How to Make a College Care Package

Care packages are a great way to help  a new college student feel at home in their new surroundings. Gifting Goat thought it would be nice to send a care package with a theme… college showers. The reputation college bathrooms have for being dirty is not a wives tale. The recipient of the care package will be grateful to have certain luxurious amenities even if they have to shower in the not-so-luxurious dorms. Gifting Goat suggests you include these few things in the care package…

1. Shower Shoes: it is absolutely amazing how dirty shower floors can be, so send off a pair of fun shower sandals. We loved these nautical shower sandals from Dorm Buys.
2. Clear Complexion Goat Milk Soap: skin has a tendency to break-out in new environments. Making first impressions is important so include a Clear Complexion soap in the package, as this soap is designed for acne-prone skin. The bottom layer helps prevent new blemishes from forming, while the top layer helps to heal current scars. Learn more here.
3. A Travel Soap Container: bar soap is cleansing but it is important (especially in showers used by multiple people) to keep your soap clean. Send along a travel container so they can store their soap in their room. You can find tips on how to use a travel soap container on our “Travel with Chivas” blog post.
4. Something Fun: this little hippo is a toothbrush holder. You can suctions him to the mirror and keep a toothbrush protected from dust and other bacteria… not to mention he is cute! We also found this little guy at Dorms Buy.

Photo credit: Taylor Harkins

Green Goat Shares Green Back-to-School Basics with Recycled Paper!

Recycling and using recycled materials is important to us!  So, we package our soaps with 100% recycled paper and we do NOT use any plastic packaging for our soaps. The Green Goat  knows that recycled goods are also important to you in all parts of your life, so he looked at the basic back-to-school shopping list and navigated through “The Ultimate Green Store” to find green alternatives for you, or your kids.

1. Notebook: Environotes Recycled Notebook contains 30% post-consumer recycled materials and Environotes recycles 98% of their scrap materials from notebook production.

2. Pencils: EarthWrite Pencils contain 60% post-consumer waster and the casing is made from recycled newspaper.

3. Ruler: TreeSmart Recycled Newspaper Ruler is made with recycled newspaper and recycled plastic.

4. Binder: The cover of the Universal Eco-Friendly Round Ring Natural Kraft Binder is made from 100% recycled materials and is dye-free.

5. Backpack: The Solar Converter Bag allows you to charge your phone, ipod and camera on the go with the 4 watts of solar power generated from the solar panels.

Since having a green and healthy lifestyle is important to us, we do what we can to incorporate those values into our product line.  In addition to using recycled paper to package our soaps, we use fresh goat milk from our farm and herbs from our herb garden to make our wonderful goat milk soap. Using local ingredients helps to reduce our carbon footprint.  Also,  our goat milk facial cremes are made with 82% organic content and our lip balms are made with 76% organic content. To find out more about our mindful product line click here.

Picture credit: (1)gwsports.com (2)chivasskincare.com

Spice up your fall with our Orange Spice soaps

I came up with the idea for our “Orange Spice Goat Milk Soap” last year when I tried my friend, September’s, “Raw Pumpkin Pie.”  How could she make a pumpkin pie with no pumpkin, nonetheless sugar, eggs or creme?  She used:

• Carrot Juice to make it colored orange,
• Soaked Cashews, Coconut Oil and non-GMO Lecithin to make it creamy
• Blue Agave Nectar to make it sweet,
• and, of course, spices like Cinnamon, Clove and Nutmeg to give it that spicy flavor.

This got me thinking … How could I make a soap that smelled and looked like pumpkin pie without using artificial fragrances or colorants like so many other soaps?  So, with September’s creative genius in mind, I developed our “Orange Spice Goat Milk Soap” using:

• Annatto and Paprika to make it orange,
  
• Cocoa butter (in addition to our Fair Trade shea butter) to make it creamy,
• Orange and Roman Chamomile essential oils to make it sweet,
• Peru Balsam essential oil to bring out that warm, Vanilla-like feel,
• and essential oils of Cinnamon and Clove to give it that spicy kick!

Now, the whole Chivas team loves this soap!  It has such a strong scent that screams fall!  And the color is so pretty with the texture of the annatto and paprika popping through.  We offer “Orange Spice” as a bar soap, a decorative three-pack, and in the shape of a pumpkin!  (We actually made this mold from a baby pumpkin from our farm, so it’s very close to our hearts).  I think any of these shapes and sizes would be great either as a hand soap by your kitchen sink or as thoughtful hostess gift this Halloween or Thanksgiving!