5 Unique Eco-Friendly Father’s Day Gifts 2022

Leave a comment

I’ve been scouring the internet for 5 incredible father’s day gifts that are eco-friendly, organic, or produced by a small business! I’m not sure why, but a theme has emerged from this year’s gift guide search and I’m proud to title it: “cooking and cleaning: gifts for the scrupulous chef in your life.” I’m super excited to share these gifts with you today, and I hope they make your father’s day shopping just a bit easier.

FATHER’S DAY GIVEAWAY

Before we jump into this week’s blog I want to announce something super exciting: WE’RE STARTING A GIVEAWAY…TOMORROW.

Here are the details:

Enter to have a chance to win a Fantastic gift-set!

This Giveaway will start on June 15th and run until Father’s Day (June 19th)

To enter via social media:

1. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook

2. Like the giveaway post on Instagram or Facebook

3. Tag two friends!

For a bonus entry: share this post on Facebook or your Instagram story, announce your favorite AVNS soap, and tag us!

How to enter if you don’t have social media:

1) Follow our blog

2) Like our most recent post (this one).

For a bonus entry: share our blog with two friends by sending them our link over text or email…take a screenshot once you’ve sent the link and email it to us with the title: Father’s Day Giveaway!

Contest closes on June 19th, at noon.

Good Luck!

This contest is only open to residents of the United States.

5 Unique Father’s Day Gifts

1) 5ElementsClayworks Stoneware Tumblers and Mugs $20-40

These beautifully hand crafted, wheel thrown ceramic tumblers and mugs are made by the same company as our new shaving sets. These shaving sets are a must have for those who love the traditional shave. They are a perfect compliment to our round Traditional Shaving Soaps and offer an eco-friendly option for storing and lathering up your soap.  Made specifically for AVNS by 5 Elements Clayworks in Florida, “each piece is hand crafted and therefore no 2 are ever identical. Even similar forms and same glaze combos used can yield different results based on the kiln atmosphere or clay batch used, so you can always look forward to a unique piece. While the shaving set is not intended for food use, all glazes are food safe and non-toxic.” 

2) DIY BBQ Making Kit by Grow and Make

What better way to celebrate your bb-cutie than with a BBQ adventure!

Description: Great DIY gift for DAD for Father’s Day!

Make your own tangy barbecue sauces with our Artisan BBQ Sauce Making Kit! Great for family projects. A DIY BBQ sauce kit is the perfect birthday gift for grill cooks, barbecue enthusiasts, or the dad who has everything! Simple instructions make this kit fun and easy for everyone interested in showing off their own exceptional BBQ sauce. Just add tomato paste, oil, and our kit ingredients to make three flavor-packed tomato or mustard-based homemade barbecue sauce recipes. Contains all the grilling spices and seasonings to give your barbecue dishes unique flavor, like cayenne, turmeric, garlic, and liquid smoke.

Grill Master Gift Box with Organic Spices by Fresh Jax

This grilling gift set has everything you need for a delicious grill-out!

Description: 

“What’s the hardest part about shopping for the grilling guru in your life? They think they already have everything they need! This Grill Master Gift Set was made with grilling fanatics in mind. This set includes three organic spice blends, a grill master t-shirt to claim reign, grill master koozie to chill drinks, and 4 Alderwood grilling planks!”

Spice Blends

Peppered Habanero Hot Grill Spice: Turn up the heat on steak, kabobs, chili, wings, and caulifower!

Ingredients: Organic cracked black pepper, sea salt, organic cayenne pepper, organic habanero pepper, organic brown mustard seed, organic onion, organic garlic, organic parsley, organic lemon zest.

Grill Master Organic Burger Seasoning: Bean burgers, beet burgers, and beef burgers  alike, will warm you to your core-iander and have you feeling rose-merry with coats of this colorful blend!

Ingredients: Organic cracked black pepper, organic onion, organic paprika, sea salt, organic dill, organic coriander, organic thyme, organic garlic, organic fennel, organic rosemary.

Rosy Cheeks Organic Maple Bourbon BBQ Spice: Craft the perfect backyard BBQ when you use this on chicken, ribs, pulled pork, and baked beans.

Ingredients: Organic paprika, organic light brown sugar, organic cane juice, organic dried maple syrup, cherrywood smoked sea salt, organic onion, Himalayan pink salt, organic cracked black pepper, organic garlic, organic chipotle pepper, organic mesquite, organic flavors, organic cumin, organic turmeric, organic lemon zest.

4) Oven Scrub Cleaner: 100% Natural – Eco-Friendly Cleaner by Everneat

 

100% Natural Oven Cleaner powered with pumice stone & pure essential oils to deep clean your oven without toxic fumes

– Plant-powered ingredients

– Vegan & cruelty-free

– Powerful cleaning

– Refillable & reusable

– Approved by professionals

– Probiotic cleaning

Safe for:

– Porcelain-enameled steel ovens, racks & oven interior glass

– Cast-iron

– Scratch-resistant metals & surfaces

5) Eco Friendly Pet Hair Remover – Lint Brush by Modern Pets Living

This business sells tons of cool pet products, so if you’re looking for something even a little more “upscale” check out the rest of their site!

“A must-have minimalist design pet hair remover and a great substitute for your traditional lint roller. A comfortable wooden handle and large brushing surface area will make this daily task a breeze.

– 3 colors to choose from

– Natural wooden handle

– Self-cleaning housing

– Modern Matte Finish

– Electrostatic Reusable Brush

– Sustainable, green, and reusable

– Made from recycled materials

– Measurements: 12 in x 3 in x 1.8 in

Care Instructions:

– Gentle hand wash only

– Allow to fully dry before usage”

Don’t Forget!

To enter our Giveaway! Comment below to let us know which gift the man in your life would love most!

Much Love,

Nora

New Location Opening!

Leave a comment

You’ve probably heard and seen some buzz about our new physical storefront in Apple Valley…but if you haven’t…here’s all the details!

