Regular facial soaps have been known to be drying and harsh, but not when you add skin loving botanical ingredients. In addition to the naturally occurring gylcerin in each handmade soap, there is also rich shea butter, grounded rose hip and colloidal oatmeal.

All these ingredients are a “dream” in natural skincare. The rose hip powder is full of Vitamin C and carotene.  Oatmeal naturally helps soothe and relieve minor skin irritations.  Both the rose hip and oatmeal are finely grounded and makes for a smooth bar with gentle exfoliation.  In addition, the shea butter helps with extra skin moisturizing qualities.

Pure shea butter has been known to help with fading scars, treating eczema and psoriasis. Dry lips and skin also benefit from the application of shea butter. And it also help deal with stretch marks and uneven skin tone as well. This list really goes on and on.

The rose shea dream facial soap is scented with rose fragrance, to remind you of a stroll in a blooming summer rose garden.

Ingredients:  Oils of olive, palm, safflower, coconut, Shea butter, rice bran and grapeseed oil.  Distilled water, sodium hydroxide, rosehip powder, colloidal oatmeal, and rose garden fragrance oil.

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I first used Fullers Clay after trying Auromere’s Ayurvedic Herbomineral mud powder.

It’s scientific name is Calcium Montmorillonite.  Other common names are Oil Absorption Clay, Earth Clay, Bleaching Clay and Whitening Clay.

Fuller’s Earth is a naturally occurring sedimentary clay composed mainly of alumina, silica, iron oxides, lime, magnesia, and water, in extremely variable proportions.

Fullers earth is a mineral clay found through out the world.

Fullers Earth got it’s name from the workers who processed wool. The laborers were call “fullers” and they used the clay to soak up the oil from the sheep.

It’s an interesting clay that has many industrial uses. Found in laundry detergent, kitty litter, toothpaste, as well as cosmetic uses too. But the one used for cosmetic purpose are processed differently and considered to be cosmetic grade clay.

This is a great clay for facial mask. As it helps remove toxin from your skin. Leaving your face fresh and renewed. Fullers Earth is especially great if you have acne prone or oily skin.

And since it’s a “whitening” facial clay, it would offer gentle skin lightening effect on blemishes and brown spots. It may not erase all the spots in speedy time, but it would be gentle and easier on you skin.

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Last weekend I got to make soap with my new soap mold.  I made two batches, this Honey & Almond along with the Ginger Citrus.  But the Ginger Citrus that hasn’t turn out yet.  So I will post about that later.  There were some issues with the fragrance and my recipe.  I have to wait another 2 weeks to see what becomes of it.

But in the meantime, I am especially happy with these cute  “Honey & Almond” loofah bar.

The lighter color is just just honey and beeswax while the tan one has extra almond meal (ground up almond).  I think this would make a neat body bar as the loofah help stimulate new cell growth while getting rid of the old ones.  Along with the all vegetable handmade soap, it gives you softer and smoother skin too.

I ended up adding almond meal to the rest of the soap as I wanted to make a nice facial and body bar with honey, pure beeswax, an almond.  The honey is good for the skin and the almond meal will add to extra exfoliation.

Loofah starts out as this tasty vegetable.  Once it’s mature and dried, it’s made into loofah.  When I was younger, my mom used to grow some of these in her garden.  They taste slightly sweet and are good in soups and stir-fry.  Photo from Wiki.

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Since I’ve been thinking about quince, I’ve also been noticing more natural skincare products using quince fruit and seed extract.  Because I am a fan of all thing fruits, I especially love seeing fruit extracts in the skincare market.  One of the benefits of quince fruit extract is it’s moisture retaining ability.  So it would make sense to include it hand and face creams.  Some skincare company that integrated quince into their products include:

Dr.Hauschka Quince Day Cream: “Quince seed extract, quince wax and beeswax combine to impart essential moisture and offer gentle protection.” 1 oz $35.95

Korres Natural Products Body Butter in Quince: “Quince extract has softening, moisturizing and restructuring properties.” 7.95 fl oz $27

CO Bigelow Dr. Hiosous Quince Hand Lotion: This is the only product I’ve tried by CO Bigelow.  As much as I rave about Gloves in a Bottle, I think this also feels like it’s giving my hand another protective “glove like barrier”.  Gloves in a Bottle works well, but smells like glue.  I don’t know what’s in it really.  But with Dr. Hiosous Quince hand lotion, the frangrance is natural and really does smell like ripe quince. It’s citrus yet fruity.  Althought it is pricey at $15 for 4 oz bottle, a little bit goes a long way.  The texture is great and the absorption is never greasy.  It is one product I would recommend using if you have dry hands and want a natural product. 4 oz $15

Photo from Bath & Body Works

The past couple of years has been really good to olive oil. But the future may belong to rice bran oil. I had read so much of the benefits of this oil (and the rice bran powder) from many Japanese skincare company catalogs.

They actually inspired me to make my own version of the rice bran soap. I searched all over town trying to locate the oil, including Whole Foods. They had almost every oil, but not rice bran. I also tried our local Japanese market, but they were very expensive for such a small bottle. But they did have a good selection of rice bran powder. I almost gave up, but finally came across a bigger Japanese market with a more reasonable price. About $12 for 64 fluid oz.

