How to Read a Label

Have you ever been lured in by a product because it is called something great? You know like "Shea butter cream" So you buy it thinking it is all rich in shea butter and you slather it on thinking all that shea butter will go to work making your skin awesome and soft. Then you flip the jar around and you read the label searching for the shea butter... it's there it's the last thing on the list. They save the best for last right?? Wrong. Did you know that by law lables have to list ingredients in descending order of amount found in the product. What does this mean? If the shea butter in your shea butter cream is last on the list then your cream could just be called cream. So let's learn how to read a label. Shall we?

First does it ever feel like the ingredients are suddenly in a foreign language? Labels are required to list the "international" terms for the ingredients unless it is a very commonly known ingredient like cocoa butter. This means that even something natural and safe can have a crazy "scary" sounding name.  Like Shea is Butyrospermum parkii. The most important thing to realize about the labels in the order of the ingredients.

The first ingredient is the main ingredient in the product. In many cases this is water but you don't need to immediately think this means that your product is watered down, or diluted. The human body is mostly water and yet we are not "watered down". Water just helps to pull it all together. Most diluted products are diluted with alchols or other fillers since they can mimic the ingredients they are replacing only much cheaper. So check for alcohols on the list and be sure they are not near the top of the list or understand what kind of alcohol they are (some should never be in your product and some are ok, more on that later). Mineral Oil should never be on your ingredient list.

Another key part of label reading is placement. So we all know now that they descend in order but did you know that some ingredients will always have a set percentage in any product? For example, fragrance is always going to be between 1-2% in any given product. So any ingredient listed after fragrance on the list has less than 1-2% in the product. So you may be shocked to find that a "shea butter cream" lists shea butter last and that is after fragrance. What? Less than 1-2% of shea butter yet, it's called a shea butter cream? Well shea butter is good, and powerful but even for shea butter that is a stretch of it's capabilities.

examples:

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), isopropyl palmitate, coco-caprylate/caprate, stearic acid, glyceryl stearate se, butyrospermum parkii (wildcrafted shea butter), lavendula angustifolia (lavender) oil, squalane (vegetable derived), prunus armeniaca (apricot) kernel oil, cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil, glycine soja (soybean) oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) oil, hydrolyzed wheat protein, lecithin (soy), trisodium edta (sodium salt), sodium benzoate, methylparaben and propylparaben.sambucus nigra (elder flower extract), achiullea millefolium (yarrow extract) hydrolyzed wheat protein, lecithin, sorbic acid, phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate. Citrus medica limonum (lemon extract), chamomilla recutita (maticaria extract)

Isopropyl palmitate is recommended between 1-5% but here it is second. Lavender Oil is most likely not over 2-3%, so everything after that is most likely in very small amounts.  Also includes paraben's a preservative system many choose to avoid.

Ours:

Ingredients: Agua, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Butyrospermum Pakii (Shea) Butter, Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Macadamia ternifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil, Cetearyl & Ceteareth 20 (Emulsifier), Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance 

Note how other than water, Cocoa Butter is the number one ingredient. The next is an emulsifier, has the term alcohol in it, but is not considered an alcohol even by the FDA as it is actually a waxy type substance. (as mentioned that will be covered in another post) then we are back to coconut oil and shea butter. That is what makes this product so thick and lovely, it is packed with real natural oils.

So go ahead give label reading a try, you might be surprised by what you find, or by what you don't find.

Wow, well the free sample requests have been flooding in. That is the good news. The downside is as a small company the expense is becoming more than we anticipated. We understand that samples are very helpful in deciding which cream to use as everyone is different. So, what to do? We made a decision that we would still offer the samples, but we would need to charge for them. You see, we give fairly generous sample packs so that the user has enough to see which one works.
So as of today you will see that we have sample packs of the four kinds of lotion for sale on the site. They are meant as samples only, so to control costs we would need to limit how many sample packs a customer could order. We thought this was the best solution to allowing you to try before buying a whole jar.

Seabuckthorn Oil {it's a beautiful thing}

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Seabuckthorn Oil, crazy name amazing oil.

Seabuckthorn berries are little orange berries that grow in clusters. To make seabuckthorn oil the process is simple and natural, you add the juice from the berries with a high grade grape or almond oil, the oil helps to act as the carrier to bring the nutrients into your skin.

Besides the oil being natural there is a long list of reasons that we LOVE seabuckthorn oil. 

The combination of vitamin C and antioxidants combat:

• Eczema
• Acne
• Aging
• psoriasis
• and dry skin

Seabuckthorn Oil also has:

• Natural UV protection 
• The ability to nourish the skin
• Restoritive qualities such as reducing wrinkles in the skin
• Tissue regeneration

Seabuckthorn oil has been known to reduce swelling and redness in the skin caused by several different skin conditions.

