http://www.ideadigezt.com/what-does-organic-really-mean/

Last minute gifts for Christmas

Quick and easy last minute gifts and if you make a little bit more you can enjoy in your own bathrooms for Christmas or any time of the year.

Bath Salts

An Epsom salt bath soak is detoxifying, can alleviate stress and tension, and does wonders for the skin. Try using scents like lavender, jasmine, and cedar for a calming bath, or citrus scents like grapefruit, orange, tangerine, or lemon for clarity and joy.

3 cups Epsom salt

2 cups sea salt

2 tbsp essential oil

1/2 cup baking soda

Mix the salts together in a large bowl, then sprinkle in the essential oil. Mix well with a whisk or a fork to break up any clumps that may form, then add baking soda and mix well. Pour into decorative glass jars or bottles.

Bath Milk

Luxurious and soothing, milk baths have been popular since the Roman era, and with good cause! You can scent this in many different ways in order to suit your recipient’s personal preferences.

Basic Bath Milk Recipe

1 1/2 cups powdered milk (soy milk powder works just fine for this, but you can also use dairy milk powder as well)

1/2 cup Epsom salts

Essential oil of your choice

1/2 cup flower petals (optional)

Food coloring to suit the essential oil and flower petals (optional)

Mix the powdered milk and Epsom salts together, and if desired, and add 2-3 drops of food coloring (if desired), mixing well so that the color is uniform. You can skip this step if you like, although there’s something sweet about having the hue match the scent—a few drops of red coloring will create a soft pink that’s ideal for grapefruit or rose scents, while orange is great for a tangerine-vanilla bath, light purple for lavender, and so forth.

After you’ve mixed the milk and salt together, add 5-8 drops of essential oil. If you’re creating a floral bath milk, you can mix in about 1/2 a cup of flower petals as well. Mix it all well, then decant into a pretty glass bottle or jar, and you’re done.

*Note: If you’re making a lavender or chamomile bath milk, recommend to the recipient that they use a tea strainer or cheesecloth for the bath, or else they’ll have to deal with a bunch of small floaty petals, which can be rather frustrating to corral.

Merry Christmas from organic spa essentials.

beeswax add it to products. Will make a big difference

Written by Glenda Taylor | Medically Reviewed by George Krucik, MD, MBA

Photo Credit honigbienen als bauarbeiter image by Heinz Waldukat from Fotolia.com

Carefully crafted by young worker bees into six-sided honeycomb cells, beeswax provides tiny storage units for honey until the beekeeper extracts the golden liquid. After harvest, the beekeeper melts and purifies the beeswax, and some of it will find its way into lotions, soaps and other skin care products. Beeswax may have beneficial effects on the skin, but check with your doctor before using beeswax to treat any medical condition.

 Interested in losing weight? Learn more about LIVESTRONG.COM's nutrition and fitness program!

Protectant

Acting as a surfactant, beeswax, when blended into cold creams and other skin lotions, forms a protective barrier on the surface of the skin. This barrier, according to Koster Keunan, a global organic wax supplier, provides a film of protection against irritants while still allowing the skin to breathe.

This barrier may also aid in protecting the tender skin on your lips. The Mayo Clinic recommends using a lip balm that contains beeswax during cold weather to reduce your chances of developing chapped lips.

Skin Healer

In its natural state, beeswax is firm but pliable. Melted and combined with other ingredients, beeswax adds body to skin care products, making creams thicker. Like other beehive products, including honey and royal jelly, beeswax offers anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral benefits, according to the magazine, Delicious Living, making it potentially beneficial for treating minor skin irritations.

Skin Softener

Dry, rough skin may benefit from creams, lotions or soaps that contain beeswax. When added to skin care products, beeswax acts as an emollient and a humectant, drawing moisture to the skin and sealing it in, reports Botanical.com. Beeswax also contains vitamin A, which may be beneficial in softening and rehydrating dry skin and in cell reconstruction.