Grand Opening

Everyone is welcome to come to our Grand Opening weekend! You can pop by on Friday May 20th or Saturday May 21st and we’ll be open both days from 10-5pm! Stock up on your favorite products without having to worry about shipping, discover exclusive products that are only sold in-store, and enter a giveaway for a chance to win a bundle of AVNS products! (If you are out of state keep an eye out for our online inclusive giveaway in June!)

“We are calling the retail space The AVNS Market, and it has grown out of a dream I’ve had for the last few years. A dream to have a retail area where we sell products that are good for us and the environment, products that are fun, sweet & unique, while also being able to support other small businesses. We hope the AVNS Market will offer a relaxing, joy filled shopping experience for all.”

-Marianne Buck

Location:

7570 West 147th Street

Suite 301

Apple Valley, MN 55124

Hours:

1st & 3rd Weekends Of The Month

Friday & Saturday 

10am – 5pm

(Not open Sundays, Holiday hours may vary)

Since purchasing the business in 2018, someday being able to open a physical storefront was always the hope for the future of AVNS. Three years of hard work from the Buck family and AVNS family as a whole has finally paid off as we prepare to open our doors to anyone who wants to visit! 

“When we saw the space in Apple Valley, MN as a possibility for the business I immediately saw the brick wall and knew it could be something special. After deciding to move ahead with signing the lease (a huge scary step of faith), we focused on getting the business up and running for on-line orders. Once everything was running smoothly, I started thinking and processing through what it would take to turn part of the space into a relaxing shopping experience. Once I found some inspiration the transformation took off. 

Now that the shop is ready to open its doors to the public, I’ve found myself doubting the decisions and the journey, but then remind myself that my future doesn’t rest in my hands, I have confidence that God has led us on this journey and He doesn’t make mistakes. Over the last week or so I’ve been blessed with many affirmations about our decision, and recently found out that research is now showing that many people are moving away from doing only on-line shopping as they want to get out and shop in person. They want to touch, feel, smell and be around others after having 2 years of not being able to. I am amazed that a decision that my husband and I made months ago, which we felt was stepping out into the unknown, is now proving to be the right path for us.” 

-Marianne Buck

We love what having an online store has to offer: the ability to cater to customers who live far away, the efficiency that online shopping allows, and we hope to continue growing our online store for all our far away friends! 

We’re excited that our physical store will give people the chance to come and connect with us and our products on a personal level…not sure if you’ll like the smell of a particular soap? Now you can just pop by and sniff it for yourself!

I haven’t had the chance to explore our new line of candles yet, so my visit gave me the chance to sniff around and I absolutely fell in love with the quaint clay pot that the Sun-Kissed Coconut All Natural Soy Candle came in…not to mention the amazing smell and the fact that the lid and pot can be turned into a flowerpot and seeds after the candle has been used up! I had to take one home for a Mother’s Day gift!

I’ve been fortunate enough to have already had the chance to pay the Apple Valley Natural Soap Market an in-person visit, and let me tell you…once you walk through the doors into this dreamy naturally scented haven of crafted goods you’ll want to stay all day! 

One of the most exciting things about the AVNS Market is all the cool products that are only available in-store. Jewelry that incorporates essential oils, eco-friendly dish ware, cotton goods like blankets, towels and robes, reusable beauty products.

Hope you stop by!

Much Love,

Nora

3 Natural Plant Based Recipes For Mindful Eating

Leave a comment

These three recipes are recipes I actually use every week. The ingredients are easy to find at the grocery store, won’t break your grocery budget, and even allow you to do some meal prep so all you have to do for breakfast or lunch is grab and go.

What is mindful eating? That’s a great question. To answer, it might be just as helpful to look at what mindful eating isn’t…which is something I was doing on the daily before I started using these recipes. Most of the time I tend to eat whatever tastes the best, regardless of if it has protein or just empty carbs and regardless of whether it includes any servings of fruits or veggies. Sound familiar? 

Mindful eating doesn’t mean you miss out on all the flavors and deliciousness food has to offer, it just means you prepare delicious food while also making sure you’re taking advantage of all the nutrients that food has to offer. 

  1. Shaved Carrot Salad

Also known as the “Tik Tok Carrot Salad.” I’m obsessed with the version made by @samantha_lucy! According to a Healthline article, “Carrots are a particularly good source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants.”

They also have a number of health benefits. They’re a weight-loss-friendly food and have been linked to lower cholesterol levels and improved eye health.

What’s more, their carotene antioxidants have been linked to a reduced risk of cancer.”

Ingredients:

4 medium sized carrots

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Juice of half a lime

2 tsp sesame seeds

Salt and pepper to taste 

(I like to add a dash of soy sauce or some yum yum sauce!)

Just use a vegetable peeler to peel your carrots into thin strips and mix all the ingredients together! I put this salad in a mason jar and bring it to work as a super easy and healthy lunch. 

If you’re looking for some protein I recommend using lime beans instead!

Did you know carrots can be applied topically to enrich your skin? Our Honey Carrot and Tangerine Face and Body Soap is wildly popular and is made with fresh carrot juice!

  1. Overnight Oats

There is so much you can do with this base recipe for vegan overnight oats by @healthygirlkitchen! Rolled oats are a great source of fiber and have lots of other nutrients that benefit by way of weight loss and dropping of cholesterol levels. Plant based milks are often low in calories and are a good source of protein. Nuts and hemp seeds are a great source of protein and berries are full of antioxidants!

Photo by Ovidiu Creanga on Pexels.com

Ingredients:

½ cup rolled oats

¼ cup yogurt

½ cup almond milk 

1 tbsp maple syrup

Top with berries, hemp seeds, and nuts

I just throw all the ingredients into a mason jar, stir, and add my berries and nuts on top. I prep five jars at a time and I have breakfast ready to go for the next five mornings!

Variations: this recipe is awesome because it is so easy to customize! For example, I substituted honey for the maple syrup, hemp milk for almond milk, and I’ve also added a tablespoon of nutella or peanut butter for extra flavor! This week I tried adding a little coffee!

Did you know oatmeal is extremely soothing for skin too? Which is why we made a Oatmeal Lavender Body Bar soap bar!

