After I contacted Emily at GCDSpa.com and asked her if I used some of her pictures to accompany my post on her Pink Lady Products, she generously asked if I’d like some samples to review!

Of course I said yes.

I’ve been using the Pink Lady Hand Cream, and the Pink Cupcake Lip Balm regularly for about a week, and I’ve been using the Pink Lady Body Lotion whenever I’ve needed body lotion in the past week.

I loved the Pink Cupcake Lip Balm so much that I didn’t even try the Pink Lady Lip Balm until Monday, but when I did I was very impressed.

I was a little hesitant to try it because it’s in a jar, and I’m not a big fan of sticking my fingers in jars.

Even though it’s cold here in Minnesota, the Pink Lady Lip Balm was easy to spread - I am able to just rub my fingers around the balm, and get enough to apply to my lips (although I do have to do it twice sometimes) instead of having to use my fingernails to scoop some of the balm out.

I hate having to do that because it leaves me with lots of excess balm on my nails, and wastes some of the product.

Both balms are easy to spread, and have a light fragrance, that isn’t noticeable after I apply the balm - I don’t know about you, but I hate being able to smell my lips all day long, so these balms have the perfect amount of fragrance for me.

Both balms have a very slight hint of a pinkish color, but it doesn’t show up on my lips.

The Pink Lady hand cream is moisturizing, without being too greasy. It has a light cranberry fragrance, which isn’t overwhelming.

I do occasionally catch whiffs of the fragrance throughout the day, which isn’t bad for a hand lotion.

I’ve also been using the hand cream on my very pregnant belly, and some of the breakouts from the other lotions I’ve been using have cleared up.

I like that the hand cream actually feels like I’ve used hand cream after I use it, yet it’s not greasy.

With some lotions and hand creams, I initially feel moisture initially, but after a few minutes I can’t tell if I’ve used the hand cream at all.

The Pink Lady Body Lotion is a little lighter than the hand cream, but don’t think that means it isn’t moisturizing.

I did try the body lotion on my hands, and I was happy with it, although I do like the extra moisture from the hand cream.

The body lotion sunk in easily, and didn’t irritate my sensitive legs, even after I’d shaved.

In our childbirth classes, the instructor talked about bringing aromatherapy products (excluding candles of course) to use during childbirth, and at the time I didn’t really have any that I wanted to take.

I was too worried that the scent would be overwhelming, or that they wouldn’t be moisturizing enough for massages (the lotion we used during class was pretty bad), but now that I’ve tried the GCDSpa.com lotions and creams I’ll definitely be taking them with me when I go to the hospital!

If you’ve tried GCDSpa.com I’d love to know what you think.

Not only is the packaging for GCDSpa.com’s Pink Lady line cute, with each item from the line that is purchased, a portion will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

I love that this line is available year round, unllike most other breast cancer awareness items.

This line consists of the new Pink Cupcake Lip Balm, $3 in a tube, which is described as “the flavor of vanilla and rich buttercream frosting, the subtle hint of coconut, and a smidgen of cotton candy for extra sweetness,” a Pink Lady Lip Balm, $2.75 in a pot, with “lemon, grenadine, and cream flavors” reminiscent of a Pink Lady gin cocktail, a Pink Lady Lotion, $7.50, and a Pink Lady Hand Cream, $6.95, both of which have a “sweet cranberry fragrance.”

You can also get the Pink Lady Moisturizers Gift Set, $16.95, pictured, which contains the Pink Lady Lotion, Hand Cream, and Lip Balm.

Which would you choose?

At these prices, I’d probably get the Pink Lady Gift Set and the Pink Cupcake Lip Balm, but if I could only choose one it would be the Pink Cupcake Lip Balm.

I went to Aqua Blue, a local store that sells hand crafted goodies from etailers, and other small business owners yesterday.

It’s been a while since I’ve been there - I know I haven’t been in since I got pregnant, and I probably haven’t been in there at all this year.

Needless to say, I was pretty surprised when I was browsing around the store, and saw a full display of clearance Rainforest Soap Shack products.

What’s so shocking about that, you ask?

The same items were on clearance the last time that I was there, over 10 months ago.

Driving by and never seeing any cars in front of the shop is one thing, but seeing a clearance display that’s remained pretty full for over 10 months, really made me sad, and made me realize how hard it can be, to be a small business owner these days.

I remember the first time I went to Aqua Blue I was so excited to find soaps of companies that I’d heard of, but never seen in person, like Rainforest Soap Shack, and Morgan Street, and even seeing etsy in some of the web addresses that were on the different soaps.

Of course, I never went back, although I have tried to go once or twice recently, only to find out that the store was closed.

There was only one other store that I know of in our area that sold handmade goods, and it closed down over a year ago.

I could probably find one or two lines each at some of the smaller boutiques in town, if I looked hard enough, but I don’t know right off hand where they would be, and I won’t go out of my way to find them.

We can also find some great handmade stuff at some of the crafts fairs, but that’s just a weekend at a time, and I know some people don’t even have these limited options to see, touch, and smell handmade items in their local area.

Do you have local stores that sell handmade items?

If you do, do you visit them regularly, occasionally, or not at all?

Have you noticed a change in the number of stores selling them, or the amount of product they are selling?