BeeYouTiful

Dry Skin is a common problem all over the United States throughout the year, especially in the winter months. Where I live, there is little to no humidity and dry skin is prevalent. That is why it is very important that I have something that will soothe and heal my dry skin. I began my quest for a product that would do just that.

The “lotions” that you buy in stores, are made up of chemicals such as: Methylparaben, Blue1, Yellow5, Propylparaben... I could go on, but you get the picture. Somehow, putting chemicals on my skin did not sound indulging. Also, I know that though, at the moment, it might feel good, it was harmful to my health. Sometimes people think that using products topically will not be hazardous to their health, or skin. In fact our skin is the largest organ of our body, so, whatever is applied will be absorbed into our system. That is why I decided to create a lotion bar made from natural ingredients. The result was the Vanilla Dream Lotion Bar.

Each ingredient in this bar has a specific purpose and benefit. The grape seed oil inside the bar is a preferred cosmetic ingredient for damaged and stressed tissues. The Beeswax is non comedogenic as well as the fact that it provides a moisture barrier against harsh elements. Beeswax is also smoothing and moisturizing and among other things, it can be used as an antibiotic or antiseptic. Evening primrose oil comes from a wild flower that grows throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The flowers contain a certain fatty acid which has remarkable healing properties and has also been shown to ease inflammation. Evening Primrose Oil has been used to treat common skin conditions such as: acne, rosacea, and eczema. The benefits are not just for skin, but for women’s health as well. Vitamin E has many known benefits and works as a natural preservative. Cocoa Butter, or sometimes called Cacao Butter, has been called the “ultimate moisturizer” and used to keep skin soft and supple for centuries. It is recommended for eczema and dermatitis. Cocoa Butter also creates a barrier between sensitive skin and the environment and it helps retain moisture, just as beeswax does. By-the-way, it is also very helpful in preventing stretch marks in pregnancy. Finally, the Vanilla Essential Oil, or Vanilla Plantifolia has a soothing effect and stabilizes emotions. The really great thing about the lotion bar though, is that it is not just for dry skin. It can be used at any time and in any way. It also is very portable. Try the Vanilla Dream Lotion Bar out for yourself! You’ll be surprised at the smooth feel and your body will thank you over and over.

Kelsey Hoppman is a home schooled fourteen year old and eldest of eight. At the age of eleven she began her venture in developing bath products, beginning with soap and later on: to sugar scrubs, lotion bars, chap sticks, and so forth. She is currently living in New Mexico and hopes to broaden her bath and spa line as soon as she finishes her schooling.

Most women cringe when they hear words like “PMS”, “hot flash”, or “night-sweat”. These seemingly unavoidable conditions plague most women in America, some to the point of complete debilitation.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? I was very amazed to learn that women in unindustrialized countries rarely face the supposedly “inevitable” symptoms commonly associated PMS and Menopause. In fact, for most of these women, the transition through the “change of life” is pretty much seamless.

When I first began researching natural progesterone supplementation, I was quite in the dark. I was still years from experiencing menopause myself, and really hadn’t spoken to many menopausal women about what they were going through. So I immersed myself in books on the subject of natural hormone balance, and simultaneously began interrogating every woman I knew regarding their personal experiences. Many pieces of a puzzle started to come together in my mind. Almost without exception, every woman I spoke with complained of a multitude of symptoms ranging from uncomfortable to life-threatening. I also interviewed many young women in their 20’s and 30’s, only to find that they were dealing with a host of serious reproduction-related problems themselves. The symptoms were remarkably consistent from woman to woman, and as I read, it became clear that they all pointed to progesterone deficiency.

Who was Dr. Lee?
In my reading, I quickly stumbled upon Dr. John R. Lee’s books on natural hormone balance. He is hailed for his research on natural hormone balance, as well as spearheading natural progesterone supplementation therapy as a safe alternative to conventional HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy), which has been proven to cause terrible side-effects and even cancer.

Symptoms of hormonal imbalance
The following is a list of symptoms that many women with hormonal imbalance experience. It is by no means comprehensive. Some women have a few of the symptoms, while others have many.

Hot flashes
Allergy symptom, including asthma, hives, rashes, sinus congestion
Hypoglycemia
Infertility and early miscarriage
Depression with anxiety or agitation
Fibrocystic breasts
Uterine fibroids (which can cause frequent urination)
PMS
Endometriosis
Irregular menstrual periods
Water retention
Vaginal dryness and atrophy
Fat and weight gain, especially in the hips, thighs, and abdomen
Sleep disturbances (insomnia, less REM-time sleep)
Decreased libido (sex drive)
Mood swings—depression, irritability, memory loss
Headaches, fatigue
Dry, thin, wrinkly skin
Thinning scalp hair
Facial hair and hair in “other” places that it shouldn’t be
Bone mineral loss (osteoporosis)
Diffuse body aches and pains
Acceleration of the aging process
Breast cancer, uterine cancer
Autoimmune disorders such as lupus erythematosis and thyroiditis
Thyroid dysfunction

Do you know anyone with any of these symptoms? I think most of the women I know have at least some of these, including myself. I have always looked very young for my age, as do my mom and sister. I take good care of myself, drink a lot of water, and take fish oil, but lately I’ve been very bothered that the skin on my hands has begun to look extremely dry, thin, shrunken, and wrinkly. Natural hand creams didn’t seem to help. I found it interesting that that is one of the symptoms of progesterone deficiency.

