When I was a Youth Worker I used to spend every Saturday at the Farmer’s Market with a few teenagers, selling the veggies we grew in our Youth Centre garden. I’ve never been a fan of getting up early, but these Farmer’s Market Saturdays were usually the highlight of my week. I was able to sit outside in the sun and have fantastic conversations with teens that were sometimes otherwise tough to connect with, the people-watching was sublime, and I was usually able to take a few breaks to go fruit and veggie shopping for the week, too.
As the weeks and years passed I grew to know all of the other vendors at the market, and Kirstin French with her company Be Clean Naturally quickly became one of my favourites.
Kirstin first started making soap because her husband Shone was allergic to pretty much everything, and it was tough to find soaps, laundry detergents, and other household products that didn’t irritate his skin. This little labour of love turned into a full-time job for both of them and their products have extended from natural bar and laundry soaps to an incredible array of body creams, tooth powders, deodorants, and all sorts of other natural lotions and potions, too.
I love Kirstin’s soap and the way she has always been so committed to reducing the amount of packaging waste associated with her products – she uses stamps to label her soaps so she doesn’t have to wrap them individually, and most of her creams and sprays are housed in glass or aluminum, enabling her to avoid plastic whenever possible. She also offers refills of many products!
I guess I was feeling homesick, and since I haven’t yet found the Edmonton equivalent of Be Clean Naturally I decided I had to place an order. I chose a few soaps (Mint, Hippie, and Sassy, in case anyone is interested), mosquito spray (I hear I’ll need it here soon!) and a little jar of belly balm too, as a gift for my adorably pregnant sister-in-law.
After I placed my order, Kirstin and I were catching up and it suddenly occurred to me that I should be sharing these amazing soaps with the whole Internets instead of hoarding them to myself, so I asked if it would be possible to do a giveaway and she was totally on board.
SO! Without further ado, click the link below to win your choice of any two Be Clean Naturally bar soaps, and a jar of massage balm! This giveaway is open to anyone in North America, and will run until midnight Friday, with the winner announced Saturday morning.
Click on the link below, and earn entries by ‘Liking’ Be Clean Naturally on Facebook, leaving a comment on this blog post sharing your favourite natural way to get clean, and/or tweeting about the giveaway – good luck!