You have scalp psoriasis.  Your health care professional advises: ‘A Coal tar shampoo will help ease the symptoms of your psoriasis. But do have regular cancer screening tests.’ You are now caught  between a rock and a hard place. Do you take the risk? You buy the coal tar shampoo. The warning on the label reads: For external use only. Ask a doctor before use if condition covers a large area of the body. Avoid contact with the eyes. If contact occurs, rinse eyes thoroughly with water. May increase tendency to sunburn for up to 24 hours after application. Avoid other…

 What if companies joked around. Tossed about the good, the bad and the ugly. Messed with us. Had fun. As in a fictional ad from a purely fictional company called ‘The Cosmetics Con Company’ advertising a purely fictional product called the ‘Best Body Wash Ever.’  The advertisement  Best Body Wash EverThe Cosmetic Con Company Our Ingredients: Upfront and in your face Water (eau), glycerin, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium laureth sulfate, Cocamide MIPA. avena sativa (oat) kernel flour, sodium chloride, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, parfum, tetrasodium EDTA…

Oily skin does not ask for much. Clay. Emu.Tamanu. Well, maybe, also our rosewater facial toner and our charcoal soap. In any case, you can rest assured that you will have less oily skin woes if you learn to balance.  Oily skin simply means your sebaceous glands are zealous in what they do. They just need a little down time.  While all skins love to be washed regularly and exfoliated, oily skins may need a little more attention. Exfoliate more than once a week. Apply the right nutritious moisturizer. Avoid Vaseline, or other form of petroleum jelly. Avoid…

Is it the odor or the sweat that bugs you the most? If it is the odor, you want an anti-odour a.k.a. deodorant. If it is the sweat, ouch! Be forewarned. Wanting an anti-perspirant to BLOCK the sweat glands could get you into trouble.  Sweating is a good thing. It regulates your body temperature. Whether it is just hot outside or you are working out, sweating helps to cool you down. If your body is prevented from doing what comes naturally, like sweating, you could end up with skin rashes, feeling dizzy, faint, or worse. Your kidneys are not supposed to produce…

Ginkgo. Number one on Anthea’s SHOPPING  list. Followed by blueberries, oranges, eggs, dark chocolate, coconut, broccoli,  turmeric, pumpkin seeds… Anthea loads the car and just before backing out of the parking lot, remembers to double check her list."Damn…forgot the ginkgo.” She shakes her head. She has no time to go back. Arriving home ginkgoless, Anthea forces herself to smile at the irony. Ginkgo, for memory. At least she remembered her blueberries et al. ‘Help improve memory’ ads are directed to a boomer market. Prevagen for one, totes jellyfish as the saviour.…

She uses sunscreen. She is a skier. Downhill. Snow glare, especially during spring skiing, demands skin protection. She slathers on the sunscreen. Today it is Clinique. Perhaps containing PABA, oxybenzone, and definitely octinoxate. She does not read the labels. She is a trusting consumer and an outdoor enthusiast. She has no idea of the danger she is doing to her skin. Or to her body. She may be disrupting her hormones, her reproductive organs, possibly causing infertility or a miscarriage. She is only 25. She has been using sunscreen as long as she can remember…

Vetiver, the soothing essential oil. The oil of tranquility. Renowned for many of our skin woes. We chose to include it in our ESP shampoo/soap bar because of its virtues on both hair and skin. Vetiver a.k.a. Khus. It is Hindi, meaning glad.  Scrubbing head to toe with one soap bar is a happy clean. In the past, soap bars used to be the head- to-toe solution. People washed their hair and body with a real soap bar (please do not confuse the real thing with today’s detergent bars). But since the hair has additional needs, many people also conditioned and treated their hair with…

PFAS are forever. They may be in your shoes. You may be wearing them in your jacket or coat. Especially if water or stain resistance is desired. PFAS’s are in our food packaging, lubricants, carpeting, waxes, non-stick cookware. These polyfluoroalkyl substances make products water, stain and heat resistant.  Unfondly called ‘forever chemicals’, lasting for years. Decades. And they are found in our cosmetics too. PFAS accumulate. In animals, and humans. They are linked to cancer and birth defects, obesity, liver disease, thyroid disruption. They can also decrease our immunity. Hardly…