Natural Skin and Body Care

Conclusion

Understand that while the USDA regulates agricultural ingredients that go into the organic body products, they do not regulate and have no authority over the labeling or production of products that do not utilize agricultural ingredients. Which basically means if that mascara you’re buying claims to be “organic” it’s most likely is not or it is “certified organic” by an entity other than the Department of Agriculture.

In addition, be aware that the organic body products that you may purchase in the store might also be certified by private agents that are not connected with the USDA and thus are subject to private standards, not the government’s.  AND containing organic ingredients doesn’t always mean chemical free.

I do not make the claim that my products are organic, although they are 95% natural.  The virgin coconut oil and the soybean oil that I use is certified organic because it can be and is used in cooking in the United States.  However, the shea butter that I use is not certified organic by the Department of Agriculture.  Shea butter is not recognized as ‘food’ in the United States and thus is not certified organic by the US Government.

Hopefully, this information will assist you in making an informed choice when you visit the personal care product section of your local store.

Your body needs vitamins, whether it be from food or supplments, in order to function properly.  Vitamin C is one such important vitamin.  A lack of vitamin C can lead to scurvy, a disease which manifests itself physicially through swollen legs, tiredness and itichiness.  Sailors in the 19th century were prone to this disease because of the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables on long sea journeys.  Today, the best way to provide the body with vitamin C is through foods sich as green peppers, citrus fruits, broccoli and tomatoes.  In addition, there are many drinks on the market such as Emergen-C and  supplements that you can take that will provide you with the Vitamin C that you need.

There are thirteen vitamins that the body needs a steady supply and vitamin C (sometimes called ascrobic acid) is one of them.  A few of these vitamins are fat-soluable, which basically means that our bodies can store them  for future use.  However, Vitamin C is not fat-soluble and thus is not stored by the body.  This means that in order to keep ourselves healthy and happy, we must ingest vitamin C, in one form or another, every day.  The recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C varies according to age, weight and health, but everyone should have vitamin C every day.

What is the purpose of Vitamin C?  vitamim C is an antioxidant, which basicallly means that it protects the body against free radicals in the environment that may cause cell damage.  In addition, vitamin C may also have anti-aging properties.  Large doses of Vitamin c (1000mg or more) may also assist in reducing or eliminating symptoms associalted with the common cold and may reduce the duration of a cold.  Please note that this information is not meant to diagnose or treat your specific condition.   Please do not make any changes to your current medical program without first consulting a medical professional.

If you and your doctor decide that taking Vitamin C supplements are right for you, be sure that you follow your doctor’s recommended rate of dosage.  Although your body does need Vitamin C on a daily basis, there is a possibility of taking too much vitamin C.  If you do take more Vitamin C than your body can properly use, you may experience diarrhea and other side effects.  In addition, check the labels of  Vitamin C supplements before purchasing, to ensure that you are buying the right dosage per pill.

Vitamin C is an essential vitamin for your health and well-being.  Take care to always include it in your diet.  Check with your doctor if you have any further questions about Vitam in C supplementation.

This is my first attempt at a “commercial” for my biz.  Let me know what you think!

There are many skin care creams and lotions on the market. They claim to fix everything from extreme dry skin, eczema, psoriasis, wrinkles, cellulite - there is even a lotion that will give you a tan1 Because of research and consumer demand for an all in one lotion fix, manufacturers of these skin care creams strive to offer products that will give the purchaser the lotion of their dreams. Even though the competing commercials for the various creams and lotions may claim the contrary, there is really not much difference between one lotion and another besides the added ingredients.

Choosing a skin care cream is a matter of personal preferences, which accounts for the fact that there are so many lotions available on the market. It seems though, that many consumers prefer a non-greasy skin care cream as opposed to a heavy, oily cream that may leave the skin feeling coated and greasy. Furthermore, as the natural products trend continues, consumers are even beginning to read the labels to choose a skin care product that contains more natural ingredients.

