Staying Healthy In a Toxic World

Finally going mainstream

Posted by patty_gale199 in June 2, 2010

Since I started making my own lotions, I have been trying to educate folks about the dangers in personal care products.

Well, Dr. Oz is finally making this information go mainstream. See his beauty cheat sheet: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-ozs-beauty-cheat-sheet

He covers just a few basics, but at least he is raising awareness that we need to think about what we put on our skin, the ingredients in those products, and their potential ill effects on our health.

Have you encountered any other sources of this type of information? Do you see it going mainstream? If so, please leave a comment and share where you have seen it. Include a link, if possible.

For local folks, I plan to make a fresh batch of facial moisturizer this weekend (June 6, 2010). Please call me if you’d like some. $7 for a 2-oz. jar. Several of them are already spoken for.

Poem to Sandra

Posted by patty_gale199 in March 30, 2010

Okay, this has nothing to do with staying healthy in a toxic world, except as a means of self-expression, and not bottling it all up inside.

My sister passed away recently, at the young age of 49. Complications from breast cancer, which she probably would have survived if her mental health issues didn’t prevent her from making the decisions she needed to make when she needed to make them. So, from my point of view, it was the mental health issues that really killed her, not the breast cancer.

I wrote the following during the week after her passing:

Growing up the middle child in a family of five girls, it was important to find my “place”.  I wasn’t an artist, as Sandra, Christa, and Kari so obviously are. And even Sherry, who was always my ally in the books and brains department, later defected to the artists’ camp. I must admit that I have felt a little left out.

But over the past few days, this poem started to evolve, demanding to be written. And then I realized why: I’m not a visual artist, as my sisters are. I’m a writer. The blank page is my canvas. Words are my brush strokes.

So I offer to you this little poem in memory of my sister, Sandra.

Sandra

A little bit of light has gone out of the world;

A little bit of color, a little bit of sun,

A little bit of laughter, a little bit of fun.

There’s a place in my heart that she once filled.

It’s empty now, drafty and chilled

Knowing that

We won’t see her smile, won’t hear her laugh,

won’t feel her warmth or hear her foot on the path.

She filled our lives with beauty and art,

Gracing our days with love, laughter, and heart.

She loved her dogs, she loved her girls,

She loved the beach and the waves that curled

As they broke on the sand along the shore.

Being with her made you wish for more.

So if the sky’s a little paler, the sun a little drab,

Colors a little faded, and you feel a little sad,

It’s because she’s no longer with us.

She took her light away.

Want to be on my product testing panel?

Posted by patty_gale199 in February 7, 2010

Hi, all! After a brief hiatus, I am ramping up activity for BarnSwallow Botanicals again. I spent the weekend making lots of products so I can get them into farm stands, consignment shops, and similar venues. I am also talking to local Adult Ed organizations about offering my lotion-making class in the Spring/Summer.

But the funnest part of this business is coming up with new formulas, playing with ingredients, and creating new products. And this is where you come in! I would like to invite you to be part of my Product Testing Panel. I need folks who will try untested products, and give me your honest feedback.

This weekend, after making my regular products, I created a new facial moisturizer. After doing some research, I put the following ingredients into it: (except where noted, quoted text is from www.mountainroseherbs.com)

  • Green tea is loaded with antioxidants, which helps your skin fight free radicals, the major cause of wrinkles and other signs of aging. It also provides defense against sun exposure.
  • Rosehip seed oil is “believed to be the best oil available for anti-aging and skin rejuvenation…In these tests, rosehip seed oil regenerated the skin, reduced scars and wrinkles, prevented the advancement of wrinkles and aging, and helped skin to regain its natural color and tone…Rosehip seed oil contains Vitamin A, which helps to delay the effects of skin aging, assists with cell regeneration, and promotes collagen and elastin levels to increase.”
  • Macadamia nut oil is “a fabulous, protective oil with a high absorbtion rate and has been successfully used as a healing oil for scars, sunburns, minor wounds, and other irritations.”
  • Meadowfoam oil “has amazing moisturizing and rejuvenating capabilities…Benefits include: ultra-violet protection, non-greasy feeling, soaks into the skin easily, reduces wrinkles and signs of aging.”
  • Jojoba oil “helps promote healing of the skin in many ways. It has antimicrobial properties, which means it actually discourages the growth of some bacterial and fungal microbes that attack the skin. In addition, the chemical composition of jojoba closely resembles that of the skin’s natural sebum, so it is easily absorbed and rarely causes allergic reactions, even in the most sensitive individuals. ” (http://www.vitaminstuff.com/supplements-jojoba.html)
  • Vegetable glycerin “is invaluable as a natural source ingredient with emollient like properties which can soften and soothe the skin and it assists the outer epidermis is retaining moisture.”

