Showing posts with label natural skin care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural skin care. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Skin Care Saturday: Three Things You Need to Know About Essential Oils
What is all of the buzz over essential oils? What are they? Are the they harmful or beneficial? Over the last few months I feel like there has been a surge in people using essential oils and selling them. I have been using them personally for years, but now I am starting to use them more in products, not just for their smell, but also for their aroma therapy benefits. I realize that I have a wealth of information after years and years of research and thought I would share it for those of you who aren't familiar with them or perhaps even use them already and aren't aware of their effects. Do to FDA regulations here in the states, I cannot state that the oils have any therapeutic uses. You can do a simple search online to find out what oils are used for different reason. I can offer somethings you must be aware of when using essential oils. Here are three things you should know.
1. Essential oils are very concentrated.
It takes approximately 60,000 roses to create a single ounce of rose essential oil, hence why it is so expensive. Essential oils are the result of distilling flowers and plants into a concentrated oil form. Depending on the plant or flower, depends on how much is needed to create it. Essential oils like lemon and orange much more economical to extract oil from, hence lower price. But concentration is not contingent upon the price point. Essential oils are meant to be used sparingly, often only a few drops in products that will stay on the skin. Even then, because it is so concentrated, it can cause adverse reactions, which brings me to my second point.
2. Essential oils can be potent to pets, children, pregnant/nursing women, and create or impact health issues.
Depending on the type essential oil, use, even in low concentrations can have adverse effects and can even be fatal depending on age, pregnancy, and if you have health issues. For example, rosemary is forbidden from use for women who are pregnant, as it is said to cause contractions to the uterus, resulting in a terminated pregnancy. This is why it is critical to do research before using any essential oil and to adhere to the usage rates. If your essential oil does not have any recommended usage rates nor listed side effects, you should contact the manufacturer. Some oils are permitted for pets, children, etc, but those also have usage rates that must be followed. Some sources will say all essential oils are safe for everyone in low doses, but I personally wouldn't take that risk with myself or my loved ones.
3. Essential oils can be effective via inhalation or application.
Essential oils can be used as simple aroma therapy or in skin care products. The same rules apply in terms of safety and usage. Make sure your have the appropriate usage rates. A daycare center in Idaho learned the hard way. When applying essential oils to the skin, NEVER apply them directly to the skin. ALWAYS use a carrier oil like coconut oil, olive oil, etc. Also, when using essential oils on skin, make sure it is will NOT cause photo sensitivity if it is a stay-on product like lotion or body oil. Photo sensitive essential oils can exponentially increase your chances of burning.
Once you have done your research and have found out which essential oils are suitable for you and/or those in your household, you will probably fall in love with them. My favorites include lemongrass because I feel so uplifted after smelling it, and rosemary because it blends well with other scents and you only need a little to leave a big impact. Check out some of our products that use essential oils below.
Lemongrass Delight
Orange-Cranberry Sunshine
Autumn Sky
Mauve in Manayunk
Beer Shampoo Bar
Bees on Bainbridge
Key Lime Pie
Rose Clay Strawberries 'n Cream Facial Bar
Roses on Roosevelt
Dog Shampoo Bar
Marquita Bell is soaper-in-chief and the owner of The Body Buffet where foodie meets beauty. Based out of Philadelphia, The Body Buffet aims to cultivate beauty inside and out from foodie adventures, self-care tips, and via handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Skin Care Saturday: Fixing Grainy Shea Butter
Have you ever dealt with grainy shea butter? I was horrified when I first started using shea butter. I didn't understand why it would end up with grit that felt almost like sand.
After doing some research I found out that shea butter that is melted and cooled too slowly, would end up with the grainy texture. As the warmer weather creeps up, shea butter will melt down, and depending on how warm it is, will stay in liquid form. However, when it cools back down, it will often result in grainy texture. This results in the stearic acid separating from the other fats, resulting in the grainy texture.
The easiest way to fix this is by placing the shea butter in a heat proof container, and using a heat source such as a microwave or double boiler method to melt it completely.
After it is melted, stick it in the freezer and check on it periodically until it has resolidified. Then allow it to cool back down to room temperature. If your room temperature still causes it to melt, store in the fridge or simply melt it down right before each use. You want to be careful not to over heat the butter as it can lower the quality and cause any scent to vaporize.
