From the time I can remember, I had “bad” skin. Even as an infant, my skin was rough, red, rashy and my mom tells stories that I can’t remember, thankfully, that my urine and feces burned my skin off where my diaper was. I had severe digestive pain, sores and rashes all over and in school, the other children thought I was contagious so life was...well, difficult. I was diagnosed with “severe allergies” and learned to deal with constant pain and symptom relief instead of a cure. As I grew older, I became more resilient and the skin and digestive pain lessened but I still dealt with rashes, severe dryness, itching, eczema, dandruff, fungal infections, sores, blemishes and countless other skin issues that never seemed to go away, no matter what I tried.
I started using Clinique moisturizer in my 20s for my face and never did find a body lotion that worked for any period of time. I used this face cream for many years even though I continued to have problems because I just couldn't find anything that worked any better.
By 2007, my had health declined significantly and I was unable to get out of bed. By God’s grace, I found a naturopath who turned my life around and helped me to get back on my feet and off many medications. He was a beekeeper and used some herbs and natural remedies as well as supplements during my healing process. I felt better so I went back to the same stressful nursing position in a long term care facility that I had when I got sick and by 2012, I was ill again and this time was so bad, I was not able to continue to work. I became bedbound again, worse than before, unable to sit up or walk except short distances in the house, was unable to use my arms for anything but eating, all activity caused me to collapse, I was in terrible pain, had severe chronic symptoms including nausea and vomiting and was deeply depressed. One day, I had a powerful vision of my husband feeding me as I sat immobile in a wheelchair. It scared me and I decided that this would not be the outcome of my life. I would do just a little more each day. I would get better. I prayed and struggled. At first I didn’t even have enough energy to wash myself or put my shoes on to go outside. A little at a time, I did a fraction more each day. I laid on the couch much of the time so I realized I could learn while my body healed. I loved plants and gardening so I decided to get my Herbal Diploma and see where that led. After completing that and working through several apprenticeships over several years, making my own remedies and skin care products, I began to feel genuinely better. I kept going and received my Nutrition Certificate, attended countless classes, workshops, seminars, weed and seaweed walks and wrote many research articles. I studied constantly in those early years and knew this was my calling. I began to read labels on everything and was shocked to find out what is in our food and skincare products. I was very concerned to find out how even the processing of these things can affect our health. After slowly getting back my energy, weaning off all medications, changing my diet and skin products, my health improved greatly. I have come to understand that I did not have “allergies,” I had chemical intolerances and was not preparing much of my food properly. I’ll share about that another time. We all are exposed to chemicals all day and it's gotten worse through the years. I was born maybe more intolerant to many unnatural chemicals than some. Chemical exposure may manifest immediately as skin problems, digestive issues, headaches, brain fog (and many more symptoms) and later as immune disease, chronic illness, cancer and even heart disease.
I learned to make my own skincare products during those early years of healing and as I started to read labels, decided to reduce my chemical exposure as much as possible. I encourage everyone to read labels. Research ingredients you are not familiar with. It is time consuming at first, but then you know and you can avoid things that do not agree with you. I believe it is especially important for those with chronic conditions.
Through this period of time, God found me wandering in the darkness, down a long winding path, searching, looking for Him actually...but very lost. I got mixed up in new age ideas and self-healing, believing it was me, not my Creator who was the healer. I had a moment of clarity, realizing I had turned my back on the God I had met and trusted as a child, repented, asked forgiveness and have since been born again. I actually felt my heart and my mind change when it happened. It was life changing. I understand now that Jesus is the healer and I am His hands here. I ask Him for guidance in everything I do and pray that He blesses the work of my hands. The work I do is from Him and not me. Everything I do is for His glory.
But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. Isaiah 64:8
Earlier I shared that one of the products I used for quite some time was Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. I stopped it the day I read the ingredients. Back then, I switched to some of my own products, simpler than the butters and balms I make now, but I knew that they were something different and they were working. Over the years, I have experimented and changed, learned and grown. I constantly think and pray about how to make them better. When my health was improving, I reached a plateau and was still getting rashes, red bumps, was itchy and had chronic headaches. I was told about essential oils and how they are made, how concentrated they are and wondered if I was having a reaction to them. I decided to do a deep dive into them. I then gave up all products that had them. I reached a new level of health. I am not saying that everyone should give them up, just that I could not tolerate them. I now make our products with only herbal infused oils that I make which are nourishing and healing and in very gentle concentrations for those who like more mild formulas.
