SWEET FEET!!

Yes, it is summertime…and we are wearing our sandals….is everyone looking at our feet???  Women come into our shop a lot….and say they are looking for something for the feet of their significant other.  It appears these ‘others’ have really bad feet.  We talk a little about how to have great feet…and they look at their feet, at my feet…..and decide maybe they need a little advice about how to care for their feet.

Most of the year…out little footies are nicely hidden in our socks, shoes, boots, etc.  but now, in July, everything gets exposed; toes, toenails, and especially, heels.  Did I say heels??? Why does everyone have such cracked rough dry, actually really ugly heels?  I think it is because generally, we can’t see our heels.  We don’t even notice they are there til July….

If you have any kind of icky fungus thing….try washing feet with our Pet Shampoo,,,,yes, it’s full of real Tea Tree oil….or…just get a small vial of our pure Tea Tree oil and rub it on liberally to freshen and clean them.  (this works really well for the significant other).

Well,  what to do, what to do.  First….I would get a good rough scrubby thing.  A pumice would do, we have wooden foot files, and now we scrape away at the rough parts.  A little soaking in some of our nice bath salts would do.  I would use the Sports Therapy salts.  Next…start treating them regularly.  You can’t just tuck them away for ten months and expect to suddenly present them in great shape for summer.

Start to scrub them with the pumice/foot file at least a couple of times a week…try not to be too rough…remember, you have neglected them for a long time.  …and then, moisturize every night.  The sock thing really works; coat them heavily with our Peppermint Foot Lotion, then put on a pair of thin cotton socks.  A couple of weeks of this treatment should leave them looking a lot more presentable!

I really use a lot of our Sugar Scrub at this time of year.  I know, I know, its a little decadent to use a handful every night just for your feet…but it really works to first, exfoliate, and then, to soften them with the natural oils we use.

Now, you are ready for those sandals, for the beach, and for lots of exposure.

Have fun,

Linda Quiring

Yes, We Have No Parabens!!

Almost every day, we get questions about parabens….Yes, we no longer use them.  Almost every body care company now markets their products as ‘paraben-free’ and ’sulphate-free.’

When I researched this a couple of years ago, a chemist told me he had done two years research and hadn’t come up with one legitimate study showing parabens to be more harmful than anything else….and that parabens are naturally occurring in things like grapefruit.  This accounts for their being ubiquitous in our bodies.  Personally, he felt that manufacturers of newer more expensive preservative systems were behind the drive to ban them, although they’ve apparently been used quite safely for decades.

However, we’ve  moved away from parabens.   Just in case!  Recently, someone asked me about the label on a shampoo and conditioner from a small company that markets itself as ‘organic.’   I wasn’t wearing my reading glasses, and couldn’t read the shampoo label, but the conditioner listed, between a lot of nice herbal extracts, the word ‘dehydroacetic acid.’

It is a  a pyrone derivative, fungicide and bacteriacide.

Inobviously, it’s the preservative.  It wasn’t the last ingredient either!  Also, seems to be used industrially as a ‘plasticizer’ and is basically, a “ketone.”   This is the dreaded ingredient they’re trying to eliminate from nail polish remover!! In an ‘organic’ product??!!

The European Union has banned it, although it is listed as safe for use in the U.S. and Canada, but of course, so are parabens.

Sometime ago, I checked out a website on this, I forget which one,  but the Dr. reporting believed that a truly 100% safe natural preservative that works just doesn’t exist yet!

Currently, we are using ‘gluconolactone’ which Skin Deep rates as a ‘1′ or ‘low hazard.’

Better still, MOST of Saltspring Soapworks products are made fresh, daily, in small batches, and sold by us, ourselves.  No agents, distributors or big warehouses.  So,  our soaps and lots of our other products like bath salts and scrubs, just aren’t preserved and will last for months, and with soap, basically for years!

And, best of all, we are so small that every time a newer, better preservative becomes available, we will have it S.A.P.

Meanwhile, like I always say, “JUST READ THE LABEL!”

Linda

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING??

I spoke recently with James…a cosmetic chemist I consult with from time to time on my formulations.  He’s young and green enough to not allow parabens and sulphites in his lab.

“I want a 100% organic shampoo and conditioner,” I said, “not just 100% natural and maybe some organic!”

Here’s what we came up with:

a)  The shampoo felt thin and watery. It had no body.

b) It didn’t lather well.  I used three times my normal amount, but it didn’t ’sudz’ well. (I know, I know, suds are drying!)

c) The conditioner felt thick and rich….but after applying, I couldn’t really feel it.

The results were really disappointing.  My hair felt dry and kind of bushy, not smooth and silky.  I reported back to James, who said, basically, (I’m paraphrasing):

Industry just hasn’t kept up with consumers’ demands (19% of us) for ‘clean’ and ‘green’ products.  Our consciousness has changed more quickly than manufacturers and suppliers have been able to keep up with.  In many cases, organic ingredients just don’t exist, or work as well as  current natural or synthetic ones.

Companies like Saltspring Soapworks are really limited in their choice of ingredients and in many cases, insisting on 100% organic means compromising features and benefits.  Like what?  Well,  quite  often  organic preservatives don’t preserve well, nearly as long, leaving us vunerable to icky microbes and bacteria!

Changes are coming, and as more of us demand change, it will happen.   Years ago, suppliers reassured us that parabens were safe, but consumers insisted we not use them.  So we insisted our suppliers come up with something better, and they did! (more on this later) Trade publications and the internet assure us that everyone in the industry is working diligently to provide the new and more pure ingredients we demand.  Growers are growing things, chemists are testing things.  But until more of the industry suppliers ‘go green’, 100% organic doesn’t necessarily mean a better product.

Let us know what YOU think!  Are you willing to sacrifice the results you want for 100% organic?

Linda