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Calendula, also known in the herbal world as “Mother of The Skin” is a flowering herb that seems to do well in just about all soil conditions. This wonderful plant not only adds beauty to the garden but offers medicinal and culinary benefits as well, and is most recognized for its effectiveness in treating skin problems such as wounds, burns, insect bites, shingles, eczema, and skin ulcers to name a few.
We grow and harvest Calendula every year, making infused oils and use the actual pedals of the plant in our goat milk soap bars. Calendula is very healthy for the skin and very mild. We recommend our Unscented or Calendula Oranges soaps bars for those who have extremely sensitive skin.
Harvesting Calendula is simple and can be a lot of fun, especially when the entire family gets involved. After picking the flowers we set them in drying racks out of direct sun light and moisture until they are completely dried. After they have dried we hand pick each pedal to use in our soaps, and store the rest in glass jars to use as needed.
Goat’s milk in general is extremely healthy for the skin, and when adding natural ingredients such as pure essential oils and actual pedals of the plant straight from the garden you couldn’t ask for a more healthier and natural soap bar.
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A common ingredient found in many handcrafted soap bars such as natural goat’s milk soap’s is oatmeal. This familiar breakfast food is so much more than a fulfilling meal to start out the day, providing excellent benefits for the skin as well. Oatmeal is commonly used amongst soap makers as an ingredient that offers, mild exfoliating, moisturizing and anti-inflammatory properties. The oatmeal used in these products is ground up into a fine powder that is then able to disperse in water, which is called colloidal oatmeal.
While most exfoliation agents are too rough for sensitive areas such as the face, colloidal oatmeal serves as a mild exfoliation; which is why it is a common ingredient found in facial mask.
Oatmeal also is a natural emollient, meaning it traps moisture in. This helps keep the skin hydrated by holding water to the skins surface, and does not interfere with the cleansing ability of the soap. Colloidal oatmeal actually contains plant saponin, which is a natural cleanser.
Phenols are found in colloidal oatmeal giving it anti-inflammatory properties. This makes oatmeal skin care products great for reducing acne, rashes, and insect bites.
The following are two soap bars that you may want to try, that contain this wonderful natural ingredient, oatmeal. Enjoy!
There are many skin care products available today that promise healthier and younger looking skin. Most of these products can be very expensive, and not as healthy as the label claims them to be. Here are some affordable and practical skin care tips that will keep your skin looking healthy and young. Also books such as Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair: Natural and Healthy Personal Care for Every Body, by Dina Falconi are highly recommended for equipping yourself with practical knowledge for healthier personal care.
- Your skin will experience a significant difference by eliminating the use of harsh soaps and detergents that are loaded with synthetic ingredients. Instead try using natural handmade soap such as goat milk soap. These soap bars still contain all the natural glycerin which promotes moisturizing properties, and have no synthetic chemicals that often cause many skin irritations.
- Drink plenty of water and eat healthy. You are what you eat! You should avoid drinking soda and sugary carbonated drinks, having at least 7-10 glasses of water a day. Also try to avoid snacks, instead eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, you will not only feel better but your skin will shine as well.
- If you exercise, be sure to shower and change your clothes shortly after exercising. When we exercise our body sweats, releasing many toxins. These toxins remain on our clothes and skin afterwards clogging our skins pores.
- Skin exfoliation. This is the removal of dead skin cells from the (epidermis) which is the outermost layer of skin allowing new skin cells to develop from the (dermis) the lower layer of skin. To learn more on skin exfoliation read this previous post, Skin Exfoliation For Healthier Skin.
There are so many products and techniques that promote healthier skin. These are just a few of the many practical and safe ways you can keep your skin healthier and younger looking. There really is no need to buy every new and expensive product that is on the market. Most of what your skin really needs should be pure and simple, not high priced and loaded with harmful ingredients.
