Notice: Store on Vacation!

Hello and happy Tuesday friends!  Next Thursday I will be leaving for my annual trip to Kenya with Build.Create.Kenya*!  This is super exciting, but it also means that I will have to put the store on "vacation" for a few weeks.  Both the Etsy and Direct Checkout stores will temporarily close at 8:00 pm on Sunday, June 2nd.  As such, the last day to submit orders until July is Sunday, June 2nd at 8:00 pm.

To celebrate the upcoming expedition, please note that 100% of the proceeds from all orders placed between now and June 2nd will be donated to the Build.Create.Kenya 2013 Expedition!

Happy shopping!

*BCK will be FaceBooking, Blogging, Instagramming, YouTubing and Tweeting while in Kenya on this year's Expedition! Follow us on all social media to receive live updates of our progress!

New Website!

I am so excited to announce the launch of the new SkIndulgence website!  The entire product line is now available to purchase directly on this new website!  However, I am still working out the details on how to get discount codes to function; so, if you have a code I suggest continuing to use the Etsy store until further notice (hopefully within a few days).

Happy shopping!

The Meaning of "Handmade"

Hold onto your hats my friends, coz I'm about to take you for a ride down the hippy, soul-speaking river!

This past weekend I was invited to present the SkIndulgence line to "Wine and Wrinkles", a woman's group that honors entrepreneurial women working in the health and wellness industry.  The experience was so awesome for me, and I walked away filled with so much encouragement!

At one point the conversation turned to vegetarianism.  I've been a vegetarian for most of my life, and I choose to be as such for countless ethical and environmental reasons; the whole health aspect is just an added bonus.  I was sharing with the women that one of these reasons relates to "energy", and I don't mean "I feel so energetic"!  I described that I feel the animals know when they are about to be slaughtered, and, as such, fear and stress are coursing through their bodies.  When we eat this meat, I feel that fear and stress are then taken into our own bodies.  There is enough fear and stress in the world to go around, and I can't fathom voluntarily taking more in through the consumption of fear-drenched flesh.

I then went on to say that I feel this type of energy also translates to the products we use.  When I use a commercial product, I feel the disconnect in it; I feel the cold machinery and disgruntled factory workers. By contrast, when I make my products I envision skin healing and beauty being revealed by whoever will use that product.  I only craft my products when I am feeling positive; if I am hurried or cranky I put it aside so my negative energy won't get added as an unwanted ingredient.  The same goes for the hats and blankets I crochet; with each stitch I envision love and warmth.

Yeah, I know there isn't any scientific proof to back any of this up, but I still like to think it adds a little sumpin-sumpin!

"All Natural" vs. "Made With Natural Ingredients"

This weekend I was at the drug store, and I wandered down the skin care aisle to check out the competition.  I saw countless products claiming to be "natural". In recent years, with a growing conscious to the environment, it's become "trendy" for mainstream brands to market "natural" products.  While I think the idea of this is totally awesome, obviously, I find that it is, unfortunately, more often than not just a gimmick to increase sales.  All too often the bottles that boast "made with natural ingredients" contain mere drops of a natural ingredient or two amidst their usual combination of chemicals.

Take this moisturizer, for example.  The front label claimed it was "natural", but when I turned it over and read the ingredients, this is what I found:

Um, what's "natural" about this? The only ingredients I know for sure are natural or are even words I can pronounce with any certainty are "glycerin" and "water". 

Years ago I made a commitment to not put anything in or on my body if it had ingredients that I couldn't picture in my head*.  Mother Nature knew what she was doing and gave us everything we need.  In the words of Louis CK, all we need is just laying on the floor waiting for us to use it!  What the heck is "Cyclomethicone"!?!?  I've never seen one, have you?  When I Google it, rather than seeing a plant or clay, I see a scary chemical compound diagrammed out that brought back dreaded chemistry classes.

By comparison, here are the truly all natural ingredients of SkIndulgence's Night Cream for Normal to Dry Skin:

See the difference?  Even if you don't know what "calendula" is off the top of your head, you can Google it and see that it's a flower.  This is the difference between "all natural" and "made with natural ingredients".  You've gotta turn that bottle over and check out what's really in it!  Remember, what we put ON our bodies goes INTO our bodies, and if it would be dangerous to eat, why would you wanna smear it on your face?

*Not that I always adhere to this commitment (I AM human after all), but I try!

Creating New Products

It's a rainy day here in Los Angeles, and rainy days always inspire me to play with my herbs.  While I am doing that, I thought I'd share with you all my process of creating new products.

