New Arrivals: Moonalisa Mardi Gras Madness Collection

WOW!

I just received an order from MoonaLisa in the mail yesterday. In my package, I had included two 4 in 1s, which are shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath and mild laundry detergent in one. I got them in "Stone Cold" (Cold , stoney watery lake scent) and Banana Tarte Tatin (rich sweet banana filled puffed pastry scrub with a Pecan Praline bath cream center). Both smell amazing, although the Stone Cold is definitely on the different side.

I washed my hair this afternoon with the Banana Tarte Tatin. Initially, my hair felt no different from usual, but as it dried- whoa, Mama! My hair is super shiny and has more volume than I've had in YEARS. My hair smells awesome, too. Since I only bought two bottles, I'll have to carefully hoard them.

Moona Lisa is an artist with a real gift for bath products. Everything is made from scratch and by hand. Most things are vegan, although some products contain goat's milk, beeswax or honey. Non-vegan items are labeled as such. Moona's products are in high demand and only go on sale three or four times a year. It's best to watch her blog or "Like" her on Facebook to watch for the sales.

I will warn you, because of the overwhelming demand for her products, turn around time can be lengthy. In my opinion, her products are so amazing that they are well worth the wait.

You can find her website here.

I'm sorry I haven't taken a picture yet, because I was so excited that I ripped the box open and jumped in the shower. I'll try to take a picture over the next couple of days so that you can see how beautiful the designs are.

New Arrivals: Timberstone Turnings Hair Stick

About a month ago, I ordered a custom hair stick from Timberstone Turnings. Their sticks can be a bit on the pricey side, but once you hold them in your hand, you'll understand.

Today, that hair stick arrived in the mail. It's African Blackwood with a mother-of-pearl inlay.

The mother-of-pearl sparkles in the sunlight. It's so smooth and sleek and just gorgeous.

This particular design of stick is called the "Chloe." It's a bit wider than hair sticks I usually use, but that doesn't bother me a bit, which surprised me.

Timberstone Turnings offers a variety of woods from African Blackwood to Tulipwood to Bloodwood (or Cardinal Wood- my favorite!) Gemstones for inlay are numerous, including pearls, amber, citrine and amethyst. You can even have vines, mermaids, dragons, roses or fairies inlaid into the stick!

To order, head over to Timberstone Turnings on Etsy and convo the shop with your idea for a design. You'll be put on a wait-list for your custom stick. I did not expect my hair stick for at least two months, so I was pleasantly surprised by the turn around time.

To see examples of what they can do, check out their website here. They do not take orders from their website, so make sure to contact them through Etsy if you want to purchase.

New Arrivals: Sugarcandie Scrubs

When I was living in Hawaii, I'd see commercials bemoaning "dry Winter skin." It didn't make a lot of sense to me. Why would Winter cause dry skin? Now I get it. The cold, icy winds blasting you in the face chap your skin terribly. I've never had such dry skin in my life!

I've been using assorted lotions and creams and even Haus of Gloi's sugar scrubs, which work very nicely.

I'm a firm believer that every one deserves pampering, at least every once in a while. For me, I used to get pedicures in Hawaii. Living here on the East Coast, I wear boots most of the time and a pedicure kind of seems like a waste of time.

I found Sugarcandie Beauty Bar through a forum I frequent. The prices seemed very reasonable (plus, they were having a special which got me free scrubs!) and the scrubs themselves looked so decadent and luxurious that I had to try it out.

I love candy canes. They're one of my favorite things about Christmastime. I start looking out for that terrible Candy Cane ice cream as soon as Thanksgiving hits. I saw that Sugarcandie had Candy Cane cupcake scrub and whipped bath soap and I was done for.

In real life, the scrub isn't overflowing the jar, of course, and instead of peppermint candies, they just have a mini candy cane. Either way, the stuff smells awesome. It's called "Candy Cane Cupcakes" and smells so pepperminty, but with a lovely cake note that tones the mint down.

They ran a special, having sugar scrub/whipped bath soap splits available. That's scrub on the bottom, cream soap on the top. I've been using my splits the last few days and it is a wonderful experience at the end of a tough day.

The whipped bath cream has the texture of soft ice cream. It's awesome alone, but add the scrub in and it's just perfect. It's just a decadent thing to scoop soft creamy soap out of the jar and lather up with it.

The scrub is less oily than some, like Haus of Gloi, but foams up nicely and leaves me moisturized. (Disclaimer: I love Haus of Gloi's scrubs and I like that they are oily, but sometimes less oil is a nice thing.) I don't find that I have to put lotion on after getting out of the shower. The one thing that is kind of a bummer is that the scents don't last on me. That's okay, though, because I also got body spray in Peppermint Bon Bons.

The stand outs of what I bought are:

Night Before Christmas (Sugary sweet cookies, candied fruits, vanilla cupcakes, spiced muffins and pies and fresh cut spruce.) It smells like cookies with Christmas tree. I actually like this smell, although it may be off-putting to some.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Santa's Hot Cocoa So chocolaty. It really does smell like hot cocoa. I didn't think I'd like this because I'm not a big fan of chocolate in bath products, but I really did love this.