Chia Seed Pudding

According to a Healthline article, “The antioxidants, minerals, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids in chia seeds may promote heart health, support strong bones, and improve blood sugar management.” Cinnamon also has benefits such as antioxidants and the ability to lower blood sugar!

Ingredients:

3 tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 cup plant milk

Mix and mix again after 5 mins let sit overnight or for 1 hour.

Hope this helps make meal prep just a little bit easier and a little bit healthier! It sure made the difference for me!

Much Love,

Nora

5 Natural Healthy Snacks For Your Dog!

1 Comment

Did you know that over 50% of American households have a feathered, finned or four-legged family member? That’s right! Our pets give us so much love every day, if only we had a day to recognize and appreciate them. Oh, wait…we do! National Pet Day was this Monday, but if you’re an animal lover like me every day is National Pet day and what better way to celebrate your pet than with a fun surprise for them? Did someone say TREATS?!

You can buy all kinds of treats for your pet at the pet store, but just like human treats, mass produced treats have tons of processed ingredients and sometimes even contain filler ingredients that don’t benefit your pet at all!

Treats made from natural ingredients not only taste fantastic, they’re also full of nutrients that benefit your pet from skin and coat health to a healthy digestive system! 

Today we’ve got five easy to make natural treats for your dog!

  1. Frozen Pumpkin Cubes

The perfect way to cool down on a hot day, all you have to do is spoon canned pumpkin into an ice cube tray and let them freeze solid. Pumpkin is full of vitamins and minerals and is also an excellent source of fiber for dogs, especially if they’re having tummy trouble!

  1. Fruit Salad
Photo by Trang Doan on Pexels.com

Yummy yummy yummy. Did you know dogs can eat fruit?! Even more so…lots of them enjoy it! Fruit provides a lot of the same benefits for dogs as it does humans. A couple slices of apple (make sure seeds are removed) for fiber, a couple slices of banana for potassium, and a few blueberries for antioxidants makes the perfect fruit cup! You can even upgrade it to a parfait by adding one to two spoonfuls of some plain greek yogurt…a fantastic source of calcium and probiotics. 

  1. Bone Broth Popsicle

A great snack for your senior pup, “The glucosamine, chondroitin, and hyaluronic acid in bone broth are nutrients that support joint health and integrity.” (First Vet). All you have to do is pour the bone broth into an ice cube tray and get creative with what you use as a stick! You could try a longer dog biscuit, a Greenie or other dental chew, or even a carrot stick (some dogs love carrots)!

  1. Good Breath Dog Treat

This treat targets stinky breath and uses natural ingredients! The full recipe is from Cook Eat Go and utilizes breath freshening agents such as mint and parsley!

  1. Healthy Homemade Dog Treats

These dog treats are packed with nutrients to support your furry pal on all levels! Olive oil contributes healthy fats (Olive oil also makes great soap, just check out our Castile soaps for the “hoo-mans!”), wheat germ for soft silky coat, and eggs for protein…just to name a few of the ingredients and their benefits. Full recipe can be found here on Wholefully!

Supplementing your dog’s diet is an extremely important part of pet care…but so is maintaining your dog’s physical hygiene. While natural treats are a great way to go, did you know that you have natural options when it comes to your dog’s bath time too?? Our Natural Pet Shampoo contains skin soothing, coat strengthening oils like coconut oil and olive oil as well as an essential oil blend that smells great and works to repel pests like fleas and ticks!

Much Love,

Nora

The Natural Benefits of Honey For Your Skin and Hair

Leave a comment

Honey has a multitude of natural benefits for your skin and hair. It soothes, protects, cleans and helps the natural hydration process. There are tons of ways you can utilize honey in your skincare and haircare routine and we’ve made it simple for you to have options with honey in your skincare and haircare routines by including honey as an ingredient in some of our natural shampoos and natural soaps.

The Natural Benefits of Honey For Skin

Honey Carrot and Tangerine Face and Body Bar

Honey as a natural antibiotic makes it a great and gentle cleanser for your skin. The natural properties of honey are released when they come in contact with skin, which is when the antiseptic component is activated.

The acids in honey act as a natural exfoliant for your skin. They remove dead skin cells, which allows new skin to breathe. This natural exfoliation process makes skin tone appear more even. This occurs on the scalp too, which promotes hair growth.

Our Honey Carrot and Tangerine Face and Body Bar contains honey and is wildly popular with customers for its amazing smell and its success for leaving skin soft and clean!

“Made with freshly juiced, organic carrots instead of filtered water, this gorgeous, vitamin A packed bar will nourish your skin. Perfect for your face and all over too! Raw honey acts as a humectant, trapping moisture in your skin cells, and rich, emollient oils and butters will leave your skin soft and silky.”

The Natural Benefits of Honey for Hair

Hemp and Honey Shampoo Bar

Honey is a humectant which means it draws or attracts moisture. This is a fantastic way to hydrate your hair and when coupled with a sealant that will lock in the moisture…you’ve got a great nourishing routine for your hair. 

Our Hemp and Honey Shampoo Bar is the perfect humectant and oil combo for your hair…especially curly hair! Formulated with loads of organic hemp seed oil, this shampoo bar deeply moisturizes both hair and scalp with a thick sudsy lather while the ingredients impart a multitude of fantastic benefits. The perfect bar for those who suffer from scalp issues, or have fine hair.

Hemp products are continually making headlines in the beauty community for their fantastic benefits for the body! Check out our whole Hemp collection here on sale now!

DIY Honey Hair Mask

This DIY hair mask is a popular but simple two -ingredient journey to shiny, radiant hair. I would always get compliments after I had used this hair mask!

Simply combine ½ cup honey and ¼ cup olive oil in the microwave for 10-15 seconds so it is warm, stir to blend and apply roots to tips. I like to wrap my hair in a showercap to hold in the heat and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes. Then wash hair as usual making ure to rinse out the mixture completely so you aren’t left with greasy hair!

For more honey hair masks, check out this website!

What kind of honey is best for using on your hair and face?

Use raw honey or manuka honey and avoid refined honey if possible! 