What is Progesterone, anyway?
In a nutshell, progesterone is one of the primary reproductive hormones in the female body, followed by the estrogens and testosterone. Progesterone is necessary for conception as well as carrying a baby to term.
In the ovaries, progesterone is the precursor of estrogen, testosterone, and other adrenal hormones, as well as steroids which are responsible for stress response, sugar and electrolyte balance, and blood sugar. This means that progesterone deficiency can cause a wide range of ailments, many of which seem unrelated to “reproductive” problems.

So why are women in industrialized countries susceptible to progesterone deficiency, while women in undeveloped countries are not?
There are several key reasons for this, most of which are found in our synthetic environment. Exposure to xenohormones, stress, eating soy products (knowingly or not), using hormonal contraception, chemical exposure in the womb, using HRT, and hysterectomy can all play into our imbalance. We’ll scratch the surface of these topics, and you can dig deeper on your own.

Xeno-what???
The term “xenohormone” and “xenoestrogen” refer to substances not found in nature that have hormonal effects. Most of us come in contact with these substances on a daily basis.
“All xenohormones should be considered toxic; the majority of them have estrogenic effects on both male and female bodies,” say Dr. John R. Lee and Dr. Jesse Hanley in their book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause. The following list is also taken from their book. Comments in parentheses mine.

Common Sources of Xenohormones
Solvents and adhesives (fingernail polish, superglue, contact cement, etc.)
Petrochemically derived pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides (On the grass, your apple, or the side of the road)
Car exhaust
Emulsifiers found in soaps and cosmetics
Nearly all plastics (Don’t we all store our food and water in plastic?)
Industrial waste such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) and dioxins
Meat from livestock fed estrogenic drugs to fatten them up (And dairy products)
Synthetic estrogens and progestins found in the urine of millions of women who take birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is flushed down the toilet and eventually works its way into the food chain. (Yuck!!!)

What is Estrogen Dominance and what causes it?

Waaayyy too much Estrogen!
So what does estrogen dominance mean? It simply means that the body has too much estrogen and not enough progesterone. As Dr. Lee puts it, estrogen dominance “describes a condition where a woman can have deficient, normal, or excessive estrogen but have little or no progesterone to balance its effects in the body. Even a woman with low estrogen levels can have estrogen-dominance symptoms if she doesn’t have any progesterone.” Xenohormones which we are exposed to on a daily basis mimic estrogen in our bodies causing this serious imbalance. To top this off, many doctors prescribe women synthetic estrogen to deal with the symptoms of estrogen dominance, which leads to even worse estrogen dominance.

What’s wrong with not ovulating?
Estrogen dominance results in lack of ovulation. In short, after the egg, or ovum, is released at ovulation, the emptied follicle becomes the corpus luteum that makes progesterone. This is the primary way a woman produces progesterone. So if you don’t ovulate, your body won’t make progesterone in any significant quantity. It can appear as if you are having a normal menstrual cycle even though you haven’t ovulated, but the lack of progesterone can still cause symptoms associated with PMS, as well as making conception impossible. Even if one ovulatory cycle results in conception, the lack of progesterone in the body usually results in early miscarriage.
Remember: Pro-Gest-erone=good gestation.

STTRRRESSS!
Stress can also cause an anovulatory cycle (a cycle in which there is no ovulation). So can heavy exercise, serious illness, dieting, and extremely low calorie intake. Women who try juggling careers and family or have demanding or competitive jobs also tend to have anovulatory cycles. Sufficient sleep is absolutely essential to keep your body’s stress levels down!

Exposure to xenohormones in the womb
In addition, xenoestrogen exposure in the uterus can cause follicle failure for women later in life. This means that epidemic numbers of women are infertile because of the Windex, Miracle Gro, fingernail polish, and spray paints their mothers used while they were in the womb. It takes very little exposure to still experience the devastating effects of these powerful xenoestrogens. The reproductive organs of both boys and girls are extremely vulnerable to permanent damage while in the womb. What you can’t see can hurt you, and your unborn child!

Hysterectomy
Hysterectomy is also a common cause of estrogen dominance. Doctors convince women to have hysterectomies to deal with the symptoms of estrogen dominance. Unfortunately, conventional medicine compounds this problem by prescribing only estrogen and no progesterone (called unopposed estrogen) to these women. Many doctors lack proper education about the use of natural progesterone, as the pharmaceutical companies cannot patent, and therefore cannot capitalize on the prescription of these highly effective natural alternatives to conventional HRT. A sad but true fact is that pharmaceutical companies are the primary “educators” of our doctors, regarding the drugs that they sell. There is good reason that they don’t know about the natural, non-patentable, alternatives such as Natural Progesterone.

Hormonal Contraception
The majority of modern birth control methods contain synthetic hormones, or progestins, which are not the same as the progesterone produced by the body. These synthesized hormones have a long list of side-effects ranging from uncomfortable to life-threatening, including causing cancer. These man-made hormones fool the body into not cycling properly, and thus conception is avoided. Almost all contraceptive methods pushed on the public today contain hormones. Beware! Your body cannot remain in balance when inundated with such a barrage of hormones.

Did you say that I ate estrogen??
O.K. I think this one could be the hardest to avoid for some people. Did you know that soy is not really a food, but a drug? It is extremely high in estrogen, unless fermented. And the hard part is that soy is in just about everything, from baby formula to “health food” crackers and cereals, to fast food hamburgers and canned tuna fish. Just read the ingredient list on any “box” of food you buy. In addition to soy, many foods contain high concentrations of xenoestrogens from the pesticides and growth hormones used to produce them. The three foods highest in pesticide content, and thus highest in xenoestrogens, are milk, coffee, and meat.

