You see, I was having an awful time combing my daughters hair in the summer. Everyday throughout the summer. After getting out of the pool, the ocean, or even just the bath tub. Her hair was so dry and brittle. That is when I started searching and found this shampoo. It did the trick. I loved the clean smell, and how it almost immediately turned her hair from dry to soft. And I swear that this shampoo protected her hair from the summer elements, as it was easier to comb through any time of the day. To this day, I use this shampoo on my kids all through the summer. I haven’t found anything better for them.

In becoming such a loyal fan of this shampoo, I immediately learned that Dr. Aubrey Hampton, the founder of Aubrey Organics is really the father of natural hair care. He was the first to explore the dangers of using certain chemicals in hair care. And this was over 35 years ago. He wrote about the dangerous chemicals in hair care items in his book, What’s In Your Cosmetics: A Complete Consumer’s Guide To Natural & Synthetic Ingredients. This certainly did not make the Doctor popular. But he was a pioneer in the hair care industry. Today, there are many companies that have taken his research and have found safer ingredients for their hair care products.

Thank you Dr. Aubrey Hampton. Aubrey Organics continues to search for new herbals that have never been used before to use in their products.

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They recently found that a certain cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane, is used by many companies in many cosmetic products. You will notice this chemical by other names, such as dioxane, diethylene dioxide, 1,4-diethylene dioxide, diethylene ether, glycol ethylene ether, dioxane-1,4, tetrahydro-p-dioxin, tetrahydro-1,4-dioxin.

The description of 1,4-dioxane from Wikipedia: 1,4-Dioxane is primarily used in solvent applications for the manufacturing sector; however, it is also found in fumigants and automotive coolant. Additionally, the chemical is also used as a foaming agent and appears as an accidental byproduct of the ethoxylation[1] process in cosmetics manufacturing.

Simply speaking, this is scary stuff and cause for concern.

From the EWG study in which they read the ingredient listings of 15,000 cosmetics, skin care and other personal care products, they have published the following alarming statistics:
*22% of cosmetics and skin care products, including baby soaps, are contaminated with 1,4-dioxane.
*80 percent of all cosmetic products may be contaminated with one or more carcinogenic impurities.

Overall, they have found that this chemical is used in almost all brands of
hair relaxers and over half of the baby soaps. They broke down the contamination levels as follows:
* 97% – hair relaxers
* 82% – hair dyes and bleaching
* 66% – hair removers
* 57% – baby soap
* 45% – sunless tanning products
* 43% – body firming lotion
* 36% – hormonal creams
* 36% – facial moisturizers
* 35% – anti-aging products
* 34% – body lotion
* 33% – around-eye creams

So, what do we need to do? First thing is to read your ingredient labels and get to know the names of the chemicals we do not want on our skin. Besides the ones listed above, look for the ingredients sodium laureth sulfate and others that include the clauses “PEG,” “xynol,” “ceteareth,” and “oleth.” These all have some form of 1,4-dioxane in them.

Even if you thought that natural was the way to go, some of these names will sneakily surprise you by showing up on the label. The only true way to avoid these chemicals are to use 100% Organic products – which will be certified as so.

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Kiss My Face was launched in a farmers feed-supply store in upstate New York 25 years ago. It has grown way beyond the pure olive-oil bar soap (which is to this day a top seller) it originally began with.

The line is famous for its Certified Organic Aloe Vera Toothpaste, Sugar Reef Organic Body Scrub and Lavender & Shea Moisture Shave. I don’t know what I should try.

It’s top sellers:
Sun Screen SPF18 with Oat Protein Complex
Sun Spray SPF 30
Pure Olive Oil Bar Soap
Peach Moisture Shave
Olive & Aloe Moisturizer

Do you have a favorite Kiss My Face product you recommend?

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Why?

I would love to try some of these organic products from Nature Girl.

The looks of the bottles are just too cool, aren’t they? And I should point out that these products are not cheap. I would even consider this line to be more of a luxurious organic line, though it does not represent itself this way.

The facial mask pictured here, I Am Petal is $85. But just look at what it is made with:
Organic Rosa Damascena Oil
Organic Lavender Water
Wildcrafted African Shea Butter
Calendula Oil
Grape Seed Extract

And do you get why I love the packaging so?

Have you used any of Nature Girl products? If you have, which are my best bets to invest in and give a good try?

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This organic and vegan certified spritz can boost skin’s radiance, minimize age spots, sun spots and fine lines. It is fabulous for all skin types including oily, sensitive, normal and combination skin.

• The spritz contains some beneficial ingredients:
  MSM which helps to soften the skin
  Hyularonic Acid to hydrate the skin
• DMAE is included to tighten pores
  Red, White, and Green Tea protects your skin cells from being damaged by attacking free radicals and slowing down the aging process

von Natur Refresh & Rehydrate Spritz can be purchased for $22.00 at vonnatur.com.

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Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way of our routines, and I just could not concentrate with something terrible happening to a loved one. Nothing like a devastating diagnosis to make you realize what truly is important in life – family and friends, and above all else your health. You know, you can have all the money and happiness that you will ever need, but without your health, you have nothing.

Life just isn’t fair sometimes.

On a lighter note, I promise to be back on Monday with continued reviews of some great new natural and organic products I have been busy trying.

Post from: Pretty by Nature