Success!

On more than one front.

First, about this past weekend and the Carlstadt Fresh Air Market... I had a blast!  Eric came in the morning and helped to set up, then stayed 'til one or so.  He ended up buying coffee from a local roaster, pickles from a local pickler, and rolls & pie from a local baker, then heading home to make our dinner.

Meanwhile, our friends Tori & EJ stopped by to visit and ended up helping for a bit too.

That's Tori in the photos.

The fun thing about this market was that there was no one runaway hit item.  People bought shampoo, makeup brush cleaner, facial scrub, mud mask, shaving soap, all different other soaps, candles, and lip balms.  It was pretty cool to see so much interest in so many different products.

And the washcloths got a lot of attention, partly because while I was sitting, I started a second trinity washcloth, which I've since completed.  One woman actually commented that they're great for babies because they're so soft.  I hadn't thought of that, but she's right!

And my other success... I won the Highlights contest at the Handmade Artists Forum, and got to choose a print from Nancy's WildWireArt!  I chose "Flow," and it came today!

It looks even better in person, and Eric loves it.  Now we just have to get it matted & framed.

So how was your weekend?

We'll be vending this weekend!

Reef Botanicals (and some washcloths & photos from Fabric of my Mind) will be at the Carlstadt Fresh Air Market on June 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Come visit!

In the park on Broad & 3rd Streets in Carlstadt, NJ.

A Reminder for Valentine's Day

Our products make great gifts!

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

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!

We have a winner!

We used random.org to pick the winner of our very first blog giveaway and it is...

drumroll...

Megan of Mommy Minded, who said:

Congrats to Megan!  She's being emailed imminently and will have 48 hours in which to respond and claim her prize, the "For Your Face" gift pack!

Scrubs May Be Good for Your Skin... But What Are They Doing to Your World?

Good question, and one we all should be asking.  This is why we are adamant that we should all be informed consumers.  Read your labels.  Know your ingredients.  Do a little digging.

Hillary Rosner, a freelance journalist and Knight Science Journalism Fellow with a degree in Environmental Studies did a little digging back in 2008, when she wrote this article for Slate, an online daily news magazine.  Never heard of Slate?  That's OK, until recently, neither had I.  When a friend pointed me in the direction of that article, I took a look around, and it turns out that Slate is not exactly a fly-by-night operation.  It's not some wacky extremist group with faulty research and questionable results.  Oh, no.  It's a multi-award-winning publication that's existed since 1996 and is owned by The Washington Post Company.

In doing her digging, Ms. Rosner found that many big-brand companies are using polyethylene as an exfoliating ingredient in their cleansers.

So what's polyethylene?  It's plastic.  Tiny plastic microbeads that make nifty exfoliants... which then wash down the drain and into the oceans.

Plastic, as we know, does not biodegrade.  And these beads are so tiny that it's incredibly easy for them to end up in the stomachs of marine life, as Ms. Rosner says, "from otters to octopi."  It actually occupies the same size range as sand grains and plankton, so it's available for ingestion to invertebrates, which are near the bottom of the marine food chain.  In addition, polyethylene transports phenanthrene, a dangerous ocean pollutant.

Nice, huh?

And the amount of microplastic in the oceans has been increasing.  Increasing.

The answer?

Natural exfoliants, of course!  Sugar, salt, ground almonds, ground beans, seeds, and buds... the sorts of things we use in our Reef Botanicals sugar and salt scrubs, soaps, and facial scrubs.

We are committed to doing our best for the environment where we can.  That's why we don't wrap our soaps in plastic or cellophane; they are shipped nearly naked, with just enough paper to tell you what they are and list the ingredients for you, tied on with environmentally-friendly hemp twine.

That's why the only plastic we use is what's absolutely necessary, like for our salt and sugar scrubs, which contain liquid.  And that's one of the many reasons we adhere to our commitment to use all-natural ingredients in our products.  Never will plastic be an ingredient in our stuff, no matter how inexpensive or convenient it is.

Our Day

Today, we spent the day at the Autumn Extravaganza Arts & Crafts Show at the Minerals Resort & Spa in Vernon, NJ.  We'd done this show in April when it was their first attempt a a craft fair, and had a decent day with a lot of interest.  It was a very small fair but with good vendors.

This time, a vendor organizer company had taken over and the fair grew from one room (the gym of the spa) to three rooms (the lobby, gym, and small back convention room).  Still a small fair, but nice.  Unfortunately, it also grew by three more vendors of handmade soap.  Total:  4.  That's unusual, especially for a fair of this size, and initially they were placing three of us all in adjoining booths!  Well, two of us obviously moved, and we lucked out and were placed in the lobby, directly to the right of the entrance doors to the spa.  That meant we had a differently-shaped space (the original was 10'x10') and needed to reorganize.  We actually really liked the way we were able to use the area.

