Congratulations to the Winner of our Revitalize Organics Giveaway

...and the winner is All Natural Katie. Please email us your name and address as soon as possible. Send email to Karla Heaman at kheaman@cablespeed.com. Thanks to all that participated and to Revitalize Organics for their wonderful products.

Product Giveaway: Revitalize Organics

Is there anything better than purchasing beautifully crafted organic soap products to use on your skin? Actually there is...it's knowing that when you purchase these beautiful products, the company will make a donation of the same products to one of 7 very worthy charities.  Have you ever heard of such a wonderful thing?  

Revitalize Organics is a wonderful skin care company started by a spa owner in my home state of Michigan.  They use all organic products and have a wonderful assortment of shower gel, castile soap, hand soap, baby wash and pet shampoo.  The first three are blended with pure essential oils into 18 different essential oil blends.  (Definitely something for everyone!) 

I had the privelege of testing three of their products and I was very impressed!  I reviewed their Get Up and Go Go Energizing Shower Gel, Castile Soap, and Hand Soap. 

 



The Get Up and Go Go is a very energizing scent which I immediately loved.  It has rosemary and bergamot oils in it.  All of their soaps are made with castile soap or saponified oils of coconut, olive and jojoba which are very mild on your skin, yet super cleansing.  They point out on their website that their soaps are tough enough for household cleaning, but gentle enough for everyday use on your skin.  I love that these soaps were created by spa owners who obviously care about the effect their cleansing agents have on skin.  Their philosphy is "care for yourself and others." 


I also love that they took the time to create a baby wash and a pet shampoo.  Both ingredient decks are as pure and gentle for the more delicate skin of a baby or pet as their other products.  They even added some aloe which is great for delicate skin. 

As a special treat, Revitalize Organics has offered to do a Product Giveaway for our readers.  They are offering one lucky reader a set of the Get Up and Go Go Shower Gel, Castile Soap. and Hand Soap.  Leave a comment below to enter yourself for a chance to win.  For an additional chance to win, check out their website and leave another comment telling me which of their yummy aromatherapy blends is your fave.  I will choose one lucky winner on Thursday, June 21st.  

Karla

Simple Thought For Today

We are all perfectly imperfect!

Think about that for a few minutes today and show yourself a little grace...

Freshmaker Wipes

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Freshmaker's Fruit Wet Wipes and I really love their product!

You know what I like about these wipes? 

• They have 4 very fun scents (apple, strawberry, melon and mango, and tropic). 
• They are alcohol-free and they are free of the really harsh chemicals that most wipes contain. 
• They come in small packages of 15 wipes - this is so nice for a mom of 3 kids like me who already has too much stuff to carry around in her purse.  
• They actually clean!!
• They are very affordable!

You can purchase these wipes on Amazon and soon they will be available in larger retail stores like Walgreens, CVS, and the Dollar Tree.  Make these fun little wipes a part of your summer purse/bag/beach/outing necessities.  

Check out and like their Freshmaker's Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/FreshmakerFruitWetWipes

Healthy Life Deals: Coupons and Deals for Healthy Foods

I just stumbled on a new blog that I wanted to pass along.  I've been a subscriber to  Common Sense With Money for a long time and find great coupons and online deals.  Recently they ran a post about the best deals at Trader Joe's with printable coupons written by the author of Healthy Life Deals.  This blog is devoted to finding coupons, freebies and deals on good food.  Check them out and subscribe!! 

Karla

Super Body Care

What girl doesn't love to try new body care products?  Well this one does and I was delighted to try some great products from Super Body Care recently.  Much of my like or dislike of products happens in the first few minutes of initially seeing or smelling a product and the first smell of this product is heavenly.  Think Rosemary, Tea Tree Oil, Lavender and Peppermint - Yum!


Super Body Care's Founder, Cheri Huberling is very committed to making products that "help, and do not harm."  Her products therefore do not contain any petroleum products or mineral oils; they are anti-anti-bacterial; and they never contain sulfates or parabens. 


I had the pleasure of trying a few of their products:

• The Shower Gel is a wonderful cleanser with peppermint, rosemary, tea tree, and lavender oils.  It's ingredients are all bio-degradeable. 
• The Body Lotion is made with hydrating organic herb infusions of peppermint, rosemary, tea tree and lavendar.  It actually tingles when it hits your skin.  I loved it!
• The Soap Bar with Loofah Bits - what a great idea!  This bar of soap actually has bits of loofah added to really clean and exfoliate skin.  Plus it has peppermint which is so invigorating!
• The Walnut Scrub was wonderful.  Tiny particles of ground up walnut are mixed into the shower gel to help clean and exfoliate your skin.  It smells great with all of the essential oils mixed in.  I especially loved this product. 

Super Body Care also has other great products including lip balm, cleansing body wipes (safe for the face), body spray, and deoderizers.  You can purchase these products on their website http://www.superbodycare.com/ or search for a local retailer although it looks like they are mostly located in California. 


Karla


(If you would like to have your product reviewed here on Living A Whole Life please feel free to send us an email and detailed information about your product.)

Nourishing Herbal Infusions - Part Three of Three

Three Part Series on Nourishing Infusions

PART THREE - More Details on Nettles - Sources, the Variety of Actions of Nettles

Now we know how to make a Nourishing Herbal Infusion and we’ve learned how to expand it to customize it somewhat to our constitution (there are endless varieties in this... just the basic of basics so far).

To start out on a more doable level (if it is winter and you can’t harvest nettles in the wild or if you are sick, overdone and just need an easy start) - you can buy dried herbs and make your nourishing infusion from that and then build up to locally harvesting and drying your herbs by yourself (and some of the herbs you want in your infusion may not be local or in season).  You can buy dried herbs from your local food co-op or health food store.  You can also mail order herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs.  Supporting local whenever you can is awesome - try and find a local herbalist and buy from them and ask them to help you learn to make your own medicine - so much fun!!!

Notes: Stinging Nettles is a perennial that grows June - September in the Eastern/Central United States.  Nettles likes moist soils.

Just to give you a flavor of the power and versatility of Nettles --- here are the traditional uses of Nettles (from the Peterson’s Field Guide): “blood purifier, blood builder, diuretic, astringent; for anemia, gout, glandular diseases, rheumatism, poor circulation, enlarged spleen, mucous discharges of lungs, internal bleeding, diarrhea, dysentery” (p. 239).  Add I have to add: helpful for seasonal allergies!

From Matthew Wood’s “The Earthwise Herbal” about Nettles (p. 496-497): “Urtica is native to the Old World, but widely naturalized throughout the world.  It has native cousins in the woods of North America.  Nettle grows around septic systems, outhouses, and manure piles, demonstrating its utility in dealing with protein waste products.  It is one of the plants highest in protein and helps all protein pathways in the body -- digestion, immune response, liver metabolism, skin reactions, and kidney elimination.  It contains chlorophyll, indoles (including histamine and serotonin), acetylcholine, flavonoids, vitamins (including C), proteins, and dietary fiber.”

References & Resources: 

Beautiful Improvement with my allergies after taking nettles!!!

jim mcdonald - Herbal Intensive

Matthew Wood - “The Earthwise Herbal, A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants”

Isla Burgess - “Weeds Heal, A Working Herbal”

Kiva Rose - class correspondence

John Gallagher - herbmentor.com and learningherbs.com

Peterson Field Guide: Medicinal Plants & Herbs by Steven Foster & James A.  Duke

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart