Cappuccino Soap

What better way to wake up than with an invigorating shower and the smell of cappuccino!  This soap is full of ground espresso beans for a gentle exfoliating scrub.  It's the perfect soap for cleaning really dirty hands too.  Looks good enough to eat, but don't….external use only!  Soap will be fully cured and ready for purchase by 6/19/12.

Cherry Smash Soap

This soap has a wonderful scent - almost smells good enough to eat!  It's one of my newest bars and I can't wait to see what people think when they try it.  It's full of nourishing oils for a rich lather and gentle cleansing.  These bars are still curing and won't be available for purchase until 6/15/12.

NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: Bath Salts!!!

Slow down.  

Take a bath. 

We get so hurried in our day-to-day lives that we seldom take time to stop and smell the roses

…..or lavender, mint, patchouli - 

just a few of the many other wonderful essential oils in my new bath salts.  

Epsom salt is one of the ingredients in this product that does wonders for your skin.  It can sooth sore muscles because Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) relax muscles and draw toxins from your body.  They can also help reduce swelling and act as a natural emollient that helps exfoliate the skin.  Magnesium also helps the mind and body relax by raising serotonin levels, which causes calm and mood elevation.  Epsom salts have been used for many years to treat various skin problems and health issues. 

Sea salts are naturally high in minerals that are beneficial to the skin and body.  I buy high quality European sea salts that possess the qualities of the most mineral-rich seas in the world.

Baking soda helps wash away oil and perspiration and neutralizes acids on the skin.  It's great for soothing rashes and can even help chronic skin problems.  

Essential oils lend aromatherapy qualities to these bath salts, making your bathing experience one of luxury.  The minty essential oils are great for opening your sinuses as well as energizing you, the lavender provides an excellent calming/relaxing effect.  

So treat yourself to a little luxury and take a nice, long bath.  You deserve it.

NEW ITEM: Bath Bombs!!!

There will be many new products coming soon to Sun & Moon Creations, today I'm launching the first one:  bath bombs.  These adorable little beauties will add sizzle to your bath as they fizz and release the lovely aroma of patchouli.  The therapeutic properties of essential oil combined with the soothing kaolin clay will turn your bath time into spa time. 

Get a pack of three 2-ounce seashell bath bombs or six 1-ounce frog & turtle bath bombs for $4, or choose any four packs for $12.  More scents coming soon!

New website is live!

Sun & Moon Creations has a new space on the web,  check it out:  www.sunandmooncreations.com.  Now that I have a new website complete with shopping cart, I will no longer be selling soaps on Etsy, so feel free to place your orders on my website or by phone.  I'll still be updating my blog with new soaps and other info, so keep an eye out here as well.

My new soap sign w/ a QR code

Book Review: Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

While I can't say Garlic and Sapphires was "a real page-turner", I did enjoy it.  Ruth Reichl shares with the reader her experiences as a food critic for the New York Times.  She writes in an autobiographical style about the various (mostly upscale) restaurants she dined in, food she ate, people she encountered and what it was like to be a restaurant critic.  To me the one of the most intriguing parts of the book was the study of social prejudice among the upper class.  Because she did not want to be recognized when she went into a restaurant, she took on elaborate disguises, even changing her personality to fit the character she was portraying.  The reactions she received varied drastically depending on what character she became for each visit.  It was astonishing how much her appearance affected the way she was treated by restaurant staff as well as other customers.

Her writing style was very enjoyable, however, I will admit I had to look up several words.  Reichl has quite an extensive vocabulary.  I appreciate a writer who makes me grow beyond the boundaries of my everyday language.  I got the feeling she wrote every word with thoughtful consideration.  

As I read about her experiences in these very upscale establishments, I couldn't help think about all the people in NYC who were going hungry while she was getting paid to enjoy foods such as foie gras and caviar every day, and how it would be great if she could find a way to use her writing ability to do something a little less pretentious.  And then towards the end of the book she starts to redeem herself as the personalities she adopts for her characters begin to reveal to her what she is starting to become.  This evokes a career change for her and, in my opinion, a happy ending. 

Perhaps I was taken in by the book because of my own love for cooking.  Reichl describes with perfect detail the satisfaction that cooking and food can provide.  The smells, the colors, the textures, the flavors, the sounds - my kitchen is more therapeutic to me than a day at the spa.  She describes the cooking experience in such a profound way that every foodie can appreciate.  I would love to have the gift of expressing my thoughts as beautifully as she does.  I would recommend this book for that aspect alone, and the story itself is just a fringe benefit.

Chocolate Vanilla Soap

Two of my all time favorite flavors combined into one sweet-smelling bar of soap!  Made with cocoa butter and other nourishing oils, this soap will satisfy your senses as you use it.  It's my favorite soap so far!  I made extra batches because I know these won't last long.

Fiddleheads

Working in the flower beds today and discovered some baby ferns I dug up in the woods last year and transplanted to my beds. They are so cute when they are young!

Book Review: The Green Mile by Stephen King

My son is always trying to get me to read Stephen King books.  I think he may possibly be Mr. King's biggest fan.  Although I love the way Stephen King writes, I'm not a big fan of his usual genre.  So when our book club chose The Green Mile to read, I was a bit skeptical.  I never saw the movie, but I had a general idea of what it was about.  I tend to gravitate to uplifting, happy books, and a book about death row inmates seemed very depressing.  I figured I'd read it quickly and get it over with so it wouldn't bring me down for too long.

Shortly into the first chapter I knew I was going to love this book.  King writes in such a suspenseful way, I had a hard time putting it down.  Throughout the chapters he gave little glimpses of what was to come - piquing my interest with every turn of the page.  The characters were endearing enough to make you forget that they were actually death row villains.  He included just enough fantasy to balance the morose.  I was actually sad to get to the end of the book because I enjoyed it so much.  It's my favorite Stephen King book so far.