That whole length there was Reef Botanicals!  We had two 6' tables end to end, and then a 4' camping table on the end forming an L.  Our banner is there at that far end because that's where the entrance to the spa was.

We got traffic from every direction and were very happy with the setup and location.  In fact, the spa is having another event on December 12, just before the holidays, and we plan to participate in that one too.

Although the patrons were somewhat inundated with soapers, they seemed really excited by our product line, and we did well.  Our most popular sellers of the day were the Hair Dew shampoo and the Home for the Holidays bath salt, though also especially popular were the lip balms, facial scrub, candles, and Smooth Operator shaving & bath soap.  People took a lot of cards too, and we're hopeful that the event gained us some regular customers!

If you're in the area, look for us at the event in December, where we'll also be offering gift baskets for the holidays.  Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a resort; the place is really friendly and non-members are as welcome as members.  In fact, the staff there were treating even us more like guests than anything!

In the meantime, everything is still available at our website, as well as on our HAFshop, and of course our giveaway is still underway until October 31!

Our First Blog Giveaway!

This contest is closed.

We're feeling like a giveaway to celebrate the release of our new product:

Almond Pastry Facial Scrub

It smells great, is easy to use, and makes skin glow!

What you get out of this is a For Your Face Gift Pack, containing one full size shaker container of this awesome new scrub, one bar of our Purity soap, and one bar of our Oatmeal Honey soap, all great for your face!

You have SIX chances to win!  For each entry, leave a separate comment on this post to let us know, one comment per entry task completed.

Rules:
1.  This giveaway is open to everyone in the U.S. and Canada.
2.  There will be one winner chosen.
3.  The winner will be notified by email, and will have 48 hours in which to respond.  If the winner does not respond, a new winner will be chosen.

**Please make sure you provide a valid email address when entering this giveaway.**

Mandatory Entry:
Please become a follower of this blog, then visit Reef Botanicals and leave a comment on this post telling us what you would love to have from the shop.

Additional Entries:
1.  "Like" Reef Botanicals on Facebook and leave a comment letting us know with your Facebook name.
2.  Follow Reef Botanicals on Twitter and tweet this contest.  You can do this once a day for additional entries.  Just leave a comment for each daily tweet and leave a link to your tweet.  Use this tweet:

Win a "For Your Face" Gift Pack from reefbotanicals.com @ReefBotanicals #giveaway at http://dld.bz/zAUW!!

3.  Post about this contest on your Facebook wall and post the link here in a comment.
4.  Add our badge (from the left sidebar) to your blog or website and leave the link in a comment.
5.  Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to your post here in a comment.

GIVEAWAY ENDS ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, AT 5 P.M. EST.

My Favorite Yet

Oatmeal.

Yum, right?  Well at least I like it.  I eat it fairly frequently.

Here's what this site has to say about oatmeal:

Used topically, oatmeal is effective for relieving dryness and inflammation, including insect stings, rashes, and eczema.  It contains polysaccharides and lubricating fats, which prevent dullness and dryness.  It is also filled with natural pore cleansers.

Almonds.

Also yum.  Big yum.  Heck, you can even have almonds in your oatmeal.

Here's what this site has to say about almonds:

Used topically, almonds are said to be nourishing and healthy for both baby and adult skin.  It's very gentle and believed to have good anti-oxidant properties.  Ground almonds also have an exfoliating nature.

Honey.

Do I even need to say what I think of honey?  And doesn't it sound great with almonds and oatmeal?!

Here's what this site says about honey:

Honey is a natural humectant, helping to keep the skin hydrated and fresh.  It traps in moisture, leaving skin soft and supple, and hair glossy and healthy.  It is also antibacterial and a good source of antioxidants.

Bentonite Clay.

Okay, so bentonite clay isn't yummy.  At least, I don't think it is.  I don't plan to try eating it.

And here's what this site says about bentonite clay:

Bentonite clay has long been known for its therapeutic abilities.  Due to its high absorbency and its ability to pull oils and toxins from the skin, it is one of the best clays for making poultices and an excellent ingredient for skin care and spa treatments.

So why am I bringing all of this up?  Can you guess?  If you're a fan of our Facebook fan page, [okay, fine, if you "like" Reef Botanicals on Facebook, just call me old fashioned, I like "fan page"] you may have seen me post a status update quite a while back regarding a new ingredient I was very glad to find and obtain, for a new product I was trying to develop.

