#i think of her vanilla cinnamon tea as being vanilla chai

[animezinglife]

Useless headcanons are my favorite headcanons.

Mira Trevelyan

Favorite drinks: Teas, especially healing herbal ones and whatever the Theodosian equivalent of cinnamon spiced chai is. The latter is a treat for herself, and she likes it with a hint of vanilla. She likes soothing drinks.

Favorite foods: I think her taste is pretty simple: a scone or pastry with a side of fruit for breakfast if she has access to it, simple soups and sandwiches for lunch (anything with a good mix of proteins and veggies that's still comforting), and a heartier dinner like roast chicken or beef and potatoes.

That said, I think she'd develop a real taste for Fereldan home cooking after she marries Cullen and he watches her spirit physically ascend from her body when one of the Rutherfords drops a full English fry-up, biscuits and gravy, a steak and ale pie, or a real pot roast on her plate.

After scrolling through the Dragon Age cookbook and making an educated guess purely on vibes, my assumption is that Fereldan foods---when the family has the means---is basically if English country cooking and the American South and Midwest had a love child.

And I love that for her.

Hobbies: She's pretty quiet and reserved, but she always enjoyed reading for fun when she could. I think she enjoys music too, but is also perfectly at peace going for long walks in nature. She has a nice singing voice naturally, though I think she would've liked to learn to play an instrument like the piano or the lute. If pianos exist in their world, then I'll headcanon that she did have a few lessons under her belt before she was sent to the Circle. I like to think she starts journaling after the Inquisition, filling in more of her story and also writing letters often to Varric. She shares a lot of the content she writes with him.

Favorite place to visit: She loves nature, so anywhere that grants her plenty of access to it is a place she likes. She's a lakes, mountains, and woods girl.

Early riser: For whatever insanity I can't relate to, I headcanon Mira being an early riser. Most likely because I'd rather her not have to suffer through her life as those of us night owls do. She already has enough to worry about on her plate without living in exhaustion.

Favorite genre of book: She loves romance, but in more of the Arthur-or-Lancelot-and-Guinevere kind of way, or in the more tongue-in-cheek Jane Austen sort of way. If she lived in our world, Jane would be her favorite author.

That said, she also can't put Swords and Shields down once she starts it.

Favorite animal: Dogs, foxes, horses, and wolves. She likes all animals, but prefers those. Interesting addition I'll make: she doesn't love riding horses, just loves the animal. She's an okay rider but doesn't have the confidence of someone who's been doing it her whole life at all.

Funny/Other: Mira can not drink (in terms of alcohol). This woman is a lightweight to begin with, but it forever solidified in her mind that she was not a drinker after whatever awful concoction she drank with Bull. She's also never been drunk because despite the fact she's pretty much the most composed/controlled mage in existence, she doesn't want to have a bit too much and end up setting curtains on fire.

Stress: Mira was a loner prior to the Inquisition, and she has a habit of retreating into herself when she needs to process things. She slowly starts to realize that being in the presence of someone she trusts who understands that nature helps her, though.

Comically, tough, I fully believe she's a stress kisser. Cullen's usually the first outside her travel companions to know how a mission went.

Random headcanons: She thinks Rylen's a little cutie pie and has definitely asked Cullen at some point if he's seeing anyone while wondering if there's anyone she could set him up with.

She is reserved, but she can be a little mischievous, too. She mentions this in passing to Josie and Leliana and Leliana, naturally, finds the answer to this question pretty much overnight.

The Inquisition: As hard as they were, she will always look back on the Inquisition as some of the best years of her life. Not the parts with war, hurt, or anything to do with Corypheus, but because of her friends and how she found her place. She learned more about herself than ever before and became who she was meant to be. She made lifelong friends and met the love of her life. She realizes that a healthy household full of family and friends is all she ever wanted.

Okay, time for Character Q&A posts!

You can answer this for your Rooks, Inquisitors, Hawkes, or Wardens!

(Or if you've transformed one of them into a companion, that's cool too!)

What are some completely "useless" headcanons you have?

Favorite drinks, favorite foods, hobbies, favorite place to visit, do they stay up late or wake up early, favorite genre of book, favorite animal, least favorite animal, etc. Whatever you have for them that's not normally brought up!

[juliandev0rak]

Beatrice’s Guide to Autumn 🍂

Happy autumn! To celebrate it being the best time of the year I’ve decided to share some of Beatrice’s favorite fall things, as it’s her favorite season 🍂✨

1. wear something cozy 🧣

warm sweaters, earth tones, and of course- her trusty green cloak, compliment any autumn ensemble

2. go on an autumn walk 🎃

there’s nothing better than a crisp morning walk to the library, or to the bakery where Beatrice buys as many warm pastries as she can carry

3. find the perfect book to read 📚

whether it’s an informative textbook or a fiction novel meant to pull you into another world, Beatrice can always be found with her nose in a book

4. make a cup of tea ☕️

any warm beverage will do, but here’s her recipe for the perfect cup of tea 

5. cuddle with someone you love 💌

if she can’t convince @leila-of-ravens’ Lysander to stay in bed all day, Beatrice loves to cuddle her familiar Bramble, a sweet (and always very sleepy) rabbit 

happy autumn ☕️🍂🎃

[rfaromance]

Remembering the marshmallow Saeran comparisons, how would all of the RFA + V, Saeran and Rika have their tea/coffee and are they a biscuit dunker?

Would how they have their drinks match up to their personalities too? Like with Yoosung, his could have a ton of milk or something to have the flavour nice and mellow

Ray is a tea man to me! He could have loads of sugar for sweetness? Actually Yoosung could too

Suit Saeran could have the blackest of black coffee, dark 'like my soul' XDDD

What do you think? :D

About the dunking biscuits, I'd love to know if the RFA like it because I personally hate it! XDD

I hate getting my biscuits soggy and weird :( T_T hahaha

Hello! Excellent question for the Marshmallow Boy and gang.

First of all, I don't think Zen would drink tea or coffee until Jaehee starts getting into coffee. Before that, it's all water or beer. But Jaehee manages to make him a smooth brew for a simple latte. Zen isn't into very sweet things, so milk and coffee is all for him. If you could get him to eat some sort of sweet with it, maybe a biscotti. He'd bite it raw and probably hurt his teeth. Help.

Jaehee is for sure a coffee girl! She is always trying all sorts of different creations, sometimes changing the beans she uses or the amount of milk she adds, or using grinds vs. grinding the beans herself, etc. I'd say her favorite is probably a lighter roast (think Starbucks blonde) because it has more caffeine, and she's always tired. She likes vanilla or hazelnut. She isn't usually one to have anything on the side, but if she did get a little scone or something, she wouldn't dip it because it would alter the flavor of the coffee.

Yoosung tried black coffee once, to be like a manly adult. Never again. Now he loves making latte art at the coffee club! But after his caffeine scare with Saeyoung, he's more likely to go for a tea, or perhaps a mocha with a nice balance of coffee and cocoa. Either way, it will have a lot of milk. He definitely makes little cookies or biscuits or scones to dip in his drink; he loves baking, after all! He probably experiments with different flavors and textures to figure out what fits each drink the best! Right now his favorite combination is a chai latte and a cinnamon scone, if only because of the autumn weather!

Jumin would unironically drink black coffee. He drinks red wine, so I'm assuming he doesn't taste tannins (the molecules that make coffee and wine taste bitter) and thus would have no problem appreciating black coffee. He might add a splash of milk for flavor, but it would probably be a non-dairy milk. If you give him a biscuit, he's going to dunk it in. You can't stop him. He likes that the liquid softens the texture of the baked treat so it isn't as crunchy.

Saeyoung doesn't drink coffee or tea--just Dr. Pepper! He has an aversion to any sort of drink that people can develop a dependence on. But you could probably talk him into a milk tea, if only because he likes slurping up the boba with the big straw. Honey boba, of course. Probably an almond or vanilla guy for the milk tea, but I wouldn't put any weird flavors past him.

V is a tea drinker. Please, give him something soothing. He is always stressed, whether from the weight of his thoughts or the many secrets he keeps hidden deep inside. I could see him being a fan of chamomile with a splash of lemon and sugar. I think he sometimes dips a treat in his tea, depending on his mood and the flavors. An orange or cranberry biscuit is going in. A chocolate one isn't.

Ray is 100% a tea guy. Full of milk and cream and sugar and honey. He's probably adding vanilla extract, too. He needs something sweet and basic (meaning MILKY, referring to pH, not to pumpkin spice latte girls like me) to counteract all of the elixir that burns his mouth, esophagus, and stomach. He's actually worked it down to somewhat of a science to figure out the best concentrations and mixtures depending on whether he needs comfort, energy, or a kickstart to his brain. But he isn't dipping his cookies in there; that'd ruin his perfect measurements!

Suit Saeran would try black coffee but it would burn his insides instantly. Please, dear, drink something your body can handle. You're not any less powerful if you really like strawberry milk.

GE loves strawberry milk, actually. He's getting strawberry milk tea with his brother. They're bonding. He also likes floral teas and flavors like earl grey, with a lot of cream and sweetness. Also a white chocolate mocha kind of guy.

Rika is a Pumpkin Spice Latte girlie actually. She doesn't care what people think. She likes the flavor, but specifically when it's iced. She has the aura of someone who'd drink only mature drinks, like a simple Americano or a flat white, but she wants the cinnamon lattes and the caramel macchiatos. Please, let her have something fun for once. Let her get a cake pop and a sugar cookie latte from Starbucks. Let her smile and indulge her inner child. Maybe also recommend she tries some black tea, though, because she needs to sit down and be calm for once in her life.

[leftsidebonfire]

Jojo Characters and What I Would Serve Them If They Came Into The Tea Shop I Work At

A series.

Based solely on my interpretation of the characters and the available ingredients I have at my job that I can remember off the top of my head.

Battle Tendency Edition

What I would serve...

Joseph Joestar: I sit inside his cup. No charge. Sir please 🥵 OK no for real. I know he must really like his teas. So if he didn't just order a regular hot tea, this is what I'd make. Firstly, I think this man would want to try so many samples. So after I make little samples so he can try everything on the list, I think I would make him a peach tea. It's peach and raspberry with peach pieces, one of my faves.

I could also see Joseph ordering a cupcake tea simply because it comes with whipped cream and sprinkles, and I dunno, I get the vibe that Joseph secretly enjoys little stuff like whipped cream on a drink if he's not expecting it. 🥰

Caesar Zeppeli: Again, me in the cup please. Hes probably more of a coffee man. But luckily we do have a way to make any milk teas into coffee, so if he ever wanted to try that, I'd be more than happy to make it. However, if he didn't order a coffee (or tried a tea as a coffee) I like to think he would get a German Chocolate Cake (which is basically Chocolate and raspberry. It's a very good hot chocolate drink 😍)

His favorite color is orange. So if he ever got a legit tea, I'd make him something good and tropical 🥺 Pineapple orange. I think he'd like it. And if he didn't, I'd make him whatever else he wanted 🥺

Lisa Lisa: Lisa Lisa just wants black coffee. I feel it in my soul. But maybe on a hot summer day, I could see her coming in to enjoy a nice lemonade, maybe even a blueberry lemonade to cool off and relax.

Suzie Q: Suziieeeee!! This girl is getting cotton candy tea, I just know it. I hate making cotton candy teas because they are really thick and basically everyone who works there thinks they're annoying, but for her 🥺 I'd make her all the cotton candy she wanted. I also feel like she'd be very polite and leave a nice tip. I'd give her a huge piece of cotton candy on top too 🥺

Santana: Tbh he wouldn't care. He just wants blood and power. But I would still make him a tea. I think I'd go for another strawberry (it's the most popular flavor for a reason lmao) Santana gets Strawberry lemon. The lemon is very strong and distinct, and the strawberry kinda looks like blood.

