lilita’s Neighborhood

How to find Balance in Skincare Part 2

Hydration (adding water to the skin) and Emollience (adding oil to the skin) fall under the same word technically (moisture is usually a mixture of water/oil) so often times you will just hear most companies saying to use a moisturizer. I try to go one step further than this to explain how our skin needs both oils and water to be happy and healthy.

Some ladies use only a water based serum and an oil based serum/and or butter and are fine with this. Some use these along with a moisturizer too and are fine. And some ladies use only a moisturizer. There is no right way, you just gotta find what works best for your skin.  

Now, knowing what you are lacking can be difficult sometimes because you can be:

1.  dry and dehydrated,

2.  dry and not dehydrated,

3.  dehydrated and not dry

 

I know that was a lil confusing, sorry! but I'll give you examples..

Dehydrated means lacking water
Dry means lacking oil

So dry and dehydrated would mean lacking both.

You can have dehydrated skin which REALLY needs hydration, but does not need oil.
And you can have oily skin which REALLY needs hydration
And then you can have a type of dry skin which REALLY needs both!
And surprisingly you can also have Oily skin which REALLY needs oils to help balance out the oil production.

I can usually look at an individual’s routine and figure out what they are missing. But you know sometimes its not only skincare. Sometimes its internal stuff going on too, like medications can effect dryness of skin.. chlorine in water, drinking tap water, what we're eating.. etc.  So if someones routine looks balanced, I start looking at possible internal factors (or even environmental too)

Here are some signs to look for to tell you what kind of skin you may have:

Dry skin from lack of oil can sometimes be cracked, flakey, and tight

And skin which is both dry and dehydrated can also be cracked, flakey and tight too so as you can see its not always easy to tell.

Where as dehydrated skin that is not lacking oil is usually flakey but not cracked.

One way to see how your skin is doing is to wash with a non drying cleanser then let your skin sit for 20 mins and take a good look at the condition of it..
Does it look parched? add some hydration
does it look VERY dry? add some oils or butters
does it look super parched and dry? (lines and wrinkles and cracks coming on and flakey? then you probably need both and a good moisturizer as well to help seal it all in.

These are the 3 new products I added to the site today, more to come :)

Exotica Nilotica

We have taken our favorite Nilotica Shea and blended it with two Camellia Oils (Sinensis and Oleifera) added pomegranate oil and pomegranate co2, acai oil and seabuckthorn berry and seed oils!This is a powerhouse combination for antioxidant protection and anti aging along with emollience for the skin.

Olive My Moisturizer

This moisturizer was inspired by my love of Olive Oil! I LOVE olive oil! Not only do I cook with it, as it is one of the most healthiest oils to use for cooking. But it was also the very first cold pressed oil I ever used on my skin. One try and I was hooked. This is one of my favorite oils! I use a very special local olive oil that is organic and cold pressed. Combined this with olive leaf and fruit extracts and also an olive based emulsifier that is actually good for your skin!

Nilotica Dreams

This product is a dreamy blend of Organic Nilotica Shea Butter, Organic Manuka Honey Comb and Organic Cold Pressed Argan Oil! Created to bring much needed moisture to the skin, this blend will also help heal and protect the skin. It is high in antioxidants, enzymes and anti inflammatory properties.

Patience Sale Ends Extended to April 5th

~How to find Balance in Skincare Part 2!~

New products coming!!

Patience Sale Ends 4/5

  While Jen is finishing recovering from the csection/birth of our baby you can still use this code to get 20% off.  Also please remember that by using this code you agree that there will be a waiting time of at least 3-4 weeks until your order is shipped out. And possibly being pushed to 5-6 weeks depending on what Jen can get done. Please do not order if you do not agree to this.

Orders will be processed in the order received.

The code is Patience20 (Enter this at checkout) and will give you a 20% discount on your order.

This does not apply to orders already made, and if you forget to put the code in we cannot go back and edit your order. So please be careful while putting your order through.

We ask for your patience and understanding during this very precious time :)

How to find Balance in Skincare Part 2

Hydration (adding water to the skin) and Emollience (adding oil to the skin) fall under the same word technically (moisture is usually a mixture of water/oil) so often times you will just hear most companies saying to use a moisturizer. I try to go one step further than this to explain how our skin needs both oils and water to be happy and healthy.