The inspiration for a new product is typically initiated from either a personal need or at the request of a friend.  Currently I am working on a daytime moisturizer and a wrinkle serum, so stayed tuned for those additions to the shop!

My first step is to research ingredients.  For instance, for the daytime moisturizer, I need ingredients that feel light on the skin, and work well with makeup.  When researching the wrinkle serum, I am looking for ingredients that contain a lot of vitamins, nutrients and fatty acids.  I also research costs. For instance, will I be able to create a product that maintains a comparable cost in the marketplace?  I survey what's on the shelves in the shops and determine if I can beat that, and survey my friends for what they costs they would expect to pay. I might research and evaluate the idea of a product for months before I even make the first batch!

Once I have a list of ingredients I'd like to play with, I plan what type of product would be the most effective and efficient means of application: liquid spray, oil, salve, cream, etc.  At this point I create a first draft formula and test it on myself for a few weeks during which time I journal and photograph changes to my skin to see if it yields the results for which I was looking.

At this point I either hate it (or just know it can be better) and go back to revising my formula, or I send it out to friends for testing.  I ask them to use it for a few weeks and let me know what they think about the effectiveness, color, smell, etc.  Based on their observations, I might (and usually do) go back to revising my formula and start testing all over again.

Sometimes I like a formula right off the bat and receive positive feedback, so I can add it to the store fairly quickly.  Other times, I might not love the formula until the 15th revision or so.  Before I started SkIndulgence, I spent years creating the formulas for the initial six products; my night cream went through nearly two dozen trials before I found the formula I absolutely love.

When I do find the perfect formula, the rest is rather simple.  I just create the packaging, have a photographer shoot it, and then add it to the store!

So there you have it, from conception to sale, my process.  If you are interested in becoming one of my testers, definitely send me an email!

The Skinny on Sulfates

I'm sure you've all noticed over the last few years the growing number of products boasting to be "sulfate free".  SkIndulgence is definitely proud to be on this bandwagon.  Not so readily advertised, however, is why it is important to be sulfate free.  Hopefully the following will help explain this:

What are Sulfates?
Sulfates are chemical detergents that produce lather. They are found in a variety of beauty products, including soaps, body washes and shampoo. 

Sulfates are the ingredients that make liquid soaps thick.  If you've ever used Dr. Brommer's or SkIndulgence liquid soaps you've noticed that these products are noticeably thinner.  As such, I package the liquid facial cleansers with a foaming-pump top, which makes the product much easier to use.

Why Sulfates are Bad for your Skin
Sulfates break up grease, allowing it to be rinsed away; however, they can be rather harsh and may strip away your skin's natural sebum (which locks in moisture).  As such, products containing sulfates can be known to be overly-drying to your skin and hair.  If you have sensitive, or easily-irritated skin, sulfates may compound the irritation. 

Why Sulfates are Bad for the Environment
In a nutshell, sulfates occur as microscopic particles resulting from fossil fuel and biomass combustion. They increase the acidity of the atmosphere and form acid rain...which we generally frown upon.

Fun Barely-Related Dori Fact
In 8th grade my science grade was less than stellar, so I worked out a deal with my teacher to do little experiments for extra credit.  Always the environmentalist, I used the "Try This!" exercises in my copy of "50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth" book as a basis for these experiments. One such lesson was on the effects of acid rain: it instructed us to get three small house plants and feed one straight water, the second a 50-50 solution of water and lemon juice, and the third straight lemon juice.

I ran down to the drug store, purchased the three cheapest house plants I could find and eagerly started this experiment.  Within days, plants two and three died horrible, suffocating deaths due to the acidity of their diet.  Though I had predicted this outcome as my experiment's hypothesis (obviously), I was still wracked with guilt over the demise of my two house plants.  Here we are, 20 years later, and I still totally can't walk by houseplant displays without guilty memories of my murder-spree days flooding back.

Yes, I've been told I have an overactive imagination...why do you ask?

Custom Products by Request

Hello friends!  Occasionally while perusing my Google Reader, I will read of some ailment or another experienced by one of my bloggy friends.  As an herbalist, it is always my first instinct to offer an herbal/natural solution for whatever ails them, whether it be a skin condition or a cold.  I love it when I get calls from my nearby friends asking what they should take for a throat infection, or if I can whip them up a little something special for their eczema.  I love knowing that I can be of service to them, and that my love of herbs can help in some little way.

As such, I wanted to take my offerings beyond my inner circle of Los Angeles friends and throw it out into the blogosphere ;-)  Somewhere on my Etsy shop it says that I am open for custom orders, but that info is pretty well buried, so I'm gonna make it more clear now.

