More Bombs...

I think they came out pretty good considering I've only been at this bath bomb making for a couple of months.  My favorite from the 68 bombs I made is the Yuzu with calendula petals (below).  They remind me of mellow yellow Easter eggs.   Or sugary candy....like sugar coated jaw breakers, but the size of a croquet ball.

 
These are some of them wrapped and ready to go.  Some of the others that went out in the order was Riceflower & Shea, Red Lychee Tea, Lavender and Dark Chocolate Almond.

I was having a heck of a time getting the right balance of everything.  Practice does make perfect and I kept at it, and it paid off.  Phew.  Now my fingers feel raw and my arms are definately feeling "the burn".

Bath Bombs And Etsy

These are my handmade bath bombs.  They remind me of the sweet colors of Easter eggs.  I have been slaving at this for two days, 60 bombs, 20 more to go.  I had to make them for one of my day spas in New Mexico.  

I know it sounds nuts, but I started up an Etsy Shop called Product Body Lab Works, where I will be selling things that are handmade by me. You could say these are my Lab Works Limited Editions.

Soaps, bath bombs, bath melts, and anything else I whip up. You never know what you'll find in my lab since it will change up all the time!  These are items that aren't available at Product Body, for a number of reasons.  Mostly packaging issues and the amount of time it takes to set up a new item in our line.  You could say these are my handmade fun items that I make just because.  They are safe, fun and since you deserve to pamper yourself feel free to buy as much as you like.  ;)  

Butter Scrub + Velvet Are Back

And cheaper!  We had some issues with our last bail jar manufacturer.  We never were happy with the quality and availability.  In fact, it made us so nuts, we stopped offering them for months.  Well, we found a better manufacturer and a better supplier!  This is all I can ask for, right?  Now customers will benefit from a sleeker looking bail jar that actually seals easily and over and over without seal manipulation.  They are a little smaller -they hold about 2 oz. less and we are charging less, too.  

The Butter Scrub, then:  $38.00.  Butter Scrub now:  $32

Velvet Sugar Scrub, then:  $34.00.  Velvet Sugar Scrub now:  $29.00

In addition to the superior bail jars, the lowered price and cooler re-useable jar, we have reformulated these scrubs a bit to emulsify them so they aren't so darn oily, drippy and slick in the jar and on the skin.  We compromised nothing.  It is still natural and now, not so drippy.  

The Butter Scrub is unscented, but smells just like mild chocolate from the cocoa butter packed in there and the Velvet comes in Pink Grapefruit and Sweet Vanilla Mango (the Summer-iest scent we've got and we are the only ones who carry this because I create it myself.)

Happy scrubbing!

Winner Of The Give-Away

Kat Bryan is the winner of the Product Give Away this week!  Yay, Kat!  Thank you all for participating and sending your friends.  There will be other give-aways soon, so please keep coming back and check in on me.  I also have give aways on The Soap Bar, so stay tuned.

Congratulations, Kat!  Send me your email address so I can send you your prize!  jo(at)productbody(dot)com

ps:  I will consider each and every product idea and suggestion.  Soon Summer items....

Motorcycle Memories

Yes, I was once verging on cool.  Verging.  Before I was married I lived in Brooklyn and owned my very own Honda Hawk 650 motorcycle.  I loved it.  My (now) husband rode and I got such a thrill from riding on the back of his bike, that I started to think about getting my own ride.  I took a weekend intensive motorcycle safety course out in some abandoned airport in Brooklyn somewhere, passed with flying colors and proceeded to search out a motorcycle that fit me.  After seeing a few that didn't float my boat, I found an Army/Navy guy who brought this bike back from Germany on the Navy boat.  I bought it straight away.

I was young and inexperienced but I rode it in the country and in the crazy city (surprised I survived that looking back).  I rode in groups and alone and had a sense of freedom I never had before.  It also scared me to death because it was heavy and I was just a skinny thing.  Luckily the two times I dropped it (in a parking spot-embarrassing!) I was able to pick it up.  But barely.  It was bloody heavy and there I was 100 pounds of girl in a big, heavy helmet and my leather jacket and boots pulling the hunk of metal off the stinky pavement.  

I stopped riding when I started to try to conceive... for obvious reasons, but I miss riding solo sometimes.  I'm almost certain I'll never ride again.  I was spry, quick thinking and city savvy, and now I am a suburban slug driving an SUV in South Florida.  Oh, right, I had kids.  That is what happened.

I think I need to get some go-go boots, dye my hair and dip myself into the Fountain Of Youth.

Oh Hawkie....

Giving Away Products All Over The Place!

Over at Wedding Bee they're having a give-away for Product Body goodies, too, ending tomorrow...

Good luck!

Give Away! Give Away ! Extended until Friday May 30th!!

