Too Much Is Never Enough

I have an addiction......to beauty products in all shapes and sizes and from all areas of the globe.
Every month I get MASSES of free products in the mail.

Some from my beauty box subscriptions

Some from companies seeking stockists

Some from my own endless forays into 'research' aka SHOPPING


That being said, my FAVE products every month seem to come from my newest addiction~ The Libbie Club

Love love love

October has some very exciting offerings!

First up~

Anne Semonin
The Daily Musts

Exfoliating Mask: Restore brightness and prepare your skin with the Anne Semonin Exfoliating Mask. This deep cleansing mask gently removes dead skin cells to smooth, refine and brighten the skin.
Mineral Mask: Rich in natural marine trace elements and minerals, the Anne Semonin Mineral Mask is a versatile and dynamic daily mask which targets congested and dull skin to restore brightness and detoxify the skin.
Cream Mask: Known as ‘comfort in a jar’, the Anne Semonin Cream Mask helps to eliminate sensitive, dry and flaky skin with a rich and velvety formula.
Gel Mask: The Anne Semonin Gel Mask is a regenerating mask which stimulates cells for brighter and radiant looking skin.

Buy it here.

Salon Science

Repair & Protect Duo

A powerful and luxurious multi-tasking duo, the SALON SCIENCE Swiss Grape for Repair and Radiance REPROTECTANT™ THERMAL CRÈME and REGLOSSE™ SMOOTHING SERUM contains a potent antioxidant complex that binds to the hair’s surface to instantly revitalise and strengthen damaged, over-processed hair. A unique fusion of ingredients, Swiss Grape works to cleverly tackle colour fade and heat damage whilst re-texturizing hair at the same time.

Buy it here.

The Library of Fragrance

Musk #7

Cologne Spray

The Library of Fragrance aim to stir fragrant memories, stimulate curiosity about scent, celebrate the often underappreciated sense of smell and create products that allow individuals to select fragrance based on their own preferences – rather than a designer, a celebrity or a perfumer’s idea of what those preferences should be.

Buy it here.

The DL on the Q10

Posh Brats School is in session!!!

Most of you realize by now that I am passionate about my ingredients....seriously mental actually. I know you can't go far these days without hearing about "Q10" being in all these top skincare brands. It's a major buzzword and most people know it's one of those fabulous things but it's doubtful many know what it is or why it's great.

The loss of collagen and elastin causes your skin to wrinkle and sag. The magic formula of collagen/elastin is Q10 and our bodies produce it naturally.

Co-enzyme Q10 also helps the skin by acting as a strong antioxidant. It helps to neutralize the harmful free radicals that are one of the major causes of aging. Thus, the age-related decline in Co-enzyme Q10 also means your skin is more prone to damage by free radicals.

What are free radicals?
Free radicals are a waste product produced by your own body...a bit like a sludge of dead cells and waste that can break down healthy cells and cause illness, allergies, cancer, speed up aging...you name it. Your healthy cells are under attack constantly.

Q10 is naturally produced by your body but it decreases hugely as we age. The best way to get more Q10 back into your body is to supplement, putting a direct concentration into your skincare means it's going straight into your bloodstream and changing your skin at a cellular level.
The best thing about Q10 is that it works and keeps our skin healthy and younger looking. By supplementing our natural levels we can keep our collagen and elastin in perfect shape leading to firmer and more elastic, younger looking skin.
This can also be done as an entire body helper by upping your intake of brightly coloured fruits and veggies!!!

What you see here is a very concentrated solution of Q10 that we use in our skincare. Scary colour huh? This is a 1000ml bottle, for a batch of Oceanus Skin Cream we'd use a 0.5% solution to give the batch optimum results. 25ml of this solution costs us £35.00....that's for ONE ingredient in ONE product.

Think about it......
1000ml / 25ml = 40 x £35.00 = £1400.00 for ONE ingredient in the PB arsenal.

Food for thought eh? Those big name companies charge a fortune for any product containing Q10. Now you know why....it's pretty pricey stuff.

When we released our Oceanus Marine Renewal Cream people balked at the price tag of £30.00 for 50ml so we sent out loads of freebies and gambled on how darn good we knew this cream is.

It is now our BEST selling skin cream and because we started buying the key ingredients for it in larger amounts, our production cost dropped so in turn we dropped the price of the cream by HALF and kept it there.

You're welcome and we love you too xoxox

Brittany

Beautiful and Naturally Shiny Hair....No 'Cones!

This kind of shine isn't a secret and it's completely from natural sources. This is with ZERO styling product too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA7BIZMB_-U

Seriously....treat yourself for a fraction the cost of a salon visit and give this all-natural option a go with hair-loving oils and  afew simple techniques.
Your hair will THANK you!!

The Joys of the Wild-Harvest

One of our company credos is that we do our best to source everything we use in our products from within the UK. Obviously, not everything can be found in Britain but we can make sure that we purchase from British companies.

