<![CDATA[Tailored Touches - From the Heart - Blog]]>Fri, 13 Mar 2026 14:16:08 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Recipe: Honey Maple Banana Oatmeal (Dairy Free)]]>Fri, 15 Feb 2019 00:33:18 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/recipe-honey-maple-banana-oatmeal-dairy-freeFinding creative, delicious options for breakfast for someone who is intolerant to milk (whether it is due to the lactose or casein) is difficult. However, this Honey Maple Banana Oatmeal is the perfect solution... because it is dairy free! How am I able to create such a creamy texture for the oatmeal without using milk? Well, I learned a wonderful secret from Veggie Inspired's website: mixing water and banana puree creates the silky texture everyone loves in oatmeal. Expanding on this, I substituted half the water for almond milk to get it even creamier! Believe me, this recipe is very easy and delicious.
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Honey Maple Banana Oatmeal

5 bananas
1 cup water
1 cup almond or coconut milk
1/4 cup honey (get the real stuff!)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1-2 tsp vanilla extract (to taste)
2 tsp almond extract (to taste)
cinnamon (to taste)​
Directions
This recipe is super simple. Place the ingredients in a blender and puree it until smooth. Then, store it in the refrigerator until morning. Is that it? Yup!

In the Morning...
The amount above will make about one week’s worth of puree. Right before you want to make your oatmeal in the morning, shake the puree to make it homogenous (it will separate a bit over night). Then measure out twice as much puree for the amount of oatmeal. So, for example:

1/2 cup puree + 1/4 cup oats -- OR -- 2/3 cup puree + 1/3 cup oats

After mixing the oats with the puree, microwave it for 1-1.5 minutes. You now have perfect, sweet oatmeal with natural ingredients. No processed stuff! Yum!

Alternative Options
If you don't mind mushy oats, you can combine the oats and puree when you make it, but I prefer to wait until morning so the oats do not get soggy! Smaller oats also work better. 
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Tailored Touches logo
​If you want less sweet oatmeal, just cut back a bit on the honey and maple syrup!
Have you got a favorite recipe that works around your intolerance or a favorite oatmeal recipe?
Tweet it to us @tailoredtouches!
]]><![CDATA[Melissa's Toolkit: Kaolin Clay]]>Fri, 11 Jan 2019 14:59:37 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/melissas-toolkit-kaolin-clay
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Clay was one of the first ingredients I worked with when creating products for Tailored Touches. After so many initial experimentations to find the ideal clay for each product, I grew to have a great attachment to it. Clay is such a unique additive and great enhancement to certain products, so I try to incorporate it as much as I can. Seriously, just one tablespoon of clay can really make a difference.

In the next few blogs, I am going to dive into the different types of clays that I use and why I choose them. For this particular blog, let’s talk about kaolin clay!

While clays in general contain a variety of minerals, kaolin clay consists of a hydrated mineral form called kaolinite. It is one of the oldest clays --it was found in China in the 7th century -- yet it holds some wonderful properties that are so good for the skin! Kaolin clay can be used to make medicine and also be used to help stop wounds from bleeding. In skin-care, it is a versatile ingredient that helps to deep clean the skin and soften it or to use as a natural colorant.
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Did you know that the word “kaolin” means “high ridge”? It is a reference to the hill in south-eastern China where it was first discovered and then used to make... porcelain of all things! 
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Shaving Clay Kaolin Beauty
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Kaolin clay has a “slippery” property which is oh-so-good-for-you when you are shaving!  This clay (and any other clay, in fact) gives products what we call “slip.” For example: when you are shaving, you know how you want the razor to glide effortlessly over your skin to avoid cutting yourself? Well, clay helps give soap that slippery effect. For similar reasons, a little bit of clay can be added to regular hand and body soap to give it some glide. Having some “slip” in your body soap is one thing, but a shaving soap has to have way more clay than regular soap so you don’t cut yourself!

I also love kaolin clay because it is a natural colorant. Kaolin clay comes in a variety of colors due to different iron percentages within it.  There is a beautiful rose kaolin clay that I use to give my soaps a nice blush color, while a purple Brazilian clay gives products a purple tint.
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Did you know that kaolin clays are very absorbent? That’s how the clay anchors the fragrance and allows the products to maintain their natural scent for months! 


