New Reviews!

Ah, my loyal reader(s?), as you know I have been lax in my posting of reviews.  I have so many excuses, but do you really care? I didn't think so.

What I feel many of you DO care about are the reviews. 

Along with my past two months of the "Ol' Stand By's"  (Heaven and Earth Essentials, Metropolis Soap Co., and Dirty Sanchez to name a few), I have broken into some new, lovely soaps that I think you should all know about.

First is a wonderfully unique soap I got from Paradise Essentials.  Now, I usually try to avoid ovrly indulging in my love of a scent, but this scent was so unique, unexpected, and lovely, I felt I just had to rave.  The scent I am drooling over is "Cucumber Mint."  Yes, you read that right.  Cucumber Mint.  Ok, I admit to some bias, as my favorite commercial scent is Cucumber Melon, however, Cucumber mint has the cool, light, barely there refreshing scent of the cucumber mixed with the bracing snap of the mint. It is wonderful!! This is one fo the reasons I love handmade.  Who else would take a chance on a scent like Cucumber Mint? Warning if you buy it: It lathers beautifully, and leaves your skin silky soft, but the bar is Orange.  The color threw me, but it is easy to overlook when using such a lovely feeling soap.

Another soap I have used and really enjoy is a whipped cream soap by Skin Candy.  I ahve always been a  little bit wary of whipped soaps, but this soap is so creamy and rich.  I love it.  IT has a good consistency, too.  It doesn't feel like you are dealing exclusively with air, making you wonder what you are paying for.  Instead, it has the consistency of rich whipped yogurt. Very decadent feeling as you smooth it onto your skin.

Finally, my last experiment these past few weeks has been with a new foaming salt scrub. This one is from Susie Q's.  The consistency of Susie Q's salt scrub is different than any other scrub I have used. Instead of feeling like a sandy paste, their salt scrub feels almost foamy.  The exfoliation is still there, but it isn;t like rubbing a rough cream onto your skin.  I gi back and forth about how I feela bout that, but for those of you who dislike the rough feeling of most salt scrubs, but still want to get the exfoliating benefits, I recommend you check out Susie Q's foaming scrub. Now, I admit, the picture I swiped is from their sugar scrub cubes, but they are so pretty, can you blame me?

Ok, that's it for the reviews for now, however, beware!!  I am gearing up my lists of sellers to buy from for the holidays, so the reiews SHOULD pick up!!  Enjoy your weekend!

What the....

Hello my wonderful readers!! 

You may have noticed that I haven't been around for a while.  Well, I had a no reviews week, then the kids were on spring break and we went to Las Vegas.  Since I went away, I didn't use any new items, so instead I will tell you about my handmade travel toiletries.

When I travel, I have a bunch of handmade samples that I travel with that I know I love.  Too often, I have broken out or had issues with hotel toiletries, so I let the husband use them and I bring my own.

The first thing I travel with is shine on shampoo and daily conditioner from Heaven and Earth Essentials. (scent this trip: citrus splash)  If I am traveling for a week, I also bring the damage remedy conditioner.  I like for them all to be the same scent, and HAEE has a BUNCH of different scents. As another bonus, the shampoo is a paste, so you don't need to fit it into the little quart ziploc bag the airlines are in love with.

I have gone a number of ways with soap.  I usually just grab a small sample of a soap that I know I love.  the little samples are the best, because they last about a week (the small slivers are great for a weekend), so you don't have to worry about bringing home the soap. This trip, it was a small soap sample from Metropolis Soap Company, whose soap I really love. Even the Dh has been brought over to the "dark side" by their Black Horror Soap.

For lotion, I prefer lotion that is in a pot.  though it can get under my nails, I have had a lot less issues with bag explosion with pot lotions.  This trip, it was Main Element Love's Rise and shine body and hand lotion. The scent worked really well with my shampoo and conditioner, and the little lotion pot fit well in my travel purse.