That being said, one of my great joys is when I have the time and ability to wild-harvest ingredients myself. So often you find things you need right under your nose and here in Britain that is so very true! I have found beautiful fruit, herbs, and flowers in the shadows of ruined abbeys, castles, old homesteads and abandoned gardens. I have also found treasure in hedgerows, woodland copses, and churchyards.

*My husband gathering water lilies from a small pond near Strontian.*


Most recently my family and I took a blissful trip to northwest Scotland around Ardnamurchan. This is a beautiful pristine location in the Highlands that features both mountains, fresh water lochs, and sea lochs as well as seacoast. As a place of environmental advancements, it's also one of THE cleanest and least polluted areas in Britain.

We spent days hiking trails, exploring ruins, marveling at standing stones and beachcombing. In our adventures, we were absolutely alone wherever we were because this is not an area of Scotland that is popular with tourists. If you aren't an outdoorsy type.....you'd find very little to entertain you. The phone signals rarely exist, broadband feels like dial-up and there isn't a trendy coffee shop in sight.
BUT it remains THE most beautiful and amazing place I have ever been In. My. Life! I have spent every day since returning conspiring to go back and never ever leave.

*Can you think of a more stunning place to gather heather and wild sea lavender?*

The thing about wild-harvesting is to never sneaky pete  from private property, never gather more than you truly need, never remove an entire plant or crop, never disturb a natural habitat and always make sure you THANK the faeries, Earth Spirits and the Goddess for anything you take.

I take things a step further and keep geo-logs on exact locations I harvest from so that I may return and not have to rely on my increasingly aging memory.

* Harvesting various types of seaweeds during low tide on a sea loch.*


The rewards of being in harmony with nature and getting out IN nature and experiencing her changes first hand by harvesting according to the season is a constant reminder to me of exactly how, why and what I am doing all of this for.  I'm not sure who it heals more really, me or my wonderful clients.

A shade to suit all skin tones

This fabulous company from the UK are making ground-breaking and stunning Vegan lipsticks. I have to say, I am a complete packaging snob and these are gorgeous. I love the luxurious and velvety texture. You do need to layer it a bit to get true pigmentation but the staying power is right up there with the top companies.

Rose Nude from Nizz Cosmetics

New Offerings With Strange Names

Whenever we make sugar scrubs and body cremes there are always bits left over that won't quite make a full jar. We have taken to layering them into jars in a fabulous mishmosh of scents and colours.

There's no telling what you will get or how much of it, but you will get a full-size regular jar of creme or scrub.

Some have only 2 scents, some have up to 4 or 5 scents...it's all luck of the draw.

We have very cheekily decided to name them respectively

Scrubby McScrubface Sugar Scrub
Creamy McCreamface Body Creme

These are what some of them look like naked and without labels.

BTW..the colour variations in the body cremes are merely down to the naturall vanillin content in the fragrance blend. Vanillin makes any colour darken naturally.

Find them here.

I am a product junkie.....even ones I don't make myself!

If you are smokey eye challenged (and I am), this will become your new BFF! It really applies like a dream and I was totally embracing my inner Human League girl. I love how soft it is and there is no eyelid shredding drag.....just smoooooooth!

Check this out for 10% off

http://www.libbie.club/shop/customer/offers/review/ref/SJT9WOE9/rid/3740

for even more goodies check this out:

http://www.libbie.club/shop/customer/offers/ref/Brittany.DeStaedtler/SJT9WOE9

Bucket Challenged

Sometimes our decisions about donating don’t even seem to be driven by values or potential impact ….but by celebrities and the entertainment value of the fundraising campaigns they endorse. Look no further than the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The feel-good campaign works like this: you film yourself throwing a bucket of ice over your head, post it to social media, and then challenge your friends to either do the same or donate £100 to the ALS Association, which works to end Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Sure, the ice-bucket brigade has raised “awareness” about ALS, and no doubt lots of money as well. But there must be a better way to accomplish the same thing without encouraging people to do a little pretend suffering—whether that means pouring a bucket of cold water over your head, or running a 10K race or taking on some other physical inconvenience—when it’s the people being helped who know all too well what real suffering is.

The ice-bucket challenge is a gentle and well-intended little game of pay-or-dare, and I admire the good humor and neighborly spirit involved. Still, I wonder about the true nature of this “challenge.” Do I prove something about myself by rising to it? Is it better to fill a bucket or ? If I wrote a cheque but told no one, would others think less of me? Absolutely not.

Here’s my CHALLENGE to you…go donate to a charity, this one or ANY charity you feel passionate about. Not because you want to dump cold water over your head and have everyone clap you on the back and ‘Like’ you; but because you WANT to….Oh, and the most important part of that challenge~DON’T tell anyone, don’t look for Thanks, just know that you helped and let that be enough. I promise you, the Blessings are the same.

