Experience Hand Made Soap Tomorrow at Mont Kiara!

That's right! We'll have a booth at Tongue in Chic's charity event at Somo, Mont Kiara, from 3pm till 7pm on Sunday, March 1st 2009. Full details here:

http://www.tonguechic.com/articles/1014-This-Weekend-in-Chic

Soaps on sale:

• Cinnamon Coffee
• Pour Homme (Lime, Rosemary, Cinnamon, Crushed Black Sesame Seeds)
• Floral Herbal
• Cocoa Butter
• Olive, Wheatgerm and Honey
• Eucalyptus
• Goats Milk Patchouli
• Charcoal Tea Tree

If you can make it, do drop by to look around. The event is in aid of the Women's Aid Organisation, where all proceeds from sale of clothing (all priced between RM5 and RM15!) will be channeled to the WAO. =)

Take care now, and have a wonderful weekend.

Valentine's Day Gift Sets

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note that if you're still shopping around for Valentine's Day gifts, Chamomile Labs has something a little different for you and that someone special to enjoy together this year! (And don't forget that it helps us move towards raising RM1,000 for World Vision's Gifts of Hope project by this 20th March)

1. VALENTINE'S BASKET
RM100 (Save RM15)
3 x soaps of your choice
1 x 2oz Goats Milk Honey lotion
1 x 2oz Edible Massage Oil (contains Macavo oil, sweet orange oil and peppermint oil)
1 x Loofah

2. MINI VALENTINE'S BASKET
RM50 (Save RM10)
1 x Soap of your choice
1 x 1oz Goats Milk Honey Lotion
1 x 1oz Edible Massage Oil (contains Macavo oil, sweet orange oil and peppermint oil)

We'll leave it to you to decide how you'll be naughty or nice with these. ;)

HOW TO ORDER
Just call Michelle at 012 213 7898 and we'll get things going!

DELIVERY
We can arrange for a pickup point on Friday, if you're within the Klang Valley. Otherwise delivery via a courier service would be the next best option.

Indicative Delivery Rates using PosLaju:
Within Malaysia: RM8.50
To Singapore: RM50.00

ANY QUESTIONS?
Call Michelle at 012 213 7898, or drop me an e-mail at michelle@chamomilelabs.com.

Here's wishing you a lovely Valentine's Day.

With love,
Michelle

Making Happy People

8:30pm: I pop upstairs with Andrea (my 7.5 month-old) to ask our neighbours if they had accidentally left a tap on because I heard water running down a drain pipe for 20-30 minutes straight. Turns out that they were having a party and no, they couldn't think of any running taps at their place.

9:30pm: Thinking that they probably moved in only very recently, I wrap 3 bars of soap as housewarming gifts and head upstairs again to drop it off.

What was meant to be a brief conversation stretched out to become an entire evening of good wine and company. The family had just moved to Malaysia from Germany on the 1st of January this year, and were celebrating their housewarming as well as the wife's birthday at midnight.

Somewhere during our chit chat the wife revealed that she had sensitive skin, possibly eczema--the reason behind why the family has a dishwashing machine. So when I told her what I had brought as gifts, she was delighted! I didn't even need to explain to her how handmade soap was different from commercially-produced ones. Guess she must have already experienced the difference between all-natural soap and those containing preservatives and foaming agents.

That made my evening. :)

Do Much More With Your Coffee Grounds!

Since we shared the Java Jive Coffee Scrub recipe with you, I thought it would be interesting to add on some other things you can reuse your coffee grounds for - you'll be surprised at the many household chores that are simplified with them!

Bye-bye ants

If you find ants marching across your house with impudence, try to locate their anthill (or the hole in the wall they appear from) and spread some coffee grounds around it. They don't seem to like it much, and soon you'll be happy to note that the ants are conspicuously absent.

Bye-bye cats

Uh huh. Cats don't like coffee much either. To get cats to find someplace else to call "bathroom", simply mix some coffee grounds with orange peel and place it on the spots you want the feline offenders to stay clear of.

Cut through the grime and grease on pots and pans

As a full time home maker, I truly appreciate this tip! Coffee grounds are a natural, gentle abrasive that make easier work of cleaning cooking utensils that are oily or encrusted with food.

Eliminate odours

From your hands: rub some wet grounds between your hands.

From your freezer: try putting a bowl or two of used coffee grounds in there overnight.

From your kitchen drain/sink: pour in some coffee grounds, followed by boiling water. Enjoy the uplifting aroma of coffee wafting up!

I've tried these and they worked well for me. Got any more uses you'd like to share with us? Post a comment! :)

Kitchen Beauty: Java Jive Body Scrub

We're a little late with this week's Kitchen Beauty recipe, with the festive season and all, but we haven't forgotten! Here's a quick and easy scrub recipe for you to try at home.

Java Jive Body Scrub

3 Tbsp coffee grounds
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp ground oatmeal
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
OPTIONAL: a few drops of essential oil (sweet orange or peppermint would be lovely!)

