Soap Giveaway At Not Martha Blog

Megan of Not Martha is doing a giveaway of 3 soaps of ours. You’ve got until WEDNESDAY, June 1st at 10 a.m. PST to enter. We will ship anywhere on the planet for this giveaway.

Beauty By The Batch

Have you checked this place out?

"Beauty By the Batch is dedicated to promoting the benefits of using handmade beauty, health and home care products to consumers seeking high quality products."

We are one of the featured artisans there and I am really proud to be a part of this new website. They have artisans listed, but they also have articles in their Personal Care Articles Library that are saturated with an enormous amount of information that we can all learn from.

=)

...don't be left out without the information

Finslippy Challenge

I read is Finslippy written by Alice Bradley just about every day. I really like her writing because she has a perspective on life that is raw and it feels like she is describing my life so much of the time it's weird. I also wish I had even half the talent. Alice is a professional writer and has contributed to the books "Things I Learned About My Dad (in Therapy)" and "Sleep is for the Weak."

Right now, Alice is having a challenge on her blog. She explains it here:

Donors Choose is an incredible organization that matches teachers in high-needs schools with people who are willing to give. Teachers register with the site and describe what projects they need sponsored, and donors can pick and choose which projects they want to help fund. So the Blogger Challenge is just a bunch of us bloggers competing over who can raise the most money. If I win the Blogger Challenge, I will reenact Pat Benatar's video "Love is a Battlefield" in its entirety. Because I am dimly aware that this challenge is about helping teachers in need, and my desire to WIN WIN WIN or your desire to see me shimmying and gyrating in a torn dress and too much eyeliner.

Product Body is offering a FIGGY PUDDING gift box (not yet available to the public!!) over at Finslippy as a give away to a random donor this week. I am honored to be a part of this effort, even if it's just a small donation. I urge you to go help, even if it's just five dollars. If you haven't checked out Finslippy before, you should, but you might get hooked.

And if she wins, we get to see her do Pat Benatar. We need a little comic relief from all this political fog, don't we?

We are strong...

My Favorite Pot

lovingly used since 1996

Elizabeth of Gracefruit found a heavy cast iron pot she fell in love with and asked her readers to photograph their favorite pots and describe why they like them.

I have a few.

I like my easy going teflon frying pan that is lightweight and really easy to clean. I wish I had a 5 quart sautee pan like that. The one that I can cook anything in, though, is my Le Creuset large stock pot. My husband and I asked for Le Creuset when we were getting married. We got pots, pans and a teapot all in FLAME. Love it. It boils water faster and it cooks everything evenly. The biggest problem I have with the darn stuff is that it is heavier than a three year old and when you are trying to maneuver the thing around and your thumb gets caught in the handle while your turning it...well, it feels like it would be too easy to break my digits.

The other drag about the cast iron is that you can not leave the pots or pans soaking in the sink. They will leave a rust stain. Best thing to do is fill it on the stove and leave it there overnight to soak.

pot of water getting ready to boil and accept my bag of edamame
notice the teapot behind the pan


So what is your favorite pot?

not martha

I think I love Megan Reardon who writes not martha, which is a blog I love and read every day. She wrote all about Product Body today and I am super excited, thrilled and still catching my breath from her blush-inducing comments!

See about not martha's give-away and Read her review of Product Body here!



....there is much more in her review...this was just a screen shot.

Don't you love Megan, too??

Thank you!!!!!

It Might Make You Fat

Tartlette's Raspberry Dreams...



Tartlette is one of my favorite foodie blogs. Helen, who makes everything and takes these amazing photographs, generously granted me permission to share her images with you. Please go visit her site to see what she's up to and tell her I say hi. Fair warning: it might make you fat.

Word Verification

Not that I have loads of extra time on my hands, but I read my share of blogs every day. I like to leave comments if it makes sense because as a writer of two blogs, reading comments makes me feel that people are in fact reading, not just mistakenly landing here.

I just counted: 52 regular blogs I visit daily. (Impossible!) I spend about an hour reading and commenting and about 30-60 minutes constructing posts. I don't do this all at once. mind you, but my interest lies in many places and it's nice to feel connected with people.

