homesteadbody

[homesteadbody]

oh yeah - you better believe it matters!

conventional deodorants are simply not good for us. nature was very smart - everything our body does was by design - including sweating.  our bodies naturally eliminate what is not good for it - and sweating is one of the ways it does so. we were made to sweat - if you stop yourself from sweating - where do you think everything that was supposed to be outside of your body goes?  i can tell you that it doesn't go to toxic chemical heaven - it stays in side your body!  this doesn't sound like a good daily practice to me??

what matters is the kind of deodorant you are swiping on our skin - over our lymph nodes and close to our breast tissue. what matters are the ingredients that are being absorbed by our bodies:

Parabens - used as a preservative in products - but a really bad ingredient because is it linked to breast cancer - no one will confirm it - but no one confirms anything that may rock the boat anything pharmaceutical....just sayin.  Parabens are said to mimic our own body's natural estrogen - throwing our hormones off balance - aka hormone disrupter. By the way, parabens are ALSO found in vaginal lubricants and are quickly absorbed THAT way too- so read your ingredients and just use coconut oil (lubricants are a whole other story!).

Aluminum - this one kills me because it is added to STOP you from sweating by plugging up our sweat ducts - so we are effectively stopping what our body was designed to do naturally. it is written here and there that research isn't yet conclusive - but anything that is stopping the body from naturally doing what it is supposed to - is definitely not a good idea to me! Aluminum is absorbed by our skin and is said to mimic our body's natural estrogen - not a good thing. If breast cancer organizations suggest not applying this stuff immediately after shaving - that is top scary enough for me.

Propylene glycol - this ingredient is totally throwing me over the edge because it is also used in paints, paint thinners, and antifreeze - to name a few.  is this for real? it is - look it up.  it is put in deodorants to soften them and make them easier to apply. unbelievable.  this terrible body care ingredient is linked to allergic reactions, kidney and liver damage - i find it hard to believe that's all its linked to.

Triclosan - my personal favorite in ridiculous and tragic because it is ALSO conveniently used as a pesticide and was first classified as a pesticide in 1969. The EPA is now reviewing its link to skin cancers and as a general carcinogen. i still can't get over this one.  it is added to deodorants to kill bacteria which causes body odor - no kidding - i'm sure it's very effective as it was created to kill weeds and insects. why would anyone think Triclosan was a good idea??? do i want to put this on my skin? no - i don't.

Dimethicone - is added as a synthetic conditioning agent that is supposed to form a barrier coating on your skin - keeping all the ingredients stuck to your skin (that sounds scary).  prolonged daily exposure can also cause skin irritation.  you lost me at "synthetic".

Phthalates - they're added to help with consistency and also to help all the other horrible mentioned ingredients stay on your skin.  wherever you see "fragrance" listed - you'll also probably have phthalates as an ingredient.  they are also known to be hormone disruptors.

Fragrance - this word sounds so nice - but when you see it listed as an ingredient - run the other way!  it's a nice word to use so you don't have to list all the chemicals it took to make this one really nice "fragrance" - and you'll never know what any of them are because they aren't broken down.  there can be over one hundred chemicals to make one "fragrance".  we can't even tell you the health risks of "fragrance" because the chemical make-up could be anything.

there are many other chemicals found in conventional deodorants - i can go on forever - and will be writing more about this stuff. keep in mind that these chemical ingredients are super disguised and each have so many different ways of being listed - you may not recognize it.  don't trust those labels! check out EWG's Skin Deep Ingredient Database for starters.

please do your own research - it's worth it and it's important for our teens when they begin using deodorant.  don't hand them this toxic recipe - hand them clean ingredients - all natural ingredients.

our deodorants contain beautiful plant-based ingredients - organic Fair Trade shea and cacao butters and organic Fair Trade coconut oil that are known to be naturally antibacterial, softening and conditioning; organic arrowroot powder to help absorb wetness - it also softens the deodorant and provides for smoother application (they use propylene glycol to do this); baking soda - to help neutralize odor from our natural bacteria (Triclosan is used here to kill our bacteria as well as anything else in its site); kaolin clay - used to help absorb impurities and help keep you dry; vitamin E is our natural preservative - although none are needed as our deodorants are made with natural butters and oils; and organic essential oils that naturally deodorant, antibacterial and antifungal. all clean ingredients.

