Summer is almost here and that means I am ready to experiment with a  new facial moisturizer.

For the past few weeks I’ve been using Aveeno’s new Smart Essentials Daily Nourishing Moisturizer SPF 30 made with southernwood extract, vitamins A, C, and E.

I’ve always liked Aveeno products for their natural ingredients and affordable prices.  This one retails for about $14.99 for 2. 5 oz.   One thing I didn’t like about Aveeno products is the strong fragrance.  But with this new product the scent is actually okay.  It smells like a combination of fruity floral and fades quickly.  I think it would be better if it was unscented.

The best things about this product is that’s its lightweight and sinks into the skin easily.

SPF 30 is also great since it helps protect skin from sun’s harmful UVA/UVB ray.  I love that doesn’t leave a white finish unlike most other facial sunscreens with SPF 30.

A few more info from Aveeno:  ” Sun exposure, free-radicals environmental toxins and a hectic lifestyle can rob your skin of essential nourishment, resulting in noticeably stressed skin.

Formulated with antioxidant Southernwood extract,  SMART ESSENTIALS™ Daily Nourishing Moisturizer with SPF 30 helps keep what’s good in and what’s bad out, replenishing and helping to protect your skin wherever the day takes you.

In fact, in a clinical study, 100% of women showed an improvement in the look of stressed skin.”

Oil Free, hypoallergenic, and noncomedongenic (won’t clog pores).

Another soap just off the rack is this Gardener’s Honey soap. In addition to the honey, it also has organic oatmeal and organic yogurt. To keep it really natural, it’s not scented but still smells very pleasant.

Ingredients: olive oil, grapeseed oil, palm oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, illipe butter, wheat germ oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, organic oatmeal, honey, organic yogurt, calendula petals and geranium petals.

I chose all these ingredients because of their soothing and conditioning abilities. It’s the same ingredients found in a facial mask, but put into this great bar of soap. Not only is a great facial and body soap, but also ideal for gardeners or anyone with super dirty hands! As the bits of oatmeal is very exfoliating.

This is also the first time I’ve soaped with fresh yogurt and illipe butter. The yogurt did leave a soft bar while it was being cut. But after several weeks of curing, it’s perfectly hard and nice as my other soaps.

The soap is also topped with calendula petals and geranium petals harvested from last summer’s flower garden.

Benefits of Illipe butter from Mountain Rose Herbs:

• Moisturizing chronically dry skin
• Mature skin
• Sunburn
• Healing sores
• Damaged skin
• Rough skin (such as on feet)
• Mouth ulcers
• Dry or over processed hair

This is my latest soap just off the curing rack. It’s made with kelp powder and French green clay. Both really good ingredients to help remove toxins from your skin.

Ingredients: Rice bran oil, avocado oil, palm oil, soybean oil, hemp oil, wheat germ oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, organic kelp powder, French Green clay, peppermint essential oil, cedarwood essential oil.

I omitted coconut oil from this recipe and went with lots of rice bran and avocado oil. So lots of vitamin E! The downside is that it didn’t harden up very nice and made it difficult to cut. But it is still great soap. I have tested it out and can say it’s a fine bar of soap. It does get rather soft after several uses, but just keep it dry between uses and you’ll be fine.

The bar is also slippery because of the kelp (seaweed). According to skincare experts, this slipperiness if from the gel like quality of kelp which helps to protect and restore hair and skin. It’s very hydrating and healing ingredient in skincare.

Because it’s a very green bar of soap, it’s scented with peppermint essential oil. Which is a very uplifting and clean smelling essential oil.

This is one of my new batches of handmade soap and is now ready for use. They’ve been curing happily for the past few weeks.

I call this the “Moroccan Spice Argan” soap because of all the spicy and herbal essential oils. But the real magic is from the argan oil which is really great for the skin.

Benefits of argan oil:

- Nourishes your skin with super rich in vitamin E, antioxidants and amino acids like Omega 3, 6 and 9
- Pure and natural skincare
- Reduce signs of aging and improve skin conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis

Ingredients: rice bran oil, coconut oil, palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, hemp oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, Moroccan red clay, rosehip powder, acerola powder, sweet orange essential oil, anise essential oil, clove essential oil.

