Tis the season for great food, great company – and brittle, cracked nails.

As pretty as it is to watch the snow fall gently onto rooftops bordered in lights, winter is hard on our bodies, and paying a little extra attention to our nail care routines is important.

We’re sharing some tips today on things you should probably be doing for your nails year-round anyway, and others that are especially for cold weather nail care.

1. A naked nail is a sad nail.

Think of it as a coat of armour for your nails. When your nails aren’t protected by a base coat, a polish, or a top coat, they’re more likely to break and peel because they’re exposed to just about everything, including water – the number one enemy of a good manicure. When your nails absorb water, they get bloated, which can push out the natural, good oils for your nails. So if you’re likely to do things like shower or wash your dishes, you should be protecting your nails to seal out the water, and keep out any other harsh pollutants.

2. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

You probably already know to moisturize your skin and condition your hair to make it through the winter months, but did you know it’s equally as important for your nails? Maintain moisture in both your nails and your cuticles to prevent splitting, peeling, and breaking nails. This can also help with painful hangnails. A good moisture strategy is to use hand lotion multiple times a day, particularly after you’ve finished washing your hands or getting them wet. Apply a cuticle oil in the evenings, because nail health is all about cuticle health! Cuticles actually work to shield and protect nails as they grow, blocking bacteria and other not so fun stuff from invading the nail bed. Leave it on overnight, and moisturize at night too, to seal in all of that moisture!

3. Replace the moisture in the air with a humidifier.

You’ve heard of the benefits humidifiers have to dry skin, but that warm, moist air will help breathe life back into your nails too! Some are even meant for adding stress relieving essential oils that diffuse into the air. Bonus!

4. Mittens are our friends.

A good pair of warm mittens will protect your nails from the cold, dry air and will help keep in all of that moisture you’re working so hard to retain! Plus, they’re cute.

5. File your nails regularly.

Ridges and cracks in your nails are what lead to tears, snags, or breaks. Gently filing your nails a couple of times a week makes sure those edges stay smooth and your nails stay perfect!

*** GIVEAWAY ALERT! ***

Lucky for you, we’ve got everything you need for beautiful, healthy nails this winter right in our  Natural Shine Nail Kit, and we’re giving THREE away!

Entering is easy! Head on over to our  Facebook or Instagram pages, LIKE the giveaway post, TAG a friend with your favourite tip from this article, and FILL out your entry using this link: http://woobox.com/jfc7yo

Contest closes November 26. Good luck!

We are THRILLED to announce our new Soap Stories Brand Ambassador Program!

With all the love that we get on our social media accounts from customers who love our products as much as we do, we've decided to put together a program that allows you to share what you love about Soap Stories while picking up a few perks and rewards for yourself! So we're looking for beauty and lifestyle focused influencers to join our team of affiliates and earn money towards our ENTIRE online inventory!

As a member of our affiliate program, you'll be able to place our ads, banners, links, and your own personalized code onto your websites and social media accounts. Your followers will get 10% off all of their purchases, and you'll earn 5% of every sale you refer in store credit to use towards ANY item in our online store!

As an added perk, you'll also get 15% off all of your own purchases, all handled and processed personally through our dedicated Affiliate Concierge.

Our top performing affiliates will be brought on as Brand Ambassadors, with tons more exposure and even more perks!

Register Here! → www.soapstories.com/ambassador

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But it can also be an exhausting time of overbearing schedules with too many errands to fit into a normal day. Braving the holiday crowd at the mall, wrapping the gifts, sending out the Christmas cards, cooking the dinners - by the time ball drops for a brand new year, you’re likely to be unbelievably exhausted from the last one. So we’re sharing some much needed self-love moments that you can steal this holiday season!

1. Add a reward to every holiday mission.
   
   

   

   Make your last stop at every holiday run a small reward for a job well done. If you’ve got a long day hitting the pre-holiday sales at the mall, end it with a caramel macchiato for yourself.
   
