What's a Toner?

What is a toner anyway? A toner simply refers to a wash designed to cleanse the skin and shrink your pores. Facial toners should usually be step 2 in your skin care routine, after washing and cleansing to get rid of dirt and makeup. Toners work to remove skin cells on the surface, soap residue, and excess oil to help the skin look clear and bright.

Toners leave you with a brighter complexion overall and, of course, improve your skin's "tone"! They also help reduce the appearance of fine lines in some cases and restore the skin's natural pH balance. Most toners use a lot of water and alcohol to clear the skin of oils, however, drying out the skin causes even more breakouts- and who wants that?!

We at Sodee Naturals have formulated  a special toner using witch hazel and an array of essential oils that leave your skin feeling clean and refreshed, without the drying, acne-promoting effects of alcohol. Our toner is a must-have in every woman's facial regimen!!!

How to use toner- After washing your face with your favorite facial soap (may we reccomend our egg white salt soap?) dry your face thoroughly and apply toner with a cotton ball directly onto your face. Next, apply a facial moisturizer (again, may we recommend our face lotion? It comes in oily, normal, and 24 hour varieties...) and you're ready for the day!!

 

 

 

Enhanced Face Lotion

                                        

 

 Wakamine-

Wakamine is a whitening active ingredient from natural origin.* It is extracted from a brown macro algae, Undaria Pinnatifida, growing in fairly protected water such as bays. Wakamine is approved by Ecocert for Ecological and Organic Cosmetics

 

It is a wonderful addition to skin care for it's ability to smooth out skin tones and whiten the skin. We include this great natural active in our 24 hour moisturizing face lotion. It helps to limit melanin production. According to the manufacturers information, it out preforms Arbutin. We are having a spring special for April- 50% off all face lotions with the code: freshface---happy shopping!!!


* Soliance

March Special

I love spring! I love flowers starting to bloom (at least in our area), and the smell of fresh cut grass. It is a time of new beginnings. We thought it was a great time to give you a great deal on trying something new. For the month of March we have a pack of five shampoo bars of your choice at 50% off. They have a long shelf life, so don't be afraid to stock up now. Just use the code: "Shampoo" to try some out today!

The Traveling Sisterhood blog is kind enough to be doing a giveaway for us today! She is an avid homeschooler who runs a great blog. Please go and check it out    today and enter  for a chance to win a grand sample pack.

Make Your Own Stain Removing Soap

We make a great stain buster soap. It is the perfect soap to have on hand to get out stains. I use it on carpet spots as well. Today we are going to share how to make it, what could be better than that?!

First let me get any warnings out of the way. Soap is rather easy to make, but that does not mean it is totally harmless. To make soap, you must use lye. Lye reacts with oils in a process known as saponification, to create soap. I will say, you should not fear lye, but you must respect it. It has to be handled properly. You should always wear protective gloves and eyewear when working with lye. It is also a good idea to have some vinegar on hand, because vinegar will neutralize the lye if you happen to spill any. It should ALWAYS be kept away from children. If you take these precautions, then it is really fun to work with.

So let's get started. First you must purchase your supplies. For this recipe you will need:
an empty container (I find the cream containers work well for this purpose)
8.41 ounces of Palm Oil
4.20 ounces of Coconut Oil
4.20 of Olive Oil
2.36 ounces of Sodium Hydroxide
.1 ounce of borax
and 5.85 ounces of water.

You can buy the  Borax, Coconut oil and Olive Oil at most grocery stores. You can get the Palm Oil and Sodium Hydroxide from thechemistrystore.com.  They run a great business and have good prices.
There are other soap ingredient suppliers like brambleberry.com or wholesalesuppliesplus.com if you want to shop around.

Other items you may want to consider if you don't have them are disposible or soapers gloves, a stick mixer,  a thermometer (even though temp. does not have to be exact) a scale that weighs ounces, and protective eyewear.

Once you have all your items collected you are ready to begin.

 You will also need two seperate containers to mix your lye/water and oils and soap in.  These must be plastic, silicone, glass, or stainless steel. You MAY NOT use any other metals as they will react to the soap.

