Did you know that not all Shea Butter is created equally and its age plays a part?

Did you know that Dead Sea Salt has more minerals than any other salt?

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Did you know there is a difference in Fragrance Oil and Essential Oil?

Did you know that any product can be claimed as hypo-allergenic?

Do you know the facts about Natural Products or how to read ingredients?

Shea Butter

In the US, some companies alter their Shea Butter in an attempt to give it a better fragrance and texture. Unaltered Shea Butter has a natural, pungent aroma. Others alter Shea Butter for economic reasons. These alterations may disturb or in some cases destroy the natural integrity of the product. While altered Shea Butter may smell nicely, or when mixed with less expensive ingredients may cost much less, in many of such cases the altered Shea Butter has lost significant properties. Another problem the buyer must watch for is the age of the product. Shea Butter could be as much as two to three years old or older by the time it reaches the buyer's hand.  This is why our shea butter is sold in small quantities.

100% Pure & Natural Shea Butter is an all-natural vitamin A cream. Shea Butter has shown to be a superb moisturizer, with exceptional healing properties for the skin.  There now is a growing list of skin conditions where 100% Premium Shea Butter has been shown to be effective. Vitamin A in Shea Butter is important for improving a number of skins conditions, including blemishes, wrinkles, eczema, and dermatitis. Additionally, Premium Shea Butter cream has properties that treat skin allergies, insect bites, sunburns, frostbites, and a number of other conditions of the skin. Shea Butter’s unparalleled moisturizing property is due to several natural moisturizers present in the cream. The moisturizers in Shea Butter are the same moisturizers produced by the sebaceous glands in the skin.

The Dead Sea is known not only for the saltiest water, but also is the lowest point on Earth. It has a higher concentration of salts and minerals (approximately 9 times the amount) with a smaller proportion of sodium chloride (regular salt) than other salt water. The salt from the Dead Sea consists of sodium chloride, magnesium, potassium and calcium chlorides and a comparatively high concentration of bromides. It is believed that the therapeutic properties of these salts are due to the presence of these and other components. The salts are composed of natural hygroscopic minerals found in the Dead Sea. Magnesium is important for combating stress and fluid retention, slowing skin aging and calming the nervous system. Calcium is effective at preventing water retention, increasing circulation and strengthening bones and nails. Potassium energizes the body, helps to balance skin moisture and is a crucial mineral to replenish following intense exercise. Bromides act to ease muscle stiffness and relax muscles. Sodium is important for the lymphatic fluid balance (this in turn is important for immune system function). So we can see that bathing in high quality sea salt could replenish the minerals which are critical to our skin metabolism. These minerals assist in cleansing, de-toxing and restoring a healthy body, especially the skin and muscles. Throughout the ages, dating as far back as the reign of Cleopatra, the Dead Sea has been renowned and revered for its power to heal, rejuvenate, and beautify. Physiological benefits from using these salts include; helps detoxify the body and ward off viruses, stimulates natural circulation for improved health, helps relieve athlete's foot, corns, calluses, relaxes tense, aching muscles and joints, helps relieve arthritis and rheumatism, and helps relieve chronic lower back pain. Skin benefits are; draws out impurities in skin, soothes skin irritations such as psoriasis and eczema, soothes itching, burning and bites, smoothes and softens skin, encourages skin to renew itself, helps scars to heal, restores moisture balance to the skin. Psycho-physical relief includes; provides deep relaxation, helps relieve stress and tension, promotes restfulness. Occupational benefits are; relieves tired, aching feet and leg muscles, eases tension in hands and wrists, helps relieve sports injuries.

Mineral oil is oddly enough the main ingredient in most commercially available baby oils. One well known manufacture of baby products has been forced by legislation to make their bottles tamper resistant after a 18 month old baby died from baby oil. The baby opened the bottle and the oil ended up all over the baby. The bad news was, they only had to make the bottle tamper resistant but it's still mineral oil!! Mineral Oil coats the skin and hair just like plastic wrap. The skin's natural barrier is disrupted as this plastic coating inhibits its ability to breathe and absorb the Natural Moisture Factor (moisture and nutrition). The skin's ability to release toxins and wastes is impossible through this "plastic wrap," which can promote acne and other disorders. It further hinders normal skin respiration/transpiration by keeping oxygen out. This process slows down skin function and normal cell development causing the skin to prematurely age. Holding in large a mounts of moisture in the skin can "flood" the biology and may result in immature, unhealthy, sensitive skin that dries out easily. Petrolatum exhibits many of the same potentially harmful properties as mineral oil.

Essential Oils - A liquid that is generally distilled (most frequently by steam or water) from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Most essential oils are clear, but some oils such as patchouli and sweet orange are amber or yellow in color.  Essential oils contain the true essence of the plant it was derived from and offer therapeutic benefits.  Essential oils are highly concentrated and a little goes a long way.  Many essential oils, such as Rose and Jasmine, can cost $1000 or more for a pound of oil.

Always check the individual oils for adverse reactions from a reputable source, especially if pregnant, epileptic, have kidney or liver disease, asthma, high blood pressure, or sensitive skin. Not all oils are safe for children and babies.

