A Little Chef's Scrub

I have only found one thing that our Crush On You (or Chef's Scrub specifically), doesn't kill.  Scents and oily messes, that is.  I have taken off fish, garlic, onions, cray-paas, olive oil, glue, lard...you name it, our sugar scrub will remove it.

Except one thing.

Skunk.

You ask how I know this??  Well, I was at the dog park a few weeks ago and a giant mastiff got sprayed in the face and the owner asked me to smell his face and confirm that she was sprayed.  Well, the dog got excited when I put my face near hers and she lunged happily towards me.  My right hand stopped her from kissing my face, luckily, but my right hand had skunk oil on it for HOURS.

I tried Chef's Scrub Sugar Scrub and it worked better than I thought it would.  I've heard tomato juice, tomatoes, etc.... not coffee, lemon, sugar...my 1,2 punch for everything stinky.  That skunk just wreaked beyond Adam.

So perhaps a tomato basil blend is in store here at Product Body to deal with those pesky skunks.

What's your favorite Crush On You and what was the toughest thing it's helped you with (smell or texture-wise)?

Dark Chocolate Almond Shea Butter - Drizzle It

(Please do not steal this photo. If you want to use it for some reason, please ask permission. Thank you.)

We have made Dark Chocolate Almond Whipped Shea Butter that is TO DIE FOR, ohmygoshyouhavetograbonebeforetheyareallgone! Yes. I spell checked. It IS in the Webster dictionary under Joanna's slang.

I have a wonderful tip for shea butter that one of our spas shared with me. She buys our shea in bulk and for massages, they melt and drizzle it on their clients. Can you imagine a warm drizzle of dark chocolate almond shea oil and a rub to match?

Oh, heaven. Can I have some whipped cream, a strawberry and some champagne with that?!

In case you don't know where to go, let me help you ;) Product Body

Whipped Butters Are Baaaaaaack

whipped shea butter

tangerine whipped dream

It's finally not over 90 degrees here every day, so we are putting Whipped Shea Butter and Tangerine Whipped Dream back out there for purchase. I made a load of batches yesterday - so fresh and delish. Are you ready for re-hydration?

The Heat Of The Summer

It is just too hot already. I think we will be taking Tangerine Dreams and Whipped Shea Butter off of our website for the Summer months. We currently have a heat warning, so order at your own risk, da da da, but the whipped goods, if melted in the heat is really unrecognizable. I will sell the balms, because if they melt slightly, one can just keep them cool and use them once hardened again, but the whipped stuff? It will only take up half the jar. Yes, it is whipped to double it's size.

Trust me - we tested it. I put the two whipped butters in a postal box, taped it up and stuck it in the sun for an hour. Not surprised, the butters were completely melted and looked half full in the jars (or half empty depending on the way you look at it). It was 88 degrees in the shade. Yea, Florida.

I have a few left on the shelves that I made on Friday, but when they are gone, they're gone from the site until September. If you need to get some on your skin, you'll just have to come to my house because it is air conditioned and chock full O' Shea. You can also take a dip in my pool.

Shea Shea Shea

THE PLANT: Shea Tree Order: Ebenales
Family: Sapotaceae (Chicle, Gutta-Percha and Sapodilla)
Genus: Butyrospermum or Vitellaria
Species: Butyrospermum parkii or Vitellaria paradoxa

I read an case study called: " Research by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) into the cultivation and processing of shea nuts as an alternative to cocoa products." along with some other interesting articles on the web an found out some things I didn't know about shea.

The Shea Tree is a wild tree, which are pollinated by bats and grows very slowly. It grows from 25 to 75 feet tall and bears fruit (seed) that contains four times more Vitamin C than an orange, but doesn't bear its fruit until it is between 15-30 years old.

Uses:

1. Despite the increased use of shea butter in cosmetics, statistics show that the shea butter from more then 90% of all marketed shea nuts is used to replace cocoa butter in the chocolate industry.

2. People have been cooking with shea for years and is the main edible oil for the people of northern Ghana, being the most important source of fatty acids and glycerol in their diet.

3. The healing properties of shea butter are believed to be partly attributable to the presence of allantoin, a substance known to stimulate the growth of healthy tissue in ulcerous wounds.

