Soto Botanicals Treat Your Body with handmade goods!

HI Everyone,

I know it's been awhile and a lot's gone on. I moved across the country from Virginia to California. Yup I'm back home to So Cal and I LOVE it. So what I have I been up to? I have been creating beauty products! Natural Botanical based lotions, hair creams and much more. It's been so much fun.

Why would I make my own lotion when I can easily got to a store and buy some? Well I'll tell ya, I did I've purchased all kinds and types of lotions but couldn't find anything that really helped my skin. You see last winter in Virginia we had 3 blizzards! Yes 3 and well my skin became very dry and irritated so I went on a quest to find something to help my skin and as most of you know I'm well versed in skin care products and their ingredients but I couldn't find anything that made my skin feel better or contained the ingredients I would have liked. And didn't contain unnecessary chemicals.

So I made my own lotion with the base ingredient being Aloe not water (turn you lotion bottle over the first ingredient listed is water, that's because it's mostly made of water). Aloe is so beneficial for skin you can cut the leaf and slather that on you to benefit your skin. And I have.

My unique formulation of natural botanicals hydrates the skin and has natural ingredients to promote skin renewal and healing.No fillers all ingredients in this formulation serve a skin benefiting purpose.

Botanical Benefits:
Aloe: A natural skin softener helps promote the body's natural healing process.

Mango Butter: A natural moisturizer. Helps with burns, stretch marks, scar reduction and would healing.

Vegetable Glycerin: Softens and soothes the skin and helps retain moisture.

Coconut Oil: Very similar to our natural body oil, creates a protective barrier on skin.

Cucumber Peel: Has anti-inflammatory and skin tightening properties.

Green Tea: Helps repair the effects of aging and environmental factors. A potent anti-oxidant.

This is a thick rich lotion that immediately brought relive to my skin and continues to benefit it because of the carefully selected natural botanicals. Wanna learn more or even give the lotion a try? Go to http://www.etsy.com/listing/56941847/aloe-based-natural-repairing-body-butter

Letita

Niece and Nephew

I was having a bad day on Friday, but my niece and nephew sent me a message that just melted my heart and made me bust out laughing. They are crazy little monkeys with hearts of gold.

Thanks Les, for sending me this gift. It makes being so far away just a little bit easier.

Here is the message, hopefully you can understand what they are saying.

Tia Lety

Easter 2010

Easter was a big deal at my house growing up. We would always go to Big Letys house and have the most massive Easter egg hunt/confetti egg smashing brawl, which would end with me tackling my mom to the ground and Lorenzo jumping in for a dog pile.

I remember saving egg shells for months and filling and decorating them. It was the best! Last year I made some confetti eggs and everyone had a blast with them. This year Luke the dogs and I went to a vineyard and had a wonderful picnic. I had shared my stories and love of Easter with Luke and told him how I made my mom make me a basket every year even though I was in my 20's when I left home. I'd say "Don't think I'm too old for a basket. I better get one." And every year my mom would get me a little something for Easter.

A couple of years ago I moved in with my roommate Abby and I shared my Easter stories with her, she was really sweet and made me a wonderful Harry and David Easter basket, it was very yummy! This year Luke was sweet and made me a basket.

I had Luke take pictures of me and my basked and the dogs and their basket/bed, because somewhere in my parents house their are Easter pictures of me and my family with our baskets usually filled with See's candies and I'd like to keep this tradition going.

Letita

Healthy Eating

I just read a great article in Glamour about a healthy 1 week detox plan. If you've every thought about detoxing your body you probably came across crazy plans that promise a lot but leave you eating very little, often times things that are gross and hard to get down.

This 1 week plan was created by Ashley Koff, R.D. a Los Angeles dietician with a long list of celeb clients. Koff says "Many detoxes and cleanses don't give your body the nutrients or calories t needs, which slows metabolism and encourages post diet binges."

This article was full of great eating tips and meal ideas. They have a step by step 7 day healthy detox plan with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack suggestions. Food choice makes such a difference in how your body stores and breaks down fat. You'll be amazed at how much weight you can loose just by eating a little healthier or in some cases a lot healthier.

And it's definitely an easy plan to follow, but even if you don't do the step by step plan, I got great options to incorporate into my meal plans. You can sign up for free at glamour.com/bbg to get the full 12 week plan with tons of easy, healthy recipe ideas.

