Arrowroot

Hilltop Designs Deodorant

Posted on by christinelweber

Esty

What’s that cute cylinder thing you ask??!?!

It’s our From Scratch Original Deodorant!

That’s right! Have you ever tried all natural deodorant?! You should! Not just because I have made one but because of this:

aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex aluminum chlorohdrate or aluminum zirconium

Say WHAT?!

These are considered to be carcinogenic (cancer-causing). Aluminum is toxic. It also affects the nerves and nervous system. Just google it. Crazy stuff!

https://www.facebook.com/HilltopDesignsbyCandice
Thank you to Hilltop’s Founding Consultant Candice for making this GREAT info graphic.

So you what can you do? You can use Deodorant a’ Natural! It will get rid of smell. Now, this won’t stop your sweat. But it will stop your stink. It’s made with ALL NATURAL ingredients which include: Organic Coconut oil, Shea Butter, Beeswax, Baking Soda and Arrowroot Powder. Nothing scary. It’s warm scent will ward off anything fowl.

What’s the best way to Switch from a chemical deodorant to a natural.  3 steps.

1.) Buy the Natural Deodorant.

May I suggest to you this one Hilltop Designs Deodorant Original.

2.) Prime your Pits.

You need your armpits to cleanse themselves of the old deodorant before the new deodorant can even work properly. For years you have been telling your sweat glands to do the opposite of what they have been made to do.   Take three days.  Do not wear deodorant for 72 hrs and let your arm pit’s pores open back up.

I know, you work out.  Take a shower. Use soap that smells really good. I suggest this one Hilltop Designs From Scratch Coconut Oil in Lavender.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised on day three, you are not all that stinky to begin with.

3.) Apply deodorant lightly.  Dab it on.  A Little goes a long way with natural.

Do you do the deodorant dance?

You are probably used to this –>>  Hand up in the air. swipe, swipe, swipety, swipe, swipe….three, four, five times you glossed over your pit with your store brand deodorant.  Wave pits around to dry. Put hand down.  Toss on navy blue tank top. Dang it all. Deodorant all over.  Search closet for new top.

That is NOT necessary.  This deodorant is made with all natural ingredients and a little goes a VERY long way.  My cute little tube lasts me nearly 3 months. I know crazy right.

Apply with a dab.  Not a swipe, or a smear.

Dab Dab and Done!  Put that cute little navy top on with no worries because these dabs won’t budge.

So you need to Try THIS deodorant. Try it. Try it. Try it! It is going to KNOCK your socks off. Great for MEN and women because of its soft natural smell. Only $7.00 for a 1.5 oz and it LAST forever! FOREVER!

Behind the Scenes at Hilltop Designs HD

Posted on by christinelweber

Ever wonder what it looks like behind the scenes?  All of the Hilltop Designs HD products you buy are handmade!  Did you know that?  I still make them right in my own house.  I’ve left my family’s kitchen. Entered a new space. EVERYTHING is still made, right here.  In my house, around my kids schedules, and in our small little world of chaos.

Its great fun and so I wanted to show you all what I do!

1

This is a small sampling of products that are about to be packaged.  One of my favorite products to make are the bath bombs.  You can see several in this picture that are drying.  It takes a few days to completely dry out and then we wrap them in the cute little Chinese food containers.

2

The bulk of my time is making the famous #hilltopsquarebar.  These bars here are the Lavender Square Bars.  Each bar is poured in to big slabs and then I hand cut those slabs in to bars.  No two bars are ever the same.

3

I use ball canning jars for more than just packaging.  I like to make my products in small batches. Because I use natural ingredients I like to make sure they maintain the highest degree of quality. I feel that can get lost in big batches. It’s also helpful to work in small batches because they blend up faster!  When I was testing the Mango Shea, I blew through 3 blenders in like 3 weeks.  I also lost a lot of other small appliances.  I was like the small appliance grave yard for a while.

4

This is one of my favorite images.  I work with hot oils and I just love how you can see the wax and oil moving in this image.  I wish you could smell this image too.  The smell of freshly melted beeswax is golden. 😉

The wrapping, and oh how we wrap.

5

Because each bar is handmade you can bet each bar is hand-wrapped. I do have people who help me wrap because this is very time-consuming.  And I’m very particular.  BUT! On a good night I can cut and wrap about 90 bars.  I found out last holiday season even THAT was not enough.

6

If the bands not tight, it’s not right!  And the Mess!  You would not believe how messy my work is!

8

Making the deodorant is the worst!  LOL! But I love it. This image of arrowroot powder is just perfect in visually capturing the process.  And my shirt, in the picture above, reminds me I should probably invest in an apron. 😉

And seriously, if you’re not getting dirty, you’re not having fun.  Am I right?

