Bonjour Cherie!
Let's Talk Skincare 101
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Your daughter’s home from school! Woo hoo!
For how long? Is she going off to camp? For just the day? Or is it time for her weekly getaways? Always so hard. I get it, and you’ll never stop missing her while she’s away. One thing that helps, just a little bit? Mommy and me skincare.
Because fragrance is memory,… and fresh natural luxury skincare and luscious fragrances seem too wonderful a secret to keep to yourself.
I know you want to share the dreamy pleasures of beautiful gentle products with your family and friends, and this includes, above all, your daughter (younger sister, niece, granddaughter, god daughter, or any special lovely young girl in your life) who loves fragrances and skincare products made just for her, sweet juicy love in a bottle or jar to nurture her skin.
You’ll love them too of course!
We’ve created two luscious Mei Mei et Maman (Mommy and Me) fragrance collections… → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
SOME SUN FEELS GOOD AND IS GOOD FOR US Feeling the sun on our bare skin makes us feel happy and light. Vitamin D is sometimes referred to as “the happy vitamin”. During the dark cold winter months without sunshine, many people suffer from a variety of sad or depressive emotional states which may be traced to insufficient vitamin D, and certainly less than optimal amounts of sunshine. → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Long hot midsummer days cooled by end of the driveway neighborhood lemonade stands and swimming pools. Wet children and dogs. Packing for summer camps and long holiday weekends. Sunburns, insect bites, picnic lunches at the beach, patio dinners on the grill, conversations into the night under the stars. Thoughts of work and school routines fade. Schedules seem more elastic. Release yourself to the easy flow of summer.
At the end of your day, whatever the temperature outside, a warm bath remains an inviting treatment for summer skin. Unwind in a realm of tranquility or energize your spirit for a night out, perfect for whatever the evening holds in store for you. Luxuriate in two of our yummiest bestseller summer fragrances… DREAMSICLE SMILES and MIMI A TAHITI! → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Some of you prefer 100% pure aromatherapy essential oils to fragrance skincare for the bath products whenever possible. We understand, especially if you’ve experienced a sensitivity to some synthetic fragrances.
Our essential oils are ALWAYS 100% pure, authentic and genuine. They are NEVER diluted with carrier oils that can negatively effect the quality and shelf-life of your essential oils.
Sometimes to give you a more beautifully unique and complex fragrance blend that’s not available with only fragrant essential oils, we blend our 100% pure essential oils with high quality synthetic (phthalate-free) fragrances to create the most elegant, refreshing, and playful fragrances we all adore.
Just one sec here: Before we jump into talking about an important issue inherent with the use of essential oils in skincare products, an issue which most people don’t think about when touting the benefits of essential oils and citing the potential negatives associated with synthetic anything, including fragrances (e.g. sensitivities, allergies, irritation, etc.), let me tell you that very often, the primary culprit associated with synthetic fragrances is PHTHALATES. Phthalates are the chemical compounds which can, in some individuals, cause headaches, respiratory irritation, and other temporary sensitivities. Our highest quality synthetic fragrances are phthalate-free, for just that very good reason.
Want to know more about phthalates? Several of you have asked me about this, so I’ll include a new post on the topic. If you can’t wait to know more, shoot me an email, and I’ll share with you the scoop on phthalates, and why you can expect to see more and more quality beauty products listed as phthalate-free.
But, for right now, here’s a very important reason for using phthalate-free fragrances (rather than essential oils) when you’re out in the summer sun: PHOTOSENSITIVITY.
It’s important for you to know that just because we use 100% pure essential oils (not adulterated or blended with carrier oils which risk reducing their fragrant potency, therapeutic effectiveness and natural shelf-life), this does not mean that these essential oils are free of potential cosmetic issues when we expose our skin to the sun. → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
One word with enormous power to make the difference between healthy radiant skin that you dare to bare, and skin you’d rather keep under wraps this summer: EXFOLIATE. Yes, it’s a really big deal. You only have to try it once to notice immediate benefits. When you make it part of your weekly skincare routine, you’ll continue to notice your best skin ever – healthy, soft, smooth skin that returns the love you give it! → Read more
May 24
The Best Bath Ever!
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Take a bath tonight, cherie. For those of you who know me well, you know this is my modus operandi for just about everything. And, I love to share it with everyone I truly love. So here goes…
The bath is your isolation tank. It’s where you keep it real! An oasis to reconnect with your genuine self. Let go of all the stuff that you won’t remember next week. Feel work, family and worldly you melt away, leaving only the real you that deserves the best bath ever! Create this super fab bath just for YOU. → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
May is all about love: first love, new love, mom’s love, love for mom, love for newborn baby animals and their angels with fur kinda love for us,…. Love of all kinds as a vital force inspires us to feel happy, young and exuberant, and want to share all this luscious energy with our family and friends and smile at people we may never know other than in passing for a moment in time. → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Explore the beautiful pastel colors and fragrances of rose milk and shea butter soaps, sugar scrubs, lotions, cremes, body butters, and solid perfume cubes that celebrate spring fruits and flowers. Refresh your skincare wardrobe with new favorites! → Read more
Earth Day is today. How do YOU celebrate Earth Day?
