Marmalade Hills Blog

Serenity now! - or how I discovered new use for Noise Cancelling Headphones.

2012-01-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

After another successful, yet long night by myself with the kiddos, I decided that my little trick on staying calm during second half of the day, while multitasking house duties and listening to non-stop rumblings of my kids, cannot go down in history undocumented. I really hope that I am helping somebody out there and not just making a fool of myself by admitting that I am the last parent on planet Earth to find out about this unconventional use of noise cancelling headphones (NCH).
Somewhere between making family dinner, feeding my super picky eaters, and then listening to their never ending stories or blaring TVs in different rooms, very often I feel like I am ready to put myself on timeout. Don’t forget, mommy always gets to eat last, so she is usually pretty irritated or ready to collapse by the time she gets to finally sit down and eat. By about 7pm I just can’t take all the noise and new set of dirty dishes anymore. End of the day can be especially draining, when every minute feels like an hour. You just can’t wait for all the noises to subside.

Recently my husband has been traveling many time zones back and forth, and sometimes in a matter of one week, which made it very hard for him to recover from jet lag. During one of those trips, another experienced traveler recommended NCH to help with background noise fatigue (who would have thought, right?) and help with jet lag. Guess what my hubby has found under the tree this year? I have never tried NCH before, but the minute I put them on, I loved the feeling.

One lucky night they ended up laying around the kitchen and I decided to put them on. It felt nice! Not to say that I don’t enjoy energetic voices of my kids, but after a long day it is hard for my brain to not be on pins and needles from any louder than usual noise (beauty of getting old, I assume). That’s where the headphones go on my head and stay there until kids go to bed. They work like a charm! If you are interested you can read more about the technology here. Basically, the headphones do not make you deaf, but they tremendously cut down on the unnecessary background and white-noises. You hear what you need to hear and everything sounds further away. It makes you more relaxed because your brain doesn’t need to process every sound. It also cuts down on the need to elevate your voice when talking to your kids: you do not need to compete with TVs, running water, pump on your fish tank, dog and other things. Result - I feel rested and calm all night, and can even get some work done after kids go to bed. I am seriously addicted to NCH now. No wonder they are even recommended for autistic kids who are often very sound sensitive.

Now, please tell me that I am not the last parent on the planet Earth who discovered this!? And if you decide to try this technique, let me know how you like it and if it worked for you!

Till next time,
Liana.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all! I hope you all had great holidays and a happy New Year celebration. I enjoyed meeting many interesting people over the holidays and going to new places. Last two weeks of the year we spent with kids, looking into their eyes, absorbing their voices, and making fun projects.
Marmalade Hills had another successful year and it is now ready for a bigger growth. I am very humbled and thankful for all the love and interest that we have received. Slowly but surely the routine is getting back on track: filling new orders, working on new leads and organizing my life to be more efficient, more productive and more happy. So this year I decided to concentrate my attention on things that are important and not always urgent. Which led me to my first official resolution list, that so far, I’m proud to say, I am following pretty good. So here is what I have lined up for myself to conquer this year (I will try to blog about every individual resolution and my progress on it):
1. Sleep at least 7 hours a day
2. Physical exercise at least 30 min every day
3. Have salad every day
4. Double our vacation time
5. Have timely physicals and other routine checks for ALL members of our family (including the dog...and sometimes our fish....sigh...)
6. Spend less time on Social Networking and research
7. Develop and launch new products
8. Update and improve MH studio and equipment
9. More frequent blogging
10. Learn 5 new things; do 5 new activities or projects
11. Be more understanding, talk less and listen more
12. Be humble and happy with what I have and who I am

This is my dirty dozen that needs to be polished and perfected this year. I really hope that some of these routines will become an integral part of my live.
Do you have a resolutions list? What would you like to improve in your life? Share some tricks and tips on how to stick to the resolutions list throughout the year.

Looking forward to what you guys have to say!

Till next time,
Liana.

Cyber Monday!

2011-11-27T19:41:00.001-08:00

As holiday season approaching its culmination, many of us are still not through with our shopping lists. All this running around and still missing something? No worries, I’ve been saving our sweetest deal for cyber-Monday. Are you ready!? The best deal on the Internet for a very limited time: not only do you save 15% on any order above $50 but we will also pay for your shipping …and I may even throw in a little surprise to make your holidays extra merry!

Few IMPORTANT details: this offer is good only on Monday 11-28 from 7am to 3pm EST. 15% discount will be refunded to you after the transaction is complete (we are not set up to automatically subtract discounts at check out at this time, so I will have to manually issue a refund). After an extremely busy holiday season all products are in super limited quantities.

Happy shopping!
Liana.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T07:32:00.001-08:00

Is everyone ready to eat lots of yummy food this Thursday? ...and for the rest of the year, for that matter :) Well, I am! My DH just got back form a three week trip, Marmalade Hills is on its last stretch of holiday events and kids are off school, so we are very eager to enjoy this time as a family!
This time of the year, just like everyone else, I think about what I am thankful for the most.... and my list is getting longer yet more profound and condensed. Contradiction? Maybe, but not when you LOVE what you do for a living. So here is my humble list of things that I am forever grateful for:
1. Family - because other things may change us, but we start and end with family. We are one team, forever. Supporting, teaching and helping each other.
2. My relatively new friends, because if you think about it, I’ve only been here for short twelve years and I’ve met some amazing people... you know, those who after getting to know them, you think: “I want to be like her or him”.
3. Marmalade Hills - my third baby, that allowed me to see the world in different light; to have my creative outlet; to set my priorities straight; to do one, and sometimes, many tough and scary/unknown things every day; to make me feel accomplished and happy. It took me to so many new places, introduced me to so many different and interesting people who I would have never met at a “9 to 5” job... I know, I know it sounds old and cliche-ish, but it is very true and I get it now.
4. Great people (again and again) - MH two right hands (Christine and Nadiya), MH followers, neighbors, fellow vendors, wholesale customers, honest, curious, enthusiastic, eager, daring, creative, hard working, exciting and inspiring!
5. And last but not least, people who rolled their eyes every time I would go on-and-on about my new course in life that MH was taking me on. They played a very special part as well, by giving me more fuel for resilience, focus and desire to succeed no matter what! ...and I am not slowing down any time soon :)

Cheers, dear readers! Wishing you and your loved ones peace and happiness this Thanksgiving! THANK YOU all for being a part of MH life!

Time to eat my pumpkin pie, so until next time,
Liana.

Pumpkins

2011-10-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend as I was searching the net for unique decorating ideas for Marmalade Hills' upcoming private event, I came across some gorgeous pictures of metallic pumpkins.
And today, there I was: driving to my nearest Michael's to buy art supplies for my project!
It is amazing what a can of a spray paint can do! So I decided to spray some extra rocks and a pine cone that I found in my yard... Kids LOVE their new treasures - "real" gold and silver nuggets. I think tomorrow, I will add a few gold nuggets to their collection :)

I can't wait to put the final arrangement all together!

Till next time,
Liana.

Introductory Offer + BONUS + Free Shipping

2011-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ready for the best offer yet?! Introducing first part of our new facial care line - Facial Cleansers. These are truly life changing products, in my humble opinion. They changed my life and my skin never felt this great before! Best part, I am not afraid of wearing makeup anymore, because I know that it will be gently, effortlessly and flawlessly removed at the end of each day. These products have been already selling like hot cakes to my close friends and now they are going life on our website. You have only three days (09/16 through 09/19) to use our generous offer, all you need to do is place a $25 order on our website and receive Facial Cleansers Duo FREE! Simultaneously, enjoy 50% introductory discount on our brand new products and last, but not least, FREE Shipping!

Hope you'll love these new products as much as I do!

Till next time,
Liana.

It's September.

2011-09-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

The month of September, for some reason, has always been a month of life changing events for me: 7th anniversary of my daddy’s passing on 9/08, only four days later we celebrate my oldest daughter’s 7th birthday, and on 9/11 we celebrate my 12 year anniversary of arriving to the United States and remember all the lives that were lost during the terror attacks 10 years ago. During this emotional time I have so many thoughts racing through my mind, so many flashbacks. I feel sad, happy and overwhelmingly grateful for my amazing and supportive family, my kids, my super-hero husband who brought me to this great country and let me be me.

This interesting chain of events in my life is strikingly revealing and very true - life MUST go on. Sooooo, this weekend we have added one more family member and one more anniversary to our busy family. Please welcome our new baby girl - Melody. She is a brown 13 week old Boston Terrier. She is so loving, smart, super friendly and the cutest little pup I’ve ever seen! My 7 year old daughter, who knew every dog in the neighborhood since she was two and wanted a dog since she was 3, finally got her wish this year. Unfortunately we didn’t not get approved for adoption, so we found a great local breeder that had her last litter of pups before her retirement. My daughter had no idea where we taking her. She had great guesses though, everything from fashion show, Cedar Point to hockey game :)
Kids are ecstatic! As well as everybody else in the family. I can guarantee that you will be seeing more puppy related posts and pictures on MH blog :)

Remember - never forget, reflect and keep moving forward.

Hope you have a great weekend!
Liana.

Free Shipping + BONUS

2011-09-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

As part of our pre-holiday campaign, we would like to make it easier and more convenient for you to get introduced to our best selling Bath and Body products. All you need to do is make a $25 purchase from our online store this weekend (09/09-09/11) and receive beautiful starter set with 8 various Marmalade Hills products and scents, that include our emulsifying body scrubs, silky body wash, olive oil soaps, shea butter and lotions! Best part - you do not have to pay for shipping, because we would LOVE to send it to you at no charge! Yes, yes, $50 orders get two sets! (while supplies last).

Enjoy!

Back to school!

2011-09-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

After a very active last week of summer and fun Labor Day weekend kids were super excited to hop on their buses to go to school. I love my kids to pieces but I was ready to get back to normal work hours and kids’ normal bed-time schedule. With addition of many new activities for kids and new personal and business goals, I know that we have a VERY busy year ahead of us, which I am very much looking forward to.

Today is my first real work day in many months. It feels great to get up bright and early, have my coffee in the peaceful and quiet atmosphere and work in long stretches without constant interruptions. So lets start with tying up some loose ends. Here is what you can expect in the coming months: a) Look out for Fall newsletter in your mailboxes in a couple of weeks with our Holiday show schedule and list of new retail locations. b) Pre-Holiday SALE is in order as well, keep your eyes and ears peeled for this one, as it is going to be BIG! c) Launch of new amazing facial care products in a couple of days and a great introductory offer!

Now without further ado I would like to find out our winner of well overdue Green Breeze fair raffle that was held in July in downtown Birmingham, MI. Eight people have signed up for our raffle and newsletter in the following order: 1 - Patricia D, 2 - L. Rose, 3 - Luci P, 4 - Carrie C, 5 - Marianne S, 6 - Grace S, 7 - Vonna T, 8 - Justine S. As always I have used Random number generator and here is what I’ve got:

Congratulations Carrie! You are a winner of our raffle. Thanks so much for stopping by at our booth, please email me at liana {at} marmaladehills {dot} com to claim your prise and provide me with your shipping address. Carrie is getting a freshly whipped jar of our body butter of Carrie's choice! Just in time for cooler fall/winter months.

Till next time,
Liana.

Girl Power!

2011-09-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I had a chance to visit a very special place for a very special cause. It was a Grosse Point Shores Yacht Club. The event was organized by Michigan Women’s Foundation and benefited local organizations that help young women and girls. To add to the spa ambiance of the day, Marmalade Hills donated beautiful gifts to all the guests who came out to show their support. Afterwords I was able to explorer the yacht club, take some pictures of the beautiful weather, drive down the magnificent and historic Lake Shore Rd. and even take a peek at one of the mentions inside, thanks to the estate sale that was going on that day :) Here are few pictures of that day...

{gorgeous afternoon}

{it felt like I was on vacation far away from home}

{30 or 40 beautiful sailboats were scattered along the shore}

Magical!

I sure do hope to cross path with all the ladies again!

Till next time,
Liana.

Updated on 09/28/11

and here is one more picture that I got my hands on just recently Liana and Carolyn Cassin, President and CEO of Michigan Women's Foundation.

Skin care essentials - Tone.

2011-08-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

To achieve naturally glowing complexion it is crucial to follow four important steps: cleanse (surface cleanse - every day and deep cleanse - once a week), exfoliate (once a week), tone (as much as your heart desires), and moisturize (from one to two and even three times per day depending on you skin type). I have talked about cleansing here and exfoliation here.

Now it is time to shed some light on the most neglected step in facial care regiment - tone. Use of toners is a connecting link between process of cleansing and moisturizing that helps to achieve ultimate goal - beautiful and radiant skin. Toners help to restore pH level of you skin, enhance your skin tone, tighten pores, remove leftover soap or oil residue, and prepare your skin for final step - moisturizing. How it works: pure water has a neutral pH, which is close to 7.0, when natural pH of our skin is slightly acidic and varies between 5.0 and 6.0. Hence, washing your face even with plain warm water, guarantees to throw off your pH balance, and cause all kinds of discomforts. After applying pH balanced botanical toners you will not only return your skin to its natural state but you will also get more out of your moisturizer! Why? In order for the moisturizer to deliver all of its benefits, your skin has to be prepared to properly absorb them. By removing the leftover residue from a cleanser you are allowing your skin to take-in all of the natural goodness of your moisturizer. Additional botanical ingredients will provide extra shot of natural vitamins and antioxidants that are irreplaceable components in any healthy cell function.
Marmalade Hills Facial Fusions have been especially formulated to be gentle on delicate facial tissue and with pH balance of about 5.0 to help restore natural pH balance of your skin. Base ingredients of our toners: gentle and nourishing botanical distillates, distilled water, natural astringent - witch hazel and healing aloe juice.
Botanical distillates are usually obtained by steam distillation from aromatic plants. During such distillation essential oils will float on top of the surface, leaving behind the watery distillate. Botanical distillates contain diluted essential oils and many of their therapeutic qualities, making them especially skin friendly. Another important ingredient that is used in every Marmalade Hills toner is Green Tea Extract. We love using Green Tee Extract in our formulations as it naturally contains the chemical ECGC - an antioxidant proven 200 times more powerful than Vitamin E. Antioxidants are extremely important in any anti-aging and healthy skin care, as they are capable of inhibiting oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation produces free radicals - micro elements that contribute to cell destruction and therefore aging of the skin, as well as abnormal mutations, therefore creating favorable environment for deceases to form and overtake our bodies.
After the water/witch hazel/aloe/green tea base is created we customize our toners according to skin types, by adding different plant distillates and infusing them with extensive variety of botanical extracts of Rosemary, Lavender, Rose, Nettle and Ginko biloba extract, just to name a few. In the end we create 100% natural, gentle, nourishing and soothing botanical toners that work in unison with your body and help to maintain not only healthy glow on the surface but also in deepest layers of your skin!

Hope you find this post useful. Take care of your skin and it will thank you!

Till next time,
Liana.

4th of July

2011-07-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today is the first real Monday after a relaxing couples of weeks.... Relaxation, actually, occurred only on the weekend of 4th of July, other 12 days we were fighting all kinds of summer bugs like herpangina - in my 2.5 year old, and tonsillitis - in my 7 year old. Phewwww, I’m glad it is finally over... I hope. I am way behind on my schedule and will need to step up our Holiday production. Such is life, no complains here.
Anyways, back to the post... I just wanted to share with you some of the beautiful pictures we took during our trip to Michigan’s west coast. We started going to the Grand Haven area a few years ago: conveniently located on beautiful, sandy beaches of Lake Michigan, this gem is only 3 hours away, which is a BIG plus when you travel with small children. We fell in love with it the minute we stepped on the beach. I never knew that lakes could have white sandy beaches! Lake Michigan has many beaches. The region is often referred to as the "Third Coast" of the United States, after those of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The sand is soft and off-white due to its high quartz content.
We have spent most of our time on the beach and browsing downtown Grand Haven. At night we set in our beach chairs and watched musical fountain and fireworks. Kids were ecstatic! As always, we had an amazing time as a family, surrounded by beautiful nature.

Hope your 4th of July break was great. Till next time,
Liana.

Recent update: little did I know, three days after our short vacation was over, my little guys picked up tonsillitis from his older sister. He was miserable for another 5 days. Crazy times!