If you are feeling under the weather and wonder if there is a home remedy that may help (and there usually is), ask me!

If you are in need of a special product and don't see it in my store, ask me!

If you click on that "contact" tab up at the top you'll find various ways of contacting me.  Pick your favorite, and I'll hit you back lickety split!

Now...as this country doesn't recognize herbalism as the science it is, no matter how many certificates you have proving your education, I am legally required to post the following disclaimer, which you will also find permanently in place on the "About" page: The information contained on this site is for educational purposes only: it has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

We Have New Products!

If you've checked out the shop recently you'll see that I've added some luxurious new products!  Photos will be up as soon as I can get my trusty photographer to shoot them (herbalist I am, photographer...not so much!).  Let's learn all about these fun new items, shall we?

One of my top-selling products has been the Bath Pack which combines oatmeal, bath tea and bath salts.  I've gone ahead and separated these into two products to offer some variety:

• Bath Salts - these are now available in two varieties, Stimulating to relieve post-workout and sore muscles, and Relaxing to calm your senses.  Bath salts work by replenishing depleted minerals to restore your body and the essential oils within them work both aromatherapuetically and through the power of the herbs to either calm your senses or relieve sore muscles, depending on which salt you chose.
• Bath Tea - these, also, are available in Stimulating and Relaxing, and we've added one more combination: Revitalizing. Like the Bath Packs, the Bath Tea comes packaged in easy-to-use large tea bags to toss in the bath.  We all know that drinking chamomile tea aids in sleep; the bath tea works in much the same way. By soaking in the essence of herbs and flowers, our bodies absorb the seemingly magical qualities of these herbs.  Use the Stimulating combination to relieve over-worked muscles, the Relaxing to do just that, and Revitalizing will calm nerves while simutaneously invigorate your senses.

To round out the bath time experience I also now offer cleansing and moisturizing products for your whole body:

• Body Wash - I've created two herbal combinations of body wash: "Sweet Dreams" with an infusion of chamomile and lavender to relax you after a long day; and "Oh Hello Day" formulated with an infusion of peppermint and lemon peel to invigorate you for the day ahead.
• Body Butter - This luxuriously thick moisturizer is also available in the Stimulating and Relaxing formulas and is designed to penetrate deep through the epidermis to nourish your skin's dermis layer.

To celebrate these new products, I will be offering 15% off all order for the next week with the coupon code NP15PER.  Enjoy!

About Our Shipping Materials

Landfill Flooded with Consumer Waste

According to the Clean Air Council, about 31% of municipal solid waste generated in the US in 2008 was containers and packaging, or 76,760 thousand tons. In our ongoing commitment to Mother Nature and reducing consumer packaging, SkIndulgence makes every effort to cut down on excess packaging, both in our product packaging and our shipments.

While we understand the desire of many companies to package every shipment like a gift for the customer to open, we are unable to reconcile this fleeting moment with the thousands and thousands of tons of unnecessary waste produced from packaging every year.

In addition to our minimal packaging and refill policy, we make every effort to minimize waste with our shipments as well.  Every package sent to you from SkIndulgence is sent in reused boxes and with reused filling/padding*.  Rest assured that while this is reused, your package is still shipped with sufficient padding and protection to ensure your products arrive safe and sound to your door.

It might not look as fancy as other, more commercial brands, but it IS saving a tree or two for future generations!

*primarily from our suppliers' shipments to us.

SkIndulgence Has a New Look!

The New Look of SkIndulgence Skin Care

I am so excited to announce that SkIndulgence products have gotten a make-over!  When we first launched the line this past summer we were a little too anxious to get pics up on the Etsy store and rushed the packaging design.  After about, oh, a millisecond after the photo shoot was completed and the pics were up, I realized that this:

Ew! What is THIS?

was so totally NOT a product I would like up on my shelf...and it probably wasn't what our customers wanted either!  I immediately set to work designing something that better reflected our products: clean, simple and classy.

I absolutely love the new design, and I am thrilled to death with the way the new photos look.  Thank you so much to JD Nielsen, photographer extraordinaire, for taking such beautiful shots!

While we were at it, we added a couple of new products to the line including the Peppermint Salty and Sweet Body Scrub formulated to stimulate your senses and relieve sore muscles. We'll talk more about this, and the other new "stimulate" products later this week!

See the whole line's new look on the Etsy store!

Refill Policy & Discount

SkIndulgence would like to announce a new refill discount offer!

In staying true to our commitment to Mother Nature and reducing consumer packaging customers can now return the empty bottles to us and receive 50%-off on a refill of that same product!

