May is National Skin Cancer Month

Absolutely Natural is doing its part in promoting “safe sun.” For every order more than $50.00 we are giving away a 2oz SPF 15, which is one of our maximum sunscreens.

One would think that with the heightened use of sunscreens over the past 10-15 years and a supposedly more educated population that skin cancer would be on the decline. Unfortunately, it is not. It is estimated there are 2,000,000 new cases of skin cancer diagnosed every year; it is the most common form of cancer for humans.

Three Kinds of Cancer:
The two most common forms are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. They are referred to as nonmelanoma skin cancer. The most dangerous form is melanoma that tends to metastasize throughout the body and can cause death. There are almost 70,000 new cases of melanoma every year.

Basal cell accounts for 90% of new skin cancers and usually begins as a small dome shaped bump. They can appear very dark and are usually irregular shaped. Squamous begins in the squamous cells which are flat, scale-like cells that form the surface of the skin, the hollow organs of the body and the respiratory and digestive tracts. So, squamous can form in any of these tissues. It most frequently appears on the skin as rough, red bumps on the scalp, face, ears and backs of the hands. It can take 10 years for the cancer to invade deeply into the skin and become fully developed squamous cell carcinoma.

The risks for developing any of these cancers include age, UV exposure in tanning beds, therapeutic radiation and most prominently exposure to the sun.

HIGH SPF & Skin Cancer:
So, why aren’t the SPF 50’s, 75’s and 100’s of the suncare industry eliminating these cancers? Why aren’t the 12 hour waterproof products reducing the amount of skin cancer? Well, any of you that have read my blogs in the past know that I think these modern day chemical “wonders” are the culprit, not the cure.

My theory is that people are duped into thinking they are protected all day long by an application of these super high SPF’s. So they stay out in the sun longer and actually get more harmful exposure than if they would reapply, using a more sensible SPF instead.

Skin Caner Screening:
Although you should be diligent in checking yourself out for irregular shaped, dark bumps (especially if they are larger than a pencil eraser) for basal cell and rough red bumps for squamous, the only way to truly get diagnosed is with regular trips to the dermatologist. Skin cancer, if caught in the early stages, usually is easily taken care of while melanoma, left unchecked, can kill you as it does 12,000 people every year. Totally preventable with proper protection in the sun and regular screening with your doctor. Be safe.

Best regards

Charley

The Strongest Person I know

Who comes to mind when you think of one of the strongest persons you know? Mine happens to be my Mother. Mother’s around the world share common attributes and I am certain that strength is one of them. My Mom is a Mother of four and Grandmother to five. She has persevered through 34 years of raising children and still to this day is continuing her love for her children and grand children.

The love of a Mother never dies nor does the strength of a Mother. She has learned to stick it out when things get tough and to cherish the times of joy. Growing up with such a big family, my Mom had to give up most if not all of her time to be a Mother. And, played several other roles as well; wife, sister, coworker, and friend. Looking back, I think what a big sacrifice she made for all of us.

Mother’s across the world juggle so many roles in their lives and this Mother’s Day we should all recognize that. Take the time to appreciate Moms all over the world, whether it is your own Mother, a friend’s Mother, or if you’re a Mother yourself. It’s important to see the role they play in the life of their family.

To this day, I am not sure where or who I would be without my Mother. She has been and still is a big part of my life today. My Mom has given me strength and wisdom to conquer life’s biggest challenges and I look forward to the moments of being a Mother in the future.

To all of the Mothers out there, thank you for your everlasting love and support!

Love always,
Lindsey

Saying a Special Thank You to Mom...

We are no different than the rest of the world here at Absolutely Natural when it comes to Mother’s Day. Every year we attempt to put together a basket of products or a special gift to honor the women of the world who have the toughest job ever and every year, I always feel inadequate.

How can you properly “reward” someone who gave you life, nurtured you through childhood, sacrificed for your benefit and no matter how old you are, supports you through thick and thin? My Mom turns 86 this year and she is still the dynamo she was 60 years ago. Working hard, is nothing to her. Some days she'll tell me, “Oh, I have had such a lazy day. I cleaned the ceiling fans, washed the curtains and mopped the kitchen, but I haven’t got much else done.” She's busy morning, noon and night and she is definitely the one who gave me my work ethic. (Except for the whole washing curtains thing!)

