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Home > Archives for argan oil

Sunday Soapcase – Mud Masks!

September 2, 2018 Leave a Comment

Rub some dirt on it.

What’s up, Sudsers? Welcome back to the blog after a yearlong brief break! I have been working on getting in the flow of running a brick and mortar and keeping up with the website, and it’s been all too easy to blow off blog updates in favor of 9000 other things on the to-do list. But I’ve realized in doing this that my E-Sudsers (whom I love and adore) are missing out on loads of awesome information that gets passed on rather organically in the shop setting. And that’s not cool – I love breaking down all of the products, answering questions, and basically being a part of this soap thing in a capacity outside of making stuff and posting pictures about the stuff. I have methods to my madness, purpose in my products, and if I’m not telling you any of it, then what’s the point? So I decided to restart the blog! Which is what you’re reading. And today we are talking about a new creation that I am crazy addicted to – mud masks!mud masks

Mud Masks

MONSTERS!!!

So we are all familiar with mud masks. These are clay based masks that are applied to the skin, allowed to dry, and rinsed off to reveal brighter, tighter, smoother skin. They’re great to use during an evening of pampering, or as a skincare routine to keep your complexion balanced and toned. It’s also fun to chase your kiddos around the house playing monster after applying – the Soap & Clay kidlets have decided that the green monster is too scary and prefer the activated charcoal version.

I decided to make the hydrated version of the clay masks after some Sudsers told me that mixing a dry blend of clays and whatnot was a massive pain in the behind. Which I get. My initial hesitation (and the reason behind the dry version of masks) in making a hydrated mask was rooted in my desire to avoid preservatives. See, whenever you make something that contains water, you open the door to bacteria, yeast, or fungus. Nobody wants to open up their mud mask, or toner spritzer, or bottle of lotion and find nasties growing inside. The problem with preservatives is that many contain parabens or are formaldehyde donors, which means they release formaldehyde throughout their shelf life. Neither have been found to be intrinsically dangerous in the quantities found in skincare, but since one of the reasons I started this business was to have skin loving products free of unnecessary ingredients and potential skin irritants, I wanted to avoid this altogether. I’m proud of the fact that my product line is 100% paraben, phthalate and detergent free – adding something with a preservative felt like a huge asterisk on the products that I have carefully developed to remain pure and awesome.

So I avoided all products that require water to make (I mean, soap needs water but does not need a preservative, but that’s for another post), until I found Optiphen. The Optiphen family is a range of preservatives that are paraben and formaldehyde free. They are broad spectrum preservatives, meaning that they protect against bacteria, fungus, and yeast formation. My favorite in the Optiphen family is Optiphen Plus, which is a bit pricier than other preservatives that I could use. But that’s the name of this skincare game – easy is generally cheap and comes with consequences, while the right way tends to cost more but allows you to sleep at night. So I stocked up on OP, tested and tweaked, and finally settled on three mud masks that I love and adore and think you will too!

The Masks

While I’ve used and loved mud masks since I was a teenager, I always disliked the rather drying nature of clay masks. After removing them, my skin would be bright and glowing but also felt tight and itchy. Not cool. So I really wanted to include an element of moisture in my mud mask line. Which can be complicated; how does a mask dry if it contains oils? Luckily I figured that out, so you don’t have to!

Each of these masks have a moisturizing oil of some sort, as well as botanical extracts to increase the awesome. Cucumber extract, for example, is incredibly hydrating and soothing while green tea extract brightens and tightens. Just a little something extra to amplify the benefits of the clays used! The essential oils I selected for these masks provide scent but also brighten, calm, or soothe the skin.

 

A Note on pH and Clay Masks

Our skin typically maintains a pH between 4.5 and 5.5, a bit on the acidic side of the spectrum. Clays have a pH of around 7 – more neutral. So it stands to reason, then, that whenever you are applying a product with a pH different than that of your skin, an adjustment period occurs. This is the tingling that you may experience when using certain products. Your acid mantle is basically working hard to balance the skin’s pH while the product in question is doing its thing. Disrupting the acid mantle is a beneficial thing to do now and then, but should never be a daily occurrence. This is one of the reasons cosmetic companies instruct you to use products like masks or exfoliating materials no more than twice a week. Therefore, I’m going to tell you the same thing – a mask is great for the skin once a week. I wouldn’t apply a mask more frequently than that, though. And if you’re experiencing tingling on a daily basis from a product that does not contain a pharmaceutical grade ingredient (Retinol, hyaluronic acid, etc), then you should probably reconsider using that product.

Now that you know a bit about the method and creation of these mud masks, are you dying to try one? I really want you to check them out, so coupon code RUBSOMEDIRTONIT will get you a Mask Pack 3 Pack on me this week.* Add it to your order and let me know how you like it!

*Offer expires 9/8/18

Happy Sudsing!

