Maylee's Garden...the Shop that Started it All...

I was talking to someone the other day about handmade bath and body products, and she asked me how I got into using them.  She was telling em that she has always felt skeptical of handmade body care products and whether or not they are actually as effective as store bought products.  This woman had noticed that I don't seem to be a very "crunchy" person, so to find out that I use almost exclusively handmade bath and body products surprised her.

It got me thinking. How DID it all start?

The answer is actually pretty simple.

As you may well know, I have been sewing for myself and my kids for a long time.  For a long time I was a member of a "hippie sewing" group.  I know, I know. ME a Hippie??  Well, yes.  I have gotten away from much fo the patchwork loveliness in my everyday wear, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have a number of years where that was pretty much all that I wore.  I also tend to be relatively politically radical, and have always been a proponent of conservation and recycling.

On that board, I met some wonderful women who made their own bath and body products.  But I never tried them. For YEARS.

Then I started my Jewelry Business (Now Known As AngelTree Gems).  One of these wonderful ladies on the board saw and loved a few of my jewelry pieces, but she was not in a position to purchase them, so we worked out a barter.  She would send me a few bars of soap, adn I would send her some jewelry.  My thinking was, "I'll just have them around if I needed some hand soap).

Well, the soap arrived, and one bar smelled SOOOOOO good, I just had to try it.  Soon I noticed how soft, yet not greasy my hands felt after using the soap, so I brought it into the shower with me to use all over.  My skin came out of that shower softer and better feeling than it had ever felt even using fancy bath gels and creamy clenasers.

The rest, as they say, is history.  I may never go back to commercial soaps (well, after I finish my BB&B stash in my closet).

Who was that wonderful woman?  The one who got me hooked on handmade soap?  Libby of Maylee's Garden.  She hasn't popped up in my reviews, because her soaps are my go-to soaps.  I have bars stashed all around the house.  And her bars last FOREVER!  I just get sick of using the same scent for a month, so I switch them out a lot.

Another great thing about Libby, is all of her products are Vegan.  I, personally, am not a vegan, but I know many people are.  She caters to this group without them having to sacrifice quality, scent, or beauty.   

Libby also makes laundry soap (I am still scared to use this in my high efficiency washer), perfume oil, dreadlock shampoo, body butter, and some of the most awesome smelling bath salts EVER.

Check her out, You will not regret it. I highly recommend her soaps, they are rich smelling and gorgeous.  Maybe we can even convince her to make one of her fancy swirled circle soaps that are so gorgeous.