Try a product with seabuckthorn oil and you will see how you can have naturally beautiful and healthy skin. You can find Seabuckthorn oil in the Seabuckthorn Eczema Cream.

SLS... The good the bad and the Ugly

SLS {sodium laurel sulfate}

An ingredient derived from the coconut. It is used as a detergent in soaps, and shampoos. It cleanses and removes oil and dirt the exact way you would expect a shampoo or soap to do for you.
It's gotten a bit of a bad rap over the past few years. Companies boasting "SLS Free" shampoo came out and said that SLS was a harsh chemical and that it was abrasive and dangererous. No doubt hoping to drive people to buy their product free of such "toxic" chemicals.

So you may be wondering, why would a natural company use such a "harmful" indgredient?
Simple.
SLS is natural, safe, and nothing produces  better sudsing action then SLS. When it comes to a great shampoo you want a nice lather right? {right!}

Now before you go on believeing that all SLS is great and wonderful you should know that there is a difference. Some SLS {derived from the coconut} is processed in a way that becomes contaminated with 1,4 dioxane. That is a carcinogenic that can be irritating to the skin.

We ONLY use SLS certified to be free of 1,4 dioxane. Shampoo should work, but it should also be safe.
 

 So there is no need to blindly fear SLS, we have been using it for 10 years and still find it mild and nonabrasive. (*for most people without coconut sensitivities)  All surfactants (ingredients that clean) remove oil barriers, that is how they clean away dirt and grime. The idea is to clean and then moisutrize. We recommend conditioning your hair after washing to restore good oils and to moisturize  the hair and scalp. Just be educated about the real dangers out there and knowing which products are safe to use.

Natural Yogurt

Do you love yogurt? 

Yogurt is fresh delicious and creamy. The added bonus of the probiotics found within is amazing. What am I talking about? Live active cultures. You don't need a fancy kind of yogurt to have live active cultures, all yogurt has it and live active cultures help ensure a healthy body, especially if you ever experience tummy troubles.
You know what is a shame? Companies feel the need to add fillers and junk to their what would be a natural product. The good news is that making yogurt at home is really easy and affordable. SO you can have fresh natural yogurt high in calcium and full of those live active cultures.
I found this great tutorial
I thought it sounded easy enough, so I gave it a try.
Not only was it easy, (made easier with a laser thermometer), but it is delicious!
I used the heating pad method that they mentioned, so once it was cooked, it just needed to sit and incubate.
I used natural yogurt as my starter ( you need the yogurt so you can get the live active cultures) 
I also used whole milk in mine which gave it a great creamy texture.
I think it tastes great plain or I add honey or jam.
It makes the perfect breakfast with a bit of granola sprinkled in.

Pomegranate Love

It's Pomegranate season!

Or what could just be called my favorite season.
Since it is obviously no secret that we here at Sodeë Naturals LOVE nature, the same goes for everything nature provides us to eat. Like delicious and nutritious pomegranates.

Pomegranate fun facts:

• Pomegranates start out round and become more square shaped when ripe and ready to eat.
• Pomegranates are filled with little edible "juice pockets" called arils
• The arils have edible and fiber rich seeds in the middle.
• Pomegranate juice is delicious but stains (so beware)
• Pomegranate arils can be added to any recipe like salads, brownies, soups, or eaten plain.
• Pomegranates are high in vitamin C and fiber
• There have been studies that have shown pomegranates help to ward off the common cold.

So let's cut one open, get our vitamin C on, and keep those common colds at bay

Need help cutting one open? Here is a great tutorial!

Oily Hair?

Ok let's take a moment and talk hair. Say it with me now...

What do we want???

Shiny healthy hair!!

How do we get it?

{cricket cricket}

Oh you don't have an answer? Perhaps greasy oily hair is how you get your "shine" on.
Well let's change that!
Did you know that over washing your hair leads to oily hair?
That's right it is a vicious cycle...
Wash your hair because it it greasy when it is greasy because you wash your hair.
How do you stop this never ending cycle of hair torment?
Take control of your hair! Stop washing it. You don't have to stop showering to stop washing your hair.
You can get it wet, you can use conditioner even, just lay off the shampoo for a while.
If you shampoo every day currently
Start by washing only every other day
Yes you will say things like "my hair is too greasy I can't go on!"
But you can, and you will.
Then try once every 3 days. (crazy? no for real. Your hair will thank you)
That is really all it takes.
Another super tip (and a product plug cause that how we roll around here)
Use a shampoo bar!
Unlike most shampoos that have alcohols in them that strip your hair of natural oils and leave your scalp to over produce oils... another vicious cycle.
Shampoo bars don't have alcohols, only natural ingredients that feed your scalp, protect your hair and help keep the balance. Who wouldn't want balance?
So all together this time...

What do we want??

Shiny healthy hair!

How do we get it??

Use a shampoo bar! (and wash less often)