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Pure & Green have created this great video about the absolute benefits of using organic skin care and particularly the use of wholefood ingredients.

View Pure & Green Organics range of whole organic skin care

Its the time of year that I struggle to keep my lips smooth – dry lips are a mainstay and I find myself depositing lip balms (all Hurraw! at the moment) in various pockets and bags to make sure I always have one on hand. The fact I ride my bike most places doesn’t help as the wind really dries lips out.

So why do our lips become dry and get chapped? Unlike most of the skin our face (around the eyes are the other exception) our lips don’t produce sebum and therefore don’t have the same level of protection from the elements. In addition they don’t contain the same level of melanin (skin pigment) as the rest of our skin so they tend to burn instead of tan when exposed to the sun. Here is where lip balm comes in. It is important however, to read the ingredients on your lip balm as many contain ingredients that you just don’t want to be eating.

The ingredients you do want in your lip balm are these:

• Coconut oil – a rich antioxidant oil it helps to protect against skin damage and is soothing particularly after wind or sun burn.
• Jojoba Oil – a waxy ester similar to the sebum produced naturally by skin, jojoba imitates the natural barrier effect. Non-greasy and smooth, it is ideal for dry lips.
• Shea butter – its amazing restoring properties mean Shea butter is a great addition to any lip balm. It also has natural UV filtering properties.
• Beeswax/Candellia/Caranuba wax – natural waxes hold in moisture without having an occlusive effect unlike mineral oil based products. They are also less sticky and have emollient and softening properties. Excellent prior to kissing!
• Cocoa butter – good for skin, this ingredient also smells divine and is smooth and healing and softening.

Ingredients to avoid in your lip balm:

• Petroleum jelly – an occlusive ingredient, petroleum jelly does stop moisture loss but it doesn’t improve the health of your skin or soften lips. There is also a risk that petroleum jelly may be contaminated with potentially toxic ingredients such as lead. As a non-renewable resource, it’s also a bad for the environment.
• Mineral oil – this ingredient has similar issues to petroleum jelly as it only temporarily holds in moisture and ultimately has a drying effect.
• Parabens – a common preservative, parabens have a hormone mimicking effect and will disrupt normal endocrine function.
• Artificial fragrances – Berry scents are the most common. Fragrances can contain up to 400 different ingredients and are a common source of phthalates, another hormone disruptor.

Brands we recommend (meaning they have been thoroughly road tested and are all good) include Hurraw!, Suvana, Only Papaya, Burt’s Bees and Organic Essence.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics competition came down to just a few votes, but the Kiss Lead Goodbye! contest winner is Iona Pelovska from Toronto! Iona’s video got her message across loud and clear and went beyond demanding that L’Oreal get the lead out of lipstick; it called out the entire broken cosmetics regulation system.

Click here to view a wide range of “LEAD-FREE” lipsticks

I came across this excellent pictorial from Inspired Souls on Facebook. Research informs us that the average woman applies over 515 chemicals to her body each day and we are seeing more and more evidence that at least some of these are not just toxic but cancer causing. Apart from reducing cancer potential, avoiding toxic chemicals in skin care and thereby reducing overall toxic load just makes good sense.

I think the visual brings home the the idea of just how many toxic chemicals we may be applying each day. View the most worrying chemicals used everyday below:

Check our our toxic free alternatives at Vitale Natural Online

During this cooler, drier winter weather it can be a battle to maintain skin moisture, particularly if hot showers are a daily event. If you suffer from Eczema, Psoriasis, Dermatitis or Keratosis Pilaris (bumps that commonly occur on the back of arms) you will most likely find that your skin worsens and creams don’t hold moisture as effectively.

One way to overcome this is to use a richer cream in winter than you do for the rest of the year, one that contains Shea or Coconut butter as a base. While oils are great they don’t have the same moisture holding capacity as butters or waxes. So find a cream that contains both waxes or butters and oils and this should go some way to support the skin’s moisture holding capacity. My recommendations for richer skin creams include:

• Remedica Shea & Aloe – this is the real deal. Unscented and not for the feint hearted we recommend this product for those will pre-existing skin conditions.
• Remedica Vanilla & Shea Body Butter – for those with normal to dry skin this product is whipped deliciousness. The smell is oh so divine.
• Mukti Pink Grapefruit Body Lotion – fresh and non-greasy this product still has the nourishing base for all over skin hydration.

Dry Body Brushing will also significantly help improve skin health whether or not you have a pre-existing skin condition. Personally I have found my skin smoother and more hydrated than ever before due to regular skin brushing (3 times a week minimum) this dry season.

