Purple Frog Patches at Keiko's Store

Essential oils.

Say it in a whisper, immediate zen effect.
Whispering is kind of relaxing. Maybe thats why my man can't hear what I'm saying half the time. My brain is subconsciously telling me to relax. Apparently I speak softly, but I swear it sounds really loud in my head. Strange.

Anyhoos, yes I drifted of topic, again. We can't be whispering all day long now can we!?

Now let's say this again, Essential oils.

Whoa. Did you feel that? Hahah

I remember when I lived at my own place, I had these little bottles of magic.
A few drops in my candle burner and walla, the mood is set. One of the subtle natural things in life that helps you unwind.

I meet Keiko during HappiKiddo launch. She kindly offered to take a picture for me because I guess it was pretty obvious that I was struggling to take a 'wefie?' with Bubs while carrying him.
Thanks again for that Keiko :)

Keiko's Store

She gave me a few samples of one of the products she has in her online shop Keiko's Store. It was pure essential oil, in the form of patches by Purple Frog. What a brilliant idea!

Can you imagine if I knew about this while I was flying? With its Snooze Button series, I might have actually fallen asleep in the crew bunks during our long haul flights.

These patches contains 100% essential oils. It's about the size of the Malaysian  50 cents coin (I must say I really like the old 50 cent coin, less confusing cause it was pretty obvious it's bigger than the 20 cents!).

Purple Frog Patch Snooze Series

All you got to do squeeze the little patch and stick it anywhere!

But don't be a fool like me and look at it so close while pressing it. You might just get some essential oil in your eye!
Hence read the instructions no matter how excited you are. Yup.

Purple Frog, a brand from Canada, is an idea by two couples passionate about 'keeping it natural'. Sounds like my kinda thing.
The couples behind Purple Frog are advocates in clean living as well as aspiring entrepreneurs. They came up with the use of 100% plant oil patches after their dogs were attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes at a National Park. With the essential oil patch, there's no need to re-apply lotions or spray, plus it's chemical-free and effective.
I am all game supporting sustainable and chemical-free products, which you must already know that by now, hee!

I gave it a little test run in the neighborhood park. Undiluted essential oils gives of a pretty strong effect. Hence I decided to use only one patch which I stuck onto my shorts. The three of us (Bubs, husband and myself) came home bite free! I must say that is quite a risk I took especially knowing the fact that I am a mosquito magnet.
The patch had a pleasant smell to it too, obviously.
Bubs had double protection though, with a spray that we usually carry along with us, cause I am paranoid with dengue cases.

Purple Frog essential oil patches comes in 3 different series. Each set carries 12 patches which are made in Korea. Here's a brief breakdown on its All Natural Essential Oil types;

1. Purple Frog Snooze Button
Primarily Lavender Oil, concoction of orange peel oil, bergamot oil, chamomile oil and ylang ylang oil with sunflower oil base.

Purple Frog Snooze Button

2. Purple Frog Awakening
Primarily Peppermint oil, concoction of eucalyptus oil, rosemary oil, and lemon oil with sunflower oil base.

Purple Frog AirAwakening

3. Purple Frog Insect Shielder (DEET-free Repellent)
Primarily Lemongrass oil and Citronella oil, concoction of cedarwood oil, geranium oil, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, orange oil and lemon oil.

Purple Frog Insect Shielder

DEET free and safe for pets! 

Well I don't have a pet so I can't really confirm say BUT during our walk in the park the monkeys survived. Yes there were monkeys on the park. And no I am not a fan of that particular type of monkeys because they freak me out. 

My thoughts on these patches? 

It is handy to have it while travelling. Instead of lugging your diffuser around, this is much more convenient.

I would say these patches gives an instant aroma-therapeutic relief anywhere anytime. Be it in the office, yoga class, bedroom, parks, bathtub, tents and when you are on your way home in that train jam packed with various after work odours, heh. 

The Insect Shielder (Repellent) patches are safe to stick around kids too, I personally would place on strollers or their backpacks because concentrated essential oils might be too strong for toddlers little nose.