   

2. Team up with a bestie.
   
   

   

   Time flies when you’re having fun! So instead of wrapping presents or baking holiday cookies solo, invite a friend and turn it into a hang out sesh, complete with Christmas music and peppermint hot chocolate! You probably won’t have to look very far for a stressed out friend who needs to complete the exact same chores you do.
   
   

3. Make some time to recharge your batteries.
   
   There’s just something about pampering yourself with a couple of hours and a long hot bath that can make even the longest days just melt away. Light some candles and indulge with some of our favourite scents and products for the holiday season.

Soap Stories Deluxe Body Beauty Box	Soap Stories Addict Bath Set	Soap Stories Vanilla Wooden Gift Set

What ways do you find to show yourself a little love during the crazy holiday season?

Happy holidays!

It was first lady Mamie Eisenhower’s claim to fame – she wore a pink gown with 2,000 pink rhinestones to Ike’s inauguration, and he sent her pink flowers every morning. She brought so many pieces of pink furnishings into the White House, that reporters began calling it the “Pink Palace”. And with the women leaving the factories as the men returned home from WWII, pink became a symbol of all things feminine.

Fast forward to today, when most people can see a pink ribbon and immediately identify what it represents – a cause connected to breast cancer. In the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this symbol is seen everywhere, from beauty products, to food items, to NFL fields.

The history of using a ribbon as a symbol of remembrance dates back to women wearing yellow ribbons to remember loved ones serving in the military back in the 19 ^th century. We still see these yellow ribbons tied around trees as tributes to loved ones missing or lost. In the 1990s, red ribbons began to surface in support of promoting AIDS awareness, and other charitable organizations began following the trend, adopting the colours they felt best represented their cause. With breast cancer being the most common cancer among North American women, except for skin cancers, it seems that Mamie’s pink became the obvious choice.

In 1992, Alexandra Penney (then the editor-in-chief of Self magazine) and Evelyn Lauder (breast cancer survivor and Senior Corporate VP of Estée Lauder) collaborated to create the pink ribbon. 1.5 million ribbons were distributed from the Estée Lauder makeup counters, along with breast self-exam cards and petition requests aimed at the White House asking for increased funding for breast cancer research.

A subject of debate in recent years, one thing is for certain. The global awareness that has been raised through the pink ribbon symbol has been tremendous, serving as a catalyst to educate women on the importance of regular breast self-examinations, thus increasing the early detection of breast cancer, and increasing funding directed towards ultimately finding a cure.

Manifested in the pink ribbon, the colour pink has become a symbol of health, vitality, and empowerment of women, and it may have all started because Mamie Eisenhower wanted pink cotton balls in her bathroom.

Our featured products this month honour friends, family, and followers who have been affected by breast cancer. Please enjoy special savings on our three pink soaps: Cherry Blossom, Rose, and Grapefruit. 

Sign up for our newsletter for more details.

There are a number of different theories as to what the underlying issues are for nail biters (or hair twirlers, or finger/toe tappers, etc.). Whether it's stress and anxiety, or just plain boredom, one fact cannot be disputed: nail biting does not make for attractive nails.

Of course, with our phenomenally reviewed nail kits, we here at Soap Stories know a thing or two when it comes to maintaining those pretty little digits of yours, so we've come up with a few ways for you to kick that nail biting habit and get on the path to clean, healthy, beautiful nails.

Replace it with a new habit.

Old habits die hard, but one of the best ways to rid yourself of an old habit is to replace it with a new one! Preferably something less harmful or damaging, of course. So keep a pack of gum or candy on hand to start chewing on the next time you get that urge!

Relax!

For a lot of people, the onset of nail biting goes hand in hand with some type of stress or anxiety. It makes sense then that relief can probably be found by making an effort to reduce those levels of stress. So can yoga or a cup of herbal tea help to stop you from biting your nails? It seems so! Give it a try! 

Visualize it.

You've heard about people motivating themselves to lose weight by putting old photos of themselves at their goal weight on places like the fridge or as their desktop wallpaper, right? The same can be done for a goal like this, because the key here is to keep these motivating images in the forefront so that you always have a tangible representation of your end goal. 

Keep your nails pretty to keep your nails pretty.

