My Formulating practices and ingredient information.

I have access to a wide variety of safe ingredients to formulate with; some I purchase, and others I collect from the forest or grow in my garden.

I craft just about everything from scratch and source my ingredients from trusted suppliers.

I follow GRAS standards and do not allow anyone other than myself to touch my products during production or even enter my workshop!

What are we putting on our skin?

I know you want to know. Maybe that’s how you found me in your never-ending search for safe, effective natural products for you and those you cherish!

What do I use to craft my products?

ORGANIC INGREDIENTS

BEYOND ORGANIC INGREDIENTS

ECOCERT INGREDIENTS

100% BIODEGRADABLE PRESERVATIVES

COLD-PRESSED, VIRGIN ORGANIC SEED BUTTERS, WAXES & OILS (fixed oils)

LOCALLY HARVESTED FRESH WILD PLANTS

MY OWN GARDEN-GROWN HERBS

ESSENTIAL OILS

WHOLE PLANT EXTRACTS

RAW LOCAL AND MEDICINAL HONEY

PLANT-DERIVED EMULSIFIERS

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE A LIST OF INGREDIENTS THAT YOU MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH, CONFUSED OR MISINFORMED ABOUT.

Everything I offer is made with biodegradable, plant-based natural, whole ingredients and/or with the addition of ingredients derived from plants and those approved for use in organic formulations. Most of my products are ECOCERT. WHAT IS ECOCERT? 

EWG Environmental Working Group’s Skindeep Database - I include safety ratings provided for each ingredient reviewed here. But this is just one source of information. Some professional formulators insist that their ratings are not always entirely accurate due, in part, to a lack of data. That said, it is a good starting point when researching ingredients.  I hope you’ll investigate on your own if you have concerns about an ingredient.

Locally garden-grown, but not USDA Organic

• Many of the market growers from whom I purchase herbs and fruit at the Crested Butte Farmers Market are not certified “organic.” Many participate instead in the Certified Naturally Grown program. I know my farmers, not only do I trust them, but our Farmer’s Market standards are some of the highest in the country.

• When choosing ingredients I need to have shipped to me, I always choose the 100% certified organic option.

Grown by ME: Medicinal Herbs

• I grow loads of herbs to include in my creations: Plantago Major, Calendula, Yarrow, Thyme, Rosemary, mint, hops, and more. I grow them in a clean environment and have never used anything synthetic to enhance growth or kill bugs. I also have friends whom I have vetted grow for me and who follow the same standards.

Wildcrafted - Plants collected from the wild

• As a naturalist and self-taught herbalist, I’ve amassed some knowledge of wild plants through exploring my natural environment for almost 30 years.

• I forage for plants in our exceptionally pristine location in the Colorado high country wilderness, where the air, soil, and water are very clean.

• The majority of what I harvest is extremely prolific: cottonwood bud, evergreen needles, and tree resin, Plantago major, rose petals, alder catkins, juniper berries, rose hips, Arnica blossoms. I do not harvest plants that are rare or hard to find.

WHY FRESH WILD FLOWERS AND PLANTS?

From just-picked Rose petals to cold-pressed, virgin organic seed oils, butters and waxes, and everything in between, the foundation of effective skin care is FRESH INGREDIENTS.

• Most of the wild plants I use are infused FRESH or slightly wilted - medicinal plants are much more vibrant and alive than dried material - but it is tricky to work with and takes lots of experience to handle properly. I perform in-house microbial tests on my oils to ensure they are fresh and include anti-rancidity factors to prevent oxidative damage during storage.

• Batch Dates: If the product you purchase from me has a short shelf life (less than 2 years), the label will indicate an expiration and/or use-by date.

• Seed Butter, Waxes, and Oils: Everything I need to purchase to formulate, which has a shelf life. I purchase in very small quantities, handle them very carefully, and formulate with them quickly. Once I have made and bottled a batch of something fragile, I keep it refrigerated, often until the moment it is sold.

• In my effort to honor our desire for clean skincare - I include safe, plant-derived, biodegradable preservatives in my water-based products and provide “use by” dates to ensure you know when to discard any remaining products.

Sometimes, when we are not familiar with a scientific name, we might wrongly avoid ingredients that not only perform vital functions (like preservatives) but which are beneficial to the skin and are non-toxic.

Take Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSA), for instance; you might see that on a label and frown, “This must be very similar to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), right? That harsh chemical that irritates the skin, causing a state of "dis-ease" possibly leading to more serious skin problems, sounds almost the same, maybe it's even worse" So you put the bottle down and decide to try using castile soap or baking soda and lemon juice next time you wash your hair - maybe not such a great idea. Sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfoacetate are two completely different things.

IT ISN'T JUST ABOUT ME AND YOU AND OUR PEEPS!

