Sally B’s Summer Must-Haves Collection  0 Comments

Summer is officially here, and it's that time of year when we let loose, unwind and take that vacation we've been dreaming of! It's also a time to transition our skincare routine to meet the demands of the Summer season. Let us help you with our Sally B’s Skin Yummies’ Summer Must-Haves Collection.

Keep It Light

Antioxidants are essential for Summer. This is the time of year when we change out that thick moisturizer for something a bit more lightweight. Give your skin an extra layer of protection from the harsh, day-to-day elements with Sally B's Daytime Antioxidant Serum. Packed full of powerful antioxidants like Organic Olive Leaf Extract, Organic Green Tea, and Organic Helichrysum, this lightweight serum absorbs quickly into skin to help prevent free-radical formation and provide all-day moisture. It's super lightweight but 

Cool Off 

Formulated with Organic Peppermint and Bamboo Extract, Sally B's B Cool Misting Spray is a naturally cooling misting spray that sets makeup, cools the skin, and reduces shine from sweat and oil. In need of a refreshing break from an afternoon in the heat or from an exercise routine? Just spritz some B Cool Misting Spray generously on arms, necks, legs, and face. The Organic Peppermint inside contains a high percentage of menthol, which can trick brain receptors into thinking the body is cooler than it already is. Instantly receive an allover cooling and calming effect.

Be Smooth 

Want to have silky smooth skin ready for Summer? Try our Sally B's Eco Body Lotion, a good-to-use anywhere, anytime lotion free of artificial fragrance. Packed full of certified organic oils and butters, including healing Tamanu Oil, this lotion is quickly absorbed into the skin and alleviates irritation and soothes dry patches, it even eases sunburn pain and symptoms.

Wear Less

In the Summer we tend to wear less makeup. While you may not need a foundation or eye makeup, consider adding our Get Even Finishing Powder to your makeup bag. This translucent powder evens out skin tone, gives the face a polished, yet natural look, and can even help blot excess oil from the skin. It can be worn alone on clean skin or with our Tinted Moisturizer for a matte finish and great Summer look.

Be Comfortable In Your Skin

Summer is all about bare shoulders, arms, and legs, and we want our exposed skin as silky smooth as possible. Use a gentle exfoliator like our Moisturizing Body Buff to slough off dead skin cells and reveal glowing, healthy skin.  When you are going to an event where you are sleeveless, backless, or just have more skin exposed than usual, treat yourself to a good scrub. The skin that shows will be smooth and glowing. It is also an excellent exfoliator pre-treatment for self-tanning products.

Watch Your Mouth

Yep, you heard that right. Many times people forget to take care of their lips during the summer months. And, in case you weren't aware, lips burn more quickly than any other part of your body. Keep them soothed with our Lip Skinnies, which combine the bold color of a lipstick with the soothing qualities of lip balm. No longer do you have to worry about painting your lips with potentially toxic or drying ingredients – instead, our moisture-rich formula, made with over 98% organic ingredients, ensures that not only you are staying healthy, but you can safely smooch even the most precious of cheeks. 

Bug Off

Mosquitoes are one of Summer's biggest buzz-kills and shooing them from your picnic, outdoor concert, or trip to the park can be next to impossible. Defend your skin from mosquitoes with our blend of organic essential oils, naturally designed to repel the pesky pests. Blended with Fractionated Coconut Oil, Sally B’s B Unbitten is a lightweight, fast-absorbing serum that provides great smelling and non-toxic protection without the greasy or sticky feeling left behind from other toxic repellents.

Hit the Road 

For many, it's vacation time, but you don't have to sacrifice your natural beauty when you hit the road. That’s where The Traveler steps in. We have shrunk down 6 of our most popular, skin loving products into easy-to-pack travel sizes and packed them into an organic cotton, zip top pouch made locally and exclusively for us. This pouch fits easily into your luggage and meets TSA liquid size standards. Forget the mess of creating our own travel sizes, because we've done it for you!

Want to browse more Sally B's Skin Yummies pure nontoxic skin care products? Read our blogs, shop our sales and browse our skin care products that are people and planet friendly HERE.

The Importance of Reducing Your Toxic Load 1 Comment

We all have a general idea that toxins are bad for our health and that it is a good idea to stay away from them whenever possible. But do you know the prevalence of toxins in our lives and what they are actually doing to our bodies?

It’s a naïve thought that toxins only come from household cleaners or polluted air. In our daily lives, we are exposed to a myriad of toxins, including those in our home, air, food, cosmetics, and personal care products. They can be found in the artificial sugar you put in your coffee, the candle you burn on your desk, and the salad you eat for dinner. The number of toxins that we are exposed to on a daily basis is staggering...almost unbelievable. A modest estimate says we are exposed to more than 700,000 different toxins each day. These toxins contribute to what is called our “toxic load” and can have serious affects on our health.

You might be surprised, but here are a few effects that toxins could be having on your body:

• Weight Gain. Toxins in our bloodstream affect our body’s ability to balance blood sugar and metabolize cholesterol. Synthetic toxins are also highly fat soluble, meaning the body will create fat to store them instead of expelling them from the body. Not only can this cause weight gain, but overtime it can lead to diabetes.
• Breakouts. If your body is overrun with toxins, your organs and body systems can become overwhelmed. The liver and lymphatic system are vital in filtering out toxins, but if they become congested with toxins, the only way out is through the skin. This can lead to acne, eczema, or other rashes.
• Digestive issues. When your liver, lymphatic system, and large intestine are not working in harmony, waste does not get expelled from the body properly. Carrying a heavy toxic load can lead to chronic problems like inflammation, Irritable Bowl Syndrome, and even Chrohn’s Disease.
• Hormone Imbalance. Toxins can be endocrine disruptors and throw off your body’s hormones. The most commonly affected hormones are estrogen, testosterone, thyroid, insulin, and cortisol. Hormone disruption can lead to health issues like reproductive problems, early puberty, obesity, heart disease, and even breast and other cancers.

So how can you reduce your toxic load? With a bit of mindfulness, you can change daily habits to minimize the toxins introduced to your body. Here are some tips:

• Detox. Choose a cleanse or detox program that will help you rapidly expel toxins from your body and restore health and balance.
• Increase Your Water Intake. While your liver and other organs help to filter out toxins, water can aid in flushing them out. Nutritionist Kimberly Snyder highly recommends jump starting your day with hot water and lemon, another easy and quick way to expel toxins.
• Go Organic. Chemical pesticides are heavily used in agricultural practices and the residue can leach onto the food you eat or in the ingredients used in your skincare products. Choosing the organic option will ensure that hidden toxins aren’t lurking in your salad or moisturizer.
• Aerobic Exercise. Getting the heart pumping, legs moving and lungs inhaling and exhaling at a healthy pace are all benefits of exercise.  Activities such as walking, running, yoga, cycling and climbing all benefit the circulatory system and help to keep toxins moving..hopefully right on out of the body.
• Avoid Products Made With Phthalates and BPA. Phthalates are made up of eight hormone-mimicking chemicals.  They are used to make plastics softer (like shower curtains) or fragrance in candles or personal care products last longer. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical used to make plastics hard and shiny. Both mimic hormones and can feminize small children and cause cancer later in life.
• Introduce Nutrient-Dense Foods to Your Diet. Think kale, broccoli, spinach, blueberries, and almonds instead of processed, fried, or foods made with artificial flavors and colors. These foods offer the body vitamins and minerals that improve health, increase energy, and keep weight in check. A great way to introduce these foods is with a daily green smoothie.

Our bodies are up against a large toxic burden, so it is important to minimize your exposure when at all possible. The origin of Sally B’s Skin Yummies is rooted in this idea. Creating non-toxic products made from organic ingredients is our way of helping us and you live a clean lifestyle. Instead of the toxic options so commonly found in the beauty aisle, you can rest assured that the products from Sally B’s are benefiting your skin and your health.