Wamuu: Totally not holding a grudge here for Caesar. Not at all. Definitely not. No, okay, I can do this. Personally, I think he'd be something like the Matcha Vanilla Honey. It's good, a different flavor. It is simple but tasty and they honey is just 👌 Top teir addition. I think he'd like it. I sure hope he likes it, anyway. 😳

Eisidisi: I get vibes from Eisidisi that he would either get the most plain boring tea in the world, or it would be very outlandish. He would come in and either ask for plain green tea with no flavoring, or something very strange no one ever orders like Red Bean (definitely not a favorite of mine. I've never seen anyone order it 😬) Or he'd get something like Cinnamon Bun and I'd be so taken aback by it. But to be honest, I think I'd judge him more if he got Red Bean than if he got Cinnamon bun. Cinnamon bun is good af. And he'd get whipped cream with it. It all depends on the day tho.

Kars: Kars has a refined taste. I feel like he would want something not many people order. I think he'd get Taro, or Taro Vanilla. Taro is kind of hard to describe if you've never had it, but the best I could describe it would be kind of like a sweet potato. It's semi-sweet. It's not my favorite, however it is purple, which I think Kars would appreciate. I also think he'd probably prefer Taro with vanilla so it's not so plain. He may be aloof, but that doesn't mean his drink has to be boring. 😎

Smokey: I really think he'd like Orange Chocolate or Root Beer Float. Idk, its just a vibe. The orange chocolate is my favorite between the two of those tbh. It's especially good as a hot chocolate. Hardly anyone orders the root beer one, so I could see him coming in to order that and I'm like 👀 It is definitely interesting, and I could see him being the reason we keep root beer in stock. Nobody gets it except him, but hes such a good customer we keep it around.

Straizo (because I forgot to put him in the Phantom Blood Post): Tbh, he's probably going for something simple and refined. Spiced Chai tea. Every now and then, he mixes it up a little with Vanilla almond, but for the most part, he's pretty straightforward with his order.

Speedwagon (again): Speedwagon my love. Order whatever makes you happy 🥺 I'd want to give him peach lemonade because it is sweet like him and refreshing, and he just deserves to relax with a tasty tea 🥺 Old Speedwagon has my heart and I love him.

Well that's about it for main characters, but screw it, if you drop a character in the comments that you really wanna see, I'll tell you what tea I'd give em. Next parts shall be out soon. Because this is all I think about at work 😂😂

[lalalun-lalun]

Day 16 - Lucubration

Elwyn Dyster chose to sit at the West tables, the one closest to the entryway, although she meandered among several others for a number of minutes before selecting her seat. I observed that even the seat itself seemed to be an item of much debate, for the lady tested each in turn ‘round the table. I will have to determine later as to whether there might be some difference in the fact of the furniture, or if this is a curiousity of the patron herself. She mentioned being in the mood for something particularly refreshing, and thus opted for the Limoncello, served iced, and paired with a trio of iced sugar cookies. Ah, what a classic combination—black tea, with the fragrant rinds of citrus, served over ice for extra brightness and quenching of thirst, and to meet the vanilla tooth of a cookie neither too thick nor too thin, spread with icing to add sweetness against the tea’s tannins. Clearly a guest who shall not be dissatisfied!

What an intriguing countenance has the good ser Beichix Muvier, and so determined in his order! Has he fought in the Dragonsong Wars, perhaps, riding out beyond the parapets of the great stone fortresses to do battle with the winged wyrms? Could his time in those inhospitable distant frozen lands have stirred in his heart the longing for Resolution, one of the teahouse’s flavoured green teas, rich with fruit from greenhouses and the tang of ginger? Surely in there lies a warmth and richness suited to the distant East, a welcome distraction for a tired soldier. Would the Mirror Apple Cinnamon Scone be a delightful accompaniment, or would it perhaps overwhelm him with thoughts of other apples native to Ishgard? He may also require a cut of sandwich or two, I think, but will only suggest if ser seems amenable.

Hihibi Hibi and her party, several other Lalafell, unsurprisingly requested the entire menu. This appears to be an interesting trend gaining traction among my peoples, and I can hardly blame them. Truly, who could blame anyone who elected to sample the full offerings of such a delightful menu? The range of teas is enough to bring a smile to the face of nearly any palette, the baked goods could simply not be improved upon other than to have even more amazing combinations added to the list, and the savories add the perfect balance of salt against a sea of sweet treats! So intrigued was this party that they also requested an assortment of cookies to go, two dozen! They will surely enjoy a marvelous afternoon of fellowship, with the perfect assortment of food and drink to keep their conversations dazzling!

Behold the tale of Guoluwil Xhenwyrn, a simple man with fine tastes, who asked for an opinion on the chai selection...  

The red-haired woman groaned as she rifled through the scraps of fine stationery on the kitchen countertop, shaking her head sadly. 

This was the last time Lalalun would be permitted to take orders.

[pavlovaprin]

vanilla chai, herbal tea and caramel macchiato !!✨

Vanilla Chai Latte : Are you in love?

very much so. 

Herbal Tea : You’re at a candle shop, what scented candle do you buy?

highly depends on the season. my favorite winter candle is always pine/evergreen, spring candle is usually lilac or rose, summer candle is the yankee candle sun & sand (it literally smells like the beach and makes me think of my childhood), and my autumn candle is much more flexible but i love leafy/appley scents over pumpkin or cinnamon. a candle that doesn’t fit into any seasonal category but that i go WILD for is the lemon and tea candle from bath and body works. i don’t even know if they still make it but it’s one of the best scents ever created. 

Caramel Macchiato : You’re traveling the entire world but you can only take one person with you. Who do you take?

okay, this is a hard question and i have to explain my answer. i feel like i should say my boyfriend (whom i love with my entire being), but i am definitely picking bella. matt and i are so similar. like, literally identical in almost every way. he makes me feel safe in a way literally no one else can and he understands me in ways no one else can. it’s for those reasons i would choose bella if given the opportunity. bella and i, again, are so so similar (my whole platonic soulmate), but we’re also incredibly different in a lot of ways. like...we balance each other and i feel like the added level of being different would kick up a trip around the world a notch. i think as a team we’d be more willing to have new experiences and have so much fun. this is not to say i wouldn’t have fun with matt, but i’d be wayyyy more likely to stay in a lil bubble and never even leave my comfort zone because he has the exact comfort zone as myself. that’s not to say bella and i are polar opposites in that regard, but i always feel just a little braver with her. PLUS two babes taking on the world?!? like COME ON it would be a blast. the bonus? i don’t get to see her often and a trip that long would be a dream because that means i get more hugs and bina time. 

[larpgourmet]

How to Feign Alcohol

Every great LARP has some sort of bar or tavern, but most LARPs allow for people under the legal drinking age to play -- which means that serving alcohol is usually a no go. Where I play, in Southern California, it’d also be doubly dangerous to drink something so dehydrating in the heat while being so active. So, how do you serve alcohol without serving alcohol?

For this post, I’m going to focus on simple bottled drinks, liquor, beer, and wine. I’ll do some recipes for faked mix drinks in a separate post.

Amber Liquors (Cognac, The Whiskey Family, Rum, Resposado) If you (like me) enjoy bourbon or whiskey, and you only want to emulate drinking such a drink -- you can imitate it easily with iced tea. You may need to play with the brewing time so it’s the right color -- but that’s how they do it on TV! Bonus, if you have something with a little caffeine, it’ll help perk you up! Black tea is best for this, as the color will be the closest. Simply bottle in a pretty decanter of some sort, and you’re good to go.

If you don’t like tea, apple juice is also pretty close in color, and doesn’t have the caffeine!

If you’re hardcore about wanting a flavor to match your offering, consider finding a vanilla honey tea. Most amber alcohols get their color as a result of the oak they’re aged in, usually adding notes of vanilla, honey, or molasses to the drink. Getting a tea flavored in the same vein will help! There are also teas that are designed to taste like amber alcohols, shop around!

Silver Liquors (Vodka, Gin, Tequila, Rum) For the easiest trick, just use straight water. But for added benefit, a clear sports drink will give you extra electrolytes while you’re drinking. If you go with the sports drink option, consider naming your alcohol to match “Raspberry Vodka” or “Cherry Vodka” for instance.

Cream Liquors (Amarula, Irish Cream) The signature look of cream liquors is that they do have milk (or cream) in them, but they’re mixed with something else that carries the alcohol. Consider making something like a cold chai tea latte, or other tea latte. The slight brown color of the tea will color the milk and give it the right kind of look. If you go with a chai latte, consider naming it as a Spiced Cream Liquor, for instance, as chai is a very spicy tea.

It’s also very easy to get creamers in Irish Cream, Amaretto, and Hazelnut  flavors. Rebottle creamers in pretty glass bottles, and label appropriately for the best visual appeal!

Be careful to keep these cold!

Coffee Liquors (Kahlua, Coffee Brandy) This is a fairly easy one! I would just serve straight, cold coffee. If you can get away with a decent kahlua flavored coffee, it’ll add a very nice smell!

Other Colored Alcohols There’s a variety of other colors in alcohol. Absinthe and other herbal liquors, like Jagermeister are usually green (food dye is your best option here.) For an added bit of realism, get an anise flavored extract to make your drink taste like anise.

For other less natural colors, look no further than a booze like Hypnotique, which is an odd blue swirly color (try blue food dye and edible glitter in your bottles).

And some liqueurs are dyed to be more beautiful. (Liqueurs, for the record, are sweeter, less alcoholic drinks. They tend toward being more syrupy (higher in sugar) and are often flavored with different things, like berries, honey, or nuts. They can be either silver or amber colored, or they can be colored artificially to be pretty much anything else in the rainbow.)

Wine Honestly, I think your easiest wine trick is to go with the sparkling grape drinks, and sparkling apple juice that’s readily available at any grocery store. If you’re feeling extra, you can always paint the labels to make them come from a winery that would be appropriate to your setting!

There’s a wonderful woman at my game who mixes a little vinegar in with her drinks (I’ll have to ask her for the recipe sometime, if she’s willing to share), to give them a bit more of the wine bite. Bonus -- apple cider vinegar is very good for your system.

For some more esoteric wines, like mead, you’re probably better using apple juice. If you’re trying to get the right flavor, consider adding honey to the apple juice and boiling the mix down so it thickens a little. It’s not the healthiest thing in the world, but slightly syrupy apple-honey will taste good (mix in some cinnamon to be really bougie) and if you serve it in small glasses as a speciality drink, people will love it!

Beer I think my favorite for this is home brewed root beer, or sarsaparilla. Totally non-alcoholic, fizzy, and served in fun bottles -- this is a great booze alternative for anyone who’s looking to do something more creative with their faux alcohol.

Don’t know where to start? Check out the link below for a home-root-beer kit you can buy on Amazon for about $16.

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Root-Beer-Home-Brewing/dp/B0033UX8A8/ref=asc_df_B0033UX8A8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167124686369&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7605819140602283334&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030820&hvtargid=pla-84579849446&psc=1

Final Thoughts The real win here will depend on how you sell the bottle. If you’re old enough to drink for real, save any interestingly shaped booze bottles and paint the labels to fit your world, then simply fill with whatever liquids it needs. I’ve also made a game of relabeling certain other juices and things so I could make a cocktail completely of sodas and juices. “Fire Whiskey” could be cranberry juice, as a for instance.

Home made labels on a home printer will go a long way to selling the effect. Avery sells printable labels that have a nice texture on them. For an added bonus, increase your in game economy -- hire an artist in game to generate the art for your label for you! Check out the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Avery-Textured-Printers-2-25-Inches-22809/dp/B005IMARK8/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=avery+labels&qid=1564595329&s=home-garden&sr=1-6

If you’re running a bar or tavern in game, just make sure to leave a little note as to what is actually in the bottle, in case someone has an allergy or aversion -- or just doesn’t like the specific drink. A smaller sticker on the back of the bottle that is clearly marked with the real liquid will help a lot.