Perhaps most importantly in the good-for-you category, kaolin clay has strong drawing properties. The clay will attract excess oils in the skin and draw them out from the skin along with any impurities in these oils...hence the term “drawing properties.” This is a great property for face masks, so you will see we offer a lot of different types of clay face masks!

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I have my clays in powder form, and I keep them at room temperature. With this easy maintenance, my clay stocks are able to last quite a while.

With clay, because it is  attracted to oil molecules, the order of operations in my recipes is critical. For example, for the Tailored Touches Black Salt Clay soap, I first mix distilled water with the clay to create a slurry mixture. I add the oil component last so it does not clump the clay and instead, we keep that consistent slurry texture. It is then easier to work with and I am able to create different soap molds with it. The same order of operations is critical when making face masks--after all, who wants a clumpy face mask?


Remember clay has amazingly strong drawing properties, so be careful and follow instructions on how to use it. Do not wear clay masks overnight, or else they may start drawing out not only the excessive oils, but also the good oils you need!

Clay Kaolin Beauty
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Because of kaolin clay’s versatility and long shelf life, I use clay in a wide variety of Tailored Touches products, including shaving soap (for men and women) and facial masks. Treat yourself to a Home Spa Day or incorporate kaolin clay into your daily routine with any of the products below:

Silky Shaving Soap

$9.00
Shop

Rose Clay Sugar Scrub

$16.00
Shop
]]><![CDATA[Gluten, Casein, and Egg White Free Pancakes!]]>Fri, 10 Aug 2018 18:30:00 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/gluten-casein-and-egg-white-free-pancakes
Pancakes
As we all move toward healthier lifestyles, folks are increasingly figuring out they are intolerant to wheat, gluten, eggs, milk, and other common ingredients. These intolerances can make you stomach sick or sometimes just tired. They can also make you sniffly or give you headaches. If you're one of those who has intolerances, try this pancake recipe sans milk, egg whites, and wheat!
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Gluten, Casein, and Egg White Free Pancakes!

1/2 c almond/coconut milk
1 T oil
1 egg yolk (strain the whites out)
1/2 T sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
​1/4 t vanilla or almond extract (or both!)
3/4 cup mix of rice, corn, and coconut flour
a pinch of salt

​Why do we mix the flours? There is no exact replacement for wheat flour, so we mix the other flours to avoid common issues with each one. Too much rice flour makes it grainy; too much coconut flour makes it clumpy and dry; and too much corn flour makes it taste like... well, corn. Mixing all three helps give your pancakes the right texture and taste! It'll never be exactly like wheat flour, but it gets pretty close!
We recommend that you mix all of the ingredients except the flour first. Then, start by mixing in 1/2 cup of mixed flour. Slowly increase the amount of flour you add until the batter has some density (but still slightly runny). You may need up to a cup of flour depending on your mixture ratio.
Why this recipe? One of the members of the Tailored Touches team has just found out about an intolerance to egg whites, wheat, and casein in milk. For her, wheat causes fatigue, and milk causes stomach sickness. Boy, does it make cooking hard! Did you know the protein in egg whites (albumin) is also found in wheat? Not all wheat intolerances are to gluten. We didn't know that until recently!
We also found out that a milk intolerance is not necessarily the same as a lactose intolerance. Some folks are intolerant to the protein in milk (casein), not the sugar (lactose). Those with a casein intolerance can get away with butter and cream, which have only trace amounts of casein, but cannot have milk itself. Fascinating! 
Have you got a favorite recipe that works around your intolerance? Tweet it to us @tailoredtouches!
]]><![CDATA[Melissa's Toolkit: Buttermilk & Goat's Milk]]>Fri, 15 Jun 2018 15:00:00 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/melissas-toolkit-buttermilk-goats-milk
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Buttermilk

