Springtime at Chivas Skin Care Farm

We wanted to share some photos from our property in Camarillo, CA, Chivas Skin Care's home base. Our farm is not only home to our adorable goats but also where where we grow fruit and veggies along with some of the herbs used in our soaps. We enjoy our oasis of country living that's just an hour's drive from Los Angeles.

Your goat questions answered!

We've had several customers express interest in learning more about our goats. For the curious, we've prepared some FAQs related to the goats and their birthing process.

Q: Who is in charge of the goats?
A: Donna is certainly our resident expert on our French Alpine goats. She's been raising farm animals for years, and this photo of her with Lauren and her eldest son John speaks to her experience.

Q: Will you keep all the kids that are born this year?
A: Most of the kids that were just born will stay on our farm. We already have demand for any kids we can't keep from people who are interested in starting to raise their own goats.

Q: Is a veterinarian involved in the birthing process?
A: Our vet handles check-ups, but Donna takes care of the day-to-day issues that may arrive. If we have a problem, then we certainly involve our vet. The way a goat handles her pregnancy is different for each mother, just like with humans.

Q. How much milk do your goats produce? Do you still milk your goats before and after they give birth?
A. Depending on the season, our goats produce between 1-2 gallons of milk each day. Donna hand-milks the goats twice a day and enjoys this time as a reflective, relaxing part of her day. Our goats aren't milked during the last few months of their pregnancies and until after about three months after they give birth, when we wean the kids. We miss having fresh milk for our morning coffee and other goodies, but we think it's important for the kids to have this nourishment from their mothers. This practice goes against industrial farming practices where kids are taken off their mother immediately and fed a powdered milk replacer.

Q. If you're not milking the goats, then where do you get milk for your soaps?
A: To plan ahead for being without milk for a few months, we store surplus milk in our industrial freezers and use this in our soaps while the goats prepare for their kids.

The smell of spring

Enjoy the delicious aromas of spring with our limited edition Spring 2009 soap scents.

Citrus Chamomile, Herb Garden, and Santa Rosa Valley are refreshing, nourishing scents sure to remind you of Spring year round.

Just like our other scents, co-founder Lauren Johanson mixed these yummy Spring scents herself using plant-based essential oils.

New Chivas Kids

A tribute to Monna

In honor of this year's Mother's Day, we shared this tribute from Donna in our Mother's Day newsletter, and we wanted to share it with you too.

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From Donna:

A tribute to my Mom, who we call "Monna" (a nickname given to her by her first grandchild):

I miss my Mom so much. We were like two peas in a pod. I miss the twinkle in her eyes and her cute smile. My love for cooking, animals, and gardening came from my Mom. Even when we lived in suburbia, she had a small vegetable garden and helped me rescue animals in need. She gave the best parties and enjoyed all the preparation, planning and cooking involved. Monna was young at heart and enjoyed whatever life gave her to the end. There was never a dull moment when you with her, she had such savoir vivre.

My Mom was there when I made my first batches of soap. She would spend hours meticulously removing leaves from our dried rosemary to add to our soaps. For this reason, I am dedicating our "Herb Garden" soap to her. For the first two years of making soap, Monna had the title of "Inspector Clouseau"; she made sure that all the soaps were trimmed, edges beveled, and hand buffed perfectly. She definitely was one for detail.

Monna would be so proud to know that my daughter, Lauren, is my partner in Chivas Skin Care. She passed away before Lauren came on board. As you can see in the photo, even though she was wheel-chair bound, she did not lack enthusiasm, adventure, or curiosity.

Mom, I hope you are looking down with a big smile. Hope you are as proud of Lauren and me as I am of you. You are the greatest!

~ With love from Donna

Chivas named to Lucky Magazine's 'great picks'

We were delighted to see Chivas Skin Care named to Lucky Magazine's 'great picks.'

Lucky featured our Original soap, writing, "A Camarillo-based mother-daughter team whips up batches of this soap using milk from goats they keep in their own backyard."

Thanks, Lucky!