Another trick -- bring a funnel with you, and leave the larger bottle in your cooler. If you brewed iced tea, or brought apple juice for your bar, for instance, leave the majority of the tea or juice in your cooler, and simply pour a bit into the bottle based on how quickly it sells. That way it’s always pretty cold, and you don’t have to worry about it.

[sternenteile]

NAME!  ♡   nikki / bun HEIGHT! ♡   5′3"......... i am a small creacher. i Canot change this. NATIONALITY!  ♡   puerto rican / german, american-born. FAVOURITE  FRUITS! ♡   strawberries, apples, and watermelons! FAVOURITE  SEASONS!  ♡   winter. forever. FAVOURITE  SCENTS!  ♡   vanilla, honey, cinnamon, basically dessert scents. lavender vanilla is the best for sleep. FAVOURITE  ANIMALS!  ♡   cats, dogs, and bunnies! for more obscure ones, tardigrades, axolotls, and purple frogs. yes, purple frogs. i love them. they look so stupid. TEA  /  COFFEE /  HOT  COCOA! ♡   tea! spiced indian tea (so, basically, what we all call ‘chai’) is my absolute favorite with english breakfast, a builder’s brew, being a close second. AVERAGE  HOURS  OF  SLEEP!  ♡   wildly depends between like... six to ten hours. it is so inconsistent rip. WHEN  MY  BLOG  WAS  CREATED!  ♡   november 25, 2018! well, it was a bit before that, i think, but that’s when i officially ‘established’ geno. RANDOM   FACT! ♡   guess what, y’all. i used to hate geno. i used to think he was overrated and soulless and just kinda stupid. fanon’s boring portrayal of him didn’t help much. revisiting smrpg and thinking of his lore potential, personality potential, etc. made me go from hating him to absolutely loving him, though. it was a total 180°. FAVOURITE  FOOD(S)!  ♡   pizza, pasta (put it in a boooox), chicken thighs / wings, macarons, and just... a lot. i’m a glutton. FAVOURITE SHOWS!  ♡   steven universe, star vs. the forces of evil, original powerpuff girls, lots of old cartoon cartoons in general, gamecenter cx... aaaaa. tbh i don’t watch a whole lot of tv nowadays. FAVOURITE  MOVIE! ♡   heck if i know tbh, but i have quite a few that i liked a lot. the first four pokemon movies, deadpool and its sequel, the lego movie, the first two shreks (li STEN), wolf children, lots of ghibli movies... y’know. things. FAVOURITE  VINE!  ♡   soft and squishy, soft and squishy, shARP AND POI NTY

SEXUALITY! ♡   lesbian asf. PRONOUNS! ♡   she/her or they/them FAVOURITE  BOOK  SERIES! ♡   i dont. read much lately. oops. FAVOURITE  VIDEO  GAMES! ♡   smrpg + the first two paper marios, gens 1/2/5/7 of pokemon, a link to the past / majora’s mask / zelda ii (shh) / breath of the wild, super mario 64 / sunshine / galaxy (2) / odyssey, ghost trick, undertale / deltarune, almost every kirby game ever, literally every smash bros. game, the whole banjo-kazooie series (even nuts & bolts, fight me), grabbed by the ghoulies (FIGHT ME!!!), donkey kong country 1 + 2, terraria, okami... uh. i could be here forever tbh.

FAVOURITE  BANDS!  ♡   idk i mostly listen to vidya tunes nowadays. FAVOURITE  SUBJECT!  ♡   english literature. writing is a blessing. any art subject is up there, too, of course. GUYS   OR   GIRLS!  ♡   the layyy-deeeees. poses like a french girl. LAST  TIME  I  CRIED! ♡   yesterday over geno going through ROUGH SHIT. u will see soon enough. WHAT  I  SHOULD  BE  DOING!  ♡   actual productive things omG FAVOURITE  FANDOM! ♡   almost anything nintendo outside of smash fandom. (smash rpc is baller, though, i love u guys.)

[tfwonthefarm]

Fighting the Chill at the Homestead

So Dean runs hot, sleeps on top of the blankets most of the year, and seems genuine in his concern that the electric blanket is a fire hazard, but it's December and the central heating in the farmhouse is pretty crappy, and also our husband's feet feel like they're made of ice, so... 2 to 1, the ayes have it, out comes the best 75 bucks we ever spent at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.     

There are some downsides to having bed be the most comfortable spot in the house. I definitely run less often when I'm so warm in the mornings and remember how cold it'll be outside, and it practically takes a crowbar to get Cas out of bed when it's his turn to do the morning chores (again, he's a damn heat sink). Also, it means Dean banishes himself to the far side of the big bed (or to his own room) for the better part of three months a year, but given it keeps him from kicking me awake in his sleep every other night, I won't exactly be crying myself to sleep over that one. (JK - we miss him. He's a more vital contributor to cuddling than he'll admit.) 

So given the downsides, I thought this week I'd share some of our favourite ways to keep that cozy feeling alive and well even when there's three feet of snow on the ground and yes, you really, really gotta get up and feed the chickens, babe. Including a few nice, warm, and not totally out of season recipes.

Keep a fire going. It's actually not that hard to keep a fire running all day (and all night, if you have a set up to safely handle that) without wasting a ton of firewood, as long as you base your fire building technique on keeping big hardwood logs going rather than feeding in kindling. It heats up a house a lot faster than electricity, and depending on the size of your house, might be comparable to a furnace. Obviously, though, you have to feed it throughout the day, and for safety you shouldn't leave it unattended. We have a fireplace in the farm house, but if you're lucky enough to have a wood burning stove it's probably even more optimized to heat the house. Regardless, it's nice to have a warm spot to hang out without totally bundling up in blankets and falling asleep!

Tea! Dean and I have a pretty strong tolerance for caffeine, and can drink coffee throughout the day without an issue, but Cas starts feeling the jitters if he doesn't switch to tea, or even just hot water, about noon. Compared to coffee, it's also way less dehydrating and can in fact serve as a substitute to drinking cold water throughout the day which can be hard to think of as necessary when you're already chilly. We haven’t tried making our own herbal tea blends, yet, but it’s something Cas is likely to give a shot in the coming year.

Knit goodies. Since this is a homesteading blog, how about something else you can make yourself and reduce your dependence on the dubiously sustainable, often exploitative clothing market? Hats, scarves, and when you get good, gloves, are always a little warmer with the pride of knowing you made something with your own two hands, or when you can feel the love of a family member who made them for you. My favourite are socks and slippers, though. Warm feet? Awesome. Bonus: spinning your own yarn is also surprisingly easy. We keep sheep, of course, but Cas has a talent for sweet talking the lady a few miles down the road who keeps alpacas and I love him so much (for other reasons, sure, but mostly for scoring that sweet alpaca wool.) 

Baking. Long time readers know by now: bread is the best. The oven makes the whole kitchen warm, and bread is so, so easy to make yourself, and then you get to eat it? Amazing. We love beer bread (because Dean is predictable and realizing he could cook with beer was the best moment of his life bar none), which adds a bit to the cost compared to something like a peasant loaf, just for the cost of the 12 oz. can of beer it takes, but it's still cheaper by far than buying a decent loaf of bread at the store, especially considering we bake and eat three or four whole loaves a week between the three of us. Scroll to the bottom of the list for Dean's easy, foolproof recipe. (Seriously foolproof. Even Cas can do it.)

Cooking. Yeah, we're in recipe town, now. You know what goes good with bread? Stew. And chili. And soup. If you can make it hot in a pot (or a slow cooker!) it's a good wintertime meal. I've typed up our usual chili recipe below, but I think the best thing about chili specifically is that it's an easy formula to riff on. You don't like peppers? They're out. You love tomatoes? Put in as much extra as you want. Vegan? You can leave out the meat or replace it with whatever you want. Dial the spice up or down as much as you want. Our base version doesn't even include much in the way of ratios - it's all what you feel like. 

Drinks. I mentioned tea before? Tea is nice for all the time. Now I'm talking getting fancy. I'm talking hot chocolate with real, non-powdered milk. I'm talking cider. I'm talking boozy stuff. We've have a few favourites at our house, but at the risk of jumping the gun and getting Christmas-y too early, I'm going to include a nice eggnog recipe here - because if it can be made with eggs, Dean's mastered it just to keep us from being crushed by the hens' productivity.

Bonus Item: Illegal Barn Cat. Husband just kind of bummed out by the thought that the poor cat is sleeping in the uninsulated barn? Brother horribly allergic? Try Sneaking The Cat In When Dean's On A Run Into Town™! You can try to keep her in Cas' room, but she will escape! She will enter your joint bedroom in the middle of the night! And she will sleep directly on the chest of the one person in the bed whose breathing is affected by her dandruff! But what a hot water bottle substitute a cat can be before she's once again banished from the house because the hay loft is plenty warm enough to keep her safe and comfy.

Beer Bread [x]

3 cups of flour (sifted, but we find sifting only part of it lets you control how dense a bread you prefer - sift 1 cup for a dense loaf, all 3 cups for a fluffy loaf, etc.) 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 12 oz beer (or as needed for dough consistency) 1/4 to a 1/2 cup melted butter

1. Mix all the dry ingredients, then gradually add in the beer. Remember you want the dough to be semi solid, not like a batter. 2. Push the dough into the bottom of a greased or parchment-lined loaf pan. Pour the melted butter over the top. 3. Bake at 375 for 1 hour.

Chili

1lbs ground beef (can sub other ground meat or meat substitute) 2 cans crushed or diced tomatoes 3 cans beans (we use kidney or black beans) 3 bell peppers, diced 1 large white onion, diced Chili powder

1. Brown the ground beef in a pan, ideally with the onion. 2. Put everything in a big pot. Heat on medium. 3. Adjust chili powder to taste, let it stew as long as you can stand (remembering to stir), serve with rice or bread! Sour cream and shredded cheese are also great toppings.

Chai Eggnog [x]

2 cups of cream (can sub coconut milk) 2 cups of whole milk (can sub almond milk) 5 egg yolks 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 chai tea bags Bourbon

1. Mix dairy, egg yolks, maple syrup, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a pan. Whisk it until it’s frothy. 2. Heat on medium, stirring, until it bubbles just a bit. Turn down the heat and add the tea bags, cooking for another 3 minutes, and then remove them again. Add and mix in the vanilla. 3. Adjust for taste and booze it up.

[saferincages]

a couple of weeks ago, a friend showed me this amazing post (where the photos are far better than mine, which just didn’t want to turn out at all) of @the-far-bright-center‘s beautiful, sparkly Force Ghost Anakin, and it brought me such joy (I was maybe giggling excessively...), and today he arrived in the mail as a surprise gift! 💖

I want to take a moment to appreciate this bio, and the “weapon of choice” being loyalty and love, because it is. a lot.

this could be a very silly post (okay, it already is), but it actually gives me an opportunity to talk about something that I’ve never had a chance or reason to discuss before without some frame of context, so here is an unbelievably overemotional story (one of many regarding Star Wars’ history and special place in my life, I could write a series of these focused of specific themes and characters in all honesty) that no one really needs, but that I feel compelled to write anyway.

I’ve written before about my first experience seeing Revenge of the Sith (most recently here), so I apologize for retreading a certain amount of ground, but it’s important to know what the state of my life was at that time, which was a frightening, burned out shambles. ROTS premiered in May 2005, I believe I had just completed the physical therapy I’d been undergoing since the car accident we had that February. I was extraordinarily ill, and no one knew why (diagnoses were forthcoming), I was rapidly losing weight, and at the time, the scariest thing for me, was that I had no choice but to withdraw from school. Academia, which was such a constant for me, wasn’t even going to be on the horizon. I was, in short, not okay. I felt almost hollow in that uncertainty.