I also added acerola powder. The acerola fruit is also called Barbados cherry and is loaded with vitamin C, great for it’s skin brightening abilities.

Another magical ingredient in this bar is organic hemp seed oil. I’ve never used it in soapmaking before until now. And it is really great stuff for both the soap and the skin. Not only is it great for soapmaking, it’s also very healthy stuff. The oil is very green and mixed with yogurt it taste very nutty and delicious.

This bar is scented with only essential oils. Including sweet orange essential oil, which leaves a nice light citrus scent. The clove and anise also gives in a bit of spice. A perfectly great bar of soap that is safe and beneficial to any skin type.

I recently was asked to do a product review for Amal 100% Organic Oils.  I received the bottle about a week ago and have been using it twice a day.

At first I was skeptical about applying oil to my face as I usually break out easily. Jojoba oil is one that my face doesn’t like too much and extra virgin coconut oil and rose hip oil is okay. But argan oil is the best!  It’s been treating my skin very well.

Argan oil comes from Argan Tree (Argania Spinosa) that only grows in Morocco. It’s a really light oil that’s golden in color. It has a pleasant nutty scent.  When apply to your skin it is non-greasy.

The oil is super moisturizing, especially great to use this time of year with all the indoor heating and cold winter weather that could leave your skin parched. I love that it soaks right into my skin.

I’ve been applying it both in the morning and at night. To apply, just take a few drops onto the palm of your hand and use your index finger to apply the oils to your face. The result was much smoother and soft skin. So I’m really thrilled to have found out about argan oil and will continue to use it.

You can also use additional drops to nourish your hair and nails. It’s also works great as a before or after shave lotion too. I also like to put on my neck as that part of the skin sometimes get neglected.

“A closeup of the argan nut on the tree. Moroccans will harvest the nut once it falls off the tree or throw rocks at the branches to free them.” - flickr.

The argan tree only grows in Morocco and obtaining the oils is very labor intensive. Amal Oils are harvested and pressed by Moroccan women as part of their cooperatives. The cooperatives are women owned and run businesses, which serve to provide education, healthcare and income to the women and their families.

The founder of Amal Oils is Jalila Bouchareb. She is a Moroccan woman who has lived her entire life in the U.S. and frequently travels to Morocco and is very close to her roots. The word “amal” means “hope” in her language. She has this to say about her oils, “Amal Oils is an expression of their hard work and effort, and with our support we can give them hope, Amal, for the future.”

Highlights of this great product:

- Nourishes your skin with super rich in vitamin E, antioxidants and amino acids like Omega 3, 6 and 9
- Pure and natural care for hair, nail and skincare
- Reduce signs of aging and improve skin conditions like acne, eczema and psoriasis
- Supports local Moroccan women
- Safe for people of all age, including children
- For pregnant women, it can be used to prevent stretchmarks

Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil is pure, natural argan oil that is certified organic by ECOCERT - an independent organization that represents the highest international standards for nature-friendly products.

Sometimes you can spot goats up in Essaouira’s argan trees, feasting on the fruit. - Photo from NY Times. Read more “Liquid Gold in Morocco“.

Jalila’s DYI face mask:

2 drops of Amal oils
1 tsp organic honey
2 tsp of organic yogert
1/4 avocado mashed

Apply to skin for 15 minutes and rinse off with warm water.

Check out! Amal 100% Organic Moroccan Argan Oil And for a limited time receive 20 % off.

On my last visit to the aquarium in San Francisco, I saw kelp forest waving back and forth amongst the swimming fishes. It was a great reminder for me to take note of this underwater sea plants many benefit to skincare.

If you’ve ever touched kelp (seaweed) you’ll noticed the slippery texture. According to skincare experts, this gel like quality of kelp helps to protect and restore hair and skin. When sea kelp is added to skincare, it aids the skin by hydrating and healing it.

Kelp is also loaded with vitamins A, B12, D and iodine, folic acid, and minerals, including iron, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. And these same minerals also help draw out toxins from your skin.

