07
Jan 13

Stay well this winter

Wash with Alabu Soap
This time of year everyone is saying’ It’s going around” and “IT” is not a good thing.  Colds, flu’s, sinus infections, stomach virus;  they all hit hard in the winter months. But what can you do to reduce your sick days this winter? One of the easiest ways and one near an

d dear to our hearts is to wash your hands often. Of course if you ask we would recommend only using hand sanitizer when you can’t use Alabu Goat milk soap and water; soap and water is recommended as the best way to remove germs from your hands. Try to wash your hands every time you come back home too. Another easy way is to increase the amount of fresh fruit you and your family eat.

  1. Keep tissues handy and practice washing your hands after using them.
  2. Practice germ-free hand drying- use paper towels or buy a stack of cheap bar towels and use once and toss in the laundry.
  3. Clean your food prep work surfaces in between each use.
  4. Clean the floors more often, so dust doesn’t accumulate and get mixed into the air you breathe.
  5. Try to get some fresh air and sunshine everyday and take at least four deep breaths too; it helps to clear your lungs.

04
Jan 13

View From My Window — January 2013

Clara with Alabu Soap
Clara just turned two, she is Faith’s little sister, well she is actually her younger sister, she is bigger than Faith now and growing like a very healthy weed. One day after a lunch-time visit, Clara needed a bath; yes, she really enjoyed her lunch. I asked if she wanted a bath and she was excited and said yes. So I filled my kitchen sink with warm water, but when I went to  put her in the sink she was a little panicked and looked at me like maybe I had lost my mind. I explained to her that when her mommy was little she took a bath in the sink all the time. It’s a nice bath, it’s just a little bath.

Something clicked with her and she agreed to a bath in the sink. She had lots of fun and kept saying, “I’m taking a little bath”. Then she decided that she wanted her sister to take a little bath too. My daughter thought I was kidding when I said ok. I have a double sink and yes I filled that one up with warm water and Faith had a little bath too. There was lots of splashing and laughter and of course they each insisted on having their own bar of Alabu Goat Milk Soap!  Now every time I say “little” Clara wants a little bath!  Yes, I am one happy grammy.


05
Dec 12

Facial Exfoliants – Do I really need to buy them?

So, there you are….. Looking at an overwhelming array of facial exfoliants.  All of them promise to brighten, microfoliate, peal, enhance, scrub, and the list goes on. In today’s tough economic times, you think about your credit card bill and bank balance and wonder…… “Do I really need to pay $57.98 for 2.6 oz of a microfoliant?”  I suspect not.

Yes, part of a good skin care routine is to exfoliate.  However, with just a few minutes in the kitchen and many dollars less than the $57.98 needed for a commercial product, you can make your own and tune it over time to meet your specific skin needs.  There is a lot of information out there on exfoliation.  Here is an easy read article on exfoliation.

Oat and Honey

Often, if you choose a mild exfoliating soap, you do not need a separate exfoliating product.  Or, if you do, you can use a less aggressive exfoliant and exfoliate less often.

So, the next time you are looking for an exfoliant, try to make your own.  You will be pleasantly surprised how well it works.  This will be both fun and economical to “do it yourself”.

Here are a few simple exfoliants that you can make your self:

  • Yogurt – this seems to be the gentlest of all the natural skin recipes. Simply apply a tablespoon of, full fat plain yogurt to your face. Let it sit for a few minutes and rinse off. The lactic acid provides gentle exfoliation leaving your skin radiant and refreshed.
  • Ground oatmeal – grind up some rolled oats in your blender or coffee grinder, mix with a little water or Replenish Facial Moisturizer and apply and gently rub on your face. Very nice and gentle.
  • Combine the two – blend your ground oatmeal with yogurt or milk.  That will add a gentle, soothing cleansing action to the exfoliation process.

For a more aggressive exfoliant, give these a try.  Please note though that these give a much more “mechanical” abrasion so you will want to go slowly.  Also, be sure to test first on your inner arm or behind your ear.

  • Ground almonds – good for dry skin, but be careful and go slowly and be sure they are ground up really fine. Simple to make by grinding almonds in your blender or coffee grinder. The almond oil provides moisture for dry skin.
  • Ground Sunflower seeds – very similar to almonds.  This produces a really nice, soft, buttery scrub.
  • Ground barley – grind and mix with avocado oil.  Go slowly and test before applying to your face.
  • Sugar Scrub – simply add a little granulated sugar to cold pressed oil (olive oil is good). Has a nice brightening effect. Some people like using brown sugar because they like the smell.
  • Sea salt body scrub – Not recommended for your face.  Use on your body.  Apply with some olive oil or a good moisturizer –Alabu Body Lotion is good :).  Go very slowly and gently, use for 30 seconds to one minute at the most. Use a finely ground salt. Salt can be irritating if you scrub too hard or leave on too long, however, it feels refreshing and energizing.
  • Coconut oil and cornmeal – A good body scrub. Mix together and rub slowly and gently on the skin.

