Redmond Trading Gift Basket Giveaway! 2 Winners

Today Redmond Trading would like to offer a gift basket to 2 of my readers with the following products.  These products total just over $25 when purchasing from the Redmond Trading site.

1 10 oz jar of Clay
1 tube of Earthpaste
1 9 oz Salt Shaker
1 Pocket Shaker

Have you read my review of the Redmond Trading products? If not, make sure to go read that post either before or after entering this giveaway!

I can't say enough about how much I love the Redmond Clay and the Earthpaste from this company.  I use the Earthpaste daily and keep the clay on hand for any emergency.  I think clay should be added to everyone's natural first aid kit.  So far I have been pleased every time I have used clay on myself or my family.  We use the salt all the time in our regular cooking needs.  It's so great to know that the salt we are using is good for us!

To enter this giveaway use the Rafflecopter form below.  The winner will be announced September 11th here on this post (Rafflecopter form).  If you have questions let me know!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclamer - I received a sample of this product for the purpose of the review linked to above. This giveaway is sponsored by Redmond Trading. Giveaway for US only.

Redmond Clay Review + Facial Mask Recipe

Before receiving a sample from Redmond Trading I had never tried using clay before.  I had been hearing more and more about it all over and had been really wanting to try it.

My clay sample arrived really fast and I was impressed with the large 10oz container.  You don't use much so it lasted a long time. I actually just bought another one.

About Clay from Redmond Trading:

Redmond Clay is an old “Home Remedy” that generations of people have used for a variety of ailments. Redmond Clay’s origins are as old as the practice of putting a mud poultice on a bee sting. Geologically, Redmond Clay is volcanic ash that was deposited in sea water years ago. Technically, Redmond Clay is a swelling-type sodium bentonite. Redmond Minerals brings this “clay of a thousand uses” to market in its natural state with no additives, chemicals or preservatives. The only processing it undergoes is crushing and screening.

Since there are no proven studies to indicate that Redmond Clay is effective in curing any ailment, this document serves only as an educational example of how Redmond Clay has been used historically.

I have been using the clay ever since to help with acne and wish I would have found this years ago!  I am totally amazed at the results since applying a clay mask to problem areas.  After about 1 month of applying a mask twice a day the acne was all cleared, that had never happened using any other ointments or medications on it.  After that month I went to a once a day application and now I only use it about once a week or when I feel like I'm needing it.  I mixed the clay with honey, oat flour and baking soda but I'm pretty sure it would have worked by itself just maybe taking a bit longer to fully clear.

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Honey-Oat Clay Facial Mask
1 tbsp clay
2 tsp honey (link to my favorite honey)
2 tsp oat flour (just blend up some oats in a blender or food processor until they become fine)
2 tsp baking soda

* I would recommend using organic or as natural as possible products when making a mask.  This mask is supposed to help pull impurities and toxins out of the skin, using ingredients full of pesticides and chemicals will make it work against itself.

Mix all ingredients together and add enough water to make it spreadable (1 tbsp or so).  Rinse your face with warm water and pat dry.  Apply a thin layer of the mask all over your face or just on the problem areas.  You want to mask thick enough that you can't see your skin through it. Avoid getting the mask in your eyes/mouth/nose when applying.

Honey is antibacterial and exceptionally helpful in healing acne, both the inflammation and the scars. Oats are extremely helpful in reducing inflammation and promote healthy skin.  Baking soda helps balance the PH of the skin.

If you want you can do a honey wash on your face before doing a mask, this will help a lot with problem areas and inflammation.  To do a honey wash: Rinse your face with warm water apply a thin layer of honey all over.  Cover your face with a warm washcloth for a little while, probably about 30 seconds to a minute.  Rinse with warm water again and pat dry before applying your mask.

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I also have put a clay pack/mask on mosquito bites, it helped with the itching but the ones I had still got really big (which they normally do for me so that's not something new).

My son had a sore on his leg that got infected, after just 2 times of placing a clay pack on him the infection and swollen areas were so much less.  I had tried several other creams and the clay definitely worked the fastest and best at drawing out whatever got into it. Within two days of putting a clay pack on him the sore was almost completely gone and healing very nicely.  I'm sure if we didn't put the clay pack on his sore we would have ended up at the doctors and our son on antibiotics.