Much Love,

Nora

Customer’s 5 Favorite Natural Soap Bars 2022

Leave a comment

These natural body bars were ranked at the top of the list!

I would like to take a moment to genuinely thank all of the people who took the time to complete our survey. I truly enjoyed going through the responses and reading the feedback that people left on why they love our soaps. I love many of the same things about these soaps and it warms my heart to be able to hear from all of you and knowing you care enough to put the time in to help us create this list.

Wildflowers Coconut Bar

Not on our list of best smelling body bars for 2021, but I honestly don’t know why not…since it has definitely become a staple soap in my shower!

“I love the scent of the wildflowers and the coconut is so nice on my dry skin!”

– Satisfied Customer

Enjoy our hard, long-lasting, super sudsy, uber moisturizing organic coconut oil body bars made with 100% organic coconut oil and nothing else. If you’ve never tried one of these—well, you haven’t really lived. What is the Wildflowers Coconut Bar like? Softly sweet, floral, and feminine.

Ingredients: saponified organic coconut oil and essential oils of lavender, sweet orange, bitter orange, cedar leaf, cinnamon leaf, fragrance.

Lime Spa Salt Bar

This salt bar was voted 4th best smelling soap in 2021! And customers who love this bar would agree!

This mega salt bar, weighing 8-9 ounces, is made with European spa salt which is solar evaporated and harvested from the pristine waters of the Mediterranean Sea. This salt is produced using the ancient method of solar evaporation in a region that is free of pollution and has high evaporation rates. Rich in trace minerals that help soothe pain, reduce inflammation, improve circulation and cell regeneration and hydrate tissue, European spa salt is one of the purest salts in the world.

European spa salt gently exfoliates and pulls out toxins and impurities from the skin. It actually feels like smooth marble and is extremely hard and long lasting. Clay removes bacteria, impurities, oil, and dead skin with its exceptional ability to absorb. This tightens pores and rejuvenates skin cells. Spirulina is a natural antimicrobial, it actually kills off candida, which can be an underlying cause of acne. It also contains 8 essential amino acids, and is high in protein, which is necessary for cell repair and growth. On top of that, spirulina contains a rare fatty acid known as gamma linolenic acid. That combined with being a rich source of antioxidants makes this a highly effective tool against free radicals. When free radicals are eliminated, this increases the skin’s metabolism, and helps your body produce new, healthy cells faster.

We also added organic shea nut butter to make a rich, creamy bar with a delightfully refreshing lime essential oil blend. There are many uses for our salt bars, and this one is great in bathrooms with lots of activity. As with our other salt bars, it lasts a VERY long time!

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic coconut, organic shea nut butter, and castor bean, European Spa salt, French green clay, organic spirulina, and essential oils of lime and organic may chang.

I haven’t tried this bar, but our salt bars are absolutely lovely and make for a amazing spa day product!

“Scent is like taking a vacation in the shower and the texture is absolutely luxurious”

– Satisfied Customer

Honey Carrot and Tangerine Face and Body Bar

Is anyone surprised that this bar made the list? Voted 2nd best smelling soap, it’s kinda a no-brainer. Like everyone, I LOVE the scent of this bar, but also the wonders it works on my face!

If you want to spin around and keel over from happiness, this bar is your ticket to glory. Made with freshly juiced, organic carrots instead of filtered water, this gorgeous, vitamin A packed bar will nourish your skin. Perfect for your face and all over too! Raw honey acts as a humectant, trapping moisture in your skin cells, and rich, emollient oils and butters will leave your skin soft and silky. But one of the best things about this bar is the juicy carrot tangerine scent that makes you think you died and went to tangerine carrot honey heaven. 

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic coconut, organic sustainable palm, organic sunflower, unrefined organic cocoa butter, mango seed butter, apricot kernel, and castor bean. organic carrot juice, organic raw honey, rosemary oil extract, grapefruit seed extract, and essential oils of lime, tangerine, litsea cubeba, orange, and basil.

“I have rosacea it’s AMAZINGLY gentle on my face, but still leaves it clean”

– Satisfied Customer

Lavender Rosemary Salt Bar

People love this bar for its amazing smell and long lasting quality!

Lavender and Rosemary, what’s not to love with this scent profile? Floral and herbaceous, like a walk through the garden.

A multipurpose, brimming with goodness, HUGE salt bar!

Also, have you ever wondered if you can use a salt bar for a shampoo?

Well, the answer is yes you can!

This salt bar, plus our Lavender Lemon Salt bar make a wonderful shampoo for those with itchy scalps who have tried everything under the sun (including a wide range of our products) to alleviate the itch. Even some of our team members who periodically get itchy scalps, find relief with these 2 salt bars. If you do choose to try a salt bar as a shampoo, try a sample or half bar first as this bar won’t be for everyone. If you have a lot of hair, you may find that it doesn’t lather as much as our regular shampoo bars. A suggestion for this to still get the anti itch benefits from the salt bar, but also get a rich lather, is to use the salt bar gently against the scalp and lather as much as possible, do not rinse but follow with a shampoo bar. Use the shampoo bar until you have a think lather and then rinse with water. Follow with an acidic rinse if needed.

Giant bars of long lasting beauty. If you haven’t tried a sink salt bar, you haven’t lived.

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic coconut, organic shea nut butter, and castor bean, European spa salt, and essential oils of lavender and rosemary.

Black Licorice Hand Face and Body Soap

My favorite body bar!

Our Black Licorice Hand, Foot & Body Soap is a natural bar created for black licorice lovers only!

The release of this fantastic soap is our first nod to the change of seasons and cooler months. This amazing black licorice soap is for those who simply just LOVE the scent of black licorice. Brace yourself for an incredible licorice scent along with a satisfying exfoliation experience from the black walnut hull powder (which also gives it the dark coloring). Licorice root not only smells great, but has many health benefits. The herb is used directly on the skin to help with eczema, skin rashes, psoriasis, and itchy, dry skin. Black walnut is also regarded to be useful in the treatment of skin diseases and complaints such as eczema, ringworm, athlete’s foot etc. It’s long been used as a natural remedy for acne, canker sores, psoriasis and other fungal infections.