Some ladies use only a water based serum and an oil based serum/and or butter and are fine with this. Some use these along with a moisturizer too and are fine. And some ladies use only a moisturizer. There is no right way, you just gotta find what works best for your skin.  

Now, knowing what you are lacking can be difficult sometimes because you can be:

1.  dry and dehydrated,

2.  dry and not dehydrated,

3.  dehydrated and not dry

 I know that was a lil confusing, sorry! but I'll give you examples..
Dehydrated means lacking water
Dry means lacking oil

So dry and dehydrated would mean lacking both.

You can have dehydrated skin which REALLY needs hydration, but does not need oil.
And you can have oily skin which REALLY needs hydration
And then you can have a type of dry skin which REALLY needs both!
And surprisingly you can also have Oily skin which REALLY needs oils to help balance out the oil production.

I can usually look at an individual’s routine and figure out what they are missing. But you know sometimes its not only skincare. Sometimes its internal stuff going on too, like medications can effect dryness of skin.. chlorine in water, drinking tap water, what we're eating.. etc.  So if someones routine looks balanced, I start looking at possible internal factors (or even environmental too)

Here are some signs to look for to tell you what kind of skin you may have:

Dry skin from lack of oil can sometimes be cracked, flakey, and tight

And skin which is both dry and dehydrated can also be cracked, flakey and tight too so as you can see its not always easy to tell.

Where as dehydrated skin that is not lacking oil is usually flakey but not cracked.

One way to see how your skin is doing is to wash with a non drying cleanser then let your skin sit for 20 mins and take a good look at the condition of it..
Does it look parched? add some hydration
does it look VERY dry? add some oils or butters
does it look super parched and dry? (lines and wrinkles and cracks coming on and flakey? then you probably need both and a good moisturizer as well to help seal it all in.

New Products

We have some new products coming soon! When they are ready we will send out another email! Here is a sneak peak :D

One product is a new version of the Nilotica Skin Nectar (without aloe gel and using west shea butter instead)

Another is kind of similar to the Nilotica Synergy but with more ingredients. Basically I took my some of my most favorite ingredients and combined them together.

There also will be a product like Nilotica Synergy but using Manuka Comb as well as the Manuka honey

We also have a face cream coming for ladies with really dry skin but that those with really damaged skin will also be able to use

African Black soap BARS which you can use straight or grate up to make your own liquid soap or whatever you want!

Shaving Beauty Bar – for men and women!

Creamy Beauty Bar --- extremely moisturizing beauty bar!

And more!

In addition to the Patience sale at the top of the newsletter..

 ALL orders over $75 will receive a special mini size of one of our new products : ) We usually let you choose, but it depends on availability.

Blessings to all!

Jen

How to find Balance in Skincare 
 
This is such an important subject, and one I truly hope I 
can explain in a way that it is down to earth and makes 
sense! :)  
 
One of the keys to having healthy skin is to have a balance 
in your routine, in the products that you put in your skin. 
 
This is a balance between 
Cleansing/Toning/Exfoliation/Hydration/Emollience 
 
Alot of times when our skin is upset (breakouts, excessive 
oiliness, dryness, dehydration, etc) it is because one of 
the areas of the skincare is out of balance.  
 
A tip about dryness vs dehydration - Dry is when your skin 
is lacking oil, and Dehydation is when your skin is lacking 
water. When your skin is super oily, this is usually either 
because the skin is being stripped of its natural oils 
(cleansers/soaps that are drying, chemical skincare, 
chlorine in your water, etc) Or if its not that, it is 
usually hormonal.  
 
To have this balance in skincare you need .. 
 

• Non stripping cleanser (liquid or bar) – Overstripping 

Dry skin will of course only make it more dry. But 
overstripping oily skin can actually make it more oily. 
This is because the natural oils in the skin will start 
pumping out more to keep it protected. Stripping the skin 
in dry and oily skin though can cause it to be irritated.  
 

•  Tone with a good toner but one that does not strip skin. 

Try to avoid toners with bad alcohol in them. I say bad 
alcohol because there is good alcohols like grape, or 
grain. Corn (sd40, isopropyl) is NOT good. You can even 
make your own toner, if you really wished! It is easy (but 
I will save that for another newsletter :P 
 

•  Hydration [Hydra = Water] (hydrosols and water based 

serums) For skin to be healthy it needs water. Our bodies 
are made up of 80% water (which ironically is about how 
much water is on the earth too!)  
 