Perfume is always in the form of a little sample or two (depending on trip plans).  I have HUNDREDS of samples, from designer to handmade.  This trip, I took along two samples, one was August Sultry Sumer by Lemon Lollipop for day wear (Actually, I think the official scent is through their other company "four seasons fragrance," but the sample was from Lemon Lollipop), and the other was Dark Rapture by the Scent Diva (now known as the Soap Box) for evening wear. On a random aside, Dark Rapture perfume was the first thing I ever bought from an etsy seller after getting a sample in a sampler box.

My cosmetics are commercial, because I like the way I can get almost everything into a small compact.  Toothpaste is Aquafresh, and my sunblock is also commercial and a special one for super sensitive skin. Toss in a few Shout Wipes and my prescription meds, and that pretty much makes up my travel toiletries.

This trip was also a little bit special in the packing, because I knew we were staying in our timeshare. There is a HUGE soaking tub in the main bathroom, so I brought a few bath bombs from Sheba's Secrets. I let my daughter take a "fizzy bath" for the first time last month, and she is HOOKED! Both she and I had a few "fizzy baths" that week.

Also, again because we knew we would be in the timeshare, I brounght a silicone trivet, a little matchbook and a travel candle by Mrs Tattooed Geek. (Black Orchid).  These candles are great for getting the "hotel" smell out, and the "home" smell into your room.  The candle is in a tin, so there are no worries about wax spillage, and they last a LONG time.  Like I said, I brought ONE candle for the entire week.

So, sorry there are no reviews to write right now, but they will be back after next week! Have a great weekend!

Just a (OK, not so) Quick Yay!

I came home from class last night tired and frustrated. As I walked in the door though, my attitude did a 180, because I saw that I had some awesome boxes waiting for me.  I had 2 Little Black Boxes, a Sampler from Sampler Village, my order from Heaven and Earth Essentials, and my order from Angel Face Botanicals.

Of course, I fell on them like a starving dog on steak.

Then I woke up my kids by squealing in delight. Oops.

The hubby laughed at my reactions, stole some goodies out of my boxes, and told me to blog about the boxes, because I was so overwhelmed.

I am only going to talk briefly about the Little Black Boxes, because anyone who reads this blog knows I LOVE them.  This month was the Bath, body, and Candles theme box.  I know Kim had some problems with people flaking on their samples, but all I can say about the people who DID step up and provide samples is WOW.  There are some full sized items in some of those boxes!!  You all know how much I LOVE my bath and body product and candles, and I was psyched.  That was why I bough extra boxes this month, because I wanted a sample from everyone.  I didn't quite succeed, which makes me a little sad, but that's OK. I can't wait to start using, reviewing, and planning my purchases. :)

Yeah, I know....that was BRIEF????

My eye had been opened this month on facebook to another sample seller that people thought very highly of, and that's Traci at the Sampler Village.  I had never heard of them, but I decided to try out their Valentines day Mega Super Sampler (pictured on top....and sold out, though as of this writing, their regular sampler is still available!).  Again, all I can say is WOW. Everything came packaged in this pretty pink gift box wrapped with a bow, which was a really nice touch. The box was a lot bigger than I expected, too. 

The first thing that happened when I opened this box, is my husband swiped the chocolate dipped pretzel from RhodaRose.  While he happily chowed down on what he reports was a very delicious treat that I should think about purchasing more of (he never gave me any. *pout*), I rummaged through the box.  Now, I purposely bought one of the HUGE boxes with all of this month's Villagers in it, because I wanted too see what kinds of samples the Village got, and I'll tell you, they get some nice samples.  The Valentines box had quite a few sweets samples in it too, which I of course LOVE, too.  That may be due tot he box being a "Valentine's Day" sample, but that's OK with me!  There were a lot of bath and body products, some candles, jewelry, paper products, pet treats, what have you!  In all, I was very plesed and excited!

