Giveaway Time!!!!!!

Hooray Giveaway!!!!
We have reached 200 facebook fans which leads me to believe that its time for a giveaway!!!

There will only be ONE prize winner! The winner will recieve 2 free full size products of their choice!!! (accessories and custom items are excluded giveaway is products only)

Heres what you need to do to enter you only NEED to do one of these things to get entered..however you can get extra entries by doing all of them!!! Please Leave SEPERATE COMMENTS to tell me each thing you have done to enter! please leave your name and email in the comments so that i have a way to contact you!
Entries will be taken through Oct 8th at midnight (est) any entries made after midnight will be excluded. One winner will be drawn at random and notified on sunday oct 9th.

1) become a fan on Facebook and share this giveaway

2) Follow this blog 

3) Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway

4) Visit my shop on Etsy and add me to your favourite shops
Thats it folks each completed task will get you an entry! Everyone loves free stuff!!!

Please remember to leave seperate comments and a name and email address where you can be reached

 

All Black Soap Shampoo Is Not Created equally...

I get this question a lot .... what makes your shampoo different from this other one? and I cant entirely answer this question or I'd have to kill you lol but I am going to do my best to explain why ours is different and why some should never be used on dreadlocks.
My black soap shampoo IS RESIDUE FREE!!! this is not something that all black soap shampoos can boast about (even though they might try). Soap making is a scientific process...and while a lot of folks think you can just add water to black soap and throw in some butter or oil they are so very WRONG!!! I've seen this so often its crazy!! First of all adding oil or butter post liquefaction is NOT I repeat NOT residue free! and while some of those oils and butters might be good for your hair applying them to your hair in this fashion is just a bad idea! you can almost always tell the shampoos that have added oil post liquefaction because THEY SEPARATE yes thats right if you see a funky layer of grease on top your shampoo whoever made it doesn't understand basic chemistry. Now black soap can and will settle but this is different than separation I'm talking about the butters and oils separating from the liquified soap and floating on top this shouldn't happen and the only reason it does is because oil and water do not mix so your getting a product that is either too much water or oil that has not been distributed properly either way your wasting your money.

If you have locks its no big secret that you really need to pay attention to what you put on or in your hair. Dreadlocks have a tendency to hold on to stuff,lint,dirt,oil,etc...so you don't want to be washing your locks with something that is predominately unsaponified oils! and if you have caucasian locks washing with something overloaded with oil may in fact ruin your dreads especially during the early stages.

It seems like a lot of people are trying to jump on the dreadlocks and natural hair bandwagon over the past few years and just because you can sell something doesn't mean you should! When i first started selling my product on etsy there were no other sellers who sold such a product but over the last 4 months I've seen 10 new sellers crop up selling "black soap shampoo" some of them may be fine others look a little questionable. Do your research! I'm a very real person making these products and im always willing to answer questions! Ask questions, whats the shelf life of your product? do you use preservatives? look at the volume of sales the seller has. do they keep the product sitting around for months before they make a sale? whats the ratio of soap to water? I get questions all the time and i always answer ASAP I'm not just a seller im a buyer and i know the things that i want answered. Don't be afraid to ask and do your research!!

Be a featured artist!!!

Ok so here's the deal. I have recently launched my own website,and I've been an etsy seller for quite sometime and I do love my etsy, but I wanted to have the freedom to do some of my own things and a website can really open up so many opportunities! So one thing I want to do is help show support for other like minded artists by creating a featured artists page allowing someone else to tell my customers a bit about themselves and what they do and why! and possibly drive a lil more traffic someone else's way :)

So if you are interested in being a featured artist you must do the following...