make the change - choose health.  if you are finding it difficult to make the change from conventional to natural deodorants - read my article in the blog about it - there's a lot of good information and answers to many common questions about sweat, and body odor.  trust me - i went through it - and as a stinker - it wasn't easy - but i stayed with it and now - i hardly sweat as i used to - and rarely smell.  if i have to reapply - i reapply - that's the trade off - and i think it was a good one.  with all the choices out there now - choose you. love you. love your skin.

Don't interrupt nature's design and intent for our bodies to be healthy!  

  love + peace, gina

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#natural deodorants #plant-based deodorants #cruelty-free deodorants #natural deodorant ingredients #plant-based skincare ingredients

[homesteadbody]

Catching Up……and Karma

It’s been a while since I added to the blog – it really has been a whirlwind of busy – all good busy!  My intention is to begin writing weekly, then daily – stay tuned! 

First and foremost – we at Homestead Body would like to wish you a Happy New Year - a little late – but with the warmest wishes to you and your loved ones.  

Since we launched in late November, we have lived and breathed Homestead Body – opening was a blessing after a very long time in the making – yes – it was definitely rewarding for us to see our vision and passion become Homestead Body.  We opened when the 2016 holiday season was upon us – which kept us very busy with holiday orders – and which included our limited time seasonal butterlove scent – Winter Spice – it was a huge hit!  Still receiving requests for it – no worries –it will return in the Fall 2017!

In January, we made our first official donation on behalf of Homestead Body to the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary here in New York - nothing made me happier.  For every product we sell – we are committed to donating a portion to animal rescue – and we will continue to do so.  If you haven’t checked them out yet – take a look at the dedication in helping these rescued animals live with dignity and with a quality of life – the animals there are really very peaceful and happy Woodstock Sanctuary.

Talking about our love of animal rescue organizations, we are also so happy to announce that we will be donating raffle prizes of our products and lots of goody bags of samples to the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary (Oregon) for their Annual Shindig on June 24th, 2017!!  Another organization dedicated to the dignity and respect of animals – they also provide education to children, and work with the community to raise awareness through events, conferences and within the community itself!   Please take a look at what they are doing at the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary. 

As with most all animal rescue organizations – they are dependent on volunteers and donations.  You can celebrate an animals life by a day of volunteering, or consider making a donation in a loved ones name as a birthday gift!!  Receiving a gift in my name in the form of a donation to an animal rescue would make me feel very good inside – it’s all about karma!

In February we launched our first contest on Instagram and on Facebook called ‘Date Night’ – it was a lot of sexy and little risqué!!  A sexy little red organza bag containing a bottle of our organic massage oil, a sexy little black satiny blindfold, and some Fair Trade organic coconut oil for any intimacy you can think of!  We had two winners – and we hope to launch another contest in the coming months for some of our new products!  Follow us on Facebook where we will make the announcements!  FaceBook.

In the three months since we realized Homestead Body….the support has been wonderful.  We have been so well received by you that we are busy processing for repeat customers now – you’re coming back for more – and that means a good product!  But more importantly, our dream of being able to tie Homestead Body in to animal rescue was possible – by making completely vegan products, by only using ingredients that are certified cruelty-free, and by being able to somehow be a part of – even if small through donations – of these wonderful organizations that are truly dedicated to animal rescue.

