100 lbs of All Natural Goodness !

We are waiting for our newest batch of soap bases to arrive next Wednesday.

Exactly 100 lbs of it! WOOHOO!!!

I believe that I have finally found the ALL NATURAL soap base that performs almost perfectly in our super-duper humid weather! This means no more fretting about glycerin dew forming on the surface of the soaps (little droplets like condensation) and having to wrap each piece of soap in cling wrap to minimise this issue. No more squeeshy-mushy soap!

 

For those who are not familiar with glycerin soaps, the formation of glycerin dew on glycerin soap is a very common phenomenon; only to be accentuated by the humid tropical weather here. Glycerin soaps contain, well, glycerin as a natural by-product of the soap-making process; or it has been added into the formula.

 

Gylcerin is a humectant, meaning it draws moisture to your skin. Due to the high glycerin content in handmade glycerin soaps, these soaps are very moisturising to the skin and are gentle enough for sensitive skin and for children. 

 

Have you ever wondered why your skin feels dry after using commercially produced soaps? This is because today's manufacturers of soap remove the natural glycerin for use in their more profit producing lotions and creams.

 

Our newest soap bases contain all natural ingredients and the formula has been tweaked such that very little or no glycerin dew forms on the soap surface when exposed to air.

 

I have already planned our next batch of wedding favours with the new soap bases. Stay tuned!

 

ohh....so E-X-C-I-T-E-D !

♥ R-A-S-T-A fiesta ♥

My kids and I were invited to a wedding in August. Since the groom is a member of The Bushmen, a well-known reggae band in Singapore; it was surely R-A-S-T-A fiesta ! We were super excited !

The very beautiful bride had wanted to add that "special" touch and to suprise the groom and her guests with reggae-inspired wedding favours. I was secretly pleased with this mind-boggling challenge *wink**

We agreed that each bar of soap should be individually molded in their Red, Yellow & Green. Not the simple layering technique in a loaf mold. I honestly told the bride that I had no idea how I was going to do it. "I will figure it out", I promised her.

So 40 bars of soaps it was, 3 different scents; in all Reggae splendour, in an elegantly simple yet romantic packaging. My timeline - NINE DAYS. (a very muffled *yikes*) 

The first two nights were greeted with sleeplessness as I grappled with "how to do it...mann" - super scratch-head situation! Eventually I gave up the thinking; did a leap of faith and simply followed my gut feeling. I was running out of time!

Bars and bars of soap...3 different colours...3 different scents !

After lots of cutting up the single coloured bars...molding and re-molding...

We have Reggae Soaps ! Individually molded in Red, Yellow and Green !

P-H-E-W!! Soaps done, now for the packaging. Each box was handcrafted from shimmery pearly white stock cards and lined with NLT's trademark swirls.

Since the highlight of the wedding favours was the beautiful Rasta colours, I used clear stockcards to make clear covers for the boxes and topped off with a satin ribbon.

♥ Raggae Wedding Favours on display during the romantic wedding on 8.8.10  ♥

I was delighted to learn from the happy couple that the soaps were well-received by all their guests! Thank you Lisa and Hairul for inviting my kids and I to your wedding. It was so romantic and touching that I cried happy tears ♥

  



Update:

An additonal batch of Raggae Wedding Favours are on their way to the bride's family in Italy! WOOHOO !!

Cupcakes & Ice cream with lots of L-O-V-E !!

I was about to doze off one night when my best friend sent me a text message : "Jenn would like these soaps for her teachers on Teachers' Day - chocolate vanilla and strawberry cupcakes...watermelon and orange ice cream...do you think you can do it?"

wahhh...OF COURSE LAHH...anything for my god-daughter Jennifer Lynn Teo ♥ !!

It has been months since I last made a cupcake or 'ice cream' soap. Previous attempts were pretty decent but I hated the idea that I had to wrap each cupcake up with cling wrap once done to prevent glycerine dew from forming on the surface of the soap. This pretty much squeeshed the foamy 'cream topping' of the cupcake, causing it to collapse.



Previous attempts at making cupcake soaps



My first 'ice cream' soap popsicles! *blush...so shy**

This request could not have come at a better time as I was in the midst of testing new soap bases; and I knew I had the one that would be perfect for this project! My new cupcake soaps are still chock-full of glycerin but I can now package them like a real cupcake...S-W-E-E-T

I always love a good challenge and this is the reason why I love what I am doing :)...then I heard this "...and could you add a cherry on top? Jenn would like a cherry on top of her cupcakes...can?"