I'm really glad I tried out the Sampler Village.  Now I have two high quality and great sampler boxes I can buy every month to be exposed to even MORE sellers!!  For future review purposes, I have done my best to keep the samples from the Village and the LBB samples separate, though some sellers appeared in both boxes.


After all of this happiness and squealing, I opened up my order from Angel Face Botanicals.  You may recall a review I made earlier this month about their "awareness" soap.  Well, I ordered a full sized bar of it, I loved it so much, and I ordered some bath salts, because, hey, I love me some bath salts.  Everything arrived extremely well packaged and safely, and into the box, they had tossed a BUNCH of soap samples!!  FREE GIFTIES!!  WAHOO!!  I swear, I was more excited than I was at Christmas....probably mostly because I had given most of my Angel Face Botanicals products away, and I was feeling sad that I didn't have more of my own. :)

Finally, I got to my order from Heaven and Earth Essentials. They have figured out my weakness at HAEE.  LOTS of different scents.  They have scents I have never heard of or seen anywhere else!  I MUST try them all!!  I love that they have a lot of different sampler packs available too, because in general, I prefer to buy a lot of different sample sized products.  I probably have adult ADD.  I get easily bored even with using the same lotion or soap every day. I like the smaller samples over the full sized products, because then I am not trying to store half used soaps or lotion when I tired of that scent or product for a while.  True, I will also buy full sized samples when I LOVE something, but that's because I know I will WANT to go back to it over and over again.

Back to Heaven and Earth Essentials. Barbara has figured me out!  Every sample was a different scent!  AND she sent me a whole little handmade satchel of EXTRAS!!  This is why I love this company.  They really care about their customers.  The box I got myself over the holidays from HAEE was also full of little extras, and it was so lovely.  I really recommend their products!

Speaking of sellers, I had some problems with some sellers over the holidays. Packages not arriving or coming late. Poor quality of items.  Breakage due to poor packaging.  People just NOT SENDING STUFF, etc.  Because of those problems, the sellers who really came through, and then added little extras (which I could use to cover the problems) got an extra little spot in my heart.  Angel Face Botanicals and Heaven and Earth Essentials were FABULOUS in that regard, along with other sellers who I have already reviewed or will be reviewing soon, and will be sure to let you know about that. Now, I know I tend to buy a lot at a time (because I buy samples and sampler packs a lot, I tend to want to make things worth the shipping), I may get special treatment, but I have had sellers send me special extras when all I did was buy a bar of soap or a single lip balm, so you never know.
I have to note, though. I had NO PROBLEMS from any seller I have gotten anything from in my purchased samplers, be it LBB, Sampler Village, or other sampler packs. I have also never had a problem with anyone I reviewed on my blog, though I admit I have not purchased from a few of them YET. I don't anticipate problems, though.  The problems I had were mostly random people I found on etsy or the web, and I had some warning signs show up with those sellers that I have not gotten from anyone I reviewed (poor communication being a big warning sign). 

So, I'm done sharing my extreme excitement!  I hope I can get you excited, too!!

This Week in Reviews! 1/14-1/21

THis week's blog is, in some ways, a testament to my laziness.  This morning when I finally got around to unpaking my travel case of toiletries and cosmetics from the trip I took IN DECEMBER, I found a few items I had used on the trip that needed to be blogged about.  Yes, that's right. the only thing I had unpacked from my toiletries from a trip from 12/25-1/1 was the little bar of soap I had remembered was still wet, and that I had packed separately.

Oops....

So, anyway, now that I have admitted to the world of laziness that I live in, I feel the need to post about some items I used on that trip along with this week's items.

Here we go!

I am going to start off with something I have whined about before.  In an earlier blog, if you recall, I whined about my allergy to artificial sweeteners advancing to the point that artificially sweetened lip balm works like a lip (and tongue!) plumper on me. I had bemoaned the fact that I just could not find flavored artificial sweetener free lip balm.  WELL!  I got a few emails, and did some more searching, and I found a few sellers making unsweetened lip balm!  I am hoarding them and waiting to open a new one until I use the old one, so I currently only have one review, though I found three balms.

