a step at going natural

i recently started using soap bars to bathe instead of the normal J&J Baby Bath Shower cream i usually share with Significant Other. i was spring cleaning my drawers when i came across a green tea soap bar i got free during a purchase from Tiny Tapir. i was not really much of a soap bar fan because you had to store it proper when not in use so that it doesn't get all soggy sitting in a puddle of water - think of all those soap bars they provide at those little restaurants, sedikit icky over there. i remember when Significant Other was using Clinique's soap bar for his facial wash, i felt like it diminished a little too quickly due to all those dampy wetness the bar had to sit through.

since the soap bar was nearing expiry, i decided to use it up instead of just chucking a good piece of chemical-free soap bar into the trash. it wasn't love at first sight, the smell of the green tea took a little bit of getting used to at first. but i find that i end up feeling squeaky clean, a feeling i don't get when i use shower cream. is that normal? haha.

i came across sabun susu beras at Petronas in Langkawi. people always say that milk is good for the skin (don't ask me about the beras though) so i gave that one a go. haha. i love the smell, but the bar finished much quicker than the green tea bar, which i'm still using til today. my aunt gave me another rice milk bar soap after i asked her why she had so many of it lying around her house, haha (i simply asked whether she was selling it, she gave me one to try for free).

at Cenang Mall there's this store called Earth Tree, where they sell natural body products from the States. they're a bit pricey though. i bought my lip butter from here. i also got myself a lavender bar soap for me to try which is still unopened as i try in vain to finish off my green tea soap bar lol.

while accompanying mil to get gamat products to bring back to kl, i came across some soap bars which didn't cost as much as the Earth Tree (being unbranded, perhaps?), so i bought two to try: charcoal soap (which some say make good odor eliminators) and jasmine rice soap. being the impatient person that i am, i've already opened the charcoal bar for alternate use. am not really a fan of its smell though.

jasmine rice soap and the charcoal soap bar

this is where i bought it from. lotsa gamat-based products sold here

my friend aida has been spamming her instagram account with photos of her handmade body products, i guess that's probably why my interest got piqued. i was interested in her lotion bar, mainly because it looked easy to make on your own, provided you know how to melt stuff. it looks good enough to be eaten! oh she even makes her own soap and shampoo bars (which i am itching to try hahahah), those require too much complication to make on your own for idiots like me. lip concoctions are of no interest to me mainly because i've tried practically everything and the results are still the same. anyway, she just recently opened her little shop - Mia Amani: Natural Handmade Bodycare, do drop by her website if you're kepochi like me =P. i think her soap bars are still curing so it'll be awhile before she puts those up for sale.

i bought one of her lotion bars to try, i tried googling the product up but it seems that soap bars where more popular for sale compared to lotion bars (probably because lotion bars were something anyone could make on their own provided they were rajin enough?).

so i placed my order for a lotion bar, and i got it in the mail two days ago. my first thought was, hmmm. it's not popping out of the container T_T. i emailed aida and she suggested popping it into the freezer for a few minutes, and it worked. haha. am not a fan of its container because the bar might get stuck in there again, but i guess that's the easiest way to store it on the go.

aida's lotion bar. looks like soap eh?

my first impression was that it looks exactly like a soap bar, except it doesn't work like a soap bar. i googled on how to use it and it says you only need to warm the bar with your hands to melt it and massage it in your skin. don't expect it to feel all lotion-ny like the commercial lotions out there, the texture needs to be gotten used to (like don't imagine it to miracly melt like butter in your hands ok lolz). what i did? i simply rubbed the whole bar directly onto my skin. hahahahaha. works for me. i still haven't figured out how much is enough so there i am, busy tonyohing away at my skin with the bar until i actually feel a sense of oiliness on my skin, kggal. my kids saw me going at it last night and they offered me their hands and legs too.

i wonder how long a bar should normally last. since it's my first bar i'm allowed to experiment with it to my liking. i used to be so kemut with cosmetics, using just a bit and hoarding it until they expire and i'm forced to chuck them in the bin. not this time.
did i mention that it smells nice too?

maybe one day if i'm really rajin enough i'd try to make my own lotion bar but goodness knows when that day will come. i already have a bottle of virgin coconut oil (vco) at home but i bought that with the intention of oral consumption. i read online that consumption of vco is good for the baby and for the mommy. but my friend Liz says vco tastes weird depending on what brand you bought, so i postponed trying it, hahahah. aida uses it to condition her hair also. i remember reading one of her old blog posts on how she tried making her own hair shampoo, and i actually did try it out. didn't like the feel of it though, i'm better off stealing my kids' shampoo instead, lol.

ok lah i'm starting to babble here. did you know you could also make soaps using breastmilk? menarik itu bunyi. there's a place somewhere in KL that can actually help you make them.

speaking of breastmilk, i haven't done any preparation for the coming baby, poor thing. come third baby you know it's impossible not to recycle most of the baby stuff you have lying around in the closet. another 8 weeks to go baby. i'm still not gonna post up belly pics of me because i realized recently that homaigod i look like a fat ugly penguin in photos.

a conversation with makcik nasi ayam in Langkawi (really good nasi ayam btw. they sell just outside the Bella Vista Hotel at Jalan Kuala Muda):

makcik: *takes a good look at me* baby nak makan nasi ayam ye? makcik tengok perut macam baby boy...
me: @_@