Skin Deep: Tea Tree Oil

 Tea Tree oil is kind of a big thing in your all-natural health and beauty cabinet. You might have heard the name but not know much about it. I am a big fan of Tea Tree Oil and use it in my Tea Tree & Blue Clay soap. So I'm here to give you the inside scoop. And it has nothing to do with tea - the kind you drink.

Oil from the tea tree (botanical name: Melaleuca alternifolia) is a miracle worker ingredient for skin because it has amazing topical properties -- it is antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral all at the same time.

The tree grows wild in Australia, but is now cultivated extensively to be a wellness and beauty product ingredient. Camellia Sinensis is the plant harvested for drinking tea, and it can sometimes be called the tea plant, tea shrub or even tea tree, but they have nothing in common and no connection at all - well except for the word "tea" in their name, duh. 

Tea tree oil should never be consumed internally, it's toxic! But it's perfectly safe to apply directly to skin, even in its pure form. It is used in soaps, liquid soaps, and many other skin preparations such as blemish treatments, skin masks, even owie and boo-boo preparations.

It has a clean, herbal scent, which some might find a bit strong or medicinal smelling in its straight form. As a fragrance, it blends well with lots of other essential oils. I particularly like it with lavender and mint, which is the combo I've created for my tea tree soap bar.

Acne Remedy

With its potent antibacterial and anti fungal properties, tea tree oil is an effective natural remedy for acne, breakouts, inflammation and redness. It works by unclogging pores and killing bacterial which are responsible for zits. And it helps prevent the formation of new blackheads or whiteheads too, when used regularly. It hydrates and soothes skin at the same time, calming irritation and reducing redness. 

Regular use of tea tree oil soap can help clear up acne, helping to create naturally glowing smooth skin. If you're interested in boosting its effects and speed up the healing of blemishes, you can dab a small amount of the essential oil directly onto your spots (clean skin only), using a cotton swab or Q-tip. To prevent future outbreaks, you can apply directly onto your clean face on a regular basis, but keep in mind that it is quite a strong disinfectant and might cause irritation if you have sensitive skin.  It's best known as a spot treatment, so start there. And if you feel a tingling sensation, it's a good idea to blend the tea tree oil with water, another carrier oil (like jojoba or almond) or with a bit of lavender essential oil. The lavender oil has similar properties, yet is much milder, and can help with redness and sensitivity too. Bottom line, fighting skin problems with tea tree oil is still proven much less irritating than the drugstore benzoyl peroxide acne treatments.

Body Odor

Tea tree oil can help beat body odor. Our Tea Tree & Blue Clay soap is the closest thing we have to a "deodorant" soap - which are antibacterial, but not antiperspirant. Tea tree oil is both antibacterial and antimicrobial, and bathing regularly with this soap will help diminish the bacterial that lead to body odor.

Infections

Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic that helps heal cuts and scrapes, and is also effective against more serious infections. Daily bathing or showering with tea tree oil body products and shampoo has even been proven an effective method of decolonizing a person carrying MRSA, and at the same time, being much less harsh on patient's skin than chemical-based antibacterial agents.

Applying tea tree oil, or a tea tree oil based remedy on minor cuts, scrapes, abrasions, scratches, etc. can be a great way to stay all natural and plant-based, get effective proven results, and not worry about chemical irritation and side effects. 

Have you tried the Tea Tree oil soap? or any other tea tree product? What did you think? We'd love to hear your experiences with tea tree oil!

Totally Coconuts for Coconut Oil

Everywhere you go lately, it's coconuts, coconuts, coconuts.  The list of health and wellness benefits is a mile long and growing. It's the new miracle that not only helps your heart, digestion, metabolism and weight loss, it boosts your beauty too. You can now find every kind of coconut something under the sun at your local grocery store - and drug store too!  

Usually this kind of craze (trending! ding!) makes me craze-eeee and I tend to be a bit skeptical about it all. But the science and research is undeniable. Coconut actually IS good for us, in a whole lot of ways. Cook with it. Eat it raw. Gargle with it. And rub it all over yourself - your skin and your hair.

