 Even though this time of year is known for magic and happiness, we all know it can be especially stressful. Here's some things we are doing to try to keep our balance.
We wish you all the best as you navigate through this season. May your days be filled with peace and joy. ~Ben and Polly
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 If you're looking for a reprieve from the cold temps and from the hurried pace of December, make some time for a relaxing soak in the tub. We will often get questions about our bath bombs, so we thought this would be a good time to chat about all things bath related.  Why a Bath Bomb?If you haven't used a bath bomb before, you might be wondering why they've become so popular. With lots of fizz and aroma, they leave your skin feeling silky-smooth. Here's why so many people love them. A bath bomb...
 How Does It Work?The two main ingredients of a bath bomb are citric acid and baking soda. These two components produce a chemical reaction that creates fizzy bubbles. The fizz is actually the release of carbon dioxide gas which causes the effervescence that releases the aroma and moisturizing effects of the bath bomb. Here's a break down of the ingredients.
What Makes Martha's Bath Bombs Unique? If you haven't seen one of our bath bombs in real life, you may not realize how huge they are! Measuring three inches in diameter, these oversized bath bombs provide long-lasting effervescence and plenty of moisturizing power and scent. The extra-large size allows us to load these up with so much scented goodness! For example, each of our Lavender Bath Bombs contain about 1 teaspoon or 5 mL of lavender essential oil. For perspective, a 5 mL amber glass bottle is a common size for selling small bottles of essential oil.  Are Your Bath Bombs More Natural?Yes. Here's what's NOT in our bath bombs!
 Why Give a Bath Bomb?A bath bomb is one of those little luxuries that people might be hesitant to buy for themselves, but thrilled to use and enjoy. It's a great pampering gift for yourself or for a loved one. Especially in our current times, doing those small actions to care for our mental health is so important. Taking time to unwind and relax is just the thing so many of us need right now. So for the month of December, we're offering a 20% off coupon code for all bath bombs ordered from website. Use the code BATHBOMB20 at checkout to get this deal. You can shop our selection of bath bombs here.
 If you're in Johnstown, stop by Malone's 740 Shoppe on Main Street for some holiday cheer. We decided to decorate our display with our Engagement Christmas Tree! We call it our Engagement Tree because on Christmas Eve of 1996, Ben proposed to me (Polly) right after he gave me this Christmas tree and set it up -- complete with lights, garland, and ornaments! This little tree will always hold a special place in our hearts, and we hope you can enjoy it to this Christmas.
Wow! We can't believe the holidays are so quickly approaching! We are excited to share some seasonal scents and gift ideas with you. Here are some fragrances we are loving this December!  Winter ForestWith the classic scent of a fresh cut Christmas tree, Winter Forest is a brisk and nostalgic aroma, reminiscent of a vast piney forest. It's a timeless and complex pine fragrance with unisex appeal.  Gingerbread CookieOur Gingerbread Cookie scent is the perfect mix of sweet and spicy. You'll love the notes of orange, cardamom, raisin, clove, cinnamon, rum, vanilla extract, gingerbread, and tonka. This is a fabulously festive fragrance!  We created a new Gingerbread Cookie Gift Set in this adorable gift box! The set includes a Gingerbread Cookie scented lotion, sugar scrub and fragrance mist. Who wouldn't love to receive this charming collection? You can find it here on our website. Just choose the Gingerbread Cookie option in the drop-down menu.  Here are two more gift sets for December. They feature the Essential Lavender scent (left) and the Tobacco and Bay Leaf scent (right). Each gift set includes a lotion, a foaming soap, and a fragrance mist. You can find them with the other holiday gift sets on our website here. Just use the drop-down menu to choose these scent options. Other scent options include Sugar Plum Fairy, Lingonberry Spice, Sleigh Ride, Essential Peppermint, Winter Forest, Fresh Snow and Frankincense & Myrrh.