Karma……blessed.

peace + love, gina + ross

#lighthouse #lighthouse farm sanctuary #woodstock #woodstock farm sanctuary #farm sanctuary #organic #plant-based skincare #vegan skincare

[homesteadbody]

finding homestead body.....

in hindsight, i can see the path i was actually walking (but never knew lol) that led me to homestead body.  one significant moment on the path happened one morning after reading an article in the daily paper.  the article was about a goat that had both the wit and fear enough to escape his inevitable demise at a local slaughterhouse.  the article was so disturbing to me for many reasons - but mostly because the paper had put a "funny" spin on the goats situation. the picture that was posted alongside the article was of the goat being caught down the block by a slaughter house employee.  he was holding the goats hind legs in the air squeezing both ankles together and was dragging the goat backwards down the block to his fate.  the goat was looking back at him terrified trying to keep up with the man or he would have been dragged on his chest and belly down the block.

when you think of a moment in your life that was pivotal and changed your course forever - you never forget it.  that moment for me was seeing that goat looking back at the man laughing with terrified eyes. I made a vow to never eat meat again.  Seeing that goat's face. i will never forget it. there was a path that was laid out before me that morning - and i walked on it never looking back.

becoming a vegetarian was incredibly easy for me - i never missed being a carnivore - not even once (this will all come  360 - i promise).   i was actually repulsed by seeing an animal product as food.  i remember that goat all the time - i can see him clearly. think of it though  - he was scared, he was smart, he was going to feel the slaughter - just like humans - so why are we killing them to eat?  because they aren't able to convey in words that humans can understand that they are scared and feel pain? they do have a language - it's just not ours.

so - i was very excited about jumping into a new way of cooking and became passionate about it.  the pulse of my nutritional exploration was plant-based and being a self-proclaimed "foodie" - i was good at it.  clean eating for me was using primarily plant-based, gluten-free, organic and non-gmo ingredients.

i kept walking on that path and i began reading everything i could about nutrition, health, and integrative medicine. i read the greats - T. Colin Campbell, Mark Hyman,  David Wolfe, Susan Blum, Neal Barnard, Joshua Rosenthal, and Andrea Beaman to name a few - and i was thinking about and very eager to learn everything i could about how our beautiful earth gives us what we need naturally to be healthy - and to stay healthy. this was the right choice for me, and i had full support from my husband and our children. there was no stopping me at that point.

but -both my husband and myself - being raised by our grandparents from Italy - food was a very big part of our culture. the dinner table was important - most important (next to sunday mass)!  every family memory and event from childhood is based around food.  i would wake up to the sounds and smells of my grandparents already beginning dinner at 8:00am in the morning.  i can still hear the garlic being tossed in the hot oil - it was a sacred dance between the two ingredients.  the smell would fill the air and envelope my body in a warmth called home.  i see my grandmother rolling the meatballs on sunday morning and tossing them in the breadcrumbs.  our job (the kids) - was to roll the meatball around the breadcrumbs to coat it and place it in the pan.  holidays and sundays were special events - although in our house every sunday was a holiday with food. the culture of food ran through our blood and is a part of who my family is.

the biggest change for my family after i stopped eating meat was no more italian sunday. they missed the meatballs - although i tried to compensate with eggplant balls (wasn't the same for them).  it was modified now - no prosciutto, no lard bread - my family was grieving for a culture they missed.  but through it all - they remained supportive and began a transition that was relevant for them (maybe it was because i was doing the cooking and they were hungry lol??).  although i tried - i couldn't pull off the breaded seitan for chicken cutlets (my husband and son put their foot down on that one!)  but, they actually began to like the clean food i was putting on the table. more so however, they acknowledged how good they felt after my new "clean" meals - no bloat, no overstuffed belly - just good!  whew!

following that path to homestead body was inevitable at that point.....although little did i know it yet. one day ross (my beloved husband),  and i were with dear friends in the mountains and they introduced me to a woman selling products for the body that she made herself.  of course i was very interested - so i bought an unscented body butter.  I loved the ingredients - so simple: shea butter and some oils.  there wasn't a lengthy list of ingredients that i could not recognize - just a few simple ingredients.  i took my new venture home and sat it on my counter to look at it and read and reread the ingredients. i tried the product - it felt very nice on my skin. i was intrigued. the next mission began - my skin (and everyone else's within twenty feet of me).