Because so many people were away for the holiday and didn't have access to their computers, I am extending the give away promotion to May 30th so that those of you who didn't get a chance to enter can, and those of you who entered have more time to send over more people!!  

Leave a comment in this post or the original post about what you'd like to see offered at Product Body this Summer.  If you send friends here and they leave a comment saying you sent them, they will be entered and you'll get an extra entry for sending them.  The more entries you send along, the more chance you have to win a $25.00 gift certificate to Product Body.

Good luck!

Bone In The Fan

My husband has finally started a blog.  What can I say other than I find him extremely funny, constantly interesting and crazy smart?  I love him!

Check out his blog: Bone In The Fan.  And, of course, read about the About page if you want some insight on the name....  Please leave him comments.  I'm sure he'd love it  :)

Give Away! Give Away!

My friend, Heather at One Bubble At A Time, came up with a great way to increase readership.  So I am going to blatantly copy.  Leave a comment in THIS POST about what you'd like to see offered at Product Body this Summer.  If you send friends here and they leave a comment saying you sent them, they will be entered and you'll get an extra entry for sending them.  The more entries you send along, the more chance you have to win a $25.00 gift certificate to Product Body.

You could spend it or give it as a gift!

Oh, and by the way, if you go to Heather's blog and leave a comment saying I sent you, you could help my chances of winning her Pamplemousse goodies.  You can read her review here on her Pamplemousse soap.  Yum.

Winner will be announced on May 30th.

Bone In The Fan Tears Archuleta A New.....

This post is written by my husband, Brad. You can read it on his blog Bone In The Fan, here.

American Idol Finals Magic: David Archuleta Makes Me Throw Up In My Mouth

December 8, 1980, New York City: Mark David Chapman murders John Lennon on a street in front of his home. The world mourns.

May 20, 2008, Los Angeles: David Archuleta murders "Imagine" on national television. I puke in my mouth.

I almost didn't watch it. My 11 year old daughter wanted to watch the Idol finals (she's a David Cook fan thank goodness, given the other option), so I put it on and bailed for coffee, a pathetic and insipid version of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me reaching my ears as I ran from the house. I suppose the name American Idol is apt (which is horribly sad when you think about it), but somehow I stupidly hope it will be about and originality and depth, not the search for America's next Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product. So yes, I'll confess to having been sucked into the show in the past. Last night though, as I drove off in my Jeep listening to Joe Jackson's "Night Music" CD, I was asking myself quite earnestly what had become of me that I had actually watched more than zero episodes this year. The audition process can be amusing in a pathetic schadenfreude way, and it's certainly always fun to wonder which Paula Abdul will show up (Will she be high? Will she behave like an over-affectionate alcoholic? The kind that wraps her arm over your shoulder at the bar and tells you how much she loves you, man. Will she drool over the teenaged contestants like a deranged cougar?) but I'm disgusted with myself all the same. So as I say, I left the house and went for coffee.

I got home shortly after the show ended. My wife Joanna had not shut off the DVR. Which meant that I could, if I wanted, rewind to the show and watch some of it. Here's the thing about me: a few weeks ago I had the opportunity, while I was speaking with a police accident investigator, to either look or not look at photographs of a particularly bad motorcycle accident. Faced with the choice of more information versus less information, I always have to choose more (frankly, I'm an information slut) so I looked at the photos. And last night I rewound the DVR.

(to read the full article go here to Bone In The Fan )

Chocolate Heaven On Earth

I think this is my dream dessert:  Reese's peanut butter cups and cupcakes.  Oh yum.

I found this on The Hungry Housewife and now I am going to have to make this as soon as I free up my kitchen for baking.  Maybe this weekend!!

This is my altar today.

Prehistoric Conair Will Not Smell Like Burning People Anymore

FHI Black Turbo Hair Dryer - Nano Weight Pro 1900 

Misikko asked me to do a review on a hair dryer they are selling on their website.  I review soap on my soap blog all the time, but that is what that blog is partly about.  This blog however, really is about my personal and business life and all that encompasses.   So I had mixed feelings about doing a review.  

They shipped me one.

I have to tell you, this is a great hair dryer, no kidding, y'all.  Okay, my last hairdryer (now permanently residing in a dump in Sun Valley) was a Conair from 1990, I think.  That stupid thing smelled like a burning human every time I used it.  Luckily for everyone in the house, I only dried my hair when I was cold or had to look extra presentable, which is about twice a year.  Maybe three.  And since we moved to Florida 5 years ago from NY, I'm not cold very often.  Three times in five years?

So I get this dryer and it is very sleek in comparison to my clumsy, smelly-burny Conair.   A true hair treat. So I instantly jump in the shower, get my hair wet and jump out dripping all over the floor and start up the blower.  I plugged it in prior to my shower so electrocution wasn't an option. 

