Is your past one that you wish you had never lived? Is your past something that you want to continue to live and relive? You cannot enter your tomorrow as long as you hold on to your past. ~ Paula White

To me, this is a very powerful quote. I think that people can look at their past in one of three ways:

1) full of regrets and obsessing over what didn’t work out right and using that as an excuse for not moving forward.

2) thinking that the past was their true ‘glory days’ and that life won’t ever get any better than it was back then, and again, using this as an excuse to stay stagnant.

3) I think the past is something to be considered and appreciated because it has gotten you to where you are today, but realize that the best is yet to come! YOU are in control of determining your future path – seize the day and make today, tomorrow and future days the best that they can be! You’ll come to the end of your life happy with what you’ve accomplished, obstacles you’ve overcome and the satisfaction that you took ownership of your life and are responsible for all your successes!

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photo: Maria Brzostowska

Here at Vintage Body Spa we are keenly aware of the ingredients we use in the personal care products that go on our skin (the body’s largest organ) every day. We love to educate our readers and customers about the natural ingredients we use so that they too can be comfortable with and proud of the fact that Vintage Body Spa products truly are gentle and safe.

Today’s ingredient highlight is honey. Not only is this a yummy food (mmm…I’m craving vanilla ice cream with warm honey drizzled on top right now!) it has amazingly beneficial properties when used in skin care. Honey, as you know, is created by honey bees using nectar from flowers. Honey has antioxidant (protects from the sun’s damaging UV rays and helps fight the signs of aging) and anti-microbial (destroys or inhibits the growth of disease causing bacterium) properties. My favorite property of honey is that it is a humectant – it absorbs and retains moisture, so it draws moisture from the air and helps to lock it into your skin, keeping skin hydrated and supple.

If you’d like to try some of our products that contain honey, I recommend our Cleopatra’s Luxurious Milk Bath (in Oats & Honey) or the Daily Moisturizing Lotion. We’ve also got bars of goat’s milk, oatmeal and honey soap that are curing right now that are absolutely divine! Look for them on the site soon.

This month’s special is an unprecedented 40% off our incredible Butter Beans! These mini-bath fizzies are unique in that unlike traditional bath bombs, they contain a high amount of cocoa butter to transform your bath into a luxurious spa. You’ll emerge from a relaxing soak with soft, supple skin.

Our Butter Beans are small (approximately 30 to a jar) so you can use as few or as many as you’d like in your bath (my 3 year old loves to hold one in each hand and watch them fizz. I tend to use 4 in my baths, but you can use as few or as many as you’d like!) If you used 3 per bath, one jar would provide 10 spa treatments at an amazingly low price of $1.20 each! Now tell me – when was the last time you could have ANY relaxing, pampering spa treatment for only $1.20?!?!?

Cocoa butter has long been used to moisturize skin and prevent dryness. It can be especially soothing on sunburned skin. Simply dissolve the Butter Beans in lukewarm water and soak for 15 minutes. Pat skin dry after the bath and if needed, apply lotion (I recommend our Daily Moisturizing Lotion). This should help lock in moisture and keep skin from flaking and peeling.

Be sure to stock up on all our available Butter Beans scents with this month’s special – we won’t be running this kind of promotion again! Discount also applies to our Fair Trade Butter Beans using Fair Trade cocoa butter – the light chocolate scent of these Butter Beans is simply heavenly!

I have committed to participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, where a group of entrepreneurs and bloggers will post 31 blog messages throughout the month of August. I have many ideas for content on this blog, and I am sure the practice of posting once a day (or at least a total of 31 times this month) will be good discipline for me to keep the blog full of informative, entertaining and inspiring posts for you! Please let me know if there are specific topics you’d like me to cover or questions you’d like answered. If you are a business owner or blogger who wants to take the challenge, it’s not too late – sign up here and join us!