Letita

Dont' wash away your FACE

Have you ever washed your hands and they felt really dry? How about your face? Many facial cleansers contain sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate (SLS and SLES) causing a sudsy sensation that many people find necessary and even comforting in a cleanser, but these ingredients can strip away your essential moisture while cleansing your skin. Our skin naturally produces oil because we need it, it protects us from daily external factors, don’t wash it away.

I’ve been using non-foaming cleansers since I was a teenager. I used to have very bad acne and most cleansers stripped and irritated my skin. It would get soo dry, and then I started using non-foaming cleansers. I wish I had So Universally Clean You Can Eat Off My Face back then. I understand the whole suds phenomenon when I first started using non-foaming cleansers I was like “Is this going to work?” or “It feels weird.” But you can get a deep down clean without the “squeaky clean” irritated feeling. And best of all it not only cleanses but also treats your skin with natural botanicals.

So Universally Clean You Can Eat Off My Face is a non-foaming botanical antioxidant wash that is extremely gentle and highly effective for removing impurities without stripping skin of its moisture. While your skin is being cleansed it is also being bathed with nourishing aloe that soothes and calms skin inflammation and redness, a wonderful treat for acne or rosacea prone skin. It’s full of vitamin e, an antioxidant vital in protecting skin cells from UV rays, pollution and other cell damaging elements. Lavender essential oil has tremendous antiseptic and natural antibiotic skin benefits. It tones and revitalizes skin and helps clear breakouts and inflammation.

So Universally Clean You Can Eat Off My Face will cleanse, protect and balance your skin, perfect for ANY skin type. Can your cleanser say the same?

Letita

Two Packages with new fun stuff

Yea, packages. I received two packages today and I am very excited for both!

One is from Moon's Harvest an online bath and body store. I've never used their products before but they make every product to order and they have a millions scents to choose from. They have everything from body wash to bath bombs. What's a bath bomb? I know everyone has asked me that. It's bath fizzies, they have regular ball shaped ones and festive cupcake ones. Drop it in bath water and it dissolves to release wonderful moisturizing properties. Soo Cute! And the staff is really helpful if you have any questions about their products. Check it out

The second package was from Sweet Spot Labs, it's um for "intimate grooming" not really grooming, but washing. I love their tag line "You use WHAT? On your Where?". Or "You don't wash your hair with toothpaste?" I thought well no I wouldn't. I remember those summer's eve commercials where the girl asks her mom if she ever gets that not so fresh feeling. Being a kid at the time I thought what the heck does that mean? Well I've had that feeling and thus bought some summers eve. Sweet Spot takes it one step further developing products that are designed to work in closer harmony with the special requirements of your sweet spot. They are full of essential oils that naturally detoxify, soothe and balance our sweet spots. Plus I love saying sweet spot. I've never used these before either. Check it out.

I'll let you know what I think.

Letita

Brazilian Blowout

Letita, what do u know about the brazilian blowout hair treatment? -Lore

Hi Lore,

Brazilian blowout is a hair treatment that creates a protective protein layer around the hair shaft to eliminate frizz and smooth the cuticle.The hair is washed with a clarifying shampoo, solution is applied, the hair is dried and then flat ironed to seal in the solution, the solution is rinsed out, a conditioning mask is applied and then blow dried. The entire treatment takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on your hair, according to Andy LeCompe owner of Andy LeCompe Salon where many celebrities get their hair treatment including Nicole Ritchie.

What's different about this hair treatment is that it doesn't completely straighten the hair compared to other straightening methods. It can be worn wavy or completely straight cutting down your blow drying time and eliminating frizz, while still maintaining your hair's body and volume.

A big difference is there is no line of demarcation, this treatment washes away as new hair grows, with other straightening treatments new hair grows in wavy or curly while the treated hair is still bone straight. That would be awkward! There should be no noticeable difference between new hair and treated hair.

This sounds great doesn't it? Treatments start at about $350 and can last up to 3 months. The Brazilian Blowout is a brand name and can be misused, make sure you are actually getting a certified Brazilian blowout and not another type of hair straightening treatment. Go to www.brazilianblowout.com

Hope this helps!

Letita