wow,its been a long time.

What a busy year.

We have missed our emails for almost an entire year.  We meant to send a newsletter  but time has been flying by.  We hope that this finds all our friends well. We wanted to let you know what we have been up to. First,  we are still here, doing well, recovering from some major life changes and looking forward to an exciting future. Also, we acquired a soap company and spent the past 7 months or so learning how to create unique handcrafted soaps.
Then, we had to learn about selling soaps and find out what works and what doesn’t.  For instance, plain unscented white soap should not go to events with wind or dirt.  Learned that the hard way.  Its been a learning curve but soap is incredibly fascinating and complimentary to our herbal products.  We now can make lip balm like peppermint then we can offer a peppermint shea butter soap, a mint hand lotion. We like how things are “coming together”. If you have a favorite flavor or scent we can now offer it in many forms. We still make the lip balms, lip glosses (new) , solid lotion bars ( new), soaps, handcrafted Shea butter lotions, massage oils, seasonings and of course we still have honey! Lastly, we have had a dry honey year. You might notice the limited amount of honey and pollen at the markets. We have had a mediocre production this year because we didn’t get enough rain in 2012.  We still have sage honey and this past year we made some beautiful eucalyptus honey, buckwheat honey, avocado honey, wildflower honeys.
One important lesson we have had to learn this past year is the importance of staying focused, with too much going on, needless to say it has been very challenging.

Hope with BLACK Soap

We never would have imagined this time last year that we would be making over 50 Varieties of hand crafted cold processed soap.  let us tell you about one of our newest and coolest soaps. Black Soap is made by hand from the ashes of a number of plants including plantain leaves and cocoa pods, which are mixed with various oils, such as cocoa butter, shea butter oil, and water. The exact recipe varies from maker to maker. The soap has a dark brown color or black color.Black soap can also be used to remove makeup. Charcoal in soap may help absorb bacteria and body odors, providing more thorough cleansing.
Black soap can help reduce acne outbreaks by reducing oiliness and killing bacteria which causes acne. Charcoal is known for its absorbent properties. Some proponents say using black soap reduces the appearance of acne scars.Soothing. Users of black soap report that it leaves their skin soothed, reducing irritation from rashes and skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. The ashes used in black soap have been used as a traditional folk treatment for skin irritation. Some black soap formulas contain honey, also known for its healing properties. Black soap can be used by people with sensitive skin. Read more at LIVESTRONG.