Skin Care Essentials - Exfoliate

2011-07-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

As part of our “essential skin care steps” blog series here comes today’s post about second important step on your way to a beautiful and healthy complexion. You can read about first step here.
Exfoliation - a simple and effective beauty treatment which artificially encourages the gentle removal of surface skin cells. Our body sloughs off up to 500,000,000 dead skin cells every day - by actively assisting this process we help cell renewal and regeneration. Exfoliation actually lifts of the top layer of dead skin cells, dirt and sebum, revealing new layer of young looking skin beneath. This stimulates the blood circulation in the dermis, which in turn feeds the newborn skin cells more efficiently and rids the area of waste products. As the skin ages, the production of of new cells slows down, often leading to dull skin tone and uneven texture.
Exfoliation can also assist with some other common problems like flaky or ashy skin or enlarged facial pores. Dermatologist Susan Evans, MD, recommends exfoliation to help fight enlarged facial pores. “Pores appear enlarged when they are clogged, dilated, or infected, and that's why the best way to keep your pores small and less visible is to keep your skin clean all the time. Often the pores get clogged with dead skin cells, dirt, and oil, which makes them appear more prominent. That’s why regular skin exfoliation is essential, in order to remove the dead skin cells and to allow your skin to produce newer, healthier cells”. (WebMD article)
There are many great natural exfoliants that can be found on the natural market today. Most popular of them are sugar and salt. We create our emulsifying body polishes with pure cane sugar and Dead Sea and Epsom salts, with addition of extra conditioning butters and oils. Our double whipped body polishes/scrubs are not messy and not runny - they are always ready whenever you are.
It is recommended to exfoliate at least once a week and even more frequently during summer, to shed off extra dirt that we accumulate from spending more time outside, and to rid of sun-damaged cells. Quick tip: depending on the personal preferences body polishes can be applied on dry skin to achieve more friction and exfoliation, or lightly damp skin, to insure easy glide for sensitive skin.
Note: salt body polishes may sting sensitive skin as well as cuts and bruises.

For facial exfoliation, we recommend using Marmalade Hills clay masques, as clays provide gentle exfoliation and deep cleansing without applying any pressure.

Hope you find this post useful. Take care of your skin and it will thank you!

Till next time,
Liana.

"Love u more" Mondays.

2011-06-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

NOTE: all Facebook giveaways have been postponed until further notice.

Love it or hate it, the Monday is here! Life is back to normal and we all have have 5 days of hard work ahead of us before we can come out and play or just regroup and concentrate on things that have been put off for far too long. So I decided to create a fun and very unselfish tradition to cheer up a special person in your life who, in your opinion, needs and deserves a “little break” or a “treat”. It will be called “Love u more” Mondays and it will be held every Monday. The process is extremely simple: first “Like” us on Facebook and than look for a post every Monday asking for a quick story about your friend who in your opinion deserves a little cheer. Leave your comment under the post by 11:59 pm EST on that same Monday and let me know which one of your friends and why he/she needs our pat on a shoulder and a virtual hug.
I will use www.Random.org to pick a winner. Winner picks the prize from our store and he/she will be contacted via Facebook messaging for shipping and special note information. The package will be carefully prepared, include a note … and maybe a little something unexpected :)

Lets make it fun and invite friends to participate! Remember, what goes around comes around!

Till next time,
Liana.

Carry on with a smile.

2011-05-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

I took this picture yesterday night when the house was quiet and calm, during those precious two hours when kids go to bed and all noises subside. Just like any other busy family houses, most of the time our house is filled with toys, all kinds of school projects, dirty dishes, loads of laundry and kids laughing, fighting, crying or playing in the background. You wake up in the morning and it starts all over again. Sounds familiar? I bet it does! Today is a start of a new week, new round of chores and endless projects, so I want to pass around a few thoughts to keep in mind: #1 – Optimists get the last laugh, according to a new study that shows their hearts stay healthy longer than those of grumps. The recent study says, pessimistic people may be more prone to developing habits and problems that cut life short, such as smoking, obesity and hypertension.
#2 – Numerous studies over the decades have shown that responsibility strengthens the immune system (check out Chapter 10, Stress, in Matt Ridley's "Genome")

Wake up, smile and say "Hello" to Monday :)

Can you hear wedding bells?

2011-05-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Wedding is one of the most important moments in persons' life: memorable, beautiful and happy. It is a very special day that you share with very special people in your life and thoughtful token of appreciation to your guests is always a great idea to have. Allow us to introduce Marmalade Hills' most popular wedding favor item: massage/spa candle. Elegant, pampering and practical, it is a perfect gift for anyone with skin. Made with soy wax, creamy shea and mango butter, nourishing jojoba oil and extra vitamin E, to moisturize and provide extra slip during massage. Like how it sounds? Just wait till you try it!

Show feedback

2011-05-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was at one of the most exciting shows I have ever been to so far. It is an annual Boutique Show that has been organized and hosted by the sisterhood of Shaarey Zedek congregation in Southfield, MI. It is definitely a five star show on my list, right after the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. Two shows are very different though and required different amount of time and money to participate. Renegade Chicago was absolutely crazy, we had barely enough time to have a snack. We had an amazing crowd and a ton of sales but we had to pay for the hotel, the quite expensive booth fee, gas and had to pack and unpack every night and morning (this part was pretty exhausting). The Boutique Show at Shaarey Zedek was in a beautifully set up hall with lots of natural light, beautiful architecture, high quality vendors, and a celebrity speaker. The very fair booth fee included 8’ tables and linens, breakfast and yummy lunch. The fact that I didn’t have to drive far, nor pay for the hotel was another great bonus. But the best thing about this show was making great local connections: meeting people who teach at my school district, who shop at the same grocery stores, and who have already heard of us and had purchased Marmalade Hills products before from our local retail locations. Oh yeah, and listening to Patty Stanger speak was a blast - she cracked me up!
Here are a few highlights of that day:

It was a beautiful day outside and lots of women came to shop! The sea of cars was spilling over onto the neighboring streets.

Bottom line: I had great time, met new people and spread the word about Marmalade Hills. Hoping to be back next year!

Till next time,
Liana.

What is your favorite facial moisturizer and why do you love it?

2011-04-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to formulate a natural facial care line and even though MH already offers many wonderful skin care essentials, I am working on some new formulations for facial moisturizer, gentle wash, make up remover and an eye creme. I love playing with new ingredients, researching various studies and tweaking my formulas. However, I am a wrong person when it comes to moisturizers. I have been using MH Glow facial serum for a few years now and I am not used to anything else, especially oil-water emulsions (that's what creams and lotions are), they just have a different feel.
For the past few weeks I have made quite a few trial batches of facial products and tried multiple products from leading natural facial care brands. So far I didn't like any of the above. I am still looking for that perfect one. So I was hoping that maybe you can give me some clues.

Please got to our discussion board and lets solve this important world problem!

Leave a comment and I will send you a surprise gift ♥ :)

Liana.

Get to know us a little better

2011-03-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had a pleasure talking to Robin - freelance business writer for one of our industry's leading suppliers and role model, Debbie Mae from Wholesale Supplies Plus. It was one of those Sundays with my kids screaming on background and Robin having difficulties with her computer. But the interview came out great and I couldn't have sum everything up better myself!

Thank you Debbie and Robin for an amazing article!

Liana.

New year. New fear. New life.

2011-01-15T16:44:00.000-08:00

My long overdue and accordingly lengthy blog post is finally here. Where to begin? Well, if you have been following our Facebook page you probably know that after 6 long years of half-time college, work and raising kids, my husband (and all our family, for that matter) have finally graduated Summa Cum Laude back in October. That is exactly when we have decided to participate in our first major Midwest trade show. We have been accepted and began the preparations.
Very quickly I came to realize that I will never be able to meet my own expectations by doing everything on my own. My good friend Sofia, who some of you have met at the shows, had started her carrier as a psychologist and had moved to another side of the town. Coincidentally or not, a few months earlier I have met a local talented MI beading artist who also had a great vibe about her. I had purchased some very beautiful pieces from her, she had bought from me and, long story short, I felt comfortable enough to invite her to my humble studio and offer her to be a part of Marmalade Hills small but very passionate team of my mom and I :) Christine is an amazing person and a very dedicated Marketing Director at Marmalade Hills. Before I get into many details of my recent life experiences, I have to say that I am forever grateful to these girls, Sofia and Christine, for helping Marmalade Hills succeed this past year and doing it with such enthusiasm! You are the best!! XO
It was still pre-Christmas time when I spotted a small spot on my torso that would just not go away. After a month of observation I mentioned it to my dermatologist who offered to wait another three weeks for it to go away and come and see her if it didn’t. We have completed all our Christmas shows with Sofia, but the spot was still there... Now, let me take a brisk step back in time: 6.5 years earlier, four days before our older daughter was born, my dad passed away from melanoma. Those were very, very dark times, thinking of which still bring chills on a warm day.
So, a month and a half after first noticing the spot, and I was back at my dermatologist’s office, bright and early in the morning few days before Christmas. My doctor was casual and showed no concern; she just said that we will take “it” out because “it” was there for too long. “I’ll call you in a week if there is something to report,” she said. I was pretty sure it was nothing. Why would it be? I’m just 30. My body is strong, I don’t have fair skin, I don’t have many moles (like my dad)… Less than a week later we got a phone call from the nurse, it was basal cell carcinoma (BCC): non-melanoma skin cancer. Even though it is a very slow growing and non-invasive, non-life threatening type of cancer that some people don’t even consider as cancer, that word put me in a complete shock. After losing my dad and hearing so many stories about people’s feelings when finding out about their diagnosis, I had NO idea how scary it could be.
If you know me and my husband personally, you probably know that we follow every interest of ours with great passion. Same was for cancer. We got on Google, we got anti-cancer books from the library and just spent hours of talking about science. The only way to fight fear is knowledge. And getting more knowledgeable in cancer mechanics did help. Although all those vibrant pictures on the Internet did raise nerve-wracking suspicions about melanoma and my certain moles.
And there I was: first week of 2011 at my dermatologist’s office, once again. We had to do a re-treatment for the BCC and also a MUCH closer full-body check. When I went in, I knew that I had one spot that I was concerned about the most (I saw a similar one on Google image search). Doctor said: we should take a closer look at it. One week later I got a call: it was dysplastic mole. For some doctors it means nothing, and for others – early stage of melanoma. A very, very early stage (if it is). It takes 5 to 20 years for cancer to develop into melanoma as we know it, and only 1 in 10,000 cell will turn into cancerous.
Even though it was a very scary time for us and there are still many full-body exams to come, we will come out on top in the long run. You can turn almost any situation into an opportunity or into a disaster and we are going to make the best out of our situation. As of January 2011 our family have adapted an anti-cancer diet and life style that will help our kids to develop right habits for life and that will make us healthier and happier people overall. Anti-cancer life style includes many good ol’ practices like exercising, meditation and healthy diet that are important for every person who wants to live a long and healthy life. If you wish to understand on cellular level why it was always important to live a healthy life style, I strongly recommend you read or listen to this book: “Anticancer: a new way of life.” by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, Ph.D. It explains so many things in a very comprehensive style and points out major flaws in present western diet and life style. This book is full of precise scientific references that make it even more fascinating.

Thank you for making it to the end of this post! And I hope I was able to refuel your New Year resolutions ;)

Health and happiness all!
Liana.

Giving thanks!

2010-11-24T18:47:00.000-08:00

Another Thanksgiving is upon us and with it, comes another reason to slow down, count all your blessings and enjoy a company of people who have been with you through thick and thin: your family and friends. So here I am, with a wine glass in my hand and a full heart in my chest, writing this post to all Marmalade Hills’ followers, fans, friends and supporters....
Coming from struggling, post-Soviet Eastern Europe, being the first generation of immigrants in this amazing country and on top of it all, living our dream - there is a lot to be thankful for, and since this is not an Oscar night I will not go into details ;) I tried to dig out my last year’s post and I did! I found it so touching, full of hopes and dreams. Today I am happy to report that one year later we are stronger and better than I thought we would be, a year ago! And it is all thanks to you, because you are that little extra push that I need in the lazy afternoon or past midnight. I want to bring you more exciting ingredients, more innovative natural products and just more positive attitude! Everything is possible if you surround yourself with the right people who are bold, curious, exciting, daring and challenging. This type of people are essential in business and everyday life to share your happy moments and to support you in rough seas. Along the way it was interesting to see how some people, who called themselves “friends”, disappeared into darkness and how new “strangers” came to my rescue. I have learned so much and I am forever grateful for every person in my life who taught me a lesson.

Keep watching Marmalade Hills blossom and know that if not for You there would be no us!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Liana.

The Best Pulled Pork Recipe

2010-10-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I have rediscovered my slow cooker. It was sadly sitting in my garage for years until the day I was introduced to The Best pulled pork sandwich ever! I have been making it almost every week now for my family and volunteered to cook it for my friends a few times. It is extremely easy and unbelievably delicious... and as always, kid friendly! This recipe has been unofficially circulating among my friends and now I have found a few minutes to share it on my blog. Here it goes:

3 lb pork shoulder (or butt, apparently it is the same thing, according to my butcher)
1 (one) 12 oz bottle of your favorite root beer
1 green pepper sliced (I love using green pepper with meat)
1 medium onion sliced
seasoning to taste (I rub meat with Kosher salt and fresh black pepper)
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Additionally you will need sandwich buns and creamy coleslaw.... I am drooling already and I just made it last week :)

Rub your meat with seasonings on all sides. Place it into the slow cooker, cover meat with sliced onions and peppers, pour in the root beer. Fire up your slow cooker to high and leave it to cook for 6-7 hours, turning your meat once after first 3 hours of cooking. Meat should be falling apart with no effort by the end of cooking time.

Take your meat out on a large, flat plate and start separating meat from fat. Discard the fat, cooked vegetables and cooking juices. Shred good meat with a fork and return it to the slow cooker. Add BBQ sauce and mix well. Let the mixture sit in slow cooker on medium for a few more minutes for sauce to incorporate well. Turn off or leave on low until ready to serve.
The only thing that could make this sandwich better is Bloody Mary!

Enjoy! Let me know how you like it ;)

Liana.

Renegade Chicago 2010 Report, Raffle and such

2010-09-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Less than two weeks ago my friend Sofia and I drove to Chicago to participate in 8th Annual Renegade Craft Fair. I had high expectations about the show and OH MY! where they exceeded! We got lucky with beautiful weather and an awesome corner spot, right behind the Prick Cushion (heard lots of funny comments over those two days, ha-ha!). The fair was amazing! The atmosphere was so relaxed and fun for people to shop and enjoy sunshine. Ice cold sangria, beer and wine were sold right on the street. The food along the Division street was delicious, I can still taste it in my mouth! The crowds were flowing non-stop through our booth, we were demonstrating our massage candles, people were friendly and we had barely enough time to run to the restrooms. It was great! Here are a few pictures of Sofia and I.
We started driving at 3AM and met sunrise somewhere on I-94... It was drizzling in the morning but the sky cleared as soon as we set up our booth.

Breakfast from Alliance Bakery was just amazing! Morning breakfast was the only time of rest after the opening it was just go, go, go. We had an awesome time and I just wish I had more time to shop for myself as there were so many talented artists! I LOVE my Etsy peeps!

NEWSLETTER: As some of you may already know, we have a raffle sheet sign up on every show and Renegade Chicago was no exception. I will contact all the participants about the raffle once. Only those who have checked the box for receiving updates in the future will be automatically signed up for our Newsletter and receive 15% off their next online order. Just mention RENEGADENEWS10 in notes to seller at checkout and difference will be refunded to you after your payment clears. If I have added you accidentally to our newsletter emailing list, no worries it is very easy to unsubscribe.

RAFFLE: I have 30 email addresses in our sign up sheets. I have numbered all the participants as they were added to the list and here it is as follows:
1-Aubrey N; 2-Allison F; 3-Jennifer Bon; 4-Keeley C; 5-Sarah C; 6-Christina I; 7-Anna A; 8-Janina W; 9-Carmen A; 10-Amanda G; 11-Jennifer Bos; 12-Mary H; 13-Kendall; 14-Emily L; 15-Victoria S; 16-Diana T; 17-Kerry L; 18-Jill H; 19-Dan B; 20-Meg R; 21-Beth H; 22-Kenyatta M-E; 23-Dorothy B; 24-Suzi W; 25-Pat S; 26-Ripal S; 27-Patricia C; 28-Jamie L; 29-Cwynar; 30-Miriam S.
The lucky winner will be getting 2 oz Ultimate Body Butter of your choice! And our Rose Hip Oil Lip Balm of your choice! With these items you will be ready to fight back brutal winter cold and dry skin! Good luck!