Whipped Shea Butter (Product Body)

If you'd like to learn more about the process of production of shea or the women of Africa and their role in shea nut production check some of these sites:

http://www.solutions-site.org/cat11_sol119.htm

http://www.africa-ata.org/mali_business.htm

http://www.batplants.co.uk/sheanuttext.htm

Moisturizing Tips

WHIPPED SHEA BUTTER - PRODUCT BODY

About moisturizers... it really is a personal preference what moisturizer is right.  For instance, my mother hates anything greasy, so Mama Bomb, Ski Bomb, and Shea Butter are NOT her thing, but for me?  Nothing else moisturizes the way those do.  They are super concentrated balms and seep in after ten minutes or so, so my skin glows afterwards.  The Cream is a thick lotion and moisturizes without that greasy feel, but is more of a light moisturizer. Body scrubs can also assist in combatting terribly dry skin by taking the dead cells (outer layer) off the skin to reveal the untouched layer which you can then moisturize daily to maintain the glow.  

At Product Body, we make two types of scrubs.  One that is cleansing and the others, oil and sugar (& sometimes butters).  The Crush On You and Butter Scrub are like two different animals.  The Crush On You is a sugar scrub with shea butter and cleansing agents, so when you wash it off it leaves NO film at all, just softness.  The Butter Scrub is more of a typical sugar scrub containing no cleanser at all.  It is pure sugar, cocoa butter and oil and will leave you oily once scrubbed and rinsed.  Some people like this type of scrub  because they can come out of the shower, dry off and have no need to use an additional moisturizer....but some people detest the oily feeling when they are finished bathing.  It's all so personal what route of moisturizing one chooses, so before purchasing a scrub, try to think about what you do NOT like, so that when you use it, you are in heaven and not feeling unsatisfied.

For nighttime, people with extremely dry skin should scrub dry patches with any scrub and then, slather on Mama Bomb or Ski Bomb and cover hands or feet with cotton gloves or socks right before bed (so you don't stain your sheets).  If you do this every night for a week, you will see a significant difference in your skin. Either way it will be such a treat for your skin...The cracking, peeling, painful, dry skin that is caused by repeated washing, dry heat and cold wind will subside and you'll feel better.  I know I do.  :)

Stay hydrated,

xoxo Joanna

Mama Bomb - KA POW!

Expecting?  A new mom?  A woman?  Check out Mama Bomb, our newest line of completely all natural bath and body goodies specifically geared towards the ever changing needs of a mother to be.

We are starting our launch with four simple body treats:

The Original Mama Bomb

Lemon Bomb

Tangerine Whipped Dream

Coconut Milk Bath Soak

Take a look at Mama Bomb.  Sold at Product Body Shop here.

Whipped Tub O' Shea

Yum.  Makes me want to eat frosting.  :)

Here are a couple of quick shots I took after making a small batch of shea for a customer.  The Large tub is for body treatments at one of the day spas I supply back bar for.  

A Happy Customer

An email I recently received....

"Hi! I placed an order with you which I just got today! I was going to write and tell you how much I absolutely LOVE my order, and when I saw that I could write and tell you how much I love your stuff, plus get 10% off just by telling you how I found you, I was thrilled!

So here's my story of how I discovered you, and the story behind the story. :)

Let me begin by saying I am a certified, registered, qualified bath & body junkie. BIG TIME. I could start my OWN store with the stuff I have. My house is frequently referred to as the bath and body outlet.

I have ordered from hundreds upon hundreds of bath & body shops. Overall, I was very happy! Discovered lots of new items and great scents. Only problem? I didn't like the ingredients I was seeing. After looking up those scary ingredients recently (took me long enough!!), researching them in depth, I said that is IT - if I can't pronounce it, I'm not putting it on my body!

So...on to how I found you...I actually did hours and hours (days and days..about 2 weeks worth) of searching on Google, MSN and AOL using search terms such as "tropical whipped butter", "organic whipped shea", "whipped body balm" and other terms to find some really unique, natural, organic body products. Eventually, after going through pages and pages and pages (and pages...) of bath & body sites (and saving maybe a handful of them) I found yours, and was instantly impressed by your earthy, bright & fresh products and website!! Hence, the order came quickly!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go put on some delicious body butter! ;) A new member of the Product Body Shop Family I am! ;)

Warm regards,
M
___________________________

Next email....

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the whipped shea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is my favorite!!! I am so thrilled with my order. :) I just love your stuff. I am officially addicted. Thank you so much.
M
____________________________

I love my customers!

Bath Melts and Bath Cupcakes

My children are between camp and school so we decided to try some "baking" in the kitchen. Not a huge success as far as the final project, but we all had fun creating them, and I am sure they'll have even more fun bathing with them. I used Ann-Marie's bath cupcake recipe loosely (very loosely). I worked around it with my own ideas, changing this here and that there, but I think it all was a flop.
The cupcakes came out too mushy. I was going for a squishy marshmallow texture, but instead, I ended up with a crumbly fudge-like base. I pored them in paper cupcake holder to keep them contained, because before I stuck them in the freezer, they were pretty gooey.