Now...how was I going to craft a cherry from soap?! and to make it look and smell like the real thing? hhmmm...Honesty, that gave me a lil headache! LOL

I was pretty quiet the next few days with lots of cake and ice cream on my mind ♥ Y-U-M-M ♥

Finally ...

Dark Chocolate & Vanilla Cupcake with Cherry-on-top!



Strawberry Cupcake with Cherry-on-top!


I got my latest inspiration for my soap popsicles from one of my favourite artisan soap crafters - Debbie Chialtas of Soaplove. http://www.soapylove.com/shop.php

This is my version of Juicy Watermelon and Zesty Orange Soap Popsicles !
 

Juicy Watermelon Soap Popsicles



Zesty Orange Soap Popsicles





















Jenn-Jenn was mighty pleased with her god-mama ♥ and I got a B-I-G huggie and kiss LEHH !

DIY - Super Yummy Lip Smoothing Masque

I received an SMS from a client (who is also a good friend) last week whilst on holiday in Bangkok with my family. She loves our lip balms and had a sudden inspiration - think Cucumber Melon Lip Scrub or a Matcha flavoured one...W-O-W !!

I pondered over her suggestion and thought, why not share some recipes?

If I can make my own products, so can you! Here's a recipe which you can try at home.

I call this our Super Yummy Lip Smoothing Masque.

Ingredients: (for a single application)

• White or Pink kaolin clay - 1 teaspoon
• Castor oil or Avocado oil - 1/4 teaspoon
• Natural Honey - 1/4 teaspoon
• Rose hydrosol - 3.5 ml

Procedure:

1) Measure all the ingredients and set aside.

2) Heat oil, honey and hydrosol in a small ceramic bowl in hot water for approximately 2-3 minutes. (The temperature should not be too hot and you should be able to comfortably hold the ceramic bowl in your palm)

3) Stir the liquid ingredients together until well blended.

4) Add kaolin clay into the above mixture and stir until smooth and free from lumps.

5) Apply to lips and allow to dry for 2-3 minutes. (no talking ahh!!)

6) Wet masque and gently massage the lip area in small circular motions.

7) Rinse off with warm water and gently blot dry with facial tissue.

8) Apply your favourite all natural lip balm.


This recipe is great for dry chapped lips and doubles up as a mini lip scrub. You may also use it to prep your lips just before a special occasion or include it into your weekly beauty regime.

Your lips will feel softer and smoother...and Super Yummy  *wink**

The Truth Will Set You Free !

August came and went with a W-H-O-O-S-H...definately an intense period of time.

If you have noticed, yes, I have ceased my business relations with the box shop at City Square Mall. Many have asked - WHY?

Huge discrepencies were found in the sales reports - NLT products were given away FOC and big discounts were given to customers without any prior authorisation.  No attempt was made to explain the discrepencies found; instead the sales reports were amended multiple times. No apology was offered.

Promises were not made good. It is understandable that occasional circumstances may arise, making it unfeasible to follow through on the agreed. However when the business partner routinely reneged on his promises, it was time to evaluate this pattern.

Surely one would not subject his rent-paying vendor and supportive customer ( I spent alot of money on my kids in this shop! ) to personal attacks and unprofessional bad-mouthing? Sadly, the contrary was true.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

New Melt & Pour Soap Base Samples have arrived!

Since the closure of SunflowerSG for their renovation works on 25 July 2010, I have been left contemplating new directions for my little business. I would prefer to showcase my products with someone who respects handcrafters and is genuinely passionate about supporting the local handcrafting scene.

This actually brings me back to 'Square One'. Time to relook into my business strategy, taking into account the experiences in the past months and feedback from customers as well as students who have attended my Soap!Soap!Soap! - Basic Soap Crafting Workshops.

One of the more frequent requests was for Nature's Little Treasures to make soap crafting supplies available locally and at more reasonable costs than what is currently available in the market; to the casual soap crafters.

Having been in the wellness industry for almost a decade, I wanted to ensure that my customers receive only the best of the best; thus the stringent screening of all our suppliers.

Our 1st shipment of 17 new and different soap base samples arrived tis morning. Now that's 11 kgs of soap and we are going to test all of them to ensure that they perform well in our SUPER HOT & HUMID Singapore weather!