I want to share something that really opened my eyes. Here are the ingredients in the Clinique Moisturizer I used for all those years:
Water, Mineral Oil/Paraffinum Liquidum/Huile Minerale, Glycerin, Petrolatum, Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Oil, Urea, Lanolin Alcohol, Triethanolamine, Hordeum Vulgare (Barley) Extract/ Extrait D’Orge, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seedcake, Propylene Glycol Dicaprate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Trisodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Yellow 6 (Ci15985), Yellow 5 (Ci19140), Red 33 (Ci17200).
After reading about the ingredients from other sources, it was interesting to see what the site says that is pro-Clinique and how they explain away any and all warnings of the dangers or potential adverse effects of all of these ingredients. That’s just the world we live in. I won’t go into detail about every ingredient, but here are the first ones I looked up using several sources in addition to the ones I listed. I think you'll be as surprised as I was.
Paraffinum Liquidum and Petrolatum are petroleum derivatives that result from refined crude oil/ petrochemicals and contain neurotoxins. Paraffinum Liquidum is mineral oil and forms a non-absorbable film that affects the skin’s natural respiration and blocks pores, trapping bacteria and dirt onto the skin. It also blocks any absorption of other ingredients that may be helpful in the product. John Hopkins University stated that mineral oil in cosmetics and moisturizers is the number two cause of aging, with the first being sun exposure. It can also cause acne and allergic reactions. Petrolatum has been thought to cause organ system toxicity and cancer. The European Union restricts its use in cosmetics until the full refining history is known and it can be proven non-carcinogenic and currently classifies it as a carcinogen. Canadian authorities consider it a high human health priority.
Trisodium EDTA is “cytotoxic and weakly genotoxic, but not carcinogenic.” per a PubMed article. Cytotoxic means toxic to cells affecting growth and proliferation and genotoxic means damaging to the genetic information of cells causing mutations which could lead to cancer. They also say that it is not absorbed through the skin but affects other chemicals absorption because of their chelating properties. Exposure to inhaled cosmetic formulations of this chemical is a concern according to this article but say that this is safe in low levels. I cannot imagine that it is not absorbed in some concentrations as our skin is a large organ with absorbant qualities.
Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that can cause severe allergic reactions and is only considered safe at less than 1% concentration. It has caused central nervous system damage in infants. What if you are using several products with this in them?
Triethanolamine has been reported by Cosmetic Ingredient Review, Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics and the U.S. National Library of Medicine as an immune system, skin and respiratory toxicant and shows ill effects when used around mouth, eyes and lips with some tests showing mutation results in bladder, liver and testicles. It also can cause allergic reactions, dryness, itching, burning, hives and blistering and could be toxic if absorbed over time.
Alcohols, Glycols and ethanols are all solvents that help absorption and are said to be skin conditioning but are also very drying and can be irritating. Some are synthetic, others are derived from petroleum and even if derived from a plant, are highly refined.
And finally the dyes. We’ve all heard of the dangers of red food coloring and they continue to use them indiscriminately. D&C Red 33 and Yellow 6 are synthetic dyes produced from petroleum and Red 33 has been shown to cause cancer in animals. Yellow 5 and 6 have been found to be contaminated with benzidines and carcinogens, can cause hypersensitivity reactions and are banned in the EU and other countries. Numerous studies have shown Yellow 5 is genotoxic.
Looking at the labels of other basic lotions, they also have a lot of these same ingredients and more that I can’t pronounce. Some of the ingredients have toxic or safety warnings and state that we should not consume them but that they are safe to use on the skin. Our digestive system has a number of safeguards when we ingest something toxic including saliva and the acid in our stomach. When something is absorbed by the skin, it goes straight to the bloodstream. I disagree with the “evidence” that something that is toxic to ingest can be safe on the skin. Synthetic chemicals or highly refined materials, many toxic or irritating, all made in a lab, mixed together in a “soothing and healing” lotion are highly suspect to me.
