Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good time bidding 2016 goodbye. It was filled with a lot of great memories, learning experiences, and moments that some of us would like to forget. Nevertheless, 2016 is now history and 2017 is here! Time for New Year’s Resolutions and a better, healthier you!
We are serious about healthier beginnings here at EE. We would like to personally welcome you to the New Year with a challenge. We challenge you to start this year off right with healthier decisions whether it’s better fitness, nutrition, skin care, financial health, and/or better stress management.
Health is a broad subject and doesn’t just limit itself to what is put on or in your body. Being healthy means finding a perfect balance between your soul, environment, mind, and body. So make sure you take the time you need for you! When your environment starts to get too overwhelming and your soul, mind and body can’t take it anymore, center yourself with meditation, music, a vacation, or treat yourself to a nice massage (*whispers* You deserve it).
On the other hand, what you put in and on your body is still very important, so EE also challenges you to read labels and look up ingredients you can’t pronounce. Research how those ingredients could affect your health. Start taking the all-natural and organic route because it can be the better option—or at least try it… it doesn’t hurt to try it.
Last but not least, the most important we think, take the time to LAUGH! We said it, laugh. Humor can be the fix for almost any problem. Take a moment and listen to your favorite comedian, google some memes, read a comic strip or something. A good giggle is good for you, it’s practically science. Okay, maybe not science but it does help relieve stress and diffuse tense situations.
I think those are all the challenges we have for you today. Remember the gist—we challenge you to find a nice healthy balance between your mind, body, environment and soul. Take some you time if needed and sneak in some giggles daily to relieve stress. Also, try new things like all-natural and organic options, which can be better for you!!!
Share with Us: What are some of your New Year’s Resolutions?
As you begin or continue your quest to a healthier living, you will or have already come across the products with the labels “all-natural” and “organic.” These labels, although they are both products that are meant for healthy living, are very different. It is important to know the differences between them. This is for many reasons:
Lifestyle
Beliefs
Necessity or need
Also, for those of you that are new to the world of natural and organic skin care, the information can help you decide whether you’re team all-natural or team organic—there will be some of you who cheer for both teams.
Skin care products that are “all-natural” use ingredients that comes from natural resources. Basically, any resource that comes from nature, itself. They are minimally processed and do not contain any synthetic chemicals, yet some natural ingredients can be synthesized.
An example of this would be putting additional vitamins into a product that does naturally contain those vitamins. Let’s say for example vitamin E is synthetically created, and placed within a product. This product will have the benefits of vitamin E, but not the actual thing.
However, ingredients that are “organic” do not use natural synthetic replacements for natural products. They use the real natural deal derived from living organisms, water, and sea salt are not considered organic material because although it comes from natured it was not derived from a living organism. They also cannot be genetically modified (GMO’s) do not contain any chemical preservatives. This would include artificial flavors, etc.
There are carrying levels of organic products made with organic ingredients. A USDA certified product must contain at least 95% organic content; the company must also have its facilities, ingredients manufacturing procedures and packaging certified to make sure the process matches with the USDA requirements. A product can still be considered organic or contain organic materials, but basically without that USDA certification seal you are taking the company’s word for it. So, pay close attention to the labels and ingredients because it makes a difference.
A less restrictive level of “Organic Products” are those containing at least 70% organic content. These products can be described as being “made with organic ingredients” may and can contain synthetic chemicals, preservatives, or GMO. So, be careful and read what you use. You’ll be surprised at what you find sometimes.
As for lifestyle, beliefs, and necessity or need, these reasons contribute to helping you decide which team you’re on. If you don’t believe in the creation or use of genetically modified organism (like plants and/or food), then you may want to go the route of organic. If your skin does not “agree” with chemicals or synthetic ingredients and you don’t want to risk it with “all-natural,” you may want to go organic as well.
Lifestyle plays a big role in what you chose because this not only incorporates your needs/necessities but incorporates your accessibility or the amount of funds you are willing to extend towards all-natural and or organic skin care.
In some cases, you may find that organic skin care may be more expensive than all-natural skin care at the moment. Or that all-natural or organic skin care may still be too much. This is okay and understandable.
As we mentioned last week, companies are starting to realize that all-natural and organic skin care is what it needed. The rise of all-natural and organic skin care products has made accessibility to both worlds much easier. Now-a-days it’s becoming easier to not have to choose between the two. You can have both all-natural and organic, while looking out for the benefits you need for your skin.
The EE 411:
Organic Ingredients:
Defined as coming from living biological matter like plants.
Government regulated and certified
Contains no artificial or chemical anything
No GMO
No synthetic natural replacements like synthetic vitamins
Can be USDA certified
All- Natural Ingredients:
Not regulated in skin care
Cannot be USDA certified
Can be altered and contain preservatives
Can also contain perfumes and some chemical ingredients
May be more affordable and offer more product options
There are other healthy living skin care categories out there, did you know? Although, they are sometimes incorporated into organic and all-natural skin care they are not always recognized as their own categories. Mostly because the products can’t always satisfy all the requirements of each group. Other skin care categories are Vegan and Cruelty-free.
Some products may be all-natural and/or organic but still test their products on animals which violates the cruelty-free rules. Cruelty-free means not testing their products on animals, or causing harm to animals in the development of the product.
Then, in the cases of vegan, some all-natural and organic skin care products use ingredients that come from animals and other living creatures. This means that the product may be totally organic, drawing from natural resources that come from living creatures. This violates the rules of being a vegan product. Vegan products contain no ingredients that come from living creatures.
EE’s products are an example of the new found access to all-natural, organic, non-gmo, cruelty-free, gluten-free (except Honey Granola), and vegan (except Honey Granola). Try some body bars that can give the experience of all these traits and see how it makes your skin feel.
Share with Us:Are you team all-natural, team organic, or team both? Why?
