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.  

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.

We've Been Added to Alltop!

We're very excited to have the Natural Beauty Workshop added to Alltop.com, one of the most comprehensive blog catalogs on the web.  Not only does Alltop bring together the best of the best when it comes to the blogosphere, it organizes its content very well, making it a breeze to find great blogs that are writing about the topics you love.  Thanks for the add, Alltop!

Want to get your blog featured on Alltop? Check out their submissions page for details!

Be My Valentine?

Who doesn't heart hearts?  What lady doesn't adore roses, bouquets, and boxes of delicate chocolate truffles?  I certainly do, and it looks like the members of our Natural Beauty Workshop Flickr Photo Group do as well.  Here is a taste of the lovely things we have posted in the group pool.  We'll post another set on Valentine's Day.  If you'd like to be included in our second Valentine's Day set, add your Valentine's themed project photos to The Natural Beauty Workshop's Flickr Photo Group before Valentine's Day!

Sweetheart Soaps by Soap Scentsations


Rosebud by Drachenzuber - Seifenmanufaktur


Cinnamon Lip Balm by A Breath of French Air

Visions of Sugar Plums

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things about the holidays is the presence of delicious treats everywhere I look.  Cookies, candies, and sweets are a weakness of mine, so to keep myself under control I love to load up on soaps and bath and body goodies that remind me of the tasty treats that I adore. The following photos were collected from The Natural Beauty Workshop's Flickr Photo Pool. 

Chocolate Soaps by MorganStreet

Sugar Scrub Cubes by ABreathofFrenchAir

Ginger Babies by SoapScentsations

CP Cupcakes by DutchKnitting

Bath Cupcake by Drachenzuber - Seifenmanufaktur

CP Soap Cupcake by HintofEden

Cupcakes für Bad und Dusche by Nati1912

We love seeing your creations!  If you have photos to share, please join us at The Natural Beauty Workshop Flickr Photo Pool.

Handmade Holiday Projects

The Holidays are a great time to get crafty.  If you create handmade skin care products, soaps, or bath goodies, you probably have a pretty good stash of supplies that can make all kinds of amazing holiday projects.  You would be surprised at the many uses some of the ingredients in your skin care stash may have. 

Crystal Snowflakes by Martha Stewart

These beautiful crystalline snowflakes are made using pipe cleaners and borax.  I discovered this adorable craft project while visting one of my favorite craft blogs, Wee Wonderfuls.  A photo of a snowflake she made is featured above.  You can find complete directions here, at MarthaStewart.com.

Simmering Potpourri by Meadowsweet Days

Dive into your herb stash to create a simmering pot of fragrant holiday potpourri!  This simple method encourages you to use what you have on hand to create an intensely fragrant pot of holiday cheer.  You can also create great gifts by packaging simmering potpourri ingredients with a quick set of instructions.  Check out this easy recipe at the blog, Meadowsweet Days. 

Beeswax Tea Lights by AromaTalk

Wendy, at the AromaTalk Blog shows you how to create simple, beeswax candles.  Tea lights are a great way to try out candle making for the first time.  Because they are so small and handy, you can give them as gifts or stash them at home with the knowledge that they will surely be put to good use. 

Last December The Essential Herbal Blog featured a huge list of holiday craft projects this year, all of which use herbs or other natural materials.  Check out the links below to see all of the inspiring projects that Tina featured on her blog:

• Bath Salts & Memory Boxes
• Vanilla Bean Crafts
• Edibles: Deviled Mixed Nuts, Cinnamon Tea, & Almond Bark
• Simmering Potpourri
• Spritzes & Powders
• Chai Tea & Sugarplums
• Tea Blends & Gel Air Fresheners
• Sachets & Eye Pillows
• Incense Papers
• Herb Kit & Lip Balm
• Pomanders, Potpourri, & Spicy Ornaments
• Herb Vinegars & Oils
• Massage Oils
• Sweet Treats & Facial Gifts
• Tub Tea
• Spice Necklace

From Nature With Love Affiliate Program

The natural and handmade skin care industry is blessed with a lively, ever-growing online community.  Blogs, shops, forums, and informational sites abound on the web, creating a vast network of knowledge, and support across the internet.  This community can be an invaluable resource intellectually, but thanks to the Affiliate Program at From Nature With Love, members of this online community can generate extra revenue as well. 