While shea butter can be a little bit annoying to maintain during warmer weather, the small hinderance is minuscule to the amount of conditioning and softness it gives your skin.
Marquita Bell is soaper-in-chief and the owner of The BodyBuffet where foodie meets beauty. Based out of Philadelphia, The Body Buffet aims to cultivate beauty inside and out from foodie adventures, self-care tips, and via handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.
After doing some research I found out that shea butter that is melted and cooled too slowly, would end up with the grainy texture. As the warmer weather creeps up, shea butter will melt down, and depending on how warm it is, will stay in liquid form. However, when it cools back down, it will often result in grainy texture. This results in the stearic acid separating from the other fats, resulting in the grainy texture.
The easiest way to fix this is by placing the shea butter in a heat proof container, and using a heat source such as a microwave or double boiler method to melt it completely.
After it is melted, stick it in the freezer and check on it periodically until it has resolidified. Then allow it to cool back down to room temperature. If your room temperature still causes it to melt, store in the fridge or simply melt it down right before each use. You want to be careful not to over heat the butter as it can lower the quality and cause any scent to vaporize.
While shea butter can be a little bit annoying to maintain during warmer weather, the small hinderance is minuscule to the amount of conditioning and softness it gives your skin.
Marquita Bell is soaper-in-chief and the owner of The BodyBuffet where foodie meets beauty. Based out of Philadelphia, The Body Buffet aims to cultivate beauty inside and out from foodie adventures, self-care tips, and via handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.
Skinspiration: Shea Butter
A new season always triggers me to start from scratch in some way. I am going to start from the beginning, how The Body Buffet was birthed. For those of you who have been following awhile, you know that that I am a Cali girl who moved to Philly (nine years ago next week). I have always been fascinated with the East Coast because of the access to food and supply varieties that I never saw in San Diego. One of the first things I discovered was whipped shea butter. I couldn’t believe how much more moisturizing it was than lotion. It made my skin supple and left it was a sheen that no lotion had been able to match.
Since then, it is literally one of the only things I use to condition my skin year round, but especially in the winter to avoid dry cracked skin. Unlike many commercial moisturizers, it is not far down on the list of ingredients, it is number one in my body butters. I am still working on a blend that I can use on my face, as it can feel very heavy when you initially apply it, but I do use it for the dry patches on my face after exfoliating. Even when I tried to change up my body recipe and use mango butter, I realized that shea butter still wins hands down. This is why I choose to use it in the majority of my products from whipped body butter to soap to shampoo bars.
What ingredient works wonders for your skin? What is your skinspirational story?
Marquita Bell is soaper-in-chief and the owner of The BodyBuffet where foodie meets beauty. Based out of Philadelphia, The Body Buffet
aims to cultivate beauty inside and out from foodie adventures, self-care tips,
and via handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and
more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make
conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.
Labels:
bblogger,
dry patches,
dryskin,
eco beauty,
etsy shop,
green beauty,
handmade,
indie beauty,
natural skin care,
nontoxic,
philadelphia,
shampoo bars,
shea butter,
vegan beauty,
whipped body butter
Saturday, January 9, 2016
What are the Benefits of Activated Charcoal?
If you haven't noticed, activated charcoal has gained popularity as a natural skin care benefit. But what exactly are the benefits?
1. Detox & Anti-Aging
Activated charcoal is said to remove toxins and impurities from the skin, similar to clay. It is known to absorb up to 200 times its weight in toxins. It is antibacterial, making it great for oily and/or acne prone skin. It is also said to have anti-aging properties as well.
2. Relieve comfort from insect bites
Because of the antibacterial qualities, applied repeatedly to bug bites it can alleviate itching.
3. Reduces Body Odor
Some natural deodorants use activated charcoal to reduce the amount of body odor that results from sweating. However, used in large doses, it can of course stain anything it touches.
At the Body Buffet we LOVE to use activated charcoal as a natural colorant and a skin benefits. Please check out our natural soaps that have activated charcoal:
Bay Leaf Splendor
Marquita Bell is a self-care advocate and the owner of The Body Buffet which creates handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009. Based out of Philadelphia, they aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Facial Soap Bars vs. Regular Soap - 3 differences
When I first began making soap I wondered about what many people question: What are the three differences between facial soap bars and regular soap bars?
