Today we are soooo pleased to share a guest post from a dear friend from our days in seminary. Andrea Zimmerman is the wife of a clergyman in Houston, Texas and the mother of three children. Today she is going to share with us what she has been cooking up in her kitchen.
Living most of my winters in cold, dry climates, I am no stranger to dry, scratchy skin—hands, feet, elbows, lips—you get the idea! I’ve spent a small fortune over the years on various lotions, even prescription lotion, to try to bring relief to winter skin. Nothing really worked—some were watery and useless and others were heavy and greasy. And all had chemicals that I didn’t want. Then, a few years ago I learned how to make balm at home using all-natural ingredients. I had finally found something that worked on my skin! Not only mine, but my husband’s and small children’s sensitive skin as well. Over the years, I’ve tweaked the recipe and given it out to friends and family. It became quite popular, especially for those in cold climates (though my Houston friends love it too!).
My family moved to Houston, TX, a little over a year ago for my husband’s career as a clergyman. Now that we are settled, I’ve tried coming up with a job that would give me a creative outlet, adult interaction and income, while meeting the needs of my three young children and husband. (Note: the kids have three full months off school during the summer, three weeks of Christmas break, and way too many sick days. I’m not exactly an employer’s dream!) As I’ve been thinking this through, I’ve continued to make balm for friends, and it occurred to me that I could make this my job. It combines many of my interests and talents (cooking, creativity, business) and I truly enjoy the process as well as bringing joy to people’s skin. So, last week I opened Zimmerman Kitchen on Etsy!
Zimmerman Kitchen Hand & Lip Balm is made of all-natural ingredients found in the kitchen pantry. Our belief is that what is put on the outside of your body should be safe enough for the inside of your body. This is why we use edible ingredients to create a versatile, long lasting, truly luxurious balm for any part of the body. It has a light herbal scent that doesn’t overpower. I like it on my hands, eye area and lips, my husband likes to use it as a hair product, and my kids keep it in their desks at school to use as needed. It comes in especially handy when the kids have chapped, runny noses. My sister-in-law uses it instead of diaper cream on her toddler. My favorite thing about this balm is that we can use it without any reservation about what chemicals we are putting on our bodies—because there aren’t any!
Zimmerman Kitchen Hand & Lip Balm is available on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ZimmermanKitchen
Thank you Andrea!! We are always thrilled to share products that are made well, with care and love.
Happy Monday!
Mel
Full disclosure: I'm Andrea's husband. But in a way, that qualifies me better than most to comment on this product. I see how she makes it and I've used it for years. So here's my story with this stuff: I get really dry skin in the winter. Sometimes the skin on my knuckles cracks. So I used lotions and steroids and nothing worked. Then Andrea made the balm. Behold. Verily I say unto thee: This stuff rocks. I'd put it on and the cracks would be healing or healed the next day. And its effects would last through multiple hand washings (which I do a lot. I'm not OCD. Just that I have kids. Which is a similar condition.). It's just great stuff and I haven't found anything like it. Plus, its scent (from essential oils not weird mystery chemicals) is really light--not like the super heavy (and for me too feminine) fragrances in other products. This stuff just works. Your skin will thank you!
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