Of course, after reading the book I had to rent the movie.  I thought the casting was dead on!  The actors looked exactly as I pictured each character in the book.  The movie is never as good as the book, but this one was definitely close.  I'm glad the movie left out the part about the mean employee at the nursing home - that was my least favorite part of the story.  All things considered, I give both the book and the movie 5 stars.

Man Soap

I wanted to formulate a soap recipe that would be especially appealing to men, so I came up with this soap I'm calling "Man Soap".  The scent in this soap is a combination of essential oils that combines woodsy and spicy.  The rich brown and light cream tones even make this bar look manly.  This soap makes a great gift for the man in your life (or for yourself!).

Tooty Fruity Soap

Tooty Fruity is a fun, pleasant-smelling soap made with bright purple colorant.  It smells like jelly beans.  Kids will love this soap!  It's made with all those good oils that make a great bar of soap:  

olive, palm, coconut, and Shea butter.  Make bath time fun and healthy and leave the harsh chemicals out of it by using this natural, kid-friendly soap.

Tea Tree Soap

Tea tree oil has been used for thousands of year for its medicinal properties.  Studies have shown that it can be used to treat all three forms of infectious organisms:  bacterial, fungal and viral.  These qualities are what makes tea tree products good for acne, oily hair/skin, sunburn and a host of other skin ailments.  My tea tree soap also contains spearmint essential oil, which blended with tea tree oil provides an uplifting, fresh scent.  As with all my soaps, other oils such as coconut oil, olive oil and shea butter produce a great lather that nourishes your skin as it cleans.

Vegetarian Chili

People have been asking me to share my recipe for vegetarian chili, and I'm finally getting around to doing so.  This is probably the most often made meal in our home.  Even my carnivore teenage son loves it (but I have to run the blender through it to get rid of the "chunks" before he'll eat it).  When you blend this chili with an immersion blender or food processor it makes a great topping for fries!

Vegetarian Chili

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can of dark red kidney beans, drained & rinsed

1 can of cannellini beans, drained & rinsed

1 qt. tomatoes w/ juice (I use home canned tomatoes, but store bought is fine)

1 cup water

2 Tbsp. chili powder

salt & pepper to taste 

In a dutch oven or large pot heat oil, then add onions and peppers.  Cook for about 5 minutes, then add garlic.  Cook for about a minute, then add beans, tomatoes, water, chili powder, salt & pepper.  Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes. 

Variations:  add corn, black-eyed peas, hot peppers, hot sauce, 

Optional toppings:  shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, crumbled cornbread 

You can't have chili without cornbread, so plan to make some of that too.  

Maybe I'll share a cornbread recipe next time.

Baby Soap

The most gentle soap for the most sensitive little ones (and grown-ups too for that matter!!) - made from soothing ingredients like organic olive oil, corn starch and oatmeal.  This soap has no essential oils and no colorants, so it's extremely gentle with a light natural scent.  If you suffer from sensitive skin issues, give this soap a try.  As with all my soaps, there are no artificial ingredients and only the best oils make up these luxurious bars that are unlike anything you can find at your typical store.  Don't put commercial soaps full of chemicals on your baby, us all-natural organic soaps like this one.

Charcoal Soap

Activated charcoal has been used in recent years to detoxify your skin by drawing out impurities from beneath the surface.  Using charcoal soap doesn't harm your skin in any way, but it does provide a gentle, deep cleansing which is especially good for people with acne-prone skin types.  Activated charcoal is a safe and amazing ingredient, to learn more about it check out this site.  This soap also has tea tree oil and eucalyptus essential oil which create a wonderful scent together.

Lemongrass Soap

Things that are good for your body internally are often good for your body externally as well, which is why I like to use organic teas when making my soaps.  Teas have been used in various medicinal ways for centuries.  My great grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian who cared for sick people by wrapping them in clothes that had been soaked in herbal teas.  I'm told she "healed" many people that way.  Whether or not these practices work, you can't deny the smell of lemongrass tea is lovely - and so is this soap.  With lemongrass leaves throughout this soap, you get a gentle exfoliating effect while you bathe.  This is one of my favorites so far!  

Spearmint Soap

Sweet and fresh, this yummy soap will wake you up and put a smile on your face.  One sniff and you will want to eat it!  But don't.  It's soap after all.  Spearmint essential oils have numerous health benefits.  Like most essential oils, spearmint has anti-bacterial properties and blocks the growth of certain microbes, including Salmonella, E coli and MRSA.  Spearmint is also a mood-lifter.  So brighten your mood while you shower with this delicious smelling soap!

Citrus Soap

This refreshing soap has tiny pieces of orange peel throughout each bar to serve as an exfoliant to your skin.  It also contains grapefruit essential oil, which provides a soft, bright scent.  Citrus oil is a natural antiseptic when used in soap.  It's also antimicrobial and works to disinfect as it cleans.  Orange oil can help prevent inflammation, which makes this a good soap to use for shaving.

Java Soap

Anybody who knows me had to know it was just a matter of time before I found a way to incorporate coffee into my soaps.  I LOVE coffee, but until I started researching healthy, all-natureal ingredients for your skin, I did not know that coffee could be used externally.  Studies have shown that caffeine applied to your skin can actually kill the abnormal cells that cause skin cancer.  It can also help rosacea by constricting blood vessels that cause the skin to flush. 

Perhaps one of the best uses for this soap is for deodorizing your hands after cooking.  Coffee is said to be able to remove odors of garlic and onions from your hands, and the coffee grounds throughout the soap make it excellent scrubbing away dirt.  You'll want to keep a bar of this by your kitchen sink.