In my quest to live as eco-friendly as possible, one area that I have made great strides is in the shower. I use shampoo bars and conditioner bars from Lush for my hair, and do my best to use bar soap rather than shower gels. The more I can minimize using products with packaging, the better.
But I’m still a girl. I still like things that smell nice and make me both smell & feel good. I’m not so in to being Zestfully clean as I am into something a little more natural. So, when I found Great Cakes Soapworks, owned and operated by Amy Warden out of Olathe, KS, I was excited to give her products a try. Amy has been making soap since 2002, and Great Cakes Soapworks has been in existence since 2005. She is a proud Christian and each label for her bars of soap reference “I John 1:9”. It says: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Amy doesn’t just make soap. She also makes some delicious smelling hand lotions, lip therapy, facial bars, sugar scrubs and insect repellents. I can speak from experience that the Almond Milk jojoba shea lotion is heavenly. I have been using it daily since receiving it a few weeks ago and the fragrance is just perfect. It softens my hands without leaving them oily or greasy. Initially I only used it for my hands, but I have started using it on my whole body after my shower.
I received three bars of soap to review. The first was Lavender Meadows. I am a huge lavender fan, and this has a nice light fragrance that lingers after bathing. I also received Oatmeal Milk and Honey, which is one of my favorite scented soaps in general. Using it has been soothing to my skin especially in this dry climate, and the scent is delicious. The final soap that I received is called Stress Relief. It contains saponified olive, coconut, rice bran, & palm kernel oils, shea butter, apricot kernel, and castor oils; also essential oils of eucalyptus, spearmint, and peppermint, and dried peppermint leaves. It has also been known to help people with rosacea decrease the redness in their skin. I don’t have any experience with that, but the smell alone is enough to relax me. Both the Lavender Meadows & Oatmeal Milk & Honey are made using goat milk.
Not only do I love the scents and how they make my skin feel, I also love that I’m doing a little something for the environment by using less packaging. Whatever little contributions I can make help!
Buy it: You can buy soap online at Great Cakes Soapworks. Soap runs about $5.95 per bar, other products vary in price.
Win it: Amy has generously offered one lucky winner 3 bars of soap and a 2.5oz jojoba shea lotion in the scents of their choice!
Mandatory Entry: Head on over to Great Cakes Soapworks and take a look at the products. Leave me a comment with a product you’d like to try. This entry is mandatory and no other entries will count if this is not completed.
Additional Entries:
1 entry – follow me with Google Friend Connect
1 entry – subscribe to my blog via e-mail with Feedburner
1 entry – “Like” Great Cakes Soapworks on Facebook.
1 entry – “Like” my blog on Facebook
2 entries – sign up to be a preferred customer on Amy’s site. Enter “katietalksabout.com” for “where you found us”.
5 entries – make a purchase from Great Cakes Soapworks
2 entries/day – follow me on Twitter as well as Amy and tweet this contest. You may tweet twice a day at least 4 hours apart. You may copy/paste the following:
Enter to win natural handmade soap and lotion from @greatcakesoap & @EllisFan14 http://bit.ly/cdDyXr #Giveaway ends 5/31
This contest runs through 11:59 pm Mountain Time on May 31, 2010. I was provided with three bars of soap and a jojoba shea lotion for the purpose of this review. The opinions in this review are mine and mine alone.
About Katie
I’m a follower
Amy makes lots of nice products. But I would like to try her mud face mask.
I follow Amy on facebook and on twitter.