pets

Erika Hollen, creator of Jackson Sage Botanical Skin Care, a small eco-friendly handcrafted skin care company, recently contacted me to let me know about her product line and she offered to send me some samples to review. After taking a look at her website and realizing that a: she’s a member of the Richmond Craft Mafia (and you know I have to support other Craft Mafia members!) and b: she also creates Doggie Sage, a botanical canine care line, I was sold.

My dog Molly has been all sorts of smelly lately, but I dread giving her baths because I know how much she hates it. Erika had sent me a link to her press kit to look over, and I noticed that she offered a valuable tip for getting your dog to enjoy taking a bath a little more (or hate it less). She suggested giving them a treat, like spray cheese on the rim of the tub, while you bathe them to keep them occupied. I didn’t have spray cheese, but I used the treat trick anyway with some other doggie treats. Usually even getting Molly to go into the bathroom is a battle, but I coaxed her in and made her feel at ease by giving her a few treats. While I bathed her with the Doggie Sage Herbal Shampoo, I kept a couple of treats for her on the inner rim of the tub. I’ve got to say, this is the calmest Molly has ever been during a bath. I don’t think she’ll ever love taking a bath (and we think she’s a Lab mix, so this seems crazy that she hates water so much), but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

As for the Doggie Sage Herbal Shampoo itself, it worked great! First off, the herbal smell was definitely preferable to the chemical smell of most pet shampoos. Also, a little bit went a long way – this stuff lathers up really well! Erika also sent me one of her Doggie Sage Shampoo Bars, which I haven’t had a chance to try yet, but I”m guessing based on my experience with the liquid shampoo that it will work just fine.

I also used the “treat” trick recently when I was trimming Molly’s nails – another task she HATES. Erika had also sent me some of her Doggie Sage Hot Dog Balm, and since Molly has been going running with me lately, early in the mornings, I thought maybe her paws could use some balm. At first she resisted a little, because she hates having her paws touched, but soon she relaxed and seemed to enjoy the little foot massage. It made her calmer and easier for me to trim her nails. Erika says this stuff is good for people too, so I might have to try it on myself too!

Erika also sent me a couple of bars of soap from her people skin care line. Her Tea Tree & Lavender Complexion Soap works great on my face (I love facial cleansers with tea tree oil – she must have read my mind!), and we’ve been using her Lavender & Rhassoul Handcrafted Soap at the bathroom sink. When it comes to handmade bar soap, I’ve become a little picky (Emily has spoiled me!), but this is still a nice bar of soap. My only caveat would be that personally I would prefer it without the ground lavender flowers on one end. They look really pretty when the bar of soap is dry and new, but they flake off into the sink as you use it so it gets pretty messy. That’s just my personal preference though, and I was really happy otherwise with everything that Erika sent me to try out.

I’d definitely recommend heading over to Erika’s website, Jackson Sage Botanical Skin Care, where you’ll find loads more handcrafted skin care products, for both humans and your pups. She’s got a lot of great stuff!

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