Gift Guide: A Kiss for Your Skin
I’m sure by now you know that I’m always on the lookout on how to minimize toxins in my environment and provide my body with rich, dense nutrients. One of the best ways to do this is to be aware of the skincare products that you use on a daily basis. This is an ongoing process and I have by no means achieved it, but there have been products that I’ve discovered that are truly excellent and I believe would be appreciated given as gifts.
Located in Lebanon, Tennessee, Little Seed Farm is fast becoming popular. One of the reasons that I can personally attest to is because they actually make a natural deodorant that works well. It’s the only deodorant I use and I swear by it.
However, I am well aware that it would be a poor- and, frankly, distasteful- gift to give someone deodorant. If you know someone on a continual quest to find a good natural deodorant, however, let them know about this company. They sell samples of the deodorants they offer so you can try them out and see if they work for you.
Deodorant is not the only thing that Little Seed Farm sells. They have a bevy of products that are wonderful stocking stuffers, such as handcrafted goat’s milk soaps and lotions. They even have a section on their website called Gifting where they have a variety of gift sets available for you. Little Seed Farm has an extensive inventory of skincare products from lip balms to sugar scrubs to hand salves to body oils.
Furthermore, they have a complete commitment to sustainability. Their goats- who you can sign up to receive weekly texts from, by the by- are raised on a fully organic 84 acre pastureland. The owners pay strict attention to grazing to maintain the nurturing properties of the pasture as well as rehabilitate the earth. All the electricity generated on their farm is derived from solar panels, as well. And when you check out, you have the option to contribute by requesting that certain items remains unboxed, so that less paper products are wasted.
Little Seed Farm produces excellent organic skincare lines with a heart for the protection and sustaining of the earth. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Tallow
One item that has fast become a favorite of mine is tallow. Tallow is the rendered fat from the suet found on the kidneys of cows.
The compatibility of tallow with our skin’s cellular biology allows for it be readily absorbed into the skin without leaving it feeling greasy or shiny. Furthermore, it is a panacea of sorts, able to be applied to any part of the body that is causing you issues. From time to time, our family has dealt with annoying skin issues and tallow has been a product which has come to our aid more than once. When we dealt with a bout of eczema, tallow was the only product that we found that not only alleviate the discomfort, it cleared it up completely. Below are two great companies that offer tallow products that might just be the perfect present for some special person in your life.
On my quest to find the best tallow products on the market, I came across The Vintage Tradition. The hook for me to try them was the fact that they offered many of their balms in sample sizes so that I could determine which tallow balm if any that I liked.
The Vintage Tradition offers a superior quality product. All the tallow they render comes from cows that are grass-fed, grass-finished on organic pastureland. This is important because products made from conventionally raised beef will transfer the pesticides, antibiotics, and other icky toxins into your body. Since we want to avoid that, knowing where your tallow comes from is important.
Furthermore, The Vintage Tradition offers a variety of scented tallow balms. I enjoy the Pretty Girly and Mild Manly blends and have layered them as perfumes when my body oil blend has run out. However, my absolute favorite tallow balm is Almost Unscented. It is a blend of tallow, olive oil, and cedar wood and lavender essential oils. Cedarwood is an excellent essential oil for promoting healthy skin. Lavender has a myriad of benefits from soothing skin irritations to calming properties. This is the tallow balm that I use nightly in conjunction with a squirt of jojoba oil.
There are many scents available, both woodsy and floral ones, too. So there’s something for everyone. They also sell an unscented tallow balm. And I must add that the lip balms are amazing. A must have if you’re someone who uses chapsticks a lot. Check out The Vintage Tradition.
If you are someone who prefers the purest of the pure, with no added essential oils or carrier oils, then the tallow produced at Mera Merus is what you will want to look at. Owner Alyssa’s story and journey of discovery about tallow and tallow balms is truly an inspiration. You can find out all about it on her Instagram page in one of her highlighted stories. It started when her son developed crippling eczema. After seeing a bevy of doctors, seeing her son used as a guinea pig for the latest pharmaceutical drugs out there, and finally being told that there was really nothing that could be done to truly cure her son, Alyssa went on her own research journey. Through amendments to her son’s diet as well as exclusively using pure tallow soap and tallow balm, her son’s condition was completely healed. That testimony still encourages my heart. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will stop a mother from searching for anything and everything to protect and help her child.
Alyssa now runs a small business where she makes small batches of tallow balm and soap. Like The Vintage Tradition, all her tallow is rendered from suet from cows who were grass-fed, grass finished. It’s as organic as it gets.