Alabu Exfoliating Soaps

  • Oat &  Honey goat milk soap – A very gentle exfoliating soap made with our own ground oat flour.  We know that the flour provides the exfoliation action, but what about the honey?  Honey moisturizes, and protects your skin along with many other benefits.  Here is a great article on the benefits of honey.
  • Lemon Scrub goat milk soap – This is NOT a face soap.  This is an exfoliant that you would use on your body.  It has corn meal.  So rub gently.  The lemon essential oil acts as an exfoliant as well.  For some information this, take a look at the benefits of lemon on your skin.

02
Dec 12

5 Winter Skin Care Tips

Winter is so drying to your skin. Although the climate around the country varies, the problems our skin experiences are similar. In the winter your skin is exposed to many harsh environments like dry indoor air, cold and wind outside, not to mention the lack of sunshine. All this can cause very dry, flaky irritated skin in the winter months. But there is relief!

What you need to do is moisturize, exfoliate, and moisturize again. Your skin reacts differently in the winter so you need to adjust accordingly.

Cleansing: In the Winter one of the most important things to keep in mind is hot water dries your skin. As good as it feels to take a steaming hot shower your skin will suffer the consequences. If your skin is very dry try washing with water that is warm but not hot. You want your cleansing routine to be as moisturizing as possible, so you might want to change to one of our more moisturizing soaps such as Baby Me or Olive soap if you are not already using it.

Moisturize: Replenish Facial Moisturizer is great but if you need something more in the winter try the Shea Body Butter, even though it is a heavier moisturizer, the ingredients are all non-comedogenic, so it can be used on your face without fear of clogging pores.
It is a good idea to use a heavier moisturizer in the winter since your skin has more extreme conditions to deal with. Itchy skin often happens because the dry air of winter is causing the moisture in the top layer of your skin to evaporate.

Exfoliate: This is done to remove dead skin cells and allow your skin to absorb the extra moisturizer you are applying. But don’t exfoliate more than twice per week.

Hydrotherapy: This stimulates your circulatory system for better blood flow to your skin. You can do this at home by using your shower. Start out with a warm shower, before you finish switch the water to cold for about fifteen seconds then back to warm. Repeat the process for two minutes. Try it and see if you don’t feel better.

Moisturize: The best time to moisturize is right after a bath or shower. The bath helps to hydrate your skin and our moisturizers help to form a protective barrier to keep the moisture from evaporating.

And remember healthy skin starts from the inside, so eat healthy whole foods and drink plenty of water.


26
Nov 12

Don’t Get Irritated

I was talking with a customer recently, and it didn’t take too long before we found ourselves on the subject of skin irritation—specifically skin care ingredients that cause skin irritation. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity to shed some light on this topic.

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of irritating skin ingredients, but rather a guide that will hopefully allow you to figure out what ingredients do and don’t work for you.

There are literally hundreds of ingredients being used in skin care products, and what one person finds irritating, another person has no problem. There are, however, some ingredients that are generally irritating, and it’s worth your time to learn about them.

The first thing I want to discuss is alcohol. There’s a common misconception that alcohol in a skin care product is bad. This is true some of the time, but there’s more than one type of alcohol. The two that you need to know about are volatile alcohols, and fatty alcohols.

Volatile alcohols are what you’d typically think of when someone says alcohol:

  • Denatured Alcohol
  • Ethanol
  • Isopropyl Alcohol

These—as you might already know—have a tendency to dry your skin out and cause irritation. So we like to avoid them unless it’s part of a specific skin care regimen, and you intend to use a moisturizing product as a part of the regimen.

The other kind of alcohols—fatty alcohols—are found in many places. Sometimes the names look “bad” and sometimes they look innocent, but in general they are pretty beneficial.

  • Retinol (Vitamin A molecule to discourage wrinkles)
  • Tocopherol (Vitamin E, a free radical fighting antioxidant)
  • Cetyl Alcohol (product thickener)
  • Stearyl Alcohol (Emollient)
There are many different types of ingredients in skin care products.  Some are actually good for your skin and a lot of them are not.  The list below represents a few of the more common ingredients that may be irritating or drying to your skin.
  • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate – a detergent found in cleansing gels.  It may dry out your skin or irritate it.  Read a bit more on this and the ingredients contained in Dove for Sensitive Skin Bar
  • Sodium Trideceth Sulfate – same as above
  • Sodium Laureth Sulfate – same as above
  • Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate – a harsh detergent found in cleansing gels and can be extremely drying and irritating to the skin
  • Ammonium Laureth Sulfate – same as above
  • Fragrance – the #1 cause of allergic reactions to skin care products. If you’re sensitive to fragrance, avoid products containing the word “fragrance” or “parfum” on the ingredient listing.  Most people can use products made with high quality Essential Oils.  Here is a great explanation of Essential Oils and their benefits.
  • Dyes and colorants – An unnecessary chemical used to give a product its color and can be a skin irritant. Commonly listed as the very last ingredient with the words FD&C

At Alabu Skin Care we always encourage you to read the labels on your skin care products and learn about the ingredients that you’re applying to your skin. If you have a question on any ingredient in any of your skin care products, just contact us and we will be glad to try to answer it.

You might like to know:

  • Alabu products do not contain any synthetic chemicals or ingredients.
  • At Alabu we do not use ANY water in our products.
  • Alabu’s primary ingredients are beneficial to your skin.