I'm sure you've seen lists all over the internet that tell you what to do with it and why (you might want to check out this, or this, or this), but don't forget to come back here. I wanted to chat a little bit about the coconut oil I use in my soap.  This is not a new development, it's been there since the very beginning, in the first bar of soap I ever made right up until now. And it's still a good thing, even if it's suddenly "trendy."

One of the primary oils in my soap (#2 in fact, after olive oil) is coconut oil. I use a certified organic coconut oil, which is odorless, unlike the very fragrant tropical extra virgin stuff that everyone is eating right now. 

There used to be a rumor about how coconut oil was "drying" when used in soap. That was and is totally false. It has been proven repeatedly to be a really super moisturizer for skin with antioxidant properties, helping protect against environmental and free-radical damage. It's also known to alleviate redness and inflammation, be a bacterial and fungal fighter, and provide sun protection by screening ultraviolet exposure. There are literally thousands of DIY beauty recipes that begin with coconut oil.

Using coconut oil in your soap recipe gains you all these skin benefits too.  But the primary reason to use coconut oil is the rich, creamy, luscious lather it gives to a bar of soap. Nothing else even comes close. And I just don't feel like I'm getting clean if there is no lathering or sudsing up.

Blended with olive oil, palm oil, and shea butter, this coconut oil makes a pretty darn good bar of soap if I say so myself.

Do you have a favorite way to eat or use coconut oil? Please share! We'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

Dead Sea Salts. They are not dead.

I’ve gotten so many questions over the years about the Dead Sea salts, but probably my favorite is “why are they dead?” So let’s start there. The salts are not dead.  They come from the Dead Sea and when you’re talking about the good stuff, these soaking salts are truly unique.

What It Is

For over two thousand years (dude, that’s biblical times) the Dead Sea has been revered for it’s therapeutic, beautifying, miracle-working waters. Located between the countries of Jordan and Israel, the Dead Sea is the deepest hyper-saline lake in the world, having a total salt concentration that is 10 times higher than ocean water. Situated 1280 feet below sea level, it’s actually the lowest place on earth.  The Dead Sea also has a unique composition of brine, comprising magnesium, potassium and calcium chlorides in addition to a high concentration of bromides.  Its rich, briny water is so thick with mineral salts that it actually feels like oil. People float effortlessly in its dense waters, bobbing like corks, making it difficult to even swim in. If you're headed there, bring a book.  You can float on your back and read as if you've got the best air mattress in the world.

What It's For

Dead Sea salt is beneficial in so many ways, alleviating skin problems, joint problems, pain, and much more.  Skin, being the largest organ of the body, absorbs the salts, minerals and compounds into the body, having a positive effect on circulation and metabolism. Arthritis, eczema, muscular pain, rheumatism, and psoriasis are just some of the conditions that are benefited by long soaks in these rejuvenating salts. As it has for centuries, the Dead Sea continues to attract tens of thousands of visitors every year to its many resorts and treatment spas.

Physiological benefits:

•      Detoxification of metals, toxins and impurities trapped in the skin.

•      Stimulation of the circulatory system.

•      Relief of various forms of arthritis, fibromyalgia, muscle, joint and back pain.

•      Relief of skin irritations and increase new skin growth.

•      Deep cleansing and moisture restoration.

•      Promotion of elasticity in aging skin.

•      Relaxation of nerves and reduction of stress levels.

Benefits of Dead Sea minerals and trace elements

Dead Sea salts contain more than 21 beneficial minerals proven to have significant physiological benefits. Some Dermatologists recommend Dead Sea salt baths for patients with psoriasis, eczema, and other dry skin conditions.

Sulfur: Plays a huge role in health of the body, including liver function, digestion and absorption of nutrients, plus maintenance of hair, skin and nails. Aids in conversion of toxins into non-toxins. Necessary for synthesizing collagen and allowing cells to breathe.

Magnesium: Important for combating both stress and fluid retention, slowing skin aging and calming the nervous system. Essential for cell metabolism. Accelerates cell regeneration, tightens, tones, and retains moisture in skin.

