The Natural Beauty Workshop

New Blog Features: Chat & Search

We are always looking for new ways to make the Natural Beauty Workshop a better resource for our readers.  Recently, we added two new tools to make using this blog a more interactive experience.  First, we added a new and improved Search Bar powered by Lijit. 

Lijit Search

You can find this tool on the right sidebar of the blog, or on our new Search Page. If you are looking for a special recipe, or want to learn more about a particular skin care ingredient, try entering it into the search bar. The tool will automatically provide you with a list of related articles, posts, or recipes!

We've also added a Chat Window to our sidebar.  Find it on the right side of the page, under Questions and Comments.  Powered by Plugoo, this interactive widget allows readers to chat one on one with Emmy, our blog hostess, and primary author.  Use this window to ask questions about ingredients, formulations, or techniques.  If Emmy is offline, you can leave a message (please include your email) for Emmy to respond to later.

If you'd rather email your questions or comments, send Emmy an email at hostess@naturalbeautyworkshop.com.  We're always happy to help with our readers recipe or ingredient questions.  

Rosehip

 

The Rosehip plant produces an amazing little berry that is not only packed with Vitamin C, Essential Fatty Acids, and healthy minerals, it contains an oil that is prized as a natural skin and hair care ingredient.  Rosehip Oil comes in an amazing amount of varieties, the most popular of which are straight up, cold pressed Rosehip Seed Oil and Organic Rosehip Seed Oil.  These two Oils are fairly delicate, with a shelf life of only around 6 months.  This makes where you purchase your Rosehip Oil very important.  You must work with a trusted retailer, or you could run the risk of receiving an expired batch.  Because of Rosehip Oil's high fatty acid content, it can sometimes have a slightly acidic aroma, even when it is fresh.  This makes testing freshness "by nose" pretty difficult.  It's a good idea to keep track of your fragile Oils, like Rosehip, by labeling them with the date you received them.

So why would you want to work with a fragile Oil, such as Rosehip?  For starters, the high content of Essential Fatty Acids, Vitamins, and Minerals make it a very nutritious choice for both the hair and skin.  Its natural antioxidant value makes it great for anti-aging formulas, and its light, penetrating texture makes Rosehip perfect for facial creams, masks, and even oil based serums.  Rosehip Oil is said to help slow premature aging by reducing the formation of lines and wrinkles, reduce the formation of scarring, and may even be able to help regenerate new skin cells.

Rosehip CO2 Extract boasts all of these fine qualities and more, being a more pure and concentrated form of the standard Oil.  It has a slightly astringent property which makes it great for oily skin, combination skin, as well as mature or damaged skin.  It is also much more stable than standard Rosehip Seed Oil, having a shelf life of about 1 year.  Rosehip CO2 Extract is a great way to incorporate the properties of Rosehip Seed into formulations on a smaller scale.  This extract can be used at as little as 2% to begin adding Rosehip properties to a formula.

For water based recipes or ingredients, formulators can use Powdered Rosehip Extract*.  This water dispersible powder is concentrated at a rate of 4:1, meaning that it is four times as strong as the original extract.  Powdered Rosehip Extract is also rich in Vitamin C, which is rarely found in stable ingredients such as this.  When stored in a cool, dry, place, Powdered Rosehip Extract has a shelf life of about 2 years.

Rosehip Powder and Rosehip Seed Powder provide yet another way to use Rosehip in skin and hair care recipes.  These crushed Rosehip powders can be used as natural exfoliants in scrubs, masks, or ubtans.  They can also be infused into water to make natural tub teas or wetting agents.

*Click here to learn more about using Powdered Extracts.

Salt Scrub Recipes - Plus, Save 50% on Sea Salt at From Nature With Love

For a limited time, From Nature With Love is offering an amazing discount of 50% on all sizes of Fine Grain Sea Salt.  Visit our Sales & Specials Page to take advantage of this special offer while supplies last.  Its uniform texture, light color, and rich mineral content makes Sea Salt a perfect ingredient for Salt Scrubs.  It works well with almost any scent or color choice, and is totally shelf stable.  This is the perfect time to stock up on this must-have ingredient.  