1)follow my blog and share this blog post. (there is a share on facebook or twitter button on the left hand side of this page)

2)like my shop on Facebook and or follow us on twitter ( this is more about me being able to promote and get to know you than it is about you promoting me)

3) now the hard work.... You must submit to me an essay telling me about yourself,the nature of your business (this will go on your page for the duration of your time please do your best with spelling and grammar :) why you love doing what you do and why you do it. also Explain why you would like to be featured.

you should do this in the comments below :)

4)Provide me a link to your shop, it can be your website,your etsy,your artfire ,blog or wherever else you are currently selling your goods! (I will Gladly post links to all your social sites on the page as well)

And these are the rules..1 submission per person. I don't care if you have 5 businesses. You can only submit for one at any one given time. You must have a viable shop!! online(somewhere), and a functional paypal acct! I'm sorry if this excludes anyone but I hope you understand I need to keep things professional for the sake of my own good standing reputation..and cant have my customers checking out pics on your Facebook page and being asked to send cash in an envelope. lol (yes people still do that) when it is time to choose another artist and you want to resubmit the same business, all you need to do is comment on the new blog post..eventually I may ask for certain themes and such so pay attention ! :) I don't care what kind of artist you are as long as your you mesh well with my philosophies :) I do spend a fair share on advertising on google and facebook etc and i have a very loyal customer base so this is a good opportunity to expand your base and gain exposure!

Disclaimer..vital goods is not responsible for any business deals you make or lack thereof please be smart :)

by submitting you agree to the uncompensated use of your photos,links,writing and artwork etc... for the page for the duration of your feature!

Submissions now will be for the month of Oct! because its gonna take work on my part to build the page for you, so I need time to read the submissions, choose someone, and build a page!

I will be trying to feature someone new every month or so and sometimes I may feature someone who I really feel I need to give a lil extra love to :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mild yet effective household cleanser

Today im going to share my recipe for household cleanser.(think comet but without all the gross stuff)
What you will need.....
1) empty cheese shaker or large spice shaker (this makes use so much easier)
2) 1&1/3 cups borax
3) 2/3 cups baking soda
4) orange and or tea tree essential oils (optional)

you are going to be amazed how easy this is! Mix the baking soda and borax together, add 2-3 or so drops of each oil, mix it in well. Put it in the cheese shaker you have recycled. VOILA! clean your house! sprinkle on tough counter stains, stove tops, bathrooms...anything! This cleans the drop pans on my viking range like nobody's business! And this is safe for kids to use. no bleach no yucky stuff! and tea tree oil is a natural antimicrobial!
And you thought being green was expensive!  nah ... that's just what big companies want you to believe so you'll buy their "green" products but if you read the labels that stuff is far from the scope of natural! You can't get much more natural than this!
i wish i could make these posts longer but hey it is what it is simple so have fun clean your house :)

Hemp patchouli facial toner

Ok so I've been trying to come up with a rather simple yet good for your skin facial toner and I've come up with something easy and it leaves your skin looking and feeling soft and smooth!

You will need
1) witch hazel (get the organic if it's available)
2) cold pressed hemp seed oil (unrefined)
3) patchouli essential oil (not fragrance oil)
4) an empty bottle with a flip top lid or spray top
5) distilled water or mineral water
Ok first your going to use 3 parts witch hazel to 1 part water. so 3 oz of witch hazel and 1 oz water or 6 and 2 so forth and so on ....mix it together in your bottle now add anywhere from 10-20 drops of hemp seed oil and 10-20 drops patchouli Shake well! I suggest letting this sit for a day before use to let the oils mingle.

See wasnt that easy? Use as often as you like patchouli and hemp are wonderful for your skin and have loads of anti aging properties!

and no the patchouli isn't a strong lingering scent so your face wont smell like hippie lol

Location:Chestnut Hill Dr,Greensburg,United States

What about conditioner ?

So i get this question a lot and over the course of the past week a whole lot! How do I condition? Do you sell conditioner? My hair NEEDS conditioner !

I'll start by saying no i don't sell conditioner, and theres a reason for that!
so let me explain...you in fact do not need conditioner.first of all Commercial conditioners were made by shampoo companies to combat the damage they are causing with their nasty synthetic chemical shampoo. They fool us into believing that we need to wash and condition our hair every single day in order to have beautiful shiny healthy hair.When its their products that are causing all the problems in the first place! But what an excellent marketing scheme eh? they ruin your hair then sell you another product to fix the damage from the first product its a vicious cycle!

