Please push my addiction.

By giving me bath products.  Most stuff I want or need is too big to gift me, like a kitchen & bathroom remodel, or new doors & floors & blinds.  So, usually I get bath products as gifts for Christmas, my birthday, or just because.  Of course, I have so much already but I always welcome stuff, especially new stuff that I have not tried before!  It also keeps my baths interesting because I love to mix & match.

Sometimes the mixing & matching doesn't always go too well.  Like, a few weeks ago I mixed Deep Sleep Comforting Milk Bath Float from The Body Shop with Sleep Night Time Tea body wash from Bath & Body Works.  I didn't really think about it before using the 2 of these products but they didn't mesh well at all.  The milk bath was more floral and the body wash had more of a fruit scent to it.  Cedarwood, orange, & a milky chamomile didn't really do it for me, though the sound of it seems like it could work.

The other day I got a small package from my friend Andrea with some goodies.  Andrea is a licensed massage therapist who runs the blog Confident Massage.  She has written a book with advice for the, "budding massage therapist," and she knows a lot about your skin & products that are good for it. 

Since I have been on a eucalyptus kick the past few months, for Festivus she had gotten me some amazing dōTERRA essential oils in Breathe, and of course, eucalyptus.  You put around 5 drops in the bath, use as a (non-burning or low heat) diffuser or use them directly on the skin.  Since these are so concentrated, topical use is best used with a base oil or they can irritate your skin.  Andrea had sent me some coconut oil of theirs where I mix 5 drops of the coconut oil & 1 drop of the Breathe oil & rub it on my neck & chest.  It has been very helpful the times I have used it.  She also advised you can use a topical jojoba oil.  The initial application is a bit oily but then it just becomes very softening to the skin.  Some oils stay oily & sticky so I was pleasantly surprised with this one.  It also leaves a nice cool sensation.

So in my gift from her there was the coconut oil & then some bath herb sachets from Bloomin' Desert Herb Farm.*  The name pretty much explains the company.  They specialize in organic fresh or dried herbs for culinary or medicinal use.

I have 2 pictures because I really want to give you all an idea on how packed their sachets are with their herbs.  This is the Relaxation Bath which is full of lavender and oatstraw.  On the package it advises to drop into a hot bath or hang in the shower.  I think I have mentioned before I have a love-hate relationship w/lavender & so I think this product helped me determine the specifics of what it is I like about lavender & also what I hate about it.  This is a good thing though.

Lavender can have a fresh sweetness to it, or a pungent floral.  I have found when using more natural products that I get the fresh sweetness of lavender from them & that is what I love about lavender.  The pungent floral is more artificial & it has caused me headaches before.

So, back to the product.  This definitely had the sweet lavender scent, light & not overpowering.  When placed in the bath it did kind of just float around so I squished it a few times to get the air out & some of the goodness into the bath.  It is sealed very well & only a very teeny tiny bit of the product escaped from the sachet.  Just as it said, it was a very relaxing & comforting bath.

Andrea had also gotten me a foot bath from them, which I have not tried yet.  That one advises it can be used up to 4 times.  The other one didn't mention that but I bet I can get a few more lovely baths out of it.

I actually haven't taken my daily bath yet.  The time change has been exhausting me & I think the weather has been making my asthma pretty bad the last week.  Working on these things though.  Overall feeling quite content right now though still trying to control my breathing a bit.  Think I may try to use the relaxation bath sachet again tonight.

Thanks again Andrea! XO 

*If you would like to contact Bloomin' Desert Herb Farm, visit their facebook page; e-mail them at bloomindesert1@yahoo.com; write to them at 208 Trenier Sr, Henderson, NV 89002; or call them at 1-702-301-8996.

Just can't hide it!

I'm so excited!  I have a bunch of new products I need to try & post about.  There's so much I want to write about but I don't want to overload & then have nothing to write about later.  With the amount of stuff I have, I don't think that could possibly happen. :)  Tomorrow I have taxes & time with the rents & manpanion but I hope I can squeeze in a good amount of time to update more.

Lemony goodness bath tonight that included:

• Lemon sugar bath cubes from Fresh
• Sweet Lemon shower gel from The Body Shop
• Lemongrass sugar soap scrub cube from eBay seller evanest

Tonight I wanted to write about my experience w/the sugar soap scrub I used.  When I initially saw the listing I was intrigued by the scents that were listed & the fact it was listed as a sugar "soap."  I have noticed a trend w/a lot of people who are making bath products just doing sugar scrub cubes but these seemed more interesting & at a fair price so I purchased them.  You get 24 for $15 & you can pick the scents so I picked 3 of each of these scents: Peppermint; Lemongrass; Raspberry; Chocolate Coffee; Fresh Bamboo; Anise; Red Wine; Mango.

I got the package today & I could smell them through the envelope & I got excited!  They each smell great individually & I even had Chris sniffing them.  When I initially took the one cube from its cellophane wrapping it felt rather oily.  Upon using it (I used it just like a piece of soap) the sugar was very fine granulation & there is very little to none of lather.  This is not a bad thing!  I could feel the oils on my skin &, now that I have been out of the bath for a bit, I smell wonderful & my skin is very soft!  These will last also.  I'm sure I will be using this for a few baths before it completely dissolves.  It also stuck well together, not dissolving quickly or crumbling.  Depending on your preference, you could mush it to make it more like a scrub ( they do have a soft consistency to them) but the way I was using it worked great for me.   I can't wait to use the other ones!

These are made with a soap base, shea butter, sugar, sweet almond oil, & fragrance oils.  She also sells soaps, which I was tempted to get, but after recently going through my soap stash, I really need to use more up.  Maybe later.

Now I am going to go back a bit & just post my stashes I got from The Body Shop and also Bath & Body Works.  I just missed a 2 for $20 on B&BW's large candles sale.  I'm kind of proud because I have so many tarts, samps, & candles already but some of their new scents are really good!  Anyhoo, this is what I ended up getting.

Chocomania mini shower & moisture set gift cracker;  Chocomania body butter; Chocomania heart shaped soap; a bar of Divine dark chocolate that they use in their products; Orange 100% natural lip roll-on; Earth Lovers Cucumber Mint shower gel; and a sample pack.

The sample pack included Chocomania body butter; Tea Tree skin clearing facial wash; Natrulift firming day cream; Nutriganics smoothing serum; Nutriganics smoothing day cream; Vitamin E moisture cream; White Musk Libertine Eau de Parfum; White Musk Eau de Toilette.

Winter Night candle; Polka dot promotional bag; Energy Lemon Zest body mist; Japanese Cherry Blossom mini body cream; Stress Relief Eucalyptus Spearmint salts; Stress Relief Vanilla Verbena salts; Sleep Lavender Vanilla salts; Pink Chiffon fine fragrance mist.

Pink Chiffon body lotion; Pink Chiffon shower gel; Ocean for men shower gel (because my man needs to smell good too!); Rio Rumberry glowing body scrub; Rio Rumberry mini body lotion.

Well, I am tired of typing & linking everything, but now you know where to get most of the stuff.  I hope I have time tomorrow to post about some gifts I got & my new attempt w/essential oils!