Iodine: Maintains body's energy level. Vital for strong, healthy hair, skin, teeth and nails. Destroys toxins and aids in the property utilization of calcium and silicone.

Potassium: Energizes the body, helps to balance skin moisture and is a crucial mineral to replenish following intense exercise. Antibacterial and astringent properties. Aids in regulating water balance, assists skin in absorption and expulsion of waste products. Aids in regeneration and skin cell growth. Also regulates muscle contractions and the nervous system.

Sodium chloride: Promotes skin's proper pH balance. Protects against fluid loss and is a natural antiseptic. Sodium, like potassium, plays an important role in assisting cells absorb nourishment and expel waste. Sodium is also important for the lymphatic fluid balance, aiding immune system function.

Calcium chloride: Effective at preventing water retention, increasing circulation and strengthening bones and nails. Alkaline and necessary for strengthening cell membranes and cleansing pores. Considered a building block for the corrective tissue under the skin's surface.

Bromine: Bromides ease muscle stiffness and relax muscles. Soothes and treats skin ailments. Contains antiseptic and purifying qualities and is also a natural antibiotic.

Chlorine:  Necessary to maintain correct balance of alkaline and acid in the body.  Vital for cell metabolism.

Bitumen: Natural tar that acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

Zinc: Promotes collagen creation and aids in wound healing and protein synthesis. Beneficial for rosacea patients.

Other minerals and trace elements include: Strontium, silica, silicon, rubidium, selenium, molybdenum, phosphorus, manganese, lithium, copper, iron and sodium bicarbonate.

Soapworks Studio Dead Sea Bath Salts

Soapworks Studio uses 100% pure Dead Sea salt -- unrefined, solar evaporated and harvested from the Southern Dead Sea in Israel where the mineral content is the highest. They are packaged in 16 oz plastic bottles for ease of transport and safety in the bathroom - meaning they are lighter to carry or ship, plus no fear of breakage. At $8 per bottle, these are some of the most reasonably priced Dead Sea salts you will find anywhere. Period. Because I want people to use them. Often. And not have them just gathering dust on the bathroom counter because they are too precious or pricey. (Go grab yourself some of them here.)

How To Use Them

Since these are so concentrated, you don't need to toss in the entire bottle for one bath. A small handful or quarter cup works fine, especially for foot baths or a "regular" size bath tub. A half cup when you need a little extra pampering or you've got a great big soaker tub. And if you are treating a skin condition, use half a bottle and spend at least 20 minutes in the bath - repeating this several times a week (your dermatologist probably has a recommendation). Swish around to dissolve and dive in. Come out glowing and silky smooth.

Top question - can they be used in a jetted tub? The answer is a very definitive, um, "maybe." First and foremost, it's important to check with your spa manufacturer since the internal working of each one can be different. You want to make sure that using the salt in your jetted tub will not void your warranty or get you in "hot water" so to speak. But having said that, the salt is all-natural, unrefined, with no additives and goes through an extra inspection process to remove any little rocks or foreign bits. They dissolve so quickly and easily that by the time you can drop your towel, the water will be silky smooth, and with a quick swish, you will be able to tell if there is a tiny little pebble on the bottom somewhere before turning on the jets. If you've used bath salts in your tub before, these will be no more risky. You are probably the bigger expert on how your particular spa works, way more than I am. But I've been assured that for most circumstances they will be perfectly fine.

Hop in and spend some time soaking in a Dead Sea bath to relax, relieve stress and muscle tension, detoxify and increase circulation, soothe skin irritations, and enhance your skin’s own natural radiance.

Splash. Soak. Glow.

Sustainable Palm Oil

Maybe you've heard the hullabaloo about the evils of palm oil and the poor orangutans.  It's gotten a lot of attention recently. But you might not have heard the whole story. Or you might not know why it's so important for soap.

 It's a thorny issue and one that I've been trying to figure out for some time. I am currently using SUSTAINABLY produced palm oil for all my soaps. The explanation is a bit long, but I'm going to start at the beginning and try to cover all the bases.