We have had batches of soap that 'sweat' profusely, melt and become all soft and squishy due to the weather; so our preferred soap base would be one which is less prone to glycerin dew and contains almost all natural ingredients (100% all natural soap bases do tend to be more squishy and difficult to unmold in our weather - not desired).

New Samples of M&P Soap Bases

We hope to share the outcome of the tests soon. In the meantime, thank you for your support and do continue to give us your feedback!

Singapore Garden Festival 2010

This was our family's very first visit to the Singapore Garden Festival! I was too caught up in my previous jobs and had  missed both events in 2006 and 2008 even though I had received complimentary tickets for myself and my kids...what a pity!

Nonetheless everyone was E-X-C-I-T-E-D! The kids wanted to see the mascots - Lindy Ladybug, Gary Grasshopper and Benny Bee. I was anxious about the display of my little retail space at the Festival Shop. My lone visit to the event on the first day to check on the initial setup was distressing and left me very upset and disappointed with the attitude of the lady in charge of the shop. (Well, that's another interesting story! and it is a blessing that I do not have any pictures to show the initial horror.)

Marked improvement in visual display on 2nd day of event

Above photograph was taken by SunflowerSG who had liaised with SGF for the consignment of Nature's Little Treasures products. I have made a mental note never to allow a third party to negotiate business on my behalf again, least they fall short of my expectations. This was a marked improvement to the previous day's horror but still, I expected better. Lesson learnt!

How does one feel when one steps into the Singapore Garden Festival? hhmmm....have you ever sensed the relief when you are in the midst of nature? That wonderful, peaceful feeling - exactly!

These were some my favourites:

Silver Winner, Floral Windows to the World - Rhythms of Nature
Designer: Janet Alesich (Australia)

Gold Winner, Floral Windows to the World - In The Beginning There Was Light
Designer: Alex Choi (Korea)

Silver Winner, Fantasy Gardens - Hommage Aux Jardiniers
Designers: Agnes Daval & Gabriel Milochau (France)

Best of Show, Floral Windows to the World - Design With Nature
Designer: Brigitte Heinrichs (Germany)

Web of 13 Million
Digital Photo Exhibition by Mr Kwek Leng Joo

Web of 13 Million - This was actually the first exhibit Ryan dashed into! This was a digital show but we found the 'tandrils' & 'flowers' more interesting.

On closer inspection, we realised that they were actually fashioned out of used plastic bottles! How beautiful :)

I am so inspired to make eco-friendly soaps out of everyday recycled materials - think tofu containers, milk or fruit juice cartons, jelly cups...I believe that with some brain storming, we can come up with a really long list of household items!

How we looked on the second last day of the Singapore Garden Festival 2010

That was how the shelf looked with one more day left on the show. Well, I hope the empty and half-filled buckets meant that most of our products have been sold. My family and I shopped in the Festival Shop for almost an hour and no staff approached to assist any curious (potential) customers, including myself. Most of the staffs were chatting among themselves or just standing and doing nothing.

So we decided to entertain ourselves alittle :)

Ryan and I have always had this thingy for frogs and he found this hairband lying around and popped it onto his head and ... C-H-E-E-S-E!

This lady staff was walking past and gamely posed for a photograph. The original staff taking care of this area gave a lame excuse and ran away when I asked for permission to take a shot.

Ryan, Aiko & Lizzy with Lindy Ladybug, Gary Grasshopper & Benny Bee hanging overhead :)

My favourite Oncidium Orchid - Golden Showers

We were tired and famished after walking through the entire 4th and 6th storeys of lucious floral and fauna. We truely enjoyed ourselves and the kids went home with their stalks of orchids (complimentary from the organisers, which I felt was a very nice gesture), stuff toys - Ryan chose Titoy, Aiko and Lizzy grabbed Sara the Botanicosaurus and "Sara goes to the Supermarket Garden" books and keychains.

Strangely, the staffs at the cashier counter of the Festival Shop insisted that we stuff all our purchases into ONE small carrier bag. Even when we showed them that the bag could not hold all our purchases, they refused to let us have a second bag.

Perhaps they wanted some free advertisement by making my kids carry their stuffed toys around the event area? Thinking back, I should have used the discount coupons given for my purchases instead of paying in full!


Nonetheless, I have marked Singapore Garden Festival 2012 in my calender for the year 2012. Despite some misses, this is still one event not to be missed.