Drum roll please...

Congratulations Emily!! Please contact me at liana(at)marmaladehills(dot)com to provide me with your shipping address.

Thank you CHICAGO!♥♥♥ We will be back!♥♥♥

Till next time,
Liana.

Best Chicken Kabob Marinade

2010-08-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the best chicken kabob ever! It was tender, full of flavor and it was extremely easy to make (always a huge plus in my household). Although you do need a couple of special ingredients to replicate it, this recipe is a super easy, healthy dinner variation for kids and adults. It goes great with salads and almost any side dish. Did I mention that it doesn’t taste like any other grilled chicken you had this summer?
I have to say that I have borrowed this recipe from my friend’s mom when she made these kabobs for occasional summer gathering. I fell in love at the first bite!

To make 10 skewers of chicken kabobs you will need:

2 lbs of Amish boneless skinless chicken breast
4 medium size garlic cloves
1 bunch or so of chopped fresh cilantro (the more the better)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice*
1/2 cup olive oil (I used regular olive oil)
Kosher salt, seasoned salt and fresh grounded pepper to taste
1 tsp paprika
1 to 2 tbs sumac powder (this is a spice that is used in Arabic cuisine. If you ever had Fattoush salad it is that dark purple/red powder that gives this salad a distinct flavor. It is a must have ingredient in this recipe and you can buy it in any Middle-Eastern market or just ask a friend to share - that’s what I did ;)

In a large Tupperware or a bowl combine cubed chicken breast, crushed garlic (you can mince it but I prefer to use a garlic press), chopped cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings. Stir the mixture well and let it sit in a refrigerator for at least 4 to 5 hrs. (this pictures was taken before I added seasoning)
I usually start to marinate my meat in the morning to make sure it is ready to go on the grill around dinner time. DO NOT forget to soak your wooden skewers in water for at least one hour before they go on a hot grill.

Cooking time:
Preheat grill to high heat. Place kabobs on the grill and reduce heat to medium. Cook 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Or just ask your husband to cook them - that’s what I did ;)

*Hint: I have been making lots of fresh lemonade this summer and I have noticed that it is easier to store your lemons in a form of a lemon juice. Fresh bags of lemons never fit in my refrigerator and they usually have to hang around until one or even more lemons go bad. Now I juice two or three bags at once and store my lemons this way. With all this hot weather it runs out rather quickly: making lemonade for kids, lemon drop cocktails for parents, making marinades and even fingernail soaks.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my whole family did!

Till next time,
Liana.

Suhm-thing

2010-08-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

This month Marmalade Hills made its debut in Birmingham, MI. Our products are now available at Suhm-thing. Let me just tell you a few things about this one of a kind place. Suhm-thing is like a breath of fresh air for the same old line-up of traditional gift boutiques. It is young, hip and trendy with a lightly sophisticated twist. This store is full of affordable and unique gifts that you won’t find anywhere else! Their gifts range from jewelry and soaps to hats and baby toys. Even being their frequent visitor I can spend hours just browsing and trying things on. Owners, David and Michael, travel around the country to bring their local customers finest selection of gift options. They are are very down to earth and friendly people that I had an opportunity to do a brief interview with.

Liana: Tell us what you love about your neighborhood. What makes it special?
David: I love the fact that Birmingham is such a quaint and friendly town. People from all over come to walk the downtown area. Birmingham is also a frequent stop for vacationers and visitor from out of state. Most recently there has been a little bit of Hollywood walking the streets and shopping the stores. A few days ago we had Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley's younger sister shopping at Suhm-thing. His wife commented that we were one of her favorite stores in Birmingham. Usher was spotted doing shopping in a neighboring store.

Liana: Tell us a little bit about your store, what makes it unique?
David: We consider Suhm-thing an urban gift store. Our displays are made out of old wood crates, pallets and wooden spools. Our items are unique in that you will not find them at your local big box store. We've had repeated customers that tell us they love giving and receiving gifts from our store.

Liana: What are your customers like?
David: Right now during the peak summer months, we have a lot of tourists shopping in town. I love engaging in conversation with them to find out where they are from, who they are visiting and where they are going next. I also love the first time customers. When they leave the store many people say they loved being in it and it made them happy.

Liana: How do you stay connected with your customers?
David: Suhm-thing has a FaceBook page. We announce new items on FB when we receive them. Our regular customers come in once a week just to see what new items have arrived. A lot of our regulars just stop in to smell what candle is burning or to get a friendly hello from our employee, Jackie. Our most recent post on FB is for an event we are hosting on September 10, 2010 from 6 to 9 pm at Suhm-thing in colaboration with Marmalade Hills. Liana, the creator of Marmalade Hills products, is going to be our special guest that evening. Our customers will be able to shop in fun and relaxed atmosphere, get to meet Liana and experience all of her wonderful products right in the store.

Liana: What is your favorite Marmalade Hills product?
David: I love the massage candles and the bars of soap. The scents are amazing. I also personally use the Lip Balms and they make my lips feel smooth.

Hope you enjoyed this fun interview and please stop by Suhm-thing to meet me on September 10th. Also if you are around Dream Cruise on August 21st stop by and say Hi to Jackie, she is THE best!

Till next time,
Liana.

Safe Cosmetics Act - Why I wrote to my state representative.

2010-07-29T10:39:00.001-07:00

H.R. 5786, the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, was introduced into Congress on July 21, 2010, by Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc. As of the publication of this petition, the bill is new co-sponsored by Reps. John Conyers, D-Mi, Diane DeGette, D-Co, Alcee Hastings, D-Fl, Barbara Lee, D-Ca and James Moran, D-Va.
As a small business owner and safe skin care manufacturer I am deeply concerned about the results that this bill may bring into my life. This bill is absolutely certain to hurt businesses and entrepreneurial efforts in Michigan and across the country but it is very questionable whether it will bring any benefit to anyone anywhere. The backers of this bill may be well-meaning, but this bill has a very ambiguous body that needs many more changes before it is voted on. At Marmalade Hills we are certainly all for safe, natural and affordable cosmetics but we wish for our government to be reasonable, use real science and common sense instead of submitting to the mind numbing scare tactics and urban science.

What you can do: I ask you to write to your representative and let them know how much you enjoy unique, well made, skin loving natural skin care products created by small businesses like ours. You can find your representative by clicking here. You can also oppose this legislation by clicking here. I want you to make an informed decision so please consider reading following messages from reliable sources of our Indie Beauty Industry:
Indie Beauty Network
Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild
Essential Wholesale
Anne Marie of Bramble Berry
You can also read the actual bill here.

Thank you for your continuous support,
Liana.

Featured Product - Body Oils

2010-07-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Would you like to unlock a secret to supple and lustrous skin? Marmalade Hills 100% Natural Body Oils have one of a kind formula that consists of not one but multiple precious and luxurious natural oils which in combination with one another deliver ultimate, long lasting results. It would be fare to compare Marmalade Hills body oils to a power bar for your skin. They are packed with naturally occurring vitamins, antioxidants and various nutrients. Our body oils are absolutely irreplaceable when it comes to long lasting moisture, sun damage repair and supplying your body with needed nutrients to fight off free-radicals and reverse aging effects.

About the ingredients:
~According to University of Maryland Medical Center, grapes have been heralded for their medicinal and nutritional value for thousands of years. Egyptians ate grapes at least 6,000 years ago, and several ancient Greek philosophers praised the healing power of grapes - usually in the form of wine. European folk healers made an ointment from the sap of grapevines to treat skin and eye diseases. Grape leaves were used to stop bleeding, inflammation and pain. But grapes - or the chemicals within them, especially oligomeric proanthocyanidin complexes (OPCs) -- have been touted as powerful antioxidants. In addition to being extremely nutritious, Grape Seed Oil plays an important role in massage therapy practices due to its light, non greasy and highly absorbent texture.
~Jojoba Oil is a wonderful, light golden color, luxurious oil that is actually a plant liquid wax ester. Why should you care? Because out of all compounds in nature, this wax ester is the most similar to human skin oil (sebum). As we mature beyond early adulthood, our skin produces less and less lipids, resulting in wrinkles and more fragile drier skin. Jojoba's rapid absorption just deep enough into the skin's surface layer (stratum corneum) provides all-day moisturization that leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth. Another great benefit of Jojoba Oil is that it is a superb massage oil that has outstanding spreadability and absorbs quickly. Jojoba and the skin's sebum are completely miscible. They form a non-greasy, non-tacky layer with exceptional transepidermal water control.
~For centuries, Asian women have attributed their gorgeous glow to the cleansing power of rice. Rice Bran Oil is extracted from the bran or outer coat of the brown rice grain removed during the milling process. It is rich in essential fatty acids, phytosterols and has high level of the antioxidants gamma-oryzanol and tocotrienols (vitamin E). Gamma-oryzanol compound is a component that can impede the progress of melanin pigmentation by restoring the erythema activity of the tyrosinase enzyme as it intercepts the UV rays at the skin’s surface, hindering UV ray transmission. Another wonderful and naturally nutritious, light weight oil that will give you a perfect slip during application.
~Rose Hip Oil - I can never say enough about this oil. It is my absolute favorite oil to use and let me tell you why. This oil is truly a miracle oil as it is extremely rich with essential fatty acids (omega-6 and omega-3). They help nourish skin and keep it plump and youthful, helping to reduce wrinkles, tone and smooth roughness. Essential fatty acids are called "essential" because our body is not able to produce them, they must be obtained through the diet or through supplementation. Rose Hip Oil is recommended for scarred tissue and this makes our oils a perfect solution for damaged skin.
~Vitamin E is considered an antioxidant superstar. Vitamin E is a lipid-soluble vitamin (meaning it likes oil better than water) that is essential for the healthy skin. But don’t just take my word for it, check out what Journal of Molecular Medicine (January 1995, pages 7–17) says about Vitamin E: “More than other tissues, the skin is exposed to numerous environmental chemical and physical agents such as ultraviolet light causing oxidative stress [free-radical damage]. In the skin this results in several short- and long-term adverse effects such as erythema [redness], edema [swelling], skin thickening, wrinkling, and an increased incidence of skin cancer…. Vitamin E is the major naturally occurring lipid-soluble … antioxidant protecting skin from the adverse effects of oxidative stress including photoaging [sun damage]. Many studies document that vitamin E occupies a central position as a highly efficient antioxidant, thereby providing possibilities to decrease the frequency and severity of pathological events in the skin.” ***Please note that Vitamin E has eight different forms, of which some are known for being excellent antioxidants when applied topically to skin, particularly alpha tocopherol and the tocotrienols. All Marmalade Hills products are made with Alpha Tachoperol, not Tachoperyl Acetate which is less beneficial for your skin.
~And the last but not least ingredients are the different Essential Oil combinations that posses aroma-therapeutic qualities like no other natural ingredients. Essential Oils are highly concentrated distilled plant essences. They are very aromatic, and have a wide variety of applications. They are sometimes used medicinally for treating specific ailments. In addition to treating physical conditions, these oils can effect us mentally and emotionally as well. They can clear your mind, uplift your spirit and calm down your fears. As Phyllis Balch points out in Prescription for Herbal Healing, "The inhalation of certain essential oils has been associated with the release of brain chemicals that stimulate various emotions. For example, lavender oil has the ability to evoke and increase the release of serotonin, thus producing a calming effect on the body."

As you can see, our Body Oils are formulated with first class ingredients that even some facial creams can envy! They are a perfect all-natural alternative for easily evaporating, water base body lotions and creams. We recommend using them after shower or bath on damp skin. I find body oils especially useful as an aftershave moisturizer. They are absolutely safe for babies and adults. If you need silky smooth, moisture rich and healthy looking skin you have no better place to go but to our store.

Till next time friends and hope you learned something new today,
Liana.

Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago

2010-06-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am extremely excited to announce that out of a thousand+ applications Marmalade Hills was accepted as a vendor at the 8th Annual Renegade craft Fair in Chicago.
It is a top notch craft fair featuring 300 finest indie artists from all over the nation! It will be held on September 11 through September 12 from 11:00am to 7:00pm along the Division Street between Damen and Paulina. The Renegade Craft Fairs have become a cornerstone of the blossoming DIY craft world and a pioneer of indie craft shows across the land. Renegade Craft Fair was originated in Chicago in 2003 and since then added couple of other popular locations to their list: Austin TX, Brooklyn NY, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Marmalade Hills team is so delighted to be selected for such a fine event and we are looking forward to participate in many more Renegade Craft Fairs all over the country!

Hope to see you there!

Till next time,
Liana.

Sixth Fan Page Giveaway winner

2010-06-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for participating! Your entries reminded me of some of my other favorite summer scents :) And now I have a pretty good idea on what scents I would like to add to Marmalade Hills products next Spring/Summer!
The yummy comments were left in the following order: 1-Sofia, 2-Loretta, 3-Michelle, 4-Heather. Now it is time to find out who is the winner of $25 Gift Certificate to our shop. Drum roll please...

Loretta congratulations! Please send me your email address so I can email you your copy of the gift certificate: liana@marmaladehills.com

Till next time,
Liana.

Summer Bring Along Dish

2010-05-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today I had to take my kids to our neighborhood outing. We have an unbelievable circle of people who keep spirits of our community alive. Cider and donuts for Halloween, Fire truck and bicycle parade for 4th of July and wine events for adults. And this Memorial Weekend was no exception - grilling and good times at one of our courts.
My favorite dish to bring to any summer event is my cold pasta salad with yummy veggies, whole grain pasta and turkey pepperoni!

1 box of Whole Grain Pasta boiled in salty water;
1 cup - chopped turkey or original pepperoni (Mini Pepperoni saves a lot of time);
2-3 cup - chopped red, yellow bell pepper;
1 cup - chopped white onion (or to taste);
1 cup - chopped green and black olives;
1 1/2 jars - chopped marinated artichoke hearts;
2 cups - string or any fine shredded cheese to garnish.

Before serving add more dressing and cheese. Done! If you never tried pasta salads, this one is a must! It is definitely a crowd pleaser and excellent finger food :)

Happy Memorial Weekend! REFLECT, REMEMBER and APPRECIATE!

Till next time,
Liana.

Revised: Duh! I forgot to mention which dressing to use :) I always use Ken's Zesty Italian.

Summer Skin Care Regiment

2010-05-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

During hot summer months we all have to adjust our skin care regiment. As a nicer and hotter weather moves in more people break out due to increased perspiration and increased time we spend outside. Because of this, our skin produces extra oils and accumulates extra dirt and debris, thus allowing more pimple-causing bacteria to grow. My skin type is combination and I find summer the most challenging time for my facial care. All I'm trying to do during summer is to keep my oil production down and milia or tiny bumps (with white heads or without) under control. You can't really cure these problems, all you can do is prevent them. During hot months make it a habit to wash your face with soapy water a number of times a day. If you have oily skin, wash your face at least twice a day with our Tea Tree Cucumber facial bar or Geranium facial bar. If you have dry skin, wash your face not only in the morning but also at bedtime to remove excess oil and makeup. Creamy Classic Lavender facial bar or Milk ‘n Honey bar would be your best choices. If you have combination skin, I recommend using Geranium facial bar or Milk ‘n Honey twice a day during hot summer months. You can also use our All-Natural astringent toners to clean your face as many times as you need. And here is a hint on how to get the most out of your toner: during especially hot days keep your toner in a refrigerator and use it all over your face and neck to wipe out the dirt, to replenish and refresh your skin.

Everyone spends more time outdoors during the summer, which means that environmental debris and pollutants can have an additional impact on your skin's ability to remain elastic, free of bacteria and excess sebum. I personally notice more problem spots after a day of gardening or day at the outdoor art show. The great way to deep cleanse, sooth, draw out extra oils and firm your skin would be to use of our All-Natural Clay Facial Masks once a week and even more often during summer. Clays are widely used in spas all over the world. I love them especially for their ability to detoxify tone, gently exfoliate and deep cleanse our skin. They are full of rare minerals and they are designed by nature to absorb impurities from skin as they dry. After 15 minutes of our clay mask treatment you will wash away (together with clay) extra sebum and dirt, and add a few years to your looks by returning natural elasticity to your skin. Oily Skin owners: Sea Kelp Detox is for you. Dry and sensitive skin owners: Strawberry Fig would benefit you best. Combination skin: Banana Mango would work great for your skin.