Being Extraordinary and Living Your Truth

I get asked all the time about my visions for myself and my company and how I got here. The truth is, it took me years to realize that everything I am now is because of choices I made from the very beginning. The good, the bad, and the not so glamorous all have a play in what has become a most EXTRAORDINARY life so far.

You'll find as you set out after your dreams that most people don't really want you to transcend the situation you were born into.
This particularly applies if your reaching your dreams means that you will rise above whatever position they are in. Not the position you or society puts them in, but the position they CHOOSE to see themselves in.

It's human nature and no, not everyone is like that. The people who love and truly believe in you WANT to see you reach your dreams. The people who grant "beingness" have no problem with knowing you have every ability to be EXTRAORDINARY.

A small town was never going to be big enough to hold me. I knew I was destined for more than young marriage and motherhood followed by a lifetime of nothingness because I'd given up on all MY dreams.
There's a saying I once heard that is SO true.

"When you're the most happening person at the party, It's time to leave."

For me that "party" was small town life. I had to get my boogie on or I'd die......literally and figuratively.

If you surround yourself with people and things that are ordinary and those people think YOU are also ordinary....chances are eventually you'll become just that....ORDINARY.
Ordinary is Death in a perfectly comfortable pair of well-worn pj's....it won't incite anything in your life but more of the same. For some folks that's enough. Their light on this earth dies out with the same dim flicker it with which it began.

Don't hide your glow of EXTRA-ORDINARY!!!

Go out and surround yourself with people and things that reflect your extraordinary self!!!!

Love and Light,

Brittany

The Art of Making Money & Success

Some folks are really blind about making money....they wonder why it eludes them. The simple truth is it's the intention behind it. We all want success and a better life but at what cost? Morally you need to take the high ground.

Lately I’ve seen a lot of people, some of them friends, do some really dumb things in an attempt to earn more money. They buy into lame money-making programs, join and promote useless MLM schemes, and fall prey to scammers.

The common pattern is always the same — they’re focused on trying to make more money. They make it their top priority. They think about it constantly. But they keep getting sucked into trying to make money without providing any real value, and it’s unsustainable.

In the end this sort of thing eventually self-destructs. The only way to succeed with it in the long run is to find lots of suckers and basically rip them off in order to enrich yourself. It's doomed to fail in the long-run. You aren't making money honestly, morally or with integrity. You are playing into an already corrupt system.

Instead of focusing on trying to make more money, put your time and energy into CREATING and DELIVERING real value.

Creating value means expressing your unique talents and skills in a way that can potentially benefit others.

Delivering value means ensuring that other people are actually receiving and benefiting from the value you’ve created.

The most viable long-term strategy is to create AND deliver value. You can mix and match other strategies with it, but this should be your primary method of income generation. If you get good at creating and delivering value, you can basically write your own ticket and enjoy lots of abundance.

When you are putting positivity into the Universe in any form, you will get it back. I wish you success and the fulfillment of all your dreams.

Love and Light,

Brittany

Summer 2014 Collection is Here!

The new Summer Collection sugar scrubs and body cremes are now on the website and ready to start shipping.
 The scent descriptions are below, you will find these scents in both sugar scrubs and body cremes.

 Carnival Clown Fizzy Pop~ Another childhood nostalgia blend of all the great scents of the carnival without the scary clowns! Red shiny candy apples, sugary blue bubblegum slushies, cotton candy and fizzy strawberry soda pop are all blended together for this toothsome favorite.

Coco Beach Hut~ Coconut lovers take note!! This will blow your coconutty lil mind! Sweet, sun-warmed coconut, tropical breezes off your own private beach, a touch of white musk and the tang of salty air with a touch of fragrant dried driftwood.

 Creme de Pistache~ Don't wear this and expect to get away un-nibbled!! So very sexy and alluring and not at all what you would expect. Creamy Italian pistachio ice cream is blended with dark chocolate, salted caramel and honeycomb liberally sprinkled with toasted brown sugar, a touch of cinnamon for the ultimate gourmand experience.

 Frozen Blue Raspberry Sorbet~ Like slice of your childhood, this scent captures the aroma of ripened raspberries, sugary cotton candy, and the melty slushiness of sorbet.

 Frozen Margarita~ Just like the drink! This has that perfectly tangy blend of fresh limes, a shot of tequila (or three!) and a touch of salt...all swirled together with the intention of delighting all of your senses!

 Nekkid Rockstar~ Do you know the difference between naked and nekkid? Naked is when you don't have any clothes on, nekkid is when you don't have any clothes on and you're up to something! hehe Utterly sexy delicious scent which takes 3 types of vanilla, Lebanon cedar, Egyptian musk, and chypre. All softened with notes of melon, strawberry & pink sugar.