The one thing I hate, though is word verification when I'm leaving a comment on somebody's blog. First of all, The swirly words aren't always easy for me to read. Makes me feel dizzy and like I should be wearing a helmet to figure out the code so in case I tip over. See the picture of the handicapped person? That's me. All challenged.

It just makes everything take LONGER. I have a job, people! I understand the word verification "system" eliminates auto commenters (why would anyone have that job? Point being to annoy??) So, I took my word verification off both my blogs months ago and I get one spammer a month which is easy to discard. So fellow bloggers: please help out an easily disoriented, have no extra time for extra energy spent gal living in Florida. The heat already is a challenge.

See? I can't even speak English anymore!

Coconut Banana Bread. A Tale Of A Food Trade.

I have raved about Leslie Green of The Hungry Housewife in my Lowel Ego Light Post here. I first noticed the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cupcake way back when (here and here), then most recently, Leslie's Banana Bread French Toast post which put me RIGHT OVER THE EDGE.

Well, what else could I do then to email her and ask her if:

a) I could come over for breakfast.

or

b) Do a trade.

Sadly, she responded in her email that she wasn't much of a "potions and lotions" gal. Well, geez, I don't know if I've ever met anyone NOT into products. No tantalizing Leslie with my only positve trade-able asset? Hmm. I couldn't drive to Tampa for breakfast. A fast friendship was growing, but a drive was not happening. Sorry Leslie, I know how much my presense would be appreciated because I'd eat ALL of your fattening leftovers and save you from yourself. (Yeah, I read Fat Jeans)

I must be able to offer something she might like. She seemed reluctant, but would do a trade and maybe she'd use the cream before bed. She didn't want to interfere with her perfume. Not a product junkie? Huh. My new goal: To make Leslie a Product Body junkie. For life.

Then her box arrived. As I was ripping the package open, it occured to me that her baking could be a flop and how was I suppose to be nice about it if it was inedible? Then my thoughts went to: Oh no! What if she hates my products? This whole trade could be a nightmare.

This is what I found in the box....

Beautifully wrapped....


Beautifully baked....

Moist and smelly good. When I cut into it, a coconutty banana scent wafted up and knocked me right onto my very own slice of heaven. I am in love - It's official. Two breads arrived and I was doubly pleased. It is the best banana bread I have EVER eaten. And I make a pretty mean loaf. Who thinks to put coconut into banana bread? It's pure genious and I thank my lucky stars that I stumbled on The Hungry Housewife and bookmarked it on the day that I did.

Sadly, I only have one loaf left and I think I am not sharing it with anyone. More fat on my hips, better to knock you over with, my dear.

How cool would it be to have a monthly trade with a new friend? She sends me a treat and I send her a treat. We could even get a theme going every month to see how creative we could get. The more I think about it the more I love the idea.

Leslie wrote about the trade, too. Maybe she will turn into a "potions and lotions" gal after all.

Brilliante Weblog, Oooo!

Carrie~Gigi of Mud Puddle Girl awarded me this wonderful fairy tale award.


Rules: Link who presented you the award, then pass this along to seven others. Wow, that is hard, being that we all visit each other's blogs and we care for one another. I will have to link to people who touched my life in the blogging world who hasn't yet been awarded. Let me go research this....



Done my looking, and it seems these seven need to have this award. I am really glad I have "met" all of you. Thank you for becoming a part of my life. :)





1. Sharon of Platypus Dreams



2. Mindi of Ms. In Between



3. Marr of Smelly Chicks



4. Sher of Savonara



5. Cindy of Hello Dollface



6. Teresa of Life, Homesteading and Everything



7. Anne-Marie of The Soap Queen



Thank you to each and everyone on my list. It was hard...many people have touched me, and many people have already been awarded, so if you aren't on this list, that does not mean you don't have a special place in my heart. :)


Y'all are the best! OUT!

Do Nails Breathe?