Due to hotter weather you may feel less need to use your moisturizers and it is perfectly fine. For our Facial Serum users I would suggest to play with your usage amounts or maybe even postpone use of it completely during the summer. Try using less drops per area and spread it thinner on your face. Just recently I started using my serum every other day instead of every day and I am thinking about cutting it down to once a week. I just wash my face with Milk 'n Honey soap (in my soap dish now) as many times as I need , use my new favorite Apple Twist Toner and I am good to go until evening! For Oily or Combination Skin owners I would recommend replacing your moisturizers completely with our All-Natural gentle Facial Toners. They are light, refreshing, soothing and moisturizing.

If you have extra oily areas, you can dry problem areas with Glycolic Acid pads. 10% Glycolic Acid and 5% Cylicilic Acid formulation is mild enough to not give you any skin irritations. You can get pads at your dermatologist office or online. Read list of ingredients carefully to make sure there is no Acetone!

Adjust your makeup regimen to the summer climate and your outdoor activities as well. Select powder blushes and eye shadows rather than cream products because they are less irritating and more likely to hold up in hot and humid weather. Use mineral foundations that will double you as SPF protection. If you need a good mineral foundation you can find some here and here. Learn how to apply natural-looking, barely there makeup for those outdoor occasions.

Enjoy your summer friends! Till next time,
Liana.

Sixth Fan Page Giveaway

2010-05-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Our number of fans has finally reached 200 mark. It has been jumping up and down due to recent changes on Facebook, but I think it is safe to assume that it is a solid mark now. This giveaway is all about summer! The winner of the sixth giveaway will get a $25 Gift Certificate to our store. Please feel free to share this giveaway with your friends, however there are some rules: to enroll in MH's 6th Fan Page Giveaway you must be a Marmalade Hills fan on Facebook; you must be 18 years of age or older; and you have to leave a comment to this post on our blog.

Please leave your comment and tell us: what is your favorite summer scent? It can either be your favorite fruit, flower, food or simply a scent that can instantly remind you of summer even during coldest winter months.

Please leave your comment underneath this post. If you leave a comment as anonymous, don't forget to sign your comment. This giveaway will be closed for comments exactly one week from today-June 1st. As always random winner will be announced on our Fan Page.

I am looking forward to your comments! Good luck!
Liana.

Clean Sweep 2010 with my family

2010-05-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

As you may remember, during the Earth Day weekend my family participated in our locally organized Clean Sweep 2010. In the prior years we used to go for walks in the neighborhood and collect litter whenever we felt like doing it. It was a great way to get some fresh air and do a good thing. And as our daughter got older and learned about Earth Day and taking care of Earth at school, we have decided to make our random family litter hunts more official. So I called our township hall and signed us up. They were providing garbage bags and official t-shirts in XL sizes (don’t ask me why XL).
That Sunday was one of the gloomiest days this Spring. It rained the whole morning and it was chili, wet and sticky in the afternoon. But we were determined to do it. So we got our gloves, rain gear, sweaters, blankets, garbage bags and a magic grabber tool that my husband got at the hospital after his back surgery a few weeks prior to this event. If you are planning on doing Clean Sweep with your family you HAVE to have one and I you can buy one in any drug store or on the internet. This tool came extremely handy when picking up plastic bottles from hard to reach, thick bushes or soaking wet plastic bags from the ditches, our daughter had lots of fun with it. Most of the items that ended up in our garbage bags were fast food packaging, Styrofoam cups, plastic bags and lots of plastic bottles! You wouldn’t have believed the amount of plastic bottles we found! It is disturbing to think that someone can just abandon these things in the middle of the street with no shame.
So here is what we got after two hours of walking just 1 mile distance in a nice family oriented, suburban neighborhood: two full 30 lb garbage bags! All rinsed off with a hose and sorted into recycling bins for garbage collection day.
After two hours of wet and gloomy outside we came home with red cheeks and had the most awesome Carrot Cake with Green Tea! It was all worth it!

Till next time friends,
Liana.

Chicken Sausage and Bell Peppers Spaghetti

2010-05-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

Every busy mom loves easy, healthy recipes and here is one of my favorites! This recipe will provide a dinner for a small family of four and it is a great way to make your kids eat vegetables - with pasta! Everything goes with pasta, right?

You will need 4 chicken sausages from your favorite market; box of your favorite spaghetti; 3 bell peppers: yellow, orange or red work best (not green bell pepper); 1 large white onion; 1/4 cup of Olive Oil; grated parmesan.

1. Add full sausages to non-stick pan (no oil required).
2. Brown sausages on each side. Just wait for them to become semi-firm and lightly browned on each side. Do not overcook.
3. Slice your peppers medium and onion medium thin.
4. Take out cooked sausages and let them rest for few minutes on a cutting board.
5. You can start a pot with water for cooking spaghetti now.
6. Add Olive Oil and sliced vegetables to the same pan. Cook until they turn translucent and soft.
7. Slice cooked sausages in an angle and add sausage slices to the pan with vegetables. Stir well and let everything cook on medium heat for 7 minutes, or just enough for juices to blend and get absorbed by meat.
8. Serve vegetable-sausage mix over hot spaghetti and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese! Done!

Can you say YUM-O?

Michigan State Youth Entrepreneurship Panel

2010-04-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

On April 27th I will be speaking and sharing ideas with local high school students at the "Youth Entrepreneurship Panel" organized by Michigan State University Extension Youth & Community Development. I am so delighted by this invitation and excited to see those wonderful kids who are in their spare time thinking and trying to become entrepreneurs! I already feel so proud of them! I can just wish for my kids to do the same when they hit high school :)

Earth Week 2010

2010-04-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Originally Earth Day was created to inspire awareness and appreciation for Earth's environment. The celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd began in the United States in 1970 and was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson. Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is getting greener! Just last weekend at the Detroit Zoo I overheard a little girl asking her mom: "Mom, can I recycle this?" pointing at a piece of plastic candy wrap. It was so cute and so heart warming :) Good job moms and dads!
We ALL contribute to a better tomorrow and every effort on our side, no matter how big or small - matters! "Be the change you want to see in the world" -Mahatma Gandhi.

Marmalade Hills was born in a quest for natural and safe skincare products. In our formulations we use only wholesome, plant derived and natural ingredients that are the best thing for your skin and your wellbeing. And just like many other wonderful "green" companies out there, we are trying to raise awareness about safe and natural skincare ingredients and products. But our efforts do not stop just there. As a business we try to minimize production and post production waste by using natural, plant derived and biodegradable ingredients, by recycling metal, plastic, glass, and paper materials, by printing our labels on recycled paper, and using only recyclable packaging. We also offer a Recycling Credit for our returning customers. We are still reusing our shipping peanuts, but just last week I have found a lead to a new and exciting Eco-friendly packaging solution. It will take some time to implement it, but you can be sure - we are improving, as we grow!

On personal frontier we try to live a responsible life and set right examples for our kids. For some years we have been going on hikes around the neighborhood with our oldest daughter and picking up litter. It is a great activity and it gives kids another dimension on responsible living. This year we have decided to make it official and join forces of Clean Sweep team of Bloomfield Township during the weekend of April 24th and 25th. Our family adopted Franklin Rd section between Quarton Rd and Lone Pine Rd, so if you are in the area drive by and wave!

Happy Earth Week! Please, respect your Mother!

Till next time,
Liana.

Spring Into Wings Raffle

2010-04-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

During our "Spring Into Wings" show in Kalamazoo, MI we have been inviting people to participate in Marmalade Hills raffle. After a short delay raffle results are finally here!
I will contact all the participants about the raffle once. Only those who have checked the box for receiving updates in the future will be automatically signed up for our Newsletter and receive 15% off their next online order. Just mention SPRINGWINGS at check out and difference will be refunded to you after your payment clears.
I have 18 email addresses in our sign up sheets. I have numbered all the participants as they were added to the list and here it is as follows:
1-Jill S; 2-Vicky M; 3-Joyann G; 4-Laurie J; 5-Chelsea M; 6-Julie P; 7-Cameron V; 8-Arlynn S, 9-Lukenia J, 10-Shawn J, 11-Cheryl, 12-Stephanie S, 13-Dianna H, 14-Cheryl E, 15-Jennifer M, 16-Sue V, 17-Liz P, 18-Amy M.
The lucky winner will be getting our Luxury Omega 3 Facial Serum
Drum roll please...

And the winner is Cheryl! Congratulations Cheryl! I will be sending you Marmalade Hills Facial Serum as soon as I receive your mailing address. Email me at liana@marmaladehills.com with that.
Thank you very much to everybody for signing up and who joined our Fan Page! We hope to see you all at "Christmas at Wings" show this December.

Till next time,
Liana.

P.S. I just realized that I have not left my contact information. Cheryl please email me with your address at contactus@marmaladehills.com

Fifth Fan Page Giveaway winner

2010-03-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

It is time to find out who is our 5th Fan Page Giveaway Winner. Thank you my dear friends for leaving your comments, they were very useful. 1-Heather, 2-Christine, 3-Michele.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...

Congratulations Heather! Just let me know which mask you would like to receive and I'll send it your way!

Thanks again ladies, I will take your comments into consideration and will try to offer more sample/travel size items for those who like to try before they buy!

Till next time,
Liana.

Skin Care Essentials-Cleanse

2010-02-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

I'm often asked "What product would you recommend to make my skin look younger/healthier/acne free?" I wish there was a magic product or even better, a magic pill that you could take once a month and take care of all your skin problems. Sorry to dissapoint you, there is no such thing. Taking care of your skin is an everyday routine. I know that setting-up an everyday routine is probably too much to ask from many of you, but I encourage you to give your best shot at it and see what happens. Can't do it every day, then do it every other day or every three days. I guarantee, you will love the results and at some point you will be happy to do it everyday. There are four steps of skincare regiment that I would like to cover in our future weekly "Healthy Tips". Those four steps are: cleanse, exfoliate, tone and moisturize.

Cleanse - cleanser is a facial care product that is used to remove make-up, dead skin cells, oil, dirt and other types of pollutants from the skin of the face. This helps to unclog pores and prevent skin conditions such as acne. As many of you know already, I have become a natural skincare addict after expiriencing results first hand. My whole family uses Marmalade Hills facial bars every day, even our youngters.
Marmalade Hills has four all natural facial bar soaps for most skin types. Our facial bars are gentle with creamy lather and are packed with nourishing, skin loving ingredients. For oily skin type we recommend Tea Tree Cucumber Facial Bar (in curing): made with natural clays, cucumber peel powder and prescious Australian Tea Tree Essential Oil. This soap will help to draw out impurities and keep production of sebum and appearance of acnes under control.
For sensitive and mature skin types we recommend Geranium Facial Bar: made with pink clay, wheat germ oil, extra vitamin E and envigorating Bourbon* Geranium and Indonesian Dark* Patchouli Essential Oils. This soap will improve skin's elasticity/firmness, clarity and texture.
For dry/sensitive/baby skin we recommend either French* Lavender or Milk n' Honey Facial Bar. Both soaps are made with Goat Milk with addition of extra moisturizing and soothing ingredients like oats, shea butter and golden honey. Milk n' Honey soap is completely unscented while Lavender Facial Bar is infused with French* Lavender Essential Oil.

* - Depending on the region of cultivation there are many different types of Essential Oils. In our facial bars we use only high quality or creme de la creme of essential oils that are considered more precious and exquisite due to their origin.

Still not convinced? Here is what experts say about natural bar soaps as facial cleansers->
Article taken from Spa Magazine:
"For years, women relied on simple bars of soap to wash their faces, but with the arrival of liquid, foam, and cream cleansers came the idea that bars dry the skin and clog pores.
It turns out that some soaps got a bum rap. "In general, they're not bad," says Jennifer Reichel, M.D., director of Pacific Dermatology & Cosmetic Center in Seattle. "Some bar soaps can be very gentle and moisturizing and do not necessarily trap oils and chemicals."
The soaps that deserve the negative attention are those that contain synthetic detergents or surfactants (like alkyl benzene sulfonate). "Synthetic detergents can be drying, which makes them a poor choice for many skin types,"says Angela L. Bowman Wales, president and CEO of Lillian Skincare, a manufacturer of organic skincare products.
But liquid cleansers can cause problems as well, according to Julia Hunter, M.D., founder of Skin Fitness Plus, a cosmetic spa in Los Angeles. Detergents (often sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate), preservatives (such as parabens), and antimicrobials (triclosan, for example) can cause inflammation and disrupt hormones. Instead, opt for soap with coconut oil, shea butter, glycerin, or olive oil. Although these emollients are often thought to cause breakouts, there is generally not enough in soaps to have such an effect. "Personally, I would choose emollients over inflammatory chemicals," says Hunter."

Till next time,
Liana.

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
Clean Truth about Antibacterial Soap
10 Foods that are healthier than you think
Healthy Nails Tips
Healthy Hair Tips
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to
Benefits of Green Tea
Beauty Sleep
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6
How to add years to your life

MH's 5th Fan Page Giveaway

2010-02-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

As many of you know by now we have Marmalade Hills Fan Page giveaways every time we acquire 30 new fans. It is a fun way to introduce our products to loyal fans/friends and to get their help in making some business decisions. We believe that being successful in business is a two-way street. After all we are small indie business and this is how we differ from the "big guys" who could care less about their faceless consumers. So this giveaway is no different, we need to hear your thoughts about something that has been on our mind for some time. We would love for you to have one of our Clay Facial Masks as a "Thank you" for your time. Please feel free to share this giveaway with your friends, however there are some rules: to enroll in MH's 5th Fan Page Giveaway you must be a Marmalade Hills fan on Facebook; you must be 18 years of age or older; and you have to leave a comment to this post on our blog. Whether you are a fan or just a friend please tell us what kind of Marmalade Hills' product you think you would most likely buy at an art/craft show or fair and why. Would it be handcrafted soaps, facial care product, moisturizers and so on? We are looking forward to your comments which we will take into consideration while preparing for our upcoming shows. Please leave your comment underneath this post. If you leave a comment as anonymous, don't forget to sign your comment. This giveaway will be closed for comments exactly one week from today-March 5th. As always random winner will be announced on our Fan Page.

Good luck!
Liana.

Featured Product-Bath Bombs

2010-02-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

I heard this too many times before "I don't take baths", "I don't have time for a bath"... Cannot agree more, we live in a busy world after all. But lets go couple of centuries back to understand this time tested method of relaxation and beautification. The term spa is associated with water treatment. It is often suggested that the word is an acronym of various Latin phrases such as "Salus Per Aquam” or "Sanitas Per Aquam" meaning "health through water". Greek mythology specified that certain natural springs or tidal pools were blessed by the gods to cure disease. Around these sacred pools, Greeks established bathing facilities for those desiring healing. But now, thanks to the advances of scientific research, we know that gods did not bless any streams with miracle powers, we know for fact that nutrients are drown-in through the skin directly into the blood stream (same principle is used in smoking cessation patch) where they help carry toxins away from the body through the lymph system. We can also experience first-hand the effects of natural butters and oils have on our skin. They make it more supple and smooth and they can relieve any dry skin discomforts. And lets not forget about mind rejuvenating effects of a warm bath ritual! Our adult lives are filled with many responsibilities that contribute to our stress levels. Stress has adverse effects on our mental and general health, it wears out our organs and overall immune system. This is where spa in your own bathroom with Marmalade Hills' Butter Creme Bath Bombs comes in! Our bath bombs, a.k.a bath fizzies, are made with fresh, natural and nourishing ingredients. They will spin, whirl and fizz in your tub infusing water with Coconut Milk, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, creamy Mango Butter and powerful antioxidant - Green Tea Extract. Our creamy Bath Bombs will leave your skin super soft and supple. Our highly fragranced and Essential Oil infused bath bombs will refresh your senses, uplift your spirits and fill your house with amazing aroma! You cannot be running around and multi-tasking forever, everybody needs a little "me" time to unwind and recharge. So shut that door, light up a candle, get your favorite glass of wine and/or a book, and immerge yourself in a warm bath infused with exotic butters, real silk fibers and creamy coconut milk. Do yourself a favor - relax, you deserve it. Psst, did I mentioned no lotion required after this special treat!
List of Beneficial Ingredients:
✓ Sodium Bicarbonate - As a natural acid neutralizer and softener soda has been widely used as bath soaks to sooth discomfort of sunburn and itch of poison ivy. It works great when you need to soak away your stress and with not much effort, make your skin feel like baby's patootie!
✓ Citric Acid is a weak organic acid that makes bath fizzies swirl in your bath tub and also softens the water making stay in your bath even more pleasant.
✓ Coconut Milk is a vegetable variation of lactic acid (milk acid) is an alpha hydroxy acid, a natural material that dissolves the glue that holds dead skin cells together. Milk can cleanse the skin down to its deepest layers without over-drying it.
✓ Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is expelled from raw coconut kernels. It is unbleached and not deodorized with slight aroma of pure coconuts and retained vitamins and nutrients.
✓ Mango Butter is obtained from the kernels of the mango fruit. Mango tree is a sacred tree for Hindus which has been cultivated in India for over 4000 years. Mango Butter is highly emolient, particularly rich in fatty acids and it lends protection against the sun. It is also said to prevent drying of the skin, formation of wrinkles. It reduces degeneration of skin cells and restores elasticity.
✓ Kaolin Clay is soft and gentle clay, it is also known as White Clay. Clay facials and body treatments are widely used in spas all over the world. I love them especially for their ability to detoxify, tone and deep cleanse our skin.
✓ Green Tea Extract is my other most favorite ingredient, besides Rose Hip Oil and Evening Primerose Oil. Green Tee Extract naturally contains the chemical ECGC - an antioxidant proven 200 times more powerful than Vitamin E. Green Tea also happens to be one of my favorite drinks!
✓ Fragrance or Essential Oils. Essential Oils have magical power to heal, uplift and invigorate. I am a true believer of powers of Essential Oils and aromatherapy. Since I'm dealing so much with Fragrances and Essential Oils now, I can assure you that never ever an opened bottle of Essential Oil seemed overwhelming or unpleasant. Every time I have used an Essential Oil infused product it made me want to breath in as deep as I can, it's like a breath of fresh air that you can never get enough of.