Purple Frog Patches are available for purchase in Keiko's Store, along with other unique baby products which I will be reviewing in the coming weeks. Definitely a space to watch out for yes!

Purple Frog are a member of 1% for the planet. That basically means, with every purchase you make on these patches, 1% from the Purple Frog's annual income goes to ongoing environmental projects and/or initiatives. For further reading about 1% for the planet or if you are interested in becoming a member, have a look at One Percent for the Planet.

To learn more about Keiko's Store and her products, be sure to follow her on Facebook for the latest updates.

www.facebook.com/KeikosStore

Along with other goodies Keiko's Store has, these patches are available for purchase online or at the following stores;

1. Happikiddo Stores

2. Camomile Spring in Bangsar Village II 

3. Baby Land in SS2

4. Chubby Chubby in Desa ParkCity

I hope you enjoyed reading my review as 

much as I enjoyed getting my aromatherapy on with some plant oils, hah!

Kisses of lavender scent from That Skinny Elephant.

Note
This post is not sponsored however samples were given for review.

Breakdown

Ola everyone

How did your May go?

Besides the fact that I had an episode of breaking down, It was generally alright.

How many mothers out there has had a moment of feeling broken down? Totally lost it? Gone cray cray? Please somebody say yes just so I don't feel alone (even if you have not, haha). Doesn't matter if you are a full time working mum or a stay at home mum, I believe we have our own set of challenges.

It's times like these I'm feel grateful again for having people around me that I can relate to and re assure ourselves that it's okay.

It's okay to cry.

But what about mother's who have no support system?

I hope you will find this post of mine someway somehow, just so you know, you are not alone.

Let me share a scenario and how random these crying outbursts.

Scene.
Cleaning up after Bubs meal times 7 days in a week 3 times a day. That is wiping the table, high chair and floor with a wet cloth, then dry cloth, sometimes with anti bacterial wipes which will then need to be wiped over again because you don't want Bubs touching the chemical laden surfaces. Wash up Bubs. Do the dishes for the 100th time.

That's is just one activity I'm sharing.

Just try and imagine doing that everyday, with no breaks, or time for yourself, not even a the type of shower where you can gently rub facial wash on to your face without rushing.

One fine Saturday, while having my lunch with my dear husband and little Bubs, I just cried.

For reasons that I can't really explain because it sounds dumb saying it or typing it. There is so much more going on around the world. I felt guilty for even crying.

I think I really need some sort of real me time without feeling like I am a bad mother leaving Bubs for a little while or that I am so ignorant about how there are people suffering globally, with real problems!

Please understand that I am in no way complaining. He is my sun, I'd anything and everything for him.

I just need a break once in awhile. Simple as that. An hour or two is perfectly fine.

Have I mentioned that I have not had a pedicure or a massage or a proper spa since I was pregnant? Yeap true story right there.

Being a woman who woke up in a different country every week, who used to be spontaneous in life and independent (primarily in terms of finance & transport), this was quite a change. 

There are days that I got to take it all in and persevere (like pretty much the whole month of May), but most of the time I try very best to make time for myself with the support of my man, my dear husband.

The man is pretty exhausted with work too, so a little compromise has to be made. We try.

For example we have sandwich nights or take-outs when I want to lay off the kitchen and hug a pillow instead.

On days when I get time for myself, I do little things to get my sanity back. Making most of the time when Bubs is asleep. 

So how can we work this out? Having time for ourselves or creating a space to let loose a little without being judged?

1. Connect with minds alike

It is really helpful to have people around who are going through the same as you are. Talk to them and share your stories.

2. Join a group in Facebook

There are various groups created by mothers for mothers e.g. stay at home mothers group, breastfeeding groups, full time working mothers group and so forth.

I am in quite a number of groups, haha! When I go through the rants by moms, I sometimes laugh and realise how much in common we have with each other. 

3. Catch the sunrise

This is a little bit of a challenge for me sometimes, especially when I am exhausted. Waking up early really sets the pace for me. I get to do all his meal preps for the day, soak up the sun with some stretches, have a cuppa with the husband and relax. 