At the moment, I am calling this product Nourishing Facial Moisturizer, but perhaps you will be able to help me come up with a better name?

So, are you interested in being on my product testing panel? If so, please let me know right away, and we’ll coordinate to get a sample to you. I have 1/2 ounce containers of the moisturizer, which provides about a 1-week supply, and 2-ounce containers, which should last about a month or 2, I think, depending on how often you use it. Let me know which you want.

The deal is this: You get to try products for free, and in exchange, you commit to providing feedback. Do you like it? Is it too greasy? Too watery? Smell funny? Smell nice? Irritate your skin? (I hope not!) Soothe your skin? Would you buy it? How could I make it better?

That’s the kind of feedback I’d like, and I hope you’ll agree to participate. I have signed up to attend a class at the end of Feb. on how to make liquid soaps using organic oils, so I’m sure to have more new products for testing in a few more weeks.

So call, email, or leave a comment on this blog indicating whether you’d like to participate, and I’ll respond as soon as I can. And when you have feedback on the moisturizer, leave a comment on this blog post. This way, other product testers will be able to see what you think, too.

Also, I just made a whole slew of products. If you’d like to buy any for yourself or others (perfect Valentine’s gifts for mom, auntie, grandma, etc.), I have these products, freshly made and ready to go:

  • Dry Skin Body Cream: 2 oz = $7, 4 oz = $12, and free 1/2-ounce samples.
  • Body Butter (Honey or Mandarin  Orange or Peppermint): 2 oz = $7, 4 oz = $12, and free 1/2-ounce samples.
  • Hand Lotion (Mandarin Orange or Vanilla or Unscented): 8 oz = $12, and free 1/2-ounce samples.
  • Facial Moisturizer (light orange scent, with jojoba and rosehip seed oil; this is not the new Nourishing Facial Moisturizer): 2 oz = $5, 8 oz = $18, and free 1/2-ounce samples.

And you get a 10% discount off these prices. :-)

Happy February!

Need a new shower curtain? Think again.

Posted by patty_gale199 in November 7, 2009

When you hang a new vinyl shower curtain, you are sure to notice that wonderful “new shower curtain smell”. Ever wonder what that smell is?

It’s the shower curtain emitting toxic compounds into the air — not just for the first day or week, but for an entire month after you hang it up. When tested, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) curtains are shown to emit several air pollutants, including methyl isobutyl ketone, toluene, ethylbenzene, acetophenone phenol, xylene, and cumene.

Instead of hanging a vinyl curtain in your shower, consider these alternatives:

  • Shower curtains made with more environmental friendly ethylene vinyl acetate. IKEA and other retailers are starting to sell these.
  • Fabric shower curtains. Just omit the vinyl liner, and let the fabric one do the job. Once the curtain gets wet, it acts as a barrier, and the rest of your shower water just slides down the inside surface, into the tub. When your shower is finished, be sure to run the fan or open the window so they curtain can dry thoroughly. When you wash your towels, also wash the curtain. I keep 2 fabric shower curtains and rotate them. One caveat: if you use a heavy fabric for the curtain, like canvas or sail cloth, it can take quite a while to dry thoroughly, and you can end up with mildew in your bathroom. Choose a fabric that can dry quickly.

More details

According to Foodconsumer.org, the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice commissioned a study that showed…

the curtains released over 108 VOCs over a 28-day period.  Twenty-eight days later 4 VOCs were still able to be detected in the air. These organic compounds have been linked to diseases such as cancer, and reproductive toxicity and they are also known to cause conditions such as kidney and liver damage as well as damage to the central nervous system and other important parts of the body.

The test meant to determine the chemical make-up of the PVC curtains found some worrisome chemicals including phthalates, which have been associated with reproductive problems such as shortened pregnancy duration in women and premature breast development in girls.  These chemicals can also cause damage to sperm and other male reproductive functions.

For more information, see these resources:

http://www.besafenet.com/pvc/about.htm

http://thesoftlandingbaby.com/2008/02/11/are-ethylene-vinyl-acetate-eva-baby-teethers-non-toxic/

Avoiding the flu, naturally?