A skin care cream choice is personal for the consumer. If a person is suffering from dry, cracked skin, it is much better to choose a product that is more natural. Natural ingredients have been in use for years – there should be no reason to choose an artificially created ingredient when a natural product will do just as well, or better.

Cocoa butter is a great emollient. It can help fade stretch marks and keeps the skin moisturized and flexible. It is also used in many natural skin care products but careful reading of some of these labels show that while cocoa butter is featured on the label, it is not high up on the ingredient list. The same goes for shea butter or other exotic oils/butters that are being used in skin care products. More often than not, mineral oil or petrolatum jelly are the main “emollients” in these natural products.

The best choice is to choose a cream or lotion that has the most natural ingredients possible with a minimum of extra chemicals or preservatives. Read your labels and be aware of what you are putting on your skin.

My daughter’s experience with bleeding eczema began when she was barely a year old. Since then, it has been my focus to find a treatment that gave her relief from her discomfort and was as natural as possible. This search for a natural eczema treatment has taught me quite a bit about eczema, its triggers and its treatments.

What is Eczema?

Eczema is a non-infectious skin condition which may be aggravated by allergens such as animal dander, foods and some of the chemicals in soap and body care products. An outbreak is usually characterized by red, inflamed skin that is scaly and itchy. Sometimes the outbreak may lead to bloody, oozing lesions which eventually heal over to thickened, darker skin, especially in African Americans. In many cases, the eczema can be found on the backs of knees and the insides of the elbows. In my daughter’s case, the most severe appearance of eczema was on her calves and ankles, where the skin was rough and dark after the bleeding of an outbreak would cease.

Treatment Approaches

I can say from experience that I have used treatments such as petrolatum jelly, Crisco and Eucerin looking for that “magic bullet” that would help alleviate her itching and the outbreaks that made ME wince. Unfortunately, I found that either the treatments would work, but only for a short time. I did not want to use steroid creams or hydrocortisone, but it was truly difficult watching my daughter crying and scratching at her legs. Therefore, I began my research.

In my research, I discovered that there is no one treatment for eczema and that it is the type of condition that must be treated both from inside and the outside. Because the skin is the largest organ in the body, what one takes in often manifests itself through the skin.

The goal for treating eczema, of course is to eliminate or at least greatly reduce the occurrence of outbreaks. Or, if that is not possible, then to at least reduce the severity of the symptoms. Fortunately, childhood eczema often lessens in occurrence when the child gets older.

Note: I am not a doctor, nor an herbalist. I make no claims about this information except what has worked for me and my family. This is no way is meant or implied as medical advice. Please seek the advice of a medical professional for a personalized diagnosis.

Internal Treatments:

Flax Seed Oil (not to be confused with flaxseed or flaxseed powder) – Flax seed oil is high in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which is an omega-3 essential fatty acid. There is some evidence that taking flaxseed oil will raise the level of ALA in the body, which in turn will help to relieve symptoms such as itching, flakiness and rough skin. In addition, omega-3 fatty essential fatty acids can reduce inflammation and promote skin healing. Inflammation is the cause of the discomfort with eczema breakouts.

Flaxseed oil may also be used in foods such as smoothies, or mixed as a salad dressing.

Because this is a natural product, the recommended dosage depends greatly, depending on where you look. Dosage amounts range from three grams to fifteen grams daily. I’ve also seen dosages by weight – 1 TBS per 100 lbs of body weight. A tablespoon is 14 grams and the capsule form of flax seed oil is usually 1000 mg = 1 gram. However, please see your health care provider to ensure that you are taking the right dosage and that there is no interaction with other medications you may be taking. Flax seed oil may also be applied to the skin to heal the dry scaly patches.

Canola Oil – This is a cooking oil that is freely available (right next to the corn and vegetable oils) in your local supermarket. Canola oil is 11% omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid) and is low in saturated fat. This oil may be a good choice to “sneak” a few more omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. Use it to cook, to sauté, to make salad dressing, etc.

Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) – Taking a supplement of evening primrose oil may also lessen the severity of outbreaks. According to the Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.com) the recommended dosage of EPO is .5 g (500 mg) per kilogram of body weight. The overall dosage is 3 g (3000 mg) per day for children under 18 and 8g (8000 mg) for adults. Consult a medical professional before undertaking any dosing.

External Treatments:

Shea butter – In my experience, a single application of unrefined shea butter was enough to visibly improve my daughter’s eczema rash. It also alleviated some of the itching. Shea butter is high in oleic acid, which is an omega-9 fatty acid and close in composition to human sebum. Oleic acid assists in skin repair and shea butter is good for healing rashes, eczema, dry skin and may also be helpful in reducing the appearance of stretch marks and scars.

Flax Seed Oil – Flax seed oil, as written above, is high in an essential omega3 fatty acid and can be topically applied to the skin.

Hemp Seed Oil - Hemp seed oil is a great source of essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and omega 6 as well as linolenic acid, all of which are good for the skin. Hemp seed oil is an excellent skin emollient and nourishes the skin and helps to regenerate skin cells. Because hemp seed oil is absorbed into the skin rather than just coating the skin, the essential fatty acids are able to penetrate the epidermis and “go to work”. These essential fatty acids can play a preventative role in minimizing aging of the skin and to assist in maintaining a healthy moisture balance in the skin.

These are some of the treatments that I’ve used with success for my daughter’s eczema. In addition, the supplements of the extra oils and benefits have helped the entire family’s health. Again, please consult with a medical professional as this lens is not meant at medical advice.

Although I sell natural bath and body products, I am not reluctant to tell you that they are not the end all and be-all to clear, clean skin. As I wrote before, the products did help my daughter’s skin, but I also altered her diet and ensured that she was receiving clean, green food and the vitamins she needed to heal from the inside out.

That being said, if you are suffering from a skin ailment such as chronically dry skin and/or eczema, please read on for some tips on how your food selection can affect your skin condition. It is essential to create a clean body environment that your skin can mirror on the outside.

The skin is the largest organ in/on your body and often reflects what is going on inside your body. Many of us do not take the time to create healthy foods to eat, claiming that we are too busy or too tired to eat healthy. However, it is a fact of life that we make time for things that are important to us. For example, I take the time to work on a bit of crocheting every day. Even if I’m tired (and I do get tired!) it’s important to me to have at least 10 -15 min of ‘quiet time’ working on my afghan. The same thing goes for eating a more healthy diet and drinking more water. Certainly, that fast food hamburger is quick and temporarily satisfying, but it gives your body little to no nutrient with which to fight disease and replenish itself. On the other hand, natural foods and lots of water will serve to flush the toxins out of your liver, kidneys and intestines, which will in turn be reflected in your skin.

If you are truly pressed for time, you might want to try one of the “super food” drinks that are so readily available at health food and vitamin stores. They may also help you get the nutrient you need on the go. I remember watching a snipped from Kimora Lee Simmons “Life in the Fab Lane” when she took her two girls to some place where they were able to take liquid “vitamin shots”. From the look on the faces, it doesn’t seem like they tasted very good, but hopefully they helped.

As you are working on cleaning the inside of the body, be sure to take care of the outside. My natural bath and body products are especially designed to give you a natural spa experience with no preservatives and little incidence of chemicals. I use both manmade and 100% natural fragrances in my formulations. Shea butter, cocoa butter and other oils high in essential fatty acids, which are important to the skin, are artfully blended to create a skin cream that is both luxurious to apply and nourishing to the skin. Please browse or blog store or visit sheaproducts.info to see our selection.

In my brief experience with my dd, age 3, it seems that the best that we can do with eczema, short of prescription medication, is to keep it under control. So, you may ask, what can I do to alleviate the dry and itchy skin of eczema? During her worst outbreaks, I know that I have to apply some sort of emollient to my daughter’s skin at least twice daily and once before she goes to sleep at night. Even then, I place a jar of Eva’s Shea Buttah Whip on her nightstand so if her skin bothers her during the night, she can apply it herself. Before I developed my formulas I used quite a few things from my kitchen. It’s all oil, isn’t it?

