babyassface

Is this shower gel Jesus-worthy?

Do I really need a soap that contains ingredients that were used by the likes of Nefertity, the Queen of Sheba, and Jesus? After trying Kings & Queens Caspar Myrrh Showergel, yes, I believe I do. 

The Kings & Queens product line is from the makers of Korres products (which I really like.) 

Each shower gel, including the Caspar Myrrh, is named after a famous person from the days of yore.  For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out which famous figure Caspar was the ghost of, (or why they spelled his name wrong), then I read the side of the bottle. 

Turns out Caspar was one of the three Magi, and Myrrh was one of the gifts they gave to little baby Jesus. Back in the day, Myrrh had many medicinal properties and was valued almost as much as gold.

I had no idea that the Burger King was one of the Magi.

I think it’s extremely, uh, creative that they tried to somehow link their shower gel to Jesus. When you’re in the store wondering if you should buy it, and you think “what would Jesus do?”, they kind of have you there.

While this soap does come in a plastic bottle, which I don’t like, at least this one has a #1 resin code, so it’s recyclable. 

Kings & Queens Caspar Myrrh left my skin feeling super soft and smooth. And I love the smell - kind of  cinnamon-y with a slight hint of dark chocolate and something that smells vaguely like an ingredient in a men’s colognes (Myrrh perhaps?) Needless to say, it’s a very unisex scent. Plus it lingers a really long time.

I also love the label. It makes me feel like royalty. Like when I walk out of the bathroom I expect to find a jeweled crown, full-length gown and a team of dressers awaiting my arrival.

Then I’m slapped back to reality when I see my cat standing in front of her litter box, waiting for me to scoop it.   

The soap that'll WAKE YOU UP!

If you’re like me, getting up in the morning is a bit of a battle.

Mine is of a King Kong vs Godzilla magnitude. 

Well, lucky for us, there’s Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap. 

This soap’s peppermint scent will clear your mind and its tingling sensation will invigorate your body.  Although you may not want to use it on your nether region, where it crosses over from being an invigorating sensation to being a “please God, stop the burning” sensation.

While it does smell quite powerful in the shower, the scent doesn’t linger, so you don’t have to worry about smelling like a walking piece of Dentyne Artic Chill. 

Dr. Bronner was one of the forefathers of the green movement.  His packages are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles and his soaps are completely vegetable based, organic and biodegradable. 

The ingredients are simple and pure: extra virgin coconut, olive, jojoba and hemp oils, plus pure essential oils. 

Look closely at the label and amongst, what looks like the rantings of a mad man, you’ll find a listing of 18 uses for this soap. Some of which include, using it as a shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, laundry detergent, after shave, foot bath, detergent for hand washables, pet shampoo, fruit and vegetable wash, pest spray, and household cleaner.

Hey, Dr. Bronner, does that mean, it’ll clean the tub, as I take a shower? If so, you deserve a Nobel Prize. 

Actually, it's a great soap to take traveling, seeing as it does pretty much everything, except carry your luggage. 

So, if you’re looking for a little extra stimulation, in addition to your morning coffee (but not as much stimulation as say, amphetamines) this is your soap.

Not only will you exit the shower, ready to take on a new day, you’ll exit, ready to take on a new year. 

It’s also great for traveling, because if you forget a book, the bottle will provide you with days worth of reading material.

Do you have a favorite, invigorating soap?

an intoxicating soap

So I was in Pier 1 one day, and somehow amongst all the headache-inducing combinations of scents from diffusers, candles, potpourri and room sprays, my disoriented sense of smell still had the wherewithal to discover the lovely, Il Vigneto Chardonnay Soap. 

This natural vegetable soap is made in Italy.  It contains 1% pure grape seed oil (an antioxidant) as well as Chardonnay essence. (Essence?  Perhaps at the factory, they get drunk and wave open bottles  around?)

 

Here are some employees kicking back during their lunch break. 

Thankfully, they weren’t very successful at capturing the actual essence of Chardonnay, because if I showed up at work every morning reeking of alcohol, I might involuntarily be writing this from the Betty Ford Clinic. 

So what does this soap smell like?  Hmmm…  Maybe if you spilled grape juice on your blouse, then skipped down the hall leaving the scent wafting behind you.   Did that help? No? Guess you'll just have to take my word, it smells really good.

And it leaves your skin feeling amazingly soft, smooth and velvety (it’s richer than silky). 
This soap definitely makes you feel good all around. 

I’m guessing it has something to do with the Chardonnay.

Now if only they'd come up with a crackers and cheese soap to go with it.

Pier One isn't the only place it's sold.  Feel free to use the "search the web" box to the right, to find out where else you can get it.

Lather of Arabia

The founder of Bella Lucce has my dream job.

A few years back, I had my own aromatherapy company. While I was using ingredients indigenous to my kitchen cabinets (like my exfoliant made from granola, and my Honey Body Glaze, basting brush included, so you could glaze yourself like an Easter ham), the founder of Bella Lucce was scouring the earth, to find the “most insanely natural, deliciously decadent ingredients” known to woman.  (I’m sure her decadent granola collection is in the works.)

My favorite new soap, the Moroccan Lava Cleansing Bar, hails from her new Arabian Odyssey collection.  And considering I have 8 different bars of soap in my shower right now (I wish I were kidding) that should count for something. 

This soap is handmade in small batches, with exotic ingredients like mineral-rich, Moroccan lava clay (deep cleans and detoxifies).  Natural oils and shea butter (moisturizes).  And Turkish coffee (exfoliates and improves circulation).

It leaves my skin clear, soft, smooth, moisturized and beyond supple. And it smells amazing- vaguely like an exotic version of a warm cup of milk with honey, and cinnamon.  (Which is odd, considering it contains none of the above.) 