Travel Tips To Keep Your Skin Healthy and Looking Its Best 0 Comments

For years when I would go on vacation I would find that my skin would change. Sometimes it would become super dry, sometimes it would breakout, and other times it would be lack luster. I always chalked it up to the different water or a different environment. Sure, that had something to do with it, but the true culprit came down to routine. Not only was I casting aside my usual routine, but I was also not tweaking my routine to gel with my new locale. I naively thought that a couple days away meant I could use hotel provided products and skip a step here or there and my skin would bounce back to its usual self when I got home. 

It wasn't until I started taking an abridged version of my daily, organic skin care routine with me did I realize that I didn't not have to sacrifice skin health while traveling. Here are some travel tips to help keep your skin healthy and looking its best:

Don’t let airline regulations stop you from bringing your own products. We understand that carrying on your luggage is an ideal way to travel, but don’t let the “liquids” rule keep you from packing your favorite skin care products. Transfer your lotions and potions to travel sized bottles (3.4 ounces or less) or pick up our Traveler, which has travel-sized portions ready to go. However you choose to contain your products always make sure to put them in a tightly sealed plastic bag. Air pressure can do tricky things to your sealed bottles and we would hate for leaky lotion to get on your clothes.

Check the weather at your final destination and pack accordingly. If you're headed somewhere dry, pack a moisturizer. If you're headed to the beach, pack products with plenty of antioxidants. Knowing where you are going and what you will need will keep you from packing unnecessary items. It will also keep you from having to make a drug store run for a product that may not necessarily fit with your organic lifestyle.

Don’t forget to wash your face. We know how exhausting vacations can be, but the most important thing to do before your head hits the pillow is to wash your face. Whether you’re on a plane, in the ocean, hiking, or sightseeing, your skin will be exposed to a lot of different environmental factors. Washing your face will get rid of any debris, sweat, and other looming bacteria. Plus, if you use our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser, the anti-inflammatory ingredients will help calm the skin for a restorative sleep.

Feed your skin with antioxidants. Chances are you will be outside more than usual while on vacation. This means a higher potential for skin damaging, free-radical formation. One way to keep skin healthy and balanced is to add a scoop of our Antioxidant Skin Boost to your nighttime travel routine. Kimberly Snyder agrees, calling it one of her top 5 Best Travel Tips (see minute 2:08).

So what products do we recommend in your travel bag? Our travel product picks are:

• Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser
• Daytime Antioxidant Serum
• Antioxidant Skin Boost
• Get Even Finishing Powder
• Lip Skinny
• B Soothed

B Soothed? It can be a diaper rash ointment, soothe blisters after long walks, heal minor cuts and scrapes, and even be a mega boost of moisture for lips. It really is something to not leave home without.

Traveling can be stressful enough, but there is no need to put stress on your skin. You'll be surprised that by simply following your routine, or an abridged version of it, will keep your skin nourished with the same beneficial ingredients that it is used to. And that's the first step to beautiful, healthy skin.

Go to Sally B's Skin Yummies to read more of our blogs, shop our sales and browse our pure nontoxic skin care products that are people and planet friendly! 

Make-Up Free, But Not Skincare Free 0 Comments

From celebrities to everyday women, going without makeup is becoming more commonplace. We even see it with our customers since our skincare products have shown to improve skin tone and texture. Why not show off that beautiful skin with a makeup-free day. While inspiration behind the makeup-free look varies from woman to woman, we applaud the confidence to create your own personal look and display your natural beauty.

If you decide to adopt a makeup-optional look, it’s important not to also cast aside your daily skin care products. Recently we watched an online video comparing a makeup-free and a full makeup application routine; the woman going without makeup simply splashed some water on her face before heading out the door to start her day. We wish getting ready in the morning was that simple, but our skin needs daily enrichment from our products to stand up to the elements and the daily stresses placed on the skin.

Understanding the needs of your skin is important so that you can determine the best course of action for its health. There are several things to consider when picking products for your daily routine:

Antioxidants are necessary and help to minimize the signs of aging. From artificial indoor air to smog-filled streets, our skin is constantly tested by the elements. Some of these external factors – like UV rays from the sun or cigarette smoke – can create an imbalance within skin cells (aka create free radicals), which can result in a number of skin ailments. Antioxidants are essential to restore balance to the damaged cells. While we can introduce antioxidants to our body through diet, skin care products are also an effective additional form of delivery. Look for products like our Daytime Antioxidant Serum, which is packed full of ingredients that are natural antioxidants, like Organic Green Tea and Organic Olive Leaf Extract.

Your body doesn’t naturally produce Vitamin E. Vitamin E is one of the most powerful antioxidants available to fight free radicals, but our bodies don’t produce it naturally. It is a primary defender against oxidation, and studies show that when topically applied, it can reduce UV-induced skin damage. We use a Vitamin E derived from non-GMO soybeans and have incorporated it into several of our products, including our Carrot Facial Dream Cream as a daily, proactive line of defense against the sun’s harmful rays. 

As we age, our ability to naturally produce collagen diminishes, which is the reason for fine line and wrinkles. There are ingredients, however, which have been found to encourage its production, like pea peptides. Found in our Peptide Booster Serum, peptides are proteins that help produce collagen so that skin stays soft, supple, and smooth. 

It is important to wash your face twice a day. You’ve heard that cleansing too often can irritate skin or strip the face of necessary oils. However, cleansing is important to rid skin of lingering sweat, bacteria, and other pore-clogging bacteria. Choosing a gentle, yet effective, cleanser like our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser, will keep your skin clean, calm, and smooth.

Moisturizing is important for all skin types. Sure some environments need more moisture than other, it’s always important to incorporate at least one moisturizer in your daily routine. Artificial air or a simple change in diet or fluid intake can quickly dehydrate skin. Let products like our B Quenched, formulated with moisture-rich Organic Black Cumin Seed Oil, Organic Camellia Oil and Organic Argan Oil – keep your skin hydrated.

Lips aren’t just for lipstick. Even though you’re ditching the lip color, using the right lip products will keep them from drying or cracking. We love our Lip Assist Conditioning Treatment for it’s easy application, vanilla taste, and its ability to moisturize lips.  Our Lip Yummies are another favorite go-to for on-the-go moisturizing applications.

SPF protection is an everyday thing, even when it is cloudy or cold outside. The sun's UV rays can do serious damage on skin. Through an oxidation process, they transform healthy skin cells to free radicals. To prevent this from happening, sunscreen is an effective first line of defense.

While your makeup might not be going on that beach vacation with you this summer, we implore you to take the essential skin care products needed to keep your skin healthy. But what are the essential products? We recommend using our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser twice a day, and daily usage of moisturizing and skin-enriching products like our Daytime Antioxidant Serum, Carrot Facial Dream Cream, Antioxidant Skin Boost, or Peptide Booster Serum. Since all skin is different, we recommend starting a new skincare routine with our Traveler, which contains 6 plentiful portions of our most popular skincare products. It is a great way to discover what works best for your skin. And as always, if you have ever any questions, you can email us at info@sallybskinyummies.com.

With a good foundation of skincare products and the resulting healthy skin, we invite you to go out with your own fresh face as an emblem of your good health and vigor. Celebrate that beautiful face!

The Importance of Honey Bees 2 Comments

Summer is here and the bees are out! After hibernating over the winter, bees awaken in time to collect pollen and nectar from flowering plants. While bees can sometimes seem like a backyard nuisance, the unassuming Honey Bee is one of the most important elements in our life cycle.

Did you know that the Honey Bee is directly responsible for pollinating 1/3 of all our vegetables and fruits and indirectly responsible for the production of nearly 70% of our entire food source? Without the Honey Bee, our farming practices and food creation would drastically change, causing a rise in our food prices and, more than likely, health issues.

For us, the Honey Bee holds much significance. In fact, the Honey Bee deserves the highest title in the Sally B’s work force, for it is responsible for the creation of all the beautiful and good-for-you botanical ingredients used in our product formulations. Without the Honey Bee, we would have no lavender, no camellia seed oil, no avocado oil, and no beeswax (among many others), all of which are some of our favorite, skin-loving ingredients. In particular, beeswax, used in our B Glossy Lip Gloss, Lip Yummies, B Soothed, Lip Skinnies, Healing Hand Butter, and Natural Buff Cuticle Bar, is a superb moisturizer, helping to lock moisture and protecting skin from environmental factors. It also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and is a source of Vitamin A, which promotes healthy cell development. 