Ingredients: Buttermilk & Goat's Milk


​As a soapmaker, I love to explore different liquid ingredients that add benefits to my soaps. My exploring has led me to cider, wine, beer, tea, and milk. As you know from our Coconut Milk blog, milks can add skin-softening goodness to soap. Two of our favorite milks are buttermilk and goat’s milk. Both are deliciously rich and packed with healthy nutrients for your skin.
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Buttermilk has a few natural properties that make it a luxurious choice for those looking to keep their skin youthful and bright. High in lactic acid, buttermilk can gently exfoliate dead skin cells to brighten and soften the skin. It also rids the skin of impurities and gives the skin a natural glow. Naturally astringent, buttermilk helps to tighten the skin, causing it to look younger. Oh, did I mention how it makes the skin feel? Delightfully soft!​
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Even though buttermilk has “butter” in its name, it really is low in calories and fat! What is it? It is the slightly sour liquid leftover when you churn butter from cream.
Goat’s milk is another milk that adds skin-loving benefits to a product. High in vitamins and minerals, goat’s milk gently exfoliates the skin to help keep it clean and clear. Since it is perfect for dry or sensitive skin, it is great for young and old alike. The pH balance of goat’s milk is similar to skin so it is a wonderful choice to add to soaps, lotions, and other beauty products. Unlike buttermilk, which is low in fat, goat’s milk has fat globules suspended throughout the milk. As a result, some have found they need to use less moisturizers due to the richness gained from regularly using goat’s milk. No wonder it is so popular in handcrafted soaps and lotions!
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Working with any milk in soapmaking can pose a challenge because the heat generated in dissolving the lye can curdle or scorch the milk. I use some tricks to minimize those effects.

When mixing the lye into the milk, it is best to use frozen milk to help keep the temperature down to prevent scorching. Because buttermilk tends to spoil more quickly than traditional cow’s milk or coconut milk, I freeze it into small cubes so that it is absolutely fresh when I use it in a recipe. Having it already frozen in specific units of measurement also helps make the soapmaking process quicker and more successful.

Buttermilk powder is also used in some products when I need to add the benefits of buttermilk but do not want the extra liquid.​
Of all the milk consumed worldwide, 65% is goat’s milk - not cow’s milk. Goat’s milk was also the milk of choice for Cleopatra, the Egyptian Queen known for her beauty, when she took a milk bath.
Fresh goat’s milk spoils quickly, so I use the goat’s milk powder instead for our goat’s milk soap. I have found that the powder is easier to add to my soaping oils and have crafted my recipes accordingly so they use the powdered form.
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Buttermilk is used in several of our artisan soaps because it adds a creamy moisture and a rich lather. It gently exfoliates the dead skin cells away to expose the skin’s healthy glow. Deep-cleaning and astringent properties keeps your skin looking its youngest! Here are our products with creamy buttermilk!
Goat’s milk richly moisturizes dry skin, so we use it in our Goats and Oats Artisan Soap and our Black Salt Clay Soap for shaving. Let your skin enjoy!
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]]><![CDATA[Melissa's Toolkit: Coconut Milk & Powder]]>Fri, 20 Apr 2018 17:30:00 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/melissas-toolkit-coconut-milk-powder
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Coconuts

Ingredients: Coconut Milk & Powder

Mmmm, creamy coconut is such a rich and delicious food.  Although it is commonly used in the kitchen, coconut milk can actually be used as a luxury ingredient in soaps, lotions, and bath bombs as well. This favorite food of mine has become a go-to ingredient in many of our products because it packs a punch with a ton of benefits.
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As a food, coconut milk has a high nutritional value because it is packed with vitamins and minerals that the body craves, including Vitamins C, E, B1, B3, B5, and B6 and selenium, iron, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium. The body needs vitamins to bolster the immune system, regenerate cells, build muscle and bone, and convert food to energy.

It also needs minerals to remain healthy. The body uses copper to form connective tissues, maintain the normal function of muscles, and promote its overall growth and health. Selenium helps protect against infection, and it also helps in reproduction, DNA production, and thyroid gland functions. Iron builds strong blood; calcium builds strong bones with the help of phosphorus; and magnesium aids in over 300 enzyme reactions that can lead to thousands of biochemical reactions everyday to keep nerves, muscles, and other functions operating smoothly.

​All of this goodness is found in coconut, so we use it a lot!
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Coconut milk is not really “milk”!  It is actually the liquid that is stored within the “ flesh” that coats the inside of a coconut. The more mature the coconut, the richer the “milk.” It also makes the perfect drink for anyone lactose-intolerant. Yum!
Coconut
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​Considered a luxury ingredient, coconut adds so many benefits in skin-care products. High in natural fatty acids and rich in vitamins and minerals, it pampers, soothes, and restores the health and glow of dry or aging skin. The oils in the coconut milk make it a great cleanser because they provide a deep cleaning without clogging the skin’s pores! Coconut milk’s gentle softening effect is also perfect for almost all skin types. We also use coconut milk powder. It is a great ‘good for you’ stand-in for traditional “fillers” like cornstarch or clays that are found in most commercial bath products. Coconut is just so much better for you!
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Coconut milk  is one of my favorite ingredients to work with because of its oh-so-creamy texture, velvety smooth feel, and delightful scent. Coconut powder has that same wonderful scent, too. I use both in my recipes… so how do I decide which to use?