 Strawberry Cheesecake~ The perfect aroma of cheesecake with a nice thick strawberry coulis sauce. What could be more perfect?!

 

The Doktor Witch Is In

Over the years I have gotten used to the daily e-mails from folks all over the world asking advice and 'prescriptions' for their skin. I get photos of skin conditions, descriptions of sensitivities and pleas for help from all corners of the globe. I ALWAYS take time out to personally answer each and every one of these e-mails.
 If I am being placed in such a position of trust on very sensitive topics, then they least I can do is be present and as helpful as possible. Over time my role seems to have grown organically from just a cosmetic chemist and CEO for my line into what I jokingly refer to as "Doktor Witch". Most people who know me or spend more than 5 minutes on my website or in my retail store, very quickly realize that I follow the witch path.
 Because of my increased role in things both internal and external I am taking steps to get my fully licensed Homeopathy division in place. Right now I can legally make and prescribe things for friends and family but not the general public. This is something that will be changing this year once I get all my little legal certification and insurance ducks in order.
 For now, my public role is that of licensed cosmetic chemist dealing with external issues only. Mr. Posh Brats comes into the shop with me on Saturdays to help with the heavy traffic flow of customers. I tend to stay down in my "soap cave" getting things made and restocked and making appearances when I am needed.
 
This is what I refer to as my "soap cave". This is in the cellar of my retail shop in Macclesfield on the cobblestones of Church Street. One fabulous thing about my soap cave is that the archway you see there is actually a blocked tunnel that leads to the church at the top of the hill, the old village gaol and the castle. This was all blocked up at least a hundred years ago but it makes for some interesting noises and spirit activity at times.

 I digress here back to the main topic at hand..... the gradual morphing of my role into one of a caregiver of sorts. Word in the village very quickly spread about our skin care products and handmade soaps more than anything else in the store. Because our prices are low in comparison to most High Street brands, people were skeptical. They plunked down their £ and "took a chance".
 What we found is that most Saturdays we have people coming through the door asking for me. I come upstairs and spend as long as I need to with each person making sure we get the perfect Rx prescription for their skin needs.
 Mr. Posh Brats will often call me upstairs to give advice or go into deeper discussion on a product for those customers that have a deeper need of the science behind the product. So, just as I have online for years....I am now doing this service in person. It is my sincere belief that this personal service and caring has been what helped build the PB brand with zero outside advertising. As far as I am concerned, the Doktor Witch will ALWAYS be in....
 

Why Your Skin Does NOT Need Fancy Designer Chemicals......KISS It!

Now I bet you just said to yourself...."Kiss what, Brittany?"

Kiss my elbow?

Kiss my ear?

Kiss my tookus?

Nah, nothing like that. By "KISS" I meant only....

" Keep It Simple, Silly!"

Skincare, Folks.....

Keep It Simple!

My lovely editor at Hat Trick Magazine asked me to write about some of these fancy designer chemicals she's so fond of. Yes, she loves the natural stuff too but no matter what I tell her...she goes back to trendy designer skincare full of 'acids'.

Guess what?? It's all bullhonkey.....

Seriously, if you feel the need to waste your money on this stuff, just save the effort of hauling your wrinkled carcass to the nearest designer cosmetics counter and send me your money instead.

I'm about to tell you something....

Those fancy acids do nothing for you but add to your problems in the long run. They actually make your skin even MORE sensitive! You can get the same and safer NATURAL results from crushing some fresh strawberries and grapefruit pulp and applying that to your face every other week....seriously!

Let me get REAL with you here.

Your skin is your body's largest organ, and virtually the only organ that you can watch. 

Personally I don't think I'd have too much entertainment out of watching something like my adorable pancreas...just sayin'.

Annoying and troublesome skin conditions like rashes, pimples, eczema, and illnesses like chicken pox or measles are attempts by the skin to clean itself out.  This is Nature's way in health: the body will try, must try, to clean itself of toxins, foreign chemicals and poisons. Nature eliminates wastes. You may not like it; it may not look romantic; it might even itch. However, the toxins must be expelled.  Since the skin is your largest organ, it will by nature want to do a lot of cleaning out. The more it does so, the more you needed it to.

 Simple, proper diet eliminates so many complaints. Whole foods, raw or lightly-cooked vegetables, grains and fruits, lean meats & fish and no chemically-doctored food will go a very long way to improving your skin in a short time. My personal beauty secret is to drink at least 2 litres of water per day with the juice of fresh lemons squeezed into it.

Unfortunately, many folks are inclined to and even encouraged to put creams, salves, ointments and other fancy designer-cum-medicated "remedies" on their skin to try and doctor those awful sin conditions. 

The dermatologist won't tell you any differently either because HE's getting kickbacks from the drug companies to prescribe this stuff to you. He WANTS you to age so he can keep selling you more and more services.

All he's doing is making short-term 'improvements' to your appearance by delaying what the body is trying to do...DETOX!