Now, if you’re looking for a tallow balm that does have a scent without the use of essential oils, Alyssa offers infused tallow balms. I’ve watched her process on making this. After she has rendered the tallow, for five days, she infuses it on a slow, low heat with petals or herbs to derive the most efficacious medicinal effect from them.
If you’re not sure Mera Merus is the one for you, Alyssa also gives you the option of buying sample sizes of her products. So, if you’re looking to give someone a skincare product made with true love, Mera Merus is the way to go. And, if you’re not sure what specific product to give, Alyssa offers gift cards, too.
Better Shea Butter and Skin Food
Now, if tallow is simply not an option for you because of dietary or personal beliefs, I completely understand. Have no fear, there is an alternative for you to explore.
Shea butter is an incredible natural product. The benefits have been recognized and utilized for centuries. It’s rumored that Cleopatra always kept a jar of unrefined, pure shea butter on hand. Not only is it an effective moisturizer, but it also helps to reduce inflammation on the skin, making it a great go-to product to try if you deal with any sort of skin issues, from dry skin to eczema to dermatitis.
Since shea butter is loaded with vitamins, such as A, E, and F, it’s ideal for cellular turnover and collagen production. It’s also replete with fatty acids which deeply penetrate the skin for rich moisturizing.
Better Shea Butter and Skin Food provides numerous options if you’re keen on exploring shea butters. If the person you’re looking to give a gift to is more of the adventurer when it comes to skincare, you can gift them a brick of pure, unadulterated shea butter which he or she can use to create their own skincare products. Or, like I do, you can just use the shea butter pure. Better Shea Butter and Skin Food gives two options when it comes to shea butter bricks, ivory and yellow. The ivory shea butter is the better choice if you’re looking for a less greasy option for your moisturizing needs. However, if you’re looking to tackle a skin issue, the yellow shea butter is the way to go.
Better Shea Butter and Skin Food also has a selection of excellent skin care products that are already made for you. So, you don’t have to be someone who wants to make their own body butters and lotions to enjoy the quality shea butter they offer.
All the shea butter they sell on their website is harvested by the women of Ghana, West Africa. In fact, the bricks of shea are actually referred to as bricks of gold because the harvesting and refining of shea is such a large source of income for the women of Ghana.
I have ordered many items from Better Shea Butter. Usually I order the ingredients and make my own body butters, but with their expanding skin care line, I am keen to try several of their products. Given the high quality of the shea that I’ve worked with from them, I can only imagine how excellent their crafted skin care will be.
Also available on their website, is African Black Soap. African black soap is an excellent product. Because of the purity of its ingredients, it’s a great cleansing soap for body and face that promotes strengthen and regenerate healthy skin. I’ve used African black soap for years and can attest to the fact that it really does an exceptional job of deeply cleansing the skin without drying it out. Furthermore, if you’re dealing with issues such as acne or eczema, African black soap really does soothe the skin and promote healing. And, if you’re concerned about anti-aging products, people swear by the combination of African black soap for cleansing and shea butter for moisturizing to remove fine lines and reduce the signs of age on the skin.
Better Shea Butter and Skin Food offers a unique variety of skin care products that would be great gift for anyone. And since they are completely non-toxic, you can know that you’re giving a gift that will promote the health and well-being of the person you love.
Sunfolk is a new discovery for me. An exciting, new discovery. I came across them while searching for a truly natural sunscreen. There are so many toxic additives to the sunscreens readily available, and for some reasons I have a horrific sensitivity to most of them. I’ve found a few organic options that don’t seem to bother me too much, but finding a sunscreen or sun protectant is always on my list.
Sunfolk’s Sun Protective Skin Balm is a must for me. I highly recommend it. Utilizing all natural ingredients with naturally occurring SPF properties, this balm is a go-to for me.
However, the skincare, make-up, body care, etc line that Sunfolk has developed is truly extensive. They have masques for every ailment or just to pamper. They are sticklers about the ingredients that they use, too. As all natural as possible.
They even offer a storefront section in their online shop for chocolate, teas, coffees, tisanes, and honeys. Their home and lifestyle section has an assortment of decorative options as well as staples such as beeswax paper and candles. They have hair care, mama + baby products, wellness, and even an apothecary section. They even sell accessories such as jewelry and scarves.
Sunfolk is a great place to explore for a gift for the person in your life who wants to live a more organic, sustainable lifestyle.
Is there a company that you use that you think I should include in this gift guide? If so, please leave a comment in the section below with the name of the company, why you love it, and a link if that’s possible. Happy shopping, dear readers.