Our love for botanical ingredients wasn’t our first introduction to the importance of the Honey Bee. It was Sally’s father, a beekeeping hobbyist, who first instilled to her the importance of Honey Bees. He maintained several organic hives in the North Georgia Mountains and harvested honey annually, much to his family and friends’ delight. Now, we have a new beekeeper hobbyist among us who nurtures 60,000 bees right here in the heart of Atlanta. It is Honey Bee farmers like them who are helping to keep our beloved bees (and ingredients) fruitful.

Recently, Honey Bee hives around the world have fallen victim to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a mysterious phenomenon that has worker bees disappearing. In some areas of the world, bee populations have declined by almost 50%. While there is yet no known cause of CCD, one of the main arguments is that it is caused by pesticide use. Researchers and scientists are hard at work to find the root of the cause and keep Honey Bees alive, but there are things you can do to help:

• Support local Honey Bee farmers by buying local honey. Keeping Bee Keepers in business will ensure that bee populations are being cared for and cultivated, so that our local flowers and crops will be sustained.
• Buy products made with beeswax. A higher demand for beeswax keeps Honey Bees and gives Bee Keepers a new sense of purpose to keep them alive and healthy. It’s important to note that extracting beeswax from a hive does not harm the Honey Bees.
• Avoid use of all pesticides in your yard. When Honey Bees extract nectar from the blooms in your garden, they will also ingest whatever pesticides have been sprayed on it. This not only hurts the bees, but also whoever eats their honey. This is easily avoided by not using pesticides.
• Plant a “pollinator garden.” Choose nectar-producing flowers that are native to your region. Choose native plants will help them thrive in your garden without the use of pesticides or too much water. And the nectar, of course, will keep Honey Bees happy.
• Don’t kill unwanted bees. If an unwanted hive appears in your yard, call your local beekeeper’s association to find a Beekeeper to safely remove it. They will relocate the hive to a safe place and the colony will quickly adapt to their new environment and get to work!

While we don’t recommend giving bees a high five like this guy, we do hope that you will join us on our quest to supporting the health and longevity of our world’s Honey Bee population.

Skin Care Benefits of Vitamin C 0 Comments

Vitamin C has made a name for itself as a powerful and important antioxidant, essential for optimum skin health. L-ascorbic acid is one of the most common forms of Vitamin C, which we use in our Antioxidant Skin Boost, and is among the most effective. Research shows that L-ascorbic acid can:

Repair Free-Radical Damage

Free radicals are unstable cells, meaning they are short an electron caused by external factors like oxidation, pollution, cigarette smoke, and various health conditions. While Vitamin E is the primary defender against oxidation, Vitamin C is particularly potent against the free radicals caused by pollution. When Vitamin C is added to the skin, it neutralizes free radicals by donating one of its electrons to an unstable free radical, making it whole and happy. Contrary to how free radicals are formed, antioxidants like Vitamin C remain stable, even with the loss of their donated electron.

Promote Collagen Production

Collagen is the key to firm, soft, and supple skin. Without it, our skin loses its elasticity, which in turn leads to wrinkles and fine lines. Our bodies naturally create it, but as we age, our bodies break down the collagen and our ability to produce more diminishes. Luckily, when topically applied, Vitamin C has been proven to stimulate the synthesis of collagen.

Reduce Inflammation

Research shows that Vitamin C protects against harmful substances that contribute to disease. Because of this, studies suggest that it has some anti-inflammatory benefits.

Strengthen Skin and Hair

While it is promoting collagen production, Vitamin C is also working to strengthen blood vessels underneath the skin. It also plays a significant role in absorbing iron, which helps to keep hair healthy and strong.

Your body naturally produces some antioxidants, but Vitamin C is not one of them. So, it is important that you introduce the nutrient to your body through diet (think broccoli, citrus fruit, strawberries, and tomatoes) and skin care every day. Why every day? Vitamin C is not stored in the body. It is water-soluble, and the excess is expelled with urine.

While Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, it is more beneficial when formulated with other antioxidant and cell-communicating ingredients. This is why we created our Antioxidant Skin Boost. The powder mix combines L-ascorbic acid with Organic Pomegranate Extract, Allantoin, Hyaluronic Acid, and Resveratrol for a product that repairs and protects. Using our Antioxidant Skin Boost every night can give your complexion a healthy glow while slowing down the aging process.

Browse our Sally B's Skin Yummies pure nontoxic skin care products made using only the highest quality organic, natural, and wild-crafted ingredients!

DIY Organic Foot Spa 0 Comments

We often say it’s a good thing that our feet are hidden away in socks and shoes during the winter. The dry and cracked skin that we inevitably endure can be tough on the eyes. But armed with the right arsenal of products and some DIY know how, you can keep your feet feeling and looking great as you jump into Summer!

"Winter feet" at times are unavoidable but ashy, flaky feet can be transformed. Our solution: an at-home spa day. Here is how you can transform your bathroom into a tired foot's dream:

• First, exfoliate skin with Sally B’s Skin Yummies’ Moisturizing Body Buff. On dry skin, massage a quarter-size amount of Body Buff on to each foot. The natural abrasiveness of organic sugar inside will slough off dead skin cells, while the organic shea butter and jojoba oil will add moisture to the skin. And you're not just pampering your feet! Your hands will benefit from massaging the Body Buff onto feet!

• Rinse off Body Buff and soak feet in warm water for about 10 minutes. When you’re finished you can do additional exfoliation with a pumice stone if necessary.
• Have rough or dry spots? Rub our Tamanu Neem Healing Bar generously over the problem areas. The two named ingredients – Tamanu Oil and Neem Oil – will help moisturize, promote the regeneration of new skin cells, and soothe dry, itchy skin.

• Add moisture. Our Healing Hand Butter is not just for hands! This product is an excellent source of moisture and can help replenish moisture to hard-working feet just as well as it can hands. Generously apply Healing Hand Butter to both feet and then put on a pair of cotton socks to lock in the moisture (and ensure you don’t slip slide around the bathroom floor). For best results moisturize before bed and leave socks on overnight.
• Moisturize regularly. Using lotion after a bath or shower is always great, but employing the Healing Hand Butter and sock combo a couple nights a week will give you super soft results.

This DIY foot spa is also a good idea during seasonal transitions. Summer can leave feet tired and worn, just like Winter can, so it's always a great idea to pamper feet and start the season with fresh, happy skin!

5 Skin Care Benefits of Organic Black Cumin Seed Oil (and why you will love it, too) 0 Comments

Skin can become dry for various reasons, and when this happens, it's time to start thinking about how you will tweak your skin care routine. One simple solution is adding a serum to your mix of products. Typically a serum is lightweight and fast absorbing and adds a big punch of moisture to the skin. At Sally B's, however, our products always work double duty, and our Antioxidant Serums are no exception. They add moisture and a whole lot more thanks to the hero ingredient, Organic Black Cumin Seed Oil (aka Black Seed Oil).

A powerhouse ingredient, Black Cumin Seed Oil has built quite a reputation for itself. Since the beginning of Middle Eastern civilization, the oil derived from the seed of the Nigella Sativa flower has been a coveted beauty and health staple. Cleopatra was said to have never gone a day without applying it, and others explain it to be a "remedy for all disease except for death." While studies show that its benefits include reducing tumor size, promoting the production of healthy bone marrow, stimulating the immune system, and easing digestive issues, we love it for its skin beautifying benefits, too.

