lip balm

Handmade on Made It - This Website is Great!

Just love it when someone (in this case Bec Davies and her partner Jayc) has the vision and the execution to cut through the clutter and bring people together. Have just discovered the fabulous Made It site where people from all over Australia who hand-make things (clothes designers, soap and balm makers (like me!), handbag makers, jewellery makers, toy makers etc) are able to set up online shops. 

Made Its' slogan is "The Handmade Market Open All Day Everyday".

Organic Farmers Markets in Sydney

Wow, what a weekend! We headed down to Sydney to give the organic markets a try and ended up having a fantastic weekend catching up with lots of past farmstay guests...who would have thought you could fit 12 kids behind the counter of our little stall!?!

Honeycomb Valley Farm in "Slow Magazine"

If you're reading this blog, you might be interested in the whole "Slow" movement which celebrates taking time to prepare good food, thoughts and friendships. Now in its fourth edition, there's a beautifully produced Australian magazine celebrating all things "Slow".  The words it uses to describe itself/its readers are: "creative, leisured, aware, relaxed, satisfied, informed, sincere..."

The brainchild of Jacqui Motts who has worked for publishing greats such as the New York Times, London's Sunday Telegraph and Rolling Stone New York, Slow Magazine is a fantastic read and if your local ne

Honeycomb Valley Products Getting the Glam Treatment

Had the lovely pleasure of meeting Linda Dawson, the other day.

Lead in Lipsticks..and what's in your lip balm?

Was reading a story today by Stacey Singer that appeared in the SMH. It was aptly titled "Kiss of Death as Lippie Tests Positive for Lead".

According to Singer, "tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration last year on 22 red lipsticks found lead, a neurotoxin, in every single lipstick sample studied. The highest levels were in three well-known and common brands: Cover Girl, Revlon, L'Oreal.

Bikie Gang meets the Bee Balm Lady at the Farmers Market

For years I was a shopper at farmers markets, never even imagining I would have my own stand. I loved shopping for fresh breads, pickles, handmade cheeses and fresh macadamias...but now, I'm the one behind the table, enjoying the moment as people taste our different honies, try a lip balm or enjoy the scent of a raw goat's milk soap.  Putting yourself out there can be nerve-wracking, fun, fulfilling, demoralising, exciting, enriching and tiring...but it's never, ever boring.

Making Our Raw Honey & Beeswax Lip Balms

Like the slow food movement, there's also a return to more natural, less toxic beauty products...and that's a great thing!  Take lip balms for example, we know a lot of people who get super dry lips and put on vaseline, petroleum byproducts and other synthetic lip balms.

What on earth is synthetic beeswax?

What on earth is synthetic beeswax and why on earth do we need it? That's the question I asked when I checked out the ingredients on one of my daughter's chemist-suggested eczema creams only to discover it said "synthetic beeswax".  It got me wondering...who makes it? (perhaps Cyborg bees?). What's in it? (perhaps petrochemical honey & plastic flowers?)... and what does it mean for my little one's skin and overall health :) .

New Goats Milk Soap "flavour" and the flavour of life

When you're stir, stir, stirring goats milk soap batches, you get to ponder a bit about life, listen to a little talkback radio and watch the chickens through the window enjoying their free ranging. Today I was experimenting with a new goats milk soap recipe which includes a nice big dollop of yoghurt for extra silkiness and nourishment of the skin. Soapmaking is like life really - it's fun to do, sometimes it can be hard work, but you never quite know how it's all going to turn out!

Mentors Make the World Go Round

When we got started on the self sufficient life, we gobbled up all the information we could find from books, courses and the Internet...but nothing beats meeting a person or group of people who take you under their wing and generously show you the hows, the whys and the what ifs.  You'll find great mentors at Landcare, at Seedsavers, at Nurseries and...hanging out with bees!  Rod the Beeman has taught me how to look after my bees, how to catch a swarm, how to requeen and how to manage my hives gently.  He's

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