Way back when, I decided to get fake nails. I love the way manicured nails (short, long ones) look, so I got them done last year ...you can read about it here if you want. After having them for a couple of weeks, I happened to be talking to an executive in the nail industry who described the nail bed and the nail's breathing. She went on about the need for less toxic materials being used on the nails. I went to the nail salon to take them off a few days later, fearing that I was suffocating my hands! Eeek. Back then, it didn't make sense to me and it still doesn't, although now I found a nail professional that shares my opinion but backs it up with facts, which I think are interesting.

As much as I'd like to get the nails and have pretty hands again, my work just does not support the beauty of it all. I bust open big pails of butters and oils, am formulating sugar scrubs, cream, shea butters. I wear UN-latex surgical gloves when I need to mix with my hands and I am constantly getting into the dirt when I plant in my garden, so having nails makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for my lifestyle, but one day perhaps I will be less hands on in scrubs and dirt. :) Maybe.

Penny is the nail professional I speak of and she writes Sugarlicious blog and Zularis Naturals Natural Nail Care blog and if you are into nails and nail care, you should definitely read some of her posts.

She has given me permission to reprint her post on the topic of nail breathing. Thank you, Penny.

Busting Nail Myths - Do Nails Breathe?

I was talking with someone the other day about nail enhancements....AKA artificial nails. Seems they were having their enhancements removed to allow their nails some time to "breathe". Oh my....I could almost feel my head about to spin as I encountered what must be the number 1 nail myth around. It's bad enough when the regular person on the street thinks their nails are breathing. It's even worse when a nail tech thinks the same thing and passes along incorrect information to their customers.

The truth is your nails DO NOT BREATHE! EVER!!!! The only breathing taking place in your body happens in the lungs. Your nails are made up of keratin...a fibrous protein. This is the same stuff that your hair is made of....and your hair doesn't breathe either. Once the nail grows from the matrix (the part of your finger that the nail grows out of) it is basically dead. It does not feel, has no blood supply, etc. Which is why you can trim your nails as well as hair without feeling pain.

Because your nails do NOT breathe there is no logical reason for removing all your nail enhancements to give your nails a rest. The enhancement covers the dead portion of the nail so your nail will continue to grow out. At times, whatever material your enhancement is made of, may begin to age or breakdown after being exposed to various chemicals, etc. When this occurs the material covering the nail can become brittle, begin to discolor or even crack/flake off. Some people keep their nails too long and the constant banging on the nail can also cause problems with the enhancement. This is why it is important to regularly maintain your nails once enhancements have been applied. If a problem is caught early then your tech can re-balance the material rather then soak off the entire enhancement.

As a side note: people sometimes also refer to their skin breathing as well. Actually what they are talking about is the fact that the body controls it's internal temperature through perspiration. If you didn't sweat then your internal temp would rise and damage your organs. Nails do not sweat either....but that's another popular nail myth to be tackled in another post.

Suspect And Fugitive

I am inspired. I found a great blog created by an amazing artist who makes temporary food art from the most common things. You MUST check out Suspect And Fugitive and also go see the entire collection of amazing portrait art on flickr.

"suspect and fugitive is a year long project where i make an item a day out of suspect (questionable) and fugitive (non archival) materials."


Here are some of my personal favorites...

Andre The Giant made from pez candy:


Inigo Montoya made with Hello my name is labels:


George Washington made with mouthwash:


Clint Eastwood made with dye on dryer lint:


Cheetos Britney Spears:

A Little Window Shoppe Giveaway

Little Window Shoppe is having a giveaway and Product Body products are the prize!  It is a really cute site started by Emily, a very nice gal who lives in Utah with her very cute family.  She finds fun and interesting things for her readers so they don't have to go through the internet to find things to buy.  She does the window shopping for her readers.  A slice of brilliance right there.

So go enter her giveaway, but more importantly, check out her site.  

Queen Of Scrubs?

Kristen Kelly of Beauty Addict did it again.  She wrote another wonderful review of our Sugarfoot on her blog and I am blushing once again from her praise.  If you want to read the entire review, go here to read "The Two Sugarfoots (Sugarfeet?)".  Here are a couple of highlights I snagged:

...I'm just gonna come out and say it: Joanna Schmidt is the Queen of Scrubs.

