Holly Beth Organics: Citrus All Over Cream

So, I have been trying out new organic items. I have chosen GeoDeo as a deodorant that I really like. Who knew it would be that easy? Body lotion on the other hand has been difficult. But I have been working my way through a line that is very promising.

HollyBeth Organics is a company that uses all organic ingredients and is USDA certified organic. Holly Beth is a Southern girl who has travelled the world and has brought back knowledge of healing plants and essential oils. The fragrances are simply wonderful.

I have been using the Citrus All Over Cream. It's $25.00 for 2 oz. It might seem a little pricey, but you really don't use much. A little goes a long way. The smell is absolutely heavenly.  Lemon, lime, orange, bergamot and litsea essential oils combine to energize as well as calm you. It smells like something you would get in a high end spa. And it leaves your skin feeling amazing!  Fifteen years after leaving the coast for a "dry heat" my skin is beginning to feel the effects. HB Citrus All Over Cream makes my skin look younger and feel like satin. I slather it on my feet before bed and put my little booties on. That keeps my feet soft as a baby's bottom.

Over all I really love this product. It can feel a bit greasy. And I do have to let it soak in a bit before I put on clothes or sit on any furniture. But I like the fact that I know what the ingredients are and they are gluten and cruelty free. What I really love, but haven't confirmed yet, is that I heard this product may actually repel mosquitoes. And y'all know how much I loooove those.

Check out their website at http://www.hollybethorganics.com. They even have great gift sets.

Don't Sweat It!

For as long as I can remember there have been rumors going around about the dangers of using antiperspirants. They are made with aluminum salts and active ingredients as well as inactive ingredients. These claims have said that these products can cause breast cancer and kidney failure. But who wants to go around sweaty and stinky? So most of us toss aside these claims in order to appear fresh and unflappable.

No one seems to be able to agree on the cancer claims. But from what I can tell, most of the research points to nothing more than unsightly buildup as being the most unfavorable result. According to Web MD, these cancer claims have been around for a while and seemed to make sense. After all, the aluminum in antiperspirants works by mixing with sweat to form a plug and clog the pores under the arms. And with breast cancer developing mostly in the upper and outer part of the breast, the part closest to the armpit, then it seems safe to assume that antiperspirant could be the culprit. However, there have been no conclusive studies linking cancer to these products.

Back in the 1960's they found that Alzheimer's patients had large amounts of aluminum in their brains causing people to think that maybe Alzheimer's was caused by household items like antiperspirants, antacids and drinking from aluminum cans. But again, in recent studies, they were unable to find a link.

However, as some of you may know, I have not been in the best of health lately. For several years now my health has been declining. And after seeing several doctors, most of whom told me to just learn to handle my stress and lose weight, I have found a doctor who may just save my life. I have lived a life of excess and without care for my environment. And I use environment to include not only the world around me, but my physical being as well. I have consumed nothing but chemicals to the point that my body will no longer absorb the nutrients it needs to be healthy. So I'm trying to clean up my act. Get rid of the parabens and phthalates and a host of other things I could never pronounce. One of the things I have found with a long list of chemicals is antiperspirant. But what do you replace it with?  GeoDeo.

GeoDeo is an all natural deodorant/antiperspirant. I have been using it now for weeks and I love it! It comes in two delicious fragrances as well as unscented, glides on clear and easy and lasts all day long. I even taught a class the other day to a room full of police officers and as nervous I was you couldn't see me sweat. And you know how some stick deodorants can leave that unsightly residue that looks so chalky when you lift your arm? Not GeoDeo. You just look fresh and clean.

GeoDeo is made up of volcanic minerals, aloe vera, bamboo, kelp and coconut oil. I used the Ocean fragrance. Next time I'm going to try Island. If your looking to simplify your life and get rid of things you can't pronounce give this product a try. I found mine at Sprouts. Visit their website at http://www.mygeodeo.com

Did you know...

STICKER SHOCK

Do you know what those little oval stickers on your produce mean? Besides saying what type of fruit you are purchasing, it also has a bar code that helps track inventory and when read by a bar code scanner, will give you the price, location, etc...

But there is another little number on that sticker.  Sometimes a four digit number, sometimes a five digit number.  You can tell a lot about your produce from that little piece of information.

These little numbers reveal if your fruit is organic, or...has been genetically modified! (Gasp!)  

This nectarine has four digits on the sticker. That means it has been grown using conventional methods. Conventional. Sounds safe. After all, conventional means normal. Or conforming to accepted standards. But wait. Accepted standards. Have you looked around at our world lately?  Look closely at your surroundings and the things that you have come to accept as standard. This piece of fruit has been grown using conventional methods. That means that this unassuming little nectarine has been grown using fertilizers and pesticides.

There are many different types of fertilizers. Including organic. But none of them are without their problems. Sometimes they can hurt the soil and groundwater while they're helping to grow bigger and more fruit. What's really disturbing to me is what it can do to bugs.  Those of you who know me know just how much I loooove the creepy crawlers. (If you didn't recognize the sarcasm, trust me it was there.) Fertilizer not only helps to grow bigger plants, but it also increases the birth rate, longevity and overall fitness of some agriculture pests. Which brings me to...

Pesticides. Pesticides are chemical or biological agents that deter or kill those darling little pests. But you have to wonder...if these pesticides can kill these bugs, what will it do to me?  Now, I'm not going to go into all the different kinds of pesticides. I just don't have that kind of time. If you'd like to devote an afternoon to that, be my guest. I will tell you that right now, there are 1,055 active ingredients registered as pesticides. When put together they produce over 20,000 pesticide products that are marketed here in the United States. 

I'm sure you're telling yourself, "Well, there has to be some type of regulation." Well, yes, sort of. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits the amount of each pesticide that can be on a food item.  However, there is no limit of how many different pesticides you can use. Oh those darn loopholes. 

When you have billions of people to feed, using fertilizers and pesticides makes good cents sense. For every $1 spent on these things yields $4 of crops saved.

All this information from a four digit number on your produce sticker. But wait...there's more!

Some fruit have five digit numbers. And if that number starts with 8 then look out. That food is genetically modified. Lately it seems everyone has been up in arms over genetically modified foods (GMOs). But again, look at the hordes of people we're looking to feed. And the gmo foods can help to do that. They're bigger, have a longer shelf life, like a Twinkie.  They have even come up with a banana that will produce human vaccines that can guard against infectious diseases. They're not in use yet. But they've made them. Even your favorite t-shirt could be gmo. Yep, cotton is genetically modified. So all the PETA people saying you shouldn't wear leather, well, their cotton might not be as pure as they thought.

So what's a person to do? Conventional growing doesn't sound very tasty, with fertilizers and pesticides. Genetically modified sounds like you're eating a science experiment, which in effect you are.  What's left?

Check that number closely on that sticker the next time you're at the store. Five digits. But wait...it starts with a 9. Hooray! That means that it is Certified Organic. GMO and pesticide free!

If you're brave enough, go ahead and take a bite out of a piece of fruit with a four digit sticker. Then eat one with a five digit sticker beginning with a 9. Oh yes, you can taste the difference. And yes, organic foods do cost more. But you can pay now...or you can pay later. 

I love summer fruits. Get out and enjoy the sunshine. Go to a Farmer's Market. Meet your local farmers. And enjoy food the way it is meant to be.

To find your local Farmer's Market, go to www.farmersmarket.com