Posted by patty_gale199 in November 3, 2009

People all around me have the flu. How about you?

Last Monday afternoon, I started feeling lousy. Headachy, sore throat, tired, and my sinuses were starting to ache a bit. So I scaled back the activities I had planned for the evening, made a quick, easy meal for the family, and plopped myself on the couch to rest. But first, I had a dose of Vitamin C, as well as a cup of tea made with elderberries and Iceland moss.

Huh? Moss?

Yeah! While ordering ingredients to make lotions and powders, I came across this description at Mountain Rose Herbs:

In the challenging environment of Iceland, the tiny Iceland moss guards its food supply by secreting antimicrobial chemicals. These chemicals also counteract bacterial and viral infections in the ears, nose, mouth, and throat… Research is underway for use of chemicals in Iceland moss as treatments for peptic ulcer disease, cancer, and HIV. It has been found to be an effective treatment for coughs, colds, and bronchitis as it can create a moist and soothing layer in the throat that can help ease these problems.

And MRH provides this information about elderberries:

European elder is a plant native to Europe, Northern Africa, and Western-and Central Asia. Its flowers and berries have a long history of use in traditional European medicine. Elder berries have also been used for making preserves, wines, winter cordials, and for adding flavor and color to other wines. Native Americans used the flowers, berries, and bark of elderberry trees to treat fevers and joint pain for hundreds of years, but elderberry’s real claim to fame is as a cure for the flu. Israeli researchers have developed five formulas based on elderberry fruit that have been clinically proven to prevent and ameliorate all kinds of influenza.

Extensive research show that elder stop the production of hormone-like cytokines that direct a class of white blood cells known as neutrophils to cause inflammation, especially in influenza and arthritis. On the other hand, elder increases the production of non-inflammatory infection-fighting cytokines as much as 10 fold. Elder berries are known to be effective against eight strains of influenza. This suggests that elder be superior to vaccines in preventing flu, because flu vaccines are only effective against known strains of flu, whereas the virus is continually mutating to new strains. Vaccines have another draw back: over half of people who get them report side effects. Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu, of Hadassah-Hebrew University in Israel found that elderberry disarms the enzyme viruses use to penetrate healthy cells in the lining of the nose and throat. Taken before infection, it prevents infection. Taken after infection, it prevents spread of the virus through the respiratory tract. In a clinical trial, 20% of study subjects reported significant improvement within 24 hours, 70% by 48 hours, and 90% claimed complete cure in three days. In contrast, subjects receiving the placebo required 6 days to recover.

So between the Vitamin C, elderberries, and Iceland moss, I figured I’d have a good chance of avoiding the flu, or at least having a mild case of it.

So I brewed a large cup of tea with 1/2 tablespoon of dried elderberries and 1/2 tablespoon of Iceland moss. After 4 minutes, I removed the herbs and tasted it. The moss makes it bitter, so I added a large dollop of honey. Then I drank it down, and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Based on how I felt that evening, I expected to wake up with a full-blown case of the flu the next morning. To my surprise, I woke up feeling well-rested and just fine.

To be on the safe side, I repeated the treatment (Vitamin C + tea made with elderberries and Iceland moss) that evening and the next morning and evening. And no symptoms appeared. In the meantime, several people I know and their kids came down with some version of flu.

While I can’t be absolutely sure that I was coming down with the flu, it sure felt like it. And while I can’t be absolutely sure that this treatment worked, I don’t have the flu, even though others around me are coming down with it.

I started getting another sore throat this morning. So I am repeating the treatment. I might be doing it all winter. But that’s okay. If I can beat this thing with a few cups of tea, I’ll do it.

Tags: , , ,

A better body powder

Posted by patty_gale199 in October 24, 2009

After my very first post, Toxic Beauty #1, about the dangers of talc (causes ovarian cancer), I tossed out everything in my cupboards that contain talc. Honestly, we don’t use body powder on a regular basis. But we do need it once in a while.

If we are trying to avoid talc, what can my son and husband use to prevent prickly heat and chafing during their annual week-long summer camping event? (think about what happens when boys wear damp swimsuits all day) or to avoid friction during hikes? And what can my baby nephew use to keep his cute little bottom from getting sore?

Now, granted, these guys aren’t likely to get ovarian cancer. But if talc poses a danger to women, I am going to assume that it could do something equally nasty to the guys. We probably just haven’t connected the dots and figured it out yet.