Not only is it beneficial to skincare, it’s also good for you. Kelp is a sea vegetable and consumed daily by many Asian countries. Dried kelp is commonly found in soups and the Japanese love their kelp sushi wrappers.

Instead of reaching for salty chips, try snacking on roasted seaweed. As it makes for a healthy snack too.

Kelp is also a good source of iodine. And those suffering from thyroid problems should consider making kelp a natural part of their diet.

“Algae are some of the most nutrient-rich life forms in nature, which is why they’re present in so many cosmetics,” says Ben Fuchs, cosmetic formulator for Rocky Mountain Natural Labs in Boulder, Colorado. “They’re full of minerals that can help draw toxins from the skin.” - Yoga Journal.

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I wanted to start off the new year with a new skincare regiment. As my handmade soaps can only do so much.

After I finished using SIBU lotion, I am switching to Korres. It’s an all natural skincare line from Athens, Greece and is known world wide. They’ve been around for a while and thought I would give it a try.

This is the kit I got from Sephora.  Korres Brightening & Anti-Aging Rose Collection which includes:

- 1.35 oz Wild Rose Moisturizer
- 1.01 oz Wild Rose Serum
- 1.35 oz Wild Rose Mask
- 1.69 oz Rose Showergel
- 1.69 oz Rose Body Butter
- 0.21 oz Wild Rose Lip Butter

This kit is formulated with wild rose oil, which is a really luxurious and expensive skincare oil. I’ve only used this kit for about one week and so far my skin really likes it.

The best thing about Korres that it’s gentle and good for those with sensitive skin. And it’s also formulated without Parabens, Petrochemicals, Phthalates, GMOs, and Triclosan.

My product review:

Wild rose moisturizer has a nice rose scent. It’s a very heavy cream great for winter. It has spf 6, which is not enough for me. But I also use bronze mineral powder for additional sun protection.

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Ever since I heard about the benefits of neem I wanted to make my own neem soap. I’ve tried many other neem soaps made with neem oil, but the scent was just too strong to use on a daily basis.

It’s been known that all parts of the plant has medicinal qualities, I decided to use the more pleasant smelling neem leaf.

My neem soap is made with some really great ingredients. Besides the neem leaf powder, I’ve included licorice powder for it’s skin brightening qualities. Other ingredients include extra virgin coconut oil, which I consider to be the most premium of all vegetable oils. Not only is it a healthy oil, but it’s a great ingredient for skincare, from lotion to soaps.

Even though this soap is unscented, it does have a very herbal and grassy scent.

The white ashy part on top is a natural occurrence of handmade soap. It will just wash off after the first use.

It’s a good size bar weighing about 3.5 to 4 oz bar. The herbal powders provide a mild exfoliation. It would be okay to use daily as body soap but once a week as facial soap.

Pukka Herbs note, “The roots, bark, leaves and seeds all have medicinal properties and are used for a multitude of purposes; in Sanskrit it is known as sarva roga nivarini, which means ‘the curer of all ailments.”

I’d like to share a few interesting handmade soaps I’ve discovered from various shops. Not only do I make soaps, but I also like to collect other soaps too.

This is one of the first handmade soap I came across from Pier One Imports. It’s made in Thailand by Bath & Bloom.

The dark chocolate soap smells yummy! And the tumeric honey is a neat combination. Except when I think of tumeric, I think of the yellow stains it will leave behind. But this doesn’t do that as it’s blended very well into the soap.

It’s a fairly small square bar that weights close to 3 oz. And cost about $2.50 to $3.00. Pier One has many interesting soaps from around the world. But I don’t think they carry this brand anymore.

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Another new addition to my handmade soap is this skin nourishing facial soap. It’s made with skin detoxing French Green clay and healing carrot seed essential oil. Both ingredients are beneficial to skincare.

According to Mountain Rose Herbs, french green clay is super absorbent due to the constitution of its micro molecules.

It’s used to remove impurities from your skin. The toning action from the clay is also stimulating to the skin. Thus helping to revitalize the complexion and tighten the pores.

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