I tried a different brand of bentonite clay and it seemed to work well but seemed much heavier and harder to mix with water.  I'm sure any pure clay will work but Redmond Clay it my favorite!  The ready-made First Aid clay is nice to have handy in your diaper bag or first aid kit.

Some of my other favorite products from Redmond Trading

Redmond Trading has many other products.  One of my other favorites is their toothpaste.  I am allergic to mint and it is so hard to find an Okay non-mint toothpaste.  Earthpaste is by far the best non-mint toothpaste I've ever used.  Their Lemon Twist is mint free and leaves your teeth feeling so amazingly clean without a nasty flavor.  Lemon Twist is intended for children but it is definitely great as an adult toothpaste as well!

UPDATE - Click over here to enter to win 1-10oz jar of Redmond Clay, 1-9oz Salt Shaker, 1 tube of Earthpaste & 1 pocket Salt Shaker! 2 Winners!

*Disclaimer - I was sent a sample of the mentioned product to review.  All opinions expressed here are my own.  I am not a doctor or medical professional, be sure to consult your health care provider before treating at home.
This post contains affiliate links, read my disclosure here.

Huge Lilla Rose Sale until Saturday!

Lilla Rose is having a huge sale until Saturday.

10% off of these two re-releases:

And 20% off over 100 others!  Many of these that are 20% off will be retiring, so you will want to hurry to get them before they are gone!

Lilla Rose flexi clips are extremely comfortable and hold baby fine hair to extra thick, short of long hair.  The flexi clips are great to make a quick updo to keep your hair out of your face or to style something beautiful for the special occasions.

Many busy moms love Lilla Rose for how easy they are, and beautiful!

Order yours here!

 

How To Make Herbal Infused Oils

Today I am sharing how to make Herbal Infused Oil.  In the pictures below I am making Calendula Infused Coconut Oil. Calendula can be used for just about any skin irritation.  We commonly use it for diaper rashes, scrapes, burns, rashes, and cuts but it is useful for many other things. Calendula helps heal the skin quickly so it shouldn't be used on large open cuts. Here are two articles on some of the benefits of calendula: Mountain Rose Herbs Blog & Herb Wisdom.

Start with clean pint size mason jars or any small jar that will fit in your crock-pot that has a metal lid.

Dried or fresh herbs

Fill jars 1/2 to 3/4's full with herbs.

You can use olive oil or coconut oil to make infused oils.  Olive oil will not last as long as coconut oil will.  Melt your oil or just pour directly into your jars.

Fill jars with melted oil until about 1 inch of the top of the jar.

Close tightly with a clean lid

Place a small towel at the bottom of your crock-pot.  This will keep the jars from breaking while staying warm.

Place your jars ontop of the towel, making sure to not allow them to touch

Fill crock-pot with water, covering the jars but not touching the lids. The lids can rust if the water touches them.

Place the lid on and set your crock-pot to it's lowest setting.  Let oil and herbs infuse for 3 days adding water when necessary. My crock-pot has a warm setting and it works perfectly for this.  If your's only has a low setting you may have to watch it and turn it off and on during the three days and keep the lid off. 

Allow the oil to cool after 3 days and strain through a clean old t-shirt or cheesecloth.  I tried using a cheese cloth once and couldn't get it clean. : (  I have had much success with a cut up t-shirt though.

Three pint jars made about 2 1/4 cups of infused oil.

Place in a clean glass jar and label.

I don't know technically how long the oil will keep but I've had mine for about 8 months now and it's still just fine.

This oil can be used as is or made into creams or salves. I personally prefer salves over creams as I feel the herb is more concentrated and works better on wounds or rashes.

You can always mix different herbs together to get a blended infused oil to use in skin care and cooking.

For more recipes and herbal blends I'd highly recommend the book Making Babies.  The book has so much more then just pregnancy and baby stuff!

