About The Products

When it comes to SOAP I know you have plenty of options. But here's where ours are different.... I make all my soaps from scratch. Yep, you read that right FROM SCRACTCH! My hands are in there from beginning to end, so you know what's in it.  I play with all those ingredients so you don't have to. Here's why:  Our ancestors knew what they were doing, and did it for thousands of years - why change it! Traditional handmade soaps are made one of two ways: hot process and cold process. Here at Vita Body Products I use the Cold Process method. It's made by mixing sodium hydroxide (lye) with water, then blending it with oils/fats, add in a little mica to make those cool designs, then it's poured into molds (of course this is the very simplified tutorial). The soaps then sit inside the mold for 24 hours to saponify (allowing all those oils and lye water to mingle and become good friends). After the 24 hour period these soap buddies are removed from the mold, then cut and set to air dry or “cure” for 4-6 weeks. Yeah, it’s quite a process.  
Since we started with the simplified tutorial about how soap is made I figured I'd start with my simpelist of soaps, the Celtic Equinox. Now just because the recipe is simple doesn't deminish the fact that it still cleans and leaves your skin feeling refreshed. It just means it's creation isn't as complicated and time consuming as some of the others. 

With the calendula and lemon balm soaps (Honeysuckle, Musk, Sweet Cucumber), there's an extra step. I use top quality herbs to infuse the oils. Now I can't make any claim as to what these bars do medicinally. But I can say that I've chosen these specific herbs for their known medicinal qualities of healing and anti-inflammatory properties. This process adds another 6 weeks on top of the already 6 weeks needed to cure the soap. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Right? You have to trust the process.

Stepping back in time, and taking note from our forefathers, I use their methods of making soap with a twist- I add a little coconut oil to increase it's cleaning abilities, and, of course some fragrance to give it a little more appeal. Since the beginning of soap making there has been a more in depth understanding of what different fats and oils do in the soap making process. In the case of the Luscious and French Lace, I source the tallow and lard from local homesteaders and render it myself. This process of rendering the oils is an all day process where I slowly heat up the fat (using a crock pot instead of fire) to separate the liquid oils from the solid tissue, taking care to stir often and keep it from burning. These fats, known for their moisturizing qualities, make an AMAZING bar! I've taken care to calculate my recipe ensuring there's extra oils in these bars (superfatting) so you can fell clean and also benefit from their moisturizing qualities.

Packed with all the beauty rose hips and rose petals have to offer I present to you the Rose Soap. Now this soap is another slow long process that is Infused with rose petals, rose hip seed oil and love. I take care to pick the petals from the most fragrant roses in my garden at their peak of perfection. The season for harvesting my rose hips is a small window in the winter after the first frost while they are still bright red and just ripe for the picking. Taking over 12 weeks to create; from harvesting, infusing the oils all the way to the end of cure time. And, you guessed it, it smells just like roses.
Speaking of natural ingredients..... at first glance you might think there's nothing special about the Coffee and Cream or Carmal Macchioto soap, but you'd be wrong. Both contain the same lovely oils (castor, olive, hemp, shea). But what makes them stand out is coffee grounds. It's not just for the life source that gets us going in the morning. When used in soap it makes for a great exfoliant. Each soap contains just the right amount of coffee grounds to help scrub off those dead skin cells, and enough oil fat left over to help your skin feel refreshed.

Goat milk soap seems to be all the rage these days. And with how your skin feels after using it I can totally understand why. This is why I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and create a Fragrance Free Goat Milk Soap and the Garden Goat. I source my raw goats milk from local homesteaders. Again, carefully calculating my recipe so that you can benefit from it's lovely moisturizing qualities. And this is why I don't skim the cream off. Raw goats milk can be tricky to use in cold processed soap, I'm not gunna lie! And this is why many soap makers will use it in powdered form. But I'm always up for a challenge. This soap is a SLOW process! Since I replace all the water in my soap with goats milk I run the risk of burning the milk when adding lye (ask me how I know). But the key here is to learn from my mistakes and grow. Right? So I did. And now you get to benefit from it. The result is an unbelievably creamy soap that passes on it's delights.
But goat milk isn't the only raw milk I use. I also locally source raw cows milk, which is what I use in the Milky Rose. And just like the goat milk soaps it lends a creamy bar that will leave you feeling refreshed. 

Since we're talking about taking care of your skin I feel this is a good time to tell you a bit about the Facial Bar. As we all know the skin on our face is a bit more sensitive than the rest of our body and it could use a little TLC. This is why I've formulated a special recipe for the Facial Bar. The skin-healing properties of raw honey, tamanu oil and antiseptic thyme combined with the astringency of witch hazel make it a perfect combination for an acne-fighting soap. Skin softening olive oil and bubble boosting coconut oil form the base of the recipe, while sunflower oil adds a silky lather and is great for all complexions. Castor oil promotes a better lathering experience. Tamanu oil packs a powerful punch, with its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and remarkable skin-regenerating benefits.

Now I can't make soap without keeping my sensitive peeps in mind. Don't worry I got you. That's why I've created the Chamomile Baby Butt Bar. Duly named because it's gentle enough for a baby's butt. Butt (see what I did there?) I took it a step farther. I've added a chamomile infused oil to this soap. Again, sourcing high quality organic and ethically grown chamomile, known for its calming qualities. I've had people with uber sensitive skin tell me they LOVE this soap. Why? Because it's gentle. I've even had some people with eczema claim it's helped calm their skin condition, where other soaps just dry them out and exacerbate it. Now I'm not making any claims, just passing on the insight from customers.

