Ingredient Spotlight: Lavender

Beloved for its vast healing properties, Lavender a wonderful plant ally.  It's antiseptic and anti-inflammatory - perfect for burns, rashes, and irritated and damaged skin. Lavender is used as a healing agent in creams, lotions, and salves. It has cell-regenerating properties and is used for reducing wrinkles, scarring, and stretch marks.

Spotlight On: Cocoa Butter

It is one of the richest oils available and is ideal for dry or mature skin. It has emollient properties which means it makes your skin soft and supple. When blended into skin care products, it creates a rich creamy texture which feels amazing. It also contains fatty acids, which improve skin moisture retention and elasticity and is effective in easing skin problems such as eczema or psoriasis. It can clog pores so it's better to use a little less or avoid using on the face if you have acne prone or sensitive skin. It is edible and because it is pure, natural cocoa, smells like chocolate!

Spotlight On: Beeswax

Spotlight On: Beeswax

Rich honey-scented wax is made by bees to build their honeycombs. It is one of the most popular and widely used thickeners in skin care products. It has soothing, healing, and antibiotic properties.

We love to use it in our organic Peppermint Cocoa Lip Balm. #ingredientsmatter #beeswax #lipbalm #organiclipbalm #peppermintcocoalipbalm #lipcare #loveyourlips #organicskincare #organicbeauty #organic #organicingredients #naturally #naturalskincare #greenbeauty #naturalskincare #greenliving #natural  #rootdownriseupgrowlove #loveyourskin #nocreepystuff #becauseweloveyou

Spotlight On: Lavender

Lavender is beloved for its soothing and healing properties. The aroma has both relaxing and stimulating properties. It is also antiseptic and anti-inflammatory which makes it perfect for irritated and damaged skin. Lavender has a long history of use as a healing agent in creams, lotions, and salves and is valued for its aromatic and cell-regenerating properties It is commonly chosen to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, scarring, and stretch marks.

Antiseptic and anti-inflammatory- perfect for burns, rashes, and irritated and damaged skin, and it is commonly used as a healing agent in creams, lotions, and salves. It has cell-regenerating properties and is used for reducing wrinkles, scarring, and stretch marks.

Spotlight On: Brown Sugar

Brown sugar is an amazing skin care secret weapon! It is a fantastic exfoliator for all skin types. It is gentler than a salt scrub yet strong enough to scrub away dead skin cells and make way for radiant skin. The natural glycolic acid in sugar helps condition and moisturize skin. We love it for smoothing arms and elbows! 

Sugar moisturizes on its own, but since most sugar scrub recipes include oil, it provides even more moisture and allows your skin to achieve more of its natural balance. We love it so much it's in both our Citrus Bergamot Sugar Scrub and our Awake Coffee Scrub! 

Spotlight On: Bergamot Essential Oil

It may look like a weird lumpy lime, but this is a gorgeous essential oil. If you've ever had Earl Grey tea, you've experienced Bergamot. It provides the distinctive herby, citrusy component to this iconic tea.  

 It’s also used in perfuming because it blends beautifully with many fragrance notes including those of Lavender, Cedarwood, Neroli, Rose, Clary Sage and Black Pepper (Rhind 2014). 

In aromatherapy, bergamot is valued for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal properties. It works in massage oils to reduce tension and soothe tight muscles. On an emotional front, it is used for soothing depression and anxiety in a diffuser or in massage blends. 

Important to know: It is phototoxic, meaning that it may cause a burning reaction on skin exposed to direct sunlight.  How to stay safe? Avoid direct sunlight or tanning beds for up to 18 hours after applying Bergamot to the skin. Always dilute Bergamot before using. It may be used safely (no phototoxic response) on the skin in a blend at no more than 0.4% (approx. 1-2 drops per 1 oz/30 ml of carrier). Or, choose an FCF-free Bergamot oil which has had the phototoxic components removed.  For more info on essential oil safety, see Robert Tisserand's encyclopedic text, Essential Oil Safety. 

Ingredient Spotlight: Arnica Gel

Arnica is a medicinal herb valued for its anti-inflammatory properties. It can be ingested (i.e. as a homeopathic tincture) or applied topically to the skin for pain and swelling. It is often found in creams and gels to support healing for a wide variety of inflammatory issues including insect bites, muscle and joint pain, chapped lips and acne.

