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The Suds Report Newsletter
December 2002
Hello All:
Welcome to the crazy season! This time between
Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to get shorter every year.
Just remember, no matter how busy you are, you still have to
bathe!
New at SudsReport.com
We've added two new articles this month: First, read
about adding some magic to your bathing ritual in
Do You Believe in Magic?
Then, check out the changing face of organic products:
Organic Goes Upscale.
And the Winner Is
Congratulations to our November giveaway winner: Sarah Hacker
from St. Louis, Missouri. She won a gift tin full of
goodies from
Pink Clover Natural Products for Children.
This month,
we'll be giving away something for the guys: three products from
Zirh.com: Body
Scrub, Alpha Hydroxy Body Bar and their new Shower Gel.
Soaps of the Season
 In
my opinion, no one does seasonal and holidays soaps better
than
PrimalElements.com. This
season is no exception. Take a look at such creations as Candy Cane, Holly Berry and Evergreen
Twist.
Also fun: their new collection of star-shaped
soaps. A reader recently pointed out to me that Primal
Elements has begun selling their products online directly to
consumers.
Unfortunately, you won't save money buying directly from them,
at least on soaps. On the contrary, they sell soaps for $7.50 a
bar; you can find them for less.
Give it Away
It
should come as no surprise that I think bath and body products
make great gifts: personal enough for a close friend or
relative, but not too personal for a coworker or child's
teacher. There are many great choices out there; here
are just a few ideas:
For stocking stuffers, I love the retro-kitsch of
Avon's
Snowmen Bubble Bath Decanters ($5.99 each).
Or,
for soaps guaranteed to get a chuckle, check out the
offerings at
PiscesSoap.com. Creations include a dill pickle soap
(that smells exactly like a pickle), an incredibly realistic
chocolate cupcake soap, and lots of other fun novelty
soaps. (Yes, that delectable "brownie" on the
right is soap.)
For an upscale handmade line, take a look at
Kathleen Lewis. Her handmade creations are luxurious
and effective, and her packaging is clean, simple and
sophisticated.
Find a nice assortment at
Rubber-Ducky.com. One very popular item: Honey Dream
Cream.
For folks in colder areas, why not send them a breath of
warm desert air?
DesertNaturals.com, based in Las Vegas, offers a nice selection of
handcrafted products at prices that will make you smile.
Some of their bestsellers: Golden Maize or Pink Lavender
soap, Massage Oils and Ease Away Bath Salts. Plus, check
out their cute roadrunner logo!
With the dessert-scent craze going strong, you probably
have at least one "foody" on your shopping list (okay, maybe
it's you). If so, you can't miss with
TheBodyBakery.com.
They have a great selection of food-scented
products at very reasonable prices. Choose from such
scents as Hot Cocoa, Butter Toffee Cake and Marshmallow Fluff.
For coffee lovers, check out the new line from
BodyCoffee.com. The name pretty much says it all; this line
offers five products, all made with coffee. The
packaging is very nice: warm and sophisticated.
 For the guys, a good bet is
Zirh.com,
they have a wide range of men's products with sleek packaging
and fresh, masculine scents.
Combine individual items
yourself or go for a kit.
For a gift that's somewhat humorous and extremely practical
at the same time, consider a "bulk sized" purchase from
EssentialWholesale.com. For instance, how about a
gallon of Jojoba Creme for $28? Or 5 pounds of Honey
Body Polish for $45? I have tried a number of their
products myself, and have thoroughly enjoyed them.
For those with the urge to splurge, you won't go wrong
with something from
LauraMercier.com bath and body line. Check out the new
Collection Gourmande Bath and Body Sampler, a combination of
three of the line's most popular products ($75).
Whew! I could keep going, but I think I'd better stop
there.
Happy Shopping!
Oatmeal Postscript
In
last month's newsletter, I mentioned the success I had using
oat flour and other "bakery aisle" ingredients in my bath (and
the not-so-great results with honey powder).
In
response, I got a note from Eleanor Athens of
ALICE Organic
Beauty suggesting I try dissolving a few tablespoons of honey
in very hot water and adding that to the bath. She also
pointed me to an article she wrote about using oatmeal in skin
care products, which includes some wonderful recipes:
Oatmeal: Not just for breakfast anymore.
Thanks Alice!
In the
Works
Coming up soon:
shea butter bath products, a look
behind the bubbles and more.
Well, that’s about it for now. As always, please e-mail us with
any comments or suggestions.
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