So I am on a mission to create an all-natural, safe, effective body powder. For my son and husband, I want something along the lines of the Medicated Gold Bond Powder that they used last year. And for my baby nephew, something that is very soft and gentle, but can help avoid or heal diaper rash and prickly heat.

Last night I created my version of medicated body powder using the following ingredients:

  • Arrowroot powder
  • White kaolin clay
  • Calendula flower powder
  • Club moss powder
  • Zinc oxide
  • Essential oil of mandarin orange

And for baby, I made a simpler version with fewer ingredients:

  • Arrowroot powder
  • Calendula flower powder
  • Zinc oxide

Here is a description of each ingredient and its unique properties. (Most of this information is from Mountain Rose Herbs [MRH].)

Arrowroot powder: This is the base. It is made from the dried root of the arrowroot plant, and it makes a wonderfully soft, non-toxic substitute for talc. Some people use cornstarch, which is fine, too, but I know that some folks are allergic to corn. (If you use cornstarch, you should be sure to get a non-GMO product.) It is called “arrowroot” because South American natives used it as an antidote for poisoned arrows.

White kaolin clay: This fine powder is quarry mined from natural deposits and water-washed, but otherwise untreated. It is used in most powdered and dry cosmetics. It is naturally absorbent and very mild, making it perfect for people with sensitive skin. It does not draw oils from the skin, so it can be used safely by people with dry skin. The clay is high in calcium, silica, zinc, and magnesium. These constituents help the clay to heal existing blemishes and inflammations, while preventing new ones from forming.

Calendula flower powder: I used a certified organic product from MRH. With antibacterial properties, calendula is used to disinfect minor wounds and treat infections of the skin. It stimulates the production of collagen at wound sites, minimizing scarring. It is also reputed to reduce pain.

Club moss powder: This product consists of the wildharvested spores of club moss. The spores are highly moisture resistant. When used as a dusting powder, they help to heal skin ailments, such as eczema, and to prevent chafing.

Zinc oxide: Its recognized antioxidant properties help to soothe, protect, and heal skin. As a mild astringent and antiseptic, it helps treat and relieve moist, painful, or itchy skin conditions.

Essential oil of mandarin orange (certified organic): Makes it smell nice (because, really, who wants to walk around smelling like club moss?)

So now I get to test these products and see how they do. If you live within shouting distance of me (Pepperell, MA) and would like to be a guinea pig, please give a holler and I can give you some to try, as long as you promise to give me feedback. I can also create a customized product for you (scent, ingredients) to meet your specific needs.

Tags: , ,

Alternative to sunscreen?

Posted by patty_gale199 in October 11, 2009

Lately I’ve been reading the book Super Natural Home: Improve Your Health, Home, and Planet – One Room at at Time, by Beth Greer.

This book repeats Dr. Epstein’s (author of Toxic Beauty) warnings about the dangers of sunscreen:

…four out of every five [sunscreens] contain chemicals that may pose health hazards or don’t adequately protect people from UVA radiation.

…the sunscreen brand Keys Soap Solar RX Therapeutic Sunblock was ranked #1 by the EWG as the safest and most effective sunscreen sold in the United States.

…sunscreen ingredients that wash off swimmers are bleaching coral reefs worldwide…reefs are being threatened by the 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen that annually wash off swimmers.

So not only do sunscreens endanger our health, they also have a real environmental impact.

Beth suggests making your own sun protectant, but one that uses a different strategy than using chemicals or physical sunblock (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide) to protect the skin:

…research shows that a topical application of a 10% solution of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can prevent sun damage to skin. If applied one or more times per day, no sunscreen is necessary. The vitamin C is incorporated into the skin’s cells to prevent ultraviolet damage to DNA. It does not wash off. This solution can also be applied after burning to reverse damage already sustained. There are no side effects.

Recipes for Natural Sunscreen

SUN SKIN SPRAY

4 ounces distilled water (or aloe juice or rose water)

1 level teaspoon ascorbic acid powder

Put in 4-ounce spray bottle. Shake and use one or two times a day before sunning. Put makeup or other creams or lotions over the top. Always respray when you have finished sunning.

SUN SKIN LOTION

Use the same recipe as above, but add 1 ounce glycerin. [Patty: For a vegetarian product, use vegetable-based glycerin from a trusted source. The glycerin you purchase in the drugstore may be a product of animal fat.] Put in a 4-ounce twist lock pump bottle.