When I couldn’t find the natural products I was looking for, I decided I would make my own. I have been making these products for 10 years now, starting with trying them on myself, then sharing with family and friends and finally selling them in the last several years, using natural and organic ingredients. They are paraben, phthalate, petroleum and SLS free. The fragrances are the ingredients themselves and only natural colorants are used in our soaps. We use one preservative made from elderberries. Although it is made in a lab, the company making it uses the naturally derived botanical plant only, pure elderberry. It is found to be highly antimicrobial in oils so is used as a gentle preservative but to be effective in all products, it must be at a specific ratio, thus requiring technical management. It is GMO-free with no irradiation, sulphonation, hydrogenation, ethylene oxide or ethoxylation is used in processing. No solvents are used in the extraction process and it contains no added preservatives or unnatural antioxidants. Elderberry is skin conditioning, anti-aging, antioxidant, healing, astringent-tightening/toning, a natural sunscreen, nourishing and this ingredient still has all these benefits as guaranteed through rigorous testing.
Here are the other ingredients in our BeeBright Face Butter:
Avocado Oil: anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, protectant, acne reducing, natural sunblock, soothing to skin, increases collagen metabolism, gently antimicrobial
Cocoa Butter: hydrating, moisturizing, protectant, healing, anti-itch, eases dermatitis, protects against sun damage, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
Cacao Butter: antioxidant, improves skin tone/elasticity/collagen production, nourishing, hydrating, regenerating, high in easily absorbed magnesium, soothing, nutrient rich, healing
Coconut Oil: anti-inflammatory, gently antimicrobial, acne reducing, antioxidant, moisturizing, wound healing, increases collagen production
Shea Butter: moisturizing, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, gently antimicrobial, anti-fungal, acne reducing, boosts collagen, minimizes lines and wrinkles, regenerates new cells, reduces appearance of stretch marks and scars, natural sunblock, soothing, wound healing
Mango Butter: softens, protects, antioxidant, protects against sun damage, moisturizing, gently antimicrobial, antibacterial, nutrient dense, skin healing, evens skin tone
Arrowroot Powder: nutrient dense, decreases infection, anti-itch, treats rashes, sores, wounds and blemishes, evens skin tone, anti-aging, gently antimicrobial, rejuvenating, increases natural glow
Raw Honey: balances bacteria on the skin, gently antimicrobial, anti-eczema/psoriasis, wound healing, exfoliating, rejuvenating, antioxidant, skin lightening and brightening, healing, scar reducing
Herbal Infused Olive Oil:
I infuse organic olive oil with organic herbs that I fly in fresh and dry myself, that we ethically wildcraft and dry, or that I obtain from trusted sources that sell me fresh or freshly dried herbs. These are not essential oils. There is no distillation process that removes only the volatile oil (1-3% of the plant) making an essential oil, but infused oil, which is simply soaking the plant in the oil over time. This uses a small amount of plant material and allows all the plant constituents that are oil soluble, including the volatile oil, to infuse into the oil slowly. I believe this makes a more whole herbal remedy that uses the entire plant with it's own buffers, congruence and unique qualities that are all designed to work together. This makes a safe and balanced product, not one that uses a highly concentrated fraction of the plant.
We use infused Rose Oil, Plantain Oil and Chamomile Oil for our BeeBright Face Butter.
Rose is toning/tightening, antioxidant, moisturizing, anti-itch, mildly antimicrobial, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, nourishing, restorative and brightening.
Plantain is healing, cleansing, clearing, softening, healing, redness reducing, anti-itch and moisturizing.
Chamomile is conditioning, antioxidant, toning, gently antimicrobial, cell regenerating, moisturizing, redness reducing, evens skin tone, lightening, anti-aging, anti-rash, and helps with absorption of other ingredients.
The only risks of any of these ingredients is personal allergy or some (cocoa, cacao butter or coconut oil) may cause blemishes in certain people but in others will treat and reduce them.
It seems that many of the chemicals added to skin care items are there to increase shelf life but ironically they then become dead, lifeless products. My hope is that our products breathe life into your skin. When I saw that I could make a product that gives such fantastic benefits, I wanted to share with as many as possible. Visit our website to see what we have for natural skincare items. I feel that God led me on this amazing journey of pain and darkness to share my testimony, bring light to this industry and share with others what He has led me to do.
May you all bee blessed! Kena
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24
18.https://www.boldsky.com/health/nutrition/2018/arrowroot-benefits-for-hair-skin-health-126940.html
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