Baby Oil Blues

I joined in on some chat rooms and listened in on some general concerns on both skin and hair care sites and got caught up on shared experiences, tips and suggestions. I was sad when fellow members suggested Baby oil and Vaseline as tried and true remedies for dry skin. "Well, it worked for my momma" is a good argument but for so long so many other generations didn't have a lot of choices.

Today, we have a lot more resources and it is our goal to support, educate and inform each other of natural remedies using mother earth's plants with higher nutritional value for our largest living organism "the skin" instead of petroleum.

We have a wealth of resources about the skin and what's really in our products so drop us a comment. We are demanding more benefits to pass along to you the consumer with your best interest in mind. As a natural substitute, try our Feel Good Oil or Belizean Joe's Coconut Oil.

Mad Mondays - Sodium Laurel Sulfates

Introducing Mad Mondays... we are so over toxic chemicals in our products that when we did our research, it wasn't a surprise that so many of ailments can be simply avoided if we took a little more time in knowing what we are putting on our bodies everyday and in the most intimate places.

Did you remember your skin is the largest organ on your body? Just as a reminder, your skin works like your liver or your lung, not just like a zip lock bag keeping it all together. It absorbs everything up to about 60% so from perfume to deoderants and especially shampoos and other bubbly delights, those ingredients become a part of us and our pores are just an open door to free radicals. here are some ingredients we consider avoidable.

Sodium Laurel Sulfate: White powder used as a detergent, emulsifier, and surfactant in over thousands of cosmetic products, including shampoos, toothpastes, lotions and creams. SLS is a strong degreaser that dries skin and hair. It is a primary irritant in high concentrations. It is produced synthetically. The presence of natural ingredients make little difference in the irritating action. Any cosmetic that contains sodium laurel sulfate can't be termed as natural, although many shampoos labeled as natural contain large amounts.

Resource: A. Hampton "Natural and Organic Hair and Skin Care"

Tips on buying, keeping and discarding personal care products for African American and Latina women.

Whether it is a new haircut, decluttering your closet, or cleaning house, spring is about change by letting go of the old and bringing in the new.

The same applies to your personal care products. Letting go old make-up, moisturizers and sun screens are essential to their effectiveness. Many products like sun screen lose their value in a shorter period of time than you expect. Also, make-up can be a germ bed to your skin, causing irritations and possibly infections.

Our products are made fresh and as a guarantee, we suggest using them is a shorter period of time. Also, refrigeration is effective in keeping germs and other unwanted microscopic critters away. Buy smaller quantities even if the bigger one is a better deal and/or let it chill out with your veggies.

Ask yourself what's in my lotion? Nothing lasts forever so this month's motto is "keep it fresh".

What's the hardest part about getting rid of old products?

Putting It All In Perspective

When life leads you down roads less traveled, there are fewer props, people and the familiar to keep you in the world you think you know. No two roads are alike and yet we are always looking for repeat performances so we can at least pretend to know what to expect.

This weekend while my partner was out of town, I surrendered to the now and stopped planning and preparing for tomorrow for at least 2 hours. That was a huge leap and we went to the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple also known as the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, a traditional Chinese Buddhist mountain monastery to regroup and get back the grander purpose.

I was surrounded by a cultural experience far removed from the everyday hustle and bustle of LA living and traveled back in time to where the smell of incense and the presence of grand statues older than I can put into context melted my so-called concerns away.

I felt at ease and walked away with one simple mantra -
When there is no doubt, there is no fear.

Have any mantras/epiphanies to put it all in perspective for you this week?