If for some strange reason, I had to get sucked into a computer, like the girl from Poltergeist got sucked into a TV, this would be the website where I’d want to spend all my time.

Oh, my God what was she doing in there?  She covered herself in every product at once. 

Exotic Date & Wild Honey Buff. Coconut Mango Bath Bliss. Detoxifying Ginger-Wasabi Masque.  The website is like a Travelocity for skin, helping it to plan its next exotic vacation. 

As luck will have it, I just finished the bar (of soap, not the legal exam).  I promised myself I’d use some of the 7 other bars in my shower before buying a new Moroccan Lava Bar.  God give me strength.   

Moracca Lava Bar.  I will find you, just stay alive no matter what occurs! ... I will find you.

The entire Bella Lucce collection is paraben-free, silicone-free, petroleum-free, dye-free and sulfate-free.

fight the daily grind with this coffee grind scrub

I’ve been trying to cut back on coffee.  I get addicted too easily.  One cup always seems to lead to more and bigger cups. (Nancy Reagan was right.)  And God forbid I don’t drink it for a day, I end up with a splitting headache.

This photo was labeled “woman with migraine”.  Personally, I think it should have been filed under “woman psychically trying to move a glass of water”. 

I do miss coffee though.  So I was thrilled, when a friend told me about this amazing coffee body scrub she found at a spa.

All I had to do was smell Juara Invigorating Coffee Scrub and I was headed to the register before I even had the lid screwed back on.

This stuff is like a decadent spa treatment that you’d get in Indonesia somewhere. Actually, the whole Juara line is derived from Indonesian beauty rituals.

They even have a section on their website called “mini-rituals”.  It’s nothing to do with giving virgins paper cuts (get it?  mini-rituals?) but rather little, purifying or moisturizing or brightening, pre-packaged treatments.

So, anyway, where was I... telekinetically moving water glasses, paper cuts... oh yeah.  Coffee is used to stimulate circulation to the skin, and is also known to be a powerful antioxidant. (Is it just me or do you see the words “powerful antioxidant” so much, that your mind reads it as blahblahidants?)

Anyway, this stuff is amazing.  It smells like a combination of dark chocolate and delicious, rich coffee beans. Just rub this finely ground coffee (soaked in luxurious oil) in a circular motion and it generates a latte-type creaminess that cleans (you don’t need to use soap), exfoliates and leaves skin feeling super smooth, soft and invigorated.  (It's a little messy, but I think it’s worth it.)

If you need some motivation to get up in the morning (besides receiving a paycheck, so you don’t have to live in a refrigerator box) this may be just the enticement you’ve been looking for.

If you want to find out where you can buy it at the best price, feel free to use the "search the web" box to the right.

 

a shaving bar so good you'll wish you had more legs

I usually don’t look forward to shaving my legs. Don’t get me wrong.  I do it, so as not to look like a Yeti, but it does seem like a bit of a chore. But that’s all changed, thanks to Savor’s Juice Shaving Soap.  www.savor.etsy.com (I’m also going to write about their other soaps, but this shaving bar is so good it deserved a post all to itself.)

First off, I love that it doesn’t come in gratuitous, environmentally-detrimental packaging.  It’s just wrapped in a thin, Saran Wrap-ish type plastic.  (Pretty minimal.) 

Second off, this bar smells really nice and lightly fruity.  It has extra glycerin, conditioner and vegetable protein for a thick, rich lather.  My razor has never glided over my legs this effortlessly, ever.

In fact, this bar has so much slip that I kept trying to put it on the ledge of the tub and it kept sliding in and then I couldn’t pick it up for 5 minutes because it kept slipping out of my hand.  (This probably isn't a good gift idea for a prisoner.)

And while I have thin, chicken legs, this bar leaves them feeling so refreshed, smooth, and silky that they feel like really beautiful chicken legs.

I love this product so much that shaving my legs is now right up there with free samples, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and sleeping late. (The list of my favorite things is somewhat different than Julie Andrews’.)

 Is it wrong to be in love with a shaving soap?

i want to eat this soap

I know you’re not supposed to go food shopping when you’re hungry, but I never thought that would apply to soap shopping.   But the list of soaps on Savor’s website, www.savor.etsy.com could even make Chef Gordon Ramsay say #@%*!  (in a good way).

For breakfast:  the Natural Light soap.  The top half is creamy goat’s milk and ground oatmeal and the bottom, olive oil and calendula petals. Oh, my God, no soap has ever left my skin feeling this soft and silky. 

For an appetizer: The Polenta soap.  Soap with a dash of vanilla on one side and finely ground cornmeal on the other, to scrub away dead skin.  Brilliant.  And it left my skin feeling super soft, smooth and fresh.

Then for dessert (I like to skip the main course to leave room for dessert) I’ll have the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough soap, made with oatmeal and real chunks of chocolate.

How evil is it to put real chocolate chunks that close to the surface on a bar of soap?

I found this bar a little drying on my skin (but I have dry skin).  So now I’m using it as a hand soap.   I love using it so much I think I’ve developed a hand washing OCD.

For my next dessert (don’t judge), Crème Brulee soap (it smells just like it), with creamy soap on one side and all-natural cane sugar on the other.

It goes without saying (why is that an expression, when the person then goes on to say what it is that goes without saying?) that these soaps make great gifts.  There’s a 3-month gift subscription for just $27.  (Your lucky gift recipient will receive 2 bars a month for 3 months.)

All this thinking of Savor soaps is making me hungry.  OMG.  I can’t take it anymore!  I have to go eat a hunk of chocolate out of my chocolate chip cookie dough soap.