Let's "clear up" this skin medication question right here. First of all, there is no such thing as "worn-out skin."  Fortunately for us, skin is a magical and wonderful self-repairing, and virtually indestructible living thing.

Nature repairs and mends skin beautifully. When you cut yourself, you might disinfect the wound with iodine or some other preparation. But does the iodine re-knit the skin, make the new cells, or weave new tissue? No, Nature does. 

When a surgeon stitches up an incision or a wound she brings the skin together and holds it in place with sutures.  

But if Nature didn't re-unite the cells, what good would the stitches do?

Vitamin C and E seem to be most important for proper healing and maintenance of your skin.  Vitamin C is well-known to be essential to holding the cells together and encouraging their normal growth.  Show me a person with chronic skin problems and two times out of three I'll bet their diet is deficient in E or C.  

Your skin is a living, breathing, body-cleaning organ.  If you clog it up, you're in trouble.

 In the James Bond story Goldfinger people were painted gold. 

Remember that they died?

 Your skin MUST be free from pore-clogging crud!!

 That's why these designer UN-natural creams, ointments and salves are not doing any more than removing the symptoms of skin excretion and detoxing. 

In slowing down or blocking this excretion they are clogging the pores and of themselves adding to what has to be cleaned out. Why make the skin have to now excrete these added toxins on top of the old ones? It's like shaking the dirt out of your rugs... in the middle of the living room.

 

 If you don't use any of the countless patent skin treatments for beauty or disease, your skin will be that much better. Treating symptoms is just trying to fool Nature. Coating over the body's cleansing efforts does not make you or your skin well.  

 Keeping drugs, artificial colors, preservatives, alcohols, artificial fragrances, and those foot-long chemical names off your skin can only help it.

 If Nature had wanted us to use lots of synthetics on our body, she would probably have put Triethanolamine, Carbomer-934, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Dimethicone, Sodium Myristate, Stearyl Alcohol, FD&C Red #4, Yellow #3 and other "beauty necessities" within easy reach for foraging and not had them coming out of labs infested with tumor-ridden lab animals.

Not a pretty picture is it? Guess what...you should see it in person.

No, Folks....your B-girl has not lost her mind.....She....I.....am SICK to death...to my eye teeth of being asked, told, cajoled and sweet-talked into supporting chemicals that I DO NOT and WOULD NOT use on my own face...never mind in my own products. It's not going to happen!

You have it from the horse's mouth.....

Take care of yourself INTERNALLY first......if you're going to use products on your skin....

Keep them simple

Keep them natural

and in turn you will....

Keep your beauty! 

It may lose me endorsements, writing jobs, or freebies from companies wanting me to review their products but guess what....

I will at least know I told you lovely folks the TRUTH!

Much Love,

Brittany

 

 Take my word for it or not, folks....43 years old TODAY and keeping it simple and real.

 

Star Spangled Sunburn Remedies

There is nothing fun about sunburn and most of us have had our share of them through the years. I remember when I was a teenager most of us looked forward to our first sunburn of the year as we could establish our 'tan base' for the summer.

In the 70's and 80's natural suntans were a very serious pursuit of most teenagers and 20-somethings. We'd mix a bottle of iodine in a bottle of baby oil and slather ourselves liberally, only to roast like the Sunday chicken in the hot Mississippi sun.

Luckily, most of us have left that particular pursuit behind us, choosing instead to go for a nice wash of color from some bronzing cream or a spray tan. Those that haven't are looking like your Granny's old leather handbag about now.

With the 4th of July celebrations, many of you will be spending lots of time outside indulging in picnics, barbecues, water sports, and family reunions. With this fun may come the very UN-fun sunburn.

Here are a few natural remedies that will help you get through the agony of overindulgence in the sun.

One common remedy for sunburn is yogurt. Smear yogurt on your skin as soon as it turns pink to help cool the skin, reestablish pH balance and promote faster healing. It is best to use plain unsweetened full-fat yogurt that contains few additives. Let it sit on your skin until it warms up and then rinse it off with tepid water. Apply as often as needed. Better still, use a paste made of barley, turmeric and yogurt in equal proportions. Apply it over the affected areas for sunburn relief and healing.

Another common item that can be used for sunburns is tea. Make a large pot of very strong tea, use a towel to soak up all the tea and then apply to the sunburn area. Alternately, use a large number of teabags and make a bathtub full of tea; soak in the bath when the temperature is tepid to barely warm. The tannins in tea help draw out the burn and heal the skin. You can also apply cold, used tea bags to sun-burned eyelids to relieve pain and swelling.

One superior good remedy for sunburn is to combine Aloe Vera, vitamin E oil, and cucumbers. Liquefy cucumbers in a blender and mix with Aloe Vera gel, and Vitamin E oil.