She works on her home every day except on weekends when she goes to her job selling antiques at a little shop near her home in West Virginia. Mom was always a great sales person and I contend that if she had grown up in a different era and didn’t have the responsibility of rearing four kids while working full time, she would have had a great career and been heralded in the sales world. But, she instead dedicated her life to her kids and family and I certainly appreciate everything she did for me.

My wife is a great mom as well and she was willing to stay home and provide phenomenal opportunities for our children. I know they appreciate it and understand that she provided for them on a level that a lot of kids didn’t get … trips, work in schools, home cooked meals, arts and craft projects, sports, library visits, etc. And, even now that she has her own career (going to school for years and years and getting a Masters degree and LCSW!), she is still always there for them with sage advice, unconditional love and yes, home cooked meals.

So, we try to honor the fantastic Mom’s of the world by giving them something special on Mother’s Day. For those of you looking for something unique, I hope you take advantage of one or more of our four kits so your Mom can have not only a great Mother’s Day, but weeks of pampering afterwards.

Best regards,

Charley

Our Amazing Fans & Friends

It is a rare thing to find a company that can truly inspire people and even more rare to have such accessibility to these same people. Every day, Charley personally answers the phones along with the rest of his staff. They answer emails, pop onto Facebook and welcome visitors to their Melbourne, Florida location. But what makes this most significant? They listen.

Absolutely Natural is the company they are today, in part, because of the impressive vision, passion and personality of Charley and his staff. But, what inspire them every day are their fans and friends who share their experiences, ideas and accolades. I can still remember one of my first meetings with them. They handed me a full stack of printed testimonials and were able to recite numerous stories by heart. They know life-long clients by name and can tell you details about their families and careers. No joke.

It is this same group of people, their fans and friends, who are now showing their support for such a great cause, raising nearly $900 as of today! In helping sea turtles survive, we help other sea creatures as well. This recent push to have our friends and fans show their support on Facebook has been inspiring to us and we’re so close to reaching our goal and then some.

I wanted to reach out and say thank you for making it all possible. You are a critical part of what makes Absolutely Natural such an amazing company. We are looking forward to more fun projects to come, but for now… thank you and ONWARD!

Our New Diggs

Sometimes I have to blink twice when I pull up our new Absolutely Natural web site that debuted March 21.It’s a little hard for me to believe that it really is ours. It is so upscale, professional, beautiful, efficient, exciting (some adjectives are mine and some from our customers) … it is mind-boggling! A big congratulations and even bigger thank you goes to Suzanne Clements, her team and Lindsey Pushman.

Suzanne, as most of you know, is our award winning graphic artist who designed the site while Lindsey is my VP. Together they worked diligently to develop and refine the “look,” content, flow and so much more. They invested hours researching and plotting the site and the result couldn’t have pleased me more.

More to come

We have big plans for more site improvements as well as online events (Fan Friday has been on of our most recent additions). Beyond the website they’ve been spearheading our Facebook page development which has gone from a small but mighty 250 friends to more than 1600 in fewer than three months. Again, great job ladies!

Looking back

For those of you that have been with us for years, you must share my awe in the quality of the site because you probably remember our first attempt. It was in the mid-1990’s and the first site was a colorful, jumbled mess packed full of more copy than a Sunday edition of the New York Times. Short on pictures, devoid of conveniences and minus a shopping cart, what we lacked in style we attempted to make up with copy … copious quantities of text and a few charts. Oh and you can’t leave out: bad pictures of the product.

Enter Suzanne several years ago who promptly redid the site and improved it 500%. I thought we would never top that but here we are!

The new site has increased our traffic, increased our sales and allows us to communicate better with our clients. It is still a work in progress and please let me know if you have any suggestions or comments on our new site. We’ve already implemented a number of customer suggestions into the new layout.

