Darcy's Botanicals

Site Updates in Progress

2010-09-09T00:53:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have had our web programmer working on our site to install much needed updates and other site additions.

Sorry for any confusion this may have caused:(

We are trying to make some wonderful new additions to our site to make it waaaayyyy more informative for everyone.

We will spend the next few weeks adding some how-to slideshows, video tutorials, blog updates, and photos for the image gallery.

UPDATE: Looks like it's going to be another long day! I have to go in and manually add coupon codes, old site settings, etc. All of this is before I can upload the new site additions. If you do encounter any problems on the site, please email us so that can take care of you:) We appreciate your patience during this time:)

Thank you as always for your patience and support!

Organization Time!!!!

2009-03-21T12:33:00.005-04:00

Yes, it's that time again. Time to get organized and be really serious about it this time:) I have enlisted the help of one of my really great friends (Debbie) to help me organize my work space. Debbie just happens to be a personal organizer and a good one at that.

Since I have been getting more buzz and more orders for our products, I had to find a way to make looking for everything more productive and efficient. I realized that I was spending way more time searching for everything, instead of mixing, preparing, & packaging products. I was also ordering the same things twice (yes, I have that much stuff) because I had no real system in place to locate everything quickly. So something had to give.

Here's a picture of some of the progress that has been made so far. This is my packing station:) I have to work with the limited amount of space I have available. This is actually in my den/office space area. The bag hanging on the rack is a laundry bag filled with the eco-shreds that I use for packing!!! This idea came from Debbie.

I will post the pics of how we organized all of my containers as soon as we get them labeled, etc. We spent the weekend building the shelves (thanks to my brother Ken as well) in the garage area for all of my containers. It looks soooo nice already!

We also organized all of my essential oils in alphabetically ordered containers. This alone has saved me some much needed valuable time. My butters are in there place and the oils are all in one. We are also organizing my herbs, emulsifiers, preservatives & additives, etc. I could truly go on and on, but do not want to bore you. LOL

Now it's your turn to get organized. Where would you like to start?

Brazilian Ucuuba Butter Revisited???

2009-02-08T01:01:00.003-05:00

Years ago (probably 2 or so ago) I purchased a small quantity of Ucuuba Fruit Butter from one of my favorite suppliers. When I opened the jar, the stuff smelled really earthy and smokey to me. I immediately made a mental note that the odor of this butter would probably be very hard to mask. I then shoved it back into my supply cabinet of products that would go dusty and never thought about it again until recently.

I visit one supplier's site and see that this butter is getting rave reviews. I immediately wanted to kick myself for not testing some recipes with it first before shelving it away.

It is said to be a very moisturizing and non-greasy butter for use in soaps, hair products, lotions, and candles (due to it's somewhat waxy nature). According to Amazonia Preciosa by Surya, "it (has) the ability to hydrate and shape curls whilst controlling frizz. A google search shows that it may be trending towards products for curly hair. Interesting, huh?

So now I have to place yet another order for the butter (because the other one is really old) so I can test it further. I can't wait to soap it and try is as a hair butter:)

I have already tried just about every type of Amazon oil & butter I could think of thanks to The Body Shop. If you can get your hands on some, also try the muru muru butter, cupuacu butter, and other precious oils from Brazil.

I have a few goodies that I need to release that will contain Acai Fruit Oil, Tucuma butter and more. Life is grand:)

Darcy's Botanicals Website Coming Soon!

2009-02-08T00:38:00.004-05:00

I am STILL listing all of my products on my official site (www.darcysbotanicals.com) as well as etsy. I am so thrilled that my site is finally secured and ready for me to load everything. I have been at the mercy of web designers for over (2) months now. The final designer, did an excellent job and I am forever grateful to him.

My intent was to start out with my dot com site. Since I had some web design work that needed to be done first, I opened an etsy shop in October '08. I didn't officially list and start selling until the 2nd week of December '08. In less than a month's time, I have garnered to date a total of 38 sales!!! Which is pretty good if I must say so myself. They say everything happens for a reason. I am grateful to etsy because it gave me a medium for getting my name out to the public.

I can now appreciate the delays with my main site now:) Many, many thanks to all the folks that purchased and liked our treats. I am just as grateful to you as well for allowing a single mom to be able to pursue her dream.

Apricot Kernel Hair & Body Bar

2008-02-28T20:23:00.003-05:00

This is a picture of the very first soap I made years ago. I was so proud of how it came out considering. It was hard for me to part with them.

100% Pure Coconut Cleansing Bar

2008-02-28T19:52:00.004-05:00

Look at my beautiful 100% Pure Coconut Cleansing Bars. Yep, you heard me correctly:) I used only (1) oil with a small amount of Island Musk fragrance that I had on hand.

Contrary to the belief that too much coconut oil can be drying, these have a soft creamy lather that leaves my hands and body feeling moisturized. I superfatted soap at a higher percentage to offset the drying effects.

My daughter & I have been using it quite a bit and it has become one of my favorites:)