The Natural Beauty Workshop

Strawberry Pedicure Spa Party

Spa parties are a delightful way to spend time with family or friends.  They make ideal ladies nights, bachelorette parties, or birthday parties.  They can even be tailored to pre-teen and teen sleepover parties.  You can use our Spa Party Line of Kits to inspire an entire afternoon or evening of fun. 

Use these fun ideas to throw a Strawberry Pedicure Party!  

Kits

• Strawberry Slushy Scrub Kit
• Shimmering Thai Coconut Bed Time Powder Kit

Use our Strawberry Slushy Scrub to whip up a batch of sweet smelling, exfoliating, and moisturizing body scrub.  Up to six guests can join in the fun, scrubbing and buffing their feet until they are soft and smooth.

Follow up the Strawberry Slushy Scrub with our Shimmering Thai Coconut Bed Time Powder.  After drying their feet, guests can massage a little of this gently scented powder onto their feet, leaving them silky and refreshed.  This kit comes with enough powder for six guests to take home their own canister.

I reccomend starting the evening off with some drinks or cocktails, than working as a group to make up both batches of spa goodies from your kits.  Check out these delicious drink recipes for inspiration!

Drinks

• Strawberry Basil Mojito
• Coconut Guava Martini
• Strawberry Lemonade (non-alcoholic)
• Watermelon Coconut Ice Pops (non-alcoholic)

Once the spa activities have ended, it would be lovely to serve some hors deuvres and/or desserts.  Here are just a few suggestions for recipes that would go well with this kind of party.  Let these recipes be an inspiration for more great ideas!  How would strawberries and coconuts inspire your own menu?

Food

• Balsamic Strawberry Bruschetta
• Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Candied Pecans
• Coconut Shrimp with Mango Chili Cream
• Coconut Curry Puffs
• Strawberry Lemonade Bars
• Coconut Macaroons

Introducing The Natural Pet Care Section at From Nature With Love

Let's say you have a medicine cabinet filled with natural ingredients that you use to care for yourself and your family.  You may have found yourself wondering whether or not this magic chest of herbs and oils could benefit your pets as well.  With a little guidance, you certainly can use natural ingredients to enhance your pet's health and well being.  You just need to know a few ground rules before getting started.

First of all, it's important to remember that though our pets may share similar spirits to us, their bodies are alltogether different.  An ingredient that does one thing for a human could do something very different for a dog, or could even poison a cat!  Make sure that you research any ingredient thoroughly before giving it to a pet.

Another thing to keep in mind is dosage.  Pets are much smaller, and their systems process the active chemicals found in natural ingredients much differently.  For instance, while certain essential oils are safe for use with dogs, their enhanced olfactory senses make it necessary to dilute them even further than you would for a human child.  On top of that, dogs come in many sizes.  The smaller the dog, the smaller the dosage.

There are some ingredients that can actually harm your pets.  Cats are especially sensitive to essential oils.  Their internal systems cannot metabolize most essential oils, making even the tiniest amount potentially poisonous.  For this reason, many aromatherapists and holistic vets advise against ever using any essential oils with cats.  Instead, hydrosols or herbal tonics are often used.

This may sound a little overwhelming, but with proper education and guidance, making natural pet care products for your furry family members can become a regular part of your routine.  Look for well qualified authors when gathering recipes for your pets, and remember, it doesn't hurt to double check the safety of the ingredients in your recipe.  It can be very helpful to keep some books on hand that cover some of the basics.  One book that I really enjoy refferring to is Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals by Kristen Leigh Bell.  This book goes in depth into natural pet care for dogs, cats, horses, and small animals.  We also carry two great books on natural pet care in our book store.  Check out Dr. Kidd's Guide to Herbal Cat Care and Dr. Kidd's Guide to Herbal Dog Care.

It's also important to choose only the highest quality ingredients when formulating for your pets.  From Nature With Love makes that easy with our new Natural Pet Care Ingredients Section.  You can be sure that the ingredients offered here are always as described, and you can contact us anytime if you have questions about the purity, origin, or nature of our ingredients. 

Have you had experience creating natural products for your pets?  We'd love to hear your stories!

Egg Oil

Egg Oil?  Really?

It may sound unbelievable, but Egg Oil could just be the next big thing in skin and hair care.  Just think of all the years people have been slathering their heads in mayonnaise.  What they were probably after, though they may not have known it, was cholesterol.  Cholesterol has shown to dramatically affect dry and damaged hair and skin.  Egg Oil has cholesterol in plenty, and because it is protein free, it means that the cholesterol can be readily absorbed into hair and skin.  

Egg Oil also is also rich in essential fatty acids, including two of the most sought after acids, Omega 3 and Omega 6.  It is highly moisturizing and emollient, and some believe that it could even help prevent hair loss.  So how exactly is this wonder oil made?  The process begins with pasteurizing egg yolks, making sure that the resulting oil will be safe for cosmetic use.  The yolks are then filtered, and the oil is solvent extracted.  The end product is a hazy yellow, moderately thick oil rich in cholesterol and fatty acids.