 

 

 

Finally, an age old remedy for sunburns mentioned in ancient texts is potato peels - and it appears to have science on its side. 

Doctors have found that in case of minor burns, potato peel bandages work better than conventional dressing. Potato peels provide moisture and they also have anti-bacterial properties that help in healing.

Whichever remedy you decide to use, please remember that using the proper amount of sunscreen and applying it often is the BEST remedy of all!!

Have a wonderful summer holiday and enjoy all that fabulous weather!

Much Love,

Brittany xx

As always, you know I love to give you easy fun recipes you can make at home. This month is no exception, I give you this wonderful homemade sunburn relief spray.

 

 

Lavender Aloe Cooling Sunburn Spray

2  fl oz Aloe Vera Juice

2 fl oz Distilled Water

9 drops of lavender oil
2 drops of peppermint oil
1 drop of spearmint oil

Directions:

Mix all, and spritz lightly over sunburned skin.

Aloe-lluja!

Pure Aloe Vera Gel is something we use a LOT of here at Posh Brats HQ. We used to buy it by the 20 kilo weight.....used to. Very recently I discovered something that had me seeing red.

Like many of you, I used to buy Aloe Vera gel and totally expected it to be clear in colour or some pretty shade of blue or green. You know the kind, the stuff you buy in the drugstore in big economy bottles or tubes.

When I started using it in my products in place of plain water I was really pleased with myself. I thought I was seriously doing everything I possibly could to make sure my natural bath and beauty products were the BEST they could be.

As I mentioned, I was buying this stuff by the 20 kilo per container weight and it's EXPENSIVE!! This is what the "Pure" Aloe Vera gel I was buying looked like and let's just say the amount I was buying would leave me very little change out of £1000 every month.

I was told by my raw materials supplier of this that it was clear because it was "ultra pure" and organic with added Vitamin E to naturally preserve it. Okay, that made sense to me and this is a HUGE International supplier with branches in several countries so who was I to doubt?

As we in business are obliged to do from time to time, it came time for me to review my budget  when doing my accounts for the year to submit to my accountants. I sat there staring at the spreadsheet of figures for my raw materials and the number for my Aloe Vera "habit" was just painful.

I said to myself, I simply MUST find a way to bring this cost down without compromising quality. I had a word with a Swedish fellow Cosmetic Chemist friend of mine and asked him if he knew of another source or way to use this magical ingredient without raising my prices.

He said to me, "Don't you make your own?"
 Huh? Sure, I have an Aloe Vera plant on my windowsill at home and we use it for home purposes but it's not enough to supply me with endless kilos of raw gel.

He explained to me that making my own was not unlike making a simple emulsion...something we chemist do all the time. He gave me the formula for the gel and told me a reputable source to get my organic freeze-dried aloe from.

I was almost embarrassed that I wasn't aware of this really. I mean, he thought I was completely insane to be BUYING the gel and when I told him how much I'd spent this past fiscal year on Aloe Vera he laughed at me. I had spent literally 30x's MORE than I needed to at WHOLESALE cost.

I made my first batch of Aloe Gel according to his formula and THIS is what it looked like, you can see it sitting there in my mixer.

Now, you can imagine looking at this earthy green sludge that I immediately thought I did something wrong. I contacted my friend and he checked it all out for me and said, "No, this is exactly what it's supposed to look like. Furthermore, that is a beautiful batch!"

Wow, so THIS is the pure stuff?
He explained to me that within the cosmetics industry in order for Aloe Vera Gel to be labeled as "Pure" it needed only to contain 1% pure Aloe Vera. Furthermore, it is then further diluted with fillers to make it clear so it can then be recoloured to the stuff you see in your local drugstores.

Now imagine my fury when come to find out when I researched this 'pure' gel I had been using for years...it was pure alright...but it was a concentration of 1% aloe and the rest was.....water, a tiny amount of Vitamin E and glycerine!!!

Compared to the 10% concentration of my own mix which is what is needed to make 100%  Pure Aloe Vera Gel when reconstituting from pure freeze-dried form.

Suffice it to say....this was me (from my throne but minus my crown since it was Casual Friday)

I am proud to say that my operating budget has been greatly slashed, no prices had to be raised and our products are EVEN BETTER. I have 100% control over my Aloe Vera and for this control freak, that suits me just fine!!

Love and Light,

Brittany xx

As an added bonus, here is a recipe you can make at home by harvesting your own Aloe Vera plant or just use some pure Aloe (the kind from the health food store that is liquid).

 

Aloe Honey Body Scrub

• 2 C fine ground Sea Salt*
• 1 C Aloe Vera
• 2 Tablespoons pure raw Honey (Use an organic brand or Manuka honey)
• 2 Tablespoons Brown sugar
• 1 C Olive Oil

Mix together all the above ingredients. Apply mixture to damp skin. Gently massage, giving special attention to rough areas. Rinse well with warm water.
*Sea salt removes dry, flaky, dead skin. Do NOT use table salt, it is NOT the same thing!