​Coconut Milk

Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is liquid that comes straight from the white flesh inside the coconut. When the meat of a coconut is grated, the liquid that it produces is coconut milk. Coconut milk  has a naturally high oil content that gives it moisturizing properties that keep skin soft and supple. I use coconut milk in my artisan soaps (also known as ‘cold process’ soaps). In any cold process soap, the lye (or sodium hydroxide) needs to be dissolved in a liquid that is then emulsified into the oils and butters in the recipe. For most recipes, the liquid is distilled water; however, for our coconut milk soaps, I use pure coconut milk to make the soap richer, creamier, and more moisturizing for the skin.
Using any milk is trickier than using distilled water because as the lye dissolves, it heats up… and milk, unlike water, can scorch. When using coconut milk, I use a series of tricks to prevent scorching. First, I use frozen coconut milk to start, then second, I add the lye very slowly, mixing small amounts at a time. If too much lye is mixed in at once, the solution will heat up too quickly, and the milk scorches. Scorched milk ruins the soap - it will cause it to discolor to a dark yellow or light tan and may have a burnt smell. This color and smell can then cause the finished soap to be discolored and/or smell “off” or slightly unpleasant. As perfectionists, we cannot stand for that!
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If you rub coconut milk over your skin and allow it to soak for 20-30 minutes, your skin will get moisturized and take on a healthy glow!


​Coconut Milk Powder

Coconut Powder
Powdered coconut milk is simply liquid coconut milk that has been dried into a powder form. Using the coconut milk in powdered form is necessary in some recipes where added liquid will ruin the results, such as in our bath bombs. The powdered milk adds a unique creaminess to products, and it is very soothing for dry skin. It also boosts the bubbles in our bath bombs without the use of artificial detergents (or the fancy word: “artificial surfactants”).  I strive to keep our products as natural as possible, yet still provide the fun of lots of bubbles!

Luckily, working with powdered coconut milk is fairly easy. It does not scorch… but it does clump up quite a bit due to its high oil content. To remedy this, I use a sifter to break it up into a fine powder. The process is worth it because the coconut milk powder adds so many benefits for the skin that traditional “fillers,” like cornstarch or various clays, do not. These traditional fillers are found in most commercial bath bombs, but we at Tailored Touches prefer the coconut… it is healthier… plus, it smells deliciously coconutty!
Coconuts grow on very tall, thin trees. You can wait for them to fall or climb up the tree and get them. Coconut trees are often referred to as “Trees of Life” since every part of a coconut can be used - as food, drink, fiber, fuel, or utensils! But.. coconuts are not even technically nuts; they are botanically classified as fruits!

​On a trip to Zanzibar in 2014, my daughter saw a guy climb a coconut tree, throw a few down, then expertly cut them open to enjoy. Yum!
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So, coconut milk and milk powder are ‘good for you’, smell good, moisturize, create bubbles in a bath, and often stand-in for less healthy ingredients. What’s not to love? ​For these reasons, we use coconut milk (in liquid or dry form) in a lot of products. 
Our Coconut Milk Bath uses powdered coconut milk to combat dryness and add a healthy glow to your skin. Combined with cocoa butter, pink Himalayan salts, and honey powder, this milk bath will treat your skin like royalty. The coconut milk and cocoa butter will soften and soothe dry skin, the salts will provide a deep skin cleansing, and the honey has a moisturizing effect.

​It also smells divine, which we think is ultimately why it is one of our best-sellers!
​Artisan Coconut Milk Soap and Lime-Kissed Coconut Milk Soap use coconut milk as the liquid base to dissolve the lye. The coconut milk adds a touch of creaminess to the lather and boosts the moisturizing properties of both soaps.
Coconut Milk Soap
Lime-Kissed Coconut Milk Soap
Cinnamon Natural Soap
Cinnamon Natural Soap was created for a dear customer with very dry skin. When I was deciding on the good-for-you ingredients, I naturally turned to coconut milk powder plus lots of skin-nourishing oils. Mmm...
facial mask
Coconut milk powder helps to sooth and hydrate your skin when applying this Silky Clay Facial Mask.