5 skin care benefits of Black Cumin Seed Oil:

1. It is extremely moisturizing. Black Cumin Seed Oil is an excellent source of Vitamin B, which helps to retain moisture in the skin.
2. It helps to fight acne. Skin that overproduces oil is more susceptible to acne breakouts since excess oil collects in pores. The essential fatty acids in Black Cumin Seed Oil help to flush out this oil. They do this by creating healthy skin cells that work to dissolve fat deposits in pores.
3. It minimizes the signs of aging. With its moisture-retaining qualities and antioxidant properties, Black Cumin Seed Oil keeps skin elastic and fights damaging free radicals that cause wrinkles and fine lines.
4. It tames redness and soothes irritation. Black Cumin Seed Oil has excellent anti-inflammatory properties. This is especially helpful for those experiencing irritation from psoriasis or eczema as Black Cumin Seed Oil reduces inflammation and boosts healthy immune function. It also is a strong astringent that can fight topical infections.
5. It fades dark spots. Together, Vitamin A, amino acids, and fatty acids found in Black Cumin Seed Oil work together to regenerate skin cells. Over time, Black Cumin Seed Oil will fade age spots and even some scars.

While Black Cumin Seed Oil makes our serums so unique, it also shines in another one of our products, Intensive Eye Repair, with the oil’s ability to fade dark spots and calm inflammation.

It might be surprising to some that we recommend using an oil to fight acne and repair skin, but oils can be skin-benefiting powerhouses. Don't believe us? Just try our Daytime Antioxidant Serum and our Nighttime Antioxidant Serum.

To learn more about Black Cumin Seed Oil, click here. To learn more about nontoxic skin care tips, ingredients and products, sign up for the Sally B’s Skin Yummies newsletter.

The Advice I Would Give to a Younger Me 0 Comments

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Today is my birthday; It’s no milestone birthday, but each one is important to me as I get older.  Someone asked me the other day what my older self would tell my younger self should I have the chance.  Easy!

How To Turn Your Bathroom Into A Luxurious Spa 0 Comments

Making Skin Care Safer with the Beauty Made Better Campaign 0 Comments

As one of the first skin care companies to have its products earn the Nationally renowned EWG VERIFIED™ status, Sally B's Skin Yummies is proud to join Kourtney Kardashian and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) to take a stand for cosmetics reform through their #BeautyMadeBetter Campaign. 

Did you know that US cosmetics laws have remained largely unchanged since the Great Depression? What’s even more depressing is that Congress has left it up to consumers to find out about harmful chemicals, like formaldehyde, asbestos and lead acetate in their personal care products. Watch this video to find out more and join us in telling Congress we need a makeover with cosmetics legislation.

Sally B's Skin Yummies is committed to upholding the requirements of the stringent EWG VERIFIED™ program, which include:

• Avoiding ingredients that authoritative health bodies have flagged for potential health concerns

• Providing labeling that fully discloses its ingredients

• Using adequate preservatives

• Being free of contaminants, and

• Following good manufacturing practices.

Find all of our Sally B’s Skin Yummies EWG Verified products HERE 

To bring about awareness to this incredible program, the Environmental Working Group traveled around the country organizing after-hours pop-ups which spotlight #EWGVerified scientists, partners, and products. We were excited to be included in their event in West Hollywood and are actively working with EWG to earn their seal on the entire collection of Skin Yummies, including new products being developed! To learn more, check out our blog post on The Importance of the EWG Verified Program and the EWG Verified: For Your Health website and join us to bring about positive change to cosmetics legislation!

Do You Know Why Hyaluronic Acid is Considered a Miracle Anti-Aging Ingredient? 0 Comments

Do you know why HYALURONIC ACID (HA) is considered a miracle anti-aging compound? HA is an extremely effective humectant whose job it is to attract water to skin cells. The unique makeup of this ingredient allows it to hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water, adjusting its moisture rate based on the given humidity. This keeps skin balanced and ensures that your skin is not holding an excess of moisture. When applied topically, Hyaluronic acid creates a layer over the skin that allows it to breathe, absorb, and retain moisture.

But why is moisture in your skin so important in the first place? Good question! Proper hydration keeps cells functioning at their most optimum. Well-moisturized skin enables cells to repair themselves and produce new, healthy cells. When there is a break down of cells - whether from free radicals or age-related deteriorations – wrinkles, fine lines, and age spots start to appear.

When browsing through the Sally B’s Skin Yummies’ collection, you will find that we use HA (lab created, vegan approved) in many of our daily-wear facial products, including our Carrot Facial Dream Cream, Intensive Eye Repair, Tinted Moisturizer, Daytime Antioxidant Serum, Nighttime Antioxidant Serum, and let us not forget our new star product, the Peptide Booster Serum.

If you have any questions, please send us a message on our social media pages or an e-mail to info@sallybskinyummies.com. We love to receive messages from our customers, even if it is just to update us on your progress!

Can My Skin Benefit From Vitamin C? 0 Comments

How to Choose a Non-Toxic Lipstick 0 Comments

Why are we advocates of nontoxic lipstick at Sally B's Skin Yummies? One reason is that our lips have skin that is much thinner than other types of skin on the body and lacks the hair and sweat glands to protect them leaving lips vulnerable to toxicity and damage from the elements. Another reason is that many maintain that we actually ingest what we wear on our lips. To be on the safe side, we like to think that what we put on our lips is safe enough to eat!

Lead and other toxic substances are unintended contaminants or impurities that can be present at low levels in some color additives and other common ingredients, like water, that are used to produce cosmetics, including lipstick. Here are some tips to use when shopping for nontoxic lipstick:

• The FDA’s position is to limit lead and other impurities to a certain level in cosmetics, so look for companies that avoid heavy metals at all levels.
• Avoid products that use color additives like Yellow No. 5 or Red No. 30, and choose products that achieve color naturally with micas.
• Look for products that use organic oils and butters instead of water.
• Seek out companies that go beyond what the FDA approves and add an extra level of scrutiny to ensure purity of their ingredients.

Since we are passionate about nontoxic skin care products, we use only the highest quality organic, natural, and wildcrafted ingredients for our B Glossy Lip Gloss, Lip Yummies and Lip Skinnies so you can feel good knowing that our lipstick is:

• Made with 98% organic ingredients
• Colored naturally with micas & do not contain Carmine or artificial colors
• Free of gluten, mineral oil & other petroleum-based ingredients
• Contains no artificial flavoring

Find out more about the guidelines we follow HERE.

Golden Rules to Win the Skin Care Super Bowl 0 Comments

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, it turns out there are lessons to be learned from professional sports that apply to our skincare routines ~ whether you are a sports fan or not! Check out our play-by-play guide to help tackle unhealthy habits by comparing football to some of our Golden Rules in Skin Care and create a strategy to make a touchdown with healthy, glowing skin!

RULE #1 - Attend practice daily

Few players are so talented that they could skip practice and then play a winning game. To be successful, players practice every day to stay fit and perfect their game. If you neglect your skin every day and go straight to facials and plastic surgery, you will be left scrambling to treat symptoms without addressing the cause of your skin issues. Healthy and glowing skin is a result of healthy habits. For best results, find a skincare routine that works for you, even if it's just a 5-minute routine, and stick to it every day.

RULE #2 - It takes a team to win the game

Yes, Tom Brady is awesome and good looking just like Superman, but even a super talented quarterback needs the help of his teammates to win the game. When it comes to skincare, unless you are a dermatologist or an esthetician, you need to surround yourself with people you trust and whom you can ask questions when needed. Seeing a dermatologist once a year, having an occasional facial, and following a company you trust that is serious about educating consumers are great habits to have. Don't drop the ball by trying to do everything on your own. You can go it alone only so far, and it’s super beneficial to have a support system.

RULE #3 - Wear the right gear

Ask a football player how important it is to use a helmet while playing football. To avoid injury during the game, all players need to use safe and quality gear. The same is true for skincare products. Being conscious of the products you use is essential. Our skin is our body’s largest organ and acts as a tissue, absorbing most everything that you slather on it. The ingredients in your products will enter into your body and your bloodstream. Pass on using products with toxic components and instead, seek out skin care products that are made with organic, natural, and good-for-you ingredients. And don’t just stop with skin care products. The laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, candles, and air fresheners in your home can come in contact with your skin and lungs affecting your health as well.

