misosouper, a shopping blog

Granted, what’s local for me probably isn’t local for you; but the Orlando-area shop Luxe & Liberty is deserving of your attention, even if you have to order online instead of popping in to pick out a few choice gifts.  Organized around goods made in America, L&L stocks lines both little and big, from neighborhood artisans to well-known names like Calphalon, Amenity Home, and Pangea Organics.  (See?  I told you they were good.)

Here are my picks:

1.  Skinny Fish Artisan Stationary–produced in small batches by artist Shawn Laughlin; 2.  Leather Photo Album, in prismatic colors; 3.  Kalender Platter, trimmed in platinum and gold; 4.  Herb Bowl with Mezzaluna Chopper–one of those tools you didn’t even know you needed; 5.  Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set–prohibitively expensive, outrageously fun; 6.  Crocus Rocks Glasses with 22K Accents–hello, hostess; 7.  Chiller Pitcher with Lid–a closed carafe that will keep al fresco flies out; 8.  Chick Chair; 9.  Balustrade Napkins–round and round the table they go; 10.  Aptos Collection Pebble Pendant; 11.  Amber Dard Hunter Rose Thermometer & Clock–outdoor temperature gauges are so underrated; 12.  Teco Art Pottery Orb Vase–lovely lines, from an exactingly reproduced historical collection.

Hurry!  Go!  Misosouper readers can enter LUXE09 at checkout to receive 20% off their first purchase.

After receiving my box last week, I’ve finally had a chance to try all of mi SPA’s goodies.  Here’s my report:

*I’ve had no allergies to any of the products I tried.  As people with multiple chemical sensitivities know, this is a rare and miraculous occurrence.

*I’m in love with the Everyday Conditioner, which smooths my thick, straight hair’s flyaways, hasn’t stripped my color, and leaves a healthy, glossy sheen.  I’m gladly ditching my dermatologist-prescribed conditioner for a bottle of this.

*My other favorite from the box is the Dry Perfume Roll-On.  It dries immediately, lasts through the summer heat, and hello?  Who doesn’t love a perfume that won’t leak all over your purse?

*As far as scents:  I will purchase all my products in crisp, refreshing Grass Patch, which smells like Gap’s unfortunately discontinued Grass perfume.  (Viva the mid-90s!  I wore this all through high school.)  Only more sophisticated, like you’re enjoying your own lawn, instead of being sixteen and charging $20 to mow someone else’s.

If you would like to make your bath and body smell like a grass patch, or any other of mi SPA’s 25 other scents, the shipping’s on them; just enter code fr3e4MISO at checkout.

As you know, my skin allergies have been documented (complained about?) in several posts; the upside of being allergic to everything metal/makeup/cleaning-producty is that the stuff I’ve been putting on my body recently is a lot better for me than the vats of chemicals I used to rely on.  And it’s led me to companies like mi SPA, which are creating delicious, effective, paraben-free products that people like me can use without fear of turning into a strawberry marshmallow. Bonus points for disclosing all ingredients, and including a detailed ingredient glossary on their site.

Today at mi SPA, you can get a surprise-mi box stuffed with goodies–mine just came in the mail!–for a ridiculously reduced price.  My package smelled like a pine forest perched on the edge of the ocean, and contained a Green Tea soy candle, a big, yummy Beer Shampoo bar (don’t knock it ’til you try it…they’re great for color-treated hair and last FOREVER), a Lemon Sugar Dry Perfume roll-on, and a good-sized Everyday Conditioner, along with some treats from other indie designers.  The cost?  $22.50.  So go!  Run!  Buy your box now, before I buy three more and leave you empty-handed and dirty-headed.

The lovelies at Ginko Papers are the Lays potato chips of the stationery world:  you can’t eat just one.  Garin, the owner, sources most of her goods from Japan (how much fun does that sound?  “I’ll take 87 rolls of your squirrel packing tape, please…”), which gives them that fantastic aura of souvenirs from your (her) world travels.  And until Sunday, May 17th, use the code MISOSOUPER for 10% off your order.  I’m stocking up, and so should you.

1.  Tea Ceremony Eraser Set; 2.  Summer Fans Letter Set–oh, how I wish one of these would have landed in my dorm mailbox; 3.  Spring Envelopes and Stickers–I can only imagine the wonders my daughter will stuff in these; 4.  Smiling Latte Postcard; 5.  Shinzi Katoh Lion Notepad; 6.  the perfectly framable River Blossoms Postcard; 7.  Retro Travel Letter Set–vacation-ready; 8.  Pull-Out Squirrel Card; 9.  Mini-Capsule Colored Pencils; 10.  Matryoshka Doll Stickers; 11.  Blue Japanese Masking Tape–check out all the other colors and patterns!; 12.  Butterfly Birthday Card; 13.  Bus Pop-Up Birthday Card; 14.  Aquarium Card–sold out, but too great not to mention; 15. Stretching Cat Notepad.

I’m a sucker for any shop that calls themselves a “general store,” because they’re usually treasuries of mishmash, glorious depots of unusual finds jumbled together by their owners.  The Ruck Rover General Store, located in Perth, Australia, is just such a place:  run by sisters Claire and Isabelle, they’ve curated a shop filled with small, indie designers from around the globe.  They feature a rotating cast of things that they love:  today’s finds are Lomo t-shirts by Heavy Rotation, and oh so hard-to-find Polaroid film.  For lazy summer days, I’m in love with this crabby Supermaggie tee, and for beachy nights I want to pull on a  Tomorrow Never Knows hoodie.  Their collection of Moe Moe jewelry is a shop bestseller, and they even carry a sweet little wooden Maru kookaburra brooch.  Of course, the girls at Ruck Rover ship to the US, and they’re offering us 10% off any order through the month of March with the code misosouper, which makes their already good deals (hello, exchange rate!) even better.