Jodie from Bodecare tells us below how dry brushing improves skin:

The skin is one of the major organs of the body, responsible for ridding the toxins from our system on a daily basis, working alongside the bowel, kidneys and lungs. If any of these elimination systems are not working properly, they will put an extra burden on the other organs.  Dry Body Brushing assists the skin with it’s many functions like:

• Exfoliates dry, rough skin, enabling moisturizing products to readily absorb into the skin and opens pores to freely pass out toxins from the body
• Assists with stimulation of sweat and oil glands, contributing to the restoration of moist, supple skin
• Strengthen the skin pores by assisting with increased skin tone
• Gentle stretching of connective tissues from brushing helps to regenerate production of collagen and elastin fibres.
• Alleviates vein and lymph congestion

Key things to remember if you do suffer from a dry skin condition:

• Use a soft or medium plant bristle brush, especially if you are young or have never body brushed before.
• Don’t brush over open wounds.
• Always brush on dry skin, follow by a shower or bath and most importantly use an organic body lotion or oil to heal and hydrate the skin. Organic skin care is fantastic for irritated skin because it heals, does not clog the pores and there are no artificial fragrances to irritate the raw skin.
• Don’t shower or bath in really hot water it will dry the skin.
• Eat plenty of raw fruit and vege’s to nourish your body from the inside-out.

I for one am sold on dry body brushing. If you are having good results please let us know.

Good digestive health is essential for good skin. The role of the digestive system is to provide us with nutrition from food and to clear waste products from this process. If the digestive system is overworked or underactive, waste products have to be eliminated via another bodily system. The skin is one of our backup waste elimination systems and if the digestive system is not working well enough, our skin can suffer. The connection between a healthy gut and healthy skin is evident in one particular clinical trial in which 50% of patients with severe acne had increased blood levels of toxins that had not been eliminated but rather reabsorbed from the intestines. This highlights the role of poor digestive function as a potential underlying cause of acne.

To really get to the underlying cause of your acne, we need to establish whether your digestive system is operating well or not. The digestive system quite complex and incorporates a number of different organs all of which can be performing sub-optimally (this doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the organ itself, just that it may not be functioning as well as it could). It is therefore important to evaluate the whole digestive system, not just assume your acne is due to low hydrochloric acid levels or poor detoxification, which are commonly cited causes.

This is where the final stage of digestion occurs. Waste products from the food we eat is collected and processed into faeces (waste). The large intestine also helps to maintain the body’s fluid balance, absorbs vitamins such as B12 and processes undigested fibre.

Issues such as the slow transit time of waste materials can cause toxins and hormones that the body is trying to eliminate to be re-absorbed into the blood stream. A balance of healthy bacteria in the large intestine is also essential. Imbalance in healthy to unhealthy bacteria can lead to issues such as Candida, yeast infections and microbial overgrowth.

To evaluate your digestive health answer the following questions. Based on your answers, you can rate the health of your large intestine and get an indication of your digestive health.

1. Do you experience excessive gas (flatulence)?
2. Do you suffer from constipation regularly (defined as less than one bowel motion per day or incomplete evacuation on a regular basis)?
3. Do you experience bloating in your lower abdomen?
4. Have you taken a course of antibiotics in the past 6 months?
5. Do you have a history of antibiotic use?
6. Do you have a diet low in fibre (fresh vegetables, whole grains and fruit) and high in processed foods?

There are many ways you can support good elimination:

• Ensure adequate water intake. Constipation may be the result of poor hydration levels. Avoid diuretic fluids such as coffee, alcohol and colabased soft drinks.
• Stress may be an exacerbating factor in constipation. Make the time to chew properly and eat in a relaxed environment (not in front of the TV). Avoid overeating and instead have small meals more regularly.
• Cut out refined and processed foods. Instead increase fibre rich foods such as whole grains, vegetables and fruit. These will help to “sweep”out your bowel.
• Increase your consumption of essential fatty acids (good oils). These will help to lubricate your bowel making it easier to pass a motion. Deep Sea Fish is an excellent source of essential fatty acids. Sources include tuna, salmon, sardines, anchovies and mullet. Flax oil is vegetarian alternative and can be found at your health food store.
• Start the day with a large glass of warm water and lemon juice. This will stimulate your bowel first thing in the morning and encourage a bowel motion.
• If you are experiencing lower bowel or gas pain, drink a glass of warm water or a cup of peppermint or fennel tea. A hot water bottle over the affected area may also help to relieve pain.
• You can also give your bowel a good cleanse by taking a fibre supplement on a regular basis. Be sure to read the ingredients on any fibre supplement and avoid added ingredients such as artificial flavour, artificial colours and sweeteners and/or sugar. Look for ingredients such as Psyllium husk powder, Slippery elm, Marshmallow root, Linseed and good bacteria. One such product is Motion Potion. Motion Potion is a naturopathically formulated fibre and nutrient rich powder drink. It contains beneficial fibres (both soluble and insoluble), cereal grasses, friendly bacteria and other nutrient dense foods.