OK, I'm ready to get back to more regular blogging after some intensive work on another project. And, I'm ready to spill the beans on just what that project is. :0) Where shall I begin?
I've been making not only cleaning products, but personal care products for my family for several years now. I have researched and experimented, then researched some more. I'm always looking for ways to shed toxins and chemicals and incorporate healing plant extracts. The benefits that my family has experienced because of this have been incredible. Back a few months ago I started sharing some of my tips and recipes with y'all and was blown away by the response. Evidently, I'm not the only one ready to say goodbye to Big Business in skin care. I'm just tickled pink at so many of your comments sharing how these things are benefiting you, too!
Shortly before Christmas, things started snowballing into what I can only call "A God Thing". Allow me to share a few of the highlights. My husband started using some of the newer products I made to give as Christmas gifts, and he commented to me that I should start selling it. At our Christmas gathering, my extended family heartily agreed. Between the holidays, my cousin and I went into a health store in my hometown on a reconnaissance mission and the owner overheard our conversation. She said that she would like to carry my products. I was still in the planning stage at that point. Then, my husband received an unexpected year-end bonus from work (that he's never gotten before) and we realized that God had just provided our start-up funds. So, PURE YANKABILLY ~ All Natural Skincare was born. You may have noticed that I already snuck a new tab in up there with a link to the shop. Is it snuck or sneaked? Anyone? Good thing I don't teach grammar...
My eyes have recently been opened to the fact that there are "do-ers" in life and then there are those who would rather not mess with it themselves. I'm a do-er. Always have been. I know many of you are, too. You're the type of person who takes great joy in the challenge and the following satisfaction of figuring out how to do and make things yourself. I understand that this may not be for you. But, there are many folks who either don't have time to do the research, hunt down ingredients and then actually make something - or they have no interest in it. Many of them still want to rid their lives of chemicals and take a more natural approach, though. Let me quote the famous Doc Holliday here..."I'll be your Huckleberry!"
If you're a do-er, then I wish you many happy concoctions! I hope you continue to enjoy the skin care recipes I have listed here as well as those from all around the web. My eye cream recipe has been the most popular post on my blog every since I hit "publish". And, it's good stuff. But, my new eye cream that I sell in my shop is great stuff. I've added awesome healing and anti-aging ingredients to it and then whipped it to a wonderful consistency. That's what I've done with everything in my shop. I put in extra research and tracked down the finest ingredients I could get my hands on to make each product the best it could possibly be.
I've been giving samples to people that I know in real life and have had some really amazing reports rolling in. I'll share some of them with you later. But, for now I want to get to the fun part! In honor of PURE YANKABILLY'S grand opening - I'm going to do two giveaways.
For those of you who may want to go ahead and try something - I'm offering a 15% coupon for liking my PURE YANKABILLY Facebook page. So, are you ready for the first giveaway? I thought so!
Here's what you'll receive:
Gentle Bar Soap - 5 ounces
This is the only soap my family uses. It's in the shower and at the bathroom and kitchen sinks. It lathers so nicely that me and Chris both use it for shaving now, saving the expense of shave gel. Since making this I've also been able to say goodbye to a separate face wash because this is awesome for taking good care of the face. I often use it to wash my hair. It's gentle enough to use as an all-in-one soap and shampoo for your babies, too. We always take it with us when we travel, because Isaac's hands will inevitably crack and bleed if we don't. That's not a lot of fun for him. Can you tell we love this stuff?
Hard Lotion Bar - 1.5 ounces
This is my husband's all-time favorite item. This man has never used any type of lotion because he can't stand the feel on his skin. Y'all, he even puts this on his face. Like, every night. It's not greasy at all, but very nourishing and moisturizing. It's even taking the callouses off of his hands that he's had for the entire 17 years we've been married. 'Nuff said.
Organic Sugar Scrub - 8 ounces
Peppermint Grapefruit
I use this scrub from head to toe two or three times a week. It's wonderful to use before shaving. Although, it would be nice if it was the kind of 'sugaring' that took care of that for you, too. You'll have to do that yourself, though, unless you just enjoy looking like 'the missing link'. I won't judge you if you do. Anyhoo, it does a fantastic job of exfoliating and then leaves you wonderfully moisturized. Someone I recently shared this with said it was better than a scrub that she paid $60 for. I'll let you tell me what you think...
Flower Power Soothing Salve - 2 ounces
I created this salve for our trip to Michigan at Christmas. I was out of our hard lotion bar and knew that I needed to bring some sort of moisturizer with us because of Isaac's hands - and regular lotions cause them to break out. Even when we take our soap with us he usually will have a minor flare up from not using it 100% of the time. I intended this to be a rich, general moisturizer (which it is), but was happily surprised to find that it is very healing as well. Someone that we gave a sample to recently has reported that it has made a tremendous difference for her husband, who has been plagued for years with a skin condition that the doctors have been unable to help him with. Use it on anything that is fungal in nature, burns, eczema, to generally soothe skin and more. This is my mom's favorite, by the way.
and finally...
Green Goodness Healing Balm - 2 ounces
Y'all, this stuff is UH-MAZ-ING! It is a blend of 6 healing herbs that I've infused into EVOO, unrefined and cold-pressed. Then, I add a bunch of other oils that have a strong history of healing a myriad of issues. It's good for cuts, burns, fungal infections, bug bites, boils, rashes, eczema, psoriasis, bruises, sprains and SO much more.
These products have a $60.25 value. The giveaway will run until Thursday, March 22, 2012.
Whew! This was a long post so I'm gonna keep entering the giveaway pretty simple, K?
To Enter Giveaway:
Simply leave me a comment telling me which item you're most excited about trying.
For extra entries, leave a separate comment for each of the following...
+1 - Follow Ramblings of a Happy Homemaker - or tell me if you already do.
+1 - Blog about this giveaway and then leave me the link for your post in the comments.
+1 - Share about this giveaway on Facebook and then let me know you did.
I've had some people share with me that they aren't able to leave a comment on my blog for some reason. I've tried unsuccessfully to figure out why. If you find that you fall into this category, shoot me an e-mail at hhramblings@gmail.com telling me what you did to enter. There's actually a button on my sidebar that will let you do this quickly. One e-mail with all your info will be fine.
Alright, that's all folks! Good luck to you! And, thanks for reading. :0)
I'm sharing this post at Your Green Resource.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
