Congratulations, J.R. Watkins Baby Care! We’re proud to share that our new J.R. Watkins Naturals Baby Lotion has been selected as Editors’ Choice for Eco Friendly Baby Skin Care in the 2012 SheKnows parenting awards! 

Thank you to our fans, along with the editors and active community of SheKnows readers! We’ve been thrilled to see such tremendous feedback since introducing the line earlier this year. 

If you aren’t familiar with our sweet-smelling Baby Lotion, you’ll love the formulation of shea butter and sunflower oil to nourish baby’s delicate skin. And just like all the products in our baby care line, Watkins Baby Lotion is free of toxins and fragrances – allowing you to care for your little ones using gentle, natural ingredients. 

To learn more about the SheKnows 2012 Parenting Awards and to find a complete list of winners, as well as the Editors’ Choice winners, visit the SheKnows 2012 Parenting Awards. 

Is your spice rack stocked for the holidays? Whether you’re already thinking about holiday meal planning, or just looking for a dash of culinary inspiration, here are just a few of our essential ingredients for your family feast! 

• Ground Cardamom: The perfect addition to your pastries and pies! Add ¼ tsp. to coffee cake, apple pie or a Danish pastry. We also recommend adding a sprinkle into coffee grounds before brewing to give a jolt to your morning joe!

• Ground Sage: Must-have! Make sure you’re stocked up on sage for excellent holiday poultry stuffing. Another fine way to use ground sage is to mix with lemon butter, then top on steaks, chicken or turkey. 

• Poultry Seasoning: Need we say more? Use at your discretion and add to poultry, soup and rice recipes! 

Today we wanted to share a few of the flavors from our new, extended line of gourmet spices. If you’re looking to heat things up with south-of-the-border inspiration, check out our tips and may your taste buds rejoice!  

• Ground Cayenne Red Pepper: A classic must-have flavor for chili. Did you know it also does wonders for guacamole? Add ¼ tsp to your favorite guac and enjoy!

• Cilantro Leaves: Use 2 tsp. to 1lb. chicken for fajitas. Mix with sour cream to top chili, tacos or enchiladas. Or, try adding to your favorite salsa and curry dishes. 

• Chipotle Chile Pepper: A dash will do wonders for your taste buds! We recommend adding ¼ tsp. to chili or tortilla soup. You can also give your poultry a flavor kick with just a sprinkle. 

You might have noticed we’ve been sharing more from the Watkins Gourmet line over the past few weeks – and it’s because we’re cooking up a storm with the launch of 52 NEW Herbs and Spices! 

Friends, this is big news for Watkins. Today, we’re pleased to share this extensive expansion of our signature gourmet line. You’ll find more options than ever before from Watkins, along with new and improved packaging.

New Packaging: 

J.R. Watkins herbs and spices will now be packaged in recycled glass bottles with a convenient shaker top and pressure seal to ensure optimum freshness. You’ll see vibrant labels coordinated with the color of the spice so they’re easier to identify on the spice rack! 

Same Trusted Quality: 

Gourmet has been a key part of our heritage for more than 100 years (it all started with Pure Vanilla), and today we’re still procuring the finest ingredients from around the world. The herbs and spices have a high concentration of oils, meaning more flavor in every leaf, seed and flake. Rest assured that quality is never compromised when it comes to our products! 

Offerings: 

The new line includes existing J.R. Watkins bestsellers, like Cinnamon and Black Pepper, but also some exciting new flavors for the culinary creative: Saffron, Garam Masala and Chinese Five Spice Blend, just to name a few! 

Watch for more from J.R. Watkins Gourmet – we’re thrilled to kick off this cooking season with you! For cookbook inspiration, visit JRWatkins.com for recipes. 

We are SO excited to be partnering with Kemps again this year to serve up a limited-edition “Holiday Vanilla” ice cream. You might be thinking it’s a little early to have holiday on the mind, but we’re simply too excited to wait on sharing this news with you. And it gets even better… 

This year, Kemps is adding two new eggnog flavors: Old Fashioned Vanilla and Pumpkin Spice. The holiday ice cream and eggnog varieties feature J.R. Watkins premium quality Vanilla Extract and Pumpkin Spice Extract.

Watch for these special items to hit supermarkets throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin this month! 

Big news everyone! J.R. Watkins Body Butter has arrived, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this new product with you. May your skin rejoice! 

So here’s the scoop:

Our new Apricot & Pequi Oil Body Butter is the latest addition to J.R. Watkins’ line of personal care products. And it’s oh-so-luxurious!

The whipped, fluffy texture melts onto skin and provides deep, long-lasting moisture with a subtle apricot aroma. Just like our other personal care products, it leaves your skin feeling rejuvenated – it goes on smooth and won’t leave your skin feeling greasy. The antioxidant-rich pequi oil is extracted from the seeds of the abundant Brazillian-grown Pequi fruit, which naturally contains essential fatty acids, Vitamins A and E.                           

After catching our eye earlier this year, the pequi oil ingredient became a no-brainer for product development—we simply HAD to incorporate it into our first body butter. We’re also proud to say that the pequi oil sourced for J.R. Watkins is harvested sustainably, which was an important part of incorporating this new ingredient. 

Kate and Heidi from our product development team are thrilled the body butter has arrived just in time for fall. Here’s what they had to say about kick-starting your seasonal skin care:

Combating dry winter skin is all about a beauty regimen. Our pick is to start with J.R. Watkins Grapefruit Sugar & Shea Scrub in the shower, then follow with all-over Apricot & Pequi Oil Body Butter. The scents are light and airy, and mix well when layered. It’s a great kick-start to give your skin the all-over hydration it needs this time of year.

Apricot & Pequi Oil Body Butter will launch at JRWatkins.com and in Target stores nationwide in October ($11.99).

Coming soon: NEW Watkins Spices! 

Stay tuned for updates, we’ll be sharing much more this fall! 

BIG news, everyone.

We are releasing our Foaming Hand Soaps next month! Are you as excited as we are? We think that this will be the next big thing overtaking your kitchen and bathroom sinks. We included fan favorite scents Grapefruit and Aloe & Green Tea and also introduced two brand new ones - Coastal Breeze and Kids’ Juicy Sweet Apple.

The gentle foaming formula is dye-free and packaged in PETE easy-to-recycle-plastic. And like all of J.R. Watkins Home Care products, the Foaming Hand Soaps feature non-toxic, biodegradable materials and are free of ammonia, bleach, isopropyl alcohol, sulfuric acid and other chemicals. The packaging is more petite than our traditional Hand Soaps, a modern version of our signature trial-mark bottle. We think you’ll love it!

Look for these to officialy launch in August, on JRWatkins.com and in Target stores, for $4.99. 

Psst…sneak peek. New lavender launches, coming August 2012.