The first lip balm I opened was Maple Hill Farm's "Lemon" natural lip balm. Though it can feel a little grainy in the stick container, this lip balm goes on smoothly, with none of that grainy-ness transferring to your lips.  If anything, the grainy helps open up the wrinkles in your lips to get a better coverage with less balm.  I don't feel like I have to reapply or slather on this balm to get the benefits from using it. The lemon flavor/scent is light and not over powering. There's just enough to cover up the normnal "lip balm" smell and taste.  I REALLY like this lip balm. Right now, it is living in my purse. When I found the trip items, I remembered this balm in my purse.  I am going to buy another one after I finish the ones I already have.  The price was good, too.  Maple Hill Farm also sells soaps, body butter, and laundry soap.  I bought a few soaps when I bought the lip balm, which I will review after I use them, though they look lovely.  Buying a few soaps also offsets any shipping, and makes the price even better.

One of the things I bought for this trip was Citronella Skin Balm from Sandy Creek Soap. Every time we go away, I end up getting eaten alive.  A lot of bug sprays make me break out, and I hate the stink.  This skin balm is all natural and goes on like lotion.  it smells nice, and best of all, it WORKS!! I would put a light coat of balm on my skin before I get dressed in the morning, and reapply after going swimming. This was the first trip I didn't spend half the night every night up scratching my bug bites.  I even felt safe putting it on my kids!  I am never going away without this balm again!  It lasts forever, too! They have other scents of body balm, too, which would be great to use as a solid perfume or lightly scented lotion.  Sandy Creek soaps sells a lot of other products, too.  In fact, they will be appearing again in the next few months, because I got a handful of their soap samples, too.   

Because I am obsessed with candles and smelling good (and we were going to be in a timeshare for a week), I brough a couple of travel candles from Mrs Tattooed Geek.  I had gotten these candles in some Little Black Boxes and never gotten around to burning them before.  What a mistake!  They burned cleanly and well, lasted a good amount of time, and really threw some good scent!  Next time I go away for any length of time, I am picking up a few more travel candles!  They are in a little tin, so the candle is contained, but not in breakable glass. I just pack a silicone heat pad to protect the surface, buy (or get) matches at my destination, set everythign up, and burn some sweet smelling candles wherever I am!  The scent that I had that I liked best was Sugar Skulls, but I love some of the scents she has listed in her shop.  I can NOT wait to have money again so I can go on a candle binge!!  Mrs. Tattooed Geek is at the top of my list.

This week's soap is Sun Ripened Raspberry by S.V.Soaps. I am using a sample I got in my Little Black Box.  I like this soap.  It has some nice color layers with lovely rosepetals and dried raspberries in the soap.    Although I put in a link to this seller's stand alone website, they are also on Etsy.  S.V. Soaps also sells body butter, bath bombs, items for men, lip balm, and so many other things.  Having used their sample of soap, I would love to try some of their other items.

I also figured I would let you all know that I am STILL using the shampoo and conditioner from Heaven and Earth Essentials.  I LOVE IT, and it lasts forever. I am rotating 5 scents, each in 2 oz containers, and after 3 months, I am only about half way through all 5 scents.  I know I have mentioned them before, but seriously, the more I use their products, the more I love them.

My last review is of a non-consumable.  It is a mug that my sister got me for Christmas from Larry Spears Pottery.  I have been using it all week to drink my tea out of.  It is a great size (I like my mugs BIG), and the handle is very comfortable.  It was shipped well packed and in a timely manner.  I got a lot of compliments on my mug, and the husband uses it behind my back a lot.  All positive things to recommend Larry Spears.  What I REALLY want from him is his Soup Tureen. I covet that thing.  I have a couple of soups that are my specialty, and I LOVE the concept behind the tureen.  I just don't have the money right now.  Oh, but SOON.  Soon, I hope, I will be able to splurge on it. It is fabulous looking,a dn if it is made with the same craftsmanship as the mug I got, it will end up being a display piece as WELL as a highly used functional item.  I will leave you with a picture, so you too can revel in its magnificence.