My frosting consisted of confection sugar, cream of tartar, 3 egg whites(the real ones), color, warm water and caramel lip flavoring. I had no meringue or egg white powder and I used far too much water (that was an accident). Then we topped our own cupcakes with cosmetic glitter, Starbucks Mocha Powder, real caramel, and smashed bittersweet chocolate. The toppings were the most fun to play with and eat.
Of course working in the kitchen with two ten year olds and a seven year old can be a slight challenge, but I had no agenda except for having fun and seeing what we could create with what we had in the house.
As I mentioned in my last posting, I want to get more creative and introduce more fun colorful items to the line, but I have a long way to go. The confection perfection that some have may be unattainable for me because I am a mixer and maker, not a decorator. I tried today, but I am not so good at it. I will keep trying because it is fun, but I am not at all close yet!

Mad Scientist

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. I have been furiously concocting formulations of moisturizers and by the end of the day, I am pretty much spent. That energy I get from working a typical day here was depleted, because I was in my mad scientist mode. I am out to make the perfect concoction. A skin moisturizer that leaves skin unbelievably soft,but not greasy....completely natural and smelling lovely. I am working on a way to make a "cream" without water as my base. Butters tend to be, well....buttery and greasy. Lotions and creams are made with mostly water, which helps in that it's not so greasy, but with water one must use preservatives. There are limitations. Natural preservatives like vitamin e and rosemary extract are great for increasing the shelf life of oils, but do nothing for protecting the product from mold, yeast, and preventing against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Once water is introduced to a formulation, it will start to degrade and grow bacteria and/or mold.

There are synthetic paraben-free preservatives, but still sadly synthetic. So here I am trying to create the masterpiece of creams, without chemicals and without being too greasy, and I am frustrated. (sigh).

There are other alternatives, so I must continue researching and just you wait, I will create the elixir magnifique! However, I still remain humbled...

Working With Products That Are Ever Changing

Formulating and having this type of business can get frustrating and cause tension for me. I am always worried about the environment of our creations. Heat, oxygen, and water are enemies of body products in general. Any one of these elements can alter the composition and stability of the butters and oils, which is typically what I work with so I feel like I am always pushing the door from blowing open in a storm. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I've been working on new formulations to try to make a butter cream that contains oil and butters and I am just not happy with it. I don't want to have it be water-based and I need it to absorb quickly into the skin. I don't like feeling greasy when I moisturize, although the shea butter is buttery and people go crazy for it! One of the biggest concerns for businesses in this field is making sure to address all of the possible spoilage issues. I am trying to make a yummy cream that has no preservatives in it, but every unbutter-based cream is water-based. That being the case, one must have antimicrobial, and antifungal preservatives added or it will grow mold and bacteria and just be a pool of goo you wouldn't want to touch. (Remember, water is bad for these products.) There are natural preservatives, but they really only extend the shelf life by assisting in stabilizing the oils. Hence, my need to create a fluffy, light easy-to-absorb moisturizer that goes on easy and sinks in quickly. It is taking some time, I will tell you. I thought I was really close, but I ended up not liking the scent of my skin after awhile, due to it smelling kind of butter-like. Not a big fan of that oil stink. I have a super sensitive nose and I need a light and airy fragrance, not a looming, heavy one.

It would be easier if I created things that didn't change from the environment over time, like clothing, art, or jewelry, but because I love what I do and make, I have to just get better. I need to continue to create bath goodies, frustrations and all because the reality is that I take great enjoyment when I use a product I've made that I think is dynamite.

New Butters I've Tested This Week

I have become aware of some new butters that are being made and I got my hands on a few of them. Mmmmm. All butters I tried this week were infused with either lemon, tangerine, chamomile, green tea, lime, lavender and lemon grass. Orange Peel Oil has a cleansing and toning effect on skin and can improve oily, acne prone skin. The orange butter is derived from orange peel oil and orange peel wax, specifically from Florida oranges, which contains a high level of Bioflavonoids (polyphenols). Bioflavonoids have anti-cellulite and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, the chamomile butter, smells like Sleepy Time Tea. My personal favorite so far is the tangerine butter. So intense. I am still waiting for my samples of pumpkin seed butter and pistachio nut butter.

Oh boy! Guess who will be playing around in the formulary on Monday? :)