the first thing you may be doing thats causing you to think you need conditioner is washing too frequently! Your scalp is designed to produce all the conditioner you should ever need it's called sebum.when you wash it away daily your scalp thinks you need more so it starts over producing causing your hair to get oily, and literally the solution is to stop washing so much! I know you think im crazy because how can you do that if your hair is all greasy well you can help absorb some of that oil by sprinkling cornstarch onto your Scalp and brushing it through your hair to remove excess oil. Try some different updoos for a couple days because I'm not asking you to go for weeks without washing just decrease the frequency!
No one ever NEEDS to wash more than every other day and I want you to shoot for no more than 3 times per week! I swear on my life you will start to notice a difference after just the first couple weeks! This will allow your scalp to do it's job! If you find the ends of your hair are dry use a little cocoa butter,Shea butter if you have coarse textured hair or a lil aloe or vegetable glycerin if you have fine thin hair only on the ends only when needed!

SECOND
If you are not using an apple cider vinegar rinse you need to start! I don't care how awesome your shampoo is when you wash you upset your scalp and hairs natural ph level you MUST restore the natural ph every time you wash! This is not optional it's an absolute must! Vital goods shampoos are designed to nourish the the hair it's a painstaking process because in order to retain the nutrients in Shea butter it must never be heated past a certain point I take the time to make sure I do it right and if you want to keep it simple and stop polluting your body and our earth you will do yourself a favor and ACV rinse it is NATURES CONDITIONER!
When you use commercial conditioners you are literally coating your hair in synthetic garbage,it weighs your hair down,makes it artificially soft and you've gotten used to this but it's time to stop! It's no good for you it is causing you more problems than its worth! But I hate the smell of vinegar you say well fact of the matter is the smell will dissipate entirely as your hair dries..you only have to smell it for 5 mins while it sits on your head I think you can last 5 mins :)
To make an acv rinse is simple 2tbsp per 2 cups water. Pour it over your scalp and hair leave it on 5 mins and rinse thoroughly !

It doesn't matter if you have dreads or not if you have very straight hair or a very kinky 4c hair type these rules apply to everyone across the board!
So bottom line is it isn't your shampoo causing the trouble ( unless of course your still using a synthetic commercial shampoo) it's what your doing or not doing...

The Beef With Bronners?

ok so I've seen a lot of what i feel is misinformation over the past few months about Dr bronners soap and dreadlocks. Ive seen quite a bit of info saying its bad and never wash your dreads with it because it leaves residue and i really feel that this is rather inaccurate. Ok so the reason people are claiming its bad is because its superfatted let me take a moment to explain to you what that means. Superfatting refers to the amount of oil and or fat in a batch of soap. Soap is made my combining a mix of lye and water with fat. if you have too much lye you can have a real problem on your hands every single lye molecule must have an oil molecule to attach to so 90% of soapmakers will err on the side of too much oil rather than too much lye. therefore almost ALL soap (especially handmade) is superfatted to some extent that means particularly if you are using a bar shampoo its superfatted to an extent (unless the soapmaker you buy from just happens to have a chemistry degree) does that mean its bad or leaves residue on your hair nope.. no it doesn't. Superfatting can also refer to adding extra fats at trace (trace is the point during soapmaking where the lye and oil have combined to make a semisolid texture) adding fats at trace creates a more emmolient rich final product this also is not bad for your hair or dreads as long as they are MATURE! dreadlocks and hair require a certain amount of oil to keep your hair healthy and your scalp sane! is dr bronners the best thing for your hair or dreads no it really isnt its rather drying IMHO and its hard to get the dilution ratio right but if you like it use it! I had my first set of dreads for a number of years and i used bronners exclusively for the first couple years until i perfected  making the perfect all natural dread shampoo and i definately had not one single bit of residue or build up!
i hope this helps you any of you confused folks understand !
blessings !!!