We use it in our Cool After Sun Spray to soothe skin that needs love after being out in the sun or wind.

 

Spotlight on Clary Sage Essential Oil

Latin Name: Salvia sclarea

Clary Sage is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial (including bacteria that causes acne), and emotionally calming. It has a distinctive sweet and herbal scent with tea and woody notes. It blends well with lavender and bergamot.  In aromatherapy, clary sage joins lavender and marjoram as a belly massage blend for premenstrual cramping. It is also used in massage blends and to support healthy breathing. 

We use Clary Sage in our Goddess Facial Toner and Refresher because it's calming to the skin (anti-inflammatory) and is a great ally for emotional balance. We like to spritz it on the face just before moisturizing. Just had an intense conversation? Try misting this in the air around you to clear the space and uplift your vibe. <3

 

Ingredient Spotlight: Calendula

There's so much to love about Calendula! Calendula is a bright cheery plant loved for the medicinal properties of its vibrant orange or yellow flowers. The calendula flower is a skincare powerhouse. It has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is gentle enough for all skin types but especially for damaged or irritated skin. The oil made from the petals is also a favorite in infant and child skin care products. You can make your own calendula-infused oil by grinding the dried flowers and steeping them in a carrier oil of your choice. 

BTW Calendula is also called marigold but this is NOT the same as the ornamental marigolds of the Tagets genus that you buy at the garden store. If you want to grow this great medicinal plant, make sure the genus is Calendula.

Spotlight On: Geranium Essential Oil

Botanical Name: Pelargonium graveolens / Pelargonium asperum

Geranium Essential Oil has a distinctive floral scent. You'll find it in many skin and hair care products because of its trifecta of loveliness: anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal properties. Geranium works beautifully blended into a body oil or face cream, or with aloe vera gel as a quick-absorbing muscle rub. It is also believed to reduce anxiety and uplift the mood. (Perry and Perry, CNS Drugs, 2006)

Try adding a drop of Geranium to your shampoo just before washing your hair. It is appropriate for all skin type and can balance both excess oil and dryness. We love using geranium in our Himalayan Rose Soaking Salts and also in our Goddess Spray and Roller for its relaxing and healing properties!

Ingredient Spotlight: Jojoba Oil

Jojoba oil is one of the most sought after carrier oils in natural skin care because of its similarity to our skin’s own sebum and its ability to quickly be absorbed into the skin. It works wonders on all skin types which is why it’s so popular in creams, massage oils, lip balms, skin salves, and hair care formulas. It is a natural anti-inflammatory and is an excellent choice for inflamed, oily, or acne prone skin. We use jojoba oil in many of our products - aromatherapy rollers, organic makeup remover, scrubs, and creams.

Ingredient Spotlight: Rosemary

This wonderful herb is astringent, antiseptic, cleansing, and normalizing for the skin. It aids circulation, has stimulating properties, and helps bring blood flow to the surface of the skin.

It can help protect skin from damage caused by the sun and free radicals. It’s a natural antimicrobial and antiseptic that helps to eliminate eczema, dermatitis, oily skin, and acne. Rosemary is also widely used for hair care in shampoos, hair oils, and lotions. Regular use of rosemary oil helps stimulate follicles, making hair grow longer and stronger.

Ingredient Spotlight: Aloe

I love using Aloe in our products, especially our Aloe Chamomile Moisturizing Cream. This wonderful plant originated in Africa but is found in most tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The juice from the plant is fantastic for first aid for burns, rough or irritated skin, and also wounds. And also a moisturizer that firms and tones the skin. Be sure that when you're buying Aloe Vera Gel to make sure it has no carrageenan, which is sometimes used as a thickener but it's a possible carcinogen and gastrointestinal irritant. Carrageenan is creepy stuff. Watercolor painting by our own Maggie. 

Ingredient Spotlight: Sage

A favorite herb for first aid and skin care. It has astringent properties and is especially helpful to those with oily or combination skin. Sage also makes a great deodorant and is said to help with hair growth as well.