That midnight premiere was incredible, exciting, emotionally fraught, and I remember the weight and the sorrow of it hitting me in a very profound way when we got home, at which point I crawled into my bed and sobbed. I saw it several times that summer, but the final time (which is also a story a couple of my friends know, but I don’t think I’ve posted about it publicly?) was on my birthday that September. It is a crystalline memory. I can recall everything about that day, even what we ate (the cinnamon rolls my mom made for breakfast, the vanilla chai tea I had at Borders that afternoon), because it was the last birthday I had when certain things were not yet permanent, when I was still in the misty place between before and after. By then, the film had moved to our local little budget theatre, and seeing it that way, with a handful of other people rather than with a big, enthusiastic crowd, lent it an intimacy and poignancy which struck me on a wholly different level. (That was also the night Supernatural premiered, which is an aside, but don’t doubt for a moment that the events are inextricably emotionally connected for me.) September, and I should have been in school, but I wasn’t. I had no idea at that point that I never would be again, but I was frightened, and sad, and deeply angry. Anger isn’t a feeling I’d had a lot of experience with, I was a sweet, shy, overly sensitive, naive child (and teenager), but I didn’t often deal with anger, and then I usually sublimated anger with grief and guilt instead (and those things were warring in me, too, and of course I still carry them), but the anger at the unfairness of it all, at how cruel it was that this had happened to me, at how much I hated my own body for turning against me, how I irrationally hated myself for not being better or stronger or able to fight it, was consuming and yet almost childish, as though being ill was causing a perpetual temper tantrum in my mind.

My touchstone in the prequels was always Padmé, and she deserves her own post, but she was so inspiring to me, her compassion and her goodness and her belief in justice, her loving nature and her femininity and her tender heart being strengths, and never undermining her bright spirit, her keen mind, her ability to lead, her powers being her forgiveness and empathy and kindness. I love her so much and she had (and continues to have) such meaning for me. 

It took me by surprise when the aching heart of my identification in ROTS plunged more towards Anakin. I loved him too, and I had a lot of varied, complicated feelings about him already, about his gentleness and his trauma, about the immensity of his capacities and his contrasts, but this was the fall, the dark hour of the story, the nadir of everyone’s suffering, and so much happens at his hand, because of his tragic choices. When I was reading the novelization, I didn’t know what to do with the fact that I understood certain aspects of his struggling in such a harrowing way, and seeing it playing out made that even more acute. Those choices he makes out of desperate fear aren’t rooted in evil, they’re driven by the chasm of grief and terror of loss, and they’re mixed with disillusionment and disappointment and frustration. Up until the moment when he walks into the Jedi Temple, when we really see him cross a line he cannot return from, hope for a course correction seems possible. Even knowing what’s coming, it’s like...just turn back. You can still fix this. It ripped my heart out because of course he wouldn’t, he couldn’t. There’s the scene where he’s denied the title of Master, and his outburst at the council (“this is outrageous! it’s unfair!”) is tinged with an adolescent level of upset, but...of course it is. He’s still so young and he wants to trust them, it’s not ambition causing that fury, it’s desperation for inclusion, for some measure of respect, and he keeps being refused. It’s a strange analogy because the things holding me back had nothing to do with a council of old men deciding my fate, all my hindrances were physically trapping me in my own body, the jury denying me the ability to move ahead was my own failing immune system, but I understood his rage, because I wanted someone I could yell at. The person I was so terrified of not being able to save, of having to watch die, wasn’t my beloved, it was...me, the girl I was, the girl I dreamed of becoming. I’ve talked so many times about feeling like I let her down, like I’m the ghost of her, the revenant walking around in a shape that vaguely resembles her, but at that point, she wasn’t gone yet, she was just rapidly slipping away. I didn’t know what to do to save myself. People would say it wasn’t my fault, to let it go (which felt a lot like being told the useless “mourn them do not, miss them do not”), that I was still here, I didn’t ask to get sick, and I knew, logically, that was true, but emotionally all I felt was that crushing guilt and despair (all of this remains a lingering struggle). I didn’t want to be powerless. I would have clung to something that offered me a way out. I knew where Anakin, conflicted and misguided as he was, was coming from, and it eroded everything that made him good and heroic and kind, so the only power I had left was to fight against it and keep the anger at bay.

This is such a specifically personal thing that I won’t get into the analysis of what happens in regards to his descent (which I also expounded upon in that other post anyway), but every time it happened, the same muscle memory seemed to take hold of me, my hands would shake and I’d press them together, my chest would pound, I’d bite my lip to try not to cry. I have this overwhelming fear of fire, so Mustafar was its own nightmare, and I’ve literally only watched the immolation scene once (that first time, at the midnight showing), otherwise I close my eyes tightly shut. I don’t even like seeing gifs of it. But because of what I was going through at the time, what I’ve gone through since, the physical aspects of him so painfully and horrifically losing himself, being so stripped of his humanity that hardly anyone ever looks at or acknowledges him as a person again (until Luke) held its own terror (it’s such an awful metaphor when it’s examined, and it’s that re-enslavement, he did not choose that reconstruction) because I didn’t understand what was happening to me physically, and because so many people were questioning the veracity of my pain and my incapacitating illness, were treating me as somehow less (ableism wasn’t even a word in my vocabulary yet, I just thought maybe everyone had a point and I didn’t deserve the space to be heard or understood, since so much of what I was going through was invisible). I genuinely felt like my personhood and my agency was being taken away. I didn’t have school, I was quickly isolated from everyone else and kept in the (comforting yet confining) cage of my room, I didn’t know who I was supposed to be anymore, and I didn’t know what to do if no one would listen or believe me (my mom aside). The torture Anakin is put through in that conversion to Darth Vader is unimaginable and I don’t want to dwell on it, but there’s a passage from the novelization that goes in part: “The first dawn of light in your universe brings pain. The light burns you. It will always burn you...You can hear yourself breathing. It comes hard, and harsh, and it scrapes nerves already raw, but you cannot stop it. You can never stop it. You cannot even slow it down...now your self is all you will ever have...and within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame.” It’s such a wrenching description that some part of me separated it out from the villainous aspect, because the rest of it felt true. My nerves were raw and burned with sensation, touch and too much strain hurt, but my heart persistently, stubbornly kept beating, and I was left sifting through the alternating aspects of its passions (both the transcendent and the desolate).

This isn’t at all “excuse or justify the things Vader did” (since, again, this isn’t actual analysis, it’s sentimental personal nonsense), because of course I do not and never would, but the depth of empathy I had for Anakin, as a person and as a lost soul (and a lost future), and the way that left an imprint on me right at the onset of my illness became indelible.

There’s a point to this, I promise.

George Lucas did re-editing and reworkings of the original trilogy and I’ve never minded any of it, because they were his to edit and fix up if he wanted to do so, and little extra CG snippets of planets and creatures only expands the universe in my mind. That said, I realize adding Hayden’s Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi was divisive, even upsetting for some, but for me it was everything. I’ve hesitated to ever reblog gifs of the scene because I felt like I had to justify or explain why I hold it so dear before I did, so this is my chance to do that. 

As a child, I never felt really connected to the fleeting glimpse of Sebastian Shaw (my mom actually remembers me asking why he was so “old,” apparently I reasoned at the time that Anakin should have been younger, I think because I imagined him then as more of a dashing hero, based on Obi-Wan’s description in A New Hope). Anakin never lived as that image of a more middle aged man, that was never who he was within Vader’s suit, and there was always an evincive resonance that I was seeking. Once Attack of the Clones came along, Hayden was my Anakin, he was the embodiment of that character, and I loved him, and I loved his performance (and saw so much nuance and layering in it despite what was often said). Yet one of the last images we witness of him is burning on that scorched lava shore. It’s devastating. 

Luke’s unwavering faith that some glimmer of his father still exists, that goodness can’t ever be entirely erased, that love will overcome, that throwing aside his weapon is an act of bravery and grace, is the moment when Anakin is finally released from that. “He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son.” Balance is restored, and redemption is very small and quiet, not a washing away of violence, but a ceasing of it. It’s the hope that we can always find salvation, that we can still choose to act in love.

When Luke turns around and sees those spirits watching over him, benevolent and glowing and one with the Force, Anakin is his beautiful self again, as the description on this little package says, restored to the “hopeful young Jedi he once was.” The first time I saw that edit of the film, I wept. That was the connection I’d been looking for, the understanding that we’re never wasted, that our souls endure and are mended, that we can choose light, no matter how lost we feel we are, that love can persevere and illuminate even the longest night. It reminded me that I wasn’t only my body, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how it felt like it was collapsing on me, no matter how often I felt like I was failing to be the person I thought I would be, my body could never capture the entirety of who I was, or am. My spirit could still shine, my heart could still be soft.

Anakin says to Padmé in AOTC, “Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life, so you might say we are encouraged to love.” It’s one of my favorite scenes because it’s so sincere, and yet so richly layered in its meaning. And in the end, this is fulfilled, this belief is proven right.

People may think the idea of the Force is hokey, but because of the way I was brought up, and the intense theological discussions that used to be framed around it (particularly by my dad, we used to do this over e-mail back in the olden days of dial-up, I wish I had those conversations saved), it was a really important, formative concept for me. The Force is connectivity, it’s like a variant of the belief in Tikkun olam that parts of the vessels of the divine used to shape the world shattered, and their shards became sparks of light trapped within the material of creation, and thus exist and persist in all of us, in all the diverse and breathtaking life around us, and that we should respect and cherish that life. “The best expression of the Force is not a lightsaber fight or other combat techniques. It’s really about your connection to life, to everything around you, and your ability or willingness to let go, to find peace, and ultimately become a selfless part of existence...in the end there is no power that aids [Luke], except the power of compassion and love; the act of forgiveness and apparent self-sacrifice is what saves his father from the dark side.” 

It’s the idea that there’s something eternal within all living things, something powerful and connected that binds us together, that means we affect one another, and that we make choices as to whether those influences are for the better (or not). That we can decide to increase the power of light and warm energy in the universe. The idea that we’re not limited to our physical selves, that we’re luminous, radiant, possible beings. That we can reach out in love and compassion to heal the world, even if it’s only in small ways, even if we’re the only ones who see it exist, who know it happens, and still the summation of that additional light can radiate everywhere.

[graysongraysoff]

All the ones you haven't answered!!! Lol

lol A’IGHT LET’S BRING IT HOME

vanilla chai latte: are you in love

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe

pumpkin spice: dream car?

i don’t have my license so let’s slow down (a cute little one, though)

old english: you’re stranded on an island, who do you bring with you?

this question doesn’t specify that i have to bring just one person so HA i’m not stranded i have brought all kinds of experts in Getting Off Islands

iced choclate: do you have a crush on someone?

so many………………….. actually only like. four people. but idk maybe that’s a lot?

caramel frappe: favorite video game?

i think actually the game @takethewatch recently ruined my entire life with, brothers: a tale of two sons, might be my new favorite. i’m not a huge Gamer, so i appreciate a game that’s fun and interactive without being so challenging that it’s discouraging, and that game definitely fit that criteria. also when i play games it’s usually for the plot (this is why i often prefer watching other people play games to playing them myself), and that game had a lovely one.

hot chocolate: are you an affectionate person?

i can be i guess but i don’t like. tend toward it?

caramel macchiato: you’re traveling the entire world but you can only take one person with you. who do you take?

this question learned from the last one and made sure to specify, huh.

my mom is a pretty good traveler, so probably her!

mint tea: how do you relax?

