Monthly Archives: August 2012

Tips and Tricks

Using the Natural Soap

The proper way to store the soap when traveling

Did you know that soap can breathe? You’d know a lot about natural soap if you took a look at what real soap looks like. It’s colorless, usually odorless and sensitive to the environment. Colors may change depending on the environment. Since we use the finest vegetable ingredients we can find they often vary by batch. Most of our ingredients come from incredibly diverse areas where they are made differently such as Shea butter. This means that each batch differs slightly in appearance.

Dark spots on the soap bars are not uncommon. As the soap ages, it will continue to discolor. This is normal and one of the reasons this is such a good soap! Beware of any products that look as good on Day 1 as they do in a year. Other soaps use chemicals (plasticizers) to preserve the same appearance for years.

Do not store soap in a plastic bag

Our soap bars will physically change over time. To many, as the soap ages it actually mellows and becomes even better. Like a fine wine!

Do not store this soap in a plastic bag. It is best to allow the natural soap to breathe. If you place this soap next to regular store bought soap it may absorb chemicals or odors from those soaps as well. This is also why the soap should breathe in an open environment.

Avoid a “Vanishing” Bar
While many tells us our large soap bars last forever, we have others that say they go through the bars like clockwork. With such a lathery bar of soap as ours, be sure and put the soap in a soap dish that is well drained and out of the shower stream. This will allow our soap to dry between showers or baths. If our natural soap stays wet in a puddle of water, it will melt fast.

Pro tip from our customer, Jill:

Cut your bars in quarters when you get them. They are already large “blocks” as it is and cut fairly easily. Dividing the bars increases the surface area and allows for the soap to “breathe” easier. Did we mention it’s easier to give to your friends that way?

Pro Tip from another customer, Caseh:

After cutting the bar into quarters take a cloth and wipe the soap hard a few times. This should create plenty of foam to wash the face with. This method also saves a lot of the soap so you can keep using that bar for months!

Informational

Essential Oils, Carrier Oils or Fragrance Oils… Which Should Go on Your Skin?

Rapeseed oil field – FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Whether it’s going into your cars, on your food or on your skin – “oils” play an important role in the day to day lives of people. The origins and use of oils are so vastly diverse that it is hard to label every type of oil as such. While oil in cars is usually labeled a petroleum, the oil we’re talking is usually in the form of an essential oil or a carrier oil.

Webster’s dictionary defines cosmetic oil as: “a substance (as a cosmetic preparation) of oily consistency.”

An incredibly vague definition. Nothing is explained at all about why we use these oils or what kind we use. It is best to explain these oils by type:

Essential oils add the active qualities of a product. Whether it’s skin healing, soothing, softening, anti-inflammatory or a thousand different combinations of the above – every essential oil has numerous qualities. The only limit to a product with essential oils is what type go in what product. An essential oil known to soften rough skin will better go in a moisturizer than a discoloration cream.

We use essential oils in just about every product we use. It is the active ingredient to fulfill the benefits that we aim the product to achieve. Not only are there numerous kinds of essential oils but there are numerous grades. We use the highest quality forms with the least dilution. Some companies believe just a drop of expensive oil is enough but we believe that’s deceptive advertising.

Derived from the fatty portion of a plant, carrier oils are the vehicle that takes these oils through your skin. While some believe that oil containing products are what cause their breakouts there are others that believe that an oil can just sit on the skin. Both are wrong. Essential oils by itself may cause skin irritations or just sit there. Carrier oils will dilute these oils and allow the important stuff to break through the skin barriers.

Combine these with an efficient method of making moisturizer, notably without ingredients that block absorption, and you get the complete benefits of these oils.

Fragrance oils are the mystery oils in the cosmetic industry. Manufacturers do not need to disclose what is contained in fragrances. This is problematic for those with allergies to fragrances or what is contained in the base form. It’s hard to identify every ingredient in a product when fragrances are used. Aiming for paraben-free products? What about sulfate-free? With fragrances we probably will never know for sure!

Fragrances add little to a product other than aroma. This smell is short lasting and usually better for attracting people to the product rather than what it actually does. Combine the risks of using fragrances with such superficial qualities and this makes it a hard sell for us. We don’t use fragrances in any of our products.

Tips and Tricks

Regular or Industrial Strength Treatment for Acne?

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Most acne products on the market use Benzoyl Peroxide as the primary clearing ingredient. It may seem smart to use higher and higher amounts of this essential ingredient but we recommend less. Much less for healthy skin.

