New Year’s Resolutions … Absolutely Natural Style

Year after year it’s always the same thing:
• Lose weight
• Get organized
• Exercise 20 hours a week.

The resolutions usually last less than the time it takes to make them, but I challenge our customers to embark upon an Absolutely Natural Year of Resolutions.

Resolve to do something good for your whole body:
Resolve to use our incredible Organic Oil or Organic Crème daily for a month. You will be amazed at the results. I talked to a man just yesterday who has severe eczema … to the point where he has had no hair on his right arm for years. His wife talked him into using the organic oil everyday and within one month his skin condition improved dramatically and his arm hair had returned! He is absolutely thrilled.

Resolve to reveal more radiant youthful skin:
We recommend your daily “work out” consist of our daily regimen for your face, Facials … the Absolutely Natural five-step facials program. Burn calories morning and night using our cleanser and following with the astringent, toner and then our uplifting daily facial lotion. Two to three times a week you can increase the activity by incorporating our bamboo exfoliator into the mix. Feel the burn? Actually, no you won’t; you’ll only feel the amazing softness, smoothness and enjoy the youthfulness our Facials System promises and delivers.

Resolve this year to eliminate
sulfates, phthalates and parabens from your skin and blood stream:
It’s easy with Absolutely Natural’s new spa products. Choose between our Papaya Pineapple or Cucumber Mint natural fragrances in the personal care products … shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion. The products are moisturizing and a nutrient-rich treat for the skin, hair and scalp.

Resolve to stay hydrated and protected:
This summer keep your skin protected by our natural sunscreens and hydrated by the phenomenal aloe, shea butter, squalane-based lotion in all of our sunscreens and Rosehip Aloe.

Resolve to save the planet’s precious resources:
While enjoying the sun, you can live up to your resolution of helping save the planet as NONE of our products will harm the coral reefs of our precious oceans.

In fact, as the founder and owner of company, I think we should all resolve to improve our skin, our hair, our health and environment by using as many Absolutely Natural products as possible. Of course, this is written with serious tongue-in-cheek intentions. I’m all for exercising, losing weight and all the resolutions so many of us make year in and year out, but the Absolutely Natural 2011 resolutions will be the easiest to stick with.

Happy New Year and thanks for your continued support.

Charley

SPF’s Impact on the Environment

It is estimated that every year 8000 tons of chemicals are deposited on our precious ocean coral reef to disastrous results. These chemicals are choking the life out of our reefs and no one dares to predict what will happen if they die out.

The culprits are not only chemical factories spewing run off into our oceans, greenhouse gases and cruise ships dumping waste. The damaging chemicals come from millions of people innocently playing in the oceans while wearing chemical sunscreens.

The main offenders from these perfectly legal and highly marketed sunscreens are the chemicals used for the sunscreen factor, emulsifiers and preservatives. Some of these ingredients can take months to biodegrade all the while causing damage.

High SPFs Are They For Real?
Let’s take SPF 100 as an example. Technically that would mean that a sunscreen at that level would give you 100 times more protection than wearing no sunscreen. So, if it takes you 20 minutes in the sun before you start to redden, this means, in theory you could enjoy the sun without consequence for 2000 minutes! Ridiculous! The serious issue is that people are exposing themselves to potentially toxic levels of chemicals when they fall for the marketing hype that leads them to believe you need such high SPF numbers.

Most reasonable researchers agree that an SPF 15 is a maximum sunscreen and that anything over an SPF 30 is unnecessary. Because our natural sunscreens reflect UV instead of absorbing it the way chemical sunscreens do, our all-natural higher SPF’s are more than sufficient for all levels of UV exposure.

Absolutely Natural’s SPF and the Environment
Recently, we funded a study done by Dr. Joel Olson from the prestigious Florida Institute of Technology. We are still evaluating Dr. Olson’s findings but one of the outstanding discoveries that came from this study is that Absolutely Natural sunscreens are 80% biodegraded within two weeks. Of course, there are no chemicals in the formulas and there is no adverse effect to our waters or our coral reefs.

