There was some questions and talk around the Batty’s Bath studio this week about how to deal with unruly, frizz hair. While I will provide a quick “band-aide” solution in upcoming posts to help you deal with the symptoms of damaged hair, like being unruly, frizzy, breakage, etc… This post is about how to heal your hair so you start working towards solving the problem of damaged hair first!

There are many products on the market claiming to calm frizzy hair.  One of these products that are part of the “natural care” world that I am sure you have heard of to tame this type of mane is Moroccan oil.

 Moroccan oil is touted as being able to lubricate and help to rebuild the broken hair cuticle which takes away the frizz. This oil is also said to help make the hair shinier as well as help it grow faster.  I know, when you heard about it, it’s like wow! The frizzy hair miracle!

 However I’m sorry to bust your hair cuticle, but this is one of those infamous hair myths. Sadly, even though it is natural and smells good, it just didn’t get the job done for the hair frizz blues!

Moroccan oil is like the mineral oil of the hair care world, it just lubricates the top layer.

Moroccan oil doesn’t really do anything to heal the hair and banish frizz into oblivion. So what to do you ask? How can I heal my hair without nasty chemicals?

The answer is the oil of our tropical friend the coconut! Coconut oil not only helps to lubricate the hair, rebuild the broken hair cuticle, but it actually penetrates your beautiful locks, for 360 degrees hair health. Coconut oil unlike Moroccan oil contains an essential acid called lauric acid. Lauric acid  is what helps this oil penetrate your hair, and moisturize it from the inside out.  Coconut oil also helps the hair to retain moisture (which is really important when your hair is already looking crazy!). This is due to it not being easily broken down and coconut oil being high in moisture. Wow!. It also has vitamin E, which helps to keep hair in good health.

Coconut oil is the solution no matter how your hair got frizzy, whether it be from being in the sun too much,  genetics, or chemical damage (coloring, perms), and too much heat (curling irons, blow dryers etc).

Here at Batty’s Bath, we know the power of the lovely coconut.

You can find it in the hair serum, which is chock full of coconut, as well as in our shampoo bar!

Stay tuned to the blog for more healthy hair advice or never miss an article by signing up for email updates (see the top left of this blog).

P.s. Have a great long weekend!

<3 Batty

beautiful hankies that hold and protect special beloved treasures.

As many of you know my beloved MacBook Pro died about a week ago and I’m in another flare up – a flare that has lasted longer than they usually do (not that they are totally predictable).  The silver living is that because my laptop died while I was in a flare up, it gave me the break I needed. I’ve felt less guilty about taking time to take care of myself and reflect while I wait for a new MacBook Pro to arrive. Now, instead of filling this post with my computer and health woes, I thought I’d start a series that will help YOU!

Some, but not many, of my friends have “wellness cabinets”.  Wellness cabinets are similar to medicine cabinets (and some aren’t cabinets at all! Even a small box works!). 

And I think they are wonderful things to work into any families home and add to it as you find more ingredients, and other items that are suitable for it. Put it near your first aid or emergency preparedness kit. One of the things we have in ours, is essential oils.

As you may have noticed, essential oils are used abundantly in the product line, and rightfully so as they are superbly healing on many levels as well as smell delightfully well.  You may be wondering, hmm how can I harness the healing power of essential oils outside of these wonderful creations by Batty’s Bath. Well in this series I will cover ten basic essential oils, that everyone should keep in their wellness cabinet. These oils have a wide variety of uses, and we will touch on them each individually.

   The ten basic essential oils that will be introduced to you for this DIY series are:

• lavender
• chamomile
• tea tree
• eucalyptus
• lemon
• peppermint
• geranium
• thyme
• rosemary
• clove 

In each section of this series basic information will be given on their properties, how you can use them, and even a little treat at the end of each piece with a DIY recipe.

Now before we get into the fun stuff. …..

I want to make sure you are a savvy essential oil shopper!

So I have to give you a quick briefing on how to buy the high quality essential oils. There are a lot of essential oils out there on the market, some are excellent, some belong in the trash can of grouch from sesame street. Here’s why. Top quality essentials oils are of a therapeutic nature.