Please understand that I am no way giving medical advice and you should always consult with a medical professional.

Believe it or not, there are some kitchen cabinet remedies that you can use with your children or for yourself. Crisco (or any solid vegetable oil) is comprised mainly of hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils. Try applying a bit to a patch of dry skin – although it may not be the most attractive looking moisturizer, it does work in a pinch. You might also try canola or olive oil. Try applying it after a bath or shower – a quick and easy alternative to after bath oil, which may contain chemicals or fragrances that might cause your or your child’s skin to react.  Better safe than sorry and I do prefer the hydrogenated cottonseed/soybean oil combination to the petroleum jelly route.

Of course, you can always visit us at www.sheaproducts.info for dry skin needs.  Our products are created to soothe the skin as well s teh sprit – our fragrances are especially selected with our clients in mind.  However, if you are sensitive to fragrances, our products are available in unscented.

Chemicals are everywhere, especially in skin care, which is very strange.  Even when you are shopping for natural skin care products on the shelf of your favorite store, the ingredients on the label extend far beyond they should.   At first, the list looks great:  water, cocoa butter, shea butter, green tea extract, etc, then the ingredients become poly syllabic and nearly unpronounceable.   Why is it, you may ask, these so called natural skin care products contain so many chemicals at the end of the ingredients list when they start out with such promise?

The problem with many store-bought natural skin care products is that  they must have a preservative in order to have a long shelf life.  Many of the skin nutritive oils found in natural skin care products are unstable and may become rancid quickly due to the fact that they are so helpful to the skin.  Mass market retailers can only stock products that they know will most likely be stable for a while to avoid the problem of customers purchasing spoiled product.

So where does that leave you? You want to buy natural products – who would deliberately purchase something that could be potentially harmful to your skin, your health or the environment?  But the store really can’t carry truly natural products because of the shelf life issue.

As a person who cares about her family’s skin and well being, I truly understand how you feel.  When my daughter had severe eczema, I looked at a lot of natural skin products on the shelf, but like you, I noticed that there were still a lot of chemicals in these products, and one product even had lye as one of the ingredients (which stung my daughter’s sensitive legs.  I threw the bottle away immediately.)  You can’t get truly natural skin care products in stores.  So I decided to make my own.

Sheaproducts.info is your natural skin care products source.  I personally mix each order and I use no chemical preservatives.    You can be assured that when your order is placed, that is when you order is made.  No need for preservatives in these natural skin care products!  In addition, our whips and shea butter bars do not contain any water, virtually eliminating the need for a preservative.

Worried about scents?  I use both synthetic and 100% natural scents which are phthalate free.  Even when I scent your shea whip with synthetic scents, the final product is still 96% natural. Order yourself a 2 oz jar right now so you can try this unique mix of shea and cocoa butter and other great oils for your skin.  And you can be assured that you are using true natural skin products!

Shea butter saved my daughter’s skin!!! This is not an exaggeration. As I wrote in my first post, my daughter suffered terribly from eczema. I suffered along with her, especially when I would see the scratches caused by her nails as she scratched her seemingly always itchy legs. It was terrible until I found out about shea butter and began mixing it with other oils to create a mixture that would soothe her skin.

In my experience as a bath and body products maker, there are two types of shea butter, refined and unrefined shea butter. To the inexperienced consumer, refined shea butter may be the best way to go, as its white color and odorless quality may be easier to blend with different fragrance/essential oils and colors. However, to be a well informed consumer and to truly get the skin benefits of shea butter is to know exactly how refined shea butter is made and how this process can detract from its skin benefits.

