But what the Beesilk bar can't do is keep your hands warm while out in the cold. That's when I recommend Agloves because they not only ward off the nip, but they keep you connected when using your iPhone or iPad. As you know, the touch-sensitive screens won't work with regular gloves. The Agloves solve that. They are knitted with actual silver to pull the natural electricity from your fingers and give a clean touch-sensitive response for your screen. 

I can now exercise outdoors and be able to switch through podcasts on my iPhone without having to take off my Agloves. The touch is localized enough that I can stop and type a text while out on the walking paths. I needed these on Park Days when we lived in cold, dry Colorado (I needed an iPhone back then, too).

Jonathan, 14, sports the Agloves Sport for his iPadMy 14 year old grabbed the gloves and put them to use first, and my 12 year old quickly pointed out that the "Ag" in Agloves is the chemical element symbol for Silver (thus the name Agloves - clever, eh?). Even my tech-savvy husband was impressed and put them through the "man test" (1. it must work. 2. it can't look feminine).

What I love is that these gloves are classy to use out on the town, for men or women. They fit well. Don't let the size options intimidate you - the small/medium fits my hands and even my husband's hands, just right. And their marketing is brilliant: "I (g)love you" it says on the package. Doesn't that sound like a Valentine's Day gift for the taking?

A few more bragging points about Agloves and then I'll tell you how I found them. They were awarded "Audience Choice Award 2011" at the world's largest consumer electronic show in Berlin, they won "Best New Product of the Year 2011" from the Stevie Awards, and INC. Magazine chose Agloves as the Best Touchscreen Glove. 

The story behind how Agloves began is a fun read (a mom-daughter start-up) and the mom of the pair connected with me via my website with a business question. Then I checked out her products and found so many similar connections between MadeOn and Agloves: both help the hands get the job done, both started by a mom with a need, and both are affordable.  I asked Jennifer if I could pass along a discount code for MadeOn customers and she was happy to comply.

Here's a coupon code for 15% off, one use per person, which expires March 31, '12: "MADEON"

Agloves offers a 90 day test to see if you're happy with them. The gloves I have are the Bamboo Agloves (light colored), made with bamboo and are 87% antimicrobial, and the top-selling Agloves Sport (black), which are heavier, thicker, with a tight cuff to keep the heat in. In California, I'll put both to good use and frankly, it will depend on what color coat I'm wearing, but for those of you in a colder climate, go for the Sport. If going green is more important to you, go for the Bamboo. 

Then a favorite customer emailed me a photo of her son's Beesilk Jr:

This week my soapmaker, Rosemarie, included this cute heart-shaped goat milk soap in the box:

Finally, I remembered a sighting on my Pinterest board, made by Amy of Amy's Finer Things:

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hey Renee! I just wanted to say thanks for the great e-book (gift giving)! I made a batch of the Chocolate Peppermint lotion bars for my family to try and we love them! My daughters and I decided to do some for Valentine's teachers gifts.

I loved the ramekin idea and was able to score some on clearance at my grocery store. :) I have found that it isn't even necessary to make them in one size and store/give them in a bigger one. They pop out fairly easily from the original size, especially after you use it a couple times. 

One trick I tried tonight was to put the ramekin on my scale and measure ingredients right into it, using the proportions from your recipe. I then put the ramekin in my toaster oven at about 250 deg until everything was melted, cooled a few minutes and stirred in the oil. It worked GREAT! and no extra pan to clean up. It takes a bit longer to cool and harden, because of the ramekin getting hot, but that wasn't a big deal for me. 

Anyway! Just thought I would share an alternative technique with you! Especially great for when you only want to make one bar, because you can get the quantity exactly right. 

Have a blessed night!

Christy VanderWall

I asked a few questions about the ramekin, and here's her follow up:

Once you get them out of the ramekin the first time, they come out pretty easily...especially after you use them a few times. They either fall out on their own, or just require a little tap on the bottom. Now, I will say that my first round was done in some square ramekins, which are tapered on the sides - not straight up and down. So, that might be helping them come out easier. I made a couple round/traditional ones tonight and will have to see if the same is true for those.

Thanks again for the fun recipe! We are planning to do some chapstick for the girls classes as well, instead of candy for valentines day!

 

There you go! Christy has figured out a way to delete the "clean up" job involved in making lotion. If you have ideas you've tried with success, don't hesitate to share them with us! Email me through the contact page.

This morning I was asked this question about cleaning beeswax:

I am seeing on a couple blogs that you can get beeswax from a

bee keeper and clean it yourself using pantyhose and a double broiler.

Is this safe?