Here’s a quick list of how to make sure you get the best essential oils:

1. They will have their scientific and common name on the bottle.
2. Also check the prices, because different oils take different amounts of material to produce the essential oil, it causes a variety in prices. For example rose essential oil and lemon essential oil should not be the same price. If you see essential oils that are all the same price, or nearly the same price, run to the next brand. This is one of the indicators that the essential oil may have been cut substantially with a substance, so it may be one drop of the essential oil to give it a scent, and it will lack the healing power that the aromatherapy world claims.
3. You will also want to check how the bottles are stored. Essential oils should be in an amber or other dark colored bottle. This helps to protect it from its properties being destroyed by light.

Now my savvy shopper, once you get your goods home, you will want to make sure that you properly care for your oils.

• One is to never store them in direct sunlight, keep them in a cool dark place such as a cabinet to help preserve them.
• Secondly replace the top (lid) of the essential oil bottles as soon as you are done with them, as they can evaporate fairly quickly.
• Thirdly, and most importantly is to keep the essential oils out of reach of children and pets. Even though essential oils are lovely, they are still medicinal in nature and can have very harmful effects if they get into the wrong little hands or paws!

Well now that those things are covered, we can move onto the fun stuff. Look for my piece on lavender essential oil which will be coming to the blog within the next couple weeks. Until then I have some other topics I’d like to share so stay tuned

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my steps moving forward after releasing the last newsletter, and I don’t want to leave anyone in the dark, so I wanted to let you know how things are going…

When Will Specific Products Be Discontinued?

I haven’t started making my last batches of specific products yet. Although I can’t guarantee any specific products will be in stock in the future either. I need to use up ingredients and packaging that I wont use after discontinuing certain products – once those are used up, I wont stock them again. I’ll try to keep everyone updated regularly on the facebook fan page. I want to also let you know that when I say I haven’t made my last batches yet, I mean that there are several products that I will be making last batches for, while there are others that I wont. I’m sorry I can’t be more clear! It’s hard to estimate what custom orders will come in, the amount of time I’ll have to devote to this shift, etc.

Woh – Wait! There’s a lot of products listed as out of stock! What happened?

I took inventory of the products I actually have made, labeled, and packaged. Basically anything that is ready to go right out the door is now listed as in stock on the website. I used to list more products being in stock than actually were and then would made the products as the orders came in. This system as served be well for a long time, but now, with more orders coming in all the time, it’s hard to make several different products for several different orders in the same day – not to mention working in curing times can get tricky. So for my own sanity, I’ve decided that I’m going to try out a new system of only adding finished products to the online shops. This also means there will be a lot more updates to the online shops as I’ll add products as they are ready. So if you see something out of stock, check back in a few days. I generally do a big update on Mondays (as I spend a lot of time on the weekend in the studio).

Feedback Received – Solution Found!

I’ve heard from a lot of you – local and abroad – about which products you don’t want to buy from anyone else! I hear you! It can be hard to find products that work the way you want them to work while still being safe and sustainable. And since I don’t want to leave you hanging, I’ve come up with a solution that will work well for both of us: Made-to-Order!  Made-to-Order refers to a process where the customer purchase the product before it’s made. When the order is received, the artisan orders the supplies and gets to work! I know this sounds contrary to what I mentioned above – but the difference with the Made-to-Order products is that I’ll only be accepting bulk orders for them. So basically, to make this process worthwhile, products will be added to the shop in packs (so ordering one single product will not be available). An example might be that you’d like to order shaving soap and I have it available in the Made-to-Order section in a pack of 6.  This solution wont be implemented for a little while, but I wanted to let you know what’s coming soon. I’ll keep you posted when it’s available.

Summer is fast approaching, and there’s many girls are trying to get their bodies as well as their skin in tip top shape. They also want to feel sexier, and smell good because those are two more things that come to mind when one thinks of warm weather. At least I’ve been told! Although I love my dresses, pretty nails and glitter, in a lot of other ways, I’m a typical tomboy!

But, that wont stop me from helping out those of you who are looking some “beach ready” tips!

One thing that many may be using in their  quest for great skin, great smell and to feel sexier is bubble bath.  However if you want to rock a sexy swimsuit or hot bikini this summer, you might want to think twice about pouring [commercially made] bubble bath in your tub. Why? Because if the person or company making the bubble bath isn’t diligent, those  lovely scents and bursting bubbles can give you oh so not beach friendly yeast infections. Yes you heard right! Yeast infections!