All you have to do is ship back your empty container, along with your email address to:

SkIndulgence Skin Care
PO Box 39691
Los Angeles, CA 91204

Once we receive your package we will email you a coupon code for 50%-off.  When you place your refill order through the Etsy store, order the product as usual. While in your shopping cart, click "Apply Shop Coupon Code" to redeem your discount.

Happy shopping!

Dori's Story

This is the (pretty long) story of the creation of the SkIndulgence line; or "How Dori Learned to Stop Being Afraid and Go For It".

Though I fell in love with herbs and the idea of creating my own skin care products at a very young age, I never felt it could be my livelihood.  Let me rephrase that.  I was always too afraid to try.  My entire adult life I have defined "security" as having a steady income via climbing the corporate ladder.  Never once in any of these positions did I feel actual passion, or even enjoyment.  To the contrary, I felt very out of place an unhappy.  For the past 15 years I would dread facing the office each day, and would come home each night discouraged and exhausted.  I tried convincing myself that everyone in business felt this way; that this was just part of life.  I know now that this is far from true.

Several months ago this internal conflict caught up with me.  At first I became increasingly withdrawn and depressed. I cried constantly and lashed out in anger at anyone and everyone. I stopped talking to nearly everyone I knew, and the relationships I maintained became incredibly strained, to put it lightly. Shortly after this depression started I began having debilitating panic attacks and night terrors.  It got to be that a day wouldn't go by that I would have several panic attacks or wake repeatedly throughout the night screaming and crying and filled with immobilizing terror.

The mental symptoms ended up being only a part of a much larger problem.  In early 2012, I fell very ill.  I got so weak that I could barely stand and was in so much pain it was difficult to walk.  I lost my appetite and then 20 pounds within weeks.  Several doctors and countless tests later, I was told that I had over 10 tumors throughout my body, one larger than a golf ball, and that these tumors, if not cancer, were at least the root of my illness and my mental state.  Eager to get those stupid things out and start feeling better, I scheduled the multiple surgeries it would take to remove them.

At the same time, my work situation had grown increasingly strained because of my illness.  I knew that taking time off to recover was not an option.  I say "knew", rather than "felt" because I was told as much very bluntly when I informed my bosses of my need to take time off to recover from multiple invasive surgeries.  The promotion I had just been granted was then revoked, as my illness now made me "untrustworthy".  Holding onto that need for "security", I put my work ahead of my health: I scheduled my surgeries nearly back to back starting on Thursday night with the final one Monday afternoon.  I then returned to work Wednesday morning.  I was severely bruised and my three incision points were bandaged and visibly bleeding through; I sobbed from pain the entire drive to the office and was unable to lift even a small stack of papers, but I feared getting fired and felt driven to show my bosses that I still deserved that promotion.

It was this return to work when I began to "see the light", so to speak.  Though they knew why I had been out of the office for three days (and could clearly see my bandages), not one of my three bosses asked how I was feeling or if I was ready to return, even those I hung out with outside the office.  I know this should not be expected in the corporate atmosphere, but, for me at least, it was the beacon that very clearly shed light on the fact that this environment was not meant for me: the dedication and commitment was not mutual.  I definitely don't need or want to be coddled, to the contrary I am a very independent and private person...but I knew I could no longer spend most of my waking life in a place that I now found incredibly cold and uncaring.  Instinctively I knew that this atmosphere was destroying me.  I feel that my getting sick was a message that there was a misalignment with the way I was living my life. Though it terrified me beyond belief, I gave my notice and left the company shortly after this.

Days after leaving my job, I boarded a flight for my annual trip to Kenya with Build.Create.Kenya.  Though I was recovered enough to get around at this point, my health issues were far from resolved: I was still 20 pounds down on my weight, incredibly weak, and experiencing the depression, panic attacks and night terrors.  My family and friends called me crazy for going to Kenya, but I knew in my heart I had to go.

Less than a week into my month-long expedition, I realized that I had not felt any of my illness' symptoms since my arrival.  I kept this to myself not wanting to "jinx" anything.  But as I continued to live the "hakuna matata" (no worries) and "pole pole" (slow/relaxed) life of the Kenyans, my symptoms fell away entirely.  I felt energized and exhilarated; I had an appetite and gained weight.  I laughed and I danced and I SLEPT!

