Here’s my motivation/inspiration for Vintage Body Spa and growing this company: my precious children – seen here at a recent trip to the pumpkin patch. Our products are natural and safe for even the youngest of skin – our spa products (including the soon-to-be released baby/kids line) are the only products that have touched our son’s skin (aged 2 weeks in this picture). Creating safe, gentle products for the entire family while showing my children by example the joy that comes from following your dreams makes every day such a blessing. Thank you for letting me do what I love!
What is your motivation and/or inspiration for your dreams? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
As cold weather settles in, protecting and nourishing your skin is important to keep it from becoming chapped and dry. One of my favorite products to use for deep moisturizing is our Butter Bar. In fact, this lotion bar is referred to as our ‘ultimate moisture therapy’. It’s a great product to prevent dryness and cracking , but it is just as good at restoring moisture and healing areas that need attention as the blend of cocoa, mango and shea butters penetrate and hydrate the skin.
Simply take the Butter Bar out of the tin and hold it in your hands. Your body heat will cause the bar to melt slightly. Rub the lotion into your skin. Be patient – it may take a little while to absorb, but it is worth it! I used this religiously during my last pregnancy and it protected my expanding belly -not a stretch mark to be found! Now my favorite way to use the Butter Bar is to pamper my feet and heels. Just before bed I slather on the Butter Bar and then put on a pair of socks. When I wake up, my feet are super smooth.
This month, all Butter Bars (even the vegan version that includes fair trade unrefined cocoa butter that has a heavenly natural chocolate scent) are on special for 20% off. Stock up on one or two to pamper your skin throughout the fall and winter and grab a few more for holiday gifts – they make great stocking stuffers!
What is your favorite way to use our Butter Bars? Leave your comments below.
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!
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!
Spearmint is another essential oil we tend to use quite a bit here at Vintage Body Spa. Sweeter smelling and less overwhelming than peppermint oil, it’s a good choice when you want mint without the menthol tones. Spearmint oil also blends well with many other essential oils, as evidenced by our products containing a variety of blends (listed below).
Image via Wikipedia
Latin Name:Mentha Spicata
Description: Spearmint is a perennial herb native to the Mediterranean region that grows approximately three feet high. The leaves are bright green, are sharply serrated and have pink or light purple colored flowers. The oil is steam distilled from the flowering tops of the herb.
Countries of origin: Although native to the Mediterranean region, it is now common throughout Europe, western Asia and the Middle East. The oil is produced in Europe (Hungary, Spain, and Russia), China and America (Midwest).
Scent: Spearmint has a fresh, minty, aroma.
Properties: Refreshing and comforting, Spearmint oil has been used to promote relaxation and relieve mental fatigue. The oil is also slightly antiseptic. Spearmint oil has also been used for respiratory issues as well as for the digestive system.
Precautions: Spearmint oil is non-toxic, non-sensitizing and non-irritating.
Vintage Body Spa products containing Spearmint Oil: Salt Soak in Eucalyptus Spearmint, Daily Moisturizing Lotion in Eucalyptus Spearmint or Mojito (Spearmint & Lime essential oil blend), Butter Bar in Double Mint and Mojito Soap.
What is your favorite use for spearmint oil? What other essential oils do you like to blend with spearmint oil?
Many of you have likely seen this video of a Will Smith interview released on YouTube years ago. I like to watch it every once in a while for some great ‘nuggets’ of inspiration he conveys. Hope it inspires you as it does me!
Some of my favorite quotes from this video:
“We didn’t grow up with the sense that where we were was where we were going to be. We grew up with the sense that where we were almost didn’t matter because we were becoming something greater”.
“Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft. I have never viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is a ridiculous, sickening work ethic. While the other guy is sleeping, I am working. There is no easy way around it”. “You need to dedicate yourself to being better every single day”.
“My dad said ‘Don’t ever tell me that you can’t do something’. You don’t try to build a wall, you don’t set out to build a wall. You don’t say ‘I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that’s ever been built’. You don’t start there. You say ‘I am going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid’. You do that every single day and soon you have a wall”.
“I want to do good. I want the world to be better because I was here”. “If you’re not making someone else’s life better, then you’re wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better”.
“I believe that I can create whatever I want to create”.
“The first step before anybody else in the world believes it is that you have to believe it”.
“There is no reason to have a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A”.
“Confucius said, He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right”.
“There is a redemptive power that making a choice has, rather than feeling you are at effect to all the things that are happening. Make a choice. You just decide what is going to be, who you are going to be, how you are going to do it. Just decidel And from that point, the universe is going to get out of your way”.
And one of my favorite quotes from the movie ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’: “Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something, not even me, alright?. You’ve got a dream, you’ve got to protect it. When people can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you that you can’t do. You want something, go get it. Period”.
For the first time, we’re offering non-Vintage Body Spa products in the shop. I was introduced to Sassimi spa wraps and knew right away that they’d be a perfect complement to our products. The wraps are great to lounge around in, for after bath or after a swim. Easy to step in and out of – I can put it on after the shower, get ready for the day and step out of it without messing up my hair or makeup.
I have the Sicily wrap, which is a bamboo/cotton terry blend. Not only is bamboo eco-friendly, but it has natural antimicrobial properties. I wear this as often as I can; it is amazingly soft and comfortable and is holding up extremely well after multiple washings.
The quality is incredible and they’re made in the U.S.A. What more could you ask for?!?!?!? Sassimi spa wraps make great gifts for yourself or others. With the variety of styles, colors and sizes available, you’re sure to find one for everyone on your list.
Already have a Sassimi wrap? Leave your comments here so our readers can learn even more about these luxurious wraps!