SUMMER IS COMING!

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are right around the corner and can wreak havoc on our hair and skin.

Greater exposure outdoors means more sweating, more UV exposure, and more dirt. It often means more showers and/or baths, and that translates into potential skin problems. Using  a traditional tallow based soap or chemical laden shampoos, conditioners and body washes; you have a greater chance of stripping the natural oils out of your hair and skin, and sucking the moisture from the epidermis and scalp.

The result? Dry, itchy skin. Flaky scalp; brittle hair. Exactly opposite of what you could achieve by making one simple switch to Absolutely Natural.

First, the other guys. Tallow based soaps (see below) use animal renderings as their base,  leaving skin dry and often feeling as if there is a film on you after your shower. Traditional shampoos, and body washes are mostly water with very nasty chemicals like parabens, sulfates and phthalates. All of those ingredients have been linked to problems including increased estrogen content, free radical generators and some cancer causing materials. And, they possess few, if any, nutrients. 

Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition.

In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain technical criteria, including its melting point. It is common for commercial tallow to contain fat derived from other animals, such as lard from pigs,

Now, Absolutely Natural. No sulfates, parabens or phthalates. Nutrient rich formulas that do a great job cleaning hair and skin. With our Shampoos, Conditioners and Body Washes, you can step out of the shower with hydrated skin and hair. Healthy, vibrant and alive.

Absolutely Natural products, chock full of anti-oxidants, boast free radical scavengers and are infused with nutrients designed for anti-aging.. In addition, all of our products have super moisturizers, which are vital for summertime when UV exposure is at its greatest strength. 

A quick perusal of “us vs. them” labels proves it all. You really don’t need to go much past the first ingredient … water for them; aloe for us. The rest of the ingredient decks are just as polar opposite … chemicals and cheap fillers for them; vitamins, nutrients and cosmetic grade raw materials for us.

Summer spotlight: Our famous Organic Oil! Excellent for your hair as a deep conditioner (leave in 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing out) or as a leave in for dry ends (wet fingertips with oil and “brush” onto hair). Also excellent as a bath oil and of course, as a massage or body oil.
Enjoy summer’s bounties! Just don’t forget to take a little more time to tend to your hair and skin. Not only will you look better immediately, but with Absolutely Natural, you are preventing future damage and even repairing skin damage that has already happened.

Best regards,

Charley 

Earth Day, EVERYDAY!

Absolutely Natural is dedicated to making high quality products that are gentle on you and the environment. All of our products are 100% natural, never tested on animals, biodegradable, reef-friendly and we use recyclable materials whenever possible. Every bit counts and we shouldn't limit Earth Day to one day out of the year. Here are some ways that you and your family can help the environment (in addition to using AN's products):

1) Plant a tree
2) Set up a family recycle plan
3) Volunteer at a local park
4) Buy vegetables locally from farms
5) Use recycled materials to build a bird feeder
6) Hold a garage sale, donate or reuse household items
7) Buy or make earth friendly cleaning products
8) Ride your bike or walk instead of driving
9) Clean up litter at local beaches or parks
10) Grow your own vegetable garden

SHARE WITH US! We'd love to hear your story on how you help contribute to a healthy Earth! Remember to have fun and get your kids involved! Make Earth Day everyday. 
We do :)


Cheers,
Lindsey

DIY Food Mask

A food mask is a great alternative for hydration. This  particular DIY mask will gently exfoliate your skin and give it that extra boost of Vitamin C that it needs. What a great way to start off your week!

Here is the recipe:

Step 1: Combine 3 tbsp plain yogurt and 3 tbsp honey in a bowl and mix well.

Step 2: Mash up 1/2 cup mixed blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.

Step 3: Combine yogurt mixture with berries.

Step 4: Lay yogurt mixture on face and neck. Wash off after 10 minutes.

Check out our blog weekly for recipes!

Happy Skin :)

-Lindsey

Absolutely Natural turns 21!

Belly up to the bar! Pop the champagne cork! This month Absolutely Natural turns 21. 