​The coconut milk powder combined with Kaolin clay and colloidal oatmeal helps to pamper, clean, and soften your skin.

​The mask will gently exfoliate any dry skin to make your skin glow!
Our Signature Bath Bombs come in a wide variety of scents, but each one also has a healthy dose of coconut milk powder to boost the bubbles and to soothe dry skin.

Paired with coconut oil, the coconut milk not only relaxes you but pampers your skin without using unnecessary fillers I mentioned. Win-win.
If you haven't tried coconut milk in either liquid or powdered form on your skin, check out just how luxuriously soft it makes you feel. It's one of our favorite ingredients! Stay tuned for our next ingredients in our series... Buttermilk and Goat's Milk!
]]><![CDATA[Melissa’s Toolkit: Honey and Beeswax]]>Sat, 03 Mar 2018 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/melissas-toolkit-honey-and-beeswax
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Tailored Touches carefully crafts all of its personal care products from the very best “good for you” ingredients. With Melissa’s Toolkit series, we want to give you all an inside look at why and how we use what we do.
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Ingredients: Honey & Beeswax
We decided to start this series off with ingredients that are near and dear to our hearts: honey and beeswax! We come from a long line of beekeepers. My dad was one, his grandfather before him, and now we keep the tradition going with my son’s bee hives. In addition to our love for bees, honey and beeswax happen to be “good for you” ingredients, too. What a good place to start!
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Honey

Natural honey is a great skincare product because it is a natural humectant, which means that it naturally draws moisture to the skin and then keeps it there. In other words, it is a kind of natural moisturizer. As an added benefit, it also keeps irritants out of the skin.
Honey is a nutritional, natural form of sugar. It retains its “good for you” properties as long as it is not heated over about 95° (the temperature of a normal bee hive). Once you heat it beyond what nature intended, you destroy many of  its nutritional properties.

If you play by those rules, honey will last forever. In fact, it is the only food that never spoils. If you found honey from the Stone Ages, it would still be good… maybe a bit crystallized but still as good as ever.

So, how do you know if you have the good stuff? One trick is to look for that crystallization. Real honey will crystallize while the diluted, over-heated, or ultra-filtered stuff will not. If you have crystallized honey, just put the bottle in a pot of warm water until the crystals melt back into honey. Just keep it below 95°…

Beeswax

Honey’s counterpart, beeswax, also functions as a protectant, keeping moisture in and pesky irritants out, while allowing the skin to breathe by not clogging pores. Like honey, it is a great way to keep dry skin hydrated and soft.
For all these reasons - our love of honey and bees plus the “good for you” qualities - we use these ingredients a lot. 
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Honey

Honey
Honey is effective in soaps because the naturally high sugar content boosts the lather, which we all love. Given this, the natural instinct is to use a lot of honey in soap recipes. But beware! The downside is that the high sugar content can cause from-scratch soaps to overheat after they are poured into their mold, leading to cracks and discoloration. We can counter that by putting the soaps in a fridge or monitoring temperatures carefully. Like so many other tricks of the trade, we learned through a lot of trial and error! It is a trick to find that exact balance between using enough honey to get the soapy lather we all like and not using so much that it ruins the soap with unsightly cracks or discoloration.

Beeswax

Beeswax
If the amount of honey determines the amount of lather on a soap, the amount of beeswax determines the hardness of the product. The hardness allows us to create a lotion that is portable, for example, yet the heat from your hands melts the butters and oils ever so slightly each time you use it so you get a little moisture at a time. For products that require a softer feel - such as balms - we use less beeswax. We want them to be soft and spreadable. Lip balms also use less so they easily glide over your lips. Each recipe has been tested for the optimal amount to get the right result. Lots of trial and error… and eventually… our very own, from scratch recipes.
Beeswax has a high melting point of about 145°. If you overheat it, it will spit at you or scorch the wax; if you underheat it, it will fail to mix with the other ingredients. Practice makes perfect, and even when you do get it right, you are working with a very hot, sticky ingredient! Fun!
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So, once we have a “good for you” ingredient that we know how to use, we get to work! Because honey and beeswax offer some unique properties that are so good for your skin, we use these ingredients in a lot of products. 
We use honey in soaps because of the incredible lather…. and also in one of our bath bombs. We also use a lot of beeswax, often in conjunction with honey. For our lotion bars, such as the Lux Lotion Bars, up to one-third of the total recipe is actually beeswax! For products that require a softer feel - such as our Honey Balm, our lip balms, or our Madly Mango Cuticle Balm - we use a bit less. 