•  Emollience [Emoil = Oil] (Biological carrier oils or oil 

serums) For our skin to be healthy it also needs oil. Oil 
helps keep the lipid barrier in balance which helps to keep 
the skin protected from outside invaders (bacteria, molds, 
infections, etc) Using biological oils can actually help 
re-balance the oil in your skin by tricking it into not 
over producing oils) The key here though is to find the 
oils that your skin really likes (you end up using only 1-4 
drops at the most) Every oil has a different makeup, some 
are light, some are heavy, and each has a different makeup 
of various fatty acids. Often times if one oil does not 
work, you just need to find one that does. Alot of gals 
also mix it with their hydrating serum to help everything 
sink in better.  
 

•  Exfoliation – Under normal circumstances our skin 

naturally exfoliates every 28 – 36 days but as we get 
older, because of the build up of toxins, chemicals, etc in 
our skin, that turnover rate slows down. When our skin does 
not turnover, we get a build up of skin which can either 
cause fine lines and wrinkles or in acne prone skin can 
cause cystic acne. Surface exfoliation is key here for both 
types of skin. In aging skin, it helps to make the lines 
become less noticeable and in acneic skin it helps to 
uncover the surface of the pore which is blocked. If the 
pore "head" is blocked, NOTHING is going to come out (gunk, 
toxins, extra oils etc) 
But you also don't want to over exfoliate either [I rec 
only exfoliating 2-3 x per week] Over exfoliating causes 
our skin to stop exfoliating naturally and can also 
irritate your skin. Irritation can cause acne and dryness 
and also in oily skin can cause it to get more oily. I 
truly believe you can re-teach your skin to naturally 
exfoliate again by giving it antioxidants (to detox the 
skin) and vitamins and minerals to help give it the 
building blocks to repair it. (will talk more about 
antioxidants, vitamins and minerals in another newsletter) 
 

•  Masking (do this about 2-3 x per week, on the day after 

you exfoliate. You don’t really want to do this on the same 
day as you exfoliate as this is too much irritation for the 
skin. This will help pull the gunk out of the skin) Usually 
you will mask with clays, as these have drawing power to 
help pull toxins, gunk etc out of the skin.  
v Moisturizer (Creams and Moisturizers have both water base 
and oil base in them (emulsified in some way to bind them 
together) Dry/Dehydrated skin usually needs 
hydration/emollience AND a moisturizer because the 
moisturizer helps to seal in the hydration and emollience. 
But oily skin does not always need both. Some ladies like 
to use hydration/oils and others like to just use a simple 
moisturizer. Some do use both, you just have to figure out 
what works best for you. Combination skin usually likes to 
use both to help combat the dryness.  
 
If one of these areas is out of balance, your skin will 
continue to not be happy. If you're unsure if your routine 
is out of balance feel free to email and I’ll see if we can 
figure out where your skin is at and what may be missing or 
if you are overdoing it in some area. 
 
New Products  
 
Camellia Rose Facial Elixir – We have carefully blended our 
two favorite Camellia Oils (Sinensis and Oleifera, which 
are the same oils that green tea comes from!) and we have 
added extra green tea extract (say that 10 x fast! LOL) and 
also Seabuckthorn berry co2 for its skin nourishing 
abilities. Both Camellia Oils are high in antioxidants and 
Seabuckthorn Berry oil has been shown to be healing to the 
skin while also acting as a wonderful antioxidant and anti 
inflammatory. Seabuckthorn Berry is high in antioxidants, 
Vit C, Vit E and Caretenoids. Seabuckthorn and Green tea 
have both been shown to have anti rosacea activity as well! 
 
 
Vera Moist Serum – This is our newest, unique creation! A 
moisturizer, with NO waxes! Starting with Aloe and adding 
skin loving oils such as chardonnay grapeseed, sunflower, 
Rice Bran and pomegranate seed, we then added in Vitamins 
A, C and E, Tremella Mushroom, a natural hydrator,  
antioxidant COQ10 and calming Allantoin (from Comfrey!) 
 