i opened my bathroom cabinet and began taking out one by one all of my favorite products - some of those products i spent over one hundred dollars on for under one ounce of product.  the ingredient list was long and mostly undecipherable (save for the ingredient "aqua").  i couldn't believe that all these years i was actually paying to put what was mostly chemicals on the largest organ of my body.....my skin.  this was another turning point in my life. and that very thought was the birth of homestead body.

now what?

so here i was - i had already made the change with what i was putting in my body.....now i wanted to make the change with what i put on my body.  the latter was going to prove to be even more challenging than the first.  

i found myself not wanting to use any of the products i already owned - nothing was going to work for me anymore.  i took my new butter that i bought at the fair in the mountains - but  none of the ingredients were organic.  they were "natural", but they weren't organic. now this bothered me.  i thought - if i won't eat a strawberry or a lettuce leaf that's not organic.....why would i put these natural ingredients that aren't organic on my skin? dilemma. 

 so i set out to find and buy organic skincare.  there are many fine products on the market - but i was having a hard time finding exactly what i wanted: every ingredient to be organic and completely vegan.  many of the products on the market had ingredients that were only partially organic, and half of those products may not be vegan. perhaps they'll contain beeswax, or goat's milk, or honey.  they may be wonderful products - but not for me.  for me at that point in my life - skin and body care was like being in the kitchen and cooking using only organic plant-based ingredients - except.....i was in the bathroom!

my path took me further into the kingdom of types of ingredients out there - organic or not - there are different types.  for example - one can purchase shea butter in so many different forms - most likely because of price-point and how it smells in its natural state - strong and nutty. some forms are raw-unrefined-organic - that's great!  or raw-refined-organic.....hmmm - now what does THAT mean?? red flag. how about raw-refined-ultra deodorized and not organic?  yikes - i don't think so.  this whole new world included butters and oils.  i had a lot to think about.  would i want to make a delicious soup with only half organic and unprocessed ingredients? no never.  so why would i put products on my skin that were not in their truest form available - completely unprocessed and organic? i wouldn't.  

i was on a mission and searching for something i wanted to put on my skin - but really wanted to put on my skin (remember that strawberry?).  i began researching and reading and learning everything i could, and then began making my own products.  i wanted to make products for myself and for my family.  i wanted to be sure that what we all were putting on our skin was basically everything i set out for: every ingredient was to be 100% USDA Certified Organic, plant-based, non-GMO, raw, unrefined, cruelty-free and vegan.  no compromising.

i started with butters, and then moved to deodorants, balms, and face serums.  the butters were the most difficult because i was using only unrefined shea butter - which means it smells nutty - which means it's difficult to mix scent into without smelling like you are masking the scent of the natural shea, plus, natural shea is not pure white - it does get lighter when it's whipped - but it's not pure white unless it's refined to process out both the smell and the color.  of course this was never an option for me.  my patient family and were testers for the last eighteen months.  i can tell you this - their skin is smooth (and in some cases healed of scarring from the shea butter).  then there was the deodorant.  this was one of the bigger challenges of my life i think!  making a deodorant that can be a stick that spreads but doesn't fall apart, and a deodorant that can keep you from smelling bad. i can tell you that i have been told to go wash my pits during development (i never took it personal)!

making the change

i hear myself saying this all the time to people when i am speaking about pure organic skin care.  I talk about how making the change with body care products was similar to when i made the change with food.  it was different.  it was so easy to pick up a pound of ham at the deli and toss it on a roll for lunch. it was easy and cheap and fast. now that is a big one - the time factor. eating clean takes time and effort - washing, peeling, cutting produce and then preparing your meal.  the change of convenience and cost were the challenges i faced when i made the change with food.  one has to become resourceful and creative and very patient....but you know it's the right choice for you and all worth it.

like making the change with food, making the change with natural skincare was not the easiest! the products i was used to buying were convenient: just the right consistency, your favorite scent, great price point. but look at the ingredients. do you know that I grieved my favorite scent for eight months before it started to smell like a fabricated fragrance - which it was.  from all the testing i was doing with the shea butter - the shea began to smell what it is - clean and my old favorite scent (i really did grieve for eight months) smelled like a chemical.  this is the truth - a truth i never thought i would understand and know to be true for myself.