How you ask?

Well one way that (poorly made) bubble baths cause yeast infections is that they irritate the delicate and sensitive vaginal tissues and the irritation is a perfect breeding ground for a fresh yeast infection.

Secondly, bubble baths can raise the amount of moisture that’s in the vaginal canal, which in turn causes yeast to breed to the point of a yeast infection.

Thirdly, you know that lovely scent that makes you feel like you are on a tropical island or other pretty idea? If the bubble bath fragrance isn’t natural, paraben free, or skin safe, it is likely to be poorly made, chemical laden fragrance that can make changes in your flora, and cause an infection.

Sodium lauryl sulfate, the stuff that makes the big pretty bubbles is another beach bummer chemical. 

I’ve actually written about SLS several times and for good reason. This chemical is known to further exacerbate the problem, and make the yeast infection harder to treat. But here is the kicker, these ingredients can cause CHRONIC (read long lasting hard to treat) yeast infections.
As you can see there is NOTHING sexy about commercially made bubble baths.  If you love a good soak in the tub as much as I do, stick with bath goodies that are made by someone who is highly knowledge AND cares about YOU more than making a quick buck. I make a 100 percent bikini and swimsuit friendly bubble bath that is free of all the nasty chemicals that can make you feel oh so less than sexy this season! The only kicker is that it will only be available as a made-to-order item soon! Pick it up before the limited amount of jars I do have made sell out! Here’s the link.

(pst, if they ARE sold out, check out the made-to-order section to order or contact me!)

A weekly detox is extremely important to keeping – or getting – your skin glowing!  Don’t leave all the gunk of the week hanging out in your pores! No good can come from leaving debris, oils, and dirt to irritate your skin!  Detoxing is as easy as using one of my clay masks! I recommend the dry clay mask for most people. The only exception is if you have rosacea or red irritated and sore skin. In that case, use the wet clay mask!  Check out the how to video for my dry clay mask here.

Filed under: Beauty, Helpful Articles ]]> http://battysblog.com/2012/04/27/have-you-detoxed-your-skin-lately/feed/ 0 battysbath Clay Masks http://battysblog.com/2012/04/26/look-a-new-look/ http://battysblog.com/2012/04/26/look-a-new-look/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:54:06 +0000 battysbath http://battysblog.com/?p=2318 ]]>

Wooohooo!!! Style at Home likes the pinterest board I’ve been building of ideas for our century old home! It’s got great “bones” and is so “us” just based on that so I can’t wait to see our house transform over the years into an even bigger reflection of our tastes The only thing is the battle over my love of cottage/shabby chic retro inspired style and Drew’s love of traditional/classic dark elegance. It will be interesting to say the least!

These little birdies wont be found in the online shop this spring, but they did found their way to our table at our last few events! Throughout the day at each event they made their way home with customers, baby batties, and anyone else who couldn’t resist their cutest!

If you’re a regular following of the blog, you may remember my new year’s resolutions.  If not, here they are if you’re interested.  In keeping with those, I’ve made a plan that includes a lot of changes in the way I work – which of course will trickle down into noticeable changes for all of you! The subscribers of the mailing list are in “the know” about the changes I mention in this post, and so are the facebook fans. Now it’s your turn – the blog readers – turn to know what’s up! Have a read and let me know what you think by commenting on this post. I’ve received a lot of feedback and I appreciate hearing from each and every one of you!  I also want you to know that the changes listed below aren’t the only big changes that I’ll share that are in line with my resolutions.  To be “in the know” the fastest, join the mailing list, otherwise stay tuned! This year is going to be a great year!

Now, on with the news…….

I’m cutting down my product line considerably!

This means that I’ll only be making some of the products in my line. The others will be discontinued. The products I will continue to make are the ones listed at the bottom of this newsletter under “Keeping” – scroll down to see the list. The ones being discontinued are listed under “Going”.  And ones that I will make seasonally, or occasionally, are listed under “Occasionally”.