Candy Cane Cupcake

Merry Mint Chocolate Cookies This one was my second favorite. It smells *just* like that green mint ice cream. It has the same color and texture, too. This one surprised me.

The one thing I got that I will not use at all is "Cozy By the Fire." It smells just like a chimney. I got it for free as part of a promotion, though, so I don't feel bad tossing it out.

I do have a few minor issues. The labels on the jars are not waterproof, so they end up falling off in the shower. Not a major problem, but a minor annoyance. The descriptions on the website could use a good editing. They can be hard to read with all the pauses and periods. 

The website is easier to navigate than many etailers, in my opinion, and I didn't feel overwhelmed by options.  
 

The creams and scrubs are so decadent and fun that I want to use them every day. Sugarcandie's customer service has been top-notch. I peppered them with seemingly endless questions, and they were patient and friendly each and every time. They even combined two orders for me.

I would recommend Sugarcandie if you're looking for a fun, decadent way to pamper yourself.  They often have sales and have a regular BOGO special on Tuesdays. 

You can find their website here. I'm planning a Sugarcandie give-away towards the New Year, so stay tuned for how to enter!

(Disclaimer: I was not paid nor provided free items for this review. These are my opinions based on my personal experience.)

Totally Awesome Yule Log by Grahtoe

For the past few years, I've been looking for something very specific for Christmas decor. I wanted a Yule Log, but instead of burning it in the fireplace (which I didn't even have,) I wanted candles to light. A few times, I found things that were similar to what I wanted, but wasn't quite right.

I figured, hey, I know someone who does woodwork and could probably make exactly what I'm looking for; Grahtoe! I shot Kimi an email, not really expecting much because, after all, that's not really what they do. To my pleasure, Kim and Stacy took on my special task.

What I expected was a simple piece of wood with holes drilled in it. What I got was way better!

It's absolutely stunning and the kids love it. The only downside is that I can't leave it in our decorative fire place because the baby will go after it.  For now, we're using it on our dining room table, but when Winnie gets old enough to leave the candles alone, it'll go into our "fire place."

New Arrivals: Haus of Gloi beauty products

I love Haus of Gloi. I've been ordering from them for over a year.

It all started with their Pumpkin Queen scent. I ordered it in soap, sugar scrub and perfume (which, one year later, I still have and still smells fabulous.) (Pumpkin Queen: Gentle hay pillows, pumpkin, ripe peaches dusted with clove and nutmeg, dried summer herbs, and lastly, a lovely crown of amber.) 

**They still have some left on their website as of this posting!**

I'll admit I haven't ordered for a long time because my money was going to hair accessories. (Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't just sign my paycheck over to Grahtoe.)

I've gotten back into the bath product habit (which may or may not be a bad thing. It depends on how much it ends up costing me. Hair forks, after all, last forever.)

Anyways, I've been feeling a little blah lately so I decided to treat myself to some scrubs.

I ordered:

Peach Mama Soap

Samhain Body Butter

Peach Mama Bubbling Scrub

Peach Mama Body Emulsion

Hearth Pumpkin Butter

and I got a free perfume sample in Depravity ( "A bewitching ladies boudoir! Pure corruption: clove, nutmeg lurk amongst the sweetest offerings of coconut, on a bed of rich golden amber, laden with a dusting of sandalwood and spilled wine.")

                                           (Perfume sample not shown.)

Haus of Gloi ("HoG") describes their Peach Mama scent as "Peach nectar and a host of resins: offertory frankincense, styrax, copaiba balsam and ambered labdanum absolute. Warmed with cassia and a barely audible breath of black patchouli." 

It's a luscious scent. I love real peach scents (not those over-sweet confections that actually smell more like mango.) This is a real peach scent and the resins really round it out. This is certainly my new favorite peach scent.

The soap is gorgeous and lathers beautifully. I have a hard time using HoG soaps because they're just so pretty, but I don't think I'll have any trouble using this one. It just smells so darn good!

                                                                          Sparkly!

The Peach Mama Body Emulsion (lotion) is very thick. After taking the next picture, I just rubbed it in and I can still smell it!

Even thicker than the Body Emulsion was the Hearth Pumpkin Butter. It's so thick and creamy that the consistency kind of reminds me of ice cream (well, ice cream that magically stayed warm without melting, anyway.)

HoG describes Hearth's scent as "The warm glowing center of any home. Autumns last apple pickings, warm bread, orange rind, various fire roasted nuts, cracked black pepper all nailed down by an oozing sticky benzoin." 

Samhain's scent is a little different. I bought some soap in that scent during Halloween 2009. The soap (if I recall correctly) was a strange pearly gray color with bits of leaves on top (which I actually loved.) Hog says that Samhain is scented of "Rustling leaves, chilled winds ...Freshly turned earth, wet leaves, and a cool herb laden wind carrying spectres and spooks!" I think that description is spot-on. I like the scent of crushed leaves and dirt, but this scent may not be appealing to some.