Cholesterol – You Need It!
The body needs good cholesterol, such as that found in butter, coconut oil, fish oil, and extra virgin olive oil, to manufacture progesterone. If it doesn’t have this vital building block, it cannot build. In contrast, rancid or hydrogenated oils like margarine, corn oil, shortening, peanut oil, and MOST other commonly used oils interfere with thyroid and hormonal balance in every way conceivable.

Please, give me some hope!
So what hope to women have? In a society where xenoestrogens lurk around every corner, we can choose to make lifestyle changes to protect our own health and that of our families. Of course, there are some things that we can’t change, but many we can.

Positive changes you can make to benefit your hormonal health and that of your family
Avoid exposure to chemicals that you know are dangerous.
Make lifestyle changes that lessen your stress load. (Don’t starve yourself, exercise too much, or take on too many responsibilities that you don’t have to!)
Eat a nutritious whole foods diet and drink lots of water.
Don’t store or heat your food in plastic.
Consume healthy oils and fats such as coconut oil. Avoid hydrogenated oils at all costs!
Get plenty of sleep—the ultimate healer.
Avoid hormonal contraception and HRT like the plague.
Help bring hormonal balance through using a Natural Progesterone Cream.

What is Natural Progesterone?
Natural Progesterone is “bio-identical” to the progesterone produced by the human body. This means that the molecular structure of Natural Progesterone cannot be differentiated when compared to the molecular structure of the progesterone produced by the body. When applied properly, a good Natural Progesterone cream will give the body the physiologic amount of progesterone needed to help bring balance to the hormonal system. It offsets estrogen dominance, bringing relief to a multitude of ailments including PMS and symptoms commonly associated with Menopause.

What about Wild Yam?
Wild Yam has a long and well-documented history of helping women’s bodies to gain hormonal balance. It is especially good for cramping. While this is true, there is a great deal of confusion about the difference between progesterone and Wild Yam.
In volume 13 of Cancer Forum, Dr. Lee sheds light on the issue by explaining that “…in the body, we make (synthesize) progesterone form cholesterol. In the lab, the chemist makes (synthesizes) progesterone from diosgenin. This diosgenin from the wild yam—like the stigmasterol from soybeans—is actually a precursor of a number of hormones. Thus, with only slight modification it can be made to duplicate the progesterone molecule the body produces so that it can be fully utilized as needed.” This CANNOT be done by the human body. If a woman is deficient in progesterone, Wild Yam may be useful, and may very well aid the body in gaining balance, but it is NOT progesterone, and cannot do what progesterone can do.

Creams are better than oral doses of progesterone
Progesterone absorbs rapidly through the skin, into the fat, and then into the bloodstream, while oral doses of progesterone have to filter through the liver, lessening the benefits exponentially. This means that a transdermal application takes much less actual progesterone to get the same benefits as a megadose taken orally. In addition, using a progesterone cream is much less burdensome on the liver.

Natural Progesterone is NOT a drug.
It is not a drug, like the many progestins pushed by pharmaceutical companies, and thus, cannot be patented. This is one reason why many women are unaware of its incredible benefits. As stated before, there is big money behind HRT drugs, and someone doesn’t want you to know that there’s something safe and much less expensive that might replace their drugs.

The following chart is taken from Raquel Martin’s book, The Estrogen Alternative: Natural Hormone Therapy with Botanical Progesterone.

How Natural Progesterone affects the body

Characteristics of Characteristics of Estrogen Dominance Progesterone Supplementation
Weight gain - Utilizes fat for energy
Insomnia - Provides calming effect
Uterine cancer - Stops cells from multiplying
Fibroystic breasts - Protects against fibro cysts in breast
Breast cancer risk - Helps prevent breast cancer
Depression - Acts as a natural antidepressant
Fluid retention - Acts as a natural diuretic
Thyroid imbalance - Assists thyroid hormone action
Blood clots - Normalizes blood-clotting mechanism
Migraine headaches - Restores oxygen to cells
Risk of miscarriage - Prevents miscarriage
Inflammation - Acts as a precursor to cortisone
Cramping - Relieves cramping (acts as an anti-spasmodic)
Elevated blood pressure - Regulates blood pressure
Acne - Aids in skin disorders
Irregular menstrual flow - Normalizes periods
Restrains bone mineral depletion - Stimulates bone mineral density

Side-effects of Natural Progesterone
Natural Progesterone has very rare side effects, unlike its synthetic version. According to Dr. Lee, almost all side effects are caused by gross overdose or mixing other hormones such as estrogen and testosterone. Some women report that they experience estrogen dominance symptoms for up to two weeks after starting to use Natural Progesterone Cream, caused by a sensitization of estrogen receptors. Breast tenderness is common, but temporary. If a menstruating woman takes natural progesterone out of phase with her cycle, it could change the timing of her period or cause some spotting. All in all, it is extremely rare for a woman to experience genuine side-effects from properly using Natural Progesterone.
As Dr. Lee repeats many times in his books, more is not better! Use common sense and follow Dr. Lee’s guidelines. If you do the math, a 2 oz. container should last between 2-3 months, depending of individual usage.