Now that you know a bit about my soap and what makes it AWESOME lets talk Shower Steamers
Don't let their small size fool you. Packed with a healthy serving of menthol these little ditties serve a big punch! "Why menthol?", you may ask. Well the menthol has been know to be a great way to get your sinuses flowing. Just get a hold of some menthol crystals and sniff, you'll see what I'm talking about. Even if you aren't congested their strength has been said to help invigorate you to help get you moving in the morning. The added fragrance is just a little added bonus to bougie it up a bit. The trick to using the shower steamer is setting it in a place where it gets just a little water on it (a little dab will do), ie. a shelf just out of the way of a heavy flow of water.  This helps to activate it but not use it up so fast that it all runs down the drain without reaping it's benefits. And the hotter the water the more you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Note the name “SHOWER steamer”. I bring this up because it's important to understand that it's for SHOWER USE ONLY!! Because of the menthol encased in this guy you WON'T want to take it into the bath. Why? Well, think of it this way..... sensitive parts, tingling burning sensation.... need I say more? Just trust me, it's NOT your friend in the bath!!!
Speaking of baths, lets talk a little bit about Bath Bombs. Kids LOVE bath bombs, because they're pretty, they change the color of the water, they fizz and they smell nice. We have to give kids credit, they're little science experiment making machines. Sure it's fun, that's what science is all about isn't it? I guess I can associate a bit with the littles because I like science too. I mean, after all it's what I do for a living, right? Now, you could give the little rascal a bath bomb and make it into a teaching lesson. As a homeschooling mamma I totally relate. But the best thing, I find, is to let them put it into the bath and watch their excitement soar. Then after a couple times ask them why. I mean after all isn't that what they do to us? LOL. Their answers are often times mind blowing. OK, OK, setting don my parenting hat...

But they aren't just for kids! You don't have to be a scientist to appreciate a bath bomb. The little kid inside of all of us will enjoy watching the colors spread throughout the water as the bomb fizzes, spins and dissipates, incorporating the oils into the water and allowing them to adhere to your skin. With amazing moisturizing oils like shea butter and hemp seed oil, they're bound to leave your skin feeling silky and smooth. These guys are a great way to end your day with their soothing fragrance and ingredients. So treat yourself, you deserve it!

Speaking of taking care of your skin, the Ink Stickis a fun little product I've created to help with tattoos. I've chosen specific oils that are known to help with hydration; shea butter, olive oil, vitamin e oil and aloe butter. I infuse the olive oil with calendula, plantain and chickweed, which are well known in the herbal realm to have healing and anti-inflammatory properties. I was so excited when I created this product, and couldn't wait to have people test it out. I knew it would be good but I didn't expect the raving reviews I got from my testers. Yes, testers. I have a select few people that I know will give me honest feedback. Before I release a product I want to be absolutely sure it's something that performs well. And, well, the Ink Stick did just that, and then some. The feed back was amazing! And here's what I was told; It glides on the skin melting quickly so you don't have the added discomfort of having to apply a product to a new tattoo. It's deeply moisturizing oils bring new life into old tattoos. And some of my testers even reported that it has helped to speed up the healing time without extracting ink.

Even if you don't have a tattoo the Ink Stick is a great product to help moisturize your skin.
When it comes to Haircare there's been a lot of hub bub about people wanting to get away from store bought products. I totally get this! And there's a bit of a story behind it. I did google search upon google search trying to find something I could use outside of major brand names. In the beginning I even used the body bars I make. Now some people can get away with using body soap on their hair, but not me. So I did some deep digging. After a TON of reading I found that the PH balance on our scalps is way different than the rest of our bodies. Well that explained the issues I was having. Now there's a lot more to it, and I won't bore you with the scientific details, but the take away here is that I needed to make a change. And that's when I got to work on making a syndet shampoo bar that was gentle enough for the human scalp.

I know that everyone's scalp is different but I also know that we all like to have healthy hair. And that's where my shampoo bars come in. The two shampoos that I have, Oily Hair and Normal Hair, are a great way to gently clean the scalp of the oil buildup. But it's important to keep in mind that when washing your hair you start at the scalp massaging it in with your fingertips, and don't go much past the mid way point of the shaft. As you rinse it off it will gently clean the rest of your hair. Once you've rinsed the shampoo out you'll want to fallow it up with your favorite conditioner (I HIGHLY recommend my Nourishing Conditioner Bar) paying close attention to incorporate it into the shaft, midway and down into the ends. If you have long hair I recommend applying the conditioner then putting it up in a bun, to allow the lovely ingredients to penetrate the shaft. Move on to the rest of your shower routine then rinse just before you're ready to exit.
Now I can't leave out the Lip Butter. Simply put, this lip butter is creamy. It's just what your chapped lips have been screaming for! With the added bonus of calendula and lemon balm infused oils in the Pina Colada and Chocolate Dipped Strawberry.

To wrap this all up I want to talk a tittle bit about my packaging. Get it? Packaging- wrapping up? Ok, Ok, at leas I think I'm funny. Anyway, I'm trying to do my part, you know by being kind to the planet, and that's why I use biodegradable plastic. Just be sure to throw that wrapping in the garbage so that it makes it's way to a landfill. This way it's insured to be exposed to the high temperatures necessary for degradation.
If you've made it this far I congratulae you! And thank you for taking the time.