It's shea butter season!

So the temperature has plummeted and we all know the effect it has on our skin. It’s dry and uncomfortable, but applying shea butter will soothe your skin like no lotion can. I particularly enjoy Savon Salon’s Lavender Shea Butter because it’s made with pure shea  butter with just a touch of lavender essential oil to give it a very light, soothing lavender fragrance.

Why is shea butter better than lotions? Simply because lotions are in large part, water. When you fhink about water standing with oil for several months, it makes sense that we’re advised to throw out any lotion that’s more than 6 months old, because bacteria grows in sitting water. In fact, if you make your own home-made lotions, you need to keep them refrigerated and use them within two weeks. So then how is it that store-bought lotions are safe to use for months? Anti-bacterial ingredients are added to the formula simply because it’s necessary to prevent bacteria from growing in your lotions, basically giving them a shelf life so they can be sold commercially.

When you apply lotion to your skin, it’s very important that it doesn’t contain bacteria that can get into a small scratch or cut and cause an infection. But what about those additives, are they really safe for your skin? They are actually toxic chemicals that kill living organisms, ironically called “preservatives”. When making lotions, you are supposed to wear gloves, goggles and a mask when measuring the tablespoonful of preservative into the batch of lotion that you will eventually apply to your skin!

That’s the beauty of Savon Salon’s Shea Butter. All it contains is natural shea butter from the nut of the African shea tree, with a small amount of citric acid (a common, safe food additive. Shea butter itself is edible, commonly used in Africa for cooking, so you can trust that it’s safe for your skin. You can use it unscented, or lightly scented with natural lavender essential oil. It’s heavier than a lotion, so a very small amount goes a long way.

Shea butter is thick and waxy, and it melts on contact with your skin. Rather than seeping toxins from lotion into the small cracks in your dry skin, shea butter will melt and instantly sooth your dry skin and create a protective coating that’s silky, not greasy, and because it contains no water, the protective coating won’t wear off easily and will continue to protect your skin even after washing your hands. That’s one reason our product is very popular among nurses and hairdressers!

 Do be careful about where you shea butter comes from, though. The most cost-effective way to extract shea butter is using chemicals like hexane, but the shea butter we use is extracted using the traditional method. It provides a means for women in Ghana to make a living and provide for their families.

People who have dry skin on their face from using a CPAP machine are pleased with the results of applying unscented shea butter to the face at night to protect their skin from drying out from the blowing air. Applying it to your hands will help heal cracks and keep your cuticles from drying out.

I like to apply the lavender shea butter to my coat my hands and afterwards, run my hands though my hair, just the trace amount gives my hair a nice sheen and some protection from the elements. If I want to deeply moisturize my hair and scalp, I’ll coat my hair with shea butter and let it soak in for about 15 minutes, then wash it out for lasting shine and no more frizz! It’s also great for your heels and feet, as well as your legs after shaving, and your bikini area, too. Speaking of, folder women who experience dryness will appreciate shea butter as a personal moisturizer, and for men, it’s soothing applied après-manscape, and for anyone, it’s perfect for massage. What a versatile product!

 

 

Recycling Holiday Cards

It's such a delight to look over the holiday cards I received, and it's a tradition in our home to save them to use to decorate presents next year.

It all came about when I was putting my gifts to go to Grandma's and there was no way to pack the gifts together without crushing the bows, Those common bows that made your presents look like cookie-cutter presents without any personality made it impossible to pack all the  presents together without ruining the bows.





So, the idea of decorating presents with used cards was born, and our load of presents we take to Grandmothers now are busting with personality.

It's always fun to decorate packages with my daughter, matching cards to paper, and styles to the recipient's personality; Mom gets traditional or religious cards with regal colored papers, my brother gets world peace themes, my sister always has stars, the kids get Smowmen and Santas, etc. Even photo cards can be reused like this photo of my neice I used on a gift for her cousin, the mittens paper is the perfect background for the pic.


Here are some more of my favorites this year: 

Sparkly pointsettas :o)

This card is a perfect match for this paper.

Winter scene cards are perfect for snowflake paper.

The sled with mitten paper for a child's gift.

My brother is always craching jokes,
so this joker-style stocking is perfect.

and of course, the sailboat is for me!

Merry Christmas, everyone!



A better shaving experience doesn't have to cost a lot of money

It's time to add an offering to my product line to invite the men to be fans of Savon Salon. Why should only women enjoy the benefits of using glycerin soap?

My brother's girlfriend had given him a glycerin soap shave kit with a cup, a brush and a disk of glycerin soap. He found it's so much better than traditional shaving that so many men apply a face full of chemicals to their skin every day! The glycerin is not only better because it moisturizes, but more importantly because of all the junk it doesn't contain. 