Antibacterial

Beeswax may have mild antibacterial properties, according to a 2005 study conducted at Dubai Specialized Medical Center in the United Arab Emirates. Researchers combined honey, olive oil and beeswax, then applied the mixture to laboratory plates on which the bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, and the fungus, Candida albicans were growing. The honey/beeswax mixture inhibited the growth of the bacteria and fungus, making beeswax, along with honey, potentially beneficial in the treatment of diaper rash and other bacterial skin conditions.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/192009-skin-benefits-of-beeswax/#ixzz2lOOc1W1q

9 antioxidants

9 Antioxidants That Can Help Prevent Premature Skin Aging

As we get older, it's normal for our skin to gradually lose its elasticity and thin out. This is part of the skin's natural aging process. However, there are a variety of factors that can cause the skin to start aging at an accelerated rate. A big part of this "premature skin aging" is a result of free radical activity in the body.

Free radicals are molecules that are produced by environmental exposures like tobacco smoke and radiation, including radiation from the sun and other sources of UV rays, including tanning beds. Free radicals are also produced when your body breaks down food.

Antioxidants are naturally occurring substances that may provide protection against the effects of damaging free radicals on the cells in your body, including your skin. Antioxidant ingredients are already promoted in a number of skin care products available both over-the-counter and by prescription, and are being actively studied in clinical trials for a variety of medicinal uses.

Nine antioxidants to look for when choosing a skincare product:

1. Vitamin E Vitamin E (tocopherol) is an antioxidant that is present in the skin and found in various foods, such as vegetables, seeds and meat. (1) It helps the skin look younger by boosting collagen production and in turn reducing the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and age spots. (2, 3)

Unlike other vitamins, skin derives more of its benefits from vitamin E better through topical treatments than through oral supplements. Vitamin E is available in two forms: alpha-tocopherol (alcohol-based) and alpha-tocopherol acetate. The latter does not penetrate the skin as easily, so make sure you're reading the labels closely to get maximum benefit of the vitamin E.

2. Lycopene Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, is a carotenoid found in red fruits and vegetables. (4) It is, in fact, responsible for their red color. In addition to being a healthy choice for your diet, it's a great choice for improving skin texture because it promotes collagen production and reduces the DNA damage that leads to wrinkles. (5) To get the most benefit from this powerful antioxidant, you can either take a daily supplement or look for skin care products that contain it in topical formulas (lycopene is easily absorbed by the skin).

3. Green Tea Green Tea has become one of the new age food heroes -- a helpful ally in preventing everything from heart disease and cancer to skin aging and weight gain. The full range of heath benefits may take decades to define, but research on its impact on human skin is reasonably well developed. The secret ingredients are chemicals called catechins, which are antioxidants that can clear cell damage on the skin and repair wrinkles, blemishes or other impurities. (6) When applied to the skin, green tea can reduce sun damage by reducing inflammation and tackling free radicals. (7) (It doesn't block UV rays.) When choosing a tea, its helpful to know that green tea has over five times the amount of catechins as black tea. (8)

4. Coffee Berry As an ingredient in anti-aging formulas, coffee berry prevents collagen damage, reduces wrinkles and protects the skin against damage. (9) It also has anti-inflammatory properties (10), which can lessen the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, leading to more youthful looking skin.

5. Resveratrol The antioxidant resveratrol is compound that is commonly found in grapes, nuts, fruits, and red wine, among others. (11) Separate studies have shown that when topically applied, resveratrol protects against UVB-mediated cutaneous damage and inhibits UVB-mediated oxidative stress. (12-14)

6. Grape Seed Grape seed is extracted from vitis vinifera and is rich in proanthocyanidins, which belong to the flavonoid family. Proanthocyanidins are potent antioxidants with strong free radical scavenging activities. (15) Grape seed extract has been shown to be an even stronger scavenger of free radicals than vitamins C and E. (16)

7. Genistein Genistein is an isoflavone derived from soybeans with the capacity to inhibit UV-induced oxidative DNA damage. (17) Genistein, either topically applied or orally supplemented, was shown to effectively protect human skin against UVB-induced skin photodamage.

8. Niacinamide Niacinamide (vitamin B3) is a powerful antioxidant that has shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and depigmenting properties. It has also shown to improve the texture and tone of the skin, as well as reduce fine lines, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation. (18)

9. Vitamin C Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is an essential nutrient that can only come from the healthy fruits and vegetables that contain it. Vitamin C is usually touted for its cold-fighting power, but it's also under study for its impact on preventing and reversing aging skin.

It works in two ways: as an antioxidant, as well as a booster of collagen formation -- both of which are important to preserving and maintaining skin's youthful appearance. (19-21) However, boosting your intake of vitamin C-rich foods does not appear to impact your skin to any measurable degree, so cosmetic companies are hard at work to study whether it can be absorbed through the skin directly via topical creams and lotions.