RULE #4 - What you do outside the field is just as important

If you want to be a professional player, you need to sleep and rest properly, or you’ll end up fumbling the game. Having good health is part of a successful skincare routine and a happy life. Your lifestyle choices play a critical role in your skin health so don't minimize the importance of good sleep and regular exercise, including yoga. Both of these activities will increase oxygen flow to your skin to help keep it clear and free of toxins. Since unhealthy levels of stress can affect the appearance of your skin, use diet, exercise, yoga, and meditation to keep your stress levels low and balanced.

RULE #5 - Drink plenty of water

If you observe football players during a break in the game, you will see that they stay hydrated by drinking lots of water. Kick off good health by carrying around water in a glass or nontoxic container at all times. Keeping yourself hydrated is vital because it allows your body’s systems and cells to function at their very best by absorbing and digesting all nutrients found in your food and skincare products while your blood circulates efficiently ridding the body of nasty toxins.

Okay, you are now ready to win the Skin Care Super Bowl! We know it takes time to incorporate new habits and it’s not always easy, so if you ever have questions or have any skin concerns, please leave us a comment on social media or send us an email to info@sallybskinyummies.com. We are always happy to hear from you! 

Hand Detox: How to maintain clean and hydrated hands this winter 0 Comments

Our hands can get extra dry in the winter time, especially as we work our way down our to-do lists! Not to mention that we are in the middle of flu season and cleaning our hands with harsh soap or sanitizers multiple times during the day can accentuate dryness and the appearance of wrinkles.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), studies have shown that using soaps containing antibacterial ingredients is not more effective than regular soap. This is also true when you wash your hands properly using clean running water to wet, lather, scrub, and rinse. Try to dry hands with clean towels or air dry. According to the CDC, there is no difference between using cold or hot water, and scrubbing for at least 20 seconds is ideal. Keep in mind that this is not true for those who work in a healthcare setting who are still required to use sanitizers and antibacterial soaps.

If hand sanitizers, antibacterial products or hot water can't be avoided or you need to wash hands multiple times during the day, the best next thing that you can do to prevent discomfort is to use safe and effective hand soap and hand moisturizer. This is something we keep this in mind when creating our Foaming Hand Soap and Healing Hand Butter.

Sally B’s Skin Yummies Foaming Hand Soap is ideal to help prevent excessive hand dryness because it is gentle enough to clean and leaves your hands silky and moisturized. The fact that this soap is already foamed helps to make it gentle and effective in cleaning your hands. We use oils such as coconut, jojoba, and olive oil that will keep your hands soft and moisturized by creating an occlusive, protective barrier on the surface. Additionally, our soap is EWG Verified which means that it is made with certified organic ingredients and is free of artificial-fragrances.

However, using a good soap might not be enough to moisturize your hands so consider adding a nice hand moisturizer to your routine, like our Healing Hand Butter. This is an excellent product because it is full of oils, rich butters, and natural botanicals to not only moisturize, but also create a protective barrier on the surface. A bonus is that our Hand Butter’s luscious oils and butters are easily absorbed into the skin and can reverse the effects of dryness, heal the skin, and reverse the effects of aging. Plus, it’s EWG verified!

In summary, to protect your hands, we recommend a gentle soap and a rich hand moisturizer. What you should look for in a soap is:

• Effectiveness and gentleness of the surfactant that is used in the product
• Good-for-you emollients to help your hands retain moisture and reverse the effects of free radicals
• Non-toxicity of the ingredients used

In addition to a good-for-you soap, use (at least twice per day) a rich plant-based moisturizer that will protect, heal, and soothe your hands.

The Foaming Hand Soap comes in 5 refreshing scents: Lemongrass (original scent), Lavender, Sweet Lemon Ginger, Peppermint, and Unscented.

The Healing Hand Butter comes in 4 indulging scents: Sweet Lemon Ginger, Citrus Vanilla, Lavender, and Unscented.

Sunday Soul with Sally 0 Comments

Today’s Soul Sunday features Sally Larsen, Owner/Creator of Sally B’s Skin Yummies, sharing some inspirational thoughts to wrap up your week on a positive note!

I was asked over the holidays about how the biz was going.  I answered as I usually do.

“It was a great year.  More people are looking for clean, non-toxic and organic products that actually work and that’s what we provide.”

Often, these discussions lead to my role in the company and how it feels to be the owner of a cosmetic company.  My usual reply is that it’s challenging. Many people working in this industry are gorgeous and photogenic. They are styled.  To me, many look manicured and flawless in front of the camera. That is just not me. I don't go to extremes to look good. I dress more for comfort than for anything else, and I don't think that my “smile lines," also known as wrinkles, are necessarily a bad thing.  Hey, as my Dad used to say: It beats the alternative.

I am not fishing for an argument when these discussions come up. Many times I end up regretting that I replied in that way because sure enough, the comeback is something about my looks like, “Oh but you’re beautiful!” or they express how great it is that I’m real and that I’m inspiring. And back to looks is usually where it goes...I kick myself often that I even brought it up.

I know all too well that looks have nothing to do with how “beautiful” we are or how much we want to take care of ourselves.  Really, over the past few years, doing what I feel is my call to do, I have met many women from very different walks of life, sizes, colors, and beliefs, and all of them were beautiful.  I've said more than once that working in this healthy space attracts wonderful, beautiful people. There is a special type that cares deeply about not only what they expose themselves and their families to but also seeks to improve the world by eliminating toxins from their daily lives and our planet.  Beauty emanates from all of them.

Even so, one of my resolutions is to focus on feeling beautiful, whatever this means ~ beauty from the inside out if you will.  First of all, beauty is a broad term that goes way beyond appearance. We all have our own look and our own quest to be healthy in whatever way we deem most effective.  I do have an additional goal which is to help women on their holistic journeys and to do it in a safe, non-toxic manner. Still, I will strive to pay more attention to my own interpretation of beauty and how I can make a difference in doing so.

Lastly, I just want to say that I do think you are beautiful and that I feel very privileged to work for you every day.  Look in that mirror and believe it!

Sally B

MAKE CLEAN BEAUTY PART OF YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION 0 Comments

If your goal is to get healthy in 2019, we applaud and support you every step of the way. We also encourage you to add a non-toxic skincare routine to your resolution list!

With that said, it's important to know that when adding new products, you should do it gradually, even with non-toxic products. Anything new, including plant-based ingredients, can be a shock to your system if introduced all at once, especially when your body is busy adapting to this change and releasing accumulated toxins from your "old" lifestyle.

When people consider making a transition to non-toxic skincare products, questions often arise like:

Is it too expensive? Where do I start? Which products should I use?

We realize it can become overwhelming investing in new products and even figuring out where to start. The good news is that you don’t have to break the bank to go clean! And as far as accomplishing your goal for a healthy new year, let us offer some suggestions to guide you on your journey to a clean skincare routine.

Here are some tips to help with your transition to healthier products:

• Take Inventory. Make a list of all the personal care products you use and research their toxicity on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.

• Rank your products. You’ll notice that some of your products will rank higher than others. Rank them going from most toxic to the less toxic and consider swapping out the most toxic first.

• Research the replacements. Look for companies that verify their products for non-toxicity and use mostly organic and non-toxic ingredients.

• Try samples/travel sizes, to make sure you have selected the right products for you.

• Swap out your products as you run out of them. When you are out of moisturizer, replace it with a healthy option. This will give you time to get used to new products while implementing a gradual change in your daily routine.

• Clean your brushes. Something often overlooked, but very important, is to always remember to switch out or clean your brushes when you transition to a new makeup product. Bacteria and chemical residue from a previous product can accumulate in brushes, and we wouldn’t want anything interfering with your new, healthy products.

Lastly, give yourself a pat on the back for making this incredible decision to switch to clean products! Changing to a healthier lifestyle is one of the best long-term solutions you can make to your overall well being and for the sake of our planet. Stay tuned next week when we will talk about detox routines and products to use to keep you on the path to a healthier lifestyle.