So why am I cutting down my product line?
There’s several reasons. Since I like to try to keep my newsletters short, I’ll list a few of the reasons below.  If you want to hear my long-winded journey to making this decision, feel free to check out the blog. I’m sure I’ll mention this at least a few times over the next few weeks on the blog.

• There are too many products for me to keep up with
• I haven’t been able to keep my retailers well stocked
• I’m stressed out to the point that every area of my life is suffering
• If I continue to be stressed, I risk burn out and if that happens, Batty’s Bath will close up shop
• I don’t want the quality of my products to suffer (ever!)
• I want to be able to get orders out as fast as possible
• I will be able to make seasonal/special release items if I’m not always playing catch up

How this change will happen….

This change can’t happen over night, which is a good thing if one of the items you love is on the “Going” list (at the bottom of this email).

• What I’ll be doing over the next little while is making products on the “Going” list that I still have ingredients for (and don’t use those ingredients for any other formulas).  This will be my focus for the next little while. If there are products on the “Going” list that you want to get your hands on, make sure you visit ShopBattysBath.com often!
• After I’m finished with the “Going” products phase, I’ll move on to stocking up the “Keeping” products. This will be really fun because I’ll be securing the main product line and will be able to get creative with seasonal and limited edition releases!

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♥ Bath Bombs
♥ Body Butter
♥ Conditioner
♥ Shampoo
♥ Facial Scrubs
♥ Skin Therapy Facial Soap
♥ P/G Facial Soap
♥ Quick Stick
♥ Quick Spritz
♥ Clay Masks
♥ Large Body Balm
♥ Lip/Body Jelly
♥ Primer Moisturizer
♥ Patchouli Moisturizer
♥ Daily Antioxidant Moisturizer (will replace Rosemary Moisturizer)
♥ Leave-in Conditioner
♥ Lip Balm (in pots)
♥ Body Mist
♥ Cold Press Soap

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♥ Bath Salts
♥ Body Wash
♥ Bubble Bath
♥ Hair Therapy Serum
♥ Dry Shampoo
♥ Laundry Soap
♥ Concealing Powder
♥ Body Scrub
♥ Liquid Baby Soap
♥ Baby Shampoo/Body Wash
♥ Baby Jelly (in large tubs)
♥ Solid Perfume
♥ Liquid Hand Soap
♥ Shaving Soap

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Stay tuned for even more news! Or, If you like to know what’s going on before anyone else, join the mailing list!

I have been talking to you in the last couple of entries about using herbs from your skin care garden. Today I am going to be talking to you about one of the most common and yet those most fragrant herbs: Lavender!

This is one of the most commonly known herbs and one of the most versatile that I know.  If I were to just grow one skin care herb in my garden this would be it.  It is gentle enough for babies yet hardworking at the same time, and almost everyone likes it. And since you may have already planted some after reading the first part of this series, I will get on to how to use it.

One way that you can use it is by making lavender water.

Lavender water is great to have on hand for sunburned skin or when your skin is just feeling irritated in general. Lavender water will cool and soothe it.

To make it……

First you need about a cup of water, three tablespoon of dried lavender buds, a pot, and a 8-10 ounce glass bottle.  Now, I am sure the lavender that you just harvested is not dry yet, but if you read the previous post in this series, I talk to you about how to dry herbs. So what you do now, is bring the water to a boil, and then pour it over the dried lavender buds in a small sauce pan. Let it steep for five minutes or so, and then let it cool. Strain, bottle, and then refrigerate.  Splash on your skin anytime it needs to cool off.

Another way that you can use this lovely herb is coupled with oatmeal in a bath.

Lavender combined with oatmeal is great for skin that is dry and itchy or even bothered by rash.  Place two tablespoons of dried lavender and two tablespoons of oatmeal in a muslin bag or one of the handmade fabric bags you’ve received from an order at my online shop. Pull the drawstring on the bag tight, and place in a warm bath.

Did you know that lavender makes a lovely essential oil?

If you’ve ever used any handmade bath or beauty products with it you do! And while you can’t turn the lavender you harvested in you’re your yard into an essential oil without very special and expensive equipment, I can help you benefit from this healing essential oil.  I have harvested the healing power of lavender essential oil in my lavender swirl soap that will compliment and enhance anyway that you choose to use the lavender from your garden.

Happy gardening