There’s nothing like it on the planet!

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic coconut, organic sustainable palm, organic olive, organic sunflower, unrefined organic shea nut butter, castor bean, non-gmo licorice root, organic black walnut hull powder, rosemary oil extract, and star anise essential oil.

“I have dry skin and very dry hair (yes, I use this on my hair) and it leaves both soft and silky. Hands down the best cleanser I have ever used on my hair (even if it is too superfatted for most people).”

– Satisfied Customer

See what happened when I used this bar on my hair!

Popular 2nd Favorites!

Honey Carrot and Tangerine were both extremely popular again, but we also had some new soaps take the spotlight!

Lavender Lemon Salt Soap Bar

Lavender and lemon. A match made in heaven. I love this bar in the kitchen and the bathroom. And the living room and the family room and the bedroom and the…

Giant bars of long lasting beauty. If you haven’t tried a sink salt bar, you haven’t lived.

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic coconut, organic shea nut butter, and castor bean, European spa salt, and essential oils of lavender and lemon.

“This bar has a nice, refreshing springtime scent which is amazing and wonderful to have especially during the long winter months in Minnesota. The scent in your kitchen and on your hands is calm and up-lifting.”

– Satisfied Customer

Cocoa Butter and Vanilla Bean Face and Body Bar

Voted best smelling body bar in 2021. People love this face soap for its scent!

You know you want to wash your face and body in organic, virgin cocoa butter and Madagascar vanilla beans. Here’s your chance. Sumptuous—and zero calories. This pure cocoa butter soap bar is unscented, but you can smell the faint scent of organic cocoa butter and vanilla. Naturally. Perfect for sensitive souls.

Warning: This pure cocoa butter soap bar is extremely moisturizing and may reduce your need for extra moisturizers, thereby saving you time and money as well as simplifying your life. And who would want that?

Ingredients: saponified oils of a madagascar vanilla bean infused organic extra virgin olive, organic cocoa butter, and organic coconut oil. No added scent.

Kitchen Salt And Spice Bar

“First, it smells wonderful. Second, it really does remove smells from garlic and onion from your hands. Third, and unexpected surprise: it took beet juice stain off my hands, and a spot of spilled tomato sauce from fabric. I can’t wait to keep testing this on mystery spots in the laundry!”

– Satisfied Customer

This bar is an excellent choice for cleaning odors from hands with its rich, spicy, fabulous scent. It’s my favorite bar for the kitchen, especially after chopping onions or working with garlic or peppers. It has two odor-killing ingredients: coffee and anise essential oil. Whether you are a gardener, a fisherman, or a mechanic, this is what you’ve been looking for.

Need exfoliation? Ground coffee beans and salt will do the trick to get off stubborn dirt. But you’ll also want to keep your hard working hands moisturized, softened, and protected, so we’ve packed this bar with loads of unrefined shea nut butter. European spa salt makes this bar antibacterial, rock hard, and long lasting. No more mushy soap by the kitchen sink. Really, there’s nothing not to love about this bar.

Ginormous 8-9 ounce bars.

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic coconut, organic shea nut butter, and castor bean, european spa salt, organic coffee, organic coffee grounds, and essential oils of anise, cinnamon leaf, cassia, organic may chang, lemon, organic eucalyptus, organic rosemary, ginger, and clove.

Chocolate Orange Body Bar

People love the orange and chocolate combination! It’s a reason to look forward to winter when this bar hits the shelves again!

Loads of organic cocoa butter (almost 50%!) give this bar its dreamy, creamy feel on the skin and its rich, chocolatey scent. Sweet orange essential oil adds that luscious twist of heaven. Don’t miss this special edition bar.

Some of the wonderful benefits from the ingredients in this tantalizing soap:

  • Cocoa Butter is readily absorbed by your skin for superb moisturizing, as well as a great antioxidant to protect the health and youthful appearance of skin.
  • Coconut oil which is a super-oil full of naturally present antioxidants, it is an excellent anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. 
  • Olive oil which is packed with anti-aging antioxidants and hydrating squalene, making it superb for hair, skin, and nails.
  • Sunflower oil helps the skin retain moisture and is very high in vitamin E, an antioxidant which helps to protect the skin from environmental stressors.

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic cocoa butter, organic sunflower, sweet almond, organic coconut, organic olive, and castor bean, rosemary oil extract, organic cocoa powder, sweet orange essential oil, and mica glitter.

I definitely have to give the Lime Spa Salt Bar and the Kitchen Salt and Spice Bar a try! Which bars do you need to try next?!

Much Love,

Nora

Meet The Team: Sheila Cooke

Leave a comment

Who makes Apple Valley Natural Soap products? We actually have quite a few incredible team members who put a lot of love into the delicate process that is crafting Apple Valley Natural Soap products. Today is all about one of our senior soap makers, Sheila! Sheila makes both AVNS bar and liquid Castile soaps.

What does a day making soap look like?

“I often make 2 batches in a day. This includes mixing the lye, measuring out all the butters, oils, and those wonderful- smelling essential oils,  and pouring the soap into two 30 inch molds.  These get cut by hand 2 days later after they’ve hardened up.”

Sheila is one of our soap makers who makes soap out of her home. She is a huge blessing to AVNS because she’s very knowledgeable about soap and continues to research and grow that knowledge. Sheila has a space set up specifically designated for everything soap in her home, which is clean, efficient…and has a great commute.

What are some of your favorite products?

“I love so many of the soaps, and it’s too hard to pick just a few! I LOVE citrus- our Grapefruit Mint soap comes to mind. I also love the smell of cocoa butter- try our Cocoa Butter Vanilla Bean! A newer soap that I love is Root Beer Float- dreamy! This last soap is more complicated to make,  but it’s definitely worth it!” What makes a certain soap more complicated to make? Apple Valley Natural Soap prides itself on crafting soaps that not only work wonders for hair and skin, but also have a unique look and scent. The Root Beer Float soap is such a soap, as Sheila explains what goes into the intricacy of crafting such a creative bar of soap, “The Rootbeer Float soap is a layered soap- it has a dark brown bottom layer (colored with Rhassoul clay) and a lighter, frothy- looking top layer,  so there are extra steps involved.  It gets even trickier because of the essential oils used to give it that wonderful smell- they make the soap set up super quickly and therefore you need to work VERY efficiently.” Order and timing is everything when crafting small batches of artisan soap!