...packed to the gills with scrubby bits. This is key for me these days, especially after my recent disappointment with that useless L'Occitane scrub.

...And like all of Product's products, it feels and smells absolutely heavenly. It comes in two scents, but really, who cares about Ruby Red Grapefruit when you can have COOKIE?

Thank you, Kristen!

***Kiss***

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  :)

It's Official

I kick butt, according to Alltop ;) Alltop lists some incredible blogs out there. You should go check it out.

Thank You Beauty Addict

Thanks to Kristen Kelly for the review on Ski Bomb. You can read the review here and if you haven't read her blog, she is wonderful. Honest, blunt and funny. She was the first beauty blogger I followed.

Cheers, Kristen!!

Wickedly Chic

Thank you, Wickedly Chic for a lovely review of our Cream and our newest addition, Coconut Milk Bath Soak. You can see the review at their website - Wickedly Chic is a website dedicated to sharing their indie finds - jewelry makers, tea makers, soap makers, candle makers ... lots of "makers". Their tag line is Independent Shopping For The Wickedly Fashionable.

Does that make me wickedly fashionable? I'll take it! :)

Coconut Milk Bath Soak Gets Attention

A BIG thank you to Carrie~Gigi of the Mud Puddle Girl blog for the shout out. Ms. Carrie ordered Mama Bomb Coconut Milk Bath Soak from my company, Product Body. I made cocoa butter sea salt bath melts for fun and included one in her package. She has been generous and kind to me and my daughter and I wanted to add a touch od sweetness to her order. What a cute picture she took! (I think she liked it :) )

Carrie~Gigi is a very talented soap maker. She created soap crumb cakes that smells absolutely heavenly... like maple syrup!!! I've blogged about her and her sweet bath goodies on my other blog, The Soap Bar here and here. Unfortunately, they are currently sold out, but she makes lovely soaps and bath treats, so go on over to Under The Willow Gifts and she if anything floats your boat.

Thanks again, Carrie~Gigi!!!!

More Bath Bombs Today

I plan on making more bath bombs today while the cracked ones torture my mind at every turn. I'll work very hard to NOT let that happen again. Those pink and peach ones were so soothing in color and the smell was dynamite! Sharon of Platypus Dreams took her cracked bombs and are selling them anyway at half price. Good idea. Why let those gems go to waste? The picture below is from her cracked stash.



Poor Sharon. She had made 300 of them for a customer and they all cracked! That must be heartbreaking. And here I am, being sad about a few.

Go check out Sharon's new blog! She has very interesting things to say.

Two Beauty Blog Give-Aways!

#1: The Beauty Of Life blog: N.Y.C. New York Color is sponsoring a fantastic giveaway for Jamie Sanders' readers. They will be giving away 10 sets of their fantastic Lippin' Large Lip Plumpers to 10 lucky readers! Better enter today because the deadline is tonight at 11:59 pm. Winners are announced tomorrow. Good Luck!

#2: Canadian Beauty blog: A gift basket stuffed with John Frieda products which has a value of over $100! The basket contains:

Frizz-Ease® Curl Around™ Style-Enhancing Shampoo and Conditioner
Frizz-Ease® Thermal Protection Hair Serum
Frizz-Ease® Dream Curls® Curl perfecter
Frizz-Ease® Secret Weapon® Flawless Finishing creme
Frizz-Ease® 100% Shine Glossing mist
Brilliant Brunette™ Shine Release™ Naturalising Shampoo and Conditioner with Light Enhancers™
Brilliant Brunette™ Runway Straight™ smoothing milk
Brilliant Brunette™ Starlit Waves™ wave enhancing spray
Brilliant Brunette™ Shining Holdä Maximum Hold Hair Spray
Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Moisturising Shampoo and Conditioner with Light Enhancers™
Sheer Blonde Blonde Ambition Mousse
Sheer Blonde Spun Gold shaping & highlighting balm
Luminous Colour Glaze™ Hazelnut to Espresso
as well as shampoos, conditioners, and other styling treatments!

The contest closes on February 14th at 12am. All you have to do is share your name, email and what your favorite hair product is.

So good luck everyone. I am off to try to win, too!!