I’m interested, because there seem to be infinite ways to celebrate a day all about the planet on which we live, and conversely, without which, we couldn’t live, at least not yet, and certainly not in the same manner.
Years ago, I saw part of the film “The Martian” while my young daughter was watching it on Netflix, and I have to say, Mars is not for me.
The verdant landscapes, trees with abundant leaves, and flowers in bloom this spring hold the potential to transform our spirits.
In Minnesota, we deal daily with temperature and climate pendulum swings. Is it spring, is it winter, is it spring, is it winter…?
Mushy snow that melts nearly on contact with the pavement mid-April leaves us waiting to unveil our charming (let’s hope so) personalities to our neighbors at our mailboxes, walking our dogs,…
By the way, isn’t it fabulous that several animal shelters currently report that they no longer have dogs awaiting forever homes? Since we’re in extended COVID 19 isolation, it’s the absolute best time to train a new family dog! The secret’s out. And from what I’ve seen on daily walks, our neighborhood dogs are getting oodles and oodles of walks!
Back to Earth Day…Based on our empirical knowledge and faith, we know and believe that spring will eventually come, as it always does. We’re adept at leaping from freezing winter temps, wind chills that threaten to push down my heavy Volvo trunk on top of my head while reaching for my purse inside (yeah, that’s right it did just that, and it was as frightening and painful as you might imagine when it happened at Costco), and a slippery mess of a rain-snow mix to 70 degrees the next day.
It can also feel a little like “En attendant Godot”, waiting for Godot or Mother Nature to brighten our yards and our spirits. Come on Mother Nature, please hurry on over to Minnesota with your powerful feminine charms, we want to see daffodils, tulips, irises popping up! I’d even be immensely grateful for a hosta or two pop up along the boulder wall and alongside my mailbox, even if soon to be munched on by our resident family of 10 or so deers already trekking through from our backyard to the front and roaming on over across the street to the woods behind.
I’ve been staring at colorful silk flowers (now fading) in pots outside my front door all winter, because I can’t bear life without color. Still, I don’t for a sec believe they’re real, and I’m sooooo….ready for flowers that grow in the earth! → Read more
written by Raulla S. Mitchell
Have you ever thought of trying a “detox”? It’s a pretty loaded word – there are lots of different kinds of detoxes or cleansing programs. Natural, holistic, or integrative healthcare practitioners may custom design a detox program for you based on the state of your current health. There are endless books on the topic. Detox packages may be purchased OTC at health food co-ops, spas offer “detox” on their menus, and you’ll find DIY detox tips on Pinterest boards.
Some are gentle though deliver effective long lasting results while others fall into the overhaul category, and may not be as safe, particularly if changes are abrupt and extreme. It comes down to the question of how you look at your well being and lifestyle long term.
I fall into the kinder, gentler camp when it comes to integrating dietary and lifestyle modifications. I think incorporating elements of a gentle detox regime into your daily life is an excellent opportunity to shift into healthier living without disrupting your body chemistry or bringing about short term results only, and at risk that I regard as undesirable. For example, results such as immediate weight loss related to detox may be initially thrilling, but cannot be maintained long term, and in fact, may be in part responsible for the weight gain subsequent to coming off a detox regime. Then you’re back somewhere behind square one! No one wants that.
So, let’s assume we don’t suffer from any major chronic illnesses that require supervision by a medical professional, and we’re going for a gentle detox, one that we can begin now, and continue on a regular basis if we choose to. Nature’s seasonal transitions (spring and fall) are ideal times for detoxification to cleanse mind, body and spirit from
dietary toxins: refined foods and carbohydrates, hydrogenated fats, alcohol, caffeine, processed sugar, high fat meat and dairy, etc. environmental toxins: in our air, soil, water, cleaning and personal care products, clothes, etc. emotional and psychological toxins: chronic stress, anxiety, worry, juggling too many balls in the air, lack of relaxed “down time” and regenerative sleepDetoxification is best supported synergistically from the inside out and the outside in. Gentle modifications to our diet and lifestyle have the potential to create the canvas for a healthier you. When we cleanse our liver, kidneys and skin, we cleanse the body’s primary organs responsible for the elimination of toxins.
What is one very simple dietary treat we can add to facilitate our body’s own capacity to detoxify?