Well, maybe our corporate 21^st birthday is not as significant as the big day for individuals but of course, we are proud of our longevity. 

We sold our first bottles of suncare in Hilton Head, South Carolina and Maui and that was the start of this wonderful journey.  We’ve gone from having seven different products to more than 250 and we are now sold in more than 300 resorts worldwide.

Our 400 square foot garage that was our home in 1992 has been replaced by nearly 35,000 square feet of offices, warehouse and production in Melbourne, Florida.  Absolutely Natural now employs 30 in Florida and Hawaii and is supported by hundreds of skin care consultants in the resorts and spas where we are featured.

Most importantly we have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over the last 21 years and the favorite part of my job is reading the testimonials about the amazing results people get from our products.

So here’s a big thanks to all of our vendors, employees, support personnel, sales consultants and especially our customers.  

Best regards

Charley

What's up 2013?

We’re half way through March already; the first quarter is nearly done and we just turned the clocks ahead.  How does the time go by so quickly?

Last year was another banner year for Absolutely Natural highlighted by the celebration of our 20^th year in business.   2013 is shaping up to be exciting as well. 

We have an ambitious schedule planned with several new products slated to be unveiled this year.  Our long awaited Skin Repair Serum and time released Vitamin C Eye Serum will be out in mid-April.    The Skin Repair serum has the ultimate blend of organic, age defying anti-oxidants to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles.  Also helps even skin tones.  The serum contains a natural hyaluronic acid as well as Green Tea, a powerful polyphenol, which can help repair skin already damaged by the sun and other environmental factors.  Formulated for use on the face, neck and décolletage areas.

Our highly tested Vitamin C serum features a time release pure Vitamin C that can reduce crow’s feet, wrinkles around the eyes, puffiness under the eyes and helps alleviate dark circles.  You can immediately feel the effects in one application with 40-80% improvement common among our test subjects over several weeks.

Also imminent for launch is our new Eucalyptus Mint hand soap that will be packaged in a “foaming bottle”.  This highly effective cleanser is gentle on the skin with a fresh, bold scent.

By the end of May our men’s line will be out.  Included in the kit will be a head-to-toe body wash (sulfate free, of course), an outstanding shave crème and an after shave splash.  All products contain super hydrators to help keep skin supple and young looking.  Our test subjects raved about the shave crème and “the best shave ever” was often seen in the reports!  All these AN products feature a unique and refreshing bamboo rainforest fragrance. 

By fall of 2013 look for the following:

·         New packaging for the facial line

·         Facial mask

·         Daily suncare product especially for faces

·         Arnica Sport Gel

·         Poha Berry and Blueberry Aloe Gels

·         Natural Self Tanner 

As always, we welcome your feedback.  In the past, we have had suggestions from clients and have gone on to make the product.  Let us know what you think of our upcoming products and if you have anything to request.

Best regards

Charley

SUZANNE CLEMENTS, ABSOLUTELY NATURAL CLEAN UP AT 2013 ADDY AWARDS

For those of you who are regular readings of my blogs, you have heard Suzanne Clements mentioned many, many time.  For those of you not familiar with her work, Suzanne is the incredibly talented owner of Suzanne Clements Graphic Design, LLC .

To Absolutely Natural, she is a member of our family and has touched pretty much every project we have done for the last five or six years.  Trained as a fine artist, Suzanne is also adept at copy writing, collateral design, photography, web site and e-commerce marketing and much more.  She has revamped our entire look from stationery to web design to packaging including all of our brochures, labels, catalogues, posters and more.

Last night I felt like I was with a celebrity as Suzanne and I attended the ADDY Awards at the Rialto Hilton in Melbourne, Florida.   The ADDY Awards are the advertising industry’s competition designed to “acknowledge creative excellence in all media of local, regional and national advertising.”   Suzanne got a lot of acknowledgement as she won seven of the awards including five for projects she did for our companies. 