Had you ever made soap before joining Apple Valley Natural Soap?

“My family and I have always looked for natural products, and we were already AVNS customers to some extent. We made a few things ourselves- toothpaste and deodorant-   but making soap is something I had never tried before joining the AVNS team.”

Sheila’s Quilt!

What do you enjoy doing with your free time?

“My husband and I have 6 school-age children whom I have the privilege of homeschooling.  This, along with making soap,  doesn’t leave a lot of time for hobbies,  but any extra time I get,  I LOVE to go to my sewing room and work on one of my many quilting projects.”

And my favorite question: If there was a bar of soap called the Sheila Bar, what would it be like?!

“Hmmm, tough one! Maybe a lemon-based bar with hints of the essential oil ylang ylang? I’ll need to try that one personally! Another thought is a coffee/chocolate/mint combination,  since I’m such a coffee lover!”

Yum, I’m down to try either of those bars! Check out our other Featured Team Members, and keep an eye out for the next one!

Much Love,

Nora

What is collagen, and why do people use it?

Leave a comment

Collagen is a protein located in the bones, muscles, skin, and tendons that provides structure in holding these parts of the body together.

There are two types of collagen. Endogenous collagen is the collagen produced by your body. Exogenous collagen is created by an outside source, like supplements. Today we will discuss collagen’s role in the body, as well as the uses of exogenous collagen as we seek to answer the question: does collagen in beauty products really revitalize the skin or reverse the skin’s aging process?

Your body needs to produce endogenous collagen to function. A lack of collagen can lead to health problems. Exogenous collagen is used for many different purposes which we will go over today. 

Here are some quick and interesting facts about collagen taken from a Medical News Today article:

  • Collagen occurs throughout the body, but especially in the skin, bones, and connective tissues.
  • Some types of collagen fibrils, gram-for-gram, are stronger than steel.
  • Collagen production declines with age and exposure to factors such as smoking and UV light.

What is collagen?

Collagen is a strong, fibrous protein that acts as a tough chain link between cells. I like to picture it as the supporting beams or chains of a bridge. There are at least 16 different types of collagen and it makes up one-third of the protein content in the body. Most of the collagen in your body is limited to three main types of collagen, each with its own structure and function.

As a skincare company, type one interests us most…”Type I collagen is the most abundant collagen in the dermis. It comprises about 80% of dermal collagen and plays a major role in providing tensile strength to skin. It is composed of two identical alpha chains and a third chain of different amino acid composition. The genes for these different chains are thought to be on chromosomes 17 and 7 respectively.” (Weedon’s Skin Pathology)

Roles: What does collagen do?

With age, collagen weakens, leading to wrinkles and cartilage problems.
found on Pinterest

As you can see in the diagram, collagen acts as a supporting structure for the epidermis. Collagen also plays a part in replacing and revitalizing dead skin cells. As you age, the body naturally produces less collagen and the quality of collagen produced decreases as well. So is there a way to produce more collagen?

Uses of Collagen: Medical and cosmetic

Skin fillers

Collagen injections can improve the contours of the skin and fill out depressions.

Wound dressing and healing

Collagen can help heal wounds by attracting new skin cells to the wound site. It promotes healing and provides a platform for new tissue growth.

Guided tissue regeneration

Collagen-based membranes have been used in periodontal and implant therapy to promote the growth of specific types of cell.

Vascular prosthetics

Collagen tissue grafts from donors have been used in peripheral nerve regeneration, in vascular prostheses, and in arterial reconstruction.

Treatment of osteoarthritis

Collagen supplements or formulations may help treat osteoarthritis.

Skin rejuvenation

Do products with collagen actually rebuild skin? Science sadly says no.

“Many products containing collagen, including creams and powders, claim to revitalize the skin by increasing collagen levels within the body. This is unlikely, however, as collagen molecules are too large to be absorbed through the skin. Any benefit is probably due to the moisturizing effects of these products. They do not directly increase collagen.”

– James McIntosh, Medical News Today

We do not add collagen to our products for this reason, but we do include ingredients that may improve, stimulate, and encourage collagen growth and production.

Our Buck Shampoo and Body Bar contains a super beneficial micro-algae called chlorella.

Our Bamboo Shampoo Bar contains silica due to it’s bamboo content. Natural Silica rebuilds collagen when it has been damaged by free radicals.

Our Antioxidant Beauty Facial Soap contains sea buckthorn. Sea buckthorn contains a collagen-creating Omega 7 fatty acid.

Preventing collagen loss naturally

Keeping skin moisturized and healthy is important. Using soap with ingredients that protect skin and encourage collagen production can’t replenish collagen, but they can aid in the process of keeping skin healthy

Maintaining a healthy diet with nutrients that may support collagen formation include:

  • Proline: In egg whites, meat, cheese, soy, and cabbage.
  • Anthocyanidins: In blackberries, blueberries, cherries, and raspberries.
  • Vitamin C: In oranges, strawberries, peppers, and broccoli.
  • Copper: In shellfish, nuts, red meat, and some drinking water.
  • Vitamin A: Occurring in animal-derived foods and in plant foods as beta-carotene.

List of nutrients obtained from Medical News Today

What damages collagen?

A poor diet that is high in sugar, smoking, and sun exposure are leading factors in damaged collagen.

Avoiding tobacco and excess sun exposure and following a healthful dietary and exercise regime can help reduce visible aging and protect collagen, keeping the skin, bones, muscles, and joints healthy for longer.

So let’s all make some smoothies with kale and take a jog, huh?