washing your dreads and hair

Ok so i get this question a lot "are your shampoos safe to use everyday?" and my answer to this is NO! there is no such thing as shampoo that is safe to use everyday. First off all your scalp produces sebum to nourish your hair it has to travel from your scalp down the hair shaft and if your washing your hair everyday you are probably doing more harm than good. often times people have dandruff and think washing everyday is the only way to fix it actually your making it worse dandruff often times isn't from dry scalp at all its from an over production of sebum which happens when you are constantly washing and your scalp thinks it needs to produce more sebum for your hair but the sebum isnt getting to the hair ya dig? the answer as strange as it sounds is to STOP washing!!! ok so u gotta wash sometimes and for those times i suggest you use a shampoo with rosemary and lavender or neem oil or even rosemary mint.I really wont recommend anyone wash more than 3 times a week between washing if you cant stand the way your hair looks get creative with scarves,wraps,tams and updo's let your scalp adjust and i always recommend rinsing with apple cider vinegar which you make by adding 1-2tbsp to 2 cups water pour it over your scalp and hair let it sit for 5 mins and rinse well. (no you will not smell like vinegar if you have rinsed properly)


 Washing dreadlocks everyday is not only entirely unnecessary is down right dangerous! ok so if you have dreads you should already know how long it can take for your dreads to dry and for those of you with very long locks that can sometimes be days. Matted hair left wet from washing it every day and never fully allowing it to dry IS going to mildew and mold i dont care what you wash with if your hair remains wet constantly its gonna get funky it will in fact start to stink and mold and mildew will cause dreads to essentially rot which can lead to dread loss. But you will just use a blowdryer you say...WRONG there is no possible way you can get the core of your dreads dry without physically burning the surface its just not possible. you can buy a bonnet style dryer or attachment that you can use to help the drying process if your in a hurry but unfortunately these things werent made for big ass locks.

bottom line hair isnt dirty every day so stop washing it! the only people who tell you washing everyday is good are the folks making the pantene commercials and reality is they only want your money......

just a litte intro to me,my shop,and my life! welcome and thank you for reading!

Hello everyone my name is Heather i am a 33 year old stay at home mom of 5. I am a minimalist, tree huggin,dread head with a serious passion for natural minimalist beauty and fashion. I currently am the owner and artist behind www.etsy.com/shop/vitalgoods where i make and sell natural hair and skin care products. I have been making African black soap shampoos for nearly 8 years now but it wasn't until recently that i realized that i realized there was a market for this and that i could share my love,my art,and my creations with other folks longing for something natural and actually beneficial for their dreadlocks!
I work very hard at living a very minimalist lifestyle,and living simply hoping that i can help others to simply live. I'm not new to dreads i am  currently on my second set i had my first set for a number of years and cut them symbolically,marking a new beginning in my life it would be 2 years before i started again.My first set i started entirely with backcombing but this time i wanted to simplify and decided to go with the neglect method and now my dreads are nearly 9 months old...good things come to those who wait. Any way dreadlocks are special to me for many reasons and i really want to help others with their journey as well. i work very hard creating and developing the things i put into my shop,my recipes were not thrown together overnight,ive been doing this for a while and i don't sell anything i don't use myself. dreadlocks require little to no maintenance and you don't need to buy anything i make you could definitely live without it but the bottom line is the products i create are good for your dreads and are beneficial in many ways.Lots of time,trial and error,and a whole lot of love and energy go into my products! I am very OCD about quality i use a higher soap to water ratio than any other sellers out there and that i can absolutely guarantee! We were the original Black soap shampoo seller on etsy and others may imitate but cant come close,making black soap into shampoo isnt a matter of tossing some soap into water and adding some oil that doesn't work! trust me i know ive tried everything and i know what does work!
As you get to know me you will come to realize that money doesn't motivate me,nor does greed,or envy. I will never hesitate to recommend other products to someone if mine doesnt fit their needs! I buy mostly handmade everything from laundry detergent to mama pads and i know where to go and who to talk to when you want the best!
Ive never written a blog before and i will try to hone my skills here with time,i decided to start this blog as a way to get to know my customers,help others when needed and just talk about life in general im a very candid person and im honest to a fault so if you want to know just ask if i know ill tell u like it is thats just the way i am!
please come vist me at the following links please ! i almost always have discount codes on facebook and i quite frequently like to hold give aways!

• www.etsy.com/shop/vitalgoods
  www.facebook.com/vitalgoods
  www.etsy.com/shop/needleandthedamage
  www.facebook.com/needleandthedamage