In fact, the first four awards of the evenings went to Suzanne which had the crowd buzzing and me all smiles!  It is gratifying to see her recognized for her work and even more so when you consider her competition were ad agencies with very large staffs. 

Her Gold ADDYs were awarded for the Salt Life Skincare campaign (Salt Life is our licensee program) and two for digitally enhanced photos she took for another client and her own studios.

Suzanne won Silver ADDYs for Absolutely Natural Marketing Materials (our wholesale one sheets), Salt Life Skincare Sales Kits, our Absolutely Natural Travel Size Pillow box, our Maui Island Secret Web Site (which she totally revamped last year), and our Absolutely Natural Ingredient Deck (added to our web site).

Working with Suzanne was Curtis Canham on some of the print materials and Mark Kuhn on the web based projects.

Congratulations, Suzanne.  We are proud of you and look forward to more great things in the years to come.

Best regards,

Charley

And the award goes to...

Wow, you can't turn the television on these days without seeing an awards show.  The Grammys.  The Oscars.  The CMT Awards.  MTV Video Music Awards.  People's Choice.  Golden Globes.

I thought Absolutely Natural should get in on this so we are creating our own awards show and we're calling it the ABNATs.  

OK, the envelope please.  The winner in best New Product Launch, Absolutely Natural's new sunscreen formulas.  Yes, the results are in from the beaches of Waikiki and our new line is blowing off the shelves. 

Here's the feedback we are getting from customers and long time sales personnel of UV Rays, Oahu's preeminent beach service.  People love the new packaging in our stylistic, orange tubes and they really appreciate the bigger sizes.  And, in our first major reformulation in 20 years, we are hearing positive comments on the new SPF 4, 8, 15 and 30.  The base has additional anti-oxidants, free radical scavengers and anti-aging ingredients (see our earlier blogs detailing the changes). The addition of Zinc to the Titanium for sunscreens means the product is less white going on the skin.

The new formulas are being sold on line, in Waikiki and will be at all the hotels on Maui within a month or so.

Our “Customer’s Choice Award” goes to our new Tanning Travel Pack. You've asked for it and we listened. We've added a new Travel Pack that includes our famous Rosehip Aloe, Pure Aloe, SPF 8 and our Platinum Tanning Oil. Yes, I said our Platinum Tanning Oil! This kit comes in a convenient clear vinyl pack that is air travel safe and it’s the perfect combination to keep that long lasting tan during and after your vacation. Bring your tan with you where ever you go!

Next ABNAT for Outstanding Tweak to Awesome Products is a tie!  The world famous and best seller Rosehip Aloe and our Pure Aloe with Tea Tree both share the award.  The Rosehip has an improved base oil that has been upgraded from Walnut to Fractionated Coconut plus the addition of the age defying wonder ingredient, Green Tea Extract.  The result is a closer affinity to the natural oils of your skin plus the phytophenols that can help improve skin that is already damaged by the sun, environmental pollutants, other environmental elements and aging.

The Pure Aloe has Green Tea Extract added to the amazing formula to give it more healing power for burns, rashes, irritations and skin disorders.

Not surprisingly, Absolutely Natural did well in these awards:

ABNAT for Best , New, Improved Tanning Oil: Platinum Oil

ABNAT for Excellent Customer Service: Absolutely Natural's crack team in sales including Brittany Quave, Michele Mackie, Danny Richards and Todd Anderson and newbie Reed Maidhof.

ABNAT for Incredible Marketing and Web Site and Facebook and Pinterest Stuff: Lindsey Barber, Suzanne Clements and Curtis Canham.

ABNAT for Awesomeness in Making Products: Our production crew, Calvin, Danny, Bradley and manager, Gordon.  Our labeling department headed up by Anita Shaw, our Blend Master, Eddie with capable assistance from Pedro and Franco, our lab, Kristina, our inventory control, Matt and our bookkeeper, Joan.

Well, tongue firmly planted in cheek, that's all for the awards but I am extremely proud of the way the new line is taking off.

We are a couple months short of our 21st birthday and 2013 will be an exciting year!

Thanks and best regards

Charley