There's Lilac and There's Lilac

And no matter what sort of lilac it is, I adore it.  Seriously, it's my favorite flower and was the one bloom I really wanted to carry in my wedding... and was so happy when the florist told me I could!

(Flowers designed by Angie at the Metropolitan Plant Exchange,

Photography by Sharon Ann Curia of Sharon's Wedding Art)

And so when Eric and I were making our latest batch of candles, I lobbied for Lilac.  In keeping with our new look, we did them two-tone pink and purple, but the scent is gorgeous, springy, unadulterated Lilac, and they're already a hit with customers.

The 15" round pillar has already sold, but you can find the square pillars here, the small round pillars here, and the votives here.  If you're not sure how much you'll love it - or the other spring candles we've made - you can also try one of each votive in our sampler pack!

But back to the lilacs.  I can't forget about them for too long, that's for sure.  The lilacs.  I love lilacs so much that one year my sister and I got a small lilac shrub for our mom for Mother's Day from the NJ Botanical Gardens.  OK, that gift wasn't quite as self-serving as it sounds.  My sister and mom like lilacs too, and mom likes to have nice, flowering plants around the yard.

Well, back in September, Eric and I moved here to Franklin Lakes, where we have a nice little house... with a whole lotta land.  There's a forest in our backyard, for real!  Well, OK, it's a small foresty area but still.  It's foresty enough that we've had not only squirrels and chipmunks but also possum, a bunny, deer on more than one occasion, and at one point... bear tracks in the snow!  And the rest of the back yard and all of the front is a lot of lawn.  Lots and lots of lawn and trees and bushes.  So I was lobbying for a lilac shrub for our own yard.  I was hoping that during their annual plant sale earlier in the month, Eric and I could go to the NJ Botanical Gardens in the hope that they had lilacs again.

Didn't need to.

Just a week or so before, I was getting into my car for work in the morning and I glanced at this big tree that was on the other side of the driveway.  It was budding.  It was budding purple.  I went for a closer look... and quite literally danced around the driveway.  Lilacs!  A whole huge lilac shrub the size of a tree!  All mine!

It's been blooming ever since, and the smell makes me smile every time I pass by.  It makes me so, so happy.  And while we've added Lilac Candles to Reef Botanicals, I've added a new photo to Fabric of my Mind.

That beauty can be found right here, if you want your own print of it.  Can't you just smell them?

Ah, I'm smiling again.  Just can't help it!

So I Made a Few More

You know me, once I get going I keep going.  And having just one eyeglass case in the shop was silly.  So I made three more!

People were admiring the one I did for myself in black, white, and grey, so I added a similar one to the shop.

And then I went ahead and did one in greens and khakis.  It's a pretty nifty color scheme, if I do say so myself.  This one's in the shop here.

And then I went really girlie with this one, in a pink, red, and aqua floral print with some polka dots thrown in for god measure.

Like 'em?

A Winner Has Been Chosen

The giveaway on Confessions of an Overworked Mom has been completed and a winner chosen.  Congratulations to Mari!  She gets one Mashed In soap, one Garden Party soap, and one Romance Fizzy Bath Bomb!

Your Wish Is Our Command

Upon request, Reef Botanicals will soon be carrying luxurious and gorgeous bath salts!  Like everything else we make, when we say we're going to carry bath salts, we don't mess around.  Each bath salt will contain our custom blend of Dead Sea salt, light pink Himalayan salts, French organic grey sea salt, Epsom salt, Dendritic salt, and essential oils.

Why are we taking the trouble to mix all these salts together in a special blend for you?  Why not just dump some essential oils into a jar of Epsom salt, make it pretty, and call it a day?

Well, my friends, because we care about you!  Let me explain...

First, the Dead Sea salt, a salt we already use in our Heaven Scent salt scrub and our Deadwood Spa Bar.  For our bath salts, though, we're using a coarser texture of Dead Sea salt.

For those who don't know, the Dead Sea is a land-locked lake in the Middle East.  It is the lowest point on earth and is known for the high salinity of its waters.  The water of the Dead Sea is 7x more salty than any other lake or sea, and contains rare and beautifying elements that are not naturally occurring elsewhere in high concentrations.  The magnesium in the salt promotes the healing of skin tissue and provides the skin surface with an anti-allergic element.  Bromide soothes the skin, relaxes body muscles, and tranquilizes nerves.  Sulfur is a natural disinfectant.  Potassium is a moisture regulator that maintains a neutral environment in the skin.  Calcium is a building block for corrective tissue.  Sodium relieves stiffness and muscle cramps and maintains a neutral environment in the skin.

Pink Himalayan salt is not just a gorgeous mottled pale pink.  It's mined from the ancient sea beds inside the Himalayan mountains.  It's completely unrefined, and we use it in its raw, natural form.  This salt was formed over 200 million years ago in the primeval sea where the first signs of life formed in the mineral rich water.  Because of its location and how it was formed, it is extremely pure and free of contaminants or pollutants.  It gains its pink color from the high iron content.  It also contains trace amounts of 84 minerals and elements, including potassium, magnesium, calcium, iodine, zinc, and sodium.  Himalayan salt has long been used as a holistic treatment for poor circulation, high blood pressure, dry, damaged, or irritated skin, muscle soreness, joint pain, and detoxification.

And then there's Grey sea salt.  In Brittany near the town of Guerande, France, are marshes and low lying areas suitable for salt fields.  There's a mini climate that is much milder than the rest of Brittany.  The currents of the Atlantic run cleaner there than in many salt harvesting locations.  This confluence of nature makes for an ideal area for a salt farm region.  Guerande has no peer in Europe for the quality of salt produced.  The salt fields of Guerande are long and narrow so the top of the evaporating sea water can be swept by hand to harvest the precious sel gris de Guerande, containing a complex balance of the sea and her minerals, with large grey crystals.

Epsom salt is a pure mineral compound, magnesium sulfate, in crystal form.  The crystals are formed from evaporated brine pools in the Earth's crust.  The two key ingredients, of course, are magnesium and sulfur.  Magnesium eases stress and improves sleep and concentration, helps the muscles and nerves function properly, regulates the activity of over 325 enzymes, reduces inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps, and improves oxygen use.  Sulfur flushes toxins, improves the absorption of nutrients, helps form joint proteins, brain tissue, and muscle proteins, and helps prevent or ease migraine headaches.

Last but not least, there's Dendritic salt.  We use just a touch of this.  Dendritic is a finer grain than the others, and it's been crystallized to provide a larger surface area to help retain fragrance.  This is the ingredient that ensures that your Reef Botanicals bath salts will stay fragrant as long as possible, to give you the perfect aromatherapy experience to accompany the other benefits of the salts.

Together, these ingredients create the bath you most want - relaxing, enervating, romantic, or inspiring, based on the scent you choose from our varied menu.

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An Interlude for Spring

I've said that Eric and I have many varied interests in terms of art, crafts, and making things.

Well, one of mine for several years has been photography. We've got some great flowers that come and go in our backyard, so I managed to get a couple shots the other day before the grey skies and rain came. Now that it's grey & rainy here in northern New Jersey, I think sharing the flowers is just the spirit-lifting thing to do!

These bright, pretty, cheery poppies grow on the side of the house.

And I love these cream-colored roses with the pink edges!  There's a red rose bush out there too, but it's not blooming right now.

I'm actually not sure what this one is; it grows in a cluster of plants by the driveway, not on bushes or trees.  But look at that color!  Anyone know what it is?

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.