Since 1992, we have been on the cutting edge of working with naturals and organics … better for your skin, your health and the future for our children.

Best regards,

Charley

Do as I say ...

You know the old adage ... do as I say; not as I do.

Obviously I have driven my two sons crazy with that over the years, but now I am telling all the thousands and thousands of people I have trained on the proper way to take care of your skin in the sun and all the tens of thousands of customers over 18 years, the same thing. Do as I say!

I, Charley Richards, owner of Absolutely Natural Sun care (the world's best), got a bad sunburn recently on my face, neck and shoulders. Of course, I have taken a merciless ribbing from just about everyone that knows me with copious offers to "sell me some sunscreen" etc etc. All well deserved.

Circumstances were understandable (at least to me). An enjoyable outing on the boat; I thought she had the sunscreen, she thought he had it, he thought she had it and she was sure I had it. No sunscreen.

The point to this besides a living definition/example of "irony", is a certifiable, testimonial on how incredible our Absolutely Natural aloes are. By Sunday afternoon at 4pm, my face was a glowing red that would put Rudolph's famous nose to shame. The heat coming off me could be felt several inches away from my face. Uncomfortable, of course, but the potential embarrassment was worse. You see, I had a presentation to do in front of a few dozen business leaders gathered in Melbourne from across the Southeast. How much credibility would I have if my face were still in this condition when speech time came around?

Desperate, I turned to the aloes. I applied (smeared) the Pure Aloe w/ Tea Tree on all affected areas and let it sit until it went into the skin. Then I applied (coated) the Rosehip Aloe lotion on immediately afterwards. I repeated this dozens of times over the nexttwo days.

Immediately the heat left my face and other areas. And, slowly, the red turned to my version of brown (as a red head of Irish descent, my "tan" is sort of a reddish one to begin with). By Tuesday morning (fewer than 48 hours after my folly), I looked healthy and my version of "tan" instead of like someone who needed to go to the emergency room.

I DO NOT suggest you try this at home as I am a professional (yea, a professional that doesn't bring sunscreen on a boat outing in Florida!).

At any rate, I always try turning a negative into a positive and thus the story of the face saving aloes (double entendre intended) .

Best regards,

Charley

60% of Sunscreens Don't Protect Adequately & Contain Toxic Ingredients

Should you be scared? Not if you're using our products at Absolutely Natural!

These statistics come from the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) 2009 Study.

I'll attach a link at the end of this post to a report posted on WebMD, regarding their thoughts on the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) study.

I have my own opinions of the criteria used by the EWG to rate sunscreens and will be sharing many thoughts in coming posts. In general, I believe each of the following quotes found within the WebMD article hold merit:

Jane Houlihan, EWG, Senior VP for Research:

"I'd give the industry a C minus. They have moved from a D to a C-minus in my book."

Sandra Read, MD, a Washington, D.C., Dermatologist and member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Dermatology:

"Using sunscreen correctly, using the right sunscreen for your exposure and skin type, and reapplying every two hours is crucial."

Henry Lim, MD, Chairman of the department of dermatology at Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit. Member of the photobiology committee of the Skin Cancer Foundation and chairman of the Council on Science and Research of the American Academy of Dermatology.

"Some points are definitely correct. But, he adds, this report has somewhat of an alarmist tone.''

MY THOUGHTS
From the perspective of Absolutely Natural and our suncare products in comparison to the chemically laden products typically found on merchant's shelves:

• We applaud the efforts of the EWG to serve as a consumer watchdog group regarding the safety of suncare and other consumer products. They definitely have helped raise awareness of potential toxic dangers from various chemical ingredients commonly used in sunscreens.
• We created the first 100% natural suncare line in 1992 for the sole purpose of removing chemical sunscreens, parabens, petro-chemicals and other ingredients we viewed as non-desirable for our customers.
  

Proud to be 100% Natural since 1992!

RESOURCES
Article Link from WebMD summarizing the Environmental Working Group's 2009 Suncare Report and from where I sourced quotes from the various individuals noted in my post.