Till next time,
Liana.

Honored to be the Featured Business on IBN

2010-02-22T11:34:00.000-08:00

Today Marmalade Hills was featured on Indie Beauty Network by Donna Maria. I have joined IBN network only last year but have made many friends and found so many think alike people in one place! Find out here how Marmalade Hills was born, how we operate and what keeps us going and growing!

Truly yours,
Liana.

Healthy Tip - Clean Truth

2010-02-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

If you use any of the antibacterial soaps for hand washing or dish washing, I wish you would reconsider it. There are so many compelling reasons why people should chose natural soaps over antibacterial ones and here is just some of the most critical ones:
✓ Soap and water is the gold standard [for fighting cold and flu and other viral infections]. In a recent study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers in Australia doused the hands of 20 health-care workers with human H1N1 flu virus. Soap and water removed slightly more virus than three alcohol-based hand rubs. When volunteers didn't clean their hands, most of the virus was still present an hour after exposure. Source: Wall Street Journal.
✓ More scientific studies have found that simply washing your hands correctly may mean more to your health than using an antibacterial soap. Antibacterials can kill more germs for a longer time, which is why they're useful in hospitals, but they have no effect on viruses that couse colds or flus. Source: ABC News.
✓ Studies show that main chemicals of antibacterial soaps (triclosan and triclocarban) are building up in the environment at an alarming rate. Americans dump more than 1 million pounds of triclosan and triclocarban into the environment every year. Rolf Halden, PhD, a scientist at Arizona State University, published a study this month in Environmental Science and Technology showing that the chemicals don't quickly break down in the environment. He found these chemicals in sediment dating back 40-50 years. Source: WebMD.
✓ Antibacterial ingredients have become so popular, they’re literally in our blood. In addition to lead and pesticides, the CDC now periodically monitors levels of triclosan, the most common antibacterial agent, in randomly selected Americans. A recent CDC study detected triclosan in the urine of 75% of the people tested. Source: CDC website.
✓ Daily dose of triclosan can cause health problems in a long run. Experimental studies show that triclosan can cause bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics in test tubes. So far, no one knows whether that leads to the same result in hospitals or homes. Some researchers, though, believe resistant “superbugs” created by widespread antibacterial soap use could be a real possibility. Source: WebMD

So leather up one of our natural bar soaps and wash your hands thoroughly for not less than 20 seconds. Our natural, cold process soaps are the most gentle and skin loving soaps for your hands. Go ahead and wash your hands as often as you need without over drying or irritating your skin! Stay healthy and care for the environment!

Till next time,
Liana.

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
10 Foods that are healthier than you think.
Healthy Nails Tips.
Healthy Hair Tips.
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to.
Benefits of Green Tea.
Beauty Sleep.
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6.
How to add years to your life.

Marmalade Hills Official Debut

2010-02-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

Good day my friends! After long time in draft Marmalade Hills' website is ready for it's official debut! We are still hard at work on our shopping cart but now we finally have a place that we can call HOME! It feels great to see how everything takes shape and coming together slowly but surely! You are witnessing a very important moment in Marmalade Hills' life :)
Please stop by to test drive our website and leave your feedbacks and comments!

Truly yours,
Liana.

Healthy Tip - 10 Foods That Are Healthier Than You Think

2010-02-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

This is taken from the article that you can find at Healthy Eats. I wanted to add my personal touch to it and here is what I got:
1. Avocado
So it may seem weird for a fruit (yes, avocados are fruits) to contain fat, but avocados are one of the few produce items that do. Their heart-protecting monounsaturated fats are actually one of the things that make them so healthy. Eating these green guys can help lower your risk of heart disease and stroke — so have some of that guacamole!
In my house we like to make super easy sandwiches of fresh Italian bread, few slices of ripe avocados, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and slice of our favorite cheese. Yum!
2. Spaghetti and Meatballs
Thanks to the iron and protein from the beef, lycopene from the tomato sauce and energy-producing carbs from the pasta, this dish a healthy trifecta. If you stick to modest portions and lean beef, you can enjoy its benefits without overdoing it. Limit yourself to three ounces of meat and a cup of cooked pasta per serving.
My extremely easy version of this dish is pasta with meat sauce! It is a crowd pleaser, my daughter would eat this any day and my one year old LOVES to smudge it all over his tray and his face... and sometimes hair. What you'll need: 1 box of spaghetti, 1 lb organic ground sirloin, 1 jar of RAOS Homemade Southern Italian Pasta Sauce with Italian peppers and mushrooms (it is absolutely my favorite brand, you can find it in health food market and sometimes in a regular grocery store for $8 or so for regular size jar). Boil your spaghetti, brown your ground beef on non-stick pan (no oil or spices required), add pasta sauce to the pan with browned ground beef, cover and simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat. BAM! Serve meat sauce over pasta.
3. Bananas
Often bashed for their high sugar and carb content, bananas are a ridiculously healthy fruit that everyone can enjoy. A small banana has the same calories, carbs and fiber as an apple. They also come packed with vitamins C and B6 and good-for-your-heart potassium.
My family is BANANAS over these happy yellow guys. Easy, not messy (big plus for mommies) and super healthy snack! Bananas are perfect over your favorite ice-cream or mixed in a plain yogurt.
4. Peanut Butter
I always hear “peanut butter is fattening!” Sure, it contains fat, but 30% of your daily calories should come from healthy fats, so why not add peanut butter in as an option? The nutty spread is also a great way to get protein, fiber and vitamin E. The same goes for whole peanuts or nuts such as almonds and walnuts — they’re a great way to get your daily dose of healthy fats.
YES! Love this stuff. When I first came to United States (11 years ago) I couldn't stand peanut butter, I just didn't get it. Now I can eat it with a spoon or (another one of my favorites) celery dipped in peanut butter! Try it, you'll love it! For extra fun try adding raisins on top and you get "ants on a log" for kids!
5. Eggs
Eggs do contain some cholesterol, but that doesn’t mean they’re a total no-no. According to the American Egg Board, healthy individuals can eat up to two eggs per day without significantly affecting blood cholesterol levels. Eggs are also full of vitamins A, D and the antioxidant lutein. Don’t skip the yolks; there’s just as much protein there as in the whites.
You can eat eggs in so many was but my new favorite is this one, I have stumbled upon it some time ago and would love to give it a try. It looks delicious! I can almost taste it!

Do you have any favorite snacks or dishes made with these yummy foods that you could share with me?

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
Clean Truth about Antibacterial Soap
10 Foods that are healthier than you think
Healthy Nails Tips
Healthy Hair Tips
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to
Benefits of Green Tea
Beauty Sleep
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6
How to add years to your life

Fourth Fan Page Giveaway Winner!

2010-02-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

As always BIG Thank You to our active fans for participating in our Fourth Giveaway! Now let’s find out who will be receiving our heavenly soft and deeply moisturizing Body Butter! This time it will be easy as only two people shared with us their opinion: 1-Christine, 2-Sabine. And the winner is....

Congratulations Christine! After so much participation this is a very well deserved gift! Please email me with a choice of your Body Butter.

I truly appreciate your input ladies as it is very important for me to get an idea how other people think of Marmalade Hills' products, because for me they are my babies and deserve to be in the best high-end spa ever! It was nice to hear that someone thinks the same thing.

Till next time,
Liana.

Healthy Nails Tip

2010-02-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

From little girls to teenagers, young women to older age women, we all love to have beautiful, healthy looking nails. There are salons for the care and beautification of nails but the basic care has to start from home. Well maintained nails are a true reflection of good health and hygiene. Try some of these really easy, natural tips from www.SimpleHealth.com to make your nails stronger, less brittle, more shiny and even to grow them faster and longer.
1) Dip cotton swab in fresh lemon juice and rub for 5 to 7 minutes on the nails, doing each nail one by one. After the rub do not wash hands for 10 minutes. Thereafter, wash your hands with tepid water. Regular application of lemon juice will make your nails stronger and give them a natural shine.
2) To remove paleness from the nails try including beet root and Vitamin D into your diet.
3) Soak about handful of raisins in the night in water before going to bed. When you wake up in the morning, drink this water and eat soaked raisins. This will improve your iron content restoring the natural pinkish-reddish tinge on nails and palms and even add a glow to your face.
4) For growing nails, instead of rubbing lemon, keep the nails dipped in a bowl of tepid lemon water for 5 minutes. This helps to deep clean the nails also. Wash with cold water immediately after that.
5) Like for other parts of our body, the intake of 3 servings of dairy every day is beneficial to the nails as well. It will prevent the brittleness and weakness in the nails and will avoid the nails getting chipped every now and then.
6) If almond oil is available to you, massaging the nails with almond oil daily makes the nails beautiful, strong and cures the brittle nails problem.

This article was altered from the original version which you can find here

If Marmalade Hills' Body Oil is already your favorite product, you can utilize it for massaging it into your nails, as it is made of highly nutritious and moisturizing natural oils that will reduce brittle nails problem and improve elasticity of the skin (cuticles) around your nails.

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
Clean Truth about Antibacterial Soap
10 Foods that are healthier than you think
Healthy Nails Tips
Healthy Hair Tips
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to
Benefits of Green Tea
Beauty Sleep
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6
How to add years to your life

Fourth Fan Page Giveaway

2010-02-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

We have been having regular Fan Page Giveaways every time Marmalade Hills acquires 30 new fans! Our fourth Fan Page giveaway is here! Anyone who is our fan on Facebook can enroll to win! This time the winner will receive Marmalade Hills Ultimate Body Butter of their choice (Lavender, Tea Tree Blossom, Cranberry Fig, Coconut Lime)! Body Butters are temperature sensitive products and will not be offered for sale during warm/hot months. You can find out more about our Ultimate Body Butters here.
There are a few rules for this giveaway: to enroll you must be a Marmalade Hills fan on Facebook; you must be 18 years of age or older; and you have to leave a comment to this post. This time please comment about what type of retail stores you see selling Marmalade Hills products? Health food market, Gift/Flower shop, Spa/Salon, Artisan Gallery or something else? I would love to hear your thoughts on this, as it will help me to pursue the right type of possible retail locations. If you leave a comment as anonymous, don't forget to put your name at the end. This giveaway will be closed for comments on February 10th.

Good luck to all!

Truly yours,
Liana.

Featured Product - Lip Balm

2010-01-31T13:58:00.000-08:00

Marmalade Hills' Lip Balm is a beautiful child of thorough research and precise formulation. I have come a long way to get to this perfectly smooth, not too soft and not too hard, nutrient rich and vitamin packed lip balm. It is made of creamy beeswax, exotic butters, nutritious oils, soothing aloe vera juice and Vitamin E. Combined together in perfect amounts they protect, moisturize and nurture gentle skin of your lips. Our lip balms are great to wear under your favorite lipstick, I find it especially useful to wear under mineral base lipsticks as they are loaded with powdery pigments that can make your lips feel extremely dry. We also have an optional hook attachments that allow you conveniently wear our lip balms on your key chain or hook it on to your kids back pack. One thing I am sure of is that you can never have enough lip balms! So check out our lip balm sets and remember that each individually purchased lip balm will be shipped for free as a secondary purchased item.

* Creamy Bees Wax is a natural emulsifier and it serves as protective coating that locks in moisture and nutrients on your skin.
* African Shea Butter has been praised for centuries in Africa and is very well respected now for its ability to moisturize and nourish dry, damaged skin. It has been clinically shown to provide benefits from just dry skin to many minor dermatological diseases (if you have a serious skin condition, you should see a doctor).
* Coconut Oil is the source of two of the most powerful anti-microbial agents found in any food substances. These are Capric Acid and Lauric Acid. They are the same acids that are found in mother’s milk and keep the baby protected from infections. When these are applied on skin, some microbes (good ones) present on skin convert these acids into Monocaprin and Monolaurin respectively, thereby replacing the protective acid layer on the skin. Finally, Coconut Oil is soothing on skin and highly penetrating.
* Palm Oil is high in fatty acids and leaving virtually no residue on the skin. An incredibly rich and intoxicating oil which gracefully shares it benefits in numerous food and cosmetic applications throughout the world.
* Almond Oil is one of the most useful, practical, and comonly used oils. It is great for all skin types as an acting emollient and is best known for its ability to soften, soothe, and re-condition the skin. Natural expeller pressed oil from raw almond kernels and exceptionally rich in fatty acids.
* Rose Hip Oil is one of my favorite ingredients. It is truly a miracle oil and it is extremely rich with essential fatty acids (omega-6 and omega-3) which help nourish skin and keep it plump and youthful, helping to reduce wrinkles, tone and smooth roughness. Essential fatty acids are called "essential" because our body is not able to produce them, they must be obtained through the diet or through supplementation. Rose Hip Oil is recommended for scarred tissue and this makes our balms a perfect solution for chapped lips.
* The structure of Jojoba Oil closely resembles that of your own skin sebum and is readily absorbed without making the skin feel greasy or tacky nor does it clog the pores.
* Most people know first-hand the soothing relief of aloe vera on minor burns, cuts and bruises. These superb qualities also add desirable effect of our lip balms on chapped lips.
* And the last but not least ingredient is a Vitamin E oil. The benefits of Vitamin E for the overall good health of individuals are substantial. In particular, Vitamin E is very important antioxidant, regulator of Vitamin A and an excellent anti-aging agent that makes skin look younger by reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

They come in the variety of flavors. Lime, Mint, Tea Tree, Grapefruit are made with pure Essential Oils. Cherry Frost, Tender Plum, Blueberry Muffin, Dulce De Leche, Juicy Pear, Coconut Creme are made with lip safe, food grade natural flavors.

Healthy Hair Tip

2010-01-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

Hair is the ultimate accessory; it can add to (or detract from) your overall look instantly. Keeping it in healthy condition is the most important thing you can do to help it look and feel fabulous. And, while it seems easy, this isn't as simple as minimizing chemical treatments or slathering on a weekly deep conditioner. While these can make your strands softer and less split-end-prone, what really matters is the daily handling; this is what creates the most stress--and potential damage--to your tresses.