Egg Oil is ideal for use in hair care, as it acts as a humectant, drawing moisture in as it conditions.  Studies also show it to have anti-inflammatory properties, making it a great choice for dry, damaged, and sensitive skin.  Try using Egg Oil in conditioners, hot oil treatments, masks, balms, body lotions and butters. 

Learn even more about Egg Oil here, at Natural Sourcing.

Deliciously Beautiful, Using Apple Ingredients in Natural Skin Care

We've reached September, and though it may still be quite toasty in some corners of the country, the dwindling temperatures tell us that Autumn is upon us.  I don't know about you, but one of the first things that comes to mind when thinking of the Fall is apples.  It must be due to growing up in New England.  Every year my family and friends would make the trek to some nearby orchard to pick our own apples.  These days were played out against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, and a setting of small, twisted trees, laden with brightly colored apples.  For every few picked, one was inevitably bitten into.  The cool, crisp taste of a fresh picked apple is something truly special, a moment that you and your mouth may cherish forever, or at least until next year.  

So it is easy to admit your love for apples.  What may surprise you is their ability to love you back.  Apples contain a bounty of natural enzymes, antioxidants, and nutrients that promote beauty.  Whether they are used fresh, or processed into ingredients, apples make pretty.  
When used fresh, apples can help to brighten your skin, giving you a fresher, more lively appearance.  Try pureeing fresh apple in a food processor than adding it to your favorite mask or cleanser recipe.  Apples can also be distilled into teas, herbal infusions, or tonics to create skin birghtening toners or facial wetting agents. 

Apple Cider Vinegar presents a wildly different set of attributes for use in beauty recipes.  This fermented liquid has a knack for balancing the ph of skin and hair.  It is often used in hair rinses and treatments to cleanse buildup from other products, refreshing and rejuvenating tired locks.  Using Apple Cider Vinegar as a regular hair rinse can help with dandruff and irritated scalps.  Some even claim that it can help slow hair loss.  On the skin, it can also be used as a tonic for everything from bruising to acne.  Try using Apple Cider to soothe bug bites, sun burns, or rashes.  

Here are some recipes that include apple ingredients.  Use these as inspiration to create your own apple based skin and hair care products! 

• Apple Granola Face Mask
• Herbal Hair Rinse
• Ayurvedic Hair Rinse
• Rosemary Walnut Shampoo & Vinegar Rinse

Creating Everyday Facial Cleansers From Natural Ingredients

For many people, detergent based cleansers, or even natural soaps, can be too harsh to use as facial cleansers.  Healthy skin depends on a delicate balance of nutrition, exfoliation, and moisture.  Often, detergent based cleansers that include sulfates or sodiums, strip too much moisture from the skin, upsetting its natural harmony.  If your skin is sensitive, dry, or acne prone, you may want to consider switching to a simpler cleanser.  With just a few simple ingredients, you can create an all natural formulation to cleanse, exfoliate, and refresh your skin on a daily basis.

My favorite type of cleanser is made with dry ingredients, and wetted at the time of use.  This makes it easy to store, safe to keep on your shelf, and simple to use.  Start your recipe with a mild exfoliant.  My favorites are Oat Flour, Adzuki Bean Powder, and Almond Flour.  These ingredients will gently cleanse and scrub away dead skin cells.  You can also include an additive to match your skin care needs.  Milk Powder will amp up the exfoliation value by including lactic acid.  Honey can be added for antiseptic properties, or Kaolin Clay can be included to help draw excess oil.  The powder phase can be further enhanced with Powdered Extracts, or Powdered Herbs if you like, but really, all you need is one mild exfoliant to get started.

Next, compose your wetting agent.  For the simplest formula, try using plain water.  Hydrosols are also excellent wetting agents.  Choose one that suits your skin to further customize your cleanser.  Other great wetting ingredients are plain yogurt, milk, or tea.  

Store your wetting agent separately from your powdered ingredients.  When it is time to wash your face, combine just a small amount of each, forming a single serving of smooth paste.  Gently massage the paste onto moistened skin in a circular motion.  Rinse, and follow with a toner and moisturizer.  By, the way, Hydrosols also make great toners.  Consider using the same Hydrosol as a wetting agent and toner to minimize your collection of beauty ingredients. 

Here are some basic recipes using the information that we've discussed here.  I've categorized them by skin type for ease of use.

All Skin Types:

• 1/4 cup Oat Flour
• 1 tablespoon Honey Powder
• 1 tablespoon Milk Powder
• 1 tablespoon White Kaolin Clay
• Wetting Agent: Rose Hydrosol

Oily Skin:

• 1/4 cup Adzuki Bean Powder
• 1 tablespoon Yellow Kaolin Clay
• 1 tablespoon Neem Powder
• 1 tablespoon Honey Powder
• Wetting Agent: Lemon Balm Hydrosol

Dry / Sensitive Skin:

• 1/4 cup Oat Flour
• 1 tablespoon Honey Powder
• 1 tablespoon Milk Powder
• Wetting Agent: Yarrow Hydrosol

Combination Skin (Dry, Sensitive & Acne Prone)

• 1/4 cup Oat Flour
• 1 tablespoon Honey Powder
• 1 tablespoon Milk Powder
• 1 tablespoon Neem Powder
• Wetting Agent: Lavandula Hydrosol