I DON’T uhhhh i tend to make some sleepytime tea and curl up in my bed with a book or some comics. turning off the phone/computer is key, as well.

vanilla latte: board games or drinking games?

i am not a huge fan of…………………… either of those tbh. i mean unless dnd counts as a board game, then dnd lol. (i mean it also depends on who you’re with, i guess, but i am never with cool people when i am playing board games or drinking games, you know.)

italian soda: describe your dream date

ROBOT MOVIE MARATHON

orange juice: have you ever had a valentine?

i guess not technically?

rose hip tea: describe your first kiss

drunk

herbal tea: you’re at a candle shop, what scented candle do you buy?

depends on the time of year! in the spring/summer i like to have more sort of beachy/oceanic vibes with like coconut notes and things like that, whereas in the fall/winter i’m all about them warm spices and stuff like apple cinnamon and such

i try not to get anything that smells too much like a baked good though bc it just makes me hungry

[ellocentipede]

Nocturne Alchemy Holiday 2019 Limited Collection Review

There are some stunning scents in Nocturne Alchemy’s Holiday 2019 limited collection. Fan favorites Vanilla Copal and Sandalwood were rereleased, along with many of last year’s delicious ice cream scents. Standouts for me in this year’s limited collection were Eternal Ankh Snow (a beautiful wintry vanilla), Sandalwood Chai (a warm, woody spice and resin), and Vanilla Dreams (a pillow, dreamy vanilla).

Eternal Ankh Snow

Scent description: White Amber, Powdered and reconstructed oil of Egyptian Vanilla Husk, Vanilla fleck, African White Vanilla, White Amber, Roman Blue Chamomile, White Pine essence, Bay Leaf, White Musk and a drop of pure Peppermint infused orange skin

This is a beautiful, wintry take on Eternal Ankh. It really does smell like Eternal Ankh with snow. It’s fluffy and pillowy, with hints of cold, bracing ozone and pine. It reminds me a lot of BPAL’s Go to Sleep, Darlings scent—pillowy vanilla snow. I love this one so much!

Dream

Scent description: Smoked Orange Zest, Benzoin, Lavender Absolute, Ginger, Vetiver, Orange oil and Sweet Clove absolute with a beautiful dry down of soft spice, orange zest and eNVie saphir

A hint of orange zest (freshly grated), benzoin, and ginger, that dries down into a fresh ginger scent (like a freshly cut slice) with just a bit of citrus. It’s very relaxing—a non-traditional calming blend. I tend to not love perfumes that have ginger, but this one is so fresh and lovely. I can see myself reaching for this when I don’t feel well or am exhausted.

Vanilla Dreams

Scent description: Bastet’s Ice Cream absolute, Tonka Bean concrete, Bourbon Vanille absolute, White Patchouli, Pear, Pink Grapefruit essence, Raspberry essence, Muguet flower, Vanilla Orchid and a rich creamy Egyptian Musk to scent your dreams

Fluffy, dreamy vanilla bean ice cream, softened into a gentle cloud by the musk. The other notes hover in the background. I can barely pick out the rich muguet and a gentle pop of grapefruit. This is a beautiful and relaxing scent that’s a nice change from typical herbal bedtime scents. It reminds me of a lulling linen spray that L’Occitane used to make about a decade ago.

Incense Chai

Scent description: Creamed Incense accord, Chai Black Tea and spices of Allspice/Clove/Nutmeg, Sweet Myrrh Resin, Vanilla dust, Vanuatu Santal, Bastet’s Musk

Ooh this incense is smooth. It reminds me of Alchemy Bazaar, which is one of my very favorite resin blends. It is smooth, golden, a bit warm and dry, and wears elegantly. It blends effortlessly with the chai and nutmeg spices. With wear this becomes a bit fuzzy on me, like a cloud of incense or a fluffy sweater.

Sandalwood Chai

Scent description: Chai Black Tea with spices of Allspice/Black Clove/Nutmeg, Santalum Absolute and Vanilla Beans

Cardamom Chai Sandalwood is one of my favorite scents ever and I only have a tiny sample of it, so I ordered this scent as soon as it was released. It is really lovely. I get a good amount of chai tea, though it is not at all milky. There is a lot of dry clove and nutmeg as well, and they are a touch sharp. Luckily the sharpness fades fairly quickly and I begin to smell more of the warm, dry sandalwood. It’s now ultra smooth sandalwood and fuzzy chai spice. A gorgeous blend!

Garden Rose Bee

Scent description: Orange Blossom Honey accord (creamy honey – this is a new honey we’ve created that is not like previous Black Honey accord), Black Rose, White Garden Rose, Bastet’s Amber Absolute and Eternal Ankh Absolute

Though a lot of people love it, I’ve had poor luck with NAVA’s honey blends in the past. They tend to go super funky on me. This new orange blossom honey accord is much better for me than the black honey accord, but alas it also goes a bit funky on me in the end. It’s a shame, because otherwise this is a lovely blend! The rose notes are beautiful—gentle, smooth, and soft.

Moonstone Nag Champa Seahorse

Scent description: NA Studio Nag Champa blend of Patchouli/Sandalwood/Dragon’s Blood/Champaka/Frangipani and Crystalline Vanilla Absolute with Moonstone Absolute and Copal Resin

Beautiful, airy Nag Champa (like a fresh, unlit incense stick) with a slight kiss of smooth vanilla from the Moonstone. I haven’t tried the original version of Nag Champa Seahorse, but I do have Tibetan Crystalline Creme, and Moonstone Nag Champa Seahorse has much less vanilla and creaminess (as one would expect). NAVA does Nag Champa very, very well and this is a beautiful blend.

Private Universe

Scent description: NA Oudh agarwood, Santalum sandalwood absolute, Cardamom, Teakwood, Cedarwood, White Patchouli, Black Clove and eNVie saphir amber musk

I have terrible luck with oudh blends, but I grabbed a decant of this one because I read a review that compared it to BIC Teak & Sandalwood, which is one my favorite scents. Alas, I get a fair amount of stinky oudh (think barnyard and band-aids). I do smell some lovely woods in the background, but they are all outshone by the oudh.

A Kiss Upon Her Shoulder

Scent description: Mimosa Flower, Gardenia, Hyacinth, Jasmine, Lilac, Eternal Ankh absolute, Skin Musk, Peach skin and eNVie saphir amber musk

A pretty, mild, musky floral. Gentle and will probably work for those who tend to not love florals. Well-blended—it’s hard to pick out individual notes, but perhaps I get more lilac than anything else. It’s not heady—I surprisingly can’t discern the jasmine. I smell a good bit of the peach skin. With time the peach skin becomes more prominent on my skin and becomes a bit sharp before settling in. A clean, elegant scent.

Peppermint Candy Cane Cotton Candy

Scent description: Cotton Candy Accord, Peppermint Pure, Violet, Marshmallow accord, White Lily, Peach essence and sugar accord

This is a very bracing peppermint candy! At first it’s a bit overwhelming, but it quickly mellows into a glittering white candy cane scent. Surprisingly, I don’t really get any of the cotton candy. I do get a bit of the pungent violet and peach, which make this more interesting than a simple candy cane scent. The use of peach in this is like BPAL’s Snow Angel—like a ripe fruit crusted with a thin layer of sparkling ice. The cotton candy does come out on drydown.

Vanilla Snow Cotton Candy

Scent description: Cotton Candy accord, Bavarian Crème accord, Malted Vanilla Bean, Vanilla Custard accord, Marshmallow accord, Vanilla Sugar and Bavarian Vanilla Bean

Oof—this one is very, very sweet! It’s too sweet for me, alas. It’s like sticky sweet cotton candy and the sweetened, custardy condensed milk topping on snowballs in New Orleans.

Frosted Japanese Cherry Blossom

Scent description: Asian pear skin, White Bulgarian Rose, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Mimosa, Cotton accord, Vanilla Whole, Bastet Amber and a drop of blue mint

A pretty, breezy cherry blossom blend. It’s a little too breezy for me at first, like clean laundry. The fresh, just-bloomed cherry blossom and mimosa sit beneath the cotton accord. The pear skin sharpens and peps up the blend, keeping it from being overly floral. There’s just a peep of vanilla lending some sweetness, but this is primarily a fresh and airy floral scent.

Vanilla Copal

Scent description: Peruvian Copal EO, Copal Resin, Crystalline Absolute, Kobalt Absolute, NA Studio Snow Musk (sweet wood-infused musk), Vanilla Bean extract

I wasn’t sure that I liked this one at first—and I think that it was just that I was expecting something different. This is not a sweet, rich vanilla scent. It is primarily a copal scent. That said, the copal is beautiful. It smells like an actual lump of copal that is lightly smoking in a censer. It’s sweetened a bit from the vanilla, but it’s a bit smoky and a bit soapy as well. This scent is addictive to me and I keep sniffing it. It fills a hole in my collection that I didn’t know that I had.

Sandalwood Copal

Scent description: Venezuelan Copal EO, Copal Resin, Sandalwood, Tibetan Sandalwood (future SL), SL Crystal Absolute, Skin Musk, SL N8 Musk and Crimson Musk Absolute

I love NAVA’s sandalwoods, so of the two copal scents, this one is my favorite. The sandalwood note is beautiful—dry, clean, warm, resinous. It’s a bit soapy, but in a pretty, clean way. It’s an elegant and effortless scent.

Warm Amber, Sandalwood, and Vanilla

Scent description: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vanilla Bean Extract, Tonka, White Cinnamon, Clove, Kobalt Vanilla, Amber Resin, Bastet Amber, Labdanum, Benzoin, Rockrose and Egyptian Sugar

This is an elegant resin blend. The sandalwood is warm, smooth, and dry, and the amber is sparkling. I get a hint of dry clove in the background, like an open jar of the powdered spice. I also pick out something like a fresher version of labdanum (not like a resin), which must be the rockrose (cistus). This is a nice, classy, well-blended scent, reminiscent of a fine perfume.

Pink Sugar, Patchouli, & Cotton Candy Sweater

Scent description: Red Sandalwood, Pink Sugar accord, Gold Patchouli Essential Oil, Cotton Candy accord, Egyptian Sugar, Spun Vanilla infused Sugar, Bastet Amber and Santalum White.

This review is for last year’s version of this scent. My track record with NAVA’s patchouli has unfortunately not been great (none of the bats have worked for me, alas), but this scent is beautiful! I think the sweetness of the cotton candy makes this wearable and beautiful on me. This does smell like a fluffy pink sweater. It’s warm and fluffy and comforting. It is not a sweet or gourmand scent. There’s just enough sugar and cotton candy to tame the earthiness of the patchouli for me without turning it into a confection. A beautiful, comforting scent for the cold months.