Not all Progesterone creams are created equal!
There are many “natural” progesterone creams on the market today, but the majority of these creams contain other chemicals as preservatives or for fragrance. Ironically, some of these chemicals act as xenoestrogens, sending confusing signals and causing further hormone imbalance to the body. Dr. John Lee recommends that a progesterone cream contain 900-1000mg. of USP progesterone (concentration is regulated by the United States Pharmacopoeia) per 2 oz. container. Many progesterone creams, or so-called “Wild Yam” creams on the market do not indicate how much actual progesterone is in their product, or use obscure language to cloud or confuse the reader. This is because USP progesterone is expensive. Make sure that the ingredient listing indicates exactly how many milligrams of USP progesterone are in each container.

Learn, learn, learn.
Educate yourself on the subject of hormone balance. I highly recommend that you read one of Dr. Lee’s books, or one of the other informative books available on the subject. They will help you to fine-tune your use of Natural Progesterone cream, bringing the best possible results for YOUR body. The scope of this article is extremely limited and is not meant to diagnose or cure your personal condition, but rather to educate and provide a jumping-off point for your own personal research and journey toward hormonal balance. Please don’t stop here. This is a fascinating subject!

Suggested reading:
The Estrogen Alternative: Natural Hormone Therapy with Botanical Progesterone by Raquel Martin with Judi Gerstung, D.C.
Dr. John Lee’s Hormone Balance made Simple by John R. Lee, M.D.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Premenopause by John R. Lee, M.D. and Jesse Hanley, M.D.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Menopause by John R. Lee, M.D. with Virginia Hopkins
The Menopause Industry: How the Medical Establishment Exploits Women, by Sandra Covey
Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon

Websites:
www.johnleemd.com
www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com
www.westonaprice.org

A truly Natural Progesterone cream is now available from Beeyoutiful!
Beeyoutiful is now carrying Beeyoutiful Balance bio-identical progesterone cream, a truly Natural Progesterone cream that can aid the body in gaining hormonal balance. Beeyoutiful Balance contains 1000mg. per 2 oz. container. It is made with luxurious skin-nourishing oils such as Jojoba oil, expeller pressed Avocado oil, and coconut oils which penetrate deeply into the skin and restore damaged tissues. Jojoba oil is very similar to the skin’s sebum, which means that it absorbs without staying greasy. We included an extra virgin olive oil infusion of Wild Yam root, Comfrey root, and cayenne for their synergistic ability to aid the body in utilizing and maximizing the progesterone.

Finally, we use a small, but effective amount of rosemary essential oil as a natural preservative and a light and refreshing amount of sweet orange essential oil for scent.

Beeyoutiful Balance bio-identical progesterone cream is an all-natural product. It contains no parabens, aluminum, artificial fragrances or colors, and no petroleum products! It is made of food grade oils, and contains no animal products.

Ingredients: coconut oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil infusion of organic wild yam root, organic comfrey, and cayenne, 1000mg USP progesterone dissolved in grain alcohol, rosemary essential oil, sweet orange essential oil.

References

Pg 81 Lee, John R. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause
Pg 78 Lee, John R. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause
Pg 45 Lee, John R. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause
John R. Lee, “Natural Progesterone” (transcript), Cancer Forum, Vol. 13, No. 5/6, winter 1994-1995.

A few years ago as a young single woman in fairly poor health, I became interested in better nutrition, hoping the “health” part of health food would perk up my general well-being. Clueless, my early forays into the health food section of our local grocery store netted me some organic microwave meals and assorted “meal replacement bars.”

Bad Things that Come in Small Packages
While the frozen organic meals were odd, they passed the edibility test, but I can’t say the same for the bars. One appetite-killing brand was so tough and chewy it was like gnawing a hunk of homemade deer jerky but without the rewarding flavor. I suspected they had used rubber cement as filler for that bar, so I moved on to Brand B. This one disintegrated into a pile of crumbs when I opened the packet. Thinking at first that this portended an improvement over the previous bar, I stuffed a grainy handful of crumbs into my mouth. I chewed, attempted to swallow, chewed some more, and finally tried to flush the mealy mess down my throat with something like a gallon of water. But those sand-like granules were tenacious. They didn’t want to go down, no matter how much of our local reservoir I drained in the attempt.

Determined to find palatable health in a bar, I sampled any meal substitute or protein bar that claimed a measure of healthfulness. But bar after bar failed in taste, texture, eye appeal, and every other measure of edibility known to man (or woman). The only two I found even marginally appetizing were so high in refined fats and sugars I might as well have eaten cheap candy bars from a convenience store. So I gave up on meal bars and stuck to the “healthy” pre-packaged microwave dinners. Several years have now passed, and I’ve learned a lot more about nutrition in general. I realize, for instance, that as nutritious as the ingredients might be to start with, after anything is nuked, micro-waved foods simply can’t be considered healthful. I also know that many of the bars that proclaimed health benefits actually contained ingredients just as detrimental to good health as an order of fries from Burger Doodle. The handful that actually do provide nutritious and healthy content still suffer from the same appetite-depressing textures and tastes I found fault with years before.

Raising the Bar for Healthy Treats
Now as a busy mom, motivated to avoid the tempting convenience of fast food, my quest for a truly healthy but edible food bar has continued, albeit with little success until the day Beeyoutiful was offered a Perfect Foods Peanut Butter bar. A seasoned health food bar skeptic, I critically perused the list of ingredients. To my surprise, I found no “bad” sweeteners like those hidden in most bars—only raw, unfiltered honey! I scanned the roster, sure I would find fault with something. But: No preservatives, chemicals, refined fats or other undesirables. I mentally made a face to myself, though, as I found these on the list: bell pepper, grapefruit, rosehips, mint, parsley, kelp, spinach, papaya leaves, dulse, celery, sea lettuce.