pure raw and unrefined/unprocessed body butters are different.  they are in fact.....a butter.  they are thick, they are naturally oily (which is good stuff), and they change with the temperature.  if you left your butter in the car on a hot summer day - it melts (just bring it back into a temperature of 70 degrees and it solidifies again!). if it's cold in the house - it's a little harder than usual (your hands will warm and melt it right up).  It's thicker than most store bought body butters because our butters do not contain water to soften them up.  shea butter is a tremendous moisturizer for the body and has so many benefits for the skin (see ingredient section).  once in your hands, it warms and melts into your skin.  the natural oils are absorbed and your skin is left feeling soft, silky and beautiful. there is nothing bad about shea butter - it's really an amazing gift of nature.

homestead body

i find that if we look at the clues we are given all throughout our lives (so much easier in hindsight) - especially the little clues that aren't obvious - we will understand the path we are on - or the path we may want to consider. homestead body was founded on an understanding of the path i was led to.

  we are a husband and wife team - and i must say that creating homestead body with my husband - ross - has been as special as loving him and being his wife - so beautiful.  we have both been completely dedicated to making products that are clean - clean body care. but as important for us - clean conscience - no animal products - cruelty-free and vegan.

with love....g + r

#make the change #homesteadbody #organic skincare #clean skin

[homesteadbody]

a word (or two) about natural deodorants (please read)

making the change from the deodorants with toxic ingredients (aluminum, other chemicals, parabens) that you may have been applying for years is not always an easy one to make and requires patience if you wish to take the path to clean body care.

for some there is little or no challenge - but for others (like myself) - it may take a little time and a lot of patience.  if you are ready to make the change to clean body care - allow yourself the patience to bring your body back to functioning as nature intended. be gentle with yourself and get to know your body.

what was our body meant to do?  it was meant to sweat! our bodies eliminate toxins in many ways - some are by bowel movements, urination, and sweating!!  by using deodorants with aluminum - we are actually preventing our body from excreting toxins.  stop and think about how insane this sounds! where do you think those toxins go? they stay in our bodies and reabsorb - how good can this be for us?

natural deodorants are not designed to try and stop you from perspiring - that would be a bad thing.  we want you to sweat - nature designed you to do so.  we do try to help with the wetness and we try to help with the natural odor.

deodorants containing aluminum are designed to prevent you from sweating by blocking your pores (so unnatural), and chemical parabens are added as preservatives.  applying these directly on the skin that is so close to an area with lymph nodes are suspect in the link to breast cancer as well as many other diseases. there is no conclusive evidence - but they are suspect. (please do your own research here). the fact that they are suspect was enough for me to want my daughters and myself to stop using them.  but as important,  is that we want to use only non-chemical, non-synthetic and healthy products on our skin.  deodorants containing anything other than that - was officially off our list.

i also want to add that i believe making the change from daily use of your regular trusted deodorant to a natural deodorant is ideal.  but perhaps in our world of working in an office or attending an important event or the like - it's not always practical (especially during the transition period).  after all - we can't smell offensive in the office - or have our silk dresses have large round wet stains on them. when i first began the change, i used it only at bedtime (yes i sweat at night).  i couldn't use it in the office - i clearly smelled bad initially.  but there were next steps - i used it at night and then on weekends.  true story too - my next step was to use the natural deodorant and then swipe my toxic one over it when i was in the office.  on days that weren't as hot as others - i dropped the aluminum deodorant and went with the natural (to others regret at times).

really important point here:

what counted was not how often i was using a natural deodorant....but rather how often i was no longer using one that was toxic. anything counts - even one day a week!  do what works for you and your lifestyle.  it's all good.

there are no aluminum no chemicals no parabens in our deodorants - only beautiful natural clean ingredients that allow our bodies to function normally.