Start by putting on your protective gear.




Measure your water out into one container and your lye in a small dish.

Add your Lye to your water..... Never the other way around. If you add water to lye you will get a mild explosive reaction which you do not want.
When you add the lye to water, stir until dissolved.  This mixture will turn hot  (over 200 degrees) so
have it sitting on the counter, do not hold the container. Be sure your spoon is not metal.

Let that sit.

Weigh out and melt your oils together in a separate container (oils can be melted in the microwave or over a double boiler).

When both your lye/water and your oils are about 110 degrees, add your borax to the lye/water mix and stir, then  you are ready to combine the oils and water.
*If you did not buy a thermometer, you can tell when you can put your hand on the outside of their containers and they feel warm but not too hot.

Pour the oil into lye/water mix and stir with a stick blender. If you opted not to buy one, don't worry you can mix with a spoon (non metal) it will just take longer. You mix until it looks a bit like thin pudding. You can tell this buy lifting the mixer up and you should be able to just see a slight ring from the mixer.  This is called the trace.

Then pour this mix into your empty cream container or mold of your choice. I slit the box at the corners so I could fold down the top and tape shut. Cover with a blanket or towels to keep warm. Let this sit in a warm place undisturbed for 24 hours. Then Voila!! You have soap!! Really quite easy once you get the hang of it. And for those who love the idea, but don't have the time, we do sell the soap in our shop.

Activated Charcoal Soap

Activated charcoal is very similar to common charcoal except,  to make activated charcoal, manufacturers heat common charcoal in the presence of a gas that causes the charcoal to develop lots of internal spaces or “pores.” These pores help activated charcoal “trap” chemicals.

Activated charcoal is widely known to treat poisonings and intestinal issues when ingested and is currently being explored in its' treatment of skin ailments such as acne. Activated charcoal is an adsorbent, that's right, "adsorbent, not "absorbent". Adsorbtion is when  ions, atoms, or molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid adhere to a surface, in this case the activated charcoal. This process creates a film of the adsorbate on the surface of the adsorbent. This is different from absorption, when a liquid (the absorbate)   is dissolved by another liquid or a solid.

Being an adsorbent, it is believed that activated charcoal, when applied topically, will clear the skin's surface of debris and even extract toxins from beneath the skin.

Our activated bamboo charcoal facial soap contains all these wonderful qualities and is a gentle alternative to the harsh chemicals used in many other soaps, plus, you have to admit it is a pretty cool looking soap!

Eczema:

If you have experienced Eczema, then you know it is long-term skin disorder that causes itchy rashes and scaly red skin. It is often unsightly, and can drive a person to distraction. It often appears in young children who do not understand the concept of not scratching where it itches. It can bleed and be quite painful. It can be caused by many different sources from allergies, to cold dry air, to food you eat, or even from stress.  Whatever is causing it you want to be able to ease it symptoms.  There are many different options of what to do.

1. See if there is any cooralation between what you are eating and having a breakout, and try and avoid those foods. Often things like eggs with children.

2. Avoid fabrics or lotions that you find irritate your skin. Some find lanolin to be an irritant or wool, while many find our lotion with lanolin really helps moisturize the skin and works great.

3. Avoid strong chemicals or harsh soaps.

4. And probably the hardest of all, try not to become stressed or anxious.

Even with all these steps, many still struggle with this.  Doctors often recommend cortizone creams.

These can however cause the skin to thin and become frail or cause you to bruise more easily. Many people would love to have options that are more natural. That was the idea behind our all natural creams that were developed specifically to try and soothe skin suffering from eczema.  It is not a cure, it is just a way to keep the symptoms under control. We have four different kinds because we found that there was not a miracle cream that fit all people. Some as I mentioned have a sensitivity to lanolin, hence a lanolin free version, some itch more so we developed one to deal with their needs. We have sample packs for sale that come with a coupon to refund your purchase and shipping costs when you order a jar. We have been delighted to have many people let us know how well these products work for them.

 

Use Code: Itch  for 50% off this week 12/11/12-12/18/12