“Yuck,” I thought, “another truly nutrient-dense bar that will taste horrible.” Not wanting to offend our host by refusing to taste it, I pinched off a corner of the bar and raised it to my lips.
WOW!!! My host chuckled at the astonishment on my face. “That tastes really good!” I said, relieved that I wouldn’t be spitting out the crumbs in his presence. I took a generous bite of the bar and could hardly believe the pleasing, smooth texture—just chewy enough for fun—accompanied by an unbelievably good flavor. Thinking that my taste buds may be suffering a temporary lapse in good judgment, I tore off a chunk and handed it to my husband. He, too, looked pleasantly surprised and made short work of the remainder of the bar. But I had one last test.
“Is it Soy free?” I ventured.
“Yes. It says so right on the label.”
And in that moment, I knew my quest had come to an end.

A Price that Sweetens the Taste
Perfect Foods bars come with the bonus feature that they are actually “affordable.” As you know if you’ve priced high quality, whole food bars, they can easily run from three to five dollars per bar. These wonderful creations are such a blessing to our budget that we can eat a couple of good-for-us bars for less than a discount menu meal. The price is $2.50 per bar when purchased individually and $2.25 per bar when purchased in a box of 12 (Box sales available only through our website.) Beeyoutiful now carries three different flavors. My personal favorite is Carob Chip, closely followed by Peanut Butter. Husband Steve, who has less of a sweet tooth than I do, prefers the Fruit and Nut bar.

I’ve enjoyed passing out samples to other health/protein bar skeptics. A cowboy friend of ours firmly believes that no diet is complete without daily doses of white-sugar-sweetened coffee and Dr. Pepper so he was, to say the least, doubtful when I offered him a bar.

“Is this one of those healthy dirt bars?” he quipped, staring at it as if the bar might bite back.
“Yes it is, but I think you’ll like it,” I replied. The flavor stunned his sugar-loving taste buds, and now Perfect Foods bars have a place in his saddlebag on every trail ride.

As with any 100% preservative free food these bars do require a bit of special handling. Beeyoutiful stores them in a freezer and ships them frozen. When you receive yours, they should go in the refrigerator. Although the raw honey is a fantastic preservative that keeps them from spoiling or going bad—even in high temperatures—the bars get “droopy” when exposed to extended periods of summer heat. But even if that happens, re-refrigerating will restore the scrumptious texture.

Because some folks have food allergies and because these bars are chock full of so many different whole foods, I recommend that you read the list of ingredients before ordering to make sure there’s nothing in them that will bother you or anyone you think might eat them. Also: Due to the raw honey content, these bars should never be fed to babies one year old or younger. To you other busy Mamas who have been on the search for an affordable, tasty, nutritious, and safe alternative to the convenience of fast foods, try Perfect Foods bars and like me, you’ll at last be able to say “Mission accomplished!”

Stephanie L. Tallent is Beeyoutiful’s product researcher, supervisor of customer service, and wife of CEO Steve Tallent. At their home in middle Tennessee, she practices what she preaches about healthy eating and good nutritional supplements—much to the benefit of Steve and their daughter, Noelle.

With the prices of gas continuing to rise, oil is a frequent topic in the news. It turns out it’s also a part of most Americans’ beauty routine.

What? You don’t think it’s part of yours?
A 42-gallon barrel of oil makes about 19.4 gallons of gas; the rest is used to manufacture over 6,000 household products. You probably wouldn’t be surprised to know it’s used to produce paint, ammonia, antifreeze, linoleum, trash bags, bicycle tires, etc. But you might be surprised to know it’s also used for food preservatives, deodorant, cosmetics, aspirin, dentures, toiletries, and food packaging. (See more products made at http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm .)

I don’t like the thought of using products on my face and skin that also have ingredients in them that are used in rubber cement and fishing boots. It seems like a no-brainer to look for all-natural products, but this is, in fact, a subject of great debate.

It’s estimated that the average American woman uses 9 products a day with 126 different chemicals in them. Have you ever tried deciphering the back of your lotion bottle, shampoo or lipstick tube? Would you know what methylparaben is? Do you know the effects it might have on your skin? Or Opium Graveolens? (Celery. Just having fun. :))

Cancer in Your Cosmetics?
I was amazed to find out that the FDA does not require cosmetics companies to perform any kind of testing to make sure their products are safe before they market them. They are also allowed to make all kinds of assertions, such as “hypoallergenic,” “good for sensitive skin,” and/or “allergy-tested,” that may have no validity to them. In fact, these products may contain ingredients that are irritating, bad for sensitive skin, and allergenic. It would be like me labeling my children “always behaves” or “lets me sleep in” or “never fights.” It looks good, but unfortunately just isn’t true.

Even the phrases “dermatologist tested” or “fragrance-free” do not necessarily mean anything. It simply could mean that a dermatologist tried out some cosmetics and liked them (or was paid to like them!). And “fragrance-free” products may actually contain fragrances; this label may just mean they have no noticeable fragrance.

Furthermore, some chemicals and ingredients used in cosmetics today in the US are banned in other countries because they are suspected carcinogens (cancer-causing agents)!

Petroleum (petrolatum, petroleum jelly) is one cosmetic ingredient that is causing a lot of heated argument. In the EU, it is banned for use in cosmetics unless it can be proven that it has been adequately refined; otherwise, it is suspected of causing cancer. In the US, there are no such regulations. Baby soaps, lotions, cosmetics, and toiletries often contain petroleum bases.