If you have any questions, please send us a message on our social media pages or an e-mail to info@sallybskinyummies.com. We love to receive messages from our customers, even if it is just to update us on your progress!

How To Combat Excessive Dryness In The Winter Time 0 Comments

When you hear Christmas carols in the northern hemisphere, most likely it is getting cold outside. During the cold months, the air gets drier and starts sucking moisture from your skin. This is the time of the year that you are more likely to experience dryness and flakiness. But don´t worry, we have your back! One of our goals in the colder months to come is to give you tips on how you can maintain your beautiful winter glow. In this blog, we talk about products you can use on your face, lips, and body to combat excessive dryness.

In addition to these products, another great suggestion is to consider a home humidifier. If you cannot have one in every room, have one at least in your bedroom during the night. A humidifier will create a moist environment for your skin to "drink" during the night.

YOUR FACE

• Wash Your Face With A Gentle Cleanser – a good example is our TAMANU LUXURY FACIAL CLEANSER.  The cleansing agent in this super-popular cleanser is saponified from oils of organic coconut, olive, and jojoba.  Also it contains such wonderful moisturizing ingredients as organic camellia oil and tamanu oil. The great benefit of having oils in a cleanser is that they bind to impurities, and pull out dirt without clogging pores or stripping away beneficial oils. The oils in the Tamanu Facial Cleanser are also rich in antioxidants to combat free radicals.
• Add An Extra Layer of Moisture – one of our favorite moisturizing products is our B QUENCHED FACIAL OIL. If your regular moisturizer is not enough (and you will know), B Quenched Facial Oil can be just what you need. It is lightweight and can be used any time of the day to help skin retain moisture. Plus, the oils in B Quenched are rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins, and antioxidants to give your face a much needed healthy glow during the cold months.

YOUR LIPS

• Use A Lip Balm Without Mineral Oil - be extra careful in the winter to not use a lip balm with mineral oil, a petroleum byproduct and a known carcinogen. Mineral oil creates an impermeable barrier that traps your body´s current moisture in, yet does not let additional moisture in. That´s why we created LIP YUMMIES, LIP SKINNIES, and LIP ASSIST CONDITIONING TREATMENT with rich moisturizing, good-for-you oils. If you need some color, LIP SKINNIES are a great option. If you just want to soothe your lips, LIP YUMMIES can help. If your lips are getting very dry and chapped, the LIP ASSIST can be your BFF (please note that you can wear the LIP ASSIST alone or over another product and/or even around your lips).

YOUR BODY

• Use Extra Rich Moisturizers – a good example is our ECO BODY LOTION (soon in a new scent, Warm + Woodsy + Floral to compliment the season). Our lotion is free from artificial fragrances and full of organic oils and butters to moisturize your skin. Another great advantage of using a lotion such as  ECO BODY is its ingredients have anti-inflammatory and skin calming properties.
• Address Excessive Dryness As Soon As Possible - if your regular moisturizing routine still leaves your skin in need, consider our ANYWHERE BODY BALM. This silky balm is versatile in use and works hard to heal skin by stimulating new cell growth. Plus, it's super soothing. 

Why You Should Use (The Right) Toner 2 Comments

It can be argued that toner is one of the most underrated skin care products on the market. Toner plays an important role in skin health but is clouded with misconception. Using a toner is thought to be too drying and only necessary for those suffering from acne. And while in some instances that can be the case, the right toner can hydrate, exfoliate, and prime the skin.

Toners formulated with alcohols can dry out the skin (beware of toners that contain Isopropyl Alcohol), but others, like our Fruit Acid Toner use alpha hydroxy acids to enrich the skin. This water-like product is able to quickly and efficiently penetrate the skin to offer instant moisture, while gently exfoliating the top layer of skin. Sloughing off dead skin cells through this exfoliation process will keep pores from getting clogged, and allow moisturizers, serums, and other follow-up facial products to reach and benefit the skin’s surface.

Adding to the long line of skin care misconceptions, exfoliation does not only occur through the use of an abrasive ingredient. Sugar, salt, and seeds might be effective for hands, feet and other rough spots on the body, but the skin on our faces is extremely delicate. Using one of these ingredients can cause capillaries underneath our skin to break, resulting in red spots and other damage. Alpha hydroxy acids (AHA), on the other hand, work to “unglue” the bonds between our skin and dead skin cells to aid in the shedding process. AHAs are derived from natural substances, like fruit in the case of our Fruit Acid Toner.

So who should use a toner? Everyone can benefit from a toner, but especially those with aging skin as our ability to naturally slough off dead skin cells diminishes as we age. Also, those who are affected by sun or wind damage. The elements can create an abundance of dead skin cells and exfoliation is essential. 

But even those products made without irritating alcohols should still be used sparingly at first. Acids can be irritating when first introduced to the skin, so we recommend diluting a cotton pad with water before applying our Fruit Acid Toner. Use it once a week at first, building up to 2-3 times a week, daily, or as much as your skin needs. And always follow up with a moisturizer or serum.

How To Pick The Right Toner

• Avoid harsh toners that include alcohols, as they can be severely drying and irritating to the skin.
• Avoid toners that use parabens or chemical preservatives, like Urea Imidzaolindinyl and DMDM Hydantion. Since toner is a water-based product, preservatives are necessary to keep microorganisms from forming. Parabens are the most common preservatives (they’re convenient and cheap!) but have been linked to severe health issues like cancer. 
• Even if your toner says it includes a moisturizing element (think: aloe vera, vitamin E), you will still want to follow up with an effective, non-toxic moisturizer to keep your skin’s moisture levels balanced.
• Regular use of a good cleanser, like our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser, will help keep your skin clean and bacteria free, reducing the amount or frequency of toner you have to use. This is helpful to those with dry or sensitive skin.
• Not sure about your toner’s toxicity level? Download the EWG’s Skin Deep mobile app (complete with a convenient barcode scanner!) or visit their website to see how its ingredients rank.

So what are you waiting for? Pick up a bottle of Fruit Acid Toner and see just how regular exfoliation can make your skin glow!

Can Toxins Contribute to Weight Gain? 0 Comments

We understand that weight, and the disciplines of losing it and maintaining it can be a struggle. As part of our healthy journey - which weight is a huge part of - we are bombarded with diets, groups, coaches, and exercise routines (not to mention the gimmicks and gadgets). There are so many options available to help us shed the pounds and/or maintain our weight, but sometimes, no matter how vigilant we are, nothing seems to work. 

Most commonly we focus on diet and exercise to shed pounds. But as Dr. Eric Berg reminds us, you must be healthy in order to maintain a healthy weight. More and more research is coming available to support how environmental toxins - those in the air we breathe, the processed foods we eat, and the products we put on our skin - can lead to weight gain or stalled weight loss. Dr. Mark Hyman explains that toxic chemicals can hinder our body’s ability to balance blood sugar and metabolize cholesterol. It's not surprising since chemical toxins are known to be fat soluble. Simply put, when you have an excess of toxins, which the body cannot always expel, your body creates fat tissue to store them. 

 Some eye-opening food for thought:

• Toxins can cause inflammation, which keeps your body from performing at its best.
• Stress from toxins or inflammation can cause the body to call upon its “flight or fight response.” Among other things, this can result in a slowed metabolism.
• Toxic chemicals can disrupt hormones. 

Toxins easily enter our bodies in multiple ways: through our diet, the air we breath, and through the products we put on our skin. Our bodies do have some natural filters to help dispel the toxins. However, toxins can make their way into our essential body systems. There, they can manipulate hormones, slow metabolism, and call upon the body to make more fat.

There is a long list of toxic ingredients we regularly urge you to avoid. We could reiterate those now, but instead of making a list of "don'ts", it is easier (and more fun!) to talk about the ingredients and products you should trust for your skin care needs. 

Products made ethically and consciously, with organic ingredients, are our recommendations. Products formulated with clean, organic ingredients give your skin the results you crave without any of the lurking chemical toxins that can enter your blood stream and disrupt your body functions.