1) Steer clear of plastic-bristle brushes.
2) Brush before shampooing. A few gentle strokes on dry hair will help remove product buildup and scalp flakes, as well as stimulate the scalp and promote blood flow.
3) Know your water. If your hair looks dull or is hard to style, the problem could be your tap water.
4) Mist your ends with water before home coloring. The ends of your hair are more porous and, as a result, absorb more pigment.
5) Trim your troubles. As the ends of your hair get older and damaged by rough handling, they become prone to splitting
6) Use color-protective products. Chemical treatments like color can damage hair because the chemicals have to penetrate the outer layer of the hair (or cuticle) to allow the hue to be absorbed. Color-protective products are specially designed to minimize dryness, keep color true and prevent damage
7) Give wet hair extra TLC. It stretches and snaps more easily than dry hair does, so be extra-gentle with it.
8) Deep condition once every two weeks.
9) Try an ionic dryer. Ions are atoms with a positive or negative charge. These particular hair-dryers bathe your hair in negative ions, which help break up water molecules faster and cancel out hair-damaging positive ions.
10) Just use your dryer's nozzle. It's the best way to help prevent frizz because it concentrates the airflow on sections.
11) Give textured or relaxed hair a break.
12) Use the right accessories.

This post was altered from original article that can be found here.

When I was less busy and had no kids (excuses, excuses, excuses) I used to have a "before bed-time" routine of brushing my hair 50 strokes forward, 50 strokes backward, and 100 strokes from side to side (in one direction and then in another). It is a very easy routine and it improves blood circulation and promotes even distribution of nutrients to the hair follicles. After this short routine my scalp was burning, but it was a good feeling, like the one you get after an hour of deep tissue massage!

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
Clean Truth about Antibacterial Soap
10 Foods that are healthier than you think
Healthy Nails Tips
Healthy Hair Tips
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to
Benefits of Green Tea
Beauty Sleep
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6
How to add years to your life

Perfect Valentine's Day Gift.

2010-01-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is just three busy weeks away. And it will be knocking on your door before you know it. How are you going to show your affection and love to your special person? How about a romantic evening in candle light and warm bath, complemented by scrumptious dark chocolate and berries? There’s just something special about the flicker of a real candle that warms the very soul and magically transforms an ordinary space... Slip into soothing whirls of softening and moisturizing ingredients while sinfully rich fragrance indulges your senses! Our Valentine's Gift Set includes four (4) essential items to make your next Valentine's Day a special, relaxing and totally guilt free experience for you and a special person in your life! You do not even need to pick up a greeting card! We will include one for you at no cost. You may want to pick up a bottle of champagne though :)

These sets are in very limited quantities, do not put off shopping for a perfect Valentine's gift for too long!

Thrifty yet healthy tip

2010-01-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

There are quite a few solid reasons to buy organic food. One of the fundamental reasons is that organic food doesn’t contain toxins like pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, or ionizing radiation (see to www.organic.org). Do you want that stuff to be inside of the "precious" you? No way! But of course it can get a bit pricey to consume only organic food. As a caring parent and CFO of my family I do try to get the best deals around for good and healthy things. So I would like to share this simple guide that I have always been carrying around in my purse. It tells you which produce to buy organic and which conventionally-grown fruits and veggies are ok to buy when you shop on a budget or organic variations is not available. It is very easy to follow and after a few months you will have it imprinted in your brain. I have printed copies for all of the adults in my family and laminated them. If you don't feel like running to Kinkos to use their laminating services, just try using packaging clear tape and run few strips on top and on the bottom of the cut out guide. Feel safe to download this guide from here: http://www.foodnews.org/

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
Clean Truth about Antibacterial Soap
10 Foods that are healthier than you think
Healthy Nails Tips
Healthy Hair Tips
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to
Benefits of Green Tea
Beauty Sleep
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6
How to add years to your life

Monthly Newsletter

2010-01-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

Our first ever monthly newsletter is here! In it I was trying to summarize most important things that had happened in 2009 and what you can expect from Marmalade Hills in 2010! Our newsletter is a great way to keep in touch if you don't use your Facebook too often, or if you are not familiar with the blogging community. Sign up for our newsletter and never miss a beat! Latest news, special offers, healthy living and beauty tips will be delivered straight to your mailbox! To subscribe just follow this link or check out the link on the left of this post. Hoping to see you on the list!

Healthy Tip - Green Tea

2010-01-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

Our Healthy Tip Fridays have moved from notes area of our fan page to our blog. For our blog followers, who are not fans of Marmalade Hills' on Facebook, I have posted a few Healthy Tip Fridays already. You can find them here.
Tea is the agricaltural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia Sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods. After water, tea is the most widely-consumed beverage in the world, according to The Empire Of Tea by Alan Macfarlane.
I myself love to drink tea. In winter it is especially popular in our house, we can go through a box of tea in 4 or 5 days. I am sure everybody heard about many benefits of tea and especially green tea and probably I will not tell you anything new today, but I would like to bring to your attention the benefits of green tea once again. I think today's tip can be classified as "lazy healthy tip", right next to the fish oil :)

"More than a decade's worth of research about green tea's health benefits - particularly its potential to fight cancer and heart disease - has been more than intriguing, as have limited studies about green tea's role in lowering cholesterol, burning fat, preventing diabetes and stroke, and staving off dementia.

*Green tea's antioxidants, called catechins, scavenge for free radicals that can damage DNA and contribute to cancer, blood clots, and atherosclerosis. Grapes and berries, red wine, and dark chocolate also have potent antioxidants. Because of green tea's minimal processing - its leaves are withered and steamed, not fermented like black and oolong teas - green tea's unique catechins, especially epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), are more concentrated.

*Green Tea vs. Cancer. The American Cancer Society's strategic director of nutritional epidemiology, says human studies haven't yet proven what researchers like Chan have discovered in the lab: green tea's EGCG regulates and inhibits cancer growth and kills cells that are growing inappropriately. Still, it's difficult not to be intrigued by a few human studies that have shown that drinking at least two cups of green tea daily inhibits cancer growth. One of them, a study conducted in Japan that involved nearly 500 Japanese women with Stage I and Stage II breast cancer, found that increased green tea consumption before and after surgery was associated with lower recurrence of the cancers.

*Green Tea good for your heart? It seems to be, but there are conflicting results of a few epidemiological studies conducted in the East and West.
In a study that involved 500 Japanese men and women, researchers found that drinking at least four cups of green tea every day may be related to the reduced severity of coronary heart disease among the male participants. A Dutch study of more than 3,000 men and women found that the more tea consumed, the less severe the clogging of the heart's blood vessels, especially in women. As Goldberg suggests, lifestyle and overall diet are critical to the outcomes of these studies. But green tea's antioxidants are dilators, she says, because they improve the flexibility of blood vessels and make them less vulnerable to clogging - and antioxidant-rich blueberries and pomegranates do the same.

*Green Tea and Weight. Green tea and its extract have been shown to fight obesity and lower "bad" cholesterol - two risk factors for heart disease and diabetes - but in very limited studies.

*Green tea Straight Up. Taking weight loss supplements that contain green tea extract probably won't hurt, unless you have liver problems. But the best way to get the most out of green tea - even if your main goal is losing weight - is to drink it."

For complete article please follow this link: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/health-benefits-of-green-tea

If you can not get enough of green tea in your cup try these products from Marmalade Hills' that are made with miracle green tea extract:
All Natural Facial Toners; Moisturizing Bath Bombs; Omega 3 Body Lotions.

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
Clean Truth about Antibacterial Soap
10 Foods that are healthier than you think
Healthy Nails Tips
Healthy Hair Tips
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to
Benefits of Green Tea
Beauty Sleep
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6
How to add years to your life

What is soap?

2010-01-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

I wanted to talk about natural and cold process soaps in particular, since I started this blog. But because it seemed like such a massive subject I have been putting it off and putting it off untill today. So get yourself a hot cup of cocoa and read on...
According to various legends, modern soap has its origins at mount Sapo where sacrifices were often cremated and hardwood ashes would accumulate (an early source of alkali). These ashes mixed with the tallow of the sacrificed animals. It is said that after a heavy rain a yellow runoff from the fire pit made its way downhill from the temple. The local women washing their clothes in the river noticed that their clothes were cleaner when the river ran yellow. Over time it was learned that adding salt water to the mixture would precipitate the removal of glycerin and excess water, thus making the soap harder, and not subject to the month long curing process required of true handmade soap. This old-fashioned "yellow soap" was used for laundry, dishes, and the occasional bath. But don't forget, it is just a legend. I am not sure whether anybody really knows the true story.
Well then, what is soap? Soap is a result of chemical reaction between oils and alkiline solution (the base, popularly referred to as lye) this process is also known as saponification. Soap cannot be made without lye. But be sure that because of our precise formulation and a curing period of six weeks, there is absolutely no trace of lye left in Marmalade Hills' natural soap. So how does soap work? Soap molecules can dissolve in water and at the same time they can dissolve grease molecules. While normally oil and water do not mix, the addition of soap allows oils to dissolve in water, allowing them to be rinsed away easily as water strings down your body and into the drain. Brilliantly simple! Nature has her ways of taking care of everything, doesn't she?
What is so special about handcrafted, cold process soap? All soaps are not created equaly. Today's soaps are often made from cleaning agents, such as synthetic detergents and are designed to look like a "beauty bar" or "body bar". The truth is that they are made with the same chemicals you use to wash your dishes or your car. Marmalade Hills' natural cold process soaps are completely different from mass produced soap or even glycerin soaps (these are sold as melt and pour bases). Our handcrafted soaps are made from skin loving, vegetable ingredients and other nature derrived ingredients like earth pigments, clays, herbs and essential oils. Our soaps will not over-dry your skin, as many tend to believe. The cold process soap is the best thing for your skin! In fact I recommend it even over our natural shower gels - those are not as gentle, because even though they are both technically natural, they are not made the same way...but that's another story. All our cold process soaps are made with high-quality, natural ingredients carefully chosen for their healing and beneficial abilities. Food grade Olive Oil is used as a base oil (about 50% of all oils), we also add coconut oil and palm oil for hardness. No vegetable shortenings or canola oil here. In addition I love to play with herbal infusions, prescious oils and butters by adding them at the end of the saponification process. It is called superfatting. This way additional oils do not go through full saponification process, they retain their nutrients and hang around to make our soaps extra moisturizing and gentle. All Marmalade Hills' soaps are made from scratch, using time tested "cold process" method. We mix warm oils, lye and water together. We pour raw soap in small 10 lb molds, let it sit wrapped in blankets for 48 hours. We unmold, cut, weigh and package soaps by hand. So you are getting the most unique yet very functional treat you can get!
Finally, how to take care of your cold process soap? Cold process soap will last you for a very long time if stored properly. Do not leave your soap under a running water, store it away in a dry spot of your shower on a soap dish with drainage holes on the bottom. You can use a regular soap dish, but you must use simple soap saver in this case.

Got SOAP?!

Holiday SALE

2010-01-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

Our Spring line of products has been finalized and it means that it is time to make some room for our new, deliciously smelling inventory! Enjoy the remaining stock of our popular seasonal products at 50% off! We had a great run this Holiday season and have only limited quantities of each product left. Remember, when these are gone they are gone until next Winter!

Spring/Summer Collection Reveal

2010-01-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Even though you may still be shivering from mid winter freeze, at Marmalade Hills it is already Spring if not Summer! My studio smells like juicy apples, apricots, emerald ferns and sweet florals. Many of your favorite products will be updated with new sophisticated fragrances and coordinating designs. I also have formulated a few brand new products that will join a family of "all-time favorite" products. Here is a quick peek at our new fragrances: Applecot Tini, Woodland Ferns, Thai Coconut and Sweet Pea. Our artisan soaps, body lotions, body washes, soy products, bath bombs and linen mists will be available in these yummy new scents. Inspired by new and exciting ingredients I have decided to expand our collection of facial masks, whipped body polishes and facial toners. In a few months we will be introducing Applecot Puree Body Polish formulated with real apple extract and apricot shells for extra scrubby ability; Applecot Firming Facial Mask with naturally derived alpha-hydroxy acids; Apple Twist Facial Fusion which is nothing more than pure Apple Fruit Water and plant extracts. This all is coming up in Spring of 2010, but for now I hope you are enjoying your winter wonderland!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T15:02:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all our friends who made Marmalade Hills third year in business possible! Our family truly appreciates your input and support! And we wish you, from our family to yours, a Happy New Year! We hope it will bring you a sea of love, happiness, prosperity, and even more health to all of you and your loved ones.
Looking back at last three years in business I see how much Marmalade Hills have evolved from being just a hobby to a business! I see how much more advanced my recipes have become, how much more knowledgeable I have become about my ingredients and natural-way of living and all the benefits that come with it. I enjoyed every minute of doing what I love most and even though some days it gets tough to stay motivated and not giving up hope, it helps to know that there are people who enjoy what I do and who are also trying to be more conscious about our environment and our planet. We all have to contribute to the big change that we wish to see in the world! Let it be our main New Years resolution! Cheers!

Featured Product - Body Butter

2009-12-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

It is always a battle for me to decide which product I should feature. I tried and love every single one, if I did not, I wouldn't be making it of course. As always I struggled this time as well but decided that it would make sense to talk about the winter essential product and it is hands down the Marmalade Hill's ultimate body butters. Our body butters are made from scratch starting with African Shea Butter as a base ingredient, extra virgin coconut oil, grape seed oil, meadowfoam seed oil, tapioca powder and Vitamin E. Each ingredient has been selected due to its individual qualities. * African Shea Butter has been praised for centuries in Africa and is very well respected now for its ability to moisturize and nourish dry, damaged skin. It has been clinically shown to provide benefits from just dry skin to many minor dermatological diseases (if you have a serious skin condition, you should see a doctor). * Coconut Oil is the source of two of the most powerful anti-microbial agents found in any food substances. These are Capric Acid and Lauric Acid. They are the same acids that are found in mother’s milk and keep the baby protected from infections. When these are applied on skin, some microbes (good ones) present on skin convert these acids into Monocaprin and Monolaurin respectively, thereby replacing the protective acid layer on the skin. Finally, Coconut Oil is soothing on skin and highly penetrating. * Grape Seed Oil has the same antioxidants as green tea, black tea, berries, and red wine. These antioxidants are called procyanidolic oligomers (PCO’s), known for their health giving properties, and are more powerful than vitamin C and vitamin E. The Grape Seed Oil known for its ability to lock-in moisture, leaving your skin feeling more supple and smooth, and it does not leave a greasy feeling, which makes it ideal to use on all skin types. * Meadowfoam Seed Oil is an absolutely exquisite oil that provides a cornucopia of cosmetic uses. Containing over 98% long-chain fatty acids, this oil is a prized medium for applications which require a moisturizing and rejuvenating benefit for the skin and face. Meadowfoam Seed Oil is one of the most stable natural lipids known with extraordinary resistance to oxidation. * And the last but not least ingredient is a Vitamin E oil. The benefits of Vitamin E for the overall good health of individuals are substantial. In particular, Vitamin E is very important antioxidant, regulator of Vitamin A and an excellent anti-aging agent that makes skin look younger by reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. I find this a perfect combination of oils which makes our body butters extra fluffy, quickly absorbent, extra moisturizing and extremely nourishing to the skin. We call them "ultimate" because they fight dry and damaged skin with pure force of nature! Use them as an all over body deep moisturizer, stretch mark reducer, or sunburn soother. Choose from our 4 different scents: Lavender Silk, Tea Tree Blossom, Cranberry Fig and Coconut Lime. And remember very little goes a loooong way!

Check out previously featured products here.

Third Fan Page Giveaway Winner

2009-12-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

As always BIG thank you to our active fans for participating in our Third Giveaway! Now let’s find out who will be receiving a yummy treat this time! One person who has submitted her comments turned out to be not an MH fan, so I had to bump up our comment count by one. Here is what I came up with: 1-kessandcrystal@aol.com, 2-Christine, 3- Michele K, 4-Mary Barris, 5-Loretta Sirota. And the winner is…

Michele K. with her vote for Cantaloupe Lily or Apricot Parfait. Michele please email me with your shipping info and don’t forget to include your scent choices!
Thank you everybody for participating! Your comments were very helpful and all mentioned scents will be included in our Spring line of products!