Does your soap and shampoo leave your skin and scalp feeling itchy and dry, causing you to use a conditioner or reapply moisturizers throughout the day? Uh… sounds like a great way to keep one dependent on a product so that they keep on buying. The sick part of it all is at the expense of our well-being. Not only are the natural moisturizing ingredients such as glycerin taken out of these commercial soaps to sell to cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies to make even more expensive products, but are loaded with all sort of harmful chemicals in them. This is one of the major reasons why I and many others have taken a stand to only use natural skin care products such as goat’s milk soap. Did you know that goat’s milk is extremely healthy for your skin? It’s true! In fact Cleopatra was known for her great skin, and it has been written that she often bathed in goat’s milk. Goat’s milk has the closest PH of that of the skin making it one of the mildest soaps available on the market today. This has drawn many who suffer from sensitive skin and symptoms such as eczema and psoriasis to become lifetime users of such products. Goat’s milk is rich in both vitamins A and E, consists of natural emollients and triglycerides, enabling natural moisturizing, and is free from harmful chemicals. If you have never tried a goat’s milk soap bar and you suffer from dry itchy skin, I highly recommend you try a bar today.
Conventional treatments may seem enticing at first however these expensive treatments are dangerous. Though they often will give initial results of improvement the body tends to develop a tolerance to them. These products contain synthetic steroids that are very easily absorbed into the body.
One method that has helped a lot of folks that I personally know, who have shared their testimonies to me is to avoid harsh soaps. Using mild soaps such as goat milk soap has helped many who suffer from eczema and mild cases of psoriasis. Of course this is not a guaranteed cure, but is just one step to reducing if not eliminating such symptoms.
As Dr. Mercola mentions in this video, not to scratch but to apply a salt based solution such as Himalayan salt. There have been many studies on how sea salt affects these conditions that has led many to flock to the Dead Sea, to actually soak their entire body in the Dead Sea Salt.
Psoriasis and eczema can be allergic conditions triggered by many things, such as household chemicals, laundry detergent, jewelry, and perfumes. Also your diet and amount of sun exposure can also affect such conditions as well. Make sure to drink plenty of water, and avoid wheat and glutton containing grains, and foods such as milk and eggs. A good source of Omega-3 is essential also. Plant based omega-3 such as flax seed will not reduce the inflammation of the skin but animal based fats like fish and krill oil are highly recommended.
Using the standard conventional may seem very appealing and even recommended by your doctor, but before you opt to undergo such treatments I encourage you if you haven’t already to research and try some of these other changes first. I know that they will not be as easy as just taking a pill or rubbing on a cream, but could be much, much healthier for you in many ways.
I found this to be an interesting story, and a very familiar one to say the least. Although our family soap business has not grown to the size of that which is shown in this video, we started out with the same principles, wanting to make a healthier product to use for the family. It was not too long before the request for soap bars started to get bigger and bigger, that eventually it was suggested that we needed to start selling soap to at least help cover the cost of supplies. To make a long story short, Pure-N-Simple Soap is going into its 4th year of making handcrafted goat milk soaps and natural skin care products and find the demand for such products increasing more and more. We are so encouraged with every new testimony we get of how goats milk skin care products has helped so many with sensitive skin or with skin conditions such as eczema.
I have to admit helping my family grow this business has been one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever done. I have conducted a lot of research and have written many articles on the skin benefits of goat’s milk, and the permeability of the skin, and love to share this information when I am helping the family out when working at our local farmers markets and craft shows. Knowledge is power, and when you are equipped with knowledge you not only help yourself but can help so many others as well.
I encourage you today to do the research and evaluate what you are exposing you and your household to. Find a local soap crafter or visit us today at www.purensimplesoap.com and try a goat’s milk soap bar that is made with all natural ingredients. The story in the above video, goat’s milk was used to treat eczema; I have been using goat’s milk soap for several years now and can immediately tell the difference on my skin if I have to use a commercial synthetically made soap bar. Do you have a goat’s milk testimony, and if so I would love for you to share it by leaving a comment below.
My family is probably rejoicing just as much as I am over the exciting news of the construction of my new soap kitchen. For the past two years I have been trying to make due with what little space my small farm house kitchen has provided, for both tending to the families needs as well as the business. At times this could be a little overwhelming.