We still have many new, exciting products to come so keep a 
watch! (Toners, Hydrating Serums and more to come!) We may 
be releasing more this week and if we do we will announce 
them through a newsletter. 

Til next time!
Blessings :)
Jen

Winter Skincare Tips 
 
Last week we covered the need for Hydration, a good shower 
filter and eating your fruits and veggies. And also using a 
good food based vitamin and mineral supplement. This week 
we will discuss the importance of a few other things that 
are also especially important to your skin during winter! 
 
Here are a few more tips for this week -  
 
Tip #1 Make sure to get enough fatty acids/omegas in your 
diet. Fatty Acids in our diet help keep our skin nourished 
and also keep it from drying out. Examples: Hemp Seed, Flax 
Seed, Pumpkin Seed and their oils, Fish and Fish oils But 
there is way more than this!!  
 
Tip #2 Be conscious of the effect that a dehumidifier can 
have on your skin. Because the job of a dehumidifier is to 
draw water out of the air, inadvertently this can be drying 
out our skin! Granted its hard not to use one especially in 
homes that get mildew/mold during winter time. Now if you 
do use one of these make sure that you do spritz your skin 
through the day with hydrating mists or hydrosols to keep 
them from getting dehydrated.  
 
Tip #3 Try as hard as you can, to not take super hot 
showers. And believe me, I know how hard that is! When the 
water is very hot though it can strip the oils right out of 
our skin which makes our skin drier too. If you do like 
hot showers like I do, try to use a Body oil after to help 
bring emollience back to your skin.  
 
Things you can do with skincare to help keep your skin well 
balanced during winter.. 
 
Keep a mineral water or hydrosol or hydrating mist on hand 
at all times! Spritz Frequently as needed!  
keep a hydrating serum on hand at all times!  
keep a few good carrier oils on hand at all times! (this is 
to seal in the hydration!)  
Keep in mind that to be healthy skin needs both hydration 
(water) and emollience (oils)  
keep a good moisturizer on hand at all times!  
Here is a basic routine.. especially for dry skin during 
winter… 
 
-Wash with a gentle cleanser.. sometimes during winter you 
will need to switch to a more gentle creamy type cleanser.  
 
 
-Tone with a toner that will not strip your skin (No need 
for alcohol in your toners!)  
- Spritz with hydrosol or hydrating spray of choice  
- Apply your favorite Hydrating Serum (2-4 drops) all over 
skin 
- While your skin is still wet apply 2-4 drops of your 
favorite carrier oil and pat into your skin 
- Apply your favorite moisturizer 
 
By layering these you will help your skin stay hydrated, 
moisturized and hopefully less dry! 
 
 
 
Here are the products we especially recommend for winter 
time!  
 
Cleansers –  
 
Calendula & Shea Creamy Cleanser 
 
Just Shea Cleanser 
 
Hemp Beauty Bar 
 
Pumpkin Beauty Bar 
 
Moisturizers –  
 
Seabuckthorn & Blue Tansy Nourishing Cream 
 
Avena Dreams Cream 
 
Also the new Nilotica Synergy, SheaVita Concentrate, 
Nilotica Skin Nectar and Eye Love Balm are perfect for 
winter too! We talk about those next :) 
 
 
New Products  
 
We still have many new, exciting products to come so keep a 
watch! (Toners, Hydrating Serums and then some!) 
 
Nilotica Synergy 
 
This product is a synergy of Organic Nilotica Shea Butter, 
Organic Manuka Honey (at least 15 UMF) and Organic Cold 
Pressed Argan Oil! Created to bring much needed moisture to 
the skin, this synergy will also help heal and protect the 
skin. It is high in antioxidants, enzymes and anti 
inflammatory properties. Good for ALL skin types. This is 
a very concentrated product. You will only need about a pea 
size to dime size amount for your whole face. We suggest 
letting it melt in the palm of your hand, and with your 
other hand, apply to a freshly sprited face. You can also 
mix it with your favorite hydrating serum. 
 
SheaVita Concentrate 
 
This is chock full of Nilotica Shea Butter, Cold Pressed 
Argan, Red Palm and Carrot Seed Oils! High in Vitamins A, C 
and E and essential fatty acids. We also have added 
essential oils that are great for repairing skin. 
 