Third Fan Page Giveaway

2009-12-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

We have been having regular Fan Page Giveaways every time Marmalade Hills acquires 30 new fans! Our third Fan Page giveaway is here! Anyone who is our fan onFacebook can enroll to win! This time winner will receive a set of Handcrafted Soap and Lip Balm of their choice!
There are a few rules: to enroll in this giveaway you must be Marmalade Hills’ fan on Facebook; you must be 18 years of age or older; you have to comment on this post and tell us which scents would you like to see in our Spring/Summer collection?. Here are your choices: 1-Big Apple; 2-Sweet Pea; 3-Honeysuckle; 4-Woodland Ferns; 5-Cantaloupe Lily; 6-Apricot Parfait; 7-Saffron Honey. If you are submitting your comment as anonymous you will need to leave your first name and last initial at the end of the comment. Giveaway will go on for one week, until 12-22-09, collecting comments from our fans. Only the ones who left comments will participate in giveaway. After one week I will use online Randomizer to choose a winner. Winner will be contacted via Facebook messaging about their shipping information.

Good Luck!

In case you missed it, results for our first and second Fan Page giveaway are here and here.

Second Fan Page Giveaway Results

2009-12-13T19:58:00.000-08:00

Big thank you to our active fans for participating in our Second Giveaway! I wish you all could win, but we will only have one winner tonight. As always I have numbered fans' comments as they were posted: 1-Mary Barris, 2-Monica, 3-Kess N and Crystal W, 4-Christine Wilson, 5-Donna Maria. Here we go... drum roll please (not the same without it)

Our winner is Monica! Congratulations Monica, you are getting your gift of choice: Zesty Cranberry Omega 3 Body Lotion! ENJOY!

Wrapping Ideas Holiday Style

2009-12-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

After one of our fans gave me an idea to divide our soy melts into a smaller size sets and give them away as Holiday gifts for teachers, I instantly knew how I would do it and here is how:
1. For this project you will need a set of Marmalade Hills’ pure soy melts set, sheet of scrap booking paper or cardstock, ruler, small plastic bags (I got my bags from a craft store in beading supplies aisle), scissors, pencil, stapler, and a gift tag of your choice. I have purchased my custom tags from Sarah. She can make you custom color tags with any text you like.
2. Try to predict the size of the paper panel you will need for your bag. My panel had to be 3” x 3”. Sketch it on paper and don’t forget to put a dividing line right in the middle to assist you in perfectly straight folding.
3. If you need a few of these panels just cut out the first one and trace copies of it right on paper, no need to measure anything multiple times.
4. Fold your panel in half helping yourself with a ruler by placing it right against the dividing line.
5. Put your plastic baggy between folds of the panel. Don’t forget to put your melts inside the bag first (it’s kind of important)!
6. Staple panel and baggy together and attach your tag to the front. Done.

As soon as I was done digesting soy melts wrapping idea, another one popped into my head. What if I shared with you how I wrap Marmalade Hills’ Soap Stack holiday style?! I love it because it reminds me of a big candy and if you can come up with a way to secure it on your Christmas tree you can turn it into a deliciously smelling ornament!

1. I usually take one tissue sheet and fold it in half. It is important for tissue to be in two layers, extra layer makes it more durable and prevents tears. Put your soap stack in the center of the sheet and fold one side of tissue on top of the stack.
2. Take another half of the tissue paper and put it on top of the first one and secure it with a piece of sticky tape. Make sure that the side with a sticky tape will go on the bottom of your final product.
3. Take two strings of paper raffia or any ribbon that you have handy and tie it in a bow on a distance of 1 ½” to 2” from the stack edges, this will ensure tissue not to be too close to the stack edges and not to tear. (I hope it makes sense)
4. Tie ribbons into bows, attach you tag and if you think that your edges are too floppy just neatly trim them off. Done.

And this is how our final product looks like!

Second Fan Page Giveaway

2009-12-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

Our second Fan Page giveaway is here! Anyone who is our fan on Facebook can enroll to win any product from our shop! There are a few rules: to enroll in this giveaway you must be Marmalade Hills’ fan on Facebook; you must be 18 years of age or older; you have to comment on this post and tell us which product you would like to select as your prize and why. If you are submitting your comment as anonymous you will have to leave your first name and last initial at the end of the comment. You cannot choose sets as your possible prize, only one particular item. Giveaway will go on for one week, until 12-12-09, collecting comments from our fans. Only the ones who left comments will participate in giveaway. After one week I will use online Randomizer to choose a winner. Winner will be contacted via Facebook messaging about their shipping information.

Good Luck!

In case you missed it, results for our first Fan Page giveaway are here.

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Elf Shelf Raffle

2009-12-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

I have 22 email addresses in my sign up sheets. I will contact all the participants about the raffle once and those who have checked the box for receiving updates in the future, will be automatically signed up for our Newsletter. I have numbered all the participants as they were added to the list and here it is as follows:
1-Jenny M; 2-Amina G; 3-JoEllen G; 4-Chris W; 5-Ann W; 6-Annete O; 7-Wendy C; 8-Sue S, 9-Kevin M, 10-Andrea D, 11-Sue R, 12-Tanya A, 13-Nancy S, 14-Sherrill J, 15-Mary Ellen H, 16-Kathleen S, 17-Michele K, 18-Megan B, 19-Michael S, 20-Mary B, 21-Mali B, 22-Brittany L.
*In case of unclear handwriting of the email addresses, winner’s email notification may come back to my mailbox. In this case I will subtract that person from the list and random number for the winner will be regenerated.
The lucky winner will be getting our Omega 3 Body Lotion and One Bar of Soap.
And here it goes! Drum roll please…

Our lucky winner is Mary Ellen! Congratulations Mary Ellen! I can neither recollect who you are nor if you made a purchase that day, but I will gladly mail you your prize as soon as I have your shipping info! and don't forget to select your scents!

Thank you very much to everybody for stopping by at our booth last Saturday! If we could grab your attention among many other wonderful crafters, it means we are doing something right! Hope to see you in our shop and don’t forget to use your Free Shipping codes that some of you received at Elf Shelf.

Happy Holidays!

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Elf Shelf 2009

2009-12-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

I finally came to my senses after the show. When I applied for this show I had no idea what to expect and I had no idea how big this show was. I just knew that I have to make progress every day and keep moving ahead. What a crazy time that was: taking care of kids, I gave up on cleaning the house, going to the studio to make products, cooking dinner, back to the studio to make more products… Last night before the show, we stayed up till 2:30am finishing labels and got up 3 ½ hrs later to go to the show. That day was really rough, but adrenalin kept me going and I think, I haven’t eaten all day that day, just coffee and water. Thank God I had my friend with me, who was helping me with everything. I am not sure if it is even possible to do shows on your own. Our booth was in the last room, so the foot traffic was kind of light compare to the two main rooms, in the early morning it even looked a bit empty. People started coming in at 9am sharp! We had our first sale 30 min or so after the opening. We burned and crashed with our first credit card order, it was a $40 purchase and the system was BUSY! Why does it always have to go this way? The lady was very nice and gave us a check and made another $30 purchase :) It was a good start and now looking back, we were pretty busy all day: meeting people, telling them about cold process method of making soaps, talking about benefits of using natural skincare products, making orders, refilling shelves with products, making customized gift sets and processing cards. We could hardly catch up on things, because it was a lot of people around our booth at all times and we tried to be helpful and attend to every stopper-by. There were many different people: some were just wondering around and stopped by just to get a chocolate, some went straight to soaps, and some were interested only in facial care. A few of my good friends stopped by to show us their support and make a purchase, it was very important to hear their words of encouragement. So after all, it was a great show with a big turn out of 1,600 guests and us making great sales! If this is how people shop when the economy is bad, then I can hardly wait to find out how they shop when the economy is good! We had 22 people sign up for the raffle which will be held tonight. The winner will get Omega 3 Body Lotion and one Soap of their choice.
Marmalade Hills will be back to Elf Shelf next Holiday season for sure, only bigger and better and in either of two main rooms! This show has taught me so many things and I cannot wait to improve my flaws next year. I will keep trying until I get it perfect!

I wanted to share with you some of the pictures from the show, please keep in mind that I had only 3 ½ hrs of sleep that night :) So have mercy!
Early Morning: setting up (next year I will have a huge banner behind my booth to cover up any ugly doors or walls)
Side View with soap rack, body mists and soy melts.
Display with raffle sign up sheet, my MICE poster and Specials Menu.

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1st Fan Page Giveaway Winner!

2009-11-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

Although we had only three comments submitted and therefore only three people enrolled to win our prize, we have our First Fan Page Giveaway Winner who will get our Silky Bath Bomb and Natural Lip Balm with Rose Hip Oil! I have numbered fans’ comments as they were posted: 1-Cristina Wyatt, 2-Christine Wilson, 3-Mary Barris. And the winner IS! Drum roll please… Cristina Wyatt! Congratulations Cristina! I will be putting your body treats in the mail as soon as I receive your shipping info. Don’t forget to choose your scents!
Our next Fan Page Giveaway is just 5 fans away! (rules are here). Next time I want to try a different approach, I will let you guys pick the prize! So stay tuned!

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Thank You!

2009-11-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

Last few days before the show have been very busy. But everything seems to be coming together. I have set my mind to not let anything spoil this fun experience. So I am not nervous at all…yet. I am sure it’ll get to me more on Friday. Since I have never done a show before I have no idea what to expect. I will be just happy to meet new people, establish new contacts, see my old friends and family, but picking up one or two wholesale accounts won’t hurt either! I cannot wait to practice my sales skills, polish up my knowledge about Marmalade Hills’ products and become more organized and prepared to take my business to the next level, because I do have an idea on where I want to be the following week after the show. I would like to get my first retail location where my products will be offered with full shopping experience. This show will definitely put things like my price point, feedbacks, presentation, in perspective for me. I will not be posting much to my Fan Page up until Monday. I will need to retreat and enjoy whatever will be left of my Thanksgiving with my family. On Tuesday, we will have a raffle that would be held at the show and hopefully we will pick up some new fans out there as well and maybe even have another Fan Page giveaway back to back! And then I have a few fun Holiday ideas up my sleeve inspired by one of our fans, Christine Wilson. So stay tuned and hope to see you at the show and in our shop!

Hope you have a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thank You for supporting Marmalade Hills!

Liana.

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Fan Page First Giveaway

2009-11-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

We have been around Facebook only one week and we already acquired over 30 fans. So it is time to start a fun tradition of regular giveaways. I love giveaways because they give us a chance to introduce our fans to Marmalade Hills’ decadent and natural products. And it gives our fans an opportunity to pamper their senses and have spa-like experience in their own bathroom. Our lives are full of every day chaos, adult responsibilities, constant pressure from reaching and achieving our personal goals. In order to maintain our sanity we owe to ourselves to slow down, relax and take a deep breath before plunging into the new challenges.
In addition to many other future giveaways, our Facebook Fan Page giveaway will take place each time we acquire 30 new fans. Prizes for each giveaway will be announced on our Fan Page. To enroll in this giveaway you must be Marmalade Hills’ Fan on Facebook; you must be 18 years of age or older; you have to leave us a comment on our Facebook page, topic for comments will vary for each giveaway and will be announced on Fan Page. Giveaway will go on for one week, collecting comments from our fans. Only ones who left comments will participate in giveaway. For our first giveaway I have chosen two of my personal favorites: Silky Cream Bath Bomb and Lip Balm. After one week we will use online Randomizer to choose a winner. Winner will be contacted via Facebook messaging about their shipping information.

Good luck!

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Featured Product - Omega 3 Body Lotion

2009-11-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

This post will be the beginning of the series called “Featured Product”. I have to start with one of my favorite items “Omega 3 Body Lotion”. It is a replacement and upgrade from our original Gentle Body Lotions line that some of you have been introduced to before. The first time I have tried this lotion, I fell in love with its texture and the after-feel of it. Cold weather is already upon us and everyone needs an extra nourishing and extra emollient lotion in their arsenal. The texture of this lotion is on a thick side, but it sinks into the skin momentarily, leaving your skin feeling soft, supple and moist. It leaves absolutely no greasy or oily residue and because it has no silicone-by or petroleum-by ingredients it feels like your skin can breathe after application. You know how sometimes, after using a lotion, it feels like you just dipped your hands into a sticky, heavy clay mixture? With Omega 3 Lotions you will feel absolutely none of it! In case of a body/hand lotion, it is important for it to be free of “dirty words” like parabens, phthalates and such because it is a leave-on product and most of the ingredients will be absorbed by skin and transferred into the blood stream. Our Omega 3 Body Lotions are made of pure botanical and plant derived ingredients. We are using Grapeseed, Hemp, Sweet Almond and Sunflower oils that are cold pressed to retain their minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acids. Omega 3 is found in Hemp oil. With its healthy essential fatty acid composition of Linoleic and Linolenic acids in the perfect ratio of 3:1, it also contains the relatively rare Gamma-Linolenic fatty acid that the body needs. They are called "essential" because our body is not able to reproduce them, and because they help to nourish and maintain a healthy skin on cellular level. Omega 3 has been found to assist in correcting problematic skin; typically, psoriasis, acne, and eczema. Additional properties from Shea Butter, Japanese Green Tea, Chamomile, Aloe Vera and Vitamin E, makes this a great skin rejuvenator. To guarantee fungus-free and bacteria-free lotions we do have to protect our water in oil emulsions (this is what lotions are) by adding gentle, paraben-free preservative at the ratio of 0.003% of net weight of the product. We offer Essential Oil scented lotions in Tea Tree Blossom and Lavender, and Fragrance Oil scented lotions in Zesty Cranberry, Gingersnap, Sea Foam and Sugar Fig. Our Essential Oil Lotions are a bit more expensive due to usage of pure, therapeutic Essential Oils. Omega 3 Body Lotion can make a thoughtful gift this season for special people in your life.

P.S. if you have missed our previous healthy tips you can find them here:
Clean Truth about Antibacterial Soap
10 Foods that are healthier than you think
Healthy Nails Tips
Healthy Hair Tips
When to buy Organic and when it's ok not to
Benefits of Green Tea
Beauty Sleep
Fish Oil or Omega 3 & 6
How to add years to your life

New products are coming your way!

2009-11-10T22:49:00.000-08:00

New soaps are finally all dry! I usually wait for 6 weeks before offering them to customers. From the moment of mixing a fresh batch and until 6 weeks have passed you really don't know how the finished bar of soap will look like (and it is one of the most exciting parts of making cold process soap!). When soap is still in a pot it looks totally different than after 48 hours in the mold... and as it dries it keeps changing color due to water evaporation and air exposure. Here is how fresh Gingersnap looks like (here) and compare it to what it looks like now The Gingersnap turned light brown after it came out of the mold and as it was drying it got darker and darker. It is completely naturally inherited color from Goat Milk and Fragrance Oil: in two words, all goat milk soaps are usually brownish and any fragrance that has Vanilla notes in it will turn soap brown. So in this case it turned double brown! But it still smells scrumptious!

I will be uploading new soaps and products to my shop every day. Until then here is a little preview of a few things that are coming up!
Of course all this and more you will be able to see for yourself at the Holiday Gift Show this year!

Stay tuned!

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Save The Date

2009-11-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid my favorite time of the year had always being Winter because of the Holidays and Summer because each summer we went to our summer apartment on Black Sea. Waiting for the Holidays and for summer seemed like torture to a little kid. Ahh, what a wonderful time childhood was... And now I don't know where time goes! I don't think I had a chance to enjoy Summer this year. It seemed like: "Okay, one more week of remodeling and we can start enjoying our summer..." days went by, weeks went by... and it's already November! Now my schedule is planned out by hours! It also means that it is time to invite everybody to meet us in person at the Elf Shelf Holiday Gift show in Troy, MI. I have decided to take on only one show this year and test the waters. It is all my family can handle at this time. But we all are extremely excited and everybody has stepped up their game - everybody! Even my 10 month-old, who had to learn to feed himself and it's a big job for the little guy =)
So please come to say Hi! You will be able to enjoy our Holiday Specials, enter to win Holiday Gift Set from Marmalade Hills, and see for yourself all of our delicious natural products!

Location: Troy High School, 4777 Northfield Parkway in Troy, Michigan. Elf Shelf show is a juried show which will include over 100 Artisans! So come on out to support your local artisans and bring your friends and family, I am sure that everyone will find something that their heart desires.

See you there!