Want to try some honey and beeswax products? Buy now by clicking on the pictures below!
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Facial Soap
Honey Myrrh Facial Soap
Honey Soap
Honey Bee Natural Soap
Honeycomb Soap
Honeycomb Natural Soap
Bath Bomb
Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey Bath Bomb
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All Natural Honey Balm
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Lux Lotion Bars
Lotion Bar
Beeswax and Honey Lotion Bar
Tattoo After-care
Just Inked! Tattoo Aftercare
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Madly Mango Cuticle Balm
Click your favorite product above or... 
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]]><![CDATA[Keeping Summer Fresh in the Fall]]>Fri, 13 Oct 2017 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/keeping-summer-fresh-in-the-fallDon’t want to let go of the taste of summer just yet? Try out some of these food preservation methods. ​
Freezing: Freezing is the quick and easy way to save your summer fruits and veggies. Wellness magazine SparkPeople suggests just washing and drying your produce before laying it out on a baking tray in a single layer. If you are freezing a larger fruit - like a peach - core, skin, and slice it into smaller bits before putting it on the tray. Stick the tray in the freezer for several hours. When you take it out, your produce pieces should be separately frozen, which will make less difficult to break them apart after they have been sitting in freezer bags for a couple of weeks!
Canning: For the canning method, clean all canning jars and lids. Clean, peel, seed, and cut the fruit or vegetable before placing it in the jar along with the salt, sugar, or other spice content specified by the recipe you are following. Cap the jar with the lid and ring before placing it a large pot. Add enough boiling water to reach an inch above the top of the jar. Let everything simmer for the time listed by your recipe before carefully removing with tongs. You should be left with nicely sealed jars.
Pickling
Pickling: Pickling is the perfect process for your freshest vegetables. After cleaning your pickling jars, prepare the vegetables by washing, peeling, and cutting them into short spears. Pickling brine can be made from a combination of equal parts water and any basic vinegar. Simply place the brine mixture in a saucepan and bring to boil, adding a little sugar and salt. Then pour the brine over the vegetables in the jar and cap it tight. Store everything in the refrigerator, and you are all set! ​
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Drying: Dried foods make terrific lightweight, nutritious snacks. Just wash, peel, and cut your fruit or vegetable (thinly sliced pieces will dry faster), and then spread all of it out on a baking sheet. The Kitchen recommends putting your oven on the lowest possible temperature before placing the sheet in it for 6-8 hours and watching for signs of shriveling or brittleness.
We hope that your kitchens end up well-stocked with summer flavors! Happy preserving! 
]]><![CDATA[The Perfect Halloween Treat: Witches’ Brew Bath Bombs]]>Fri, 29 Sep 2017 20:13:26 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/the-perfect-halloween-treat-witches-brew-bath-bombs
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​With Halloween right around the corner, we have a few treats for your skin for a spooky time! Our adorable Witches’ Brew Bath Bombs have the same great ingredients as our regular bath bombs, but we designed these to add a bit of Halloween delight.

Packed into a witch’s cauldron and topped with a festive soap in the shape of either a ghoulish eyeball or a cute ghost, the bath bomb will bubble over as you dunk it in your warm bath waters. Your water will magically transform into a ghastly green or mystical purple that is scented sultry sandalwood.  

Watch the video to see the cauldron bubbling over! Also, imagine a little eyeball floating around the tub... ooOOoo...
​As fun as these are, the coconut milk, coconut oil, and added bath salts will pamper your skin or provide a fun bath for a lucky friend as a gift!
For added treats, our Candy Corn Bath Salts look and smell like the real thing! Loaded with pure Dead Sea salts, your skin will be luxuriously soft. You can also try our “Eye” See You! Soaps, which are a bewitching way to make ordinary soap downright spine-tingling!
​Wishing you a boooo-licious Halloween!
]]><![CDATA[Harvest These 6 Fruits & Veggies this August]]>Thu, 10 Aug 2017 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/harvest-these-6-fruits-veggies-this-augustAugust has arrived! While summer days might be running out, fresh produce options certainly are not. The next time you find yourself in a grocery store, farmers market, or even your own garden, keep an eye out for some of these seasonal fruits and vegetables. ​
Tomatoes: It is hard to beat the flavor of summer tomatoes. A ripe tomato should be mostly firm, have a shiny skin, and have a deep red color (unless the tomato species is normally a different color).