Nilotica Skin Nectar 
 
This Skin Nectar will nourish and moisturize your skin! 
Packed with beautiful Aloe and Skin loving Nilotica Shea 
Butter and topped up with Royal Honey, Bee Pollen and 
Propolis, this is going to give your skin a boost it won't 
forget! 
 
Eye Love Balm 
 
This eye balm is good for helping to keep the eye area from 
being dry, it also can help with fine lines and it may even 
help with dark circles.We have added extra antioxidants to 
help with this! 
 
Diminishing Dust 
 
Dust this on to say au revoir to those zits fast! This was 
formulated to be used as a spot treatment on your spots. 
You can use it during the day under your makeup or you can 
use it at night. We also have our Diminishing Dew which 
can be used in conjunction with this powder. Just a small 
dot of powder to a small dot of the dew and dab on! 
 
Diminishing Dew 
 
Dab on and those zits will be walking! This liquid was 
designed to where it can either be used alone, or in 
conjunction with our Diminishing Dust.Either dab on by 
itself or mix just a small dot of powder to a small dot of 
the dew and dab on! 
 
Til next time! 
 
Blessings! 
Jen

In this blog update.. 

Winter Skincare Tips Pt 1

New products!!

A little secret at the end of this :P

 

Winter Skincare Tips

 

When winter comes, we often find our skin changing with the season. For many of us dryness strikes and were left with dry and dehydrated skin. Flakies galore!

There are things you can do to help combat this seasonal change! Here are a few tips!

 

Tip #1 Use a shower filter! This actually goes for year round. But if you don’t have a shower filter definitely consider one!

Chlorine is used in tap water to get rid of the nasties, sure. But it also causes havoc on our skin! It dries it out big time! Especially during winter time. And actually for oily skinned gals this can make them oilier, because it strips their skin of its natural oils. So oily skin types tend to pump more out to try to make up for it.

 

Tip #2 Keep yourself hydrated! When considering what water to drink I highly suggest drinking filtered, distilled or spring water.

Same concept as above, except for chlorine in regular tap water also eats up the good bacteria in your intestines which means slower digestion and also drying out the skin from the inside out.

 

Tip #3 Eat your Fruits and Veggies – Keep a balanced diet of fruits and veggies! But if you are not able to do this or you feel you need more than what you are getting, definitely consider taking a vitamin supplement. I usually like to suggest a multi vitamin that is food based. This is because you know you are getting the bioavailable version of the vitamins rather than synthetic versions. Without proper vitamins and minerals in our body, we won’t have what the body needs to repair itself. Inside and Out!

 

A few specific skincare thoughts..

Use a GENTLE cleanser whether your skin is dry or oily.

Spritz as frequently as you feel necessary!

A good moisturizer is very beneficial!

 

More Winter Tips to come in next weeks newsletter!

 

New Products

Although we have MANY new skincare items to come, this is just a peek at a few that will be up on the site soon :)

 

Hemp Beauty Bar – We formulated this bar with a very large amount of REAL Organic hemp butter and Organic hemp oil! Hemp is known for its healing and anti inflammatory properties, we believe this is a soap that dry skins will love. Can also help with skin that has eczema!

 

Coconut Cream & Shea Beauty Bar - In this formulation we have added a very large amount of Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Coconut “Butter” (which is the cream/oil and fiber content) in one :) And a healthy dose of Unrefined Organic Shea butter! Coconut Oil has a high content of lauric acid which is known to be anti bacteria. This combination with shea butter can help not only heal blemishes, but also keep your skin moisturized too!

 

Neem Beauty Bar – This is our highest recommended beauty bar for acneic skin! We add a nice hearty amount of neem oil to our bar and Neem Leaves too! Neem is known to help acneic skin. Neem has a anti bacterial effect so it can also be used on skin with the need for a good anti bacterial and healing effects. 

 

Midnight Beauty Bar – A blend of the BEST African black soap and our own soap. This soap is sure to knock your socks off. HUGE amount of shea butter in this soap! And we add more too :) This has actually been my favorite for the past few weeks! Perfect for all skin types, as black soap is known to help with both dry and acneic skin. Can help to smooth the complexion and smooth fine lines and pores.

 

Camellia Rose Website

 

Stay Tuned as we have a SALE coming up!! It will be announced VERY soon ;)

 

Blessings to all!

