In a previous post I mentioned that I visited Pike Place Market and came across a company called The Fay Farm which makes wonderful body products from goat's milk, shea butter, hemp, essential oils and other natural ingredients. I purchased these bodybutters (which I loved) and really wanted to buy some of their goat's milk bar soap but I was running out of money (I had already spent too much money at Pike Place). Well, since then I have had the opportunity to try the goat's milk soapand I think they are great! There are eight varieties of the soap and I tried 3 which were:
The Calendula soap was very mild, soft, has a light creamy lather and is filled with calendula petals. It rinsed clean and did not leave my skin dry. As for the Honey and Oatmeal, it was quite mild too. And although it is an exfoliating soap it was gentle and not at all scratchy. Plus I really enjoy the slightly sweet and herbal scent of Honey Oatmeal. And last but not least is the Lavender Detox bar which is my favorite of the three. It gently exfoliates, rinses clean and has a minty/lavender/herbal scent that I really find refreshing. Overall, I enjoyed all 3 of the soaps and will definitely head back over to The Fay Farm's website to try a few of the other bars.
For a couple years I traveled as a wardrobe assistant with a touring show. I have had the chance to see most of America’s major cities and some small towns also. If we stayed in a city more than one day or had a day off I would definitely try to eat and do shopping at some local spots. During my shopping, I would always look for cool local, handmade items-especially food and beauty products. I bought some of my best finds in Seattle, Wa.
The hotel I stayed in was just a few blocks from Pike Place Market, so a friend and decided we would go there. And we only had a half a day to spend so we spent most of our time there. However, we first stopped at a coffeeshop (sorry, I cant remember the name-not Starbucks, Tullys, or Seattle's Best) to get a mocha, and tea. I also bought a couple of really good local made chocolate bars from a company called Theo (http://www.theochocolate.com/). The chocolates I bought were from Theo's 3400 Phinney collection which are uniquely flavored milk and dark chocolate bars. I tried the Chai Milk chocolate and the Coconut Curry Milk chocolate-both were good. By the way, 3400 Phinney Ave. is the address of the Theo chocolate factory at which they do give public tours. I would also like to mention that Theo is organic and fair trade certified. Theo Chocolates are also available on amazon.com and chocosphere.com .
After getting coffee, tea, and chocolates we headed toe Pike Place Market. While walking through we got samples of fruit, dried fruits, and nuts from a few vendors.Then we found ourselves at Tenzing Momo (http://www.tenzingmomo.com/) which is a store, or sort of apothecary which sell herbs, vitamins, fragrance and essential oils, incense, tinctures, soaps, lotions, etc... We spent some time looking around and there was a lot to look at - even though the space was relatively small. My final purchase was incense matches, bee pollen gum, and soap from a Washington based company called Lilie de Vallee (http://www.liliedevallee.com/). I got a nice big chunk of natural, olive oil soap (Arabian spices) for about $5-I love the nice, warm spicy smell of this soap. Lilie de Vallee soaps are also available on amazon.com.
As we were finishing our go round of the market I stopped at a vendor who was selling some bath and body products (I'm such a fiend). There were soaps, salves, and body butters made on a family farm called The Fay Farm (http://www.thefayfarm.com/). I bought three 2oz. body butters for $21 (cucumber jasmine hemp butter, amber fig shea butter, orange honeysuckle shea butter). My friend bought the Warming Muscle Rub which she swears by. I wanted to buy some of their goat's milk soap but I was quickly running out of money-but there is a website so I'll buy soap when I run out of my other stuff. All in all, I was pretty satisfied with my purchases-I only wish I had more time to check out the city.