HoG's products are vegan and cruelty free, which I like. Their turn around time ("TAT") is a very fast 3-5 business days. Considering the demand for these products and the fact that it's a small family run business, 3-5 days is pretty incredible. You can find their products here.

New Arrivals: Grahtoe Forks and A Gift

I'm hoping this post will catch me up on all the new stuff I have (minus one fork that is hiding in some boxes.)

First up is the fork Grahtoe made just for me when they read here that I wanted one. It's apple wood with a perched owl in my favorite design, the mermaid's tail.

This next fork is the stunning ebony mermaid's tail. It had occlusions in the wood which were filled with silver. I actually really like the little silver spots; they remind me of stars in a night sky.

Although you can't tell from the picture, I'm wearing both mini forks in this picture. These forks really surprised me. They're so comfortable and really hold my hair up. Sleeping in them is easier than sleeping in other forks. I figured these would be too small for me, but they work just like any other kind of hair pin. I really love these! I just wish they sold them in four packs. I'd never buy another hair pin as long as I live.

My sister in law spent a semester in France and found this next one in a street market. I don't know anything about it except that. It's a much more delicate fork than my work-horse Grahtoes. It's not an everyday kind of hair fork, but it certainly is eye catching.

The one that's missing is my cardinal wood skeleton cameo fork. I took it out of my hair while unpacking and set it amongst some boxes. While I know what area it's in, I haven't quite finished tackling all the boxes yet, so the picture of that particular fork will have to wait for a bit.

What  do you guys think of my new forks?

New Arrivals: Ravenscroft Fork

I recently purchased my first fork not made by my favorite, Grahtoe Studios. I've been watching a store called "Ravenscroft" which had been closed for a lengthy period of time.

She's especially known for her moon forks, which are very different from other forks. I've been wanting one for a long time, but haven't taken the plunge yet.

I saw that she had opened up shop again and decided to make a purchase to see her work up close. I decided on a bocote two prong fork.

Looks lovely, doesn't it? So glossy and sleek.

It came packaged wonderfully. I love the way some Etsy shops package their items. Grahtoe, for example, is wrapped up in tissue paper with a lovely vine ribbon. The Morbid The Merrier comes with the lip balms wrapped up like little candies. It's so exciting to unwrap lovely wrapping and find something even lovelier underneath.

It came with a cute card, a glittery box (which my five year old daughter immediately snagged) and two surprise hair sticks. They're raw and organic looking and I absolutely adore them.

When I first held the fork, I was pretty surprised at how small and narrow it was. I was worried that it would be too small for my hair. I shouldn't have worried. It's handled everything I've thrown at it so far.

It's beautiful and glossy and smooth. It goes so well with my hair. I think that the tighter tines of this style of fork would be perfect for thinner or shorter hair, but as you can see, it works just fine in my hair.

This fork will be perfect for those days when I want something a little smaller. I'll be watching her shop for the perfect moon fork.

New Arrivals: Nightblooming Hairsticks and A Bit of Tea in Underland

I got my gorgeous new Nightblooming hairsticks! They're of a perfect length and look a lot like arrows. Of course I have action shots!

I love them! They really do look a lot like arrows!

Friday evening! I bought the movie Alice in Wonderland on Blu Ray. I'm a huge fan of Tim Burton, although I seldom admit to it since it's so cliche nowadays. Heck, I even loved Frankenweenie.

I saw the movie in the theater and loved it. I'm sitting here watching it again, and I must say, I am loving Alice's hair. I'm planning a recreation, just for fun.

The first style she wears is constricted and tightly bound, which fits in well with her Victorian constraints. It looks like two twists wrapped like milkmaid braids and firmly pinned into place.

The hairstyles after she enters Underland gets loose and flowing, like her clothing. Absolutely stunning!

It's so nice to see such gorgeous long hair in a  movie. It's a shame that she cut it into a pixie shortly after the movie premiered, though.

New Arrivals: Tangle Teezer and Spalted Holly Grahtoe Fork

I got a few exciting packages in the mail today. Remember this?

Last time I had a picture of that fork, it wasn't in my hair. It looks so beautiful and I'm glad I went ahead and bought it. It's so comfortable and the spalted holly is just stunning.

Another purchase that arrived today- the Tangle Teezer. I was a little wary when I first looked at the bristles. They're soft and really flexible. My hair tends to eat brushes like that. My baby loved using it on herself, although my five year old isn't really a fan.

I really like it!  It goes smoothly through my length without any pulling or ripping. The shape is a little odd, but it fits comfortably in my hand. The Tangle Teezer is a British invention and is hard to find in the United States. I bought mine  brand new off Ebay for roughly $14.

I highly recommend the Tangle Teezer to anyone who has a hard time brushing their own or their child's hair. The following video shows you how easily it goes through long hair.