Back in stock

Ah yes, it's the long-awaited arrival of some of our favorite products. Caldrea arrived yesterday, and we're busy getting the shelves full again. At our River Mall Ave. location we have both the classic Lavender Pine and newest Ginger Pomelo scents in all the Caldrea natural cleaning products, as well as liquid soap and lotions. Downtown, we're carrying only the Ginger Pomelo and will have it all ready for you by Friday. Cleaning your house with this good stuff is like an aromatherapy session... and you can feel good that you haven't used some mysterious caustic chemical compounds.

And arriving downtown today (most likely) are our favorite Archipelago collections. The Pomegranate body care line is absolutely lovely, very hydrating and smells wonderful. We just got lucky that they choose our favorite edible object to base their line on.

Also arriving: Archipelago's fabulous soy candles and diffusers in "Luna" and "Positano" – both citrusy and fresh. The small diffusers are great for a bathroom, laundry room or mudroom; larger sizes will cover a greater area.

Diffuser tips: good ones have the right blend of essential oils and alcohol. If there's too much alcohol, it will dissipate too quickly; if not enough, the mix will be too heavy to wick up. Also important are the type of reeds used. They can't just be sticks; they need to be porous and a bit 'holey' so the product can diffuse properly. And, there are a lot of cheapo products out there that are not using good essential oils. If you're getting that chemical whiff from one, throw it out before you give everyone a headache.

Don't expect just one to scent your whole house or even a large greatroom – they work better set up in zones. Suggest one in the entry; one in the kitchen and small ones in bathrooms. Wind and too much sunlight can decrease their effectiveness, so keep them away from open windows or super sunny spots. Flip the sticks every once in a while to get the wicking action going, but do be careful when you do that: the oils can do some damage to painted or unfinished wood surfaces if you let it drip down. Lastly, it's really not a good idea to fill a diffuser container with another scent. If you do that, make sure the container is super clean, and start with fresh sticks. Mixing it all up like that is just asking for some weird science concoction.