Hmm.  I am not a caveman, but I noticed right away that there were many buttons (unlike my prehistoric Conny) so I needed to figure it out.  Manual?  Oh, please-let's get started.  While on, of course, I start changing the settings, buttons, levers..... I was quite impressed.  It has low, medium, high, as every one of these suckers have in this century.  But it also has cool, warm and hot.  Most of the ones I've tried only have had cold and blazing-burn-your-scalp-to-a-nice-cayenne-red HOT. 

Warm.  What a concept.  

It's funny how it never occurred to me that warm was an option or ever thought it should be, I just held the darn dryer at arm's length so my hair wouldn't catch on fire!  It's weird what I save my money on.  I'll go out to dinner that'll cost me $70, but to spend money on non-necessities?  That is where I'm cheap.  I know.  Shut up.

Back to drying with a Porsche-like hair dryer.  Here are the features it has:

• Adjustable heat:  Heat and Speed, Turbo Boost, Cool Shot (yeah, there are these buttons that do this stuff!)
  
• Ceramic heater:  Far infrared ionic heat.
  
• Tourmaline, Nano silver and titanium oxide: adds ions, shine; removes chemicals and bacteria (I don't know how that works, but this is a claim they make...)
  
• Attachments: diffuser and concentrator
  
• One year warranty, super lightweight and it is safe for the environment because it has low EMFs!
  

Price: $195, Sale price: $130 (but I think this is the price they sell it for always).

While I think that is an expensive item, I also think that if I could have had this dryer instead of that wannabe over achiever Conair, for that many years, it would have made sense.  $130 for 18 years.  That's $7.00 a year for a beautiful head of hair without burn!!

They also have chi flat irons/straighteners - http://www.misikko.com/fachiceflir.html 

9 Best Coconut Skin Care Products - We Made The List!

About.com listed Mama Bomb Coconut Milk Bath Soak among the 9 Best Coconut Skin Care Products.  What an honor!  Listed among the very big hitters, we are the only indie company included in their head to toe top picks.  That feels good.

Dreamy Whipped Dream

Tangerine Whipped Dream- 100% Natural, Vegan 

I made some today and I felt like I was in the Chocolate Factory with Charlie.  The Dream was fluffy and light and cloud-like.  Yummy whipped mixture of shea + aloe + olive butter, coconut oil, tapioca starch and tangerine essential oil.  

Made for stretching and healing bellies.

Wish I had some when I was preggers!

My Mother's Day Gift

To me, this was the perfect gift.  I love gardening, but don't do it like I used to.  I feel I have even run out of time to go shopping for plants let alone watering them.  Oh, I used to be so good.....

So some of my plants are:  cucumbers, tomatoes (3 different types), purple string beans, yellow watermelon,  jalepenos (3!), basil, lemon thyme, Japanese eggplant (2), cilantro, and peppermint. Look what a beautiful job the kids did decorating the border.

This is a frangipani flower blooming and it smells heavenly.  This baby tree is in the backyard, while I have a much larger tree in the front that blooms hot pink.  Oh they love the heat... frangipanis drop all there leaves in the Winter and look like branch sculptures and in the summer months, they bloom and smell up the joint with gorgeousness.

Wish I knew of a way to incorporate them in my body products.  I have never found a plumeria/frangipani scent that smelled anywhere near the real thing!

You May Not Want To Know This About Me...

....  BUT, I have been poked and prodded by the medical community for the last four years, specifically the Gastroenterologists in south Florida.

It is a long and crazy story, but long story short, I have Crohns Disease.  Crohns Colitis located in my colon, although Crohns can effect anywhere from the esophagus to the tushie.  (sorry, ew).  The first doctor woke me up from my first "procedure" to tell me she found a mass and that she was sure it was cancer. I should get my affairs in order.  Dummy. Why would a doctor tell a patient that before biopsies return?  Results came back negative for cancer.  

I fired her.

Then I found a nice Jewish boy with a sense of humor.  He repeated the "procedure" and told me I have this Crohns Disease which is incurable, but treatable....yadda yadda.  I do not want to bore you with all this depressing medical crap.  But I want to tell you about the very interesting thing I did two weeks ago with him.

I was experiencing extreme pain in my gut and since I was on the highest dosage of colon medication (which is where my inflammation has been occurring), my doctor wanted to see my small intestine to see what problems may be in there. He told me that an endoscopy goes down the throat and sees only so much.  The colonoscopy goes up the bottom and doesn't go past the colon, so the small intestine is pretty much "untapped"  He said that 12 feet of intestine can't be looked at with those conventional seekers.  So, he set me up for a capsule study. Whuh?

I was to swallow a pill which had a strobe and camera and would take two photos every second for a total of 70,000 - 80,000 photos of my innards.  This way the doctor could see what was going on.  Watch it like a movie!  Cool, right?