Everyone is concerned about what happens downstream of manufacturing plants. A modest reduction in our consumption of non-biodegradable, synthetic chemical-based products in our homes and food reduces the downstream impacts of the production of those chemicals and the exposure to the people working with them during manufacture.

HOWEVER! At the same time, we have to be aware of the impacts that the production of “natural” products and ingredients - harm to the natural world is not the goal here! Which can and does occur. Sometimes sustainable synthetic ingredients are the better choice!

Without spending hours of research learning all of the potential ingredients you might find in safe, well-made products but which often sound bad, or vice versa, it’s easy to go overboard in our quest for truly “natural” alternatives

Join me in learning a bit more about this confusing topic—it’ll help you in your search for safe, effective, carefully crafted skincare!

Fear of “chemicals” and the desire for “natural products” and “clean skincare” has led to the ever-increasing popularity of unpreserved skin care …

A friend once showed me mold growing on the surface of a water-based cream she had recently purchased from a very popular brand.

No preservative was listed on the label.

No batch date or “use by date”.

No instructions on how to handle it and keep it safe (keep it in the fridge and use it within 10 days!)

I suggested that she shop somewhere else for her skin care.

_ _ _ _

The “natural”, and “botanical skincare” industry is rapidly gaining makers of handmade, artisan skin care. Bravo!! Fear of “chemical preservatives” and the desire for “natural products” has led to the ever-increasing popularity of poorly preserved and unpreserved skin care products. In the US there is ZERO oversight in the industry, virtually no labeling law requirements, and no oversight to enforce the few laws that do exist. The seeker of natural skin care needs to be well-educated!

Apothecaries are popping up all over, and startups offering their wares at farmers’ markets, are also on the rise. There is a lot to know about careful preservation, and many makers aren’t schooled in the nuances of cleanliness standards of production (G.R.A.S.). nor effective, safe preservation! I have first-hand knowledge of this - worked in an apothecary briefly and saw the unsafe production and preservation practices firsthand. In my brief employment there I found a 3-month-old lotion tester in the store covered in mold which relied on ethanol for the preservative.

PRODUCTS CONTAINING FREE WATER, ALOE JUICE, HYDROSOL WATERS, DISTILLED/BOILED WATER must be properly preserved - or kept in the refrigerator and used within 1 -2 weeks. The end.

If not carefully preserved these formulations WILL host and grow bad bacteria, yeasts, molds, and/or become rancid rather quickly and without notice - you just can NOT trust your nose or your eyes. They are microbes after all.

Water-based products where microbes are proliferating can cause allergic reactions, skin sensitivities, rashes, redness, itching, and worse. Around the eyes, this can lead to complications. When in doubt, throw it out.

There are limited options in the market today for preservatives that are safe for us and the environment but the list is growing! When needed in a formula, I choose safe EFFECTIVE preservatives and add just what is required, and just a little more. Why? To ensure product integrity from contamination with wet fingers, water droplets, steam, and exposure to air.

So why not Ethanol? Natural? YES! But so damaging to our skin that products that rely on ethanol as a preservative should be avoided.

There is an overreliance on Ethanol (aka ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol) to preserve products by traditionally trained herbalists.

If a skin care product provides food for bugs and an environment in which they can grow, you want it to be properly preserved. Some things we eat, and some we put on our skin, MUST be properly preserved or they can make us sick.

If you would like to avoid any preservatives listed on the ingredients label, I would strongly advise that what you choose has a batch date, used-by date, and instructions to refrigerate and use it within a week or so. End of story. You do have options beyond this!!

Oils, salves, and balms crafted from just seed butters, natural waxes, fixed seed oils, and essential oils do not require a broad-based preservative.

These creations benefit from the inclusion of anti-rancidity and antioxidative factors which protect oils from oxidative stress and provide antioxidant skin benefits. These include:

• Vitamin E

• Rosemary Leaf Extract

• Rosemary Essential oil

• Sea Buckthorn seed oil

• Meadowfoam seed oil

Formulas such as these, which contain NO FREE WATER, Aloe juice, or unpreserved hydrosol water are safe to keep at room temperature for longer periods without growing bugs but you must be careful not to contaminate these with a wet finger or water droplets.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED:

Things you see in my products that you may be unfamiliar with or confused about.

We are constantly exposed to misinformation, exaggeration, and misrepresentation in marketing and advertising. Making informed decisions is difficult to make on the fly.

Sleuthing takes time most people just don’t have. I have that time, and I thrive on digging into nerdy skincare topics! I scrounged through all of my textbooks, spent days reading peer-reviewed, published papers via research portals like Pubmed & Google Scholar, took notes, and reached out to experts. I like unearthing everything I can find - good, bad, or ugly.