While there is no guarantee that reducing the toxins in your skin care, or even environment, will help you lose weight, there's no risk in trying.  In fact, you have everything to gain. Feeding your skin with enriching, thoughtful ingredients can improve the appearance of your skin, improve the quality of air that you breathe, and alleviate symptoms of some common skin care ailments. 

Outside of some well-known alternative healers, the mainstream medical community does not typically contribute to the conversation about the correlation of skin care and weight. We would be amiss to tell you that simply switching to non-toxic products will immediately result in weight loss. But, when you consider the chemicals we are exposed to, and the biology of our skin (it's a large organ that acts like a sponge), it makes sense that using clean ingredients would serve our health best. It makes sense to avoid food products without chemicals, so why should it be any different with the skin care products we put on our skin?

Please note that we are not medical professionals.

9 Non-Toxic Quick Fixes For Common Skin Crises + How To Avoid Them In The First Place 0 Comments

Are you suffering from cracked, inflamed skin?  Have an acne flair up?  Did your rosacea “bloom” this morning?  Whatever the issue, a skin crisis can have the potential to be debilitating. Our tendency is to quickly cover up the problem, and while that can work, there are some natural skin care options that can be both a quick fix and a long term remedy. 

Here are some product tips and daily lifestyle tweaks that can help you proactively and reactively deal with common skin care crises.

CRACKED, DRY HANDS + FEET

Quick fix:

• To combat extreme dryness, lather hands and/or feet with Healing Hand Butter and cover them with gloves or socks before going to bed. This will allow the moisture-rich ingredients to focus on your skin while you get your beauty sleep.
• Call into action a couple of ingredients that are naturally healing. Our Tamanu Neem Healing Bar features Organic Neem Oil and Organic Tamanu Oil, both of which repair skin cells and can remedy cracked skin. 

Preventative Solutions: 

• Ensure that your environment has plenty of moisture. While you can’t change the climate outdoors, you can add a humidifier to indoor air to deliver the moisture your skin craves.
• Keep skin soft and smooth with moisture-rich products like Healing Hand Butter, Eco Body Lotion, and Luxe Body Butter. Ensure that you pick products without potentially toxic ingredients like Parabens or mineral oil.
• Don’t over-wash hands as many traditional soap products can be irritating and/or drying. Avoid any soap containing Triclosan or antibacterial ingredients, which can strip the skin of its own moisture barrier (and, not to mention, is harmful to the environment). 
• Exfoliate skin with our organic Moisturizing Body Buff to get rid of dry, flaky skin so that your moisturizing ingredients can reach the skin and do their job.
• Keep your hands and feet protected. That means wearing gloves when you’re in the snow or gardening, and shoes on your feet when you’re outside.

CHAPPED LIPS

Quick Fix:

• Exfoliate your lips with a DIY mixture of honey and sugar. Apply to lips and let sit for a few minutes before rubbing gently to help slough off dead skin cells, and reveal fresh skin primed to absorb moisture-rich products.
• Apply Lip Assist Conditioning Treatment to your lips.  It will keep them moisturized and smooth with its high powered ingredients straight from Mother Nature.
• For immediate relief from a cold sore or crack on the lips, spot treat with our Tamanu Neem Bar on the affected area. While it may not smell as good as our other products, the effect is amazing. 

Preventative Solutions: 

• Avoid all lip products made with mineral oil as it is deceptively drying.
• Stash organic lip products like our Lip Yummie in routine spots in your day-to-day life, like your purse, desk, car, and nightstand. This will ensure that you can always keep your lips moisturized.
• Add coconut oil to your morning coffee. You’ll be surprised how smooth it makes your coffee and your lips with each sip.
• Add sunscreen to your lips when spending prolonged periods of time outside. You can add a thin layer of non-toxic sunscreen before you put on your Lip Yummie or Lip Skinny.
• Dehydration is a major contributor to chapped lips, so drink more water!

ACNE BREAKOUTS

Acne can be caused by many things, like hormones, environment, diet, and more. But there are some things you can do to give your face the upper hand against acne breakouts.

Quick Fix:

• Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar to 3 parts water. Use a cotton pad to dap on the breakout area. Repeat 2-3 times during the day.
• Make a paste by combining 1 tsp of Sally B’s B Green Mask with 1 Tbsp Honey (Manuka Honey is especially effective in calming inflammation) and ½ tsp Cinnamon.  Dab on affected area and let sit for 20 minutes, before washing it off. The antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties will calm down a breakout.  
• Using a cotton swab, spot treat a pimple with organic Tea Tree Oil or Clove Bud oil. 

Preventative Solutions:

• Wash skin twice a day with a gentle cleanser like our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser. This will keep your skin free of the dirt and bacteria that can make skin oily, clog pores, and contribute to acne.
• Acne-prone skin doesn’t slough off dead skin cells efficiently, so exfoliate skin regularly with a non-toxic alpha-hydroxy toner like our Fruit Acid Toner. Dead skin cells can clog pores and interfere with skin’s natural oil production. It's also important to note that this toner also has organic witch hazel and organic Aloe Vera, which both heal and soothe. 
• Avoid irritating ingredients like Bismuth Oxychloride in your makeup. It can be an irritating ingredient and can lead to acne breakouts.
• Increase your water intake. Water can help flush toxins from your body, while allowing your body systems to work at their very best.
• Limit your consumption of dairy and sugar. Dr. Mark Hyman explains that a correlation between diet (i.e. dairy and sugar) and acne exists. 

ROSACEA FLARE UPS

Quick Fix:

• There is little you can do to quickly reverse a Rosacea flare up, but you can reduce the appearance of redness. Our Seafoam Color Corrector is a non-toxic powder makeup that refracts light differently, therefore reducing the appearance of skin redness.

Proactive Solutions:

• Make sure to always wear sunscreen, as UV rays can cause irritation and flare-ups.
• Use anti-inflammatory ingredients like Organic Tamanu Oil found in our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser or Organic Calendula that we use in our Carrot Facial Dream Cream.
• Inflammation can be exacerbated by stress, so aim to create more balance in your life. Exercise, yoga, or regular baths can all help to reduce stress.
• Drink more green tea as it contains polyphenols that has both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. You can even apply it topically by using our Antioxidant Daytime Serum, which has it on its ingredient list. 

We recommend keeping an arsenal of reparative products on hand in case of an OMG skin care crisis. Consider picking up our Traveler that has 6 pint-sized portions of our best-selling skin care products. Or, begin to incorporate these skin-loving products into your daily routine so that you can work towards eliminating outbreaks and flare-ups in the first place! 

Your Daytime Vs. Nighttime Skin Care Routine 0 Comments

When compiling your personal skin care routine, it’s important to recognize how your skin performs during the day versus at night. The factors that influence the skin vastly differ between the different times of day, and your skin care products should reflect that.

THE DAY

During the day, the skin is bombarded with external, environmental factors. The sun, wind, pollution, and dirt can physically impact the skin, while stress can take its own toll.

The burden of these daytime influencers can create free radicals in your skin, which can lead to aging issues, like fine lines and wrinkles. Free Radicals create an imbalance in our cellular structure which can lead to a host of problems including too dry or too oily skin, the breakdown of otherwise healthy collagen and even skin cancer.

When you prep your skin to take on the day, commit to using products that serve as the first line of defense against free radical formation: products rich with antioxidants. (Learn more about free radicals here).

Not surprisingly, moisture remains an important key characteristic of healthy skin, and keep your skin well hydrated is another piece of the daytime puzzle.

Our essential product picks for the day:

CLEANSER - Each morning, wash your face with our gentle Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser, which helps to remove any dirt or sweat that may have accumulated over night. As a bonus, Tamanu Oil, one of the main ingredients in our cleanser, is a natural anti-inflamatory. This will help to reduce any puffiness that results from your slumber.

SERUM - Our Daytime Antioxidant Serum was designed especially to protect your skin during the day. It is is bursting with active antioxidant ingredients, and is able to penetrate deep within skin to repair free radicals at their onset.