Sugar Cookie

Scent description: Buttery Sugar Cookie accord, Vanilla, Bastet’s Délicieux blend, extra Crystalline Absolute

When first applied, this smells like the sugar cookies that they sell at the grocery store for every holiday—heavily coated in thick, sweet icing and seasonally-appropriate sprinkles. The sprinkles are so sweet that they have a Lush Snow Fairy quality—almost like peptol bismal to my nose. Luckily the sugar calms down pretty quickly, and I am left with a perfect buttery (but not too buttery), sugar cookie, with maybe just a thin sheen of icing on top and flavored with a few drops of vanilla. It’s a beautiful gourmand scent that’s not overwhelming. I’m so glad that I picked this one up.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Original

Scent description: Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar

This is well and truly the perfume that began my collection of NAVA scents. I received a very old decant of this in a swap, dabbed it on my wrists (because ice cream!), and was blown away. It is a rich, creamy vanilla ice cream. It even smells a bit frothy as if it has been churned like actual ice cream. This is a comforting blend for me, and I wear it whenever I need a warm hug or a pick-me-up. It’s truly lovely and I recommend it highly.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Cardamom & Tahitian Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Tahitian Vanilla Bean Absolute, Honduran Cardamom essential oil and pods, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, aged Tahitian Vanilla Bean whole

This scent is rich and warm and lovely! The cardamom is so fragrant, but not overwhelming. It’s very present—dry, full, and rich. I get more butter with it than vanilla, making this to my nose more like a warm cardamom bun slathered in butter than ice cream. The cardamom remains the dominant note for me with wear, and with time I do get a bit more of the ice cream.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Marzipan & Rum Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Almond accord, Mimosa, Marzipan accord, Rum, Vanilla-Benzoin, drop of Cassis, Coconut Milk, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean

This blend is potent! It smells of rich, almond marzipan and sticky-sweet rum and warm caramel. It’s more gourmand than Pistachio & Almond Vanilla Creme. The marzipan eventually disappears for me and I am left with an incredibly rich caramel rum scent.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Pistachio & Almond Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Pistachio, Almond, Vanilla Custard accord, Heliotrope, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar

I don’t always love almond and pistachio blends, but I do love this one! This is a very realistic pistachio pudding blend. It smells like pistachio flavoring (not like actual pistachios) and almond extract, which I personally adore. It’s a little sharp, but in a good way, like actual almond extract. This reminds me of my very favorite cookies in the world—my grandma’s bright green almond flavored Christmas tree cookies.

Bastet’s Ice Cream: Rice Milk & Vanilla Creme

Scent description: Delicate and creamy Basmati Rice crème, Rice Milk accord, a touch of brown sugar, Vanilla bean fleck, Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar

This one is beautiful—soft, mildly creamy, addictive. Surprisingly it’s not very sugary. It’s a bit like Lush’s Snowcake scent—creamy and comforting. The rice note is almost like the almond in Snowcake in that it is a bit like Play Doh, but in a good way. The Play Doh-ness dissipates with time and this starts to become a true rice pudding scent—warm, gently fragrant, and not overly sweet. This sits close to the skin on me.

Peppermint Crystalline

Scent description: Exclusive gift for NA Store Customer Holiday orders: Peppermint Pure, Crystalline Absolute, Apricot essence, Marshmallow, Sandalwood Light, Strawberry and Lily accord

This is another bracing peppermint scent! That peppermint pure must be strong stuff. I get mostly cold peppermint with some sweetness from the Crystalline and a light touch of fruitiness from the apricot and strawberry. This is similar to the Peppermint Candy Cane Cotton Candy, but is closer to smelling like an actual candy cane since it doesn’t have the cotton candy drydown. A nice scent for peppermint lovers.

Nocturne Alchemy’s scents may be perused and purchased at https://nocturnealchemy.com

[rosevalntne-blog]

all of the questions!

thank you so much my love

bubble bath: do you have any routines before bedtime? like skin care, etc.? what are they? i’m trying to establish a solid skincare schedule but i’ve been so ill in the last year that i’ve been literally incapable of figuring out how bedtime works?? so it’s pretty much just clean the litterbox (wash my hands) and brush my teeth most nights

champagne: what topic could you talk about for hours? shakespeare and also food network

crushed velvet: have you ever used your charm to get something you want? i have no charm lol

diamonds: how do you feel about excessively spending money? fun but don’t probably

faux fur: describe your wardrobe lots of dark colors, flannels, lots of dresses and striped stockings, lots of dark leggings

glitter: describe someone special to you fnfnfndskjs i can’t pick just one and leave ppl out!!! so: gina has been my friend since we were in, like, sixth grade. we hit a rough patch once but other than that she’s seen me through everything. i try to be a good friend to her bc i love her so much and i really want to help her feel happy whenever i can.river is my platonic soulmate. i’ve never met anybody more relatable & they’re so supportive of me when i’m not well. they never ever ever call me terms i don’t like applied to me (e.g. “psychotic”) because they know that whatever i’m experiencing is real to me and that’s enough. they show me so much affection & i show it back and they make me feel so loved. cassie (you) is someone i wish i’d spoken to earlier. you followed me for a while before we became friends and i noticed you in my notifications but was always a little shy to reach out to you. i’m really, really glad you came off anon one day because you mean a lot to me. rae has helped me so much, especially as i learn which of my traits are bpd related and how to cope with them. i try to be supportive because i love them and even though i know sometimes i’m not the best friend i could be, i hope they know how much i love them because they really mean the world to me. i wish all the best for them and even if i’m scared to reach out because i easily think people don’t want to talk to me, i’m sending them good vibes every single day. spence is somebody i’ve really only become closer with recently but i want to be closer to him. not a day goes by that i don’t think of him and send him good vibes. i luv him and he’s really fun to bake with and i hope he’s having a good day. (if we’re pals and i didn’t mention you, it’s not bc you don’t mean a lot to me! i’m just rambling a lot so i need to cut it off here.) 

gold: describe what you would call the most perfect meal. hmmm i really like breakfast food and especially oatmeal but i like it kind of watered down? so i would say slightly watery oatmeal with raspberries, peanut butter & co. chocolate peanut butter, slivered almonds, and a little honey, and also a croissant and green tea! or also i make the fucking best vegan peanut butter cookies so like a whole batch of those probably.

jazz: name a song that resonates with you and your emotions: explain the reason why. there are so many but most of all, in this moment right now, i’m going to go with “the high road” by broken bells. i listened to it a lot in eighth grade when my depression first really set in (i.e. to a clinical level episode instead of a more slightly-below-cyclothymia situation that i had going on from ages eight to twelve), and i’ve been thinking a lot about then because i had the chance to get help then and i passed it up, and that makes me really sad because maybe my illness wouldn’t have progressed as much as it did if i had gotten help earlier. lyrics like “come on and get your overdose / collect it at the borderline” make me think of the “borderline” between reality/psychosis even though that probably wasn’t the original intention, and even though i’m not quite there yet, i feel like it might be coming, which is why i’m being so aggressive with med changes right now. and it just sounds echoey and surreal, which is how i feel. 

lace: what is something in your life completely different from last year? my manic depression has gotten significantly worse. i have full blown mania now, which changed my diagnosis from bipolar ii to bipolar i. i know diagnoses are only ways for clinicians to know how to treat you, but that feels like a big deal to me. unfortunately, i’ve definitely gotten worse. 

lingerie: do you consider yourself to be a promiscuous person? not at all. i am severely sex-repulsed. i slept with a girl once and had such a severe breakdown i almost killed myself, & still have flashbacks to this day. 

lipstick: do you enjoy talking to strangers? not in the least. 

pearls: what’s something about your personality that surprises others? i think most people are surprised to find how desperate i am for validation until they get to know me. i’m told i come off as rather mature and pulled-together, so i think people who don’t know me well don’t realize how dependent i am on the opinions and validation of others. 

penthouse: what do you consider your dream home? describe it. a little cottage in the woods just on the outskirts of a little town! it would be made of uneven stones with ivy crawling up the sides and a garden out front. there would be a river nearby with willow trees. inside, it would be quaint and often a little dusty, with mismatched furniture found at tag sales and filled bookshelves everywhere. the kitchen would be the biggest room because i spend so much time baking in there. 

perfume: if you could make your own signature fragrance, what would it smell like? roses, honey, and vanilla. 

robe: how do you prepare for an evening alone with a loved one/date? clean up my room, pop hamlet into my dvd player, and bake something? idk i’ve never dated anyone,,

roses: if it had to be winter, spring, summer, or autumn for the rest of your life, which would you choose? autumn! when the air smells like cinnamon and cloves, it’s the perfect time for chai tea and pumpkin spice lattes, the leaves are beautiful, and it’s neither too hot nor too cold. 

satin: what is your most favorite article of clothing? black and white striped stockings :^)

sheet mask: what is your favorite lazy activity? drinking lattes and watching food network!

silk: do you have more inner beauty or outer beauty? neither i’m a bad person and a goblin

silver: do you have any obscure hobbies? what are they? i used to collect the tags on tea bags but i lost them all lol

sparkling water: what are your top three songs for the summer? for an ideal summer? (1) “my girl,” the temptations; (2) “rosalita (come out tonight),” bruce springsteen; (3) “on my way,” phil collins. 

wine: what kind of drunk are you? i’ve only been drunk during severe episodes but when i’m in a mixed episode and drunk i get very poetic and write a lot and i’m very self-reflective and stuck in the void and when i’m manic i’m just very giggly and i shout a lot. 

[paymeintea]

I've always believed I hated tea (I found it much too bitter), but I think I've just been possibly making it wrong all these years. I've been wanting to turn over a new (tea) leaf and start drinking tea. As a tea connoisseur, do you have any tea recommendations for beginning tea drinker?

♡♡ 

It depends on what kind of flavours you like~ :D 

If you’re not fond of black tea or green tea, you could try some fruit tea tisanes instead? Mix in some sugar (or sugar tisane if you’re so inclined and have the money, cause it’s expensive af and is pretty much just flavoured sugar) as well, and you can drink it hot or cold and it’s great♡ 

You could try some Rooibos tea, it’s more a red tea than black and I don’t think I remember it being bitter. You can always add milk and sugar or honey, etc, to taste anyway~

If you don’t like caffeine, white tea doesn’t have nearly as much. I haven’t had much white tea myself, mostly stuck with Silver Needles which wasn’t as great as I was expecting considering it’s supposed to be like the best of the best of white tea lol

If you like ginger and cinnamon and stuff, you could try some chai tea? Make it on milk on a stovetop, mix in some small chocolate pieces, have a choc chai tea. 

Or you could try some different herbal blends? There are a lot that are gonna smell nicer than they taste though lol

Or there are blends with honeybush which are quite nice. Or there’s also the Earl Grey teas, but if you don’t like the citrus taste of Earl Grey you could try French Earl Grey which doesn’t have the overpowering citrus taste. 

Or there’s always green or black tea with honey. You can always have the black teas with milk and sugar, like whatever level for each you want will work. Or try some tea with lemon, if you like lemon?

You can probably find a bunch of black teas with different flavours added in. A tea shop where I buy mine has one with a really strong vanilla flavour added in, another one is a mix of green and black tea which tastes nice on its own and with milk. 

A lot of it is just figuring out what combination of tea, sweetener or no sweetener, etc, etc, works for you~ I’ve been drinking tea since I was a kid, but I was started off with my tea really milky and sweet. My tea ended up getting stronger and waaaaaaay less milky and sweet over the years, but a friend of mine still has hers that way because that’s how she prefers it. Just experiment with what you like~ you might find that you like it one way for one tea and a different way for another even if they’re both black teas or green teas or what :D

Sorry for the long ramble, but let me know if you try anything new and what you think of it, yeah? o(*⌒―⌒*)o 

[juliusgermani]

26 DIY Sugar Scrub Recipes to Make Your Skin Silky Smooth

It's been a harsh winter, and I must admit that my skin has come out of it looking a little worse for wear. I do have a few fallback products that I tend to reach for year after year to help revitalize my skin after the winter, but with my new year's resolution to try and make the switch from store-bought to homemade, I thought I should try and do something a little different.

I have a love-hate relationship with scrubs in general. Yes, they can help to get rid of dry areas and leave you looking luxuriously smooth. But, if you're not careful with which ones you use and how often you use them, they can also be incredibly harsh on your delicate skin.

The beauty of making your DIY sugar scrubs is that you have not only more control over the coarseness of the product, but also the scent. Whether you're settling down for a full evening of pampering or just having a quick scrub in your morning shower, you're bound to fall in love with one of these recipes.

DIY Sugar Scrub Recipes

1. Chocolate Coconut Sugar Scrub

My mom always laughs at me when I buy products that smell like something you'd want to eat, questioning why I would want to smell like food. Well, I love food, so food scents are something that appeals to me most.