What It Is

Let’s start at the very beginning.  What exactly IS palm oil? Palm oil is produced from red seed pods of the palm tree and is used as cheap cooking oil for most of the world.  Large (well, mega) food manufacturers jumped on the cheapo bandwagon for profit reasons and now use palm oil in almost everything.  It accounts for almost 50% of all food products in the grocery stores today – crackers, cookies, ice creams, all hydrogenated trans fats stuff. It also happens to be used a little bit in personal care products (shampoos, body washes, bar soaps).

Where It Comes From

The vast majority of palm oil comes from Indonesia. At least 85% of it comes from vast plantations of palm trees in Malaysia. Currently the world appetite has outstripped the production and there are both shortages and price increases.  For impoverished nations like Borneo, Sumatra and Malaysia, the production of palm oil gives them their only opportunity at a better economy, and lifts many families out of poverty. In the rush to make more, they have been clear-cutting and devastating the natural rainforests to make land available to plant new palm plantations.

Why It’s Bad

As these rainforests are being destroyed, the natural habitats of many animals are being affected, including many endangered species, such as the Asian elephant, the Sumatran tiger, rhinoceros and Bornean orangutan. Slash and burn techniques as well as outright shooting of the wildlife, especially the orangutans, has outraged the rest of the world. These vast rain forests are incredibly important areas for climate change and our Earth's sustainability, and even for their own people’s sustainability. It’s a short-term gain for a long-term disaster.

If you’re interested in seeing first hand how it’s grown, produced and ultimately harvested – check out WWF International’s video:

Palm Oil In Soap

From a soapmaker’s point of view, palm oil is a necessity – one of the trinity of base oils used in most soap recipes. Olive oil, coconut oil and palm oil have become the foundation of soap making because they complement each other, working synergistically to make the perfect bar.  Palm oil acts as a secondary lathering agent, and since it’s a solid, contributes to bar hardness, giving longevity to the life of the soap.  Coconut oil produces a rich creamy lather and is a superior cleanser, while olive oil is the moisturizer, giving the soap a silky feel. As the issue has heated up, even the largest manufacturers have struggled with creating a quality product for a reasonable cost without the palm oil component.

My Tiny Stake In It

This is important to know: the degree to which palm oil is used in cosmetics, including soaps, is quite small.  I’ve heard various statistics ranging from 1% to 6% of the total amount of production in the entire world goes towards cosmetics. The remaining 99% is used for food production. Given that my small cottage soap business is the tiniest sliver of that maybe 5% globally, I want to do the right thing but I need to keep it in perspective too. It’s my only source of income, and losing business by doubling my soap prices is not an option. Or losing all my customers because I suddenly had an inferior product doesn’t work either. My beliefs and personal responsibility are at the heart of everything I do, however, so I knew I had to find an answer and take action.

Sustainable Palm Oil

Ultimately, I would prefer to create a better recipe that does not use palm oil at all, but that’s still in the experiment stage. In the meantime, I have found a fairly priced, reliable supply of sustainable palm oil, certified and sanctioned by the RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil).  

Starting a few months ago, all the Soapworks Studio soaps have been made with sustainable palm oil. I am in the process of transitioning all the labels and ingredient lists to reflect this change.

The Bigger Problem

As I mentioned, food products account for the vast majority of the palm oil production. As long as companies continue using palm oil, the Indonesian and Malaysian governments will allow the clearing and burning of rainforests to develop new plantations.  Oil palm trees are so lucrative that governments and businesses only see dollar signs.

It’s not the cooking of households and street food vendors in Indonesia that are making this such a hot button issue.  It’s PepsiCo, Kraft, Heinz, and other corporate food conglomerates. Palm Oil and its derivatives are packed into almost everything we see as walk down the grocery store aisles. Packaged foods of every kind -- ice cream, cookies, crackers, chips, chocolate products, cereals, breakfast bars, dry and canned soups, margarine, cake mixes, doughnuts, frozen sweets and meals, infant formula, yes, even Skittles (and holy crapola! Girl Scout cookies!!). In the US alone palm oil imports have jumped 485% in the last decade.