Happiness is Contagious!!

You know that old saying 'Misery loves company'? Sadly that is very true.  Think about it, when you're miserable there are always people out there that will join right in on the pity party and "happily" lay down their own line of funk.

Then it becomes like two old people comparing illnesses and becomes a virtual pissing contest of who has been more badly done to by the Universe.
Ya know what? I was right there, front and centre, joining in on these pity parties. Hell, truth be told, I was the last person leaving the party long after everyone else had found their happy place again.

Something happened to me several weeks ago.....

I woke up and DID something about my constant state of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was FED UP of my own bellyaching and griping about how awful my life was.

I can only imagine how my family and friends felt!
I was sick all the time, depressed all the time, angry all the time.....
I was probably one rude comment away from digging body shaped holes in my back yard.

Then one night I was sitting by myself and just contemplating the state of my life. WHY was I so miserable when every day so many people were writing me beautiful letters, sending me anonymous gifts, and telling me how much they wish they were me.....merely because of what I do for a living.

I closed my eyes and began a quiet conversation with the Universe and begged for guidance on getting my life back on track.
For years my Momma had been telling me she missed who I used to be. I cynically thought that person was dead....too many things had happened, too many scars were on my heart and my soul....that girl was long gone.

I asked the Universe to guide my steps, guide my heart, guide my hands.

That night I decided to wind down from my day by loading up Netflix and watching a movie. The husband was upstairs having a soak (his own method for dealing with his miseries). On my suggested movies list was a film called 'The Secret'. It sounded interesting so I waited for it to load and about 5 minutes into this film a deep shudder ran through my body.

It was like an electricity and goosebumps came up on my arms. I paused the film and yelled up to my husband. He came down a few minutes later and I asked him to watch this film with me. He looked at me strangely because for years our nights have consisted of both of us on our respective laptops barely exchanging 10 words.......once our son went to bed we just did NOT communicate unless it was to sling negativity in one another's direction.

To his credit he quietly just sat beside me on the sofa and I restarted the film. As we watched this it was like all time had stopped around us. Tears were flowing freely down my face and I peeked over at him and he looked quite emotional as well. When it ended we excitedly discussed it and decided right then and there we would BOTH put this into action in our lives that very night! What was this magic secret you ask?

Quite simple: We create our own reality! Everything in the Universe is made up of energy and the Universe does not differentiate between bad energy and good energy...it's all energy...however....
Whatever we put into the Universe, we get back.
The Law of Attraction!

We talked for hours about what we could change, and the plans we had for setting our minds and live straight. We talked for longer than we'd talked for years and it wasn't in anger....THAT alone was the first miracle.

The changes we put into place started the very NEXT DAY! I tell you with all honesty, every single day has shown us another blessing, another positivity, another healing.

I've encouraged so many people to watch that film or read the book 'The Secret'. There's a lot of positive and negative information out there about it. Many people will tell you it's all hooey.....but if you sit down with an open mind and just sincerely apply that simple law to your own life.....
WOW!!!

The crazy thing about it all that it is Magic 101. As many of you know, I'm a witch by religion.....a Pagan if you prefer. This is all stuff I already knew but I was only embracing the negative side of things because that's all I was putting out there.

The one positive thing I had going in all this was my craft....my business...my work. It's where I was happy, where I felt alive and at peace.
That has changed! EVERY aspect of my life makes me happy now because I have learnt to be thankful and grateful for ALL the blessings I was ignoring.

Because of this, *I* have changed.
Because I have changed my life has changed.
People are now asking me what my secret is to all this new found happiness, positivity and peace I have.

The old miserable me would have kept it in like a miser.
The new me shares it profusely because I know that sharing happiness and positivity breeds happiness and positivity. It's Contagious!!!

I love my new life and I am so thankful for everything and every one in it!! If you do nothing else for yourself this year......
Please do this one thing. Embrace it with all your heart and watch the dreams in your own life come glaringly into reality!!

All My Love,

Brittany xxx

PS: This is NOT a paid endorsement, nor did I even get a free copy of this book/film. It's just my own personal experience.

Parenthood....Why Do We Engage In This Insanity?

Someone once told me that God makes children cute on purpose.....so they can survive to adulthood.  I can't help but agree....

 Before you start getting all sanctimonious with me and giving me the hairy eyeball....think about the last time you survived a week on 1.5hrs sleep and half a packet of Peanut M&M's as your only sustenance besides coffee. Oh, and those endless cups of coffee you made....you NEVER got to drink them hot.

What did you come up with?

Me? I simply recalled that time period between birth and age 3.
 Neither of my kids came with a genetic structure that made them sleep through the night until that point.