4. Get out

Playdates, malls, parks, anything! Just head out, have a little change of the environment, get some fresh air and tire your kid out with activites so he/she takes longer naps, hahah!!!

5. Find your muse

What gets you going? What inspires you? What interests you? I mean you, the woman not the mother. Do that. 

6. Create a routine

This is another thing I struggle with. I do not like doing the same thing everyday at a set time. However  having a fixed time for meals, naps, shower does help organize your day tremendously.

7. Meal planning

What to cook today? Sounds familiar? I ask myself that question all the time. Meal planning gets the work done fast cause you cam always do your preps earlier and you save time cracking your head on what to cook next thus having more time for yourself.

If somehow you are unable to do any of the above, retrieve your laundry basket and hide. Hopefully Bubs will be too occupied to notice.

Lastly, stop being so hard on yourself. (I like I how I'm writing this as a reminder to myself, haha!). Let those feelings out, promise yourself you will spend an hour a day just for you. Replenish that beautiful soul.

Kisses of space from That Skinny Elephant.

Homemade Basic Bread

So here I have a breadmachine, who I named Elephanette today.

Maybe she should be a Mammoth instead.

This bulky machine, takes up my counter space, in the most awesome way.

Elephanette bakes bread. 

Woah. Happiness right there.

Take up all the counter space you need girl! 

Honestly, the size is a little inconvenient for our humble kitchen. BUT, still happy, cause Mama has the chance of having homemade bread. 

It did take me 3 months to get a proper loaf of bread. I kept getting hard, rubbery densed bread because I wanted a wholemeal option. One attempt was alright when I added unbleached flour and wholemeal flour together, but still wasn't good.

My dear sis-in-law (brother's wife aka Babyclopedia aka Fashion Goddess) then gave me a little tip, use milk instead of water. I loved the sound of milk in bread, my oh my, how rich it would be, YUM.

At the same time a recipe from Joycescapade popped up on my news feed, Light Buttermilk Bread. I got super excited as I did have some buttermilk left in my fridge, only to find out later that it had expired before its due date. Bummer.

So I studied Joyce's recipe a little and made a few changes, using what I have. It was another risk fooling around with the quantity of fresh milk I had because buttermilk is much thicker. 

Well, I fooled it right this time. Just look at this beauty.

It is not soft as store bought bread, but its soft enough for me. Plus the husband (who loves soft breads) and Bubs approves! 

I used a couple of organic ingredients like organic unbleached flour and wholemeal flour, however it is not necessary. Only reason I went for organic is so that Bubs can have some too, he loves bread!

Recipe adapted from Joycescapade.

I have arrange the ingredients in sequence for my Tesco Breadmaker.

1 1/4 Cups of Fresh Milk (room temperature)
2 tbsps of Honey

4 tbsps of Butter (room temperature)
1 Egg (lightly beaten. Any eggs would do as long as its size is grade A or B)
1/2 tsp of Salt
1 3/4 Cups of Unbleached Bread Flour
1 1/4 Cups of Organic Wholemeal Flour
1 1/8 Tsps of Instant Yeast 

Bread Machine Settings
Basic, Light Crust, 2lb (900gm).

Tips
It terms of liquid used, in this case fresh milk, it should not be too cold or hot as it may disrupt the growth of yeast. I usually zap it in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds to get it to room temperature. 

For Yeast placement, make an impression with your knuckle on top of the flour. Pour in yeast granules in the impression.

Don't be afraid to open the breadmaker lid (I was, haha!) during its kneading process to check on the consistency of the dough. It should be slightly sticky when touched.

Plus it is a good time to scrape off flour stuck on the sides into the dough, using a rubber spatula.

After the bread is done, let it cool on a wire rack before slicing. Don't leave it in the breadmaker for too long, condensation will take place.

Bread stays fresh and soft for about 2-3 days. Pop it in the freezer if you like to keep it for a week or two. 

Doesn't the thought of a preservative free bread make you want to jump for joy at the most random moments as you go about your day? Yes yes!

Go on and give a try, let me know how it turns out!

Kisses of homemade bread from Elephanette and That Skinny Elephant.