Talk at ya later!

This Week's Reviews 11/29-12/6

I am changing up the review process here.  I think I will mention just the things that I finished up using this week, and I am going to start mentioning my non-consumables that I bought, received and/or used this week on a one-shot review basis....Some of these items, I have had for a while, so in the beginning, it's going to depend on my actually remembering who made some of them. Fortunately, much of my stuff was bought on etsy, so I can go back and check my purchase history.  Gotta love that feature on Etsy. :)

As far as Shampoo and conditioner are concerned, I am still working my way through the sampler I purchased from heaven and Earth Essentials.  I am now on their "Juliet" scent.  I like it.  I feel bad reviewing scents, so I am going to stop. I really jsut feel like it is too much of a taste thing. A scent that I love, you may hate, and vice versa.  Unless I have a comment about a scent being too light or heavy, I'll just stick with the product itself.

The soap I just finished using was Heathen's Hearth "Pink Sugar Type".  It was a sample I got out of the Little Black Boxes.  I have to say, I was very pleased with this soap. It lathered nicely, and left my skin feeling soft and clean.  It did have the typical problem tht I have with almost all of my handmade soaps, in that it got all gooky at the end, but I am thinking this is due to the amount of oils and other things that make hese soaps so creamy, so I just put the little pices that are left and gooky on a crocheted scrubby, and use the scrubby as a loofah until the soap is gone. I really liked this soap, and now this seller is on my list of sellers to buy some soap from. They have some REALLY COOL looking soaps for sale now, too. Very Celtic.  Maybe I can justify a Christmas pressie for the hubby??  Hmmm....

With this month being so rough, it has very much been a candles and tea time here.  I had a sinus infection for most of the month of November that went into strep and I am still fighting the after effects of, so no incense has been burned here for a while.

My tea has been being drunk out of a mug I have that is one of my favorites.  It was made by Jeff Guerrero.  I haven't seen this style offered by him for a little while now, but I really love this mug. I have a very similar shaped mug to this one in a smaller size made by him, too, that I will use when I do not want my huge cup of tea in the morning (if I don't have the time to get through 16+oz at a pop).

As far as candles ar concerned, I have to give a great shout out to both Whiff and Sniff Candles and Redneck Candles.  I have been joint burning a few jelly jar candles from Redneck Candles and some wickless candles from Whiff and Sniff to get the scents I want for Christmas. I'm sure I could have EITHER seller make me a custom blend, but I'm lazy and want them RIGHT NOW. :) 

Right now, I have a "berries and Branches" candle going by Redneck Candles, and a "going Amish" wickless going from Whiff and Sniff.  Both companies' candles burn nice and clean and give off a good amount of scent for a good amount of time.  Of the Redneck candles, this is the second one I have burned (The first was "halo" scent, which I also liked a lot). They last a LONG time.  Way longer than the 4-6 hours they say when you buy them.  I also love the jellt jar. No need to find a candle holder to catch the wax.  The Whiff and sniff shooter is the perfect size for my wickless candle burner.  This is IMPORTANT!  I have had a few tarts that have been too big for some of my burners over the years, and they made a real mess.

With the recent death of yet another digital watch, I am wearing the awesome watch I got from Radcow all the time now.  I had gotten away from earing it, because I teend to forget to take my watch off before getting into the shower, and I didn't want to ruin it, but I am not unhappy about wearing it allt he time, until I can go buy another cheap watch to not worry abotu destroying in the shower. It is a gorgeous leather cuff watch that I get all kinds of compliments on, it fits perfectly, and I love it.

I think that's about it for now.  I am making a bundle of purchases for the holidays, so there should be a bunch of reviews coming soon!