some information to help you understand the process

body odor some of us were graced without a problem of armpit body odor - and the rest of us are very envious of you - me being one of them!  all of my life i've used two deodorants to combat the wetness and smell - never knowing that i was getting double doses of toxins.  when we transition to natural deodorant - almost everyone experiences some form of smell phase (some actually don't!).  the aluminum in deodorants was meant to stop the toxins from being released by shrinking your pores.  when you stop using deodorants with aluminum - suddenly your pores are back open for business and your body is allowed to release its toxins as nature intended.  it's actually a very good thing to sweat and at first - try to sweat as much as possible (when you're home and not near people).  get those toxins out because the worst part of the transition is here now.  a lot of build-up grossness (most likely years of it) will come out.  think about it - our bodies impurities are allowed to be eliminated - and they don't smell great once they cross your skin because they interact with the natural bacteria on our body.  together this interaction = underarm odor.  and sometimes it can get weird.  but don't give up - think about the good you are doing for your body and stay the course.  it will really get better. read on.

detox those pits honestly - if i hadn't done this myself i would never have believed it.  i was the biggest sweater and stinker around.  making the change was a challenge for me - but one that i felt committed to after seeing the harm i was doing to my body all these years. you can google "how to detox your armpits" and will be led to a wonderful detox process using betonite clay, apple cider vinegar and water.  only needing 5-10 minutes, you can detox every other day until you find yourself sweating and smelling less. the betonite clay is known to absorb impurities out of the armpit area helping your body adjust to the change from harsh toxic deodorants to an all natural product. after detoxing my armpits every other day for over a week, there really was a change and i was no longer being asked by my husband at random times during the day to wash my pits. i realized the detox process was tried and true.  it takes very little to try it yourself - except patience.

clean ingredients to the rescue! the ingredients used in our deodorants each have an important function. the essential oils we selected (lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus) are best known for being anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-septic and anti-viral.  they are also chosen because they are naturally deodorant and the lavender is also known to be soothing to skin with an aroma that is calming (which you will need for this process).  coconut oil - nature's super superfood and best gift to us - is also known to be anti-bacterial as well.  the shea and cocoa butter are especially soothing to the skin and the shea is known to  help with any scarring in the armpit area.

we add arrowroot powder to help absorb wetness and it also helps with a smooth application.  the kaolin clay helps our bodies draw out toxins as well as helps with absorbing the wetness.  if you select a deodorant with baking soda - the baking soda will help with the odor as it too will help absorb wetness but it also kills bacteria.  the vegan carnauba wax is used in our stick version to make it a solid.

baking soda - to use or not to use it's pretty simple - if you see redness, or anything rash-like or itchy or burning while using a product with baking soda - you have a sensitivity to baking soda and should stop using immediately.  i experienced this within three days of using a deodorant with baking soda - some may experience immediately - others a little longer.  listen to your body - it will tell you everything you need to know!

working with nature these are natural products using only plant-based ingredients and nothing to alter them (thank goodness) making them convenient.  please use common sense when applying a natural deodorant - they contain butters and oils which will be absorbed by your skin - but not on contact.  massage any excess gently into skin for better absorption and please consider waiting 5-10 minutes before putting your best silk blouse or shirt on.  if you feel that you need to - simply blot any excess just to be safe - but you should find our deodorants won't really pose much of a challenge!

heads up deodorants containing aluminum and parabens do not always list them as such.  both aluminum and parabens are typically called by their chemical names which can vary. read the ingredients and do your research.  also any ingredient labeled "fragrance" can be a cocktail of ingredients that are far from natural - over 100 ingredients can be found in one "fragrance".  do your homework - know what is in your products.

deodorants that aren't made with natural ingredients are so chemical laden, one of these chemicals - Triclosan - is classified as a pesticide by the FDA.  a pesticide?  how crazy is that?  all of these chemicals are suspect to many diseases.  suspect but not confirmed - the studies are "inconclusive".  again, please do your own research - look at what you are putting on the largest organ of your body - your skin - and make your own conclusions.  a very helpful site (amongst countless others) is www.ewg.org.  read the ingredient list - look up each ingredient.  educate.

remember....love yourself make the change clean ingredients i just can't say it enough