​If you are collecting from your own garden, they should come right off the vine when pulled gently.  ​
Raspberries & Blackberries: Small and delicious, these berries are perfect for both desserts and on-hand snacking.

​Remember: raspberries and blackberries do not ripen after being picked, so when harvesting, look for ones with smooth intact skin and even coloring. What you pick is what you get!
Aubergines: Aubergines, more commonly known as eggplant, make a tasty addition to any summer menu. Be sure to pick out ones with taut, glossy skin, consistent deep purple coloring, and a bright green stem and cap. Yum!
Apricots: The sweet, slightly tart taste of fresh apricots makes them a delicious summer treat. When an apricot is ready to eat, it is usually a little larger than a golf ball with smooth, rosy orange-colored skin.  
Cucumbers: Cool and refreshing in the summer heat, good cucumbers should look dark green in color and feel firm. Avoid any that are easy to bend or have spongy areas - they are overripe and will taste bitter. ​
Peaches: There is nothing like the fragrant scent of ripe peaches in the air! Farmer Al from Frog Hollow Farm says that healthy peaches should be golden pink on the outside with just a few wrinkles around the stem area and relatively soft on the outside.

Brown Sugar Baked Peaches

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Source: The Kitchen is My Playground
This simple dessert will fast become a family favorite! All you need are:
  • A few peaches,
  • 1 tablespoon salted butter,
  • 2 tablespoon of brown sugar, and 
  • ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.

The first step is to preheat the oven to 370°F.  Then clean your peaches well. We recommend a veggie wash, such as our Vegetable Wash All Natural Soap.  
While the oven is still warming up, cut the peaches in halves and pull out the pit.  Put a little chunk of butter in the middle of each half. Then, mix the cinnamon and sugar together and shower it over the peaches.

Bake for 9-10 minutes. Once they are done, top them off with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

​Yum yum!!
Hope you enjoy your harvested fruits and veggies!
]]><![CDATA[Recyclable Packing Materials]]>Fri, 30 Jun 2017 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.tailoredtouches.com/blog/recyclable-packing-materialsWe love to create and craft items for you or for your loved ones as gifts! To make sure it all arrives to you safely, it takes a lot of packaging - from boxes to shredded paper to packing peanuts to bubble wrap… and tape! Yards and yards of tape! Because we care about avoiding waste as much as possible while also ensuring your goodies get delivered safely, we've deferred to packing materials that can either be reused by you or recycled. 

Here are some of our ways to reuse, recycle, and help minimize any impact on Mother Nature... :-)

Recycled Paper - Crinkle Fluff

Bright and cheery! We use all sorts of colors of recycled crinkle fluff paper to fill gift boxes. Our supplier uses recycled paper to make our crinkle in a myriad of colors. Once you receive your package, either recycle the paper or reuse it in another package! Win-win!

Wood Excelsior

When packing our RVA to Go gift boxes, we need a packing base that provides more stability than the crinkle paper shown above. So, we chose a shredded wood excelsior made in the USA that is 100% biodegradable premium wood. It helps protect heavier items and those that need to travel farther. Feel free to reuse it if you need some stability somewhere!

Don't know about RVA to Go? Check out our sister company...

Dissolving Packing Peanuts
Our favorite disappearing packing peanuts would make Houdini proud! We searched for packing peanuts that would offer the protection we needed without posing a risk to the environment. The ones we like are made of cornstarch and will dissolve completely in water.  You can reuse them if needed or literally rinse them down the drain. Check out our video on how quickly they disappear!

Other Ways to Reuse...

When we receive orders from our suppliers, we recycle any cardboard boxes that our shipments come in. Plus, we save and reuse the bubble wrap that items may have been packed in. We make a conscious effort to reuse what we can or recycle it. We can all do our part!
These are just a few of the ways we try to keep our impact on the environment at a minimum. 

​​We hope you will recycle the cardboard boxes, reuse the crinkle fluff paper, and have fun watching the packing peanuts disappear! 
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