I include the EWG ratings below, but encourage you to not rely solely on their evaluation. Many ingredients lack data, and in some cases, conflicting information. But since many of us look there for ratings I will include them here.

let’s start with natural plant-derived vegetable glycerin …

Naturally derived from plants, this entirely safe ingredient is often demonized …

In my products, I use verified non-GMO, organic, kosher vegetable glycerin for various purposes. It’s one of the most important, multifunction, foundational, SAFE skin care ingredients known to mankind. Naturally present in large amounts in our skin, it’s a vital Natural Moisture Factor. In a purified form, glycerin in skin care provides numerous benefits. In addition to antimicrobial and antiviral properties, it has a host of benefits that help our skin stay soft, supple, and hydrated. Better yet? It heals the skin barrier.

Glycerine, (or glycerin) is present everywhere in the plant and animal kingdom. Glycerin is one of nature’s miracles, with a very, very important role to play at the very foundation of the life process itself: “Biosynthesis”.

Biosynthesis is a process whereby a substrate (a substance on which an enzyme acts) is converted into a more complex compound that performs numerous roles supporting all life everywhere on the planet. Without this vital molecule produced by every plant and animal, and your own body, the complex, multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed, biological process of Biosynthesis could not unfold.

Need more convincing? Extensive evidence present here; Corneotherapeutic Benefit of Glycerine.

EWG Skin Deep Database rating: ONE-TWO

GLYCERIN HEALS AND SUPPORTS HEALTHY, RESILIENT SKIN. I USE KOSHER, NON-GMO ORGANIC, COCONUT GLYCERINE.

If you need more reassurance that I’ve got my information right, and have done my due diligence … delve deeper into my research.

FATTY ALCOHOLS: CETEARYL ALCOHOL and STEARYL ALCOHOL

These 2 alcohols are very similar. They are often misunderstood because of the word alcohol. Most of us don’t know much about chemistry so we confuse these with ethyl alcohol which will damage our skin.

The emulsifying agents are naturally plant-derived from plants including glyceryl stearate, Cetearyl alcohol, and cetyl alcohol. These are safe during pregnancy and for babies. All fatty alcohols used in my products are components of natural plant waxes and should not be confused with these.

NOT related to ethyl or rubbing alcohol. Ethanol (aka rubbing alcohol, ethyl alcohol, or grain alcohol) is horrible for our skin yet we find it in so many skin care products! They’re proven to cause dryness and irritation and increase skin permeability! We should all dispose of anything that contains these.

Fatty alcohols are vital in creating effective skin care - they are emollients, emulsifiers, and thickeners. On a molecular level, they are very different from ethanol and have very different effects on our skin. We know from a long history of testing and use in skincare that fatty alcohols are non-irritating! They offer exceptional conditioning and softening for hair and skin.

There may be a small number of people who are sensitive to it - if you know you have skin sensitivities you should always perform patch tests.

Final Safety Report Report (Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, lsostearyl Alcohol, Myristyl Alcohol, and Behenyl Alcohol)

EWG Skin Deep Database rating: ONE

Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate

Naturally derived from plants, this ingredient is a surfactant (makes water wetter), emulsifier, moisturizer, and penetration enhancer. It provides unsurpassed hydration and a lovely smooth feel on our skin.

EWG Skin Deep Database rating: ONE

EWG Skin Deep Database rating: ONE

FOUND IN: Shampoo, Buddy Bliss dog wash, All Over Lotion

Gluconolactone: A fermented food starch derived from non-GMO corn via a fermentation process with non-GMO bacteria. It is food-safe and gluten-free. In skincare products, it’s a moisturizer and antioxidant! It is generally considered suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin, and is non-irritating. It even conditions and hydrates!  There is also evidence it smooths skin texture and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It is considered a “next generation” Alpha Hydroxy Acid (your skin's BFF). Gluconolactone is found in its final state in bee honey and wine! Gluconolactone is a preservative, but it is also a humectant and a mild solvent. It’s a free-radical scavenger, protecting skin from some of the effects of UV radiation and exfoliant. It’s also present in dozens of personal care products, including moisturizers, facial cleansers, sunscreen, and conditioners. It is also found to fight acne!

Sodium Benzoate: Sodium Benzoate is a naturally occurring sodium salt in apples, cranberries, plums, ripe cloves, and cinnamon. In this preservative blend, it acts has bactericidal and fungicidal properties.

Calcium Gluconate: Calcium is an essential mineral for the body. A small amount of research shows calcium it may be a good skin-soothing and restorative agent when applied topically. In NeoDefend just a tiny bit is used to help the product flow.

EWG Skin Deep Database rating: TWO

Found in: Hair Conditioner: Cream Rinse + Scalp Conditioner, All Over Lotion, Killer Dish Soap.