The Affiliate Program at From Nature With Love provides relevant websites with special, tracking links to FromNatureWithLove.com.  These links are used to direct traffic from your blog or website to From Nature With Love.  They can be included as banner ads, in articles, or even in recipes, when listing ingredients.  When a visitor from your website makes a purchase at From Nature With Love, you can earn up to 8% commission on the sale.  So, while you are directing your readers to a supplier you know and trust, you are earning extra revenue from your website.  Occasionally, we even create special kits or ingredient samplers to help cross-promote our affiliates.  This is a great option for websites or blogs that showcase their own recipes.

Click here to learn more about the Affiliate Program at From Nature With Love, and to apply for the program.

Ode to Calendula

October's birth flower is Calendula, one of the most commonly used herbal flowers used in natural skin care and medicine.  Calendula is a very useful ingredient.  It's soothing properties make it a favorite for use in everything from bar soaps to salves, serums, and lotions.  Here are some lovely photos from our Flickr Photo Pool that are making great use of Calendula.

Flowers & Herbs by Hello Crafty

Fizzy Bath Bombs by MorganStreet

Earthly Goods Complexion Bars by Aroma-Herbals

Calendula Blossom Soap by Herb Friend

Kiss My Tattoo Healing Balm by MeaCulpaBodyandBath

Comfrey.Calendula.Herblovers.Castille by AquarianBath

If you have photos of your handmade bath, body, and skin care creations we would love to see them!  Share them with us at The Natural Beauty Workshop's Flickr Photo Group.

Food for Thought at Beauty by the Batch

Our recently launched web site, Beauty by the Batch, provides a great service by showcasing bath & body artisans in an easy to navigate directory.  You can search for an artisan by specialty, product, or simply by browsing photos on the home page.  In addition to this valuable service, Beauty by the Batch also provides a growing library of full length articles on natural and handmade personal care. 

You could literally spend hours pouring over the wealth of information available in Beauty by the Batch's Personal Care Article Library.  It touches on a wide range of subjects including Skin Care, Beauty, Massage, Health, Pet Care, Aromatherapy, and more.  Some of my favorite recent articles include:

Why are "By the Batch" Personal and Home Care Products Better?
This article provides valuable food for thought for both consumers and artisans. 

Introduction to Essential Fatty Acids
This article contains basic information necessary to understanding how and why these ingredients are so important to your health and to your beauty.

Beauty by the Batch's Guide to Purchasing Vegetable Soaps
A little background information on how handmade soap is created, and what you should look for when purchasing it.  This informative guide answers many questions that clients often have when buying handmade soap for the first time.

Be sure to check out the Personal Care Articles at Beauty by the Batch to learn more about natural and handmade personal care.

The Natural Beauty Workshop is Featured in the New Publication: Business Technology

From Nature With Love and The Natural Beauty Workshop is featured within the new 258-page book, Business Technology: A Guide for Midsize and Small Business by Michael W. Johnson.

We're honored to be selected as the blog highlighted within the "Business Networking & Showcasing Through Blogs" section of the book:

I am still in the midst of reading through this informative book, and am already finding it to be a nice foundation for small businesses that want an introduction and fundamental grasp of the technologies and resources that can help within all areas of their business processes.

Business Technology: A Guide for Midsize and Small Business Author: Michael W. Johnson Publisher: WAIN Technologies LLC Copyright: 2009 ISBN: 0615299210 / 978-0615299211

A special thank you to author Michael W. Johnson for featuring the Natural Beauty Workshop. For more information about Business Technology: A Guide for Midsize and Small Business, please visit the book description on Amazon.com.