Fragrance Oils - Fragrance oils are synthetically created fragrances and do not offer the therapeutic benefits that essential oils offer. There are thousands of raw ingredients that can be used to make up fragrance oils.  Any scent in nature can often be mimicked or an entirely new scent can be developed.   Fragrance oils provide a much wider range of scent selection than essential oils and a much more affordable price.

Crèma Fiorè Bath & Body offers ½ ounce bottles of pure essential oils and fragrances oils for use in oil warmers and refreshing smelly jelly’s.  Customers purchasing these oils need to know about oil safety and use:

• Always keep the container clearly labeled
• Keep out of the reach of pets and children
• Store in cool dark places
• Essential Oils are highly flammable
• Never use undiluted oils on the skin
• Be careful with all oils on fabric, carpet or furniture

Hypo-Allergenic

Crèma Fiorè Bath and Body makes no claim to be hypoallergenic.   The following information is from the FDA website:  Hypoallergenic cosmetics are products that manufacturers claim produce fewer allergic reactions than other cosmetic products. Consumers with hypersensitive skin, and even those with "normal" skin, may be led to believe that these products will be gentler to their skin than non-hypoallergenic cosmetics”.

There are no Federal standards or definitions that govern the use of the term "hypoallergenic." The term means whatever a particular company wants it to mean. Manufacturers of cosmetics labeled as hypoallergenic are not required to submit substantiation of their hypoallergenic claims to FDA.

The term "hypoallergenic" may have considerable market value in promoting cosmetic products to consumers on a retail basis, but dermatologists say it has very little meaning.

For many years, companies have been producing products which they claim are "hypoallergenic" or "safe for sensitive skin" or "allergy tested." These statements imply that the products making the claims are less likely to cause allergic reactions than competing products. But there has been no assurance to consumers that this actually was the case.

Consumers concerned about allergic reactions from cosmetics should understand one basic fact: there is no such thing as a "nonallergenic" cosmetic--that is, a cosmetic that can be guaranteed never to produce an allergic reaction.

By and large, the basic ingredients in so-called "hypoallergenic" cosmetics are the same as those used in other cosmetics sold for the same purposes. Years ago, some cosmetics contained harsh ingredients that had a high potential for causing adverse reactions. But these ingredients are no longer used. The FDA knows of no scientific studies which shows that "hypoallergenic" cosmetics or products making similar claims actually cause fewer adverse reactions than competing conventional products.

Ingredients

Crèma Fiorè Bath & Body uses many natural ingredients in our products but we do not claim to have a complete line of “All Natural” products.  Crèma Fiorè Bath & Body does not want to mislead our customers, we want to educate them.

Each skincare product manufacturer seems to have their OWN definition of the word “Natural” and it's generally misleading.  "Natural" is a powerful marketing word, but may indeed be a word that cannot be totally defined.  Just because something is "natural", does not necessarily mean that it is safe or recommended for use.  Many “Natural” essential oils carry risks and dangers and should never be used.  Some should be avoided during pregnancy, some by those who suffer epilepsy, and some can be harsh skin-irritants if used in excess.  Any skin care product that contains both oils and water (i.e. lotions & creams) MUST contain a preservative to eliminate the risk of bacteria growth.  Any product containing a preservative is not a “Natural” product due to the fact that there is no such thing as a “Natural” preservative regardless of what you’ve heard.  Many companies advertise that they preserve their products with Grapefruit Seed Extract but no documented evidence has ever been proven that Grapefruit Seed Extract will kill bacteria.  Anyone using “natural” oil and water products (i.e. lotions and creams) must consider the consequences of a potentially unsafe product.   These can be remedied by the inclusion of necessary ingredients for preservation.  Any products that contain fragrance oils are not “All Natural”.  Fragrance oils are man made synthetic oils.

Remember, 100 years ago people died from simple illnesses that today we have medicine for through chemical research and un-natural products.

This leaves consumers in the position of needing to read and understand labels, and choose for themselves what they determine is a level of "naturalness" or otherwise that they feel most comfortable with.

Crèma Fiorè Bath and Body Products are labeled in accordance to FDA rules.  Ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance, that is, with the ingredient in the greatest amount listed at the beginning and those in the smallest amounts listed at the end.  A lotion with an ingredient close to the beginning of the list, for example, would have more of that ingredient than any other ingredient. An ingredient listed close to the end suggests that a smaller amount of that ingredient is present.

A highly used marketing technique by many manufacturers is to advertise a product by a particular ingredient regardless of the amount of the ingredient in the product.  For example, a major manufacturers advertise a Shea Butter Cream, but if the customer looks at the ingredient list, shea butter is one of the last ingredients listed.  Typically there is not enough of the ingredient to benefit the skin.  This is a completely legal marketing strategy that is widely used and many consumers fall for this marketing trap.  Most consumers don’t pay attention to the ingredient label but base their purchases on company advertising.  Crèma Fiorè Bath and Body doesn’t use this marketing technique.  If we advertise a product based on an ingredient, the customer is going to get a huge amount of that ingredient in the product.

Ingredients are written in the language of chemistry, not common names to provide consistency in the cosmetic industry.  For example, Baking Soda would be listed as Sodium Bicarbonate.  This can be very confusing for consumer trying to figure out what is in a product.