Archive for the ‘Organic Bath +Body Care’ Category

As we know, the skin is the largest elimination organ of our bodies, responsible for 1/4 of our bodies daily detoxification. Generally, toxins and waste are released through our skin’s pores during perspiration. However, there is a simple and effective way to greatly assist the process, called dry brushing. Used for centuries by Russians and Scandinavians, dry brushing helps by removing dead skin cells so that the skin can properly eliminate waste. This technique has a myriad of other benefits and can be done daily from the comfort of your home!

For the deets, we caught up with New York City detox expert, Tracy Piper, a well known Acupuncturist, Massage and Colon Therapist, to get the goods on how dry brushing really works. Tracy explained that the skin is known as the ‘third kidney’ and as a person’s body becomes toxic, one of the first places it will show up, is in the skin.  However, “The skin is the last organ to receive nutrients from the body. With dry brushing, you are able to open the pores and allow the release of toxic material.” In addition, gently brushing the skin stimulates the lymphatic system, encouraging blood circulation and cell regeneration.

The skin is the last organ to receive nutrients from the body. With dry brushing, you’re able to open the pores and allow the release of toxic material.

-Tracy Piper

Not only is dry brushing great for your health, but it also has plenty of beauty benefits. Regular brushing tightens your skin by increasing blood flow, stimulating nerve endings and removing the dead skin cells, making way for smoother skin to surface. It is also one of the only (if not the only) effective treatments for reducing cellulite.

Along with daily dry brushing, Piper recommends drinking two liters of water with lemon each day. The lemon water helps activate the liver to liquefy fat trapped within the connective tissue, which is the cause of cellulite. For a real beauty boost Tracy adds, “Pay attention to good alkaline water, wholesome organic food and getting chlorophyll in the diet.”

Okay, now that you’re convinced that dry brushing should be introduced in your daily routine, let’s talk about how to dry brush! First, you will need to pick up one of these lovely Hydrea London FSC Certified Body Brushes. Dry brushing should take place once a day, before you get into the shower, so that you can wash away the impurities from the skin. Piper emphasizes the importance of following specific techniques, as haphazard brushing could actually do more harm than good.  But don’t be alarmed, just remember the general rule is to brush from the extremities towards the core of the body.

How To Dry Brush:

- Begin with your feet and brush in circular motions

- Continue brushing up your legs

- Proceed to your hands and arm, towards armpit

- Brush your entire back and abdomen area, moving towards the heart

- Use circular counter-clockwise strokes on the abdomen

- Lightly brush the breast

- Brush upwards on the back and down from the neck

At first, your skin may feel sensitive to the brush, but as you get used to it, you will find it very invigorating and enjoyable. Remember to start off gently, especially around sensitive areas, and increase pressure with time and practice. This amazingly beneficial technique should only take about 3-5 minutes of your time, although you may want to spend 5-10 extra minutes on cellulite areas.

If you would like to learn dry brushing from a pro, we recommend Tracy Piper’s 30 Minute Skin Brushing, offered at M.A.R.C. Holistic Center in Soho. Enjoy the multitude of beauty and health benefits from this simple, yet powerful practice!

Chocolate Sun’s amazing organic sunless tanning products have arrived just in time to get a fab faux glow as we shed our sweaters for Spring! We are elated to finally get a natural-looking bronze without the sun damage, toxic chemicals or melting-plastic smell of conventional tanning products. In fact, Chocolate Sun’s 100% natural combination of ingredients like sweet almond, coconut oil and vanilla extract leaves us smelling positively delicious!

We just busted open the anxiously awaited Organic Apoteke Turkish Rose Body Cleanse Gel and Body Hydrate Oil and it is intoxicating. The shower gel is completely non-drying and the oil is deeply hydrating and smells wonderful! Organic Apoteke is one of those companies who thinks of everything when it comes to their impact. Their manufacturing plants use renewable energy, their packaging is all recyclable and biodegradable – even the labels on the bottles, their ingredients are usually 100% natural and about 90% certified organic and they donate 5% of profits to charitable causes. That is almost enough for us to love working with them but on top of all that, their products preform incredibly well! To request FREE organic apoteke samples, just type in ORGANIC APOTEKE in the customer notes area when you place your next order!