Apply makeup or other creams or lotions over the top. Always respray when finished sunning. Do not make more than 4 ounces at a time unless you are using it for your entire body. Vitamin C is readily destroyed in a solution, so it’s best to make a new batch every 5 to 7 days and the lotion every 7 to 10 days.

“This is skin food,” says Krispin, “not a topical product.” She suggests you put it on a few hours before going in the sun and let it absorb into the skin. Also, spray it on after being in the sun to help regenerate the cells. For it to be most effective, it’s important to use pure ascorbic acid, not ester-C or calcium C or any other derivative.

This is very exciting! Could it be true? Just spray this stuff on once in the morning, and again in the evening, and I’m done? No need to reapply every 2 hours when on the beach? (and no harm to those fishies!)

Now that Fall has reached New England, I have fewer chances to test this idea. But you can be sure that, come summer, I’ll be covering one arm with sunblock and the other arm with this Sun Skin Spray, to test its effectiveness. Perhaps my California-based sister can test it and let us know the results?

Also, I think I would like to try first infusing aloe vera juice with green tea, and then add the ascorbic acid to that. Aloe vera helps heal and moisturize skin, and green tea has known properties of protecting the skin from the sun. A winning combination?

Here is a source for ascorbic acid, and additional information about it:

http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/powder.shtml

What do you think? Would you try this?

Tags: , ,

Toxic Beauty #3A

Posted by patty_gale199 in October 10, 2009

I wanted to continue the discussion about the dangers of sunscreen (see my post Toxic Beauty #3), because the book (Toxic Beauty by Samuel S. Epstein, MD) contains more information that I should share with you.

From the book:

“One of the…chief dangers of sunscreens is that they are often also hormone disruptors. The evidence that most sunscreen ingredients have hormonal effects comes largely from experiments demonstrating their ability to stimulate proliferation of human breast cancer cells, and to induce the production of breast cancer protein in laboratory tests.

The sunscreen chemicals Bp-3, 4-MBC, and OMC increased uterine growth when fed to immature rats, and the painting of the skin of immature female rats with 40MBC, using concentrations of the chemical similar to those found in common sunscreens, significantly increased uterine growth.

Bp-3 has been detected in urine up to four hours after skin application of sunscreens, and both Bp-3 and OMC accumulate in the body, as evidenced by their detection in human breast milk.

Yet, if you read through the industry’s Cosmetic Industry Review Compendium, it makes no reference to the hormonal effects of Bp-3 or any other sunscreen ingredient.

Oxybenzone, a chemical similar to estrogen in its effects, is another hormone disruptor commonly found in sunscreens. Its effects have been highlighted by a University of California-Riverside research team’s discovery of evidence in 2006 that oxybenzone had transformed the males of two coastal fish species into feminized fish carrying ovary tissue. Two-thirds of the male fish examined had been feminized in this way.”  [Patty: Ewwww!]

…and there’s plenty more information along those lines. Suffice it to say that most sunscreens contain stuff that messes with your body in a bad way, and you should avoid them. Here is the list of sunscreen ingredients to avoid (from the book):

Ingredient

Toxic Effects

Benzophenone-3 (Bp-3)

Penetration enhancer, hormone disruptor, allergen

Octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC)

Penetration enhancer, hormone disruptor

Oxybenzone

Hormone disruptor

Nanoparticles
(“micro-fine”, “ultra-fine”)

Penetration enhancers

Parabens

Hormone disruptors

And to reiterate, the only sunblocks that are safe:

  • Do not contain any of the above ingredients, and
  • DO contain titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide.

So I have a bunch of sunscreen to throw out. As it happens, I do have some of the Burt’s Bees Chemical-Free Sunscreen that the book recommends. And the next time I make my own body lotion, I plan to make a batch containing zinc oxide and titanium dioxide for my very own sunblock.

A couple more interesting points from this chapter, “Products Targeting Sun Worshippers”, in the Toxic Beauty book:

  • Hidden sunscreens: Some sunscreen ingredients are now being incorporated in beauty and anti-wrinkle creams, lipsticks, skin lotions, hair products, and bubble baths, in order to maintain the products’ light stability and durability. These ingredients are usually not identified on the product labels.
  • Lip gloss can magnify the sun’s UV rays: A consumer alert from dermatologists, widely publicized in April 2008, warned that lip glosses can act like magnifying glasses, concentrating the UV rays of the sun in a way that allows more light rays to penetrate directly into the lips. As a result, the wearer’s risk of contracting squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer of the lips, could be increased – though it must also be noted that, as of this writing, no medical studies had been conducted to confirm a cancer link. Just to be safe, however, one option to reduce risk is to mix lip gloss with zinc oxide, which has a protective effect, rather than use lip gloss alone. [Patty: Guess what I’ll be making soon?]