Obviously any steps we can take individually to slow down or stop our consumption of this product is important. And if you want to know more, or do more, including signing petitions or sending letters, a great place to start is the Rain Forest Action Network.

Questions? Do you have something to share about this? Please join the discussion in the comments below.

And if you want to know more about all the ingredients I use in my products, check out my FAQ here.  Or see my other blog posts, with in-depth descriptions of ingredients by clicking on the label "Ingredient Insider" below.

Shea Butter - A Superfood for Skin

What is shea butter?  And how the heck do you say it anyway? It's one of the base oils in all my soap bars as well as the primary ingredient in my Shea Butter Balm. I love it to pieces, and I'll tell you why.

Lots of people ask me this, so I'll start with the pronunciation first.  I've Googled all over the place to make sure I've got it right, and here's the deal: it's like po-tay-to, po-tah-to.  Most everyone here in the US (and the Brits) call it "shay" butter. That's how we know what we're talking about.  But apparently the correct pronunciation (in Africa, where it's from) is "shee'-ah". So you can say it either way, no judging.

Shea butter is extracted from the fruit kernels of the Shea-Karite nut tree which only grows in the tropics of Africa.   It is an awesome moisturizer for skin and has incredible healing properties too. The benefits of shea butter has been known and used for literally centuries - for moisturizing skin and hair, protection from the sun, as a balm for minor burns, muscle aches, beauty treatments, treating skin conditions and more. 

Shea Butter nourishes the skin with three major Vitamins -- A, E and F. Vitamin A is important for healing a number of skin conditions, including blemishes, wrinkles, eczema, dermatitis, skin allergies, insect bites, sunburn and more. The moisturizing properties are the same as our skin's sebaceous glands, so it absorbs quickly and penetrates deeply, healing wounds and skin injuries quickly too. Even if I use it straight up, it's non-greasy, absorbs immediately and feels super soft.  Magic.

Vitamin E is helpful in anti-aging and as an anti-free radical agent by increasing micro-circulation, preventing premature wrinkles and facial lines as well as damage to sun exposure. Vitamin F acts as a skin protector and rejuvenator. It soothes rough, dry or chapped skin and helps soften dry or damaged hair. 

Shea Butter is high in unsaponifiables, typically 7-12%, which is twice as high as other similar vegetable oils, making it extremely effective in soap and cream formulations. It easily penetrates the skin allowing the skin to breathe without clogging pores.  Shea butter has a high level of cinnamic acid, a natural sun screen, so it provides some degree of protection from the sun (but don't give up your SPF). What more could you ask? Shea butter is a "super food" - for all skin types and conditions.

In my soap bars, and the Shea Butter Balm too, I use Nilotica Shea Butter, which is a premium Fair Trade oil produced from the fruit of the Vitellaria Nilotica sub species of the Karite tree, which grows across Northern Uganda.  Softer in texture with a very mild nutty aroma and a tan color, Nilotica Shea is one of the finest shea butters period. Softer and creamier than the West African stuff (which is usually bleached and chemically refined), this is buttery smooth and oh so creamy.

The nuts are sourced from organically grown trees and harvested by a 1600 member women's cooperative in Uganda who are paid fair trade prices 25-50% above the rates women earn in the local markets. Who doesn't love that? Plus the shea butter nuts are cold-pressed, filtered and packaged without any chemicals.  None.

Bottom line: I will always choose "real" over "perfect." But if I can ratchet it up like a million notches with organic producing, chemical-free processing, Fair Trade prices, women's cooperatives with higher wages - BOOM! I've hit the jackpot.  And you have too. Because a little piece of this is in every bar of my soap. Are you feeling the love? 

If you have miracle stories with shea butter, or any other thoughts, I'd love to hear about them in the comments below. I've considered selling this stuff straight up in jars - would anyone be interested in that? Hollah.

p.s. Wanna know more about all the other ingredients I use in my products.  I dish over here.