Here's my answer:

Frankincense is a resin that comes from the bark of frankincense trees. Using a steam distillation process, frankincense essential oil is produced from the tree resin.  Because it comes from the bark of the tree, the scent is slightly woodsy with a touch of lemon. It worked beautifully with the essential oils of myrrh and cinnamon this past Christmas when I whipped it into shea butter and coconut oil.

Another way to enjoy it is in its bark form. If  you happen to have friends who travel to Ethiopia, talk them into getting you a bagful of frankincense bark chips to throw on your open fire. Your house will smell divine.

 Frankincense Tree (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

 As a mom, sneaking in an extra ten minutes of sleep time is do-able, but sometimes we need another boost to get back on track. I was thrilled that a few tools worked wonders this week:

1. Have you tried those packets of Emergen-C fizzy drinks, with 1000 mg of Vitamin C? They seem to work well for our family, but for our family of 10, the $8 for a box of 30 servings adds up. Instead, I buy pure vitamin c powder and put 1/4 tsp into hot tea. It's only 5 cents a serving and it's a healthy way to combat the cold season. I buy ours at the Dr. Clark Store.
2. Heat: in the form of a hot water bottle, or a heating pad, or my absolute favorite, a wool corn warmer  made by a special customer and friend last month. It's great for aching muscles and cold feet.
3. Homemade Vapor Rub : you can make this as strong as you like, and what I suggest below for essential oil amounts is quite strong (use care and discretion if using on children). This recipe was inspired by Crunchy Betty's recipe here.  I fatted mine up a bit to make a thicker salve by adding shea butter. 

Homemade Vapor Rub

•      1.5 oz shea butter
•       .5 oz almond oil
•        .25 oz beeswax

Melt the above ingredients. Remove from heat and add:

•        ½ tsp peppermint essential oil
•        ¼ tsp eucalyptus essential oil
•        ¼ tsp rosemary essential oil

 Go ahead... kick the cold out of the house so you can focus on more important tasks!

Do you have a daughter with hair like this?

Have you worked in conditioner, washed it out, only to have the tangles back by the end of the day?

Have you ever spent $30 on a hair brush designed to fix your problem, only to find it didn't?

Have you had the knot develop so badly that even your hairdresser couldn't detangle it, and had to resort to cutting it out?

Have you ever felt the mixed emotion of embarrassment and relief to find that the solution was right under your nose? 

When my hairdresser suggested I rub olive oil into her hair, I grabbed our hair butter instead. I rubbed (too much) hair butter in her hair and the within 10 minutes her hair was completely detangled. Not only that, but two hours later, it remained detangled. 

I have since found that I only need a small amount of hair butter to rub through my hands and finger into her hair (too much makes the hair look greasy). A few minutes of combing and the knot detangles... the comb cuts through her hair like... butter :) 

It's such a relief to have a happy, tangle-free daughter.

I just made your  hard lotion and lip balms from the DIY kit.  They turned out great but how to you recommend cleaning the pyrex cup used for melting and cleaning the dropper?  Thank you.

 

My answer:

With the Pyrex, while it's still hot (or put it back in the double boiler to get it really hot) wipe out residue with a paper towel and then clean with very hot, soapy water. The dropper is more tricky; you can try to squeeze out as much melted oil as you can while it's still melted, then wipe out with a paper towel and then clean with hot soapy water (squeezing in and out with the hot, soapy water). After a few uses, it becomes difficult to use again, so you could just try to dry-remove as much as you can and then keep it wrapped until the next use. If it's a project you plan to do often, I would invest in Pyrex used just for lotion-making.

Dear C,

Thanks for asking about the "behind the scenes" process of the hard lotion

bar.

I personally hand-craft the lotion bars in small batches (usually 50-100

units at a time), setting aside a "test" bar that I personally use check

for quality of the batch. The ingredients have a 1-2 year shelf life

although we go through hundreds of gallons of ingredients each month, so

my 6 month shelf life is easily guaranteed. I slightly change the recipe

proportions as the weather changes or to accommodate natural variations of

the harvested oils.  I keep the ingredient list short and free from

chemical additives or preservatives that often are the cause of skin

problems (hence the company name "MadeOn"- we note the date the product

was made on with each bar). Only three ingredients are used, so it's easy

for those who need to track the ingredient list of their skin care

products.

I offer the how-to recipe on my website for those who like to make it

themselves so they can customize it the way they want it (for example,

some people like to add scent as the original Beesilk bar has no scent).

In general, I would not recommend the lotion bar for the face if the face

is prone to acne. However, I personally use it on my face only when I feel

"dry" from winter weather or after swimming.

Renee Harris

MadeOn Skin Care