I’m so excited with the results of this venture that we are going to redo several of our sites, brochures and other collateral materials. Look for more improvements and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards

Charley

Get ready for Spring

Congratulations! You have survived one of the craziest, coldest, snowiest, wettest and l o n g e s t winters in recent memory. It is relatively safe to start thinking of this spring and wishing for this summer.

As you get your houses, cars and wardrobes ready for the more hospitable weather, add a couple of things to the list: your skin and your psyche!

Of course, that means turning to Absolutely Natural and our incredible array of skin products and wonderful aroma therapy oils for help.

How about a quick trip to the tropics (mentally at least)?
Step 1: Rid Yourself of Winter Skin
Start with either our sugar or salt body scrub to slough away the winter blues and prep for spring and summer. You’ll reveal touchably soft, glowing skin hydrated and ready to play center stage.

Step 2: Pamper & Indulge
Pamper yourself in a long hot shower with our sulfate-free shampoo, conditioner and body wash following up with our nutrient rich lotion. The fruit essence fragrance will take you right to the beach.

Step 3: Fight Persistent Dry Winter Air
For those stubborn areas of winter skin that persist (probably be cause you STILL have the furnace running despite it nearly being April!) quench it with our shea body butters. Available in a variety of natural aromas, if you wish to go tropical pick our classic Mango Body Butter or our Papaya Pineapple.

Step 4: Prep your Pucker
Give your lips a nourishing kiss of the tropics. Toss aside your waxy lip balm and instead use one of our all-natural lip moist therapies. Tropical flavors include Mango and Papaya Pineapple.

Essential Oils & Aroma Therapy:
One of the most popular features of our Absolutely Natural store on Kauai is our oil bar. In Hawaii, our knowledgeable staff assists customers in creating their own custom blends starting with our base oil of fractionated coconut and adding only the finest essential oils to create a tailor-made, distinct fragrance. The final result is oil great for massage, excellent as a super hydrator and skin conditioner, and makes a fantastic oil to add to any hydrotherapy session.

While, we can’t currently custom blend fragrances on our website, we have come up with seven brilliant blends as follows:

• Serenity: Balsam, Tangerine and Ylang-Ylang

• Sensual: Mandarin and Vanilla

• West Indian: Bay Rum and Allspice

• Herbaceous: Patchouli, Vetiver and Juniper Berry

• Refreshing: Ruby Grapefruit and Tangerine

• Energizing: Rosemary Mint

• Enchantment: Jasmine and Neroil

These oils come in 10ml glass bottles and sell for $18-$22, far below market rate for such pure oils. Put a drop or two in a bath or enjoy them in a diffuser or reed diffuser. The aromatherapy “session” is designed to heighten the senses and relax the mind.

Pair one of the blends with our unfragranced oil and enjoy the experience after your “treatment” while using the oil in your daily regimen. You control the amount of fragrance that is right for you.

So, here’s to spring eternal and a nice, long, sunny summer.

Best regards,

Charley

Absolutely Natural and Facebook? But Why?

Many of you may have noticed that we’ve been reaching out to our fans a lot on Facebook lately. While we know not everyone wants a Facebook account, we know there are over 500 million people throughout the world on there, and we figure a good slice of our fans are among those 500 million.

Why do we like Facebook?
Facebook gives us an opportunity to interact with our fans in a way that email and blogs haven’t been able to do. We get to include our fans in some of our day-to-day decisions, helping us decide on a new fragrance, suggesting new products and more!

Let’s face it, we’re a small, but growing company and we love how it feels so much like a family. We want to include our fans in that family, and no matter how far you live from our offices in Melbourne, Florida, it feels like you’re right here with us.

What is Fan Friday?
For a limited time (until May 1st) we’re offering Facebook fan specials. These are only available for a handful of hours across as many lunch hours as possible each Friday. Again, because we’re a small company, and we’re only on-site for so many hours ourselves, we run these specials from 11 am to 4:00 pm EST.

It’s our way to say thank you for supporting us and sharing how much you enjoy Absolutely Natural with your friends and family.

We hope that you’ll enjoy spending time with us online, swing on by and say hello won’t ya?
Our Facebook Page