Refined shea butter is pure white and has no odor. Most makers of refined shea butter use hexane or other chemicals to strip the unrefined shea butter of its color and slight nutty/earthy fragrance. Through the refining process, the hexane also removes much of the healing components of the unrefined shea butter. While the white color and neutral odor of the refined shea butter may be appealing, remember that many of the moisturizing qualities and skin nutrients may be lacking. Refined shea butter may also be harder to the touch than unrefined shea butter and depending on where one purchases the shea, may be “grainy’ or have small granules. This is not to say that the refined shea butter is not suitable for use in many applications – often this type of shea butter is preferred when one wants the label appeal of shea butter without the variation in appearance and/or odor, which can occur with unrefined shea butter.

Unrefined Shea butter

Unrefined shea butter is extracted from the seed of the karite tree by boiling the opened shea nuts, which releases the shea butter from the meat. Then the shea butter is usually hand kneaded until it reaches the desired consistency. Though this process can take much longer than the hexane extraction process, the result is a creamier product that retains the nutritive essence of the shea nut.

Unrefined Shea butter is the preferred raw ingredient. It contains the natural Vitamin A and E as well as many antioxidants which are not found in refined shea. Unrefined shea butter is said to help heal wounds, sooth sunburn, prevent and/or lessen the appearance of stretch marks and to lessen the appearance of wrinkles. Unrefined Shea butter is also said to have many natural qualities that help skin cell regeneration and capillary circulation. My grandmother claims that that unrefined shea butter can help eased her arthritis pain! On top of it all, shea butter is an excellent skin moisturizer.

Our products use only unrefined shea butter for its skin-nutritive properties.

Welcome! If you’re reading this, it means you made it to my new blog for sheaproducts.info, a website owned and operated by neosoul.essentials, llc. The first thing I’d like to do is to welcome you to my business blog (which is finally hooked up to my selling site) and to give you a little insight into how I got started in the natural bath and body business.

I’ve always taken a holistic approach to life, even before it was cool to be “green”. I hated taking excess medications and never kept a whole bunch of remedies, i.e. antacid tablets, Alka-Seltzer, cough medicine and the like. I felt that these things only treated the symptoms, not the underlying causes of the problem. It also helped that my mother was a nurse with a firm belief in “riding it out” and was aware of the many side effects of medications that doctors sometimes prescribed so freely.

When I had my own children, I realized how doctors, either because they received perks from the drug companies, or they were trying to alleviate a parent’s worry, would prescribe medications for babies and toddlers that (to me) seemed too strong. However, I was a smart enough parent to use the doctor’s knowledge, my knowledge and my intuition to create a solution that worked for me and my children.

My daughter developed bleeding eczema when she was about 10 months old. Although she was my second child and had been through the alarms and “scares’ as a new parent with my first born, this was something totally new for me. Thinking it was because she was introduced to cow’s milk too soon, I immediately took her off the cow’s milk and began giving her soy milk. That didn’t work because she reacted badly to the soy milk. Next was rice milk with coconut oil and finally, goat’s milk. Her eczema stopped bleeding, but was still raw and irritated.

As she grew older and the eczema began appearing in cycles, I approached her doctor on how to control the itching. I was told to use Vaseline and/or hydrocortisone cream. I didn’t have such a problem with Vaseline, besides the fact that it didn’t really help heal, but was dead set against the hydrocortisone cream because I’d read it thins the skin. So, I began intensive research about other oils and/or butters that would protect and heal irritated skin. That’s when I discovered shea butter! And, you know, it was all good from there. I created balms that were a mixture of shea butter, cocoa butter, and different oils that really helped my daughter’s skin heal so well that at three, she only has the slight scarring of eczema on her legs.

So, that’s how I got started! I’ve enjoyed my natural product journey and look forward to creating more products for your use.

Currently I am offering whipped shea butter, which contains unrefined shea butter and organic soybean oil, as well as my signature megamix whip, which is a great combination of shea butter, hemp seed oil, organic virgin coconut oil and organic soybean oil Both products are simply wonderful for the skin.