I don't think that even my mom would object to using this Chocolate Coconut Sugar Scrub, even if it did leave her smelling like a chocolate bar. Something I like about this homemade scrub is the consistency of it. I find it incredibly annoying when a scrub is so dry that it crumbles and falls everywhere, wasting half of the tub, so I think that this liquid like texture would be far more effective and efficient.

2. Lemon Honey Sugar Scrub

The scents of lemon and honey are always soothing to me, as that's the classic remedy my granny makes up for us when we are ill. Those two scents along with lavender and rosemary would make this Lemon Honey Sugar Scrub perfect for an evening of pampering, especially in the bathtub.

This scrub is easy to make, all you need to do is combine all the ingredients. I like the fact that this recipe uses dried rosemary and leaves it in, meaning that the scent will be more enhanced along with the added exfoliant.

3. Whipped Grapefruit Mint Sugar Scrub

Hand on heart, if you asked me what my two favorite scents of body products to use in my morning showers are I would tell you grapefruit and mint. I find them both so incredibly refreshing, which is just what I need to get me feeling more awake and ready for the day ahead. With that said, I don't think I have ever tried something which includes them both together, so I am excited to try out this Whipped Grapefruit Mint Sugar Scrub.

Aside from that delicious scent combination, the ‘whipped' aspect of this has sold it to me, as it isn't something I have ever seen before. Being a big fan of whipped body creams, I can see myself loving this, and the consistency looks perfect for a shower.

4. Peppermint Sugar Scrub Bars

As previously mentioned, sugar scrubs can be a little messy. Especially if you're using them in the bathtub, more coarse scrubs can leave you feeling like you're laying on a sandy beach. These Peppermint Sugar Scrub Bars address that problem just perfectly in my opinion.

The peppermint scent comes from an essential oil, which means that if you wanted to, you could swap out the peppermint oil for another one, like vanilla or lemon. These bars would be incredibly quick and efficient to use in the shower, and because they're homemade and inexpensive, you don't have to use them sparingly, like you might ones you bought from a store.

5. Calming Sugar Scrub

I love the sound of all the ingredients in this Calming Sugar Scrub. As soon as I saw it I wanted to make some for my mom, she's always working herself off her feet, and I know that her favorite part of the week is a long soak in the bath on a Sunday evening.

A couple of my friends have been using ‘bath teabags' recently, which are exactly what they sound like, large teabags specially made to be used in baths. I don't know how I feel about that, but you do get some incredibly lovely and calming smelling teas, so I wouldn't mind having an aspect of that in the water. The coconut oil in this recipe would leave your skin so nourished and smooth.

6. Lemon Lip Sugar Scrub

I love lip scrubs; they are a total lifesaver throughout winter as a quick fix for chapped lips. I don't like to use them too often, preferring to lather on the chapstick, but if I am going out and my lipstick just isn't sitting right then I will use a scrub before applying it, and my problem will be solved.

The consistency of this Lemon Lip Sugar Scrub looks like it would be rough enough to do the job extremely well, but still soft and nourishing with the addition of the jojoba oil so as not to damage your lips. It's a nice compact size, so you could pop it in your handbag for days when your lips are just not playing ball.

7. Essential Oil Sugar Scrub

This Essential Oil Sugar Scrub recipe is incredibly simple, which I am a fan of. Very often the best beauty and skincare products are those with the fewest ingredients, something which just does the job without all the faff.

The ratio of oil to sugar in this recipe is a little different, using more oil than other methods I have seen. I was unsure of this at first, but after thinking about it, I realized that this would be perfect for anyone with sensitive skin, or skin which doesn't usually react too well to scrubs. The sugar wouldn't be too harsh, and the oil would ensure that your skin is perfectly moisturized throughout the process of using it.

8. Chai Sugar Scrub

I don't know whether I want to eat this Chai Sugar Scrub or use it on my body, or even do a bit of both. I am not the biggest fan of coffee, so when I am out and about and need a little break, I always treat myself to a Chai Latte.

I can't stop imagining the scent of this, with the Chai tea along with the brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and honey. It sounds so warming, almost like some sweet treat after it has been freshly baked. This recipe would take minutes to bring together, and I think that if you put it in a pretty jar with a cute label and ribbon, it would make the loveliest gift for a friend or loved one.

9. Sugar Hand Scrub

Dry hands are a pest throughout winter, and though I don't suffer from them too badly, I know a lot of people who do and would therefore benefit from this Sugar Hand Scrub.

Although this scrub can be used anywhere on the body, it's especially great for the hands and looks easy to make. Even if dry hands isn't something that you have problems with, I think using this scrub would still be a lovely treat, with the simple ingredients leaving your hands feeling extra soft. The use of cane sugar in most DIY scrubs is due to its larger size lending it to be more affecting in getting rid of any dead or rough skin.

10. Sweet Vanilla Sugar Scrub

I love all vanilla scented products, so before I even opened this recipe, I was half-way in love. Luckily for me, the recipe itself lived up to my high hopes and expectations.

This Sweet Vanilla Sugar Scrub can be used anywhere on the body, which is the beauty of all homemade scrubs. I love the fact that the recipe includes a little run down of the benefits of each ingredient it uses, something which is incredibly useful for a sugar scrub beginner like myself. This is one of the only recipes I have found that actively adds vitamin E, an ingredient which I already find incredibly useful on my skin. Although the consistency of this sugar scrub is a little looser than what I would usually go for, I reckon the scent would be entirely worth it.

11. Rose Petal Sugar Scrub

As someone who isn't usually the biggest fan of rose scents, I still think this Rose Petal Sugar Scrub looks like it would be an absolute delight to use.

I love the story behind this scrub, a woman who could not bear to let her beautiful bouquet of roses go to waste. This recipe only uses three ingredients, all of which are inexpensive and easy to come across, you could even use roses from your garden if you have any. The mixture would be very dry, so you would have to be a little more careful when using it. With that said, however, you could easily take inspiration from another sugar scrub recipe and add oil to the base to make it stick together better.

12. Lavender Sugar Scrub

Lavender is such a calming scent, and it is hard to find someone who doesn't think so. The South of France was frequented by my family when I was younger, and I have the best memories of running down rows of lavender with my little sister.

I like the fact that, as well as its essential oil, this Lavender Sugar Scrub recipe has actual lavender buds mixed with it. Not only will this better enhance the smell, but it makes it look incredibly pretty. The recipe doesn't specify which type of sugar to use, so you could experiment with different ones, or even mixtures of more than one, before finding the texture that is right for you.

13. Cucumber Mint Sugar Scrub

This Cucumber Mint Sugar Scrub sounds like something you would be offered at a fancy spa, and I am all about anything that helps me to create that real spa experience in my own home for a fraction of the price.

Any skin products including cucumber always feel so soothing and cooling on the skin, and I can't imagine that this one would be any different. It sounds like the freshest of scents, making it perfect for a morning or post busy day shower. I like the look of the consistency, although it doesn't contain too much oil, the cucumber will add moisture and should hold it together nicely, perfect for scooping out of the jar.

14. Unicorn Sugar Scrub

If you are looking for a breath of quirky and fun air amongst the floral and the fruity, then look no further than this Unicorn Sugar Scrub. I can honestly admit that I have not hopped onto the recent unicorn trend that seems to be everywhere, but I can't deny that this scrub looks incredibly fun.

I love anything colorful or glittery, and this has both. Of course, both the color and the glitter are entirely optional, but why not. These layered bottles of sugar scrub with the little stars throughout would make the most lovely gift, especially for any unicorn obsessed women in your life. I know that I certainly have a fair few cousins and friends who would go crazy over them.

15. Apple Cinnamon Sugar Scrub

This Apple Cinnamon Sugar Scrub would have you feeling like your bathtub or shower was one big pie, and I have absolutely no objections toward that.

I definitely did not expect this recipe to include fresh apple, but I am incredibly glad that it does, and think it would give a much more realistic apple scent compared to an essential oil which can often be sickly sweet. This will, of course, add moisture to the mixture too, and we all know that apple and cinnamon are a scent and taste match made in heaven. This scrub recipe has a couple more steps involved in its preparation, but I do not doubt that it would be entirely worth it.

16. Essential Oil Sugar Scrub Bars

These are the cutest little heart shaped Essential Oil Sugar Scrub Bars. I like the fact that these have soap as part of the base, meaning that they double up as a body wash in the shower on top of being a scrub.

Although you might not think so with them being a hard bar, using this on more sensitive skin could be far more gentle than using a regular sugar scrub. This way you can apply the desired amount of pressure, and the sugar will be well combined with the other elements of the recipe, making it less rough than a more dry, loose sugar scrub. The color element is optional, but I think it makes them look prettier, especially if you were planning on giving these to someone as a homemade gift.

17. Spiced Orange Sugar Scrub

Even though the festive season is now behind us, I would never refuse to cover myself with something that has a spiced orange scented. The weather outside can still be treacherously cold, and I am a big fan of doing little bits and bobs around the house to make sure that it is as warm and cozy as possible. I feel like making this Spiced Orange Sugar Scrub for the shower could just be a new one to add to the list.

This recipe contains none other than pumpkin pie spice, which is bound to make it smell delicious, especially along with the orange essential oil. I think to enhance the pie-like scent and feeling of this sugar scrub I would stick to using brown sugar.

18. Apricot Sugar Scrub

I am a big fan of apricots, both their taste and smell, but I must say that they aren't featured in beauty or skin products very often. Maybe I'm shopping in the wrong stores, but it is far less likely that you will find an apricot shower gel than you will a strawberry or raspberry one.

This Apricot Sugar Scrub sounds like the perfect summery skincare product DIY. I don't know how strongly scented apricot oil itself is, having never used it before, but if it isn't strong enough to match your preferences, then the recipe directs you as to how to add essential oil in along with it. The incredibly simple recipe only has three ingredients, make that two if you'd rather not add color.

19. Cherry Blossom Sugar Scrub

When I first started school, our playground had a huge cherry blossom tree on the grass. We used to spend our entire lunch breaks collecting the flowers which had recently fallen, then weaving them into bracelets or sticking them through the braids in our hair. I want to include this Cherry Blossom Sugar Scrub here purely because of those happy memories.

Cherry blossom has such a beautiful scent, and I love it because it is floral without being too overpowering. This scrub looks so beautiful with the whole petals through it; I can imagine using this in the bath would leave the water bejeweled with them. It would be really fun to try adding different flower petals into this recipe too, making it even more colorful and beautiful.

20. Brown Sugar Lip Scrub

I recently had to throw out a sugar lip scrub that I bought from a store a while back. Don't get me wrong, I loved it but in time it just got dried up and bitty. When I went to repurchase two things stopped me, firstly the price, and then the following thought that it would probably be incredibly easy to make myself.

I was right, sure enough, sugar lip scrubs are incredibly easy and definitely inexpensive to make. I love the look of this Brown Sugar Lip Scrub. Because it is one part sugar and two parts a more liquid-like ingredient, it looks like the perfect consistency to use on your lips, more like a gloss than sugar that will be all over your face. I think I'd struggle to stop myself from licking this one off my lips.

21. Lime Sugar Scrub

The fact that this recipe for Lime Sugar Scrub contains both the essential oil and the zest of the lime means that the scent will be prominent, which is just perfect for such a refreshing ingredient.

It suggests having a jar of this scrub at the kitchen sink, which isn't somewhere I have ever thought to put a scrub before, but now that I think about it, it would be beneficial. After cooking, especially with raw meat or fish, it would be lovely to use something that you know is really going to scrub every last bit off your hands. Our kitchen also has a door which leads out into the garden, so after tending to the plants, this scrub would be the perfect way to get rid of any pesky dirt.

22. Pina Colada Sugar Scrub

Who wouldn't want to smell like a fun and tropical pina colada? The combination of the coconut and pineapple would be enough to get me out of bed and into the shower even after the worst night's sleep.