Need some inspiration for what to do with all of that Fine Sea Salt?  No problem!  The following recipes from The Natural Beauty Workshop feature Fine Sea Salt as the main ingredient.

• Ginger Crush Salt Scrub
• Lemongrass Salt Scrub
• Melon Cooler Salt Scrub
• Monoi De Tahiti Summer Salt Scrub
• Sunrise Salt Scrub
• Trick or Treat Mini Salt Scrubs
• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Scrub

Oatstraw

With its soothing properties and rich silica content, Oat Straw Powder makes an excellent addition to both hair and skin products.  When used in shampoos, hair conditioners, rinses, and hair masks, Oat Straw imparts a softness and shine that your hair will love.  It can also soothe itchy or irritated scalps.  In skin care products, Oat Straw acts as a calming agent, making it great for sensitive skin formulations.

When infused into water or oil, Oat Straw Powder releases a deep green color into the infusion.  It is so potent, that it can even be used to color both melt & pour and cold or hot  process soaps.  The Powdered Herb is great for creating oil or water infusions, bath teas, hair masks, or facials.  Oat Straw is also available as a Powdered Extract.  The water dispersible extract can be used to impart Oat Straw properties into almost any water based formula.  It works very well in shampoos, skin creams, lotions, and conditioners.  Oat Straw Powdered Extract will not, however, add any noticeable color to a formula.

Valentine's Day Photo Blast

In celebration of Valentine's Day, we've decided to share a heaping portion of lovey dovey shots from our Flickr Photo Group.  These love inspired projects warmed my heart, and I hope they warm yours too!  

From Soapy Chica:

From Campo di Fiore:

 

From Aquarian Bath:

From Morgan Street:

From Purple Sparkle:

From Anita's Sweet Treat Crafts:

  

From Nk9708:

From Soapier:

 

From Soap Scentsations:

 

From a Breath of French Air:

From Drachenzuber - Seifenmanufaktur:

From CaliBeijaFlor:

I hope you enjoyed the spread!  If you'd like to participate in our Flickr Photo Group, you can join here for free.

Introducing the From Nature With Love Color Palette Tool

Pairing colors and scents is an important part of creating gorgeous, memorable skin care products.  Creating a presentation that pleases the eye will not only attract people to pick something up, it can actually enhance the overall experience.  Because of our subjective senses, choosing the right color to accompany a particular aroma can play a huge role in a recipe's success.  

To help make color choices easier, From Nature With Love has created a searchable Color Palette Tool that allows you to browse our massive selection of Fragrance Oils and Candle Fragrance Oils by color.  This innovative tool can help your creative process start from the visual end, giving formulators a new source of inspiration for recipe planning.  If you prefer to start your creative process with scent, you'll be happy to know that each of our individual Fragrance Oil and Candle Fragrance Oil product pages are now marked with suggested color choices. 

In the future, we'll be adding lots of other products to our Color Palette Tool.  Keep an eye out for our next addition.  Essential Oils will be added soon!

What are your favorite color and scent combinations?  We'd love to hear about them in the comments below!

The Beauty By the Batch Artsan Directory

Having trouble finding a particular handmade beauty or skin care product?  Looking to find new artisans to purchase things like candles, mineral makeup, or even green home care products from?  Then check out The Artisan Directory at Beauty By the Batch.  The Artisan Directory makes it easy for shoppers to find just about anything they may need.  And because the Directory only features products that are made "by the batch", you can be sure to find something special.  

You can browse artisans by specialty and product range, or in alphabetical order.  While you are visiting Beauty By the Batch, make sure the stop by the Personal Care Article Section.  Beauty By the Batch features informational articles on a wide range of subjects, including baby care, aromatherapy, hair care, and more.