Much Love,

Nora

My 3 Favorite AVNS Products for 2021

1 Comment

Phew! Sneaking in right under the wire today with my top three picks for AVNS products in 2021. Apple Valley Natural Soap prides itself on having a HUGE selection of products. I’ve been working my way through them for about two years now and have yet to try all of them! We love being able to offer something for everyone, from naturally moisturizing oils, to natural salves, deodorants, and muscle relaxing cream…and of course all of our fantastic soaps! While customers have agreed on our best smelling soaps, bars that work best for skin issues and conditions, and soap bars that are just plain lovable…today is all about me and what I think (it’s like an early gift to myself, heehee). You can read last year’s list here!

How Do You Pick AVNS Products?

There are a couple ways to pick out AVNs products based on what you’re looking for! There are three resources to help you find exactly what you need and they are as follows.

  1. The AVNS website menu: we try to make our website menu as easy and as personable as possible. Many of our soaps are sorted by scent, our shampoos are sorted by hair care needs, and our skincare products are often branded with skin sensitivity levels in mind. This is the most basic starting point for helping you find what you’re looking for.
  2. Reviews: I believe reviews are essential! Many of our customers know how to write a fantastic and detailed review and will let you know exactly what worked or didn’t work for them. Reviews are how I first made my AVNS product selections.
  3. Our blog: I am constantly doing all the hard work for you. This is your number one spot to find in-depth info on our soaps and other products. I pull together skincare routines, do product features that go over ingredient benefits in detail, and compile reviews to make product recommendations based on what our customers love. If you need help, there’s probably a blog that covers it. And if there isn’t, just let me know in the comments!

My Top 3 Favorite AVNS Products For 2021

Wheat and Honey Almond Shampoo Bar

Description: A treasure trove of anti-oxidants from the wheat germ and sweet almond oils are packed in our Wheat and Honey Almond shampoo bar. Nutrient and mineral-rich raw, organic honey will add a lustrous shine to your hair and help keep your skin radiantly youthful and healthy. This shampoo bar is also enriched with unrefined cocoa butter and unrefined shea nut butter for a moisture-drenching, all-over treat. The scent is a sweetened summer honey touched with lemon, lavender, bitter almond, and ginger. Warm and dreamy!

Ingredients: saponified oils of organic coconut, organic shea nut butter, castor bean, organic sunflower, unrefined organic cocoa butter, organic jojoba, wheat germ, and sweet almond, raw organic honey, rosemary oil extract, and essential oils of lemon, Sweet Orange, Eucalyptus, fragrance.

What I love about this product

I’ll be honest people, it’s the smell. Oh my sweetness. The Wheat and Honey Almond Shampoo Bar smells AMAZING. I buy this bar just to sniff it. I’ve smelled a lot of Bath and Body Works candles in my day, but they can’t compare to this soap. I love that this bar isn’t cloying, it isn’t an overwhelming sugary sweet, but it isn’t subtle either. It honestly reminds me of a shortbread or almond biscuit. Very buttery and warm! I also love that it has so many moisturizing, nutrient rich ingredients including sunflower oil, sweet almond oil and honey! When you unpack this bar and take your first sniff you’ll close your eyes and let out a satisfied sigh. It’s that good I promise.

Custom Scented Jojoba Oil

Description: Looking for an all natural body lotion that will leave your skin luminous and softly scented? Our pure, organic jojoba is the most natural way to moisturize both skin and hair. The benefits of jojoba are numerous and unparalleled. Jojoba is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, moisturizing and easily absorbed into the skin, leaving no oily residue, making it the perfect massage oil. It is used to maintain skin elasticity and leaves skin literally glowing. You can use jojoba to remove makeup, combat conditions like athlete’s foot, dandruff, eczema, skin bacteria and other skin infections. It improves hair quality and stimulates hair growth.

20211222_085915.jpg171 KB

Just a little goes a long way. Use it as an all over body moisturizer after a shower, or do what I do and use it in the shower after you’re done washing.  Simply pump the jojoba on your arms and legs, rub in, and you’re good to go! It’s my favorite, fast way to moisturize my skin. Jojoba also makes an incredible massage oil.

Our Organic Jojoba comes unscented, just pure Organic Virgin Jojoba oil, or lightly scented in our Relax blend (A BLEND THAT SMELLS DREAMY!) which has the addition of lavender, benzoin (smells like vanilla), mandarin, geranium, sweet marjoram, frankincense, palmarosa and ylang ylang essential oiis. The last three essential oils are not listed on our labels as the blend was revised after the labels were printed.

OR get your jojoba CUSTOM MADE in any of our soap scents for $19.95. Just select the Custom Jojoba option and let us know what you want in the Instructions to Seller portion of the check out page. If you’re looking for some scent ideas for your custom Jojoba, simply scan through our many soaps and let us know the name the soap which appeals to you and we’ll custom make your jojoba. If we are unable to fill a specific scent profile we will contact you.  (Please allow an additional 24 hours processing time for your custom jojoba.)

This smooth, silky, body-drenching goodness comes packaged in a 4 oz bottle with a convenient Yorker twist top for easy application.

What I love about this product

I love our jojoba oil for an easy light lotion or a couple drops in my hair for extra shine and protection. I feel like maybe I was late to the game…because I don’t know why you’d order plain jojoba oil when you can custom scent it. This has to be one of our best kept secrets and it isn’t even a secret! Your skin and hair can smell like whatever you want it to! I would recommend getting it scented like our Bella Rose Bar or our seasonal Black Licorice bar (two of my favorite products from last year…hmm, maybe we could even scent it like our vanilla latte lip balm?) I’d also love to get a jojoba oil custom scented like our deodorant…speaking of which…

Regular Natural Deodorant Creme

Moisturize and deodorize those pits with our all natural, aluminum-free deodorant cremes. Made with anti-bacterial, odor absorbing ingredients like organic virgin coconut oil, diatomaceous earth, aluminum free baking soda, arrowroot powder, and white kaolin clay, our natural deodorant creme is safe and effective.

Our unscented version fights hard with the anti-bacterial, odor absorbing base ingredients (perfect for sensitive skin), while our regular deodorant adds an extra level of protection with the antibacterial essential oils of tea tree, lavender, and lemon.

Do you have sensitive skin? Check out this article with product suggestions for those with sensitive skin! 