References:

1. Nachbar F, Korting HC. The role of vitamin E in normal and damaged skin. J Mol Med 73(1):7-17 (1995 Jan).

2. Mayer P. The effects of vitamin E on the skin. Cosmet Toiletries 108:99 (1993).

3. Chung JH, Seo JY, Lee MK, et al. Ultraviolet Modulation of Human Macrophage Metalloelastase in Human Skin In Vivo. J Invest Dermatol 119(2):507-12 (2002 Aug).

4. Britton G. Structure and properties of carotenoids in relation to function. FASEB J 9(15):1551-8 (1995 Dec).

5. Daniells, Stephen. "Lycopene Supplement Boosts Skin Carotenoid Levels." NutraIngredients.com. 28 Jan, 2010. Web http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Lycopene-supplement-boosts-skin-carotenoid-levels?utm_source=RSS_text_news

6. Ehrlich, Steven D. "Green Tea." University of Maryland Medical Center. Web.

7. Elmets CA, Singh D, Tubesing K, et al. Cutaneous photoprotection from ultraviolet injury by green tea polyphenols. J Am Acad Dermatol 44(3):425-32 (2001 Mar).

8. Lu QY, Jin YS, Pantuck A, Zhang ZF, Heber D, Belldegrun A, Brooks M, Figlin R, Rao J. Green tea extract modulates actin remodeling via Rho activity in an in vitro multistep carcinogenic model. Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Feb 15;11(4):1675-83. (2005.)

9. Einstein, Elizabeth. "Skin Buzz." Allure.com. Web.

10. Farris P. Idebenone, green tea, and CoffeeBerry41. ® extract: new and innovative antioxidants. Dermatol Ther 20(5):322-9 (2007 Sep-Oct).

11. Afaq F, Adhami VM, Ahmad N. Prevention of short-term ultraviolet B radiation-mediated damages by resveratrol in SKH-1 hairless mice. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 186(1):28-37 (2003 Jan).

12. Aziz MH, Afaq F, Ahmad N. Prevention of ultraviolet-B radiation damage by resveratrol in mouse skin is mediated via modulation in survivin. Photochem Photobiol 81(1):25-31 (2005 Jan-Feb).

13. Aziz MH, Reagan-Shaw S, Wu J, et al. Chemoprevention of skin cancer by grape constituent resveratrol: relevance to human disease? FASEB J 19(9):1193-5 (2005 Jul).

14. Adhami VM, Afaq F, Ahmad N. Suppression of ultraviolet B exposure-mediated activation of NF-kappaB in normal human keratinocytes by resveratrol. Neoplasia 5(1):74-82 (2003 Jan-Feb)

15. Vinson JA, Dabbagh YA, Serry MM, et al. Plant flavonoids, especially tea flavonols, are powerful antioxidants using an in-vitro oxidation model for heart disease. J Agric Food Chem 43:2800-2 (1995).

16. Bagchi D, Bagchi M, Stohs SJ, et al. Free radicals and grape seed proanthocyanidin extract: importance in human health and disease prevention. Toxicology 148(2-3):187-97 (2000 Aug).

17. Wei H, Cai Q, Rahn RO. Inhibition of UV light- and Fenton reaction-induced oxidative DNA damage by the soybean isoflavone genistein. Carcinogenesis 17:73-7 (1996).

18. Bissett DL, Oblong JE, Berge CA. Niacinamide: a B vitamin that improves aging facial skin appearance. Dermatol Surg 31(7 Pt 2):860-5 (2005 Jul).

19. Burke KE. Interaction of vitamins C and E as Better Cosmeceuticals. Dermatol Ther 20(5):314-21 (2007 Sep-Oct).

20. Traikovich SS. Use of topical ascorbic acid and its effects on photodamaged skin topography. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 125(10):1091-8 (1999 Oct).

21. Geesin JC, Darr D, Kaufman R, et al. Ascorbic acid specifically increases type I and type III procollagen messenger RNA levels in human skin fibroblast. J Invest Dermatol 90(4):420-4 (1988 Apr).

More from DermApproved:

Dermatologist Evaluation of 17 Cosmeceuticals - Which Help Aging Skin and Which Don't

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New product are enhancing cream formulate it by hand for ORGANIC SPA ESSENTIALS

The enhancing cream is made from, Shea butter, olive oil coldpressed, help seed oil coldpressed, glycerin, kelp, green tea, beeswax.