It came time that he needed a refill, and it was easy for me to fill the bill! My soaps are vegan-friendly and contain no petrochemicals. They're GMO-free, paraben free, phthalate free, and the emuslifiers and lathering agents used are so gentle, they're used as food flavoring and in toothpaste. I made him a couple of refill disks of my basic glycerin soap with beet root powder to give it a manly deep burgundy brown color. 

I got great feedback, so I'm adding them to my product line. Soon I will have complete shave kits with cups, brushes and holders that will make great gifts for guys on valentine's day. My refill disks are just $6 and if you compare what's in them to the high-end glycerin shave soaps, you know you're getting a good value. 

I'm hoping my product will appeal to the guy that wants a better shaving experience but just doesn't buy into the idea that spending a lot of money on overpriced products is cool. For example, I looked at the products offered by "The Art of Shaving" and it's clear that a lot of great marketing and sales training went into this enterprise, but their 3 oz. disk of glycerin soap is a whopping $30! And what do you get for all that money? You do get some quality ingredients, glycerin and coconut oil, but also contains tocopheryl acetate, a "skin conditioning agent" which has strong evidence as being toxic to the skin and is a cancer concern. Isn't it better to go with a simple, more reasonable, and carefully produced product? I invite you to try it! 

www.SavonSalon.com

A cancer-themed birthday party for an 11-year old a huge hit

In my family, we've had some great parties. Great surprises, personally meaningful, just-great-to-be-together good times. My niece, Isabella was born on my sister Marie's birthday, so the occasion of their birthday is especially cause for celebration.

A story about a singer, Alastair Moock, who writes songs to help his daughter cope with her illness caught Issi's attention and even though she's just 11 years old, she wanted to shave her head in support of his daughter Clio, and to raise money for cancer research. You know, it's important for parents to recognize and appreciate when their kids act selflessly, if only because it's such a rare and (honestly beautiful) thing! So, as a surprise for Issi's birthday, it was arranged for Alastair himself to come to her birthday party and perform for the many friends and families who came to celebrate the mother-daughter birthday. It was just an incredible time for everyone.

We enjoyed a personal, intimate concert right in the living room and Alastair opened with the song that he's well-known for, "when I get bald". He talks about standing tall, being proud, using his hair to make a nest for birds, reminiscing about the hair he once had, and painting a face on the back of his head and doing all kinds of funny things.

 

He commended Issi for being such a special girl for wanting to shave her head and raise money for cancer research, and commented, that it's pretty unusual for an 11-year old to have a cancer-themed birthday party! What followed were delightful and fun songs, getting the whole party to flap their arms like a chicken, sing along, and playing Clio's solo part on kazoos. Interspersed were songs that would be so helpful for a kid, a hilarious tune about being brave at the doctor's, and an empathetic piece about understanding feelings of jealousy, and an insightful "kids, take care of your grownups" about the flaws and struggles grownups have, to which Alistair commented, "I've never had the adults in the audience boo at those lyrics before, that's a first". lol, you just have to know my family. 

 

http://www.moock.com/bio.php

well loved children

I was so inspired at the market by a young man who was enthusiastic about my soaps but didn't have much to spend. He later came back with his bother and made two more visits to my table with both his brother and sister, smelling every product and evaluating which their mom would like best and what the scents reminded them of her. She retired and moved to the South Carolina with their dad..., she was a nurse and loved to garden (so the lavender would be good because she loved growing flowers, but then again the soap with the fall leaves will remind her of fall in new England; oh, hey, smell this one... on and on it went)... They spent so much time delighting about how pleased she would be with their gift, and they ended up putting together a small basket of 3 soaps, one chosen by each. I'd love to meet this woman who I don't know, but I do know this... she raised her children with love and in turn is very well loved and appreciated. And even if they're not her perfectly favorite products, she's really going to enjoy her soaps just knowing that her kids were thinking of her and wanted to make her happy. Wow, some customers really make a lasting impression.

 

The best skin care product I've found

I never expected to be struggling with acne as an adult and it was so disheartening to often have blemishes on my face, especially for those important times like when meeting new people. It wasn't such a surprise as a teenager, but well into my 30's was a big disappointment that even acne skin treatments failed to cure. And not only that, but my pimples really hurt, when they made their appearance, they we red and sore and really painful!

I remember when it came out that vitamin A was found to be helpful in resolving severe acne, and I'd never thought about even taking vitamins. The only time I had taken vitamins was when I was pregnant and nursing and I never thought of it as a necessity, but now I thought I might just try taking a daily and see what happened. I found out that what you put on your skin is not nearly as important as what you put IN your skin.

There wasn't any kind of dramatic change, but after a while, I remember looking into the mirror and noticing that it had really been a looooong time since I had a zit! I was so pleased, but occasionally I would neglect to take my vitamins and then sure enough the blemishes would start, so I was convinced that I was getting a definite benefit out of taking a daily vitamin - clear skin!