Jen

Recently, I had a customer of mine email me asking me if I had a referral code for iherb. I am ALWAYS suggesting this store because they have a really great selection, very good prices, and inexpensive shipping!  To be honest when she first asked I didn't even know I had a code. But I looked on the site and there it was!
The coupon gives $5 off to all new customers who have not bought with them before!

The code is: JEN597 and gives you $5 off of your FIRST order

Here is a direct link to their store: http://www.iherb.com

Right now their shipping within the US for regular mail is only $1.99! And usually its only $4 flat rate!
They also have expedited shipping options, IF you want it to get to you faster.

Hope you all can use this coupon! $5 saved is something that could be used elsewhere for other important things we need to buy!

These are our latest products we've added to the site! There are still more to come, but this is just the ones that we've made up so far :)

Clear Skin Serum

Our newest addition to your acne arsenal!

This is our latest acne product! We wanted to make something that could really help acne, yet be used day or night time. We have included proven acne fighters: Neem Oil, Shea Butter, Manuka Honey, Olive Leaf Extract and more!

 

Liquid Green Tea Shea Cleanser

FINALLY! What many of you have been waiting for!

This is the liquid version of our natural beauty bar! Just like our bar, we do not use any surfactants in this! Only 100% natural ingredients! :D

 

Calendula & Shea Creamy Cleanser

Treat your skin like a baby! This is a most luxuriously gentle creamy cleanser! Just like our bar, we do not use any surfactants in this! Only 100% natural liquid soap! :D Topped off with Shea butter and Calendula Extract for soothing and healing properties! 

 

Just Shea Cleanser

This cleanser is very similar to our green tea shea cleanser except without the green tea! Just like our bar, we do not use any surfactants in this! Only 100% natural liquid soap! :D

 

Rosehip, Red Palm & Shea Beauty Bar

 

Just in time for Winter!! This Beauty Bar is so luxurious you will wonder how you ever did without it! Especially good for DRY SKIN!! Acneic skin may not want to use this because of the rose hip in it.

 

This version focuses on Organic Rose Hips,Organic Cold Pressed Unrefined Luxurious Red Palm Oil and Unrefined Organic Shea Butter!

 

Pumpkin Beauty Bar

 

Another bar that is perfect for winter, yet great for all skin types! 

We are finding that both oily/combination and dry skins LOVE this bar!

 

This version focuses on nutritious Unrefined Organic Cold Pressed Pumpkin Butter and Oil! Pumpkin is high in Zinc, vitamin A, Vitamin C and Beta Carotene!

 

Would like to share with you a site that we have joined up with and that has many other wonderful stores as well..The place is called All Natural Beauty Mall! These stores on this mall have Mineral Makeup, Natural Cosmetics, Skincare, Haircare, Sunscreens, baby care,  all with the focus on natural! There is stuff for anti aging, acneic skin, dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin! You name it!
Our store Camellia Rose is also listed of course :)
Hope you all enjoy browsing all of the lovely stores this mall has to offer!
                                                                     All Natural Beauty Mall

As many of you know (or maybe you dont?)

Ellie is one of my best friends and so I have tried out her foundations and
 want to give you my review of them!

I liked the Sands and Luna the best, and I liked the Luna best and the Sands second. I did try the Mists but it was the wrong colour, so it didn't get a fair review. Ellie is sending me more so I will re-review that later.
Luna had moderate coverage and did not seem too heavy to me. Where as the Sands seemed like much heavier coverage to me. BOTH lasted really well all day long, which was a PLUS in my book! That is the first thing I look for in a foundation.
I'll tel you a little story about Luna.. I had put it on that night and asked hubby how my skin looked and he said it looks really good, what skincare products are you using atm? And I said I'm wearing Ellie's foundation! LOL

The only thing is I tend to like matte foundations, but if you a foundation that gives you a glow from the inside, then this will be right up your alley!

Ellie is making me a match just perfect for my skintone and when she does she is going to name it after me. I'm really excited about that, I must admit :)

Anyway my timing couldn't be better because I told Ellie I was going to finally do a review of her foundation and she said she is having a sale atm! So you can check out her site for the sale details. www.dreamworldminerals.com

Hope you all enjoy and please feel free to post here with your own experience with DW foundations!

Love you all!
Jen