I cant tell you how excited I am to have this additional space to be able to work allowing us to be much more efficient with the production of our goats milk soap and natural skin care products. It is so hard to believe that what started out as a hobby has turned into a business and here is my first big investment. I was a little intimidated at first when I had seen that big truck pull in with all the building materials, but as the guys began to unload the material and start constructing walls did I begin to feel reassured and exited. I hope to be moved in and in full operation before the snow starts falling.
As I have written and shared my understating of the permeability of the skin, and how it affects our health, I find this information very crucial and should be shared. The sun has been demonized as the biggest contributor to skin cancer, which I would have to say too much of anything is not always going to be a good thing. However I do agree with Dr. Mercola, and feel that the right amount of sun exposure is very important to contributing to our overall well being. I feel everyone needs to be educated in this area. Especially educated in what products we are putting on our skin, whether it is sun block, or bug repellent. We are approaching the bug and sun season, and advertisers and marketers will be shoving all their products in front of you before you know it. Before you start slopping layers and layers of sun block and declaring an all out war against biting, buzzing insects with the latest bug repellents, I encourage you to first watch this video and conduct a little research before you decide which products to protect you and your household with this summer.
Here are some natural products that I recommend.
Of course I highly recommend my own product for deterring away those annoying mosquitoes, and that would be our Deep Woods Bar. This is a soap bar that we make that has lemon grass, citronella, eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, and lemon grass in it and does a wonderful job repelling most bugs.
For sun protection and other forms of bug repellents I highly recommend Dr. Mercola’s Summer Family Survival Kit. This Kit includes.
- Dr. Mercola’s Bug Off (8 oz)
- Dr. Mercola’s Natural Sunscreen SPF 50 (5.4 oz)
- Dr. Mercola’s Natural Sunscreen SPF 30 (8 oz)
- Dr. Mercola’s Natural Sunscreen SPF 15 (8 oz)
- Dr. Mercola’s Natural Tanning Oil (8 oz)
Wow! It’s going to reach nearly 80 degrees this weekend here in Upstate NY. Forget about spring that’s summer weather. This season gets many of us inspired to do some spring cleaning, get the gardens ready, and just spend as much time outside as we possibly can. For the Pure-N-Simple Soap family this also means farmers market season is just around the corner. We have been diligently preparing all winter long making fresh batches of our goat’s milk soap products, and this will be our second season now having the greenhouse, as we have been growing and selling the herbs we use in our products as well.
Farmers markets are becoming more and more popular, as many are realizing the foods and personal care products are not as natural or as healthy as the big marketing companies say they are. It is so refreshing to see as the general public become more informed and led to make healthier decisions, flock to these markets to get the purest foods and products one can find.
I absolutely love the farmer’s markets season, as both a vendor and a shopper. The commodity amongst vendors is like second family, the relationships formed over the years are precious. I think I can speak on behalf of most vendors that after a long winter season it is such a joy to see your fellow vendors, and to catch up after a long winter. I also love buying at farmer’s markets; I know that I am always getting the freshest greens, and purest and most delicious products ranging from fruits, breads, eggs, meats, honey, syrup, garlic and so forth, Plus I am supporting local business’s! I think we are in no better time than to support our local farmers and business’s. You may notice that the cost may be a little higher than what you could find at a Wal-Mart or any other large business, but isn’t your health and ease of mind, knowing where you food is coming from worth the extra dollar or two?
It is my hope that you eat better, shop smarter, support local business, and visit your local farmers markets this season.
Due to the change in seasons I have been forced to remove myself from the computer, to prepare the greenhouses for the growing season. As I have mentioned in previous post, all of the fresh herbs that are used in our homemade soaps we grow from seed, we also sell the vegetable and herbs we grow at local farmers markets. For the past few weeks I have been sowing thousands of seeds by hand, watching them grow under fluorescent lights on my new seed starting shelf I built. If you are interested in building your own seed starting shelf I have written out step by step instructions that are very easy to follow, you can view these instructions by clicking on this link, Seed Shelf.
I will still try to get a few post out every week, just not as much as I was able to during the winter. As soon as I get caught up with closing off both greenhouses and all my little seedlings from the house to the greenhouse, I will again be able to focus on writing more post. Until then I must get “Growing” and shall return shortly. Thanks for visiting this site!