MOISTURIZER - While the serum will provide moisture to the layers underneath the surface of your skin, applying a moisturizer will help to keep the outer most skin hydrated. We recommend either our Carrot Facial Dream Cream or our Tinted Moisturizer. These creams will help to balance and calm skin by adding subtle all-over moisture.

Of course these aren't the only products you have to use to use to perfect your daytime routine. Oftentimes you need to make accommodations for the particular season (like in the winter adding a layer of B Quenched). 

THE NIGHT

There’s a lot of truth behind ‘get your beauty sleep.’ From the safety of your bed and the confines of a controlled environment, your skin is given the opportunity to go into reparative mode, reversing the damage from the sun, wind, pollution, dirt, and stress experienced during the day.

Even at night, antioxidants and moisture are the keys to skin’s success. But unlike your daytime routine that relies more on surface level products, it’s important to choose nighttime products that are active and penetrating so they can repair skin from deep within the skin’s layers.

Our essential product picks for the night:

CLEANSER - The most important thing you can do for your skin is to wash away the dirt and grime from the day (read more about the importance of washing your face). Our Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser is a gentle product that cleanses, while at the same time calming and soothing skin.

TONER - While the frequency of use will depend on your individual skin type, a toner made with alpha-hydroxy acids is an essential product. Use a toner right after cleansing to slough off dead skin cells and refine pores. This will keep your skin clean and allow other products you put on to do their job properly. Add bonus points for using a toner that also moisturizes skin, like our Fruit Acid Toner.

SERUM - Serums are formulated with a high concentration of active ingredients so that they get to work quickly and are able to concentrate on what they do fast.  Our Nighttime Antioxidant Serum, for example, is packed full of hard working, reparative antioxidants.  With luxe ingredients like organic Sea Buckthorn oil and CoQ 10, it penetrates into the skin layers and focuses on one thing: repairing damaged skin cells.

ANTIOXIDANTS  - Our body produces antioxidants, but its naturally ability to do so diminishes with age. This means we have to add them into our skin care routine when we can. One of the most effective forms of antioxidants is L-Absorbic Acid (aka Vitamin C) and we’ve created our Antioxidant Skin Boost with that in mind. Add a tiny scoop of the powder-based Antioxidant Skin Boost to a nighttime serum or moisturizer and let the Vitamin C and the other healthy ingredients slowly penetrate the skin and offer its reparative properties all night long.

MOISTURIZER - A moisturizer serves a two fold purpose at night: to replenish lost moisture during the day, and keep skin balanced while you’re sleeping. Artificial heat and air can dry skin out, so adding a surface layer moisturizer keeps skin’s moisture levels in proper working order. We recommend layering our B Quenched Facial Oil and our Carrot Facial Dream Cream for a boost of moisture. Plus, these products contain other good-for-you ingredients that enrich skin in other ways, too.

While there are two schools of products for day and night, there are products that can cross over and be used with any routine. Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser, Carrot Facial Dream Cream, and Peptide Booster Serum for example are three great products that contribute to your overall skin health (and everyone’s goal of anti-aging!) no matter what time of day.

Common Skin Care Myths Debunked 1 Comment

Over the years we have collected a treasure trove of old wives tales disguised as beauty secrets. From toothpaste on pimples to mouthwash on feet to not sleeping on your side, these stories make us smile as we imagine the women throughout our ancestry who actually subscribed to these practices. As the beauty industry makes a return to a more natural, non-toxic approach, we are finding that these wives tales are being replaced with misconception. These misconceptions are not being passed down through the generations, but rather are heard as sound bites on a commercial, or being skimmed over in blogs. They are statements that, while partly true, come with a two-part answer.

So let's try to set the record straight!

While there is still a lot to learn about organic ingredients and the non-toxic personal care industry in general, we do want to set the record straight on some of the more common misconceptions floating around our industry.

Myth #1

Coconut Oil and Shea Butter are good moisturizers for the face.

While both ingredients have superb moisturizing properties, we do not recommend them for use straight on the face. The large molecules in these plant butters can cause facial pores to become enlarged.

The healthy alternative: moisturize your face with a formulated blend of plant-based oils, like Argan Oil, Camellia Seed Oil, or Marula Oil. Give our B Quenched Facial Oil a shot!

Myth #2

If you can’t pronounce an ingredient on a label, it must be bad.

Not necessarily. The Federal Drug Administration and other worldwide governing bodies demand that ingredients must be listed on a label in INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) terminology. And INCI language can be unpronounceable. Take the hard to say Butyrospermum Parkii, which is the INCI name for Shea Butter.  You may be surprised at the ingredients referred to from strange sounding label terms.

The healthy alternative: we don’t expect you to memorize all the INCI names, but you can learn to identify some red flag ingredients (and if there is one on the label, there are bound to be more). Some ingredients to avoid are phthalates listed as “fragrance,” and parabens listed with the prefixes “ethyl-,” “methyl-,” “butyl-,” or “propyl-."

Learn more: https://www.sallybskinyummies.com/blogs/blogs/7504464-be-your-own-expert-ingredient-listings

Myth #3

Chemicals are bad and I don’t want them in my products.

This is an all too common statement. Water and oxygen are chemicals. You and I are made of chemicals. Most of what you can see, touch, breathe, and taste is a chemical. "Chemical" is not a scary word, though there are scary chemicals to avoid. Instead of saying you don’t use products with chemicals, explain that you only use products with non-toxic ingredients, or look for products made without potentially hazardous chemicals.

Learn more: The Environmental Working Group  (EWG) has a comprehensive database of personal care ingredients and rates them based on their toxicity. Recently they developed the EWG VERIFIED™ certification program (Sally B's was one of the first lines to receive verification status!), which makes shopping for non-toxic ingredients easier. Just look for the seal to know that you’re purchasing products made without chemicals of concern.

Myth #4

Using oils on your skin will make it more oily.

Your skin naturally produces oil to normalize the surface of your skin. It’s important stuff, yet it can be easily stripped away. Harsh cleansers or over exfoliation can deplete skin of its natural oils, causing the skin to overproduce more to  compensate. Adding oil to your skin (how much depends on your individual skin type), will ensure that your skin maintains a healthy balance.

Myth #5

All ingredients termed as “acids” or “alcohols” are irritating.

No. Case in point: Hyaluronic Acid is one of the mildest, non-stripping ingredients available to a formulator. And Cetearyl Alcohol is a “fatty” alcohol that serves as an emulsifier, allowing us to blend together incredible ingredients into lotions and other potions. 

Myth #6

The right skin care product will cure all of my skin care woes.

It would be amazing if there was one cure-all product, but it's just not that simple. Instead, clear, healthy skin is a result of a combination of factors, like diet, exercise, environment, and, of course, product choice. Ensure that the lifestyle choices and product choices you make all complement one another, because when all your systems are in balance, your skin and your health will be in balance, too. 

The healthy alternative: avoiding sugar, getting daily exercise, adding more greens, and getting enough sleep are just a few daily changes you can make to improve your overall health. 

Myth #8

The right eye cream will eliminate my dark, under eye circles.

Sadly, no matter the hype, there is not an external solution that will eliminate dark circles under the eyes.  Dark circles can be caused by allergies, hormones, genetics, medications, lack of sleep, dietary causes, and even aging. An eye cream can make the skin under your eyes less puffy or tighter, but it can't change its color.

Myth #9

All preservatives are bad.

No, preservatives are an essential part of any skin care formula. When you have an emulsion with water in it, mold and yeast will grow.  A preservative is necessary to keep fungi from forming. Not all preservatives are created equal. There are some chemical preservatives – like Parabens – that can have adverse health effects and that you should avoid when purchasing your personal care products

The healthy alternative:  Read your lables and seek out products made with non-toxic preservatives.  Little known, non-toxic, preservatives like Radish Root or Honeysuckle Bark can be very effective if used properly.

A wise man said, “the more you know, the better you do.” So with this information, go forth and make decisions that are based on the whole story and not just what you may have heard here or there.