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Fight Flu, Wash Hands! Helpful Discount

2009-10-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Cold and Flu Season is in full swing and I am just terrified of my kids getting sick. I know sleepless nights will come, non-stop crying and stuffy noses can happen any day now. I am preparing myself for possibility of juggling holiday shows, ton of holiday orders and being sick myself or having sick kids at the same time. It seems impossible to prevent cold or flu when you share everything with everybody in your household. But there are two things that everybody can do: take vitamins and WASH HANDS! I remember, before I was making my own soap, every winter we all had to use a ton of regular soap as frequent as 20 times per day! And I remember that my hands felt like if I wash them one more time, my skin would peel off of them. Harsh detergents in soap burned, dried and scaled my skin and no lotions, no matter how much or how often I would use, could help. My husband had the worst case of dry hands in winter, it was painfully uncomfortable. After constant washes the skin on his hands would turn white and it felt dry, like paper. He would use a ton of lotions but at the end of the day would always end up with the same problem. For the past few years that I have been making my soaps and using only soaps I make, I can proudly declare that our household is “dry skin-free”! It is truly a miracle. Even in winter months I do not need to saturate my hands in lotion every 10 minutes. My husband’s hands feel great and even sometimes he can forget to use lotion completely.
I wish everybody could experience the power of natural soap and wash hands as frequent as possible to stay healthy and happy this winter season. So I have decided to run a promotional SALE on some of our most soothing and gentle soaps until the end of this year. Just add WASHHANDS09 at check out and get 20% off on the following soaps:
Lemongrass Moisturizing Soap with Shea Butter
Classic Lavender Moisturizing and Nourishing Soap with Shea Butter and Goat Milk

And don't forget to check out our Seasonal Sales, Oatmeal Honey and Forest Sprite would be an excellent choice for Gentle and Moisturizing Hand Soap and they are already discounted!

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Full Steam Ahead

2009-10-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have been making soaps like madwoman in a last few weeks. What seems like madwoman to me, however may look more like slow moving snail to somebody else :) Juggling kids, every day chores, house keeping and business is NOT an easy task. Unfortunately, most of the times business gets lowest priority. But I know that I just have to keep moving and make continuous small or even micro steps forward, whether making a new product, blogging, researching or making labels - whatever I have time for. And I have made some progress, one small task at a time. I have added a new soap book to my soap-making book collection and it is by Soapylove It is so inspirational, fun and quite unique. Melt and Pour soaps are not exactly up my alley but I love all the techniques, designs, clever ideas that Debbie has to offer. I had a little time to experiment with some of her ideas and the first one was Soap Balls! Before I have been rebatching my old soap by Hot Processing it and then together with my 5 year old rolled soap balls for embedding…it could have taken up to two month to make those soap balls. Now I have successfully made batch of 28 red and yellow Cold Process soap balls using ice cube mold recommended by Debbie, and all it took is 24 hrs. I’ll let them sit on my drying rack for few more days and they’ll be ready to go into my Zesty-Cranberry soap. Yippee!
I just have to brag about my new Gingersnap Milk and Honey soap! I made it yesterday night! It smells delicious and looks even better! Pardon my lighting, it was late night outside. It is made of fresh, creamy goat milk, local honey, oats and the most amazing smelling Gingersnap fragrance! The scent will make you want to sink your teeth into it. I bet it will be a crowd pleaser at the Holiday Gift Show this year!

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Back to work!

2009-10-02T20:21:00.000-07:00

I had a few minutes today for myself before my older one returns from school and while my youngest enjoyed his jumper. So I finally was able to return to blogging. It was a long and busy summer but it was planned to be this way. I am glad to be back to work! An opportunity to get back to business kept me on my toes all summer long! I just couldn’t wait to get back to my studio, make new products and search for new scents and ingredients! However, I am very happy with our summer and the progress we made. We have finished remodeling 1/3 of our house, what at one time used to be Marmalade Hills studio is now a home office and a family room. My husband had supervised his first project at work, and even though it took him out of the country for three weeks, it was an important step in his career. And finally we had a fun family trip to Chicago. The most memorable part of the trip for me was Cloud Gate sculpture in downtown Chicago or The Bean. It is so simple, yet unique, modern, engaging, fun and absolutely breathtaking! Check out for yourself…

Unfortunately it was too crowded to capture true beauty of it, but found many gorgeous pictures of Cloud Gate here.

Here are some night pictures of Chicago

Now the summer is officially over (today we had first frost overnight!); schedule for Fall/Winter season is set; new products and scents are finalized; and I am back to work at my studio! Because all of Marmalade Hills’ soaps have to cure for 6 weeks I am whipping new batches of soap every other day to make sure that I have enough fresh and yummy smelling soaps this holiday season! As far as new products go, you will be able to try new Bath Truffles and completely new Lotion formula, which is divine in texture and extremely beneficial for skin. I am so excited about new products that I will have to blog about each one of them individually!

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Product Party Report

2009-05-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

My Friday was very intense. I totally missed the whole day, it seems like I went from Thursday straight to Saturday. I was preparing all day and had time only for breakfast. I was running on my adrenalin and excitement. We got up early Friday morning, took my daughter to preschool, my little one to my mom’s and went straight to my studio. I don’t know what I would’ve done without my mom and my in-laws! They took over the kids for the day and I was able to work, work, work, as fast as I can. I thought I was very well prepared as far as the product stock, but I had to label everything, shrink wrap, make signs, set up the picture show, print out the price lists and get it all boxed up and loaded into my car….of course I was running late and my exit from the freeway was closed! Where was my GPS when I needed it! When I finally got to the house my friend, was already rallying for me, so people were ready and excited to see my amazing lotions and potions. The hostess, Nicole, is a friend of my friend (and now my friend too) and her house is beautiful and very eclectic! She put a lot of love and her own personality into her home. I was just blown away by her kitchen backsplash. It’s a huge copper backsplash that she designed and welded by herself! And it’s at least 4’ x 6’ humongous piece of metal! It looks totally cool and artsy. I wish I had a picture of it to show you! Actually I don’t have many pictures from the party. I was hopping to get lots of pictures, but I was so busy setting everything up and then talking to people that I just forgot about my camera. I set my table up as fast as I could and it turned out great and I didn’t forget anything… oh no, I did: I forgot my business cards! D'oh! I was so mad at myself. Thank god I had a bunch of price lists that I gave away with every purchase…. Anyways, where was I? I was lucky to have a huge dining room table right next to the front door, so nobody could miss me! I had my bath bombs set up on a cute pastry tower; had my digital picture frame with product slideshow; sign with specials, bowls with cashews and dark chocolates for guests, and the rest of the products basically setup on the table displaying themselves.
The bottom line is: the party turned out great, I was very excited to introduce people to my natural skin care and I really enjoyed talking about it. I made quite a few sales and most important a lot of new friends!!! I loved doing parties and my friend who is my biggest fan will have a huge party in August where Marmalade Hills is already invited! Yippee! Can’t wait!

P.S. if you are interested in having Marmalade Hills at your party send me an email!

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“Tile Me Beautiful” Shout Out

2009-05-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Tile Me Beautiful is my new favorite blog! Michelle is an open and funny girl. And I LOVE, LOVE her tiled pieces! I wish I could have this tray someday! It’s simply gorgeous and very unique! Michelle had picked our bath bombs as her favorite bombs! And it made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. I’m very proud of my silky cream bombs and it is awesome when somebody appreciates things you love! Thanks Michelle!

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Recycling Rewards for your community

2009-05-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

I have been business news junkie lately and I love “Venture” on Bloomberg TV channel. They invite many interesting, intelligent and driven people who own big and small businesses to talk about their companies and how they became successful. A few weeks ago “Venture” had an episode devoted to green businesses. They were all great companies with fresh ideas, but the one I liked the most was Recycle Bank Reward Program (RBRP). Recycle Bank is a reward program that rewards households for their recycling efforts. The RBRP is offered to households through city government and haulers who provide your community recycling services. Even though standard recycling services exist in our area I know for a fact that way too many people don’t bother to recycle for reasons such as lack of time, lack of interest or simple laziness. What RBRP does is making a boring routine more exciting and beneficial. And who doesn’t like benefits? Especially material once! Those that you can touch, smell and use to buy every day necessities. How it works: you get a recycling cart that you fill up during the week with recycling waste and on your garbage collection day you pull it out for curbside pick up. The recycling cart is embedded with an electronic chip that gets scanned by the recycling truck to determine weight of your recycled material. RecycleBank rewards you for recycling with RecycleBank Reward Points. These points are based on your personal household recycling weight and they are used to order rewards. There are hundreds of participating national brands for you to chose your rewards from!
What a great idea you say, but how does government benefit from this program, why would they care about enhancing recycling efforts? They save a ton of money from landfill diversion. Millions of dollars can be saved and used with greater benefit to the whole community and our Planet!
After watching the episode with an open mouth I ran to my laptop and found the information on how to participate in RBRP. They didn’t have to ask me twice, I typed my letters in one breath and now waiting for the response.
If you want your community to participate you can find helpful forms and information right here.

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Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Marmalade Hills is committed to keep our Planet healthy and clean for many generations to come. That is why we have decided to celebrate this day by offering a generous discount as an appreciation to our customers for their ongoing effort to live green. Take 25% off on anything in our store (not including shipping). Choose from many natural skin care luxuries and help us to stay the course all year round!

*see store for details

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Moisturizing Bath Bombs

2009-04-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

It is simply gorgeous outside and I’m sure there will be no more snow! And that means that hot-tub/whirlpool/jacuzzi season is just around the corner! So, last few days I have been perfecting my Bath Bomb recipe. I had a ton of fun doing that! What exactly is a Bath Bomb? Bath Bombs, or Bath Fizzies, are like giant alka-seltzers for your bath: they spin, whirl and swirl in your bath while releasing scent and skin-softening agents. There are many different Bath Bombs out there but Marmalade Hills’ Bombs are natural, gentle, moisturizing, fun and are packed with skin-loving ingredients.
This season I have come up with two types of bombs: Queen of the Nile with softening Coconut Milk and Luxurious Silky Bath Bombs with real silk fibers! Cleopatra was famous for her beautiful skin. Her royal secret was indulging herself with milk baths! It is not a secret anymore, thanks to the extensive research of modern laboratories we know that lactic acid in milk is an alpha hydroxy acid, a natural material that dissolves the glue that holds dead skin cells together. Milk can cleanse the skin down to its deepest layers without over-drying it.

MH’s Luxurious Silky Bath Bombs will turn your any-day bath experience into a Spa Ritual! They are full of skin-loving indulgences and will leave your skin silky smooth, literally.

All of our Bath Bombs are richly fragranced and infused with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and creamy Mango Butter!

We are proud to offer completely biodegradable packaging for our Bath Bombs!

Go ahead and indulge yourself...responsibly!

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First product party

2009-04-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

In a few weeks will be my first product party at one of my dear friend’s friend house. It should be a fun event with champagne and strawberries and a whole dining room dedicated only to Marmalade Hills! I’m planning to have a pile of samples for most of my products and also for those who are interested I will offer a facial routine using Oatmeal Honey Soap, followed by our signature dry mask, then the Toner and to finish everything off with MH™ Luxury Omega Serum… Believe me – you will be blown away by results! I’m so excited and super nervous about the party! And being a perfectionist at heart doesn’t help at all :) I keep rethinking everything over and over and over again… Someone else may say “No big deal!” but for me this will be my first organized showcase of my products and I must say, it will be a good practice before this year’s craft shows that I’m planning to attend. I will probably take quite a few pictures and I promise to submit an extensive report on how it all went.

Stay tuned!

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Spring is here!

2009-04-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Marmalade Hills' new Spring scents available in the following products... and more products are coming soon!
Sugar Fig-caramelized brown sugar paired with ripened figs, and a touch of amber.
Freesia-sweet smelling freesia is balanced out nicely with just a hint of soft lilac.

Pink Sugar-playfully and soft fragrance with the sweetness of sugar, cotton candy, vanilla, musk and light florals.
Our Pure Soy Tarts are available in all of the above Spring Scents and more!

Enjoy!

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Spring events in Metro Detroit

2009-04-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few events that will be going on around town this spring. Unfortunately we will not be participating as a vendor in any of them, but we will definitely pay a visit and we encourage all of our friends to come and meet our metro Detroit’s crafting community.
There are many advantages of shopping handmade and local these days: handmade items make a better gift because the recipient will receive something unique that is one-of-a-kind. It is the result of craftsmanship that is absent in the world of mass production. Buying handmade items from local artisans will directly benefit local crafters and Michigan economy because we are leaving our money in-state; and buying handmade is better for the environment because most artisans operate on small scale which doesn’t have an accumulating environmental effects that all of the mass manufacturers do.

Please come and meet with us at these events:

Bring everyone you know! Hope to see you there!

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Recycling Program at Marmalade Hills

2009-03-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

The only thing separating a habit from a lifestyle is a little practice. Every time I do my dishes I wash every plastic container before I put it into recycling bin. It probably takes me a bit longer to do my dishes than if I would just threw everything into the garbage can. For me just one thought of burying all that plastic into the ground makes me nauseous. Washing containers and recycling is a simple routine that may seem time consuming and hard. But after some time it turns into a lifestyle. At some point you start doing it on autopilot. Every time I put out my garbage on a curb I get terrified by how much plastic we have accumulated over one week. And we are just a small family of four people! I can skip one garbage collection but I can never skip recycling pick-up, my recycling bins are always full. So there is no turning back for me – it will always take me to do my dishes a bit longer. And don’t even get me started on how much newspapers and magazines get thrown away without ever opening them. Good thing we have paper recycling container at our school. I always have at least three full paper bags each month!
After another garbage day and two more full recycling bins I though that it would be a good idea to offer 10% discount¹ for each returned Marmalade Hills’ container and/or jar². This way Marmalade Hills will contribute to keeping our Planet clean and also save you some green! This is how it will work: when you run out of your favorite lotion, body wash, body mist, facial mask, toner, body oil or scrub rinse the container, pop it in an envelope and send it back to us. We will mail/email you 10% off coupon for anything in our store! Accumulate more than one container and get larger discount! Our containers are light and compact they will perfectly fit in a large envelope and will be cheap to ship. Or bring your clean empty bottles and jars to one of our upcoming shows and get your green credit right on the spot!

Shop responsibly and be the change you wish to see in the world!

We thank you in advance for your effort!

Truly yours,
Liana.

¹ This discount can not be combined with any other offers.

² We will not reuse old containers for new products, but we will make sure that they will get recycled and not end up on a landfill.

Phew!

2009-03-24T14:17:00.001-07:00

If running your own business and having two kids weren’t enough, we also decided to have some remodeling done to our house. After two years Marmalade Hills studio has moved out of our family room into a much larger space! That is what we have been doing last two weeks: we have moved and reorganized my studio and office. I can finally have my work room in the same room with ingredients and supplies and now my packaging station is next to stock shelves. I hope to save a lot of time by eliminating frequent trips between separate spaces. I think moving Marmalade Hills out of the house will help me to run whole operation more efficiently. Now I can just leave the house and concentrate on getting things done: making new products, experimenting with new recipes, taking more pictures – all without interruptions by my kids. I wake up every morning and can’t wait to go to my studio and create!

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Reborn and awaken...

2009-03-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

Finally my first post, yippee! I’m very excited and don’t even know where to start… Recently I have been awaken and reborn after almost five years of hibernation. Last five years of my life I have been concentrating on being pregnant, raising my wonderful kids, being a good wife and the usual - making the ends meet by working full time side-by-side with my DH in automotive industry. Somewhere in the middle of it all I have discovered a fascinating hobby that would take me away from my everyday routine and get me super excited and energized. It didn’t take long to realize how much potential my favorite hobby had. Effects of my natural soaps and skin care products just blew me away. My skin never felt this good before! I kept smacking my head in amazement: “Natural ingredients, how simple it can be and what a great result!” Ever since, I have been madly in love with natural and nature derived ingredients.

After working on my lotions and potions for a year and some, from a studio in our family room, I have decided to take my hobby to a next level. I wanted everybody to try my products, I wanted everybody to feel the difference! And that’s how Marmalade Hills LLC was born. After getting my head out of my hibernation hole I have been looking around the Internet and I have noticed a new interesting creature - Blog. When I discovered that many companies and craft people keep blogs in order to connect with their customers, to bring them news on every day basis I started to wonder if I should start one of my own. I’ve read many other people’s blogs, I’ve read a lot about running your own blog and finally I’m here.

I’m planning on using this blog mainly for showcasing my products and talking about the process involved in making them. Everything, from why I picked a particular ingredient for my lip balm to why I have designed my label the way you see it. Also I would like to talk about challenges in running your own business, your home, raising kids and being a caring wife at the same time. I hope not to bore you to death and thank you for reading this far!

Liana at Marmalade Hills.

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