I love the bright yellow color of this Pina Colada Sugar Scrub and think it would be a delight to use. You can add more or less coconut oil dependant on the consistency you desire, which is just perfect for my preference of a more held-together scrub. Sometimes you just need something like this on a busy or dreary day to transport you somewhere sunnier and warmer. If you want to go all out with the tropical dream idea, there is even a recipe for mini pineapple soaps to go along with the scrub.

23. Strawberry Sugar Scrub

Strawberry is such a well-loved scent, so if you were making a sugar scrub for someone else and struggling to decide which scent to go for, then this would definitely be a safe bet.

This particular Strawberry Sugar Scrub contains real freeze-dried strawberries, which I think is a nice way of both coloring the scrub and adding the strawberry scent to it. Along with that, you have vanilla, which I could go on and on about for longer than you would care to listen, I do love it. If you are looking for a sugar scrub which is a nice mix of sweet and fruity without being too overpowering, then this could be the perfect one for you.

24. Eucalyptus Sugar Scrub

I always like it when you can tell that a DIY has been tried, tested and improved before it is put out into the world, and I definitely get that feeling with this Eucalyptus Sugar Scrub. The author explains the trial and error of different ratios, meaning that you can pick which one you would like to use based on what you want to get out of the scrub.

I have always liked the scent of eucalyptus, but haven't used it much in products. That will most likely change now that I know all its health benefits, including that it's antibiotic, deodorizing and good for circulation amongst other wonderful things.

25. Raspberry Lemon Sugar Scrub

If you haven't already guessed by now, I am a fan of fruity and fun scents in my skincare products, and if they have a bit of color added in, then I am even more intrigued.

I like that this recipe comes with different scent combinations that you can try out, I love raspberry, vanilla, and strawberry enough separately never mind when they are combined to make even more loveliness. Out of the possibilities, I think my favorite one would have to be a Raspberry Lemon Sugar Scrub, which I think would be a sweet treat to use in the shower. The granulated white sugar will mean that the scrub is effective at smoothing the skin without being too harsh.

26. Cherry Almond Sugar Scrub

Now I love digging into a good Cherry Bakewell tart, and it's about time I was able to smell like one too. I know many women in my life who could do with a bit of pampering, and I think the best way to make that happen is to make them a lovely homemade gift that will prompt them to do so.

The almond oil in this Cherry Almond Sugar Scrub will leave your skin feeling luxuriously soft, whether you use it in a nice hot bath or a slightly longer shower than usual. The combination of the cherry and almond scents will mean that this sugar scrub is sweet but still soothing, and the cherry extract gives it the loveliest hint of pale pink color.

Conclusion to DIY Sugar Scrub Recipes

Sugar scrubs are so handy to have around the house, both for when you need to quickly get rid of some rough skin and fight off the effects of the winter or to add to a long evening of pampering. They also make excellent gifts, especially when put into pretty jars, adorned with a lovely label and tied with a colorful bow.

As a lover of all things summer, sweet and fruity, the sugar scrub that I am most desperate to make has to be the Pina Colada one. There are so many that are coming in close second though, like the Chai, the Grapefruit and Mint and of course that Brown Sugar Lip Scrub to have stashed away in my handbag for emergencies.

Did you previously realize how easy it is to make your own DIY sugar scrub recipes? Which scent do you think would make you excited to give yourself a good scrub down?

This article first appeared on morningchores.com Original Article

The post 26 DIY Sugar Scrub Recipes to Make Your Skin Silky Smooth appeared first on Homesteading Alliance.

26 DIY Sugar Scrub Recipes to Make Your Skin Silky Smooth posted first on https://homesteadingalliance.com/

[edc-creations-blog]

A Touch of Love (The Grays of Los Angeles) by Sheryl Lister: http://amzn.to/2xM4eQV

Lexia Daniels can’t deny that her café’s most loyal customer is as tempting as any of the delicious treats she bakes. Burned by a bitter divorce, she tries to keep her desire in check around Khalil Gray, but the gorgeous ex-model is intent on seduction. Then a devastating accident reveals the complicated man behind the perfectly sculpted body… A man she can’t seem to resist.

At first, Khalil sees Lexia as a sexy challenge. But after an explosion shatters his world, she becomes the only person he can’t seem to push away. And every sign around him is telling him he needs her close. Khalil is happy to explore their erotic chemistry as long as it means resisting real emotion. But playing by his old rules could cost him the love he never thought he’d find…

  Excerpt: A Touch of Love by Sheryl Lister

Chapter 1

“What the hell do you mean they were charged twice?” Khalil Gray stopped in his tracks. He met the disapproving glare of a grandmotherly woman and offered up a tight smile. Lowering his voice, he repeated the question.

“I have no idea,” Felicia McBride answered. The twenty-six year-old college student worked as the assistant manager at his fitness center, Maximum Burn. “There’ve been four calls since you left with members saying their accounts were debited twice this month. They’ve already been corrected, but I have no idea why it happened in the first place.”

He ran an agitated hand down his face. “Thanks, Felicia. I’ll check it out when I get back.”

He ended the call, still trying to figure out what was going on. He had owned the gym for five years and never had a problem before. Khalil continued through the lobby toward the elevators and jabbed the button with more force than necessary. He toyed with stopping in Oasis Café for his favorite low-fat apple cinnamon coffee cake, but because of traffic and construction across from the Wilshire District office building, he was already fifteen minutes late for the Wednesday morning staff meeting at his family’s home safety company. The elevator doors opened and he stepped back to allow the stream of people exit before boarding and riding the car up to the sixth floor.

Khalil greeted the receptionist and walked briskly down the hallway to the large conference room. He slid into a vacant seat and turned his attention to what his older brother, Brandon was saying. Brandon had taken over as CEO of the company nine months ago. Their father, Nolan Gray, had started the company upon his discharge from the Army after being disheartened by the difficulty in getting services and accommodations for the disabled. He’d decided to do something about it by designing them himself.

Their father’s best friend, Thaddeus Whitcomb—who had lost the lower part of his leg while serving—joined the company as a minor partner and vice president. The two men had a long-standing agreement that there would always be a Gray at the helm as CEO and a Whitcomb as vice president. Currently, only Brandon and their older sister, Siobhan, worked for the company. He listened as each department gave updates. After the last person finished, Brandon directed his attention to Khalil. “Khalil, you’re still going to be meeting with production about your equipment, right?” Khalil nodded.

“Next week. The second gym is scheduled to open in June and I don’t want any delays.” They had broken ground a year ago on the now three-level center and the building would be completed in four weeks, barring any problems. He wanted all the equipment to be ready for installation.

“So, roughly three months until opening day. Let me know if you run into any difficulties. Is there anything else?” Khalil glanced at the wall clock. It was almost eleven. Any hope he had of getting that coffee cake dissipated. When no one spoke, he pushed the chair from the table and started to stand.

“I have one quick thing.” He dropped back into his seat and groaned inwardly. He loved his sister-in-law, but couldn’t she table her comments until the next meeting? Brandon had met Faith Alexander when he’d come to her rescue after a car accident. Unbeknownst to either of them, Faith was the long lost daughter of Thaddeus Whitcomb, and rightful heir to the VP position. Uncle Thad, as they affectionately called him, had been looking for his daughter for twenty-eight years after his wife divorced him.

Khalil smiled inwardly remembering all the fireworks that followed when Brandon found out the woman he had rescued and begun dating was actually going to be his second-in-command. Brandon hadn’t been too happy since he’d grown up thinking he would head the company alone—a fact that Brandon had reiterated several times. Things had worked out between Brandon and Faith and they had married six weeks ago. Khalil tuned back into Faith discussing the new intern program. It gave him an idea about doing something similar at the gym. A few minutes later, the meeting ended.

“Hey, Khalil. I want to talk to you before you leave.” He shot a glare at Brandon. Another five minutes passed before his brother made it over to where Khalil stood impatiently waiting.

“Why are you frowning at me like that?” Brandon asked.

“Because it’s after eleven and my coffee cake is probably gone by now.” He strode out of the conference room, leaving Brandon to follow. “If you want to talk, we need to do in on the way downstairs.” Brandon chuckled.

“Weren’t you grumbling about that three weeks ago when you were here?” He pushed the down button on the elevator. Khalil only attended the weekly staff meeting when he had something on the agenda.

“Yeah, and you’d better hope it’s not all gone again. Dad’s staff meetings never ran this long. You’re taking this CEO thing way too far.”

“Well, we have two new products in the design phase and have to finalize plans for our interns who’ll be starting soon, so there’s a lot to discuss.”

When the elevator arrived, they joined four other occupants and rode down to the first floor without speaking. As soon as the doors opened, Khalil hurried across the lobby to Oasis Café. The only things left in the display case in the spot where the coffee cake usually sat were the tipped over sign and crumbs. Behind him, Brandon laughed softly. “Guess you’ll have to get here early next time.” Before he could tell his brother where to go, a tall, pretty woman approached.

“Good morning. Table for two?” She reached for menus.

“No, thank you.” Khalil pointed to the glass case. “Do you have any more of the low fat apple cinnamon coffee cake?”

“Sorry. We sold the last piece about an hour ago.” She chuckled. “It’s our most popular item and it goes fast. We still have some other pastries you can choose from.” He frowned. He didn’t want any of those sugar-laden sweets. After spending over a decade in the modeling and fitness business, he was very selective about what went into his body. The only allowances he made were family dinners. His mother could throw down in the kitchen and he looked forward to the monthly get-togethers. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.” She smiled. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

“Yes, I’ll take…” Khalil trailed off when a woman wearing an apron came from the back and placed a plate on the counter. A wide headband held her thick, wavy natural hair back, and she had flawless skin, wide dark brown eyes and lush lips, all set in an exquisite mocha face. “I saw you this morning and knew you’d be in. You’re later than usual,” she said. The deep, throaty sound of her voice caught him off guard and sent a jolt to his midsection. Khalil sent a scathing look over his shoulder at Brandon then smiled, reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.

“This is the best thing that has happened to me lately and I just may have to ask for your hand in marriage lovely lady.”

Her brow lifted and she gave him a sassy smile. “Sorry, but I only accept marriage proposals from men whose name I know.”

His grin widened. “Is that right?” Was she flirting with him? She tried to pull her hand back, but he didn’t let go. “Then let me introduce myself. Khalil Gray. And you are?” Staring at him, she said softly, “Lexia. Lexia Daniels.”

“So, Lexia Daniels, exactly how long do we need to know each other before you say yes to my proposal?” Lexia shook her head and gently, but firmly withdrew her hand. “I need to get back to work.” She placed a cup on the counter, along with a Decaf Vanilla Chai tea bag—his favorite.

“Enjoy your coffee cake and tea.” She turned and headed back the way she’d come.

“This should improve your mood some,” Brandon said.

“Mmm hmm.” Khalil had been here several times since the café reopened under new management almost two years ago and couldn’t recall ever seeing her. His gaze followed the sweet curve of her hips until she disappeared. The other woman smiled knowingly and rang up his purchases.

( Continued… )

Purchase A Touch of Love (The Grays of Los Angeles) by Sheryl Lister http://sheryllister.com/a-touch-of-love-the-grays-of-los-angeles-book-4/

About the Author SHERYL LISTER has enjoyed reading and writing for as long as she can remember. When she’s not reading, writing or playing chauffeur, Sheryl can be found on a date with her husband or in the kitchen creating appetizers and bite-sized desserts. She holds a B.S. in Occupational Therapy and post-professional M.S. in Occupational Therapy from San Jose State University. She resides in California and is a wife, mother of three and works as a pediatric occupational therapist.

A Touch Of Love by Sheryl Lister A Touch of Love (The Grays of Los Angeles) by Sheryl Lister: Lexia Daniels can’t deny that her café’s most loyal customer is as tempting as any of the delicious treats she bakes.