Live in health.

–  Patty

Tags: , ,

Does it really matter?

Posted by patty_gale199 in October 10, 2009

“Will our efforts to avoid chemicals in personal care products and elsewhere really make a difference? We’ll probably all just get cancer anyway…”

After reading my blog posts, a couple of folks have expressed this sentiment. But I truly think it can make a difference. Here’s why:

Your skin is the largest organ in your body. While it protects you from lots of bad stuff, keeping germs out, it is also highly permeable, letting some stuff in. Anything that you apply to your skin can make its way directly into your bloodstream and throughout your body. And in doing so, it doesn’t go through your liver, whose job it is to clean food toxins out of your blood.

Says Dr. Samuel Epstein in Toxic Beauty,

Carcinogens in cosmetics and personal-care products pose greater cancer risks than food contaminated with carcinogenic pesticides and other industrial carcinogens because chemicals taken in by the mouth are absorbed by the intestines and pass into venous blood, which is then taken to the liver. Once inside this organ, carcinogens can be detoxified to varying degrees by enzymes before they reach the rest of the body. Carcinogens absorbed through the skin, in striking contract, bypass the liver and enter blood circulation — and body organs — without this protection.

Furthermore, a family history of cancer does not mean that you are doomed to share the same fate. Cancer is largely a result of exposure to environmental hazards. If both your parents die of cancer, chances are it has more to do with their shared lifestyle (eating habits, food preparation methods, environmental contaminants, etc.) than anything else.

If you do your best to avoid known carcinogens, you can do a lot to reduce your risk of cancer. Yes, if you are going to get cancer, your body might be more likely to respond in the same way, with the same type of cancer, as a parent. But whether or not you get cancer is something that you can do something about. We just need to pay attention to the chemicals we expose our bodies to.

Says Dr. Epstein:

[p. 43] …increasing cancer rates also cannot be attributed to genetic factors. At most, genetics can be directly implicated as a cause in less than 10 percent of all cancers. [In one study,] adopted children whose adoptive parents died from cancer had a fivefold increased risk of developing the disease themselves, clearly implicating environmental exposures. In the second study, which compared 9,000 identical twins in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, the authors reached this firm conclusion: “The overwhelming contribution to the causation of cancer in the population of twins that we studied was the environment.” In contrast, a strong body of scientific evidence demonstrates that, apart from carcinogenic ingredients in consumer products, the predominant cause of the modern cancer epidemic is directly related to petrochemical and nuclear industry technologies and their environmental pollutants.

So make the change, one baby step at a time. Each week, try to make one small change that moves you closer to being chemically clean. Trying to do it all at once can be overwhelming — and expensive! Instead, use up the personal care products that you currently have. When you run out, find a healthier alternative, with fewer dangerous chemicals, to replace it.

Little by little, you can make a difference in your overall health and that of your family.

Tags: , ,

Learn to Make Your Own Hand Lotions and Body Butters

Posted by patty_gale199 in October 4, 2009

I’m branching out, and teaching classes at our local community center. Here is the class description. I hope you’ll join us!

Learn how easy it is to create your own all-natural hand and body lotions. During this 2-hour course, you’ll learn how to create body butter, non-greasy hand and body lotion, and a dry-skin-formula body lotion to help you through our long New England winters. Using common kitchen equipment and simple ingredients like almond or olive oil, beeswax, and cocoa butter, you can create all-natural lotions that don’t contain the parabens, petroleum, or other questionable ingredients found in commercial products.

These lotions and body butters make wonderful holiday gifts for friends and family. You’ll go home with recipes, complete instructions, a list of resources, gifting ideas, and a jar of body butter or hand lotion.

Held at the Community Center in Pepperell, Massachusetts.

2 sessions for adults:  Saturday, November 7 at 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Monday, November 23 at 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

1 session for teens: Wednesday, November 25 at 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Cost: $50 per adult, $40 per teen.
Sign up with a friend and both receive a $5 discount.

To sign up, go to www.town.pepperell.ma.us/recreation/programGuide.html
Hurry! Sign up today. Space is limited.

Tags: , , ,
« Older Entries

Syndication

Powered by Blog.com