Sulfate Free Body Wash and Foaming Bath

With a peaceful aromatherapy less-stress blend of ylang ylang and patchouli essential oils, it's Chill Out time, and quiet and calm is bliss at the end of your crazy day merry-go-round. This fragrant foaming bath and body wash, creates soft and gentle sulfate free bubbles, to bathe your beautiful body in. Wonderful extracts of oat and white tea help soften and soothe, and all that's left for you to do is pour... and breathe the day away.

• ylang ylang essential oil: eases stress and promotes harmony
• patchouli essential oil: aids emotional balance
• organic aloe juice: calming and soothing on the skin
• jojoba oil: hypoallergenic and skin softening
• oat extract: helps with moisture loss and the integrity of the skin's barrier
• white tea extract: rich in polyphenols, anti aging help for skin

78% organic content. Sulfate free, paraben free, phthalate free.

Also available in a sleep-easy Night Time blend and an uplifting Bounce Back blend.

Spearmint & Grapefruit

Sweet with the unmistakable smell of fresh spearmint, this natural soap bar is an uplifting addition to any sink or shower.

With organic sunflower oil, rich in vitamin E, and cold pressed Brazilian babassu oil for its emollient soothing and protective properties, this creamy bar delivers a rich skin-calming kiss.

Together with an essential oil blend including spearmint and grapefruit, this bar brings a nice little interlude of refreshing revival.

Music To Soap By - Annie Lennox

I adore melody. I love the guitar, and I prefer rhythm over base or lead. I also love the piano, though I only tinkle the ivories and don't consider myself a keyboard player of any kind. Whenever I hear instruments playing, the whole music corral of my mind has already jumped the fence and is running ahead with the melody, long before the singer comes in to lasso the notes.

For some reason, whenever I'm making soap it's percussion I crave. I still demand melody, but it's more of a chant that commands me. Almost anthem like. I weigh the oils out with a purpose as the drum beat bounces off the walls in my workshop. I'm eager to begin the melt while the lye cools, against the backdrop of my chosen song for the soapfest. And it is the one song... on repeat for the whole day.

Have you ever seen dressage? That's where the horse and rider put on a brilliant display of teaming together to music. Today while I soap, I have one of my all time shout out loud anthems on full blare. I would dearly love to see horse and rider performing to this in a dressage ring. I think the workmanship would be unforgettably awesome.

Annie Lennox, 1982 - Walking on Broken Glass

Aroma Roll-On - Bounce Back

With an uplifting aromatherapy mood-boosting blend of cedarwood and pink grapefruit essential oils, it's bounce back time, and much needed spark is a pick-me-up at any time during your downtrodden day. This fragrant aroma rollette rolls onto the skin with ease, releasing its wonderful aromatic essential oils into your world wherever you may be. Just roll onto your wrist, rub together, and breathe the day away.

• cedarwood essential oil: enhances mood and instills well being
• pink grapefruit essential oil: mood brightener, uplifting, revives spirit

Paraben free, phthalate free.

Medfield Green

As everyone becomes more eco-conscious these days, it's getting easier to find information about "going green". Even better, you can find groups of like-minded people in your own community. One such group is Medfield Green, based out of Medfield, MA, which was formed to help make more informed and better choices for families and the environment.

To date, Medfield Green has held meetings on Plastics, Lawn Care and Pesticides, Skin Care, Bug Spray and Sunscreen, Healthy Eating/Local Eating, Reducing Our Carbon Footprint, ideas to "Green" your holiday, Recycling, Green Cleaning, and Composting. They're planning to have meetings on water, energy and more.

This week is Personal Care week, where you can learn about making more informed choices about personal care and beauty products for you, your family and the environment. It promises to be a great night. If you are local to Medfield and interested, the meeting is Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 7:30pm at The Center at Medfield, One Ice House Road, Medfield, MA 02052.

Sale Week!

It's newsletter week and there's a big sale going on at the Manor. 20% off your order, all week long. Just enter the coupon code SHEZZY20 at checkout to receive 20% off your order. (Note: Coupon does not apply to already discounted items, including Mischief Makers and Monthly Specials.)

This week is the ideal time to try our new Moisturizing Body Lotion and Foaming Bath and Body Wash. Or maybe one of our new Nourishing Face Creme or Aroma Roll-Ons. With a 20% discount, you can't go wrong.

And to help your shopping dollar go further during the month of October, all orders will receive $6.00 shipping. Any weight, to anywhere nationally by Priority Mail. No coupon needed, our cart will apply the $6.00 shipping for you.

What a way to celebrate October! Enjoy the Fall, make it Manor Hall.

Power Your Shower

I first made the Orange Tree Blast bar back in April of 2005. I wanted a nice bar for the shower. A fresh bar that could be enjoyed by both women and men, and also a nice hard bar that would stand up to a lot of use.

I love the citrus oils for their deodorizing qualities, but I also needed to incorporate an essential oil that was a warrior on bacteria so it could be enjoyed after the gym or pool. Tea tree oil was top of the list, and combining it with a healthy dose of sweet orange oil gave me the incredibly clean scent that I was after. But it was the addition of a shot of peppermint oil that created the real freshness that sets it apart from any other tea tree soap. Tea tree oil is great for antibacterial cleansing, but I didn't want the overpowering smell that is associated with it. The combination of the citrus oil and the mint oil tames it nicely.

I have always added soybean oil to my shower bar formula. It's a nice moisturizing oil, and used as an additive during the "trace" phase of the soapmaking process, it lends a nice lotioned after-feel to the skin. Of course, exfoliating is a neccessary where keeping the skin moisturiized is concerned, and poppy seeds never fail. They are spherical, and so they have a kind roll on the skin. They also create a little dotted prettiness in the overall look of the finished bar.

And so Orange Tree Blast was born. It's a must for any shower, and has remained a faithful in my classic Manor Hall line. Many love it for themselves, and many buy it as a stocking stuffer for the men in their lives at holiday time. Me? I use it daily in the shower, and have done so for the past four and a half years. I never tire of the fresh awakening scent, and I've never brought anything home on my feet from the gym or pool. It's a little four ounce block of wonderful fresh fighting fayre for your skin.

It's in the Bag

It's been a busy week. In fact, the office closed yesterday for the Columbus Day holiday weekend. I'll be working for most of it, but I'm hoping to get one day out.

Along with what you see on the web site, I also do personalized favors for showers, wedding parties and special events. And this week, there's a very special event I've been packing little Manor Hall goody bags for. The photos are just a small snapshot from behind the scenes.

Pretty Me Pumpkin Mask

It's the start of the Halloween month, and many a good pumpkin will be hollowed out and candled this next few weeks. But hold on before you trash the goodness you've scooped out, because pumpkin is a wonderful natural ingredient for your skin, and a simple facial treat can be made in minutes with ingredients from your kitchen cupboard.

Pumpkin is naturally soothing on the skin, and is also very moisturizing. Used as an ingredient in facial masks, it acts similarly to a carrier oil, and helps to carry the nutrients from other ingredients deep into the skin. Pumpkin is also rich in vitamins A and C.

Pretty Me Pumpkin Mask

You will need:
3 tablespoons of pumpkin (cooked)
1 tablespoon of honey (gently warmed)
1 teaspoon of cream/milk/or yogurt

How to:
Cook fresh pumpkin in a little water, then mash with a fork. Add the warmed honey and your cream/yogurt, then blend smooth with the back of a spoon. Apply the paste gently to the face, avoiding the eye area. Leave on for about ten minutes. Wipe away with warm damp face cloth.

Notes: Always test for allergies first. Be sure to throw away any unused mask, as it is not preserved.

Conquering Another Country

Here's another submission to Around the World. It's Honey Me Smooth at Bidean nam Bian in the highlands of Scotland. According to Wikipedia, Bidean nam Bian is the highest point in the former county of Argyll.

For those counting, Manor Hall Around the World in Four Ounces now spans four continents, 13 countries, 11 states and Puerto Rico. They're certainly getting around.

In fact, Honey Me Smooth is this month's order box freebie. That sounds good at any elevation.