She is a compulsive hand washer.  She is only 8 years old and her hands are red and raw. She has OCD and washes her hands to control her fears of touching dirty objects.  Her name is Emma. The past 2 years of masks, mandates and sanitizers have exacerbated Emma’s fears of contamination. Washing is her way of coping. When Emma showed me her hands and arms, I showed her our homemade soaps and explained how they could help her.  “Good old soap and water work wonders, but the soap has to be a real soap, not a detergent.”    I suggested a little travel soap dish and encouraged her to carry her own…

Good things come in small packages. Ask the teen who did not mind hiding behind her mandated mask because she was self-conscious of her skin. Ask the middle-aged librarian who was once embarrassed to serve the public.  Both discovered the Skin Manager. They no longer always opt to hide their smiles. Magically, the Skin Manager helps keep the skin healthy, smooth and clear. Our blend contains unrefined emu oil and Canada’s own magical Black Spruce essential oil. Let’s look at Black Spruce.  Canada is proud to grow Black Spruce. Known as Picea Mariana in the Botany world, black spruce is native…

If you fell into a vat of lyeYes, it’s is assumed that you would fryLye is caustic when making a soapSoap makers take caution, at least, we hopeOnce the soap is stirred and set to cureThe lye is gone, the soap is pure.   Are you afraid of lye soaps?  Have you been told they are caustic?  Are you led to believe that other cleansers are better?  While some other cleansers than the ‘lye soap’ do really clean well and perhaps require less work, they can also contain toxic substances that are not desirable. Do not be afraid of a real soap made with lye.  Soap? Detergent? They are NOT the same…

Spoil MeOil meCream meClean me Skin Care WorldDo it naturallyPleaseMake it toxin freeA simple plea Skin is skin. We may differ in colour, tone and texture. But we all need the same thing. Healthy skin. And sometimes the skin care world is not doing its job. Skin care ads remind us constantly to hydrate and moisturize. The scene is ripe for competition. We are inundated with special creams, lotions, gels, salves, balms, sprays, cleansers with catchy phrases to capture our attention. Promises. Promises. There is a lot of trouble out there.  For our skin, our bodies, our health. Formaldehyde,…

Have you ever witnessed a small child’s delight as s/he becomes one with the cereal bowl, tossing back the last scoops of sumptuous porridge.  AKA oatmeal? Smiles for all!  Perhaps it was an observant Egyptian mother 4000 years ago who first discovered oatmeal as soothing on the skin?   Ovid, one of ancient Rome’s most prolific writers devised skin care recipes with oats over 2000 years ago. Dioscorides, a Greek author, wrote extensively on oats as a healing agent.    Today ‘colloidal oats’ have become an important part of skin care. Colloidal oats, the grinding and processing of the whole…

Maybe you need emu in your ear.  Maybe you do not.  But if you have ever had an earwax imbalance, or possibly may have one in the future, you should know about emu when earwax is a concern. Earwax is normal. It is not really wax, per se, but the dead skin cells from the ear canal. The ear cleans or revitalizes itself, sloughing off dead cells, called cerumen or earwax. This cleaning job should happen naturally, normally, and we should not have to do anything about it. The job of the earwax is to clean out the ear canal. The hair lined canal moves the earwax, in a grinding-like motion, out of…

You have scalp psoriasis.  Your health care professional advises: ‘A Coal tar shampoo will help ease the symptoms of your psoriasis. But do have regular cancer screening tests.’ You are now caught  between a rock and a hard place. Do you take the risk? You buy the coal tar shampoo. The warning on the label reads: For external use only. Ask a doctor before use if condition covers a large area of the body. Avoid contact with the eyes. If contact occurs, rinse eyes thoroughly with water. May increase tendency to sunburn for up to 24 hours after application. Avoid other psoriasis therapies such…

 What if companies joked around. Tossed about the good, the bad and the ugly. Messed with us. Had fun. As in a fictional ad from a purely fictional company called ‘The Cosmetics Con Company’ advertising a purely fictional product called the ‘Best Body Wash Ever.’  The advertisement  Best Body Wash EverThe Cosmetic Con Company Our Ingredients: Upfront and in your face Water (eau), glycerin, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium laureth sulfate, Cocamide MIPA. avena sativa (oat) kernel flour, sodium chloride, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, parfum, tetrasodium EDTA, glycol distearate,…