All Chemicals are Not Evil
While reading this article, keep in mind that even though the word “chemical” brings to mind things that are toxic, remember that everything in life is made up of chemicals. For example, water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. Dihydrogen monoxide might seem a little scary sounding, but it’s just a scientific name for water. Similarly, some of the lists of ingredients in cosmetics and toiletries (and food for that matter!) just need a little research to find out their background. (One helpful book is A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients: Complete Information About the Harmful and Desirable Ingredients Found in Cosmetics and Cosmeceuticals by Ruth Winter, M.S.)

Some manufacturers assert that there is nothing to a worry about; petroleum and other questionable chemicals have been around for decades. Others explain that there are only minute amounts of these chemicals, and that they are so diluted that they are not dangerous.

I, for a change, am skeptical of the popular cosmetic industry and more inclined to believe the claims of organic, natural-based cosmetics companies. Sixty percent of the chemicals we put on our skin are absorbed directly into our bloodstream. (That’s why some medications come in the form of patches.) It makes sense to me to scrutinize what we put on our skin.

Becoming the “Sherlock Holmes” of Skin Products
Finding out which companies distribute healthful, skin-friendly cosmetics and toiletries takes homework. Some companies, like Beeyoutiful, are full-disclosure companies—meaning that they will tell you everything that is put into the products they sell. Most companies are not. They will do as little as they can to inform you, and as much as they can to sell their product. High pricing does not necessarily mean it is a better or purer product.

I was anxious to try some of the all-natural products that Beeyoutiful sells, but I was dubious about their effectiveness. Vanilla is not my favorite scent, but when I opened up the Vanilla Dream Body Butter, I was pleasantly surprised that it was not a sickly sweet smell. It was a light and relaxing scent.

I was even more pleased at how it made my hands feel. I always wash my hands after putting on typical hand lotion. I hate how my hands feel greasy and slimy. With the Vanilla Dream Body Butter, I could feel the difference that the beeswax makes (vs. the petroleum base). There was no greasy feeling, but my hands felt softer and pampered.

I was also pleased with the Hair Shine Conditioner. My daughter has curly hair, and I sampled it on her. I was surprised that the mixture of natural oils didn’t leave her hair looking oily. (At least her hair looked manageable; now could you please make an all-natural spray that repels dirt and peanut butter?)

My absolute favorite product was the Nature’s Touch Body Bar in Lemongrass. I had been using bar soaps lately, but they always left my skin feeling tight and dry. I felt so luxurious using the lemongrass soap, and I loved the scent. It didn’t strip my skin of its natural moisturizers and left it feeling clean but smooth and soft.

After trying these and other products (did I mention that I’m hooked on Miracle Salve as a lip balm?), I was excited to find that buying all-natural products doesn’t mean sacrificing beauty or comfort for health. I’m finding that the right products actually cause your God-created natural beauty to shine by promoting health.

Making Your Skin Smile
Skin has a natural process of renewing that shouldn’t be inhibited. Every minute, we lose 30-40 thousand skin cells! We also sweat (cleansing our bodies of toxins and helping keep our bodies’ temperatures regulated) through our skin. It is a barrier from pathogens that would harm our body.

Not everyone will benefit from the same products. Some may have allergies that others do not. We all have different types of skin and are different ages and stages in life. In general, natural oils such as olive oil and coconut oil tend to lightly moisturize the skin while also allowing it to breathe. Heavy cleansers strip the skin of needed lipids, which keep the skin protected and moisturized.

I like being able to read a package and understand what is in it. I don’t like guessing when it comes to my health or my family’s health. For me, that will mean a lot more research and more time spent in the store scrutinizing labels.

Do your homework! Your skin will thank you for it, and so will your health!

Summer Burdett is a happy wife, mommy to two sweet girls, and enjoys dabbling in writing, photography and gardening—when she is not rescuing the girls from various disasters or trying to repair the house afterwards.

I would guess my family isn’t the only one that recognizes the importance of eating greens. How many families—and women in particular—have spent much of their lives choking down a glass of green grit every morning that tastes like it was just scooped out of the ocean? You know what I’m talking about—that green stuff made from barley. Or, as my father calls it, barf-ley. The health benefits may be great, but it even used to embarrass me when my 3-year-old sister had to count “1-2-3” to get Mommy to chug it each morning.

So I say, “Why not have a green supplement with all the same benefits—if not some even better—in a drink that’s palatable?” Well, Beeyoutiful’s chlorophyll is just that. But exactly what is so marvelous about chlorophyll?

Cheers for the Red, White, and Green
Chlorophyll is every green plant’s blood. What’s so amazing is that it is remarkably similar to our own blood. The difference is actually only one metallic molecule. The central element in chlorophyll is magnesium while the core element in our blood is iron. And this differing component, magnesium, is one our bodies can easily convert to iron.

Chlorophyll such as Beeyoutiful’s is usually extracted from alfalfa, which has more vitamins and minerals than most any other plant. Alfalfa’s chlorophyll level is also one of the highest. Not only are you getting the chlorophyll but also a lot of calcium and trace minerals necessary for good health.

Chlorophyll helps a variety of conditions such as anemia, low energy, hypoglycemia, digestive disorders, and cleansing the body of toxins (especially the liver). It deodorizes the body naturally by stopping the growth of harmful bacteria, boosting the immune system, and promoting overall wellbeing. As if that isn’t enough, chlorophyll is rich in calcium, which makes it great for menstruating women, since we lose so much calcium through menstruation. The high calcium levels also make it good for joint and bone problems, and especially hip joint conditions.

Green and Bear It
Taking chlorophyll can be fun, not something you have to endure. You can mix a few drops with water to make a natural fruit and veggie wash. It’s so gentle at cleansing the system that it is good for people and children of all ages and is considered safe during pregnancy.

In my midwifery practice, I recommend chlorophyll for pregnant moms who are really tired and have low iron level. Sometimes if the hemoglobin is particularly low, I have them combine chlorophyll with Yellow Dock and a tea of Red Raspberry and Nettle to really give them a boost (in some cases, Yellow Dock causes diarrhea, so if that appens, I stick with just the chlorophyll). Chlorophyll is high in vitamin K, which helps build healthy blood that clots well.

A benefit of using natural things like herbs and chlorophyll is that our bodies can so readily assimilate the nutrients they need. Traditional iron pills, by contrast, are horrible for not absorbing and cause all kinds of problems. But when you’re taking whole herbs—the way God created them—your body can assimilate what it needs and excrete the excess.

The pleasant mint flavor of Beeyoutiful’s chlorophyll makes it easy to take straight or in a glass of water. I’ve never known anyone to mind the taste. It’s great to have on hand during labor to sip on to help boost energy. If a woman hemorrhages after delivery, chlorophyll is usually the first thing I give her to rebuild red blood cells and her overall blood volume. You can’t overdose on it, and when someone has bled a lot, chlorophyll is like giving your body a transfusion since it’s so similar to our own blood.

Good for Baby, Too
In addition to being good for rebuilding blood loss, chlorophyll is also great for lactating mothers. Not only should it help with the milk production, it is also believed to increase the iron levels in breast milk. I recently saw a mom for a six week post-natal checkup, and she mentioned that, since she went back on chlorophyll, she had noticed her baby wasn’t so fussy. A lot of you who have had colicky babies would give it a try for that reason alone!

I put one mother on chlorophyll while pregnant with her sixth baby because her iron level was low. It brought her count up to a much better level and also boosted her energy. She stopped taking it after her son was born, but it wasn’t long before she came to me saying how exhausted she was. I checked her hemoglobin again, and sure enough, it was low. I told her to go back on the chlorophyll and just stay on it. To her surprise, she conceived again when her baby was only eight months old and could hardly believe she was pregnant this time around because she has felt so good. She didn’t experience the usual nausea, nor was she as wiped out. Now I hear her singing the praises of chlorophyll to other tired, anemic, pregnant women.

One thing that was pointed out to me recently is that another popular chlorophyll supplement—which I used before discovering Beeyoutiful’s—contains the chemical preservative, paraben. Beeyoutiful’s all-natural chlorophyll, as you might guess, doesn’t have it.

Although for obvious reasons, I tend to focus on the benefits of chlorophyll for pregnant women, its healthfulness is good for everyone. I believe chlorophyll should be in all refrigerators. It has no known side effects or toxicity levels, delivers many great nutrients, and offers a pleasing taste and more health benefits than that glass of barf-ley.

Amy Leiter is a professional midwife who provides home birthing services as a donation-based ministry. An herbalist, she actively incorporates the latest research in natural prenatal products into her practice. Amy lives with her parents and six brothers and sisters in Tennessee. She welcomes email at dsleiter1@juno.com.

Almost everyone has heard of eucalyptus, and for some reason it reminds them of California. (Or if they’re really into trivia, they know it has something to do with koalas.) Many people who are interested in natural healing know of eucalyptus essential oil, and perhaps they even own a bottle. They will most likely open the lid and breathe in memories of what grandma’s house smelled like when she was sick or of the vapor rub their mom used on their chest when they had a stuffy nose. The bottle will then be placed in the medicine cabinet where it will stay, unused and unappreciated; however, eucalyptus oil serves a much higher purpose than collecting dust on a shelf. Not only do the leaves nourish Australia’s adorable little marsupial, but from inside the eucalyptus tree flows a wonderful healing essence capable of treating a wide variety of sicknesses and complaints.

Over the past hundred and fifty years, eucalyptus oil has been explored and appreciated in the western medical and cosmetic fields for its wide range of uses, particularly in the area of respiratory health, even in cases of serious illness. Studies have shown that eucalyptol, the prime constituent of eucalyptus oil (also found in other herbs, including bay leaves and rosemary sprigs) may be capable of destroying leukemia cells. Eucalyptus has a wide variety of applications in washes, salves and blends including: cleansing and promoting healing in cuts, scrapes and minor wounds; soothing a wide variety of skin problems; ridding the scalp of ringworm, lice and scabies; regulating skin and scalp; healing cold sores; relieving stomach discomfort due to diarrhea; and easing muscle cramps, spasms, swelling, aches, sprains and other injuries.

An eucalyptus salve can be made by blending 15 drops eucalyptus essential oil into 2 oz. beeswax. Stored in a canning jar, this salve can be used it to cleanse and soothe burns, abscesses, dry skin, heat rash, measles, chicken pox, acne, insect bites and stings, sores, poison ivy, and like complaints (including bull nettle).