Made with safe, natural ingredients you can trust:

Organic virgin coconut oil, organic virgin jojoba, organic arrowroot powder, aluminum free baking soda, diatomaceous earth, white kaolin clay and unrefined beeswax.

Our ‘regular’ version also contains essential oils of lavender, organic tea tree, and lemon.

Directions: Using a dime-sized amount of deodorant, allow it to warm between fingers before gently applying to the underarm area until fully absorbed. Use as needed.

UPDATE: These deodorants are now have a new look! The same fantastic odor fighting ingredients are now packaged in Eco-Friendly glass containers. Also, some of the ‘Regular’ deodorants were accidentally filled to the top of the jar making them 2.7 ounces instead of 2 ounces. A little added bonus until the extra full jars are sold out.

What I love about this product

Transitioning to natural deodorant was the easiest skincare transition I’ve ever made in my entire life. All you really have to do is use it. Here are the top five things I would say about switching to natural deodorant creme.

  1. Your armpits may not feel as “dry.”
    1. Don’t be alarmed! This is not an unpleasant sensation. It feels like you have a very lightweight lotion on your armpits. I hated when my previous deodorants would make my armpits kind of crusty and waxy.
  2. You might want to wash your hands after applying.
    1. I massage a pea sized amount of deodorant into each armpit with my fingers so I always wash my hands after because I don’t like excess product on my hands in general. Yes it is an extra step in my morning routine, but honestly it never hurts to wash your hands, especially when you use non-drying natural soap!
  3. Taking care of build-up is easy!
    1. This lightweight, breathable formula is perfect for sensitive skin, but if you feel like you are still experiencing clogged pores you can use this simple routine in the shower to help! Whenever you shower, just gently scrub your arm-pits with one of our exfoliating bars and follow with a spritz or two of acid rinse on each armpit. You can use our Herbal Hair Rinse, or Apple Cider Vinegar diluted with water! This will help remove any build-up on the skin since vinegar acts as a chemical exfoliant!
  4. Both Regular and Unscented Cremes smell amazing!
    1. The Regular deodorant creme has essential oils and is a scent for everyone! It is very fresh and reminds me of a mojito!
    2. The unscented deodorant creme has a natural, gender-neutral coconut scent, my boyfriend and I both love it!
  5. Long-lasting.
    1. One container could easily last six months and maybe up to a year!

I have never have body odor when I use this deodorant and my armpits stay clean even after a long, physically demanding work shift!

Let me know if you also love these products! Or which one you’re planning to try first!

Much Love,

Nora

The Best Shampoo For Dry Hair

Leave a comment

Limited Edition Winter Wonderland Shampoo Bar

If you’re looking for one of the best shampoos for dry, brittle hair, you’ve come to the right place! This week we will be diving in depth with our limited edition soap of the winter season Winter Wonderland Shampoo Bar, Marianne’s favorite Christmas bar. This shampoo bar not only smells amazing, but is packed with ingredients chosen because of their highly moisturizing properties for hair. We’ll talk about why hair care in the winter is so important and what makes this bar so perfect for giving your hair everything it needs during the cold, dry months!

Why Does Hair Get Dry In The Winter?

The winter season brings joy, but it also brings dry skin, red cheeks, and brittle, lifeless hair. You may think these problems have to do with the freezing cold weather…but the quality of your hair in the winter is not affected by the temperatures so much as the lack of moisture in the air during the winter months. In fact, the winter air is actually so harsh that it tries to pull moisture from your hair. Luckily, there is an easy fix to this problem. Adding extra hydration into your hair care routine will help to maintain your hair and will keep it healthier overall. We designed our Winter Wonderland Shampoo Bar with hydration in mind. We’ve got naturally cleansing elements to keep your scalp clean, but not stripped of natural oils. Moisturizing butters to deep condition your strands. And fortifying oils to lock in moisture and keep hair shiny and strong!

Ingredients in the Winter Wonderland Shampoo Bar and Their Benefits

Saponified Oils of Sustainable Palm

This base ingredient is crucial to the soap making process, it gives you a nice hard bar and will enhance lather when mixed with coconut oil. Rated a 1 on EWG’s Skin Deep, this ingredient has little to no risks of causing cancer or containing any kind of toxicity, 

Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

Organic Coconut 

Coconut oil is a gentle and effective cleanser due to its fatty acid content. The best part is its ability to moisturize hair and skin and the thick lather it creates! Check out our Coconut Bars for pure coco-nutty BLISS!

Organic Sunflower

Photo by Max Andrey on Pexels.com

Sunflower oil is FANTASTIC because it is a 0 on the comedogenic scale, which means it won’t clog pores. This oil can be used to moisturize any skin type…and that isn’t all it will do!

According to an article on Healthline, sunflower oil contains antioxidant vitamin E, so applying it topically to skin will allow your skin to benefit from vitamin E (think anti-aging properties, protection from sun-damage…all that awesome stuff). Sunflower oil also contains linoleic acid, an important component of helping the skin retain moisture as well as acting as an anti-inflammatory aid.

Castor Bean

Castor bean is a skin soother, it is both anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial and can be used on sensitive skin.

Unrefined Organic Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter is high in fatty acids, which means it penetrates the hair strand to give you strong, glossy hair.

White Kaolin Clay

White Kaolin Clay is the gentlest of all cosmetic clays and works to draw impurities out of your skin and hair without completely drying it out. Read about all the different types of cosmetic clays we use in our products!

Photo by Keegan Evans on Pexels.com

Sweet Almond

This oil is rich in minerals and helps keep your scalp clean and healthy while also helping to reduce additional hair loss.

Rosemary Oil Extract

This aromatic scent may encourage and stimulate hair growth!

Essential Oils of  Sweet Orange, Pine, Cinnamon Leaf and Nutmeg

A blend of essential oils that will take you to a cozy little cabin snug in the midst of a winter wonderland!

Get It Before It’s GONE!

Our Christmas Soaps sell out almost immediately so you’ll want to get a bar as quickly as you can (or at least put it on your wishlist!)

Much Love,

Nora