There's just so much LOVE on my skin today.

When I started this project I was certain that I was drawn to all natural ingredients simply because I could pronounce them and could easily identify them (think Cocoamidopropyl Betaine, Olefin Sulfonate, Sodium Luaroyl Sarcosinate, and Potassium Cocoyl Glutamate compared to... say... Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Coconut Milk, Apricot Kernel Oil, and Vitamin E). Too often I would find myself scanning ingredients looking for things I could relate to, identify with, understand, pronounce and remember easily, so I could reserach if they were harmful or not. I soon was lost in a sea of -pyls, -sulfates, -laureths, -nates, and -fins. What the F is this crap anyway? Drawing on my elementary education I recall my bell bottom wearing, frizzy hair donning, delightfully outrageous 4th grade teacher reminding us to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid..)... cool, I'll use shit ingredients I know work, and have been around MUCH longer than this lab produced stuff. So I seek out the natural stuff; the butters, the oils, the essential oils because I believe they carry with them the care with which they were produced, ESPECIALLY the organic, fair trade and recycled items I try to incorporate. Each ingredient has a story and that story gets absorbed into your skin! Isn't it BEAUTIFUL! An entire world of love, experience, care, knowledge and life, and you can have ALL OF IT (this is the scene where we pan across the meadow and I'm frolicking amongst the daisies and butterflies).

Ah, here I am, back on Earth.

SO, the moral of this fairy tale, is that the stuff you put on your skin matters, and it matters to me, too. I'm learning to love and care for this large and under appreciated organ, so I talk sweetly to it, caress it, and think good thoughts for it, as well as feed it good food. We give it the same care we would a seedling, or newborn niece, or lost puppy. We give it the attention and care it deserves, because it is the culmination of all of the stories and lives that have happened before it. And, because, we need it, for our personal containment, and, to continue to write the story.

I am a huge believer in the reality that we absorb EVERYTHING; the thoughts, the memories, the physical properties, the ENERGIES, the love. Science says so, too. We absorb the things we put on our skin, sometimes between 60 and 100 percent of the things we touch. The most permeable areas being the sensitive areas under your arms, around your genitals, the bottoms of your feet, YOUR HANDS (the area most commonly used for touch), your lips, the area behind your ears, and your face. Don't believe me? Ask these people, or these, or these, or this company, or this newspaper.

GET TO THE POINT, you're screaming I'm sure... OKAY OKAY so here it is. I'm learning to LOVE my body, and I want you to LOVE yours too. I want to honor it by putting amazing ingredients on it.. to let it know you care... SO, ALL of the items produced during this endeavor will a) use only stuff you can pronounce, 2) be FREE of fragrances, dyes, and harmful chemicals, d) be sourced from vendors who produce organic, fair trade, locally wild harvested, or recycled materials AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Because, well... I LOVE YOU, and you should LOVE YOU TOO.

-Annie

Oh the many uses of Activated Charcoal

While bored and surfing the interwebs, I had come across an interesting blog about how to whiten your teeth. It was written by Crunchy Betty, one of my favorite, make it from home and on your own beauty bloggers. She explains one use of activated charcoal as a tooth whitener. You can read more about this here. I was intrigued and went to my local hippie grocery and found some and thought I would give it a try. This concept hadn't startled me because of other instances in which I knew charcoal to be an absorber of toxins... more on this in a bit. After trying the charcoal as a tooth whitener and succeeding (thank you Betty, my teeth are the whitest they've been in a very long time, and naturally too!) I thought I would research other uses (because you can't have just one...please don't sue me Frito Lays). I found that because of the absorbent nature of charcoal it is often used in face wash to combat acne and impurities! BRILLIANT! I had been searching for a natural face wash I could make at home that wouldn't dry my skin out or cost me my phone bill every month. So I made this bar and am incorporating it into my line. Being a new business owner and honestly someone with no knowledge of "social graces", "head to mouth filters", "networking", and "proper product advertisement", I test out my explanation of this new soap on some coworkers.

"What is this?" -They ask
"It is a soap made with activated charcoal, that's where the black color comes from" -I reply.
"Why charcoal" -I've got them interested! Yes!
"Oh! So, you know how when you overdose, you go to the hospital and they pump your stomach with charcoal? Same idea! It absorbs all the nasty stuff, literally pulls is right out of your skin!" -Nailed it.

.... crickets wouldn't dare chirp, they would know it would be too loud....

I received some blank stares, some dubious eyebrows, and some started to back away slowly. Well, that approach didn't work...try again next time. Aside from the other uses for charcoal, this stuff does actually do amazing things for my skin. Ive been using this bar since Christmas last year and have fallen in love with how my face looks and feels. Aside from the occasional monthly or post break up chocolate binge I have had no impurities pop up and I know what I'm putting on my face. Charcoal, you are my hero.
Annie