It's a little bit of circular logic, but follow us here. Try giving yourself a manicure once a week. Our Natural Shine Nail Kit is perfect for this! 

Here's a quick 5-step manicure for those of you who missed it on our last blog:   

You don't have to stop there either. You can throw on a simple coat of clear or nude polish, or get creative with colours and designs. Either way, once your nails are looking healthy and beautified, chances are you won't want to ruin your work. A great deterrent! 

Figure out your "why" and deal with it.
There may, in fact, be a specific underlying reason that is causing your nail biting. If you can do some self-reflection to figure out what that reason is, you might be able to the work at the root cause to curb this habit. It can be as simple as talking to somebody about your feelings so that you're no longer internalizing them to manifest in unhealthy habits. Even seeking professional help can often be helpful. 

Most of us are well aware of the documented health benefits of drinking green tea to keep your body hydrated and to fight viruses and bacteria. But how many of us know all the ways that green tea helps us in beautifying our skin to achieve that coveted healthy glow?

Today, we're letting you in on four proven facts on how green tea can help to beautify your skin.

Here are a few of our green tea infused products to get you started!

Nature is truly wonderful. It produces what you need to not only maintain a healthy body, but also a glowing complexion. Used for centuries to naturally soothe and treat the skin, plant extracts are among nature’s greatest gifts.

So what’s in a plant extract that makes it so special? Well, each plant has its own unique healing properties or “superpowers,” you could say. Plants provide rich sources of active ingredients that help to treat skin conditions and diseases ranging from rashes to skin cancer, according to a 2014 literature review published in the Pharmacognosy Review.

Below are five plant extracts that have a magic touch.

GREEN TEA

It is widely known that green tea is a tasty drink with antioxidant superpowers, but did you know that green tea is just as beneficial for your skin as it is for your body? Yup, it’s true. Coming from the tea plant C. sinesis, green tea contains polyphenols, which work as antioxidants in your body. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a particular polyphenol in green tea called epigallocatechin gallate has been shown to prevent skin tumors caused by cancer from growing larger in the body. Green tea also helps with skin regeneration, rejuvenating old skin cells to work their magic and start producing again. This all keeps the skin looking more youthful, says the Pharmacognosy Review.

ALOE VERA

Aloe vera is another prime example of a miracle plant. Extracted from the leaves of the aloe vera plant, it has been shown to increase elastin and collagen production, treat wrinkles, stretch marks, hyperpigmentation and speed up wound healing by improving circulation. Aloe vera also has properties that are destructive to certain kinds of bacteria and fungi. In one study, participants were asked to apply a cream containing 0.5% aloe for four weeks. The gel reduced skin plaques that are associated with psoriasis. Other research has shown that application of aloe vera gel can help heal burns, help the skin survive frostbite injury and delay the appearance of skin damage.

ROSEMARY

Commonly used to naturally flavor foods, rosemary contains compounds such as caffeic acid and its derivatives such as rosmarinic acid, which have antioxidant effects, notes the Pharmacognosy Review. Research has shown that rosemary extract may be effective in preventing photo damage caused by UV radiation. A study 2007 published in the journal Planta Medica found that rosemary essential oil can also help with treating acne by reducing bacteria in the skin, as well as the size of the acne.

CHAMOMILE

Calming chamomile helps regenerate skin cells and fight skin damage caused by free radicals. An anti-inflammatory herb, chamomile is used to treat a variety of skin irritations, such as psoriasis, eczema, bruises, cuts, blisters and sunburns, according to LiveStrong.com. To help with skin disorders and irritations, they recommend preparing a chamomile bath and adding several drops of chamomile to warm bath water and soaking in it for 20 minutes to allow the chamomile scent and essential oil to soothe your skin.

