want to shave.

He hates to shave.  And I hate it when he's prickly.  It was always pulling teeth to get him to finally shave, even though he knew he should, if only for work.

This shaving soap, though, spurred him to ask for an old-fashioned straight razor for the holidays.  I got him one.  And now, as he put it, shaving is an event.  He loves it!  He actively likes to shave!  All because of soap!  And I didn't even have to spring for commercial shaving soap with the razor, which would've been crazy expensive!

Meanwhile, I've got a secret weapon for keeping Eric clean-shaven... just keep the stock of shaving soap replenished!

One for the Boys

We have come up with our first soap for men - a shaving soap!

When I say "we," mind you, I'm speaking loosely. I really should be saying Eric, since he did this one nearly solo. He researched it and worked out the recipe, he chose the scent, and he actually made it nearly all himself.

We started to make it, you see, mixed the basic ingredients, got them into the crock pot, started to cook them and stir... and then I got the call that my sister was in labor and had been for several hours. Yes, labor.

So at a quarter to 11 the other night, I dashed off to the hospital while Eric continued to make soap. My sister had the baby at 2:47 a.m., and I stayed with her and her husband visiting until 7:30 a.m. or so. I was demolished by then, and Eric was just getting up for work as I climbed into bed for a few hours.

The soap was already in the mold and curing.

Scented spicily with fir, rosemary, lavender, and patchouli essential oils, this is also our first round soap!

It lathers like crazy from the combination of oils used, perfect for shaving.  Plus, it's made with Rhassoul Clay, which has been used for over 1400 years as a natural beauty treatment for skin and hair, and shea butter, which also makes it a wonderful bath bar.

Personally, I love that we tried round bars too.  They just look so nifty!  They were... interesting to work out, though.  Removal from the mold was a heck of a process that included lots of trial and error, freezing the soap and a hammer.  There were times we might have looked like an Abbott and Costello routine, in fact.  But the result is definitely worth it.

Our Best Yet!

OK, this is one I can get really excited about.  I am a huge, huge fan of lavender, and our only delay in making lavender soap was getting our tushes in gear and getting some essential oil and dried lavender buds.  We did.  And we made the soap, which we cut tonight.

It is, and I know I'm tooting my own horn here, amazing.  We used a variety of oils that created a hard off-white bar but with an amazing, creamy lather.  The lavender smell is gorgeous.  I just know these are going to be a hot item, but I'm definitely keeping a bar or two for my own use!  It'd be a sin to let it all go.