Roses are red, Violets are blue...

This Valentine's Day I have some alternative gift ideas to the common flowers and chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I love flowers and chocolate. Chocolate belongs on the food pyramid if you ask me. And flowers? Our yard is full of flowers come spring and summer. I toss flower seeds left and right to help the bees. Unfortunately most flowers, specifically roses, sold at this time of year come from other countries and have a hidden environmental cost.

So, this year go out of your comfort zone and give a different gift, soap. Yes that's right, soap. Now you might think that sounds like an unthoughtful gift but I have to argue that it is more thoughtful than flowers or chocolates. Soap is actually the gift of health. Keeping germs at bay starts with clean hands. Clean hands are actually one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs. Unfortunately frequent hand washing with antibacterial and detergent based "soaps" can leave your skin in rough shape. We are often asked if we sell products that will help dry, cracked hands. The answer is yes, and it starts with our soap. Not all soap is created equal. Our handcrafted soaps are formulated so that there are free oils left after the saponification process. This makes our soaps more conditioning for your skin. There is a lot of science behind formulating soap so that you have a product that cleans without stripping your skin's natural oils.

Now I have good news for those who REALLY want to give chocolate this Valentine's Day. Give chocolate in its raw form, cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is actually one of our favorite ingredients here at EJ's Farm. Cocoa butter is a solid oil that is extremely moisturizing for dry, chapped skin. We often use it in our soaps, lotion bars, and lip balms. In soap, cocoa butter creates a thick, lotion-like lather that feels silky on your skin. It is high in fatty acids which forms a protective barrier over your skin to help hold in moisture. Its hard not to notice how smooth and moisturized your lips feel after using one of our lip balms.

Lucky for you, we have some new lip balms on the website that are chocked full of rich, natural cocoa butter. We only use unrefined cocoa butter which has a cocoa flavor and aroma. We melt the cocoa butter with beeswax and a herbal infused oil to create a hydrating lip balm with a delicious cocoa aroma! You can find our lip balms here. Lip balms are a great gift for kids, teachers, coworkers, and friends. We even sell handmade pouches for those who "misplace" their lip balms.

Lip Balm and Pouch