We use BP in our acne treatment like most others but in smaller quantities. This is why we we offer an Industrial Strength version for those with more severe acne as well as the Regular Strength.

Drying, Sensitivities and Overuse
Benzoyl Peroxide acts as an oxygen generator for your skin. When massive amounts of oxygen are absorbed into the skin, this disrupts bacteria. Acne is prevented from even forming if done right. Problem?

Benzoyl Peroxide is overused in today’s market. It’s easy to throw BP at the problem and create a quick fix. In today’s quick-fix-world where people demand instant cures it is hard to practice patience. But that is exactly the way to achieve not just clear skin but healthy skin. Clear skin done quickly may not stay clear for long. Healthy skin stays permanently clear!

The drying effects of BP are well documented. Not only can the ingredient dry the skin too much but the skin can adapt to BP. It begins to take more and more treatments to stay clear as the body adjusts to such harsh conditions.

A small portion of the population is actually allergic to Benzoyl Peroxide. This creates a rash on the skin when used as an ointment. That doesn’t mean these people can’t use products that contain BP. This just means they need to carefully monitor the amount they use on their skin. Here is a guide about using BP for people with skin sensitivities…

Regular Strength or Industrial “Kick Ass” Strength?
The goal is for all acne sufferers to be able to take the regular strength to stay clear. The “Kick Ass” formula uses a higher amount of BP (about 5%) to keep severe acne sufferers and teens clear. The regular strength uses about half that amount which is far lower and milder than other products on the market (and yet works more effectively!).

If you are a severe acne sufferer or teenager with acne, use the Kick Ass treatment. This formula has the right amount of BP to effectively clear the skin. Not only can this product better handle skin more oily and prone to acne but it isn’t full of heavy chemicals that most products marketed towards teens and severe acne sufferers do. For the hard to treat spots or lagging results, try the Kick Start Method. For body acne sufferers, skin on your body is less sensitive than your face. You can apply a more liberal amount on the body so the Kick Ass treatment may be for you.

As your skin becomes clearer, switch to the Regular Strength. If you have a pimple here or there, start with the Regular Strength. The Regular Strength has the ideal amount of BP for long term health. Not too drying, not too harsh for sensitive skin. Like Goldilocks said, just right!

The solution to your acne woes may appear to need extreme measures but they really don’t. If you have a history of acne ointment “abuse” (because that’s almost what it is!) your skin will take longer to adapt to milder treatments. All of those heavy acidic products so pumped full of terrible chemicals did long term damage to the skin. The skin will take time to heal. Don’t even think about an acid wash! You may as well pop pimples yourself and hope for the best.

 

Promotions

Carley’s Clear & Smooth is International!

Where is Carley’s Clear & Smooth available? Is Carley’s available in the United Kingdom? The Philippines? Romania? You name it, it’s probably available online. Your only limited by your access to the internet. Something tells me if your reading this that means you fit into that category.

One of the great things about an online business is that we don’t have to deal with retail. The typical retailer marks up products over 100%. Since manufacturing and distribution is done in-house we aren’t limited by geography.

A Scottish friend of mine annually flies to Orlando, Florida with bags of candies. Bags filled to the brim with world famous Cadbury chocolates. Trading these items with relatives, they get their shopping fix done and fly back full of clothes. Essentially trading hard-to-come items in America with hard-to-come items in Britain. What we don’t want is forcing you to do this with our products! That’s why we make shipping easy and fast. Oh, and guaranteed, of course!

Thousands of our customers hail from more than 70 countries. We have always had a strong presence in the United Kingdom and Canada. Many of our customers come from Southeast Asia. Some of our most active fans now hail from Australia.

The Aussies can’t get enough of our product. Maybe it’s due to the fantastic economy Down Under or maybe a couple raving fans. We don’t know but it’s exciting!

The international mix doesn’t stop with just our readers and customers. We find many of our best ingredients are imported directly from their source. This means a diverse mix of  ingredients fresher longer.

Informational

There’s a Bug on your Face! Cosmetics and their Love Affair with Coloring.

Have you ever gone on a run or bike ride and gotten a cloud of nats stuck to your face? It’s not an enjoyable experience. What if they were ground up and put in the products that go on your face?

Bug juice is an actual ingredient that cosmetic (and food!) companies use to make their product look pretty. Unless you’re Bear Grylls, the thought of that may make you uncomfortable.