1. Facial soap usually has a lower cleansing level.
One of the many quality scores in soap making revolve around the cleansing number of the soap. Different oils produce different cleansing numbers. For example, a soap that has mostly coconut oil has a high cleansing number and will likely strip the skin of its natural oils, leaving it dry and sometimes inducing oiliness since your skin tries to over compensate for missing oil.
On the other hand, a hard oil like shea butter has a very low cleansing number. Therefore a soap made with mostly with shea butter will not strip the skin. In soap making for facial bars, you want to keep the cleansing number as low as possible. I ideally keep mine at zero. Now keep in mind, just because something is "low cleansing," doesn't mean it doesn't clean. It simply means that it strips less natural oils away.
2. Facial soap focuses on the skin properties of the face.
You're probably saying, "Well duh, hence the name Captain Obvious." But many people forget that the skin on their face is very different from their skin on their rest of their body. Facial skin has many more glands, is a lot thinner, and regenerates cells more quickly than the rest of the body. These factors make your face more oily and more sensitive to products. Hence why something that works excellently on your body, may be terrible for your face. Because of this you may be able to use a facial soap on the rest of your body, but not a body soap on your face.
3. Facial soap usually has ingredients geared toward specific skin types.
Similar to hair products, it is very rare that you find a product that truly works on all facial skin types, especially combination skin. As a result, great facial bars usually cater to specific skin types. A facial soap bar that works well for oily skin may be stripping for dry skin. Even people with similar skin types may need to try a few different facial bars to find one that works for them. Ingredients can play a huge factor including which oils were used in the handmade soap recipe. As mentioned before, different oils have different conditioning and cleansing levels. Great facial bars take all of that into consideration.
At The Body Buffet we handcraft all of our recipes and also test them (never tested on animals!). Check out our facial bars:
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
New Product: Orange-Cranberry Sunshine Soap
Don't let old-man winter steal your rays of sunshine. Fight him off with our winter-dry-skin loving orange cranberry sunshine handmade soap. Enjoy the nourishing effects of coconut milk while escaping from the UV rays of the actual sun (assuming you are showering indoors).
What are you waiting for? Invite this ray of sunshine into your home by clicking here.
The
Body Buffet creates handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry
soap, and more for the greater Philadelphia area and beyond.
We use local ingredients when possible and we have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.
The theme behind the blog plays into the "farm to table" movement which focuses on the importance of fresh, locally produced food. Why shouldn't your bath products be fresh and local too?
We aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out.
New Product: Chocolate-Covered Almond-Cherry Soap
Chocolate craving? We have something that may give you the same euphoria without the calories. Washing with our chocolate-covered almond-cherry soap may possibly elevate you new another level of chocolate. Why eat the bar when you can wash with it?
Click here to indulge.
The
Body Buffet creates handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry
soap, and more for the greater Philadelphia area and beyond.
We use local ingredients when possible and we have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.
The theme behind the blog plays into the "farm to table" movement which focuses on the importance of fresh, locally produced food. Why shouldn't your bath products be fresh and local too?
We aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out.
New Product: Strawberries 'n Cream Rose Clay Facial Soap Bar
Summer may be long-gone, but the chance to enjoy strawberries isn't. And why not indulge with something that won't add inches to your waist?
Our strawberries 'n cream handmade rose clay facial soap is a wonderful way to detox your facial skin while adding the nourishing benefits of coconut milk.
This handmade facial soap bar is great for oily to moderately oily skin and can be used a few times a week. Our facial soap recipes are created to avoid clogging your pores. Our facial soap includes shea butter, grapeseed oil, and rosehip oils, all non-clogging ingredients.
This all natural bar is colored naturally with the rose pink clay. It is also scented naturally with ylang ylang essential oil, which smells like flowers. Purchase this wonderful bar by clicking here.
We use local ingredients when possible and we have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.
The theme behind the blog plays into the "farm to table" movement which focuses on the importance of fresh, locally produced food. Why shouldn't your bath products be fresh and local too?
We
aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out.
We aim to live healthier, more sustainable lives inside and out.
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