All of the products are handmade. They have no water in them and no alcohol. The products have been known to help kids and adults to get rid of eczema.

We are big on OATS see how OATS can help your skin !!!

Oats (groats)
Avena sativa

This page contains information on oats and oat straw and how it is used as a herb in alternative herbal treatments to treat ailments and problems. It is used to calm hyperactive children and to treat panic attacks and eczema.

Wild oats on the other hand have been used as a natural aphrodisiac and strength enhancer by men and women and is said to help free bound testosterone as well as stimulate the motor ganglia, thereby increasing the excitability of the muscles.

	on this page Botanical classification of oats and oat straw Description of oats and oat straw Parts used Properties of oats and oat straw Internal use External use Use of essential oil Safety precautions and warnings Used in the following products Herbal Index

Please note that we are not advocating that people stop using their normal medication, but would like to make people aware that some alternative therapies can be very effective to help treat problems and create a healthier, younger and more vital you. For more information on our range of products, please click here.

Although we believe in the therapeutic and healing properties of herbs, care must be taken in the use thereof, as they are powerful compounds.

Botanical Classification 

Family	Poaceae
Genus and specie	Avena sativa

Other names

Groats.

Description of the herb oats and oat straw 

Oats are an erect, annual grass, with elongated flat rough leaves. The seeds are gold in color and spindle-shaped.

Parts used

The seeds as well as the stalks (straw) are used.

Properties

It is a nutritive herb, and acts as a tonic to the heart, nerves, and thymus gland and has excellent emollient properties. Regular consumption of oat germ is said to lower cholesterol levels.

The seed as well as the straw contains high amounts of soluble silica, iron, manganese and zinc. This is combined with triterpene saponins (avenacin and avenacoside), scopoletin and simple indole alkaloid.

Therapeutic uses 

• Internal use
  • Oats are used internally to treat depression, nervous exhaustion, shingles, herpes, menopausal symptoms, and debility following illness.
  • The stalks (oat straw) are used as a herbal tea and are used to fight osteoporosis, to build bones and for pain relief, calming hyperactive children, soothing elderly people, fighting anxiety and panic attacks, boosting the immune system, lifting depression and countering nervous exhaustion.
  • Green oats are thought to have a sedative effect and are also useful when trying to stop smoking by reducing the craving to smoke.
  • Wild oats on the other hand have been used as a natural aphrodisiac and strength enhancer by men and women and is said to help free bound testosterone as well as stimulate the motor ganglia, thereby increasing the excitability of the muscles.
  • A daily dose of oat branis also used to lower cholesterol levels.
• External use
  • Used externally for various medical and cosmetic preparations to treat eczema, acne and dry skin.
  • When oat straw is added to a bath it helps with inflammatory skin conditions, as well as seborrhoeic skin disorders.
  • Ground dried oats are a traditional ingredient in cosmetics and are used for their clearing and rejuvenating action.
  • The plant has cosmetic properties due to the components that make it up and which act:
    • - on skin: as a sedative, emollient and moisturizer.
    • - on hair: thanks to its moisturizing and revitalizing qualities. This is why it is used in preparations for weak, ill-treated hair or hair that falls out easily.
  • Products formulated with Oats are often described for their beneficial action on different types of skin.
  • Here follows a summary of the main actions of cosmetic products formulated with this plant.
    • Excellent emollient properties.
    • Co-assists in the treatment of dry skin.
    • Softening effect on sensitive skin.
    • It helps to reduce the irritation caused on the skin by unfavorable climaticconditions or on skin with this kind of problem.
    • It plays an important role in the treatment of older skin as well as problem skin.
    • Excellent agent against pruritus.
• Aromatherapy and essential oil use
  • None noted.

Safety precautions and warnings 

None noted.

Used in the following of our products 

• Herbal Face Bar

Do you know

Do you know…

The average adult uses 9 personal care products each day, with 126 unique chemical ingredients.
One of every 24 women are exposed daily to personal care product ingredients that are known or probable reproductive and developmental toxins, linked to impaired fertility or developmental harm for a baby in the womb or a child.
Less than 1% of products in the USA are made from ingredients that have all been assessed for safety.
(Source: Environmental Working Group, Skin Deep Report, http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep, 2005)