We hope you love giving these gift sets as much as we enjoyed creating them. Merry Everything!!!  We had so much fun creating these gift sets! These gift boxes each contain a nourishing lotion, a cleansing liquid soap, and a fragrance mist. Spread some positivity and holiday cheer! This would make a great gift for a friend, co-worker, neighbor, or host. We have seven varieties of this gift box, depending on the scent you choose. The fragrances include
 We are also featuring two other gift sets -- this Bath Bomb Set and the Natural Beauty Set.  The Bath Bomb Set contains four oversized bath bombs, each three inches in diameter, that dispense long-lasting effervescence and plenty of moisturizing power. You'll receive a Lavender, Rosemary Mint, Vanilla, and Lavender Eucalyptus bath bomb in this ready-to-give box for $29.99. With the Natural Beauty Set, you can pamper someone you love with refreshing Pure Rose Water, Hyaluronic Acid Serum, Pure Argan Oil, French Green Clay, Microdermabraision Cream, and nourishing lotion. All of this for $44.99, and it also comes in a ready-to-give box.   No matter how your Thanksgiving holiday looks this year, we sincerely wish you a heart full of gratitude amidst the craziness of this time. The science behind how gratitude affects our bodies, minds, and souls is fascinating. If you're interested in learning more about the benefits of gratitude, here's an article from Positive Psychology that explains the neuroscience of gratitude and how it affects anxiety and grief.  Granville Thanksgiving Market Join us for a special Outdoor Granville Farmer's Market at Raccoon Valley Park on the Saturday morning before Thanksgiving, November 21st! Get all your fresh Thanksgiving produce and gifts while supporting local farmers and makers. We are also participating in the Granville Indoors Farmers Market this season at 115 W. Broadway most Saturdays until early February. We appreciate all the local support. Thank you! If you are interested in other local places that carry Martha's products, we always update that info for you at the end of each newsletter, under the "shop local" circle graphic. If you aren't signed up for our monthly newsletter, you can find the sign up on our home page. All the best,
Ben and Polly Gorringe Do you sell a shampoo bar? We get this question from time to time, and the short answer is yes, we do.  This is one reason our Castile bar soap is so unique. Our castile bar soap can also be used as a shampoo bar. Simply rub the bar over your wet hair to release the foaming lather. Then wash as usual. Our bars are hand-crafted with a combination of high-quality organic oils – coconut oil, olive oil, and castor oil. This exclusive blend ensures a gentle yet effective cleanser which lathers beautifully, and is great for both skin and hair!  Over the summer and fall, our supply of bar soap had dwindled quite a bit. We've been working on making more batches of soap to replenish our supply. We make the soap and then pour it into lined wooden molds to make the "loaves" of soap (pictured above). Each loaf is cut into seven bars of soap and then allowed time to cure before wrapping and labeling. For best results, store your bar in a dry environment and allow the bar to dry between uses, whether you're using it for a shampoo or for your skin. You can find our selection of bar soaps here. Why Use a Shampoo Bar?There are several reasons many enjoy using a shampoo bar instead of liquid shampoo. Here are a few.
 Are there drawbacks to using a shampoo bar?
 Thanks to a kind customer's special request, we now have an e-gift card available on our website! Surprise someone special with a Gift Card! Gift Cards are delivered to the recipient by email and include instructions on how to redeem them at checkout. Our Gift Cards have no additional processing fees and never expire. The Gift Card will be emailed to the recipient when your order is placed. To learn more about gift cards, click here.  If you do not want the gift card emailed to the recipient when your order is placed, use your email address instead of the recipient's email address when you are entering the required fields. That way the gift card information will be sent to your email address. Then you can forward it at a later time to the recipient or you can print a hard copy of the gift certificate so you have a physical copy to give to the recipient.
 Here's a few tips we've learned along the way in using natural deodorant.
A Handy Laundry Tip This is our favorite tip of all, because it's so useful! If we get sweat or oil residue on our clothes, we spray the area with isopropyl alcohol before washing it. We put the alcohol in a spray bottle and spray as needed right before we drop the clothes in the washing machine. No need to let it set. This even works on oil stains that are set in the clothes. Sometimes I don't notice an oil mark until after the clothes have been washed AND dried. Even so, I just treat the stain with a few sprays of isopropyl alcohol and rewash. I've used this trick when I've spilled cooking oil on my shirt, and it works for that too! If it's a really bad oil stain, it might take a couple of washings for it to come out completely. We've never had it damage our clothes, but use your own discretion with your fabrics.
We like to keep this alcohol spray around because we use it to sanitize our tools and equipment when we are making products. We have a spray bottle of alcohol in our laundry room and in our soap room. Cleanliness is important to us, and we thought you might appreciate knowing that! Stay well, friends! Here's how we make the deodorant that so many of you love! First up, we melt the coconut oil, shea butter, and beeswax. For our vegan-friendly option, we can swap out the beeswax for candelilla wax. We use all organic oils.  The tiny flecks in this picture are the beeswax pellets. The larger chunks are the shea butter pieces. The liquid is the coconut oil, which has the lowest melting point. While the oils are heating, we combine the dry ingredients -- the arrowroot powder and the baking soda. We do have the option on our website of substituting diatomaceous earth for the baking soda if the baking soda is an irritant for you. We whisk the dry ingredients together and set it aside until the oils are ready.  The beeswax takes the longest to melt, due to its high melting point. Once the oils are melted and incorporated, we let the oil mixture cool until it's safe to add the essential oils. After we add the essential oils, we combine the dry ingredients into the oil blend.  After we combine the wet and ingredients and make sure everything is incorporated, we are ready to start pouring the deodorant! This has to be done quickly, because as it cools it starts to set up.   Finally, we allow the deodorant to cool to room temperature, then we add the lids and the labels! The worst part of the whole process is washing the dirty dishes when the batch is done! If you've ever tried to clean a dish that has has melted beeswax, you know what a struggle this can be! Good thing we have some great soap on hand! :) There you have it -- the making of the deodorant! We've created a graphic below to explain what is in the deodorant and the function each ingredient serves.  |
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