7

Loving your job is what it is all about.

 I hope you have enjoyed your behind the scenes tour of HD.

It is one of my most favorite place in the world.

BUT,

My other favorite place would be outside with my family 😉 Playing with our Chicks.

me4

Happy Creating,

Christine

To ‘poo or not to ‘poo that IS the question

Posted on by christinelweber

To ‘poo or not to ‘poo that IS the question.

Shampoo.

Behind lotion that is my most requested item. I’m sure a conditioner isn’t far behind.

But Shampoo is tricky. Tricky like lotion. Where the natural versions aren’t really what people are used to and so to mass market a product like that,may be hard.

But… people are looking for healthy alternatives to Hair care. So I thought I would take today to throw some EASY, natural hair care alternatives your way.

Let’s start at the top with scalp care. And really, to answer the question at the top. “To ‘poo or not to ‘poo? Do you ‘poo every day? Should you ‘poo every few days? Or EVER????”

And after all of my internet research the answer is “Do, whatever your hair does BEST!”

Wait. Wwwwhaat…

Yup! Most people agree that everyone’s hair reacts differently to oils. That each individual’s hair responds differently to different weights of shampoos. And the ph in your water can make a huge difference too. “Do, whatever your hair does best!”

SO what DO most experts agree on? Scalp management.

Your scalp’s hygiene and health affect your hair’s health and appearance. The scalp is prone to a variety of problems, including dry skin, fungal infections, skin cancer and chronic skin conditions, such as psoriasis and eczema. An unhealthy scalp can lead to thin and broken hair, dandruff or oily hair. Clean your scalp properly to reduce itching and flaking and improve the appearance of your hair. http://www.livestrong.com/article/91767-clean-scalp/

A great natural way to clean your scalp if you are looking for a natural alternative OR if you are having sensitives to shampoo is to use baking soda and water. Just massage the paste on to your scalp and rinse with water. If you feel you have build-up from a previous shampoo, apple cider vinegar is great to use as a rinse.

While we are on the topic of Baking soda I want to chat about DRY shampoo. A dry shampoo would be great for people who like to wash their hair every other day, or every few days.   The concept is on the second day, the no wash day, you shake the dry shampoo on your head and brush it through your hair so it absorbs the grease.

I know what you are thinking….but its white powder, its baking soda. And my hair is brown. Ah, yes….there is a solution to that too, read on.

So here is how you would make the DIY batch.

BLONDES: A cup of baking soda and a brush. Sprinkle on your head. Brush out until white is gone.

BRUNETTES: replace backing soda with cocoa powder. Sprinkle on head brush out.

REDHEADS: add Cinnamon to the “blondes” recipe. Repeat as directed above.

Then style as usual…hopefully grease free.

There are just about a million of these different ideas on the internet and Pintrest. You can even add oatmeal. Out of baking soda, no problem use arrowroot flour or cornstarch! Want a smell…add your fav essential oil!

For a moment, I thought about adding Dry Shampoo to the lineup. But honestly, this is SO simple you all can DIY this yourself! I know you can! 🙂

But there is still one more popular type of “natural ‘poo” option, the shampoo bar.

This is eerily similar to a regular bar of cold press soap! I mean its crazy similar. If you are LOOKING for a light weight “shampoo bar” I would totally recommend something that we already carry and that is our 100% from Scratch Coconut Oil soap. I have been using this on my children from head to toe for a while and I love how their hair smells. Sometimes, I do need a bit of conditioner for my oldest. Her hair is very long. (I’ll tell you about the condition I love in a minute.)

While we are giving our current products multi uses I do want to tell you about another product’s multi-use. That would be our balm, and how it relates to hair care.

I’m sure that many of you know the healing benefits of coconut oil on bleached hair. I have several customer that after any chemical treatments use the Hilltop Balm to recondition/moisturize their hair. But last night I received a customer testimonial about how she was using the balm to help manage her very curly hair and it was working better than a gel or a hairspray! And while she had purchased the balm to use as a hand cream she is now, LOVING it as a gel with hold! So yea! We do have hair care products.

Introducing our Shampoo Bar: From Scratch Coconut oil

Etsy

Introducing our Moisturizing Gel with Hold: Hilltop Balm

Etsy

But what IS MY favorite shampoo? Because I DO think it’s important to watch out what kind of weird things are in your ‘poo. I’ve tried A Lot of different shampoos. I have really found success personally, with Herbal Essences Naked Volume. No parabens, No dyes. It smells great and I love the price. It’s a new product for them and I think you should all give it a whirl!

Will there ever be a Hilltop Shampoo, like a traditional shampoo …that’s not a bar, or dry shake on product. Maybe. Never say never! BUT until then, I think we have some pretty good options here for hair care.

Until next time

Christine