My daughter (now 17) early on, figured out how to flip herself out of her crib and go exploring. Once pulling all the books off the bookshelf and the VHS tapes (remember those?) out of the entertainment center lost it's appeal; she'd come into my bedroom to "stalk" me like a mini terrorist.

Her favorite form of torture? There were two main ones really.

1. Get as close as humanly possible to mother without actually touching her and STARE!!! If she happens to wake up....it's pretty damn terrifying at 3am to have a toddler staring you down so closely that their eyes merge into one huge cyclops eye. That big blinking cyclops eye combined with hot milky breath all packed into some terrifying evil garden gnome creature will test ANY mother's love!!
              1b: If above scenario does NOT wake mother up (She is, after all, sleep-deprived since about her 7th month of pregnancy up to that point.) Said mini terrorist will then grab her eyelids and pry them open with fat little fingers and stage whisper...
 "You 'wake?!"
This is not a question, this is a DEMAND!

2. Pull back the bedcovers just enough to locate sleeping mother's nipples; grab the nearest nipple (or the furthest one...whatever) and.............PULL!!!........as hard as you can. Watch mother wake instantly, howling in pain and shock and then proceed to fall on your bottom beside the bed and scream bloody murder because SHE scared YOU!

** By the way, this incident ended my days of sleeping nude! **

Now my son (now 8), was a bit more subdued....he didn't require my company for entertainment....just my absence.

This was the child who always embraced his artistic side. Before he could leave his crib he tended to go all Warhol-esque and use his bodily fluids or....well, you know....to decorate the crib, himself and the walls.

Once he became mobile and could also flip himself out of his crib then he would head straight for anything electronic and disassemble it. (Try explaining to your boss that you're late for work because your two year old took apart your alarm clock....seriously try it!)

Is anyone surprised I only have two children?

Yeah, me neither. This is why I chose to go into business really. I needed all that stress, sleeplessness, and lack of social life to function properly. I traded more stretchmarks for more stress wrinkles. A-hem....

Seriously though, back to the parenthood thing~

You love them with all your heart and you'd go through it ALL again because you can't imagine life without them....but.....  I think that's part of the plan...it's part of that parental brain damage we all share.

Today a friend of mine shared this list for prospective parents with me.

 I found myself wiping away tears of mirth, I hope it gives you a chuckle too.

Love,

Brittany xx

Ready to have kids?? take the test!

Test 1: Preparation

Women: To prepare for pregnancy:
1.Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2.Leave it there.
3.After nine months, remove 5 per cent of the beans.
Men: To prepare for children:
1.Go to a local chemist. Tip the contents of your wallet on to the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself.
2.Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to its head office.
3.Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

Test 2: Knowledge

Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behavior.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life when you will have all the answers.

Test 3: Nights

1.Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing 4-6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2.At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3.Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6.Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8.Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9.Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10.Make breakfast.
Keep this up for five years — and LOOK CHEERFUL.

Test 4: Dressing small children

1.Buy a real life octopus and string bag with holes in it.
2.Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no tentacles come out of the holes.
Time allowed: five minutes.

Test 5: Cars

1.Forget the BMW. Buy a practical five-door wagon.
2.Buy a chocolate ice-cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3.Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4.Take a box of chocolate biscuits. Mash them into the back seat.
5.Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Test 6: Going for a walk

1.Wait.
2.Go out the front door.
3.Come back in again.
4.Go out.
5.Come back in again.
6.Go out again.
7.Walk down the front path.
8.Walk back up it.
9.Walk down it again.
10.Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
11.Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least six questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
12.Retrace your steps.
13.Scream that you’ve had as much as you can stand, until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
14.Give up and go back in the house.

Test 7: Conversations with children

Repeat everything you say at least five times.

Test 8: Grocery shopping

1.Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child — a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2.Buy your weekly groceries — without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3.Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Test 9: Feeding a one-year-old

1.Hollow out a melon.
2.Make a small hole in the side.
3.Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4.Get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5.Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6.Tip the rest into your lap, making sure most of it falls on the floor.

Test 10: TV

1.Learn the names of every character from the In The Night Garden, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2.Watch nothing else on TV for at least five years.

Test 11: Mess

1.Smear peanut butter on to the sofa and jam on to the curtains.
2.Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3.Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds, then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon.
4.Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house on to the floor, then proceed with Step 5.
5.Drag random items from one room to another and leave them there.

Test 12: Long trips with toddlers

1.Make a recording of someone shouting ‘Mummy’ repeatedly.
Important notes: there must not be more than a four-second delay between each Mummy, and include occasional crescendos to the level of a supersonic jet.
2.Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for four years.

Test 13: Conversations with adults

1.Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2.Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.

Test 14: Getting ready for work

1.Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2.Put on your finest work attire.
3.Take a cup of cream and put one cup of lemon juice in it.
4.Stir.
5.Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt.
6.Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture.
7.Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel.
8.Don’t change (you have no time).
9.Go directly to work.
You are now ready to have children. ENJOY!