The Perfect Gift!

Dr. Hauschka Body Care Kit, £15, available here.

I recently went home to Canada and brought back a Dr. Hauschka Body Care Kit for my best friend. She loved it! She is new to the whole concept of natural cosmetics, but this really got her interested in learning about it. Plus it;s always lovely to receive a sampler of so many glorious products in one small package.

In the kit, you get:

• Blackthorn Body Wash
• Rose Body Wash (Simply glorious! They last at least two showers)
  
• Hand Cream (Smells amazing, and a dab of it is plenty)
  
• Lavender Bath (Helps you unwind and get a good night's rest)
  
• Quince Body Moisturiser
• Rose Body Moisturiser
• Blackthorn Body Oil
• Rose Body Oil (Truly a lovely treat!)
  

Perfect to treat yourself with, or someone special! Check off your Christmas shopping list with a couple of these! Also perfect for Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.

Bronner-isms

Text from a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap:



"Absolute cleanliness is Godliness!"



"Teach the Moral ABC that unites all mankind free, instantly 6 billion strong & we’re All-One."

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps

(Source: Flickr)

Dr Emanuel Bronner came from a third-generation of soap makers in Germany. He left to America in 1929 to escape religious persecution. Bronner's soaps are made with organic vegetable oils and scented with organic essential oils and do not contain any synthetic surfactants or petrochemicals. The soaps are specially formulated for all-purpose use. It cleans everything from dishes to clothing, it can be used to wash your hair, or used as hand soap. They are perfect for travel as they are so versatile.

Something really interesting about the brand is its packaging. The packaging labels contain Bronner's highly personal philosophies written on every bottle.



The soaps are highly touted by renown make up artist, Bobbi Brown as the "best soaps in the universe", as she declared on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

The company is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

Low-Tech Beauty?

(Source, Flickr)

Fashion has a funny way of repeating itself. According to Vivienne Westwood, if you stay in the same fashion longer enough, you will eventually come into "fashion". I mention this because I read an article in the Telegraph that makes a point regarding Weleda's "old fashioned" packaging being considered stylish today. What we call backward, yesterday, we call revolutionary, today.



(Source: robotnik)

I recently read a bit in a women's magazine about the author's preference for high-tech beauty, but will settle for low-tech when it's ever so luxurious. I was stunned by this comment. I thought to myself, are we robots? No! We are human, what feeds and nurtures us is nature itself, we came from nature!

P/S You can find an interesting series of videos from Weleda that explains its beginnings and its philosophy here.

Corporate Green

(Source: New York Times)

Ever wonder how the Dr. Hauschka phenomenon came about? Dr. Hauschka Skin Care celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. It started in 1967 when Elisabeth Sigmund approached Dr. Rudolph Hauschka, whom at the time, manufactured natural remedies under the name, WALA, to join forces to create a natural skin care range, using the principles of Rudolf Steiner.

This incredible company has stuck to its ethics and methods of manufacture since the beginning. They are truly one of the first and few manufacturers of an all natural skin care line. At its beginnings, the company founders, Dr. Hauschka and Elisabeth Sigmund were known as "The Rebels" of the cosmetics industry. Today, they are the leading natural skin care line, while the conventional have tried to duplicate its success for their own.



"The Rebels" of cosmetics, Dr. Rudolf Hauschka, and Elisabeth Sigmund.
(Source: Dr Hauschka)

The most interesting part is that, under legal arrangements, there is no sole owner of Dr. Hauschka Skin Care. It is owned by the German public, and therefore cannot be bought or sold. Truly, this is a revolutionary way of doing business, and perhaps the way we need to view business today, especially in the current times. A company aimed for the greater good of society, not merely of the sole purpose of profit.

Read all about it here, from the New York Times, Garden is a Seedbed for Green Cosmetics.

Dr. Hauschka on the Martha Stewart Show

Susan West Kurz is the president of Dr. Hauschka Skin Care in America. She has written a book on natural beauty titled, Awakening Beauty. In promoting the book, she appeared on the Martha Stewart Show. She explains the four temperaments that each and every one of us have, but one will dominate the others, and which herbs can help to improve our skin and lifestyle. After self-diagnosis, I am a "Choleric", someone who is a doer and leader, but will neglect to take care of one's own needs as a result. Lavender is helpful to this temperment, which is interesting, because I have always been drawn to the scent of lavender. I use the Hauschka Lavender Bath in my night time cleansing, and the Lavdender Body Oil for a foot massage before bed. I find it really helps me to whind down and get to sleep.

Which temperment are you? Find out here in this summary article, or watch the video.



Dr. Hauschka Bath Kit, £12, available Dolphin House Shop.

Beauty and the Confusion

No wonder we're confused, most of what we read in the magazines is rubbish!

Last night I was reading the beauty blog on Style.com. What was interesting was that both natural and conventional beauty co-existed. It seemed that both viewpoints were fighting each other. On one hand, they quoted a dermatologist recommending seeing a doctor to have cystic acne spots cut out, and on the other, suggesting that we "fight" oily skin with oil. No wonder we're so confused! Beauty editors are constantly suggesting hundreds, if not thousands of so-called beauty miracles, that we fill our cupboards with it, hoping for the best to happen. We are pulled in so many directions, we try everything, little do we know the damage the ingredients in a product could be doing.

I think it's time to re-think beauty. As a society, we tend to think of beauty as merely an external facade. But here's a thought...

Beauty is health. Health is beauty.

Therefore it;s crucial to minimize the amount of synthetic chemicals we expose ourselves to. And that starts with what we keep in our medicine cabinets and under the kitchen sink. At the end of the day, it's about making an informed choice about the products we purchase, which includes the foods we eat. We make a big deal over the food choices we make, but what about what we put on our skin, or breathe in? We are more than what we eat. We must begin to see things in its entirety.

What do you think?

Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia)

(Source: Flickr)

Lavender is incredibly versatile. It can be used to treat so many ailments such as; acne, bruising, insect bites, skin irritation, athlete's foot, inflammation, eczema, psoriasis, head lice, stings, and burns. I've been told that if you treat a burn immediately with lavender, it will heal with little to no scarring. It's wonderfully soothing, relaxing, and calming. I use it in my bath water to treat my acne-prone skin, it soothes the irritation and redness. Lavender is also a natural antiseptic and will ward off insects, but also can be used to treat insect bites. It soothes the itching and inflammation. Its sedative quality helps with trouble sleeping.

Lavender has a lovely sweet, floral-herbaceous scent. The essential oil is safe to apply directly onto skin, though using a base oil is always recommended.

I would recommend it in every one's medicine cabinet. You can buy the essential oil at many health food or natural remedy shops. There are also many products that feature lavender as it main active ingredient:

Dr. Hauschka- Lavender Bath Oil, Lavender Body Oil, Moor Lavender Body Oil

Weleda- Lavender Relaxing Bath Milk

Prima Vera- Relax Body Lotion (Lavender Vanilla), Relax Shower Gel (Lavender Vanilla)

Lavera- Lavender-Aloe Vera Shower & Bath Gel, Lavender-Aloe Vera Bath Oil, Lavender-Aloe Vera Bath Salt, Lavender-Aloe Vera Body Oil, Lavender-Aloe Vera Body Lotion, Lavender-Aloe Vera Spray Deodorant, Lavender-Aloe Vera Roll-On Deodorant, Lavender-Aloe Vera Euy de Toilette

Badger Balms- Sleep Balm, Lavender-Tangerine Lip Balm