Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Will My Hands Ever Be the Same???

I have gardener's hands and there's nothing I can do about it. Grime is permanently imbedded in my index fingers and my cuticle looks like I use a machete for a manicure. What nails I have are ragged and perpetually dirty despite my best efforts.  What's a girl to do?

I say celebrate and wear it proudly! My hands are a testament to my love affair with dirt.  Oh I have gloves, really nice nitrile ones, and I wear them for dragging hoses and unloading bricks. But when I'm on my knees with packets of seed or bedding plants; when the Stargazer lilies just have to be moved to a sunnier locale, the gloves come off and the hands dig in.

At the end of the day my hands need more than lotion. I often use the Healing Touch Herbal Salve that's been a Greencastle staple for many years now.  It's greasy, but soaks in quickly and helps heal my torn up cuticle and ease water-chapped skin.  A simple salve, with a thicker, more hand-friendly feel can be easily made at home.

You'll need:

Ingredients
  • 3/4 oz shea butter
  • 2/3 oz jojoba oil
  • 1/3 oz good quality olive oil
  • 3/4 oz white beeswax flakes or pellets
Melt all ingredients together in a double boiler and add a few drops of essential oil.  Lavender is always good or whatever you like.  Pour into a tin or small jar and use for garden ravaged hands.

Try to avoid recipes that call for vaseline or mineral oil.  These are petroleum products, and while they may feel good at first, they are ultimately drying and create that "must have more"  sensation.

Recently I came across a fragrance oil that smells just like freshly turned sod. One whiff and I expected to see little red earthworms pop up.  I suppose this is one of those smells like patchouli...love it or hate it....but I couldn't wait to get it into a bar of soap. I made a special Gardener's Bar with extra shea butter for softening and a bit of pumice for scrubbing. Response has been mixed, but personally I think it's terrific.  It smells clean to me...... but remember, I'm the one with the forever stains on her index fingers.  It's the weeds dontcha know.....there are just so damn many of them!!

Happy Digging from Sandy @ Greencastle Soap reminding you to

Think of Us When You're Naked!!



Wednesday, May 20, 2009 6:54:00 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)  #  Comments [1] Trackback
Sunday, June 07, 2009 5:45:50 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
Think of us when you're naked? That's great! Your blog is very cool.
Roseanne Lasater | stillwalknAT NOSPAMgmail dot com
Name
E-mail
Home page

Comment (HTML not allowed)  

Enter the code shown (prevents robots):