LAVENDER

It’s no secret that we love lavender, which is a treat for both the nose and the skin. Distilled from the lavender flower, research has shown that this essential oil may help with hair growth. In a Scottish study conducted at the Department of Dermatology in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, it was found that lavender may help with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that results in hair falling out in round patches on the scalp, as well as on other places on the body. Participants who massaged this essential oil into their scalp over the seven-month study period experienced increased circulation and significant hair regrowth. In addition, with its anti-fungal and antimicrobial properties, studies have shown that lavender may help with healing wounds and fighting common skin, hair and nail infections that cause conditions such as ringworm and Athletes’ foot, according to Medical News Today.

Plant extracts help to gently heal and soothe the skin. All of our products contain vitamin rich essential oils and organic plant based materials. Check out the full list of ingredients that we use in our soaps and bath care products here: http://www.soapstories.com/natural-ingredients/

Soap it up, naturally ;)

Need a natural burst of energy? Try our Lemongrass Bath Bar!

With essential oils extracted from the long, lush leaves of the lemongrass plant, our Lemongrass Bath Bar boasts a deliciously exhilarating citrus scent that awakens the senses. Infused with antioxidant and energizing properties, it is sure to start your day off with a bang!

Benefits of Lemongrass:

• Anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties.
• Aids in warding off skin infections.
• A natural astringent.
• Minimizes pores and provides a temporary skin-firming treatment.

Buy a Lemongrass Bath Bar online at Soap Stories from now until Friday, May 22 and receive a second Lemongrass Bath Bar for FREE!

Double your order with lemongrass ;)

Soap it up!

Lavender is one of the most beautifully scented herbs. Fittingly, the name lavender comes from the Latin word lavare, which means “to wash.” Famous for its delicate, floral scent this all-natural fragrance has been used for ages in shampoos, perfumes, soaps, lotions, aromatherapy oils, bath gels and baths to cleanse and purify the mind, body and soul.

We have to admit, one of our favorite things to do is unwind after a long day in a warm bubble bath with essential lavender oil. Eyes closed, relaxing from head-to-toe and just being fully present in the moment. For us, this is true bliss. We have loved lavender for as long as we can remember, and have experienced its fantastic calming, soothing and healing effects over and over again. And we are not alone. Research has shown that lavender does work wonderfully well for a variety of issues.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), lavender has been used as a remedy for everything from depression and anxiety to fatigue and insomnia.

The UMMC says that aromatherapists use lavender in inhalation therapy to treat headaches, exhaustion and nervous disorders. Herbalists use lavender to treat fungal infections, burns, eczema, acne and wounds, and the oil is also used in baths to relieve muscle and joint pain. The Mayo Clinic says that smaller studies suggest that for people receiving dialysis, aromatherapy may help make needle sticks less painful.

Research has shown that lavender oil may even help improve pain post-surgery. In one study, fifty patients who were undergoing breast biopsy surgery received either oxygen by itself or oxygen that was supplemented with lavender oil. The patients in the lavender oil group reported having better pain control than those in the group that took oxygen alone, notes the UMMC.

Suffering from insomnia? Lavender can also double as a sleep aid. Research shows that aromatherapy may help soothe restless sleepers and individuals with sleep disorders by improving the quality of sleep, slowing a wired nervous system, and even lifting moods. In addition to improved quality of sleep, studies have shown that massages with lavender essential oils may also result in better concentration, reduced anxiety and a more stabilized mood, says the UMMC. A 2006 Korean study conducted on forty-two female college students who had insomnia found that aromatherapy with lavender reduced depression, insomnia and the time it took to fall asleep. Exposure to lavender fragrance also resulted in an increased sense of self- satisfaction for these students.

Did you know that lavender can also help with hair loss? It’s true. In a study conducted at the Department of Dermatology in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland, it was found that aromatherapy with lavender essential oils may help with alopecia areata, which is an autoimmune disorder that results in hair falling out in round patches on the scalp, as well as on other places on the body. Individuals who massaged this essential oil into their scalp over the seven-month study experienced increased circulation and significant hair regrowth.

Lavender really is a gorgeous, therapeutic scent. We have reaped its many benefits firsthand and it just makes us feel great. Plus it has an AMAZING aroma. It definitely is one of our favorites. Try it out for yourself – we think you will like it:)

On that note, we gotta go - it’s almost bath time ;)