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The recipe without the pictures to make it easier to follow:

3 cups or so of melted coconut oil

2 1/4 cups or so of dried herbs (in these pictures I'm using Calendula)

crock-pot

3 pint sized mason jars

• Start with clean pint size mason jars or any small jar that will fit in your crock-pot that has a metal lid.
• Fill jars 1/2 to 3/4's full with herbs.
• You can use olive oil or coconut oil to make infused oils.  Olive oil will not last as long as coconut oil will.  Melt your oil or just pour directly into your jars.
• Fill jars with melted oil until about 1 inch of the top of the jar.
• Close tightly with a clean lid
• Place a small towel at the bottom of your crock-pot.  This will keep the jars from breaking while staying warm.
• Place your jars ontop of the towel, making sure to not allow them to touch
• Fill crock-pot with water, covering the jars but not touching the lids. The lids can rust if the water touches them.
• Place the lid on and set your crock-pot to it's lowest setting.  Let oil and herbs infuse for 3 days adding water when necessary. My crock-pot has a warm setting and it works perfectly for this.  If your's only has a low setting you may have to watch it and turn it off and on during the three days and keep the lid off.
• Allow the oil to cool after 3 days and strain through a clean old t-shirt or cheesecloth.  I tried using a cheese cloth once and couldn't get it clean. : (  I have had much success with a cut up t-shirt though.
• Three pint jars made about 2 1/4 cups of infused oil.
• Place in a clean glass jar and label.

To make into a Salve

If you want to make this oil into a salve you need:
1 cup infused oil (above)
1/4 cup of beeswax pastilles
10 drops of grapefruit seed extract

Melt beeswax into oil on low heat until all is melted and blended in.  Remove from heat. Add grapefruit seed extract (this helps preserve it).  Pour into tins, jars or cans.  I have found that I love the size and shape of old baby food jars.

Have you made infused oils before?  What are some of your favorite herbs to use day to day?  Leave a comment and let us know!

*Disclaimers:

This post contains affiliate links.  Read my full disclosure here.

I am not a doctor or medical professional, before doing any treatment always consult a health care professional.

June & July Reads

I didn't get the list of books I completed in June posted at the beginning of July so, I've combined them here with July's reads. :) The last month has been busy but I'm very happy to have gotten so much reading done. Reading has been one of my ways to distract myself from the morning sickness I've been dealing with, it's been a real blessing.

Daughter of Joy

 I do not particularly love romance novels but I wanted to read something that I didn't need to think much about - ie. herbal books, etc. This book was good and one I'd enjoy reading the others in the series.

He Heard Hannah

Keep the tissues handy and be ready for a truly amazing yet heart wrenching story.  This is one book I will never forget.  I have enjoyed Lynnette's happy heart shared on her blog for a long time and this book was so great!  It's a hard read but Lynnette has such a beautiful heart and story about her darling daughter who died.

To Love Anew

Another romance novel but this time with a bunch of historical fiction in it.  Some of the details in this book make it more of a dramatic book but I still enjoyed it.  Not enough to go and buy it or any others in the series (if there are some).  Thank you free amazon Kindle books!

Paper Roses

This is one fun and adventurous mail-order bride story.  The story totally surprised me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  A good bit of historical fiction throughout this book which made me love it.  I could read and read historical fiction all day!

Candle in the Darkness

Without knowing much about the Civil War this book was a really good read for me.  I feel like I understand the war more as well as got some fun fiction from it.

Jenna's Cowboy

Historical fiction and western put together always makes for a fun story!

Emily's Chance

Since I loved Jenna's Cowboy so much my sweet hubby bought me (one of the only ebooks we've bought!) this next book in the series too.

Fools Rush In

I really enjoyed this book but not enough to buy the others in the series.  Too much fake romance for me and no real big turning points.  After reading the description of the next book I don't think this series is one I'd enjoy.

 

Megan's Hero

This one is the 3rd and final book in the series that goes with Jenna's Cowboy and Emily's Chance.  The family life, the godly Christian home and the history in this series made me fall in love with them.  I loved how the three all have the same characters just changing who is the main in each one.  I like how each one is about the 3 adult children find the perfect (unexpected) match for them.

The August Flexi of the Month is here!

I just love the new FOTM that was just released for August.  You can get this beautiful clip in sizes Mini - Mega, which I hear is a first as they normally don't have the FOTM in Mega!

Reminiscent of the jeweled sea glass that washes ashore, a lively Sea Star alights this Flexi of the Month with brilliant colors of the ocean. Beads of aquamarine and Tahitian blue sparkle alongside silver-toned swirls; a perfect summer combination for your hair that is sure to be cherished for many tides to come.

Go here to get yours.  Keep in mind that these normally sell out quickly, within the first few days.