Filed Under: Sunday Soap Case Tagged With: Activated charcoal, argan oil, bentonite, clay, cucumber, green tea, kaolin, masks, mud masks, oatmeal

Sunday Soap Case: Sugar Lip Butters Rock My World!

July 17, 2016 Leave a Comment

Sunday Soap Case:

Adventures at Freighthouse Square (and some news on a sweet new product).

It’s Sunday and it was so beautiful this weekend! The Soap & Clay family spent the past few days chasing Pokemon, taking the bulldog on adventure walks, and exploring Tacoma’s Historic Freighthouse Square.  This is a pretty amazing building filled with incredible food (they have an international food court; anything you could possibly want in one space. Bad. Ass.), adorable treasure and collectibles shops, and some amazing artwork. I spent an afternoon chatting with two of the local artists from Freighthouse Square’s art gallery, Mike Juetten and Lucy Schwartz.

soap and clay at freighthouse

Mike Juetten’s paintings and glass work.

Mike’s fused glass artwork had me oohing and ahhing (while Mr. Soap & Clay talked muscle cars), and Lucy showed me an amazing watercolor technique wherein she uses soap to texturize and color the canvas. If you’re in the Tacoma area and want an adventure that’s guaranteed to please, stop by the Freighthouse and mingle. You’ll make some new friends, learn some new things, and find hidden gems tucked away in corners of the shops.

freighthouse

Lucy Schwartz.

While I always enjoy family adventures, I made sure to carve out some time for work, as I have a TON of it to complete right now. Most pressing has been prep work for a few events. Soap & Clay will be at Redhook’s Moonlight Cinema on July 28th as part of Oddmall’s Vendor Village. A night of beer, Bowie, and a moonlight viewing of Labyrinth – three of my favorite things! After that, we will be taking a small break before Tacoma’s Hilltop Street Fair on August 27th. This street fair always draws an amazing crowd, so I’m looking forward to mingling with Tacoma’s residents.

In addition to all the prep work, I spent some time updating the website. I’ve added a few new products, including men’s shaving soaps, aftershave balms, and today’s Sunday Soap Case topic: Sugar Lip Butters. Read on for some sweet information on a sweet lip treat!

Sugar Lip Butters

sugar lip balmI’ve been working on the lip butter line for a few months, now. Being a lip balm aficionado, I was pretty picky when it came to recipe formulation. The goal was a medium weight, nourishing balm with great staying power. Also, the consistency had to be just so; if a balm is too soft I end up with more on my finger than I’d like (wasted product es no bueno), but I don’t want to spend more than a nanosecond swirling my finger across the balm before applying. I’m very interested in the repair qualities of high-end balms – knowing that the silky smooth butter blend on my lips is also delivering skin loving EFAs and vitamins makes me happy.

Once I had worked out what butters, oils, and extracts to use, I decided to take it up a notch. I’ve been in love with a certain sugar lip butter for quite some time – it’s sweet, exfoliating, and makes my lips feel amazing. I almost never buy it, though. Because it’s $28. For a tube of lip balm. I don’t get it. So I decided to play with sugars in my butter pots to see if I could manage an exfoliating balm that’s gentle enough to use daily (or hourly, depending on your application preference).

The Line-up

freighthouseI use a cocoa and mango butter blend for these balms (with coffee butter included in the Java pot), because both of these butters are great for dry and chapped lips and have the added benefit of repairing damaged skin and fine lines. They’re also a little bit on the firmer side with a slightly higher melting point (which means they stay firm at room temperature), which helped with the not-too-hard, not-too-soft consistency I was after.

For the oils, I settled on avocado and argan. Avocado oil is nutrient rich, ultra moisturizing, and helps restore the lip’s natural pink color (which is cool, amirite?). Argan oil is also super moisturizing and works to heal skin but is also one of the best anti-aging oils out there; it’s a deep penetrating oil that works to minimize fine lip lines. I also infused the balms with extra Vitamin E to up the moisturizing properties without creating a greasy product.

Now for the sugars. I played with a number of varieties and ultimately settled on a brown sugar and glycerin blend. This blend results in a mild exfoliant, safe to use multiple times a day that plumps lips and assists in cell turnover. This was a bit of a finicky process; too much sugar and the balm ended up waxy and scratched the lips, too little (or added at the wrong temperature) and it all but disappeared in the batch.

The end result is a solid lip butter with a slight grit (that’s the sugar) that melts on contact with skin and delivers exceptional moisturizing, nourishing, and plumping butters and oils. It’s also incredibly long lasting – I find myself reapplying less often than usual since switching to the butter pots. Would you like to try one for yourself? Of course you would! Enter coupon code LIPSLIKESUGAR at checkout to receive a sugar lip butter on the house. Offer expires on Sunday, July 24th, so hurry!

 

Filed Under: Sunday Soap Case Tagged With: anti-aging, argan oil, avocado oil, cocoa butter, exfoliating, glycerin, healing, lip care, mango butter, moisturizing, nourishing, restoring, skin care, sugar, sugar lip balms, vitamin e

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