Add 6 drops eucalyptus essential oil to boiling water and inhale steam for 20 minutes to break down mucous and heal a stuffy nose. Deep inhalation of eucalyptus has been highly praised for its ability to heal pneumonia and other bronchial complaints, as well as sinusitis. Adding eucalyptus essential oil to an inhaler or sprinkling it onto a cloth to inhale is a concentrated and effective method of healing. Initially the oil will burn inside your throat and chest as you deeply inhale; however, you can literally feel your breathing become less labored and your chest clearing. The burning will be replaced by a sweet-tasting sensation in the back of your throat. Cautions: Eucalyptus oil is not considered safe for ingestion. If a history of hypertension or epilepsy is present, conduct thorough research before using eucalyptus essential oil in any form or consult a doctor or aroma therapist for information. It is always risky to use essential oils neatly (undiluted) due to the possibility of burning your skin.

We try to get so much done each day that making healthy, nutritious meal choices, while a noble goal, is not always possible. Reports that the nutritional values of today’s commercially grown and processed foods are significantly lower than in times past, only increases the difficulty of obtaining sufficient nutrition from food sources alone. Nutritional deficiencies can adversely affect health, resulting in fatigue, hormonal imbalances, weakened immunity and can lead to more serious illnesses.

I always assumed I’d have a baby girl first. It seemed the natural thing because I didn’t have much background in boys. My only sibling was a sister. I went to an all-girls’ high school, and all of my dolls were female (never had a Ken). But as standard baby-having procedure dictates, I didn’t get to choose. My first two were boys—all boys, I might add. From their early books, I learned what to call any piece of construction equipment ever invented and the names of every dinosaur yet discovered. I controlled my inclination to heart failure when the boys climbed too high in a tree or picked up a snake. And it was actually fun. Still, I hoped for a girl to dress in ribbons and bows, someone to be a cooking soul mate and a baby lover. So when our third bundle of joy came along and the doctor proclaimed, “It’s a girl!” I literally did not believe him at first.

Precious Anna wore the mandated pink ruffles but ripped out every hair barrette or bow until she was four years old. I became well-practiced in daughter maintenance, though, since she was the first of five girls in a row! The bathroom drawers bulged with brushes and ribbons, and dollies joined the army men on our toy shelves.

Letting (Hair) Go
What I’m going to tell you next is a True Confession of a tired mommy. Because our babies came close together and some had special needs, many nights—no, as long as we’re confessing I should honestly say: most nights—I bedded them down after a quick toothbrushing and a wishful promise to brush their hair the next morning. If hair happened to be in braids, the promise might be made several nights in a row while wispy hairs wrapped more and more intricately around their rubber bands.

When beauty parlor time finally came, my only hope of getting out their tangles was to spray my girls’ hair with a mélange of water, behentrimonium methosulfate, sodium benzoate, dimethicone, hydroxyethyl behenamidopropyl dimonium chloride, polysorbate 20, cetearyl alcohol, trisiloxane, citric acid, fragrance, ceteth-10, and laureth-4. And because tired mommy moments still happen, this threatening sounding broth (a name brand hair detangler and conditioner) has been my only resource—until now.

Taking a Shine to Your Hair
These days, when Grace, our eleven-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, comes to me with a rubber band stuck in her self-styled pigtails, I grab Hair Shine by Beeyoutiful. This organic blend of aloe and the essential oils of lavender, rosemary, and citrus is all I need! I can pronounce the names of each ingredient and could even eat them safely if I wanted to. And the detangling ability of Hair Shine is just as good as the name brand alternative but with the added bonus that it doesn’t make the girls’ hair greasy. There’s also a value-added olfactory benefit. We smell fresh, clean and pretty thanks to the softly aromatic essential oils.

Ingredients for Many Uses
The aloe in Hair Shine comes from a plant much like the one I manage to keep alive to apply in case someone gets burned on our wood stove. It soothes and conditions your skin (and hair) while it adds shine.

The lavender is an especially hard worker in the mixture. It enhances body in your hair and is a major contributor to Hair Shine’s detangling and softening qualities. Like aloe, lavender is known for its use on burns, so putting the two together makes Hair Shine a cooling, healthy alternative to standard sunburn sprays. (Just make sure you don’t use it before you hit the sun—the sweet orange essential oil may actually increase photosensitivity in some people.)

Another use for Hair Shine is as a refreshing body spray, even on your face (close your eyes, of course). Here, the rosemary oil acts as an astringent and skin rejuvenator. And because Hair Shine can be sprayed on either wet or dry hair, you can get trigger happy from head to toe right out of the shower. There’s enough in the four-fluid-ounce bottle to give you hundreds of spritzes, so indulge yourself!

While I’m at it: there’s one other unsung benefit of Hair Shine I discovered once warm weather set in. Ticks—those disgusting arachnids only good for guinea hen food—and other biting bugs leave irritating itchy spots that Hair Shine soothes wonderfully.

But back to hair basics. My five girls and I represent examples of all hair types—fine, straight, curly, course, thick, and thin. Hair Shine helps keep straight hair from looking stringy (plus, the nice smell inspires you to spritz and brush more frequently), and it tones down the frizz of curly hair without the stiffness sometimes caused by other sculpting, frizz-control products. Not only that, Hair Shine costs much less than most alternatives sold through salons.

By the way, girls aren’t the only benefactors of Hair Shine. My 17-year-old son has fine, blond, curly hair. Even though he keeps it very short, the curls on the front can get a little out of hand, and while my mother’s heart loves those curls—remnants of his cherished toddlerhood— David’s not so thrilled with them. He’s accustomed to using water or even a little mousse to tame the twirls, but after allowing me to experiment on him with Hair Shine, he’s sold on the softness and taming for his hair, too. So, Hair Shine is right for pretty much everybody in your family. I wonder about the dog…

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