snapshots

snapshots

soap!

table at market

 market/life partner

farmer Brooke of Alternative Roots Farm

it's fun when friends visit the market :)

piles of herbs :)

(photos may be blurry due to my photo filter love on my phone)

infusing

Here are some of the herbs taking a nice long bath in olive oil. The oil will be ready to use in about a month :)

Herb Love.

Here's a peek at some of the lovely herbs I've recently ordered. I picked out some Arnica, Calendula, Nettle, Comfrey, Plantain, St. Johns Wort, Yarrow, and Meadowsweet. I can't wait to start experimenting with them as they'll be making there way into soaps and salves! Also pictured is the little banner I made for my table at market. 

more soap!

I love soap. I love making it, testing it, sharing it. Waiting for it to cure though, is tough. I may have snuck a couple bars of my current curing soaps into the shower... a week or two early. So far they are quite nice. The first batch is rosemary + mint with Cambrian Blue Clay. This rare clay is imported from Siberia and is said to be the most valuable among the clay family. It is great for detoxifying skin and is suitable for all skin types. My favorite part? This clay was formed while Siberia was separating from the supercontinent during the Russian Lower Cambrian subdivision. So this clay is over 540 million years old. I think that's pretty sweet. The second batch is Oatmeal + Calendula. I am pretty excited for this soap because my sensitive skin loves oatmeal and I've read that calendula is very soothing. I didn't add any essential oils because I like the light scent of oatmeal. I tried growing calendula last year, but with my black thumb I didn't harvest many buds. Luckily, I know some amazing farmers over at Alternative Roots Farm who might be growing me some herbs this year, they're pretty busy but I'll entice them with lots of soap! :) 

Going to market!

Hi! Long time, no blog. This time of the year is pretty busy for me. But I have managed to get things prepared for my second Indoor Farmers' Market at the New Ulm Community Market and Cooperative. This weekend I'll have lip balm and body bars. I've also made lavender aromatherapy eye pillows. My hope is to have a new product available each market! The market is this Saturday from 9am - 2pm and offers local produce and meat, handcrafted items, baked goods, fair-trade coffee, and more.

Here are the aromatherapy eye pillows. Made with organic cotton, flax seeds, and lovely lavender buds.

Hibiscus + Shea

Recently I tried out a new soap recipe. It has bits of sweet smelling hibiscus flowers and Shea butter that'll create a creamy and conditioning lather. I made hibiscus tea with the flowers and wanted to use it in the mix in hopes of giving the bars a lovely pink/red hue.. but the lye and tea did NOT get along. It went from a beautiful red color, to a crazy blueish green, then a stinky brown. It was quite the chemical reaction. I do plan on trying it again, but with some minor adjustments. 

SALT!

The other weekend we went on an adventure to a nearby co-op and ended up finding some fun new ingredients. At least five ingredients I had planned on ordering online were there, and now I just have a short scenic trip to get them! I kinda felt like a kid in a candy store. I was especially excited to find these salts in the bulk section…

SEA + BLACK LAVA + HIMALAYAN PINK

Aren't they pretty? I experimented with them as salt scrubs. The black lava and sea salt were mixed with balsam fir infused oil. The Himalayan pink and sea salt were mixed with some meadowsweet infused oil. They smelt lovely and did some serious exfoliation. More experiments are needed and then perhaps they'll be offered for your own exfoliation needs down the road :)