Mix all ingredients well in a little container. In the shower, scoop some mix and rub on your skin, focusing on rough, scaly patches. Leave on for 3-4 minutes before rinsing off thoroughly. Pat dry. Say hello to smooth skin!

The Goodies
Coffee gently exfoliates, rejuvenates skin, and contains antioxidants and caffeine, which is known for plumping up the skin to temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite and wrinkles.
Sugar contains glycolic acid, a gentle alpha hydroxy acid that breaks up dead skin cells for easy removal, leaving you with soft, smooth skin.
Honey is an excellent humectant, drawing moisture from the air to hydrate, smooth, and soften your skin, while nourishing it with vitamins and minerals.
Oatmeal is very soothing for dry, irritated skin, and gently exfoliates and softens skin.
Olive oil is a humectant carrier oil, drawing moisture from the air into the skin to soften and hydrate it.

Note: For the time-conscious or the lazy, alternatively, lather up well in the shower with your favorite Chamomile Labs handmade soap, then scoop some coffee grounds and rub all over soapy skin. Leave on a few minutes and then rinse off and pat dry. Follow up with some of our goat's milk lotion or creme. My personal favorites for this are the Cocoa Butter, and the Olive Wheatgerm Honey!

Excess scrub can be kept in the refrigerator for several days days. As this is a fresh, preservative-free product, keeping it in its mixed state for longer than that is not advisable.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

It's the season for open houses, mandarin oranges, and ang pows! That's right, Chinese New Year is here again.

For those who don't know, an ang pow is a red palm-sized envelopes stuffed with a token amount of money that's given out during Chinese New Year, from the elders to the young'uns. The usual indication of who's "elder" is quite simply who's married, though at a certain age, if you haven't quite gotten hitched by circumstance or by choice, the flow of red packets your way generally trickles to a slow death.

I love ang pows. The usual rule in Malaysia is the closer your relative, the bigger the amount. Congratulations to those from very large extended families!

A few interesting things about ang pows...

1. The amounts inside should be even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with funerals... which makes me wonder why I used to get a lot of ang pows with $5 notes in them. With inflation they've graduated to $10, so I guess that really isn't an issue anymore.
2. The amount must never be a 4. The Chinese word for "4" is very similar to the Chinese word for "death" and being the wonderfully superstitious people we are, we shun that number. If you ever walk into a building and notice that the fourth floor is labeled "3A" instead of "4", you can rest assured that the developer is Chinese.
3. Ang pows are similarly practised in other Asian countries like Vietnam (lì xì), Thailand (tae ea), Myanmar (an-pao), South Korea (sae bae ton), and the Philippines. Japan also has a similar tradition, but their monetary gifts are called otoshidama, and are ensconced in white envelopes instead, with the name of the receiver written on it. During weddings, a similar practice is observed, but folded and with an elaborate bow on it, in keeping with the wonderfully aesthetic nature of the Japanese.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Love,
Amber & Michelle

Kitchen Beauty: Cucumber Yogurt Cleansing Mask

So, I've decided to revive Kitchen Beauty, a section in which we highlight natural spa-type treatment recipes using ingredients found in your own kitchen (or in the nearest grocery store). We'll be adding a new recipe every week, so stay tuned!

Today's recipe is...

Cucumber Yogurt Cleansing Mask for all skin types

What you'll need:
1/2 peeled cucumber (1/2 if you're using a Japanese cucumber)
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1/2 tbsp honey

Step 1:
Toss the cucumber in a blender or food processor, then mix the resulting mush with the honey and yogurt until you have a watery paste.
Step 2:
Slather it on your face (and neck if you've got extra). Leave it on for 15 minutes, then rub gently for another 1 minute before rinsing off with cool water. Gently pat dry. The result? Soft, dewy skin!

The Goodies:
Cucumber soothes, tones and hydrates, helping to restore the skin's natural acid mantle.
Honey tones, softens, rejuvenates, and is a natural humectant, helping to draw moisture to the skin to keep it smooth and supple.
Yogurt is something of a miracle food for skin. It has a high zinc content, which helps to clear blemished skin. It also contains lactic acid, a mild exfoliant, and proteins that moisturize and improve overall skin texture.

Extra Tip:
This recipe can be used as is, or as the liquid portion for our Rhassoul Chocolate Milk Masque. Simply add a tablespoon of dry masque to the recipe, mix well, and proceed with step 2. The masque will be slightly thicker, and easier to apply.

Leftover mask can be kept in the fridge, but since this is made fresh without preservatives, it should be used within 2 days.

Enjoy!

Love,
Amber

Our Temporary Home On The Web!

While waiting for our 'official' website to get designed, we've got our makeshift site up and running! Visit http://sites.google.com/a/chamomilelabs.com/chamomile-labs/ anytime as a convenient spot to check up on prices, what soaps we have available, and the latest stuff Amber and I get up to.

If you find that you're unable to visit our website regularly, why not sign up for our newsletter that arrives in your favourite mailbox? Just e-mail me at michelle(at)chamomilelabs.com and I'll sort you out. :)