Well the pill was a honker of a horse pill, I had to wear a dorky strap-on gizmo that held the battery of the monitor and the monitor and those electrodes on my belly. Before I swallowed the pill, the technician waved the pill next to the monitor so they would initiate conversation, and then... poof, they were chatting the whole way down through my body.

Technology.  Who'da thunk?

This is me, posing my stylin' monitor-wear.

Doctor called me the next day and said they saw ulcers in my small intestine and to switch my medicine and it would be okay.  Yay.  I have been on the medication and I feel great! Inflammation is harder to treat.  Ulcers heal, and I love technology.

Hopefully this wasn't a "too much information" post that'll scare  you away.   Just keeping it real.

Last Minute Mother's Day Gift Right Here

If you are needing to be saved from that dreadful place of shame after you've forgotten Mommy Dearest this Sunday (Mother's Day), have we got an option for you!

As of today, we will be offering gift certificates so that you could send your mother, or anyone else for that matter, a last minute gift. It's too late to have something shipped or... it is way too frustrating to explore the mall or shops aimlessly for a gift that she may or may not like. Product Body's luscious, fresh products and to-die-for scents will knock her out. Her dry skin will sing to you and Mama will praise you for years to come.

What could be better than that?

When Product Body was Shashy Bodycare

When I first started my bath and body product business, I named it Shashy Bodycare.  Shashy was a private word/joke between me and my husband.  "What does that mean?" was a question I was presented with daily along with, "How do you pronounce it?  Sha-shy? "  No, I would say.  Shashy, rhymes with Sassy.  Whatever.  Even my friends couldn't say it.  In 2005, I changed the name and revamped the entire line and spent hours, days, weeks and months getting ready to launch it while moving to a different house (stress).  

Product Body was born.

I came across these pictures of a few of our old products.  These are the first ever product photos my husband took with a crappy digital camera.  I liked our set design (we have always created all of our set designs).

Whipped shea butter.  Unchanged although now we offer more than one scent and cooler packaging.

Cream - unchanged.  Now we offer more scents and it comes in a better jar where you can SEE the stuff.

This is similar to the Butter Scrub, but with cocoa powder and added scent.

Massage oil, which we do not offer anymore.  

Mama Bomb.  Began way back when and has been popular ever since.  I still like the little label.

So, we have grown and sweat and persevered.  I have loved this journey!  So there you have it.  Our story.

Secret Sale

I gave you all fair warning.  I wrapped up the secret sale in a electronic gift box with a pink fluffy bow and if you didn't get to subscribing to the Product Body newsletter (you have to create an account), then you might be kicking yourself.

People who create an account with Product Body can place orders, track order history and receive our newsletter if the subscription box is checked, obviously.  Newsletter subscribers ONLY have the opportunity to use a coupon for 25% off everything.  All week.  

Everything.  And with free shipping over $75, that is like 30%-35% off!  I was feeling generous because my wedding anniversary was last Sunday and Mother's day is this Sunday.  What a perfect week for a daydream (SALE).

So next time....please hear me roar!

Morning Alert

For those of you who have subscribed to Product Body's newsletter, good.  For those of you who have never set up an account with the newsletter subscription box checked...?  Well, you will be missing something secret later this morning.  Can't say.  Just go set it up.  If you've ever wanted to try our products, now is the time to get your sale hats on.  ;)

New Find : Eco-Friendly Beauty Tools

Eco Tools. Brushes and bath accessories. Earth friendly AND affordable!!

All of their brushes are synthetic (good for saving the animals) and they work so well. They are quite soft in comparison to many brushes on the market and honestly, they feel like the real thing.  I am not a big make-up gal, but when I wear it, it has to look good.  These brushes do a good job of evenly applying foundation, blush and eye shadow. The large make up brush is a mere $8.00, which is a fraction of the cost of makeup brushes at Sephora.  You can even get 5 brushes of varying size for only $11!

The handles on all of the brushes are made of lightweight bamboo, which is a wonderfully fast growing, renewable resource. (I love bamboo plants, floors, handles....etc. It is the wonder wood.)

The bath accessories, such as the sponges, mitts and buffs are made of cotton, ramie or loofah and are nice in the bath.  Soft and pretty.  Look at the pictures.  These are pictures I took at home.  This is my "set" and I am so pleased with it all.  I haven't had a chance to use every single item yet, but I am sure having loads of fun trying!

Blue Bubble Bath Hunky Chunks

I have blue bubbles on the brain.

The carrot cake Bubble Rubble is now gone, never to return to the Bubble Rubble family, unless I have a special order of 6. But! We have blue Sparkling Champagne again which will be made on Tuesday and will be ready for shipment on Wednesday.

Bubble Rubble is solid bubble bath fun.

Then I had way too much fun creating small hearts and muffins. I may have to do a special give-away just to make more in another scent..... ;)

hearts

blue muffins