From time to time, it happens, I forget to take my vitamins or maybe I have run out and haven't picked up a new supply yet. Sure enough, when I feel a breakout starting, I get back on track with taking my dailys and it starts clearing up like magic. Now I'm interested in finding out what exactly would be the best vitamin or supplement to improve the dryness of my hair and I've heard that cod liver oil gives excellent results.

Want to know a great trick for remembering to take your dailys? I was terrible at remembering and my daughter said to me, "you pour water into the coffee maker every morning, so why don't you put the vitamin bottle on top of the coffee maker?". You know, that little suggestion works perfectly and I rarely forget anymore. Just put your vitamins on top of or in the way of something you do every morning and you can't avoid remembering.

One last note is I've also learned that we need to pay attention to what's in the vitamins we take. There have been studies that the fillers used in common vitamins may be harmful, and taking a small amount of a harmful substance on a daily basis over decades is really cause for concern. I prefer the whole food type of vitamins rather than the traditional type and look for companies that account for the ingredients they are using. It's a great trend that we care about what goes into our food and skin products and our daily vitamins should be a part of that, too.

What's in the soap that I'm making?

People are understandably concerned about what’s in the products they’re using, and that’s really nothing new. Years ago, I questioned why formaldehyde was in every shampoo on the market, and in Art school, I expressed concerns about the toxic discharge of raku kilns next to a hospital and students mixing chemicals such as arsenic for glass blowing.  Later in life I thought it unthinkable that the company was spraying my office with the now-banned Malathion while employees had left cups and dishes of candy on their desks, and I was told that it was perfectly safe; I was always made to feel like I was the only person ever concerned about these things. Still, I fought for the Children's Protection Act to stop unsafe spraying of pesticides in schools and on school fields without parent's knowing even though my daughter was nearly grown at the time.

You might say things have changed, but I rather think that there are far more like-minded people shaping the commercial production of the products we use. Thank you for your voices, even if it is only sounded by the choices you make in the products you buy!

I’d like to share some information about what goes into the soap I’m making.  I use three vegan friendly types of soap bases of the highest quality, my basic glycerin soap base, the extra clear soap base and the three-butter soap base and I also use a popular goat's milk base.

The basic glycerin base is detergent-free and contains no sodium lauryl sulfate, so it’s great for people who have sensitive skin or react to SLS or other detergents. The glycerin also leaves your skin feeling soft and has some protection from the dry air. The ingredients in this soap base are sodium cocoate (this is the fatty acid salts of coconut oil), proplylene glycol (a stabilizer, preserative and moisturizer; it’s an ingredient in food and supplements that’s non-irritating to the skin), sodium stearate (a type of surficant, an agent that makes it easier for water to remove dirt from your skin), glycerin (good for sensitive, easily irritated skin because it prevents skin dryness with its moisturizing properties), water, and sorbitol (sugar alcolol, used to keep the soap in a dry state).

One other base I use is the extra clear soap that I use more for the fun designs of my novelty soaps, such as the rainbow soaps. If you have sensitive skin, the basic glycerin soaps or the three-butter soap is probably a better choice for you. This soap base has all the same ingredients as my basic soap base, except that it also contains sodium laureth sulfate (a foaming agent and emulsifier that’s less irritating than sodium lauryl sulfate), sodium myristate (a fatty acid cleansing and emulsifying agent used in soaps and flavorings), sodium cocoyl isethionate (a sodium salt derived from coconut oil that helps water cling to the dirt and oil on your skin, allowing it to be washed away. Because of it’s mild nature, it’s often found in toothpastes and baby soap) and  triethanolamine (a pH balancer).

The most luxurious of my soaps is made with a three-butter blend soap base that contains shea butter, cocoa butter and mango butter. It made with all the same quality ingredients as my basic soap base and also shea butter, cocoa  butter, mango butter and titanium dioxide (white coloring).  The shea butter is from Ghana, West Africa and is expeller pressed, not extracted with chemicals such as hexane. This allows the shea butter to retain its beneficial properties. Shea butter is said to be beneficial for many conditions, such as dry skin, eczema, blemishes, burns, and aging skin, and is a beautiful moisturizer for healthy and baby’s skin as well. Cocoa butter creates a barrier between sensitive skin and the environment, helping to retain moisture, and also is known to relieve symptoms of dermatitis and eczema. Mango butter is full of nourishing antioxidants, is used to treat skin rashes, reduce wrinkles and has a protective effect against UV radiation. Basically, you’ll probably  find that my three-butter soap is the nicest soap you’ve ever used!

Any of my soaps can be made with a variety of fragrances, or just using natural essential oils, or unscented. Most of the colors I use are mica, which is the highest-quality coloring used in eye shadow and other high priced cosmetics. I use other natural additives such as calendula petals, ground bamboo and mint leaves.

You can shop with confidence at www.SavonSalon.com Thanks for visiting!