You can find this soap either on Etsy or at the shop.

Because of the feature and the on-line link from the MSNBC site, we have been selling EVERYTHING HEMP!  This morning we sold out of our Hemp Toiletries Bag and I’m running low on a lot of our Hemp Soaps.  Once people understand the benefits of hemp and that you are not going to become “drugged out” by using it, they totally love it.  For those still concerned about THC in hemp, no worries.

I’ve used and eaten Hemp products for over 15 years and passed every FAA required medical test with flying colors.  If you want to learn more about how hemp is processed for food, textiles and oil check out one of my favorite info spots at TestPledge.com .

A plus for you - if you buy our Botanical Earth products on the Wonderland Retreat Etsy store??  I am covering the shipping to any domestic US address – so *free shipping for you!  All you do is pay for the basket and the shipping is free.  Now do be aware not all the items in the Wonderland Retreat Store on Etsy are offering free shipping, so read all the product descriptions carefully, or just email Alison and the gals at the store and ask if you have questions – they are super nice!  I was contacted a while back to see if I would donate items to help with a fellow crafter’s medical bills. Now that she’s up and going well again, I decided to leave our Lavender Gift Basket and Thank You gift on the Wonderland Retreat Store to help Elijah’s cause.

There’s lots of different goods in the shop all donated by other indie designers too.  I personally love the Vintage Obi Wallet by Kimono Momo and you’ll find paintings, necklaces, cards and much more.  Remember though, a lot of the handmade goods are one-of-a-kind pieces so if you like it, you better not wait.

Now don’t you want to feel good inside and out, plus get free shipping?? Go shopping at http://wonderlandretreat.etsy.com today!

The new Patchouli Citrus Soy Milk soap is now available.  We cut it the other day and it looks great!  With the earlier cold weather, the soy milk base is a nice creamy white and it really contrasts great with the red clay chunks.  The colored chunks are heavily scented with patchouli and citrus essential oils.

Originally, the soy milk line was solid color soaps, but I wanted to do something to make the stand out.  The chunking just gives it a more artistic look than just the solid bar – I hope everyone likes the change.

Also, this busy Ozark herbalist is quite the Pine Nut expert.  If you are looking for certified organic nuts such as hickory and pine nuts, you’ll find lots of information on Penny’s site at PineNuts.com

You’ll still be able to have our popular hemp lip balm!  It’s just now offered in a variety of blends which is new.  I switched the organic shea butter to organic cocoa butter because of the texture the shea butter can develop when heated and slowly cooled.  I like the cocoa butter better myself – so that’s the benefit when you own the business!  After much searching, I found some wonderful organic vegan chocolate that when blended with chocolate absolute from France makes a great cocoa lip balm. 

It’s a great co-op marketing for small businesses like Botanical Earth.  Lindsay Landis over at Lindsay Designs puts it all together for everyone.  Besides running TotallyIndieCoupons.com, she also has a fantastic website where she creates unique acessories for people and pets.  I love her fabric dog collars….but back to the coupons!

So who are the designers in the coupon pack you’ll receive when you purchase from Botanical Earth? You can find a list at the Totally Indie Coupon site by following this link http://www.totallyindiecoupons.com/ti5a.html.  I can tell you there is a 20% off Botanical Earth coupon in the mix too!!

Love to clean? GR Scrub in Portland OR is THE place to find what you need.  You’ll find our laundry and kitchen soaps along with everything you could possibly need for non-toxic, natural cleaning.  Check out a review of GR Scrub at Portland Picks (Mr. Clean) or stop by:

GR Scrub
8235 SE 13th Ave., #12
Portland, OR 97202
503.236.8986

And for those of you that have asked about the picture of the Patchouli Citrus labels having a mint leaf on bottle – it’s not a mint leaf but a patchouli leaf!  Patchouli essential oils is distilled from leaves.  Because of the questions, I am going to add a section on each essential oils we use too. 

I try to use the minimum of ingredients with all of our products – I’m not big on lotions because they need binders like waxes or synthetic preservatives because of the water in lotions. Now I will state I am a FIRM believer in properly preserved, safe products and believe that synthetic preservatives are the only way to go for water based products. No one wants to end up with an eye infection or rash because of a natural occurring mold or fungus in your body cream. Improperly preserved creams can be a moist environment in which mold and fungus may thrive though you may very well not be able to see them.

There are lots of options today in the use of preservatives, not just one or two. One of the least expensive synthetic preservative blends is made up of parabens (methyl, ethyl, propyl and butylparabens). There is on-going research being done, in both the USA and Europe, that shows possible negative side effects from long term use of parabens. Parabens are in quite a few items, not just a leave-on lotion. They are used help preserve medicines, toothpaste and foods. And depending on what research you read, the results can vary on what scientists think. I just figure, if I can make a safely preserved water base product without parabens, then that is one less place for contact with them. What if they are right about a link to breast cancer? People use to think spraying DDT on your counter tops was ok to stop bugs in 1949.

Botanical Earth signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics a while ago – I wish the list would increase and more companies sign on. It’s really not hard to reformulate products to make parabens and phthalates less of a concern, it just takes an effort. Hopefully more people will read the research and make a decision for themselves as to what is best for them. Besides the effect on people, what happens to the environment when all these things are dumped down the drain?

I know there is interest in the subject of Safe Cosmetics! I was interviewed a few days ago by a local CBS affiliate station, KMOV Channel 4?s Health reporter, Lisa Manzo. She asked some great questions of me as a manufacturer and also interviewed a local doctor to get different views – funny I think both the doctor and I felt the same way – if you can do without parabens and phthalates why use them.

Phthalates are found in PVC piping, which is one of the reasons I will not use PVC molds for our soaps. They are in SOME fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are compounds made up of both natural and synthetic ingredients to produce most scents. If you like the smell of cucumber, bubble gum, or your favorite commercial perfume – chances are it’s a synthetic fragrance. While synthetic fragrances are not terrible, some of them are made with phthalates. Scents like musk tend to contain phlatates – therefore I won’t use them. All of the fragrance oils from the suppliers I use for our sister stores (remember Botanical Earth products do not contain any synthetic fragrances), are documented as phthalate free. It’s not easy getting the documentation, but worth the effort. Most fragrance houses will not give their ingredients as it is a trade secret, but I believe they should state whether their fragrances are phthalate free or not.

Check out some of these sites to read what others say:

Think Before You Pink - Breast Cancer Concerns

Organic Consumers - Concerns regarding children