Hold the beatles, please
The female cochineal, when crushed after feeding on the pricky pear cacti, create a striking red color. The coloring is used in everything from lipstick to cosmetics with a reddish tint. Though this product may have little effect on most, some have had serious allergic reactions to this popular bug extract.

Red Dye #2
We wish this problem were just about bugs. Almost every cosmetic uses some sort of colorant. You may remember the Red Dye #2 panic. Studied linked the popular coloring to cancer. The Mars Company had to take red M&Ms out of lineup even though it contained no Red Dye #2! The coloring made a comeback in the form of Red Dye #40. In 2010, several governmental organizations have called for the ban of this dye now.

Remind me to only drink black coffee at Starbucks – FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Starbucks recently “decided” to get rid of the bug juice carmine from their strawberry flavoring. Carmine is just a fancy word for crushed beetles. Starbucks will now use a natural tomato extract instead to color their strawberry filling. Why is it such a tug of war with the big companies to listen to the customers over margins?

How synthetic coloring?
Almost every colorant has some kind of effect on the body. Here is the “palette” of coloring a popular company uses for their line of cosmetics:

  • Brilliant Blue FCF – Derived from petroleum; known to cause allergic reactions; was banned in over 10 European countries
  • Sunset Yellow FCF – Derived from petroleum and coal tar; known to cause allergic reactions and hyperactivity; banned in several countries including Norway and Finland
  • Allura Red AC – Known to cause hyperactivity in children; The Center for Science in the Public Interest is calling for an FDA ban
We can’t look like Brad Pitt anymore than we can make a bug and color-free soap look like that

As much as we wish our soap could can be as pretty as Tyler Durden’s, we don’t use fragrances or coloring of any kind. In any product. This puts a major hamper on people’s expectations of what a soap should look like – pretty, sensual, beautiful, colorful. It’s not your prom date. It’s supposed to clean. For pure utilitarian purposes a soap with the absence of these terrible ingredients does far more for the skin.

“Natural” products
This goes back to what a natural product really is. We call our products natural and so do many others. But what is exactly is natural? Technically, bug juice is as natural as you get. The Ancient Aztecs used it as a dye for centuries. The real issue is the labeling. Companies list this ingredient as “other” or simply Carmine. It’s skating around the issue that bug juice simply disgusts most of us. Companies would rather keep their margins than disclose the nature of their ingredients.

Bug juice may seem gross but it’s not near as disgusting as some of the synthetic coloring that makes it’s way to the store shelves. Those can have devastating effects for some. For what? To make the product prettier. Nothing more.

Informational

If it’s Good Enough for King Tut’s it’s Good Enough for You: Black Seed Oil to Treat Eczema

Eczema and Itchy Skin Testimonials

“This absorbs so nicely and my hands are healing up already! In 2 days! Aloha!” -Louis

“This works! I had a rash for 2 months, this got rid of it in a week.” -sorchamacsidhe, eBay

“That eczema cream worked beautifully for an undiagnosed rash that
my daughter had. I mean… Instantaneously. It was absolutely amazing. I absolutely adore your product and even got another believer, who never found anything she was not allergic to except one cruddy over-the-counter product, who now swears by your product in Grass Valley.” -Linda, Grass Valley

“I love this cream. Started having very dry skin on my eyelids during the winter. I use this cream every night and within 2 days, my eyelids are no longer dry. Remember, this will not absorb in right away, but will within about 20 minutes. I just use it right before going to bed. Decided to try it on my face as well and it leaves my skin soft and hydrated. Very happy I found this.”

“May 10-year-old daughter had a terrible skin problem that has been resistant to many treatments. She would get wart-like bumps along with a constantly itchy skin rash that would redden, swell, and scale. My daughter started using the eczema lotion. It’s amazing. Literally within a handful of treatments, her 1+ year problem was gone. In fact, Carley’s wrote to inquire how it had worked and I had to admit that she had not complained for so long that I had literally forgotten what was once an EVERYDAY problem. I had to ask my daughter how it was working and she said it was definitely working! She has been itch free for over a month. How about that????!!!!!”

“This new eczema cream is really fabulous! Good work.” -k9tardus, eBay

“Love it, love it, love it, where have you been all my life? I’ll be back, thanks.” -sassyfrassy85, eBay

Product Reviewed: Carley’s Soothing Eczema Cream with Black Seed Oil