See, I've been dying for a facial scrub.

We've got three great body scrubs.  When Life Hands You Lemons is  based in white sugar and olive oil, and it's great.  Cafe Mocha is based in brown sugar and grapeseed oil, also great.  And Heaven Scent is our salt scrub, primarily epsom and Dead Sea salts, with olive oil.

While there are light oils that work well on the face, like almond, emu, and jojoba oils, I really wanted to keep the facial scrub pretty much oil-free... so no liquid to it.  The only oil in this scrub is the healthy and beneficial bit contained in the almonds that I ground myself.  So I did a bunch of research, and several trials, wanting specific ingredients... mostly honey.  But I didn't want anything wet involved so it wouldn't get yucky when stored.  Water, you see, would lead to a fuzzy (ick!) facial scrub, not a yummy one.  Hmmm.... what to do?  What to do?

What I did was a little search.  And I found... wait for it... honey powder.  That's right, food grade, sweet as can be, honey powder.  It's just dehydrated, powdered honey.  That's the sole ingredient.

Aha!  Did you picture the light bulb over my head there?  Here, I'll help:

So... on to my bright idea.

Many, many years ago, I had a commercial product that's no longer available.  It came in a small shaker container, and had a single ingredient:  finely ground beans.  Dry, finely ground beans.  What the instructions said to do was shake about a teaspoon of ground beans onto the palm of my hand, drip water into it and mush it around until it became a paste, rub it all over my face, and then wash it off.

Well... here I was, with almonds that I myself finely ground, oatmeal that I myself finely ground, some awesome bentonite clay at my disposal... and now powdered honey.  Sounds like a facial scrub to me!

We found shaker containers, similar to the one I used to have from that commercial bath and beauty company (only bigger), and voila!  We now have available for you our first facial scrub!  You use it the same way I do, the same way I used those ground beans oh so many years ago.  It doesn't get furry when stored.

And it's awesome.  May I present our brand new Almond Pastry Facial Scrub.

Oh, and by the way, here's a photo of the bath salts, so you know what we've been talking about so much:

And... another reminder.  When we reach 500 fans on our Facebook page, someone wins!

Update:  In addition to buying this great facial scrub, you can win it as part of our "For Your Face" prize pack in our first blog giveaway!

This post submitted to:

 

What a Weekend!

And what a week!  It was great, but I'm now awfully tired and sore.

Eric spent every evening this past week making candles for our craft show this past Saturday, and I helped on the evenings I wasn't rehearsing.  We got together a good stock of Lilac, Cedar, and Ocean Surf candles for the show.  No, these are not going up on the site at this point, but if you want information about them, feel free to contact us.

Our setup has much improved since our first vending experience.  You'll remember the tiny IHOP booth from December.  It looked like this:

Hey, we worked with what we had, right?  But we've moved up in the world.  Our booth at the Minerals Resort & Spa in Vernon, NJ looked like this:

And here are the closer views.  In this photo, from right to left one are our Ocean Surf, Cedar, Lilac, and Lemongrass & Sage candles, large and small baskets of loose soaps, and a sample gift basket.

On the left branch of the booth, we had soaps on a bamboo mat and more soaps and shampoos in the baskets.

And in the middle, we had more baskets of soap, the two-tiered shelf holding bath bombs and scrubs, and on the table were lip balms!  This time we had space for tester scrubs, so people could actually see, smell, and touch.  They really seemed to appreciate the opportunity and took full advantage.

All in all, it was a great show!  It was the first ever hosted by that resort, but they definitely plan to do it again.  I heard talk of another one in October, and one possibly in December, before the holidays I guess.  Plus, they want us back for their Bluegrass Festival on July 30!  Now that sounds like fun.  Music, partying, food, and vending.  We are so there!

One of the booths at the show was from a local small boutique in Vernon, and the owner seemed interested in discussing with us the possibility of carrying some of our products there too, which would be great.  Reef Botanicals has invaded Sussex County!  Ha!

That doesn't completely explain the exhaustion, though.

That night, I went to see a play with a friend, and then on Sunday I participated in the Manhattan MS Walk with a friend, my tenth year at the event.  Six miles through Manhattan and Brooklyn for a woman who doesn't exercise nearly enough is a tough haul, but it was really fun.  Always is.  I'm so glad one of our Deadwood Spa Bars is in the shower.  My aching muscles thanked me.

Last night, of course, more rehearsal.

All of that adds up to some serious tired.  But I'm still kickin', and off to rehearsal again in just a bit!  This is going to be a great show!