Dori: Falling asleep while eating Twizzlers during a late night meeting :-)

The long flight back to Los Angeles gave me plenty of time to reflect on the experience.  I sent this information out into the universe, and I received an answer:  I was not living my life following the path that my heart and my passions were leading; I had exhausted my spirit and my body by living with a conflicted soul for 15 years.  To save myself, I had to strip away the previous definition of "security" and redefine it by listening to my heart.  It is a common saying that the skills you are granted are a gift to you from the world, but what you do with those skills is your gift to the world.

Experiencing a cancer scare was pretty effective at stripping away my fears.  A new fearless me, has set out to offer my skills to the world and see if I can't find a new "security" in doing what I love.  SkIndulgence Skin Care was born as a result.  Through SkIndulgence, I can share all of that amazing magic hidden within plants, flowers, and other gifts of nature.  At the basis of each of our products is a message:

• Relax! Our body scrubs and bath tea are designed to help you relax; a gift I give each of you with a vengeance since it is what saved me!
• Love the planet and its creatures! We believe you don't need to sacrifice nature with harmful ingredients and cruel animal testing practices for the sake of beauty; our ingredients and packaging are designed with the well being of Mother Earth and her children at the top of our priorities.  And most importantly,
• Live simply! The best things in life can (and usually do) come from those that are the most simple!  Our ingredients are naturally simple by design.

This was my story...just the beginning though, follow along and let's see what happens!

Cruelty Free and Vegan Products

International logo indicating the product is "cruelty free"

Though SkIndulgence is a stickler for creating products that are as pure and natural as possible, of even more concern to us is the barbaric use of animals to test cosmetics and other products in the name of beauty.  Though we are assured by the cosmetic industry that this testing is necessary and humane, visits to animal testing labs will convince you otherwise.  There is nothing humane about placing shampoo in a rabbit's eyes - the gentlest of the procedures practiced - or testing for allergic reactions on their shaved skin, often creating huge, ulcerated sores on these gentle creatures.

The truth is that there are easier, less expensive, and more humane ways for testing these products than abusing other life forms.  While many large cosmetic companies have changed their animal testing policies in recent years both because of pressure from caring citizens and animal rights advocates and the lack of necessity for animal testing, there are many still that refuse to end the abuse.

SkIndulgence is committed to offering products that are not only safe for your skin, but are safe all the animals, too! Our products are completely vegan, and the only animals we test on are ourselves and the luckiest of our friends.

Updates from the Shop: 9-18-2012

This is just a little update of what we've been up to here in the shop for the past few days.  It's been an exciting week with a few big orders and new logo merch coming in!

The bags make me smile :-)

This definitely topped the week for SkIndulgence excitement for me!  We got canvas tote bags screen printed by Level Press for an unbelievable rate (check them out when you need screen printing for sure!).  The bags are pretty simply, exactly how I like it, but foiled for a little fanci-ness :-)  If you are wondering, that thing on the left of the pic is a couch up-cycled from a pallet found in an alley :-)

The full line; in miniature

We sold the first "discount membership" package.  This lucky recipient gets one of our fancy new bags, a trial size of all items currently on sale (and any future items for one year), and 15% off any purchases for one year.  It was pretty exciting to see all of our pretty products lined up in a row like that, and the smell was HEAVENLY!

Almost ready; just need to dress those bottles!

Today we are getting a special gift package ready for someone very special; more info to follow on this!  We still need to slap some labels on there, and then they will be ready to ship!

Now through Sept 25th you can save 20% on the products shown above at the SkIndulgence store with the coupon code SSCGO20PER

About the Shop

Did you know that everything you put on your skin goes directly into your bloodstream? It's true! Skin is the body's largest organ of absorption and elimination. That means that what we put on our skin is just as importation as what we put in our bodies.  This is the primary motivation behind the creation of SkIndulgence Skin Care.  We aim to create a product that not only allows people to feel their most beautiful, but one that is all natural and healthy, too.

Not only are our products safe for your skin, they are safe for the planet and all it's little creatures, too!  Our products are completely vegan and made with certified organic and ethically-cultivated ingredients and packaging.  You won't find a single phosphate, sulfate, dye or perfume in the bunch, and the only animals we test on are ourselves and the luckiest of our friends!

I am pleased to announce that 20% from each sale benefits my other passion, Build.Create.Kenya, an NGO servicing the education sector in underserved regions of East Africa.  For more information on this organization, please visit www.buildcreatekenya.org.

The SkIndulgence shop is truly my labor of love. It is the ultimate dream to be able to do what you enjoy. I'm thankful to be in a position in life to pursue my dreams and have this little shop. Here's to hoping you find just what you're looking for! Don't see what you're looking for? Let me know what you need and I'll work on it for you!  Welcome!