Natural Handmade Soap

The Marula Tree Soap Co. makes natural handmade soap from glycerin bases with additives such as Goat's Milk, Shea Butter, Honey and Marula Oil. Marula Oil is a unique oil pressed from the kernels of the Marula Trees in southern Africa. To learn more about the benefits of Marula Oil click here. All my products are vegan friendly except those with Goat's Milk and Honey. Thanks!

You can purchase my soaps from my etsy store here!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Body Butter

Introducing... Body Butter! Cold weather means dry skin so a tub of this marula oil enriched body butter will leave you soft and moisturized! My biggest peeve with body butters and lotions is when they are too greasy and I can't put clothes on, but this is definitely not the case with mine (I made sure of it!).

Look for these popping up in the store tomorrow:





Thursday, August 25, 2011

Inspiration and a Getaway

I've totally been slacking lately but I've been so busy with plans to overhaul the shop. It's going to be great!

In the meantime, here is a little inspiration from icanread


(Seriously I never get tired of reading these quotes!)

I'm going away for the weekend with Matt and my family and I'm so excited! A weekend filled with relaxing and sunshine is definitely what I need to unwind before the busy holiday season. As I mentioned I'm overhauling the shop (read: retaking all my product photos and designing my seasonal banners). I've never been completely happy with my pictures and I know they are everything so I bought myself a portable light studio to help keep the white background more consistant. I'm excited to see how it will all turn out! Since we are heading down to the states I'll be stopping in at Otion which is a great little soap shop in Bellingham that carries the complete Brambleberry line. I'll be definitely looking to bring back a few holiday scents! :)

Anyways, the shops on vacation now so have a great weekend and enjoy the sun!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Etsy Finds

These are some of my favourite things on etsy right now:


Blue leatherette bag from milloo


Grey ruffle sleeve shirt by MinxShop


Brass and leather bracelet from sonofasailor


Trendy triangle necklace from petitor


Brown plaid infinity scarf from remixedbyjacki


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Sugar, sugar

I just wanted to quickly comment on my quest to cut down on my sugar intake. So far it's been 3 weeks of being conscious of everything I put in my mouth. Some things are extremely tough, which I've learned is no reason to get down on myself, as I can't be expected to give up the small pleasures in life like a nice cup of coffee with sugar. I can however give up cookies, cake, muffins, donuts, ice cream and anything else that's blatantly full of sugar. The only thing I need is a little square of 70% dark chocolate and the craving is satisfied at a small price. I feel really good about it and can already notice a difference in how I react to sweet things. I did a test last week and ate a Tim Horton's cookie (we're going to call it a test instead of a weak moment) and I immediately felt dizzy and tired. It was totally not worth it and it helped put things in perspective.

SO what have I been eating to replace these snacks? Well I have my green smoothies, pistachios, hard-boiled eggs, raw red bell peppers, cheese, guacamole, whole wheat tortilla chips, hummus and wheat crackers. It's actually surprising how easy it is to get the ball rolling once you begin and start seeing the difference. I've lost a few pounds in the process but I'm not too concerned about that because generally the faster they fall off, the faster they come back... so they can take their sweet time!


Maybe in the future when I feel ready I'll take the plunge of being completely sugar free, but for now I'm going to celebrate the small victories of saying "no" to *most* of the sugary treats that get put in front of me.

Night!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

End of the Week Update

I turned 23 on Friday so this was a busy weekend filled with birthday events, friends and family. I did steal a minute to make a few new lip balms though! (And also new fall soaps that will be debuting soon!). I know that summer is still here but I'm excited to look towards cozy pumpkin spice and hot cocoa fragrances. Anyways, check out the shop for the new balms!

Fresh Brewed Coffee (this scent is actually to die for!)


And Sour Green Apple


Also I'll have a multipack available for a bit of savings!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Hoarding



I am a hoarder. Not the extreme kind where you can't tell floors from walls when you walk into my place, but I do hoard things. I'm also really good at chucking, so I throw out any useless (or sometimes useful, woops!) items lying around that can't be organized, so this creates a nice balance. Right now I'm hoarding fragrance oils, silicone molds and art supplies. I've always been interested in art but haven't actively practiced since taking classes in highschool. I'm very much prone to the "self-taught" process compared to taking technique classes so for the longest time I've been wanting to teach myself how to paint, with acrylics specifically. Last christmas I got the greatest gift of acrylic paints, paint brushes, canvases and an easel. I'm embarassed to say that soap took over everything and I have yet to break into it. My intentions are good though, as I now own about 18 paint brushes and every colour of paint you can imagine (This is also stupid, what if I suck at painting? Do I really need 18 paint brushes in every size/shape available?) I've also been scouring used book stores for books on art, drawing, painting, how-to and step by steps. As I'm typing this I'm realizing how ridiculous this is. Even more so that I spent my Saturday morning sharpening every pencil, water colour crayon and pencil crayon I could find (so over a hundred). BUT the great thing is that I've had ideas kicking around forever, and last night amidst So You Think You Can Dance and soap making, I opened my sketchbook and drew something. Aha!

Hopefully I will be sharing some wonderful masterpieces with you in the near future! (If I don't drown in art supplies first.)

Is there something on your mind that you've been wanting to try but feel that you never have time? Here's the solution - Just Start!