Soap Ingredients: Rice Bran oil, Palm oil, Coconut oil, Soybean oil, Castor oil, Distilled water, Sodium hydroxide, Rice Bran Powder.

So I finally got to make my first rice bran oil bar. It has become my favorite bar. I scented it with lychee and mandarin, very light fruity scent. I use it as a facial bar and it’s very moisturizing.

The best part is using it as a shaving bar. It really leaves my legs super super soft. I even forgot to use moisturizer (or felt I didn’t need to use it anymore). In Japan, Rice Bran Oil is used to enhance your skin and hair. It is also used all over the world in a variety of cosmetics, especially for treating dry, mature skin.

Rice bran oil can be used to make massage oil, bath oil, body butters, and especially soaps. Possibly anywhere in cosmetics making. It is full of antioxidants, such as Vitamin E. Vitamin E is also used in soapmaking as a natural preservative. Oils by Nature supplies, a specialty natural oils company that supply to soapmakers and gourmet food industries had an interesting list of the benefits of Rice Bran Oil. Some of which I will list here:

• Provides moderate penetration with little greasiness
• Promotes of collagen formation
• Treats dry, mature skin
• Provides smooth spreadability

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This is the first charcoal soap I’ve made since I began my soap obsession. It contains palm oil, soybean oil, extra virgin olive oil, and castor oil - of course a dose of activated charcoal too. I decided not to put any frangrance or essential oils since I wanted a really pure facial bar. I figure it would be less harsh on the face. But thinking back, I could use a bit of peppermint or tea tree to hide the “nutty” smell of castor.

With this recipe, I decided to leave out coconut oil. And I think it’s looking very good. Coconut tends to make my other soap bars much harder. The palm oil does help it harden a bit better here too. The soybean & olive oils are both moisturizing for the skin. The castor oil also nourishes the skin, but the best part for me is that it helps with the removal of blackheads. The castor oil makes more of a soft bar. But it will harden up the longer it cures. And the super ingredient is the activated charcoal, helps to detox your skin and remove impurities.

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Since I am on the subject of guavas this week. I thought I would add the benefits of drinking guava leaf tea. There doesn’t seem to be too much info on this subject in Westernern society or health news. But in Asia, making teas out of fruit leaves are common.

Such leaves include loquats, pomegranate, and guava. Loquats are good for coughs. Pomegranate good for stomach problems, it is also used as a dieter’s tea. Which means it could help suppress your appetite.

My favorite is of the guava leaves, since it is loaded with vitamins, good for your skin, helps lower your cholesterol, and burn fats.

Below is some information on a study made by Bizen Chemical Company in Japan.

MULTIPLE BENEFITS OF GUAVA LEAF EXTRACT POWDER

Guava leaf, anti-oxidizing effect, makes you healthier

Guava is the origin of a tropical America and South-East Asia. Its leaf has been used as health tea. Guava Leaf has a character of strong Superoxide-dismutase-like activity. Because decreasing of free radicals makes anti-oxidizing effect in the body, it can prevent arterial sclerosis, thrombosis, cataract and inhibit senescence of body and skin (1). Also, polyphenolic compounds contained in Guava Leaf have an effect to suspend proceeding of peroxidation reaction in the living body which can be expected to prevent various chronic diseases (2).

Guava leaf, anti-allergic effect, improves atopic dermatitis.

One of factors for atopic dermatitis and other allergies are histamine release from cells. So that it is believed that the inhibition of histamine release from cells can cure atopic dermatitis and other allergies. Guava leaf has an inhibitory effect for the release of histamine from cells (4).

Guava leaf, a-amylase inhibitor, reduces body fat

Obesity is a phenomenon of over-accumulation of body fat and is said to be a risk factor of chronic diseases. Guava leaf has a function to inactive a-amylase as an its inhibitor and to inhibit digestive absorption of lipid as hpase inhibitory effect. However, Guava leaf does not inhibit protease (5). Therefore, because of Guava leaf’s inhibitory activity of decomposition of starch to glucose, it inhibits absorption of glucose into body and inhibits conversion of glucose to body fat. It is believed that Guava leaf is effective for weight control and reducing body fat.

Guava leaf, anti-diabetic effect, reduces blood sugar

Guava leaf has been used as a folk remedy for diabetes and there are studies of Guava leaf for anti-diabetic effect. Guava leaf inhibits the increase in the plasma level of blood sugar, but not to effect on the plasma level of insulin (3).

See also Herb:  Banaba Leaves at Cambree Notes for diabetic tea.

To make your own guava leaf tea Infusion:

Pour 1 cup of lightly boiled water into 1 - 2 teaspoon of herbal leaves in teapot or heat resistant glassware. I like to use a French Press to brew my herbal teas.

Let it steep for 3 - 5 minutes.
For medicinal usage, steep longer for 15-30 minutes.

It should be kept in refrigerator and good to drink the next couple of days.