DOES YOUR SHOWER GEL NEED A HEALTH WARNING?

Most of us use some sort of toiletry product everyday in shampoos, shower gels, moisturisers and perfumes to name a few. How safe are they? Even products marked “natural”, “herbal” or “organic” may contain just a trace of a natural essences added to a synthetic base. Nobody has tested the effects of repeated daily use of complex mixtures of synthetic chemicals over a long term period. The industry feeds people’s insecurities about their appearance and body odour to sell products that at best may be unnecessary, at worst linked to allergies, skin irritation, cancer and hormone disruption.

Your skin is a living breathing organ, and absorbs approximately 60% of what you put on it, that is how HRT patches work. So it doesn’t matter if you eat a healthy organic diet if you are applying toxic personal care products to your skin, they are absorbed.

One of the most popular chemicals added to personal care products is Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, known as SLS. It is a strong detergent that makes the product foam well, and it is very cheap for the manufacturer to use. It can cause eye irritation and permanent damage to the eyes, especially in children, skin rashes, hair loss, and flaking skin. When combined with other ingredients it can form nitrosamines which are carcinogenic. It easily penetrates the skin and can lodge itself in the heart, lungs, brain and liver.

Other products manufacturers used for moisturising the skin are mineral oils. These are petroleum derived products. It is a grease that is used to give a feeling of moisturising the skin. In fact it strips the skin of its natural oil causing dryness and prohibits the release of toxins through the skin. It can also cause photosensitivity, chapping and premature ageing. It is found in Baby oil, and other liquid and gel based petroleum oil products.
So you have one product that cleans the skin but strips the natural oil from the skin leaving it dry, and then you add a petroleum based moisturiser that dries the skin further. This means big profits for the manufacturer, yet you the customer are on a cycle of permanently drying your skin, that can lead to more sensitive skin problems.

The chemicals in products and how they damage the skin, is what inspired me to develope Mandala Aroma Organics to be ultra soothing skin conditioning products. All organic and Vegan approved. The products of body wash, body lotions, bath oils, body oils, hand creams, and soaps, use all natural ingredients to gentle preserve the delicate skin mantle. High concentrations of skin enhancing ingredients such as Shea Butter, Marula oil and rosehip seed oil with natural plant soap extracts leaves your skin soft, supple and moisturised. As they are moisture intensive you only need to use a small amount to feel the difference immediately. Many customers with skin problems such as eczema have found rapid relief using the Mandala Aroma products, and an end to the never ending cycle of dry skin.
http://www.mandala-aroma.com/

Mandala Aroma: The Birds & the Bees!

Mandala Aroma: The Birds & the Bees!

The Birds & the Bees!

Well hellooo

I have been so busy out and about that my blog is falling behind. What amazes me is how some people blogg everyday, maybe its their online diary.

So its May, the land is lush and green and it feels like Summer is here. I love the scent of Hawthorn blossom in blousy cream clouds on the hedgerows, and up and down the country the May queens have been crowned. Reminiscent of a time gone by when the goddess ( the earth) was celebrated as she mated with the green god to bring fertility back to the land. The birds are mating and the bees are buzzing, in more ways than one! Talking of bees, do you know that for every 3 mouthfuls of food you eat 2 of them was made by pollination by insects.

Bees are dwindling rapidly in this country and up to 60% in the USA. The thinking is and some research has suggested that radiation from mobile phones and other high tech gadgets are responsible. I also think loss of habitat with the massive building going on in this country is also contributing.

Infact where I live we have a lovely lane full of nettles and wild flowers. Some crazy person who lives in a neat bungalow with a very neat garden tends to take it upon themselves to strim the wild verges of everything above 1cm high!. It infuriates me. These small messy verges with nettles and wild forget me knots are an eco system that feeds bees, insects, butterflies and birds for the whole of the summer. This very "neat " person thinks it looks a mess and wipes it all out. Despite complaining to the local council, and the Parish council, no one seems to care. They probably think I am quite mad. Well if and when the day comes that bees have deserted us and we have failed crops and no food, they may just feel a little uneasy that they contributed to it!

The implications of the spread of bees deserting hives is alarming. Most of the world's crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left". Scary!
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines.
Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause.
Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."
What you can do to help
Plant bee friendly flowers . In areas of the country where there are few agricultural crops, honeybees rely upon garden flowers to ensure they have a diverse diet and to provide nectar and pollen. Encourage honeybees to visit your garden by planting single flowering plants and vegetables. Go for all the allium family, all the mints, all beans except French beans and flowering herbs. Bees like daisy-shaped flowers - asters and sunflowers, also tall plants like hollyhocks, larkspur and foxgloves. Bees need a lot of pollen and trees are a good source of food. Willows and lime trees are exceptionally good. check out the bee keeping website http://www.britishbee.org.uk/index.php
Buy local honey.- also this is good for people who suffer from hay fever
Honey is also a natural antiseptic and never goes off. Infact you can use honey on cuts to act as a natural antiseptic. Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs still fresh and edible after 3000 years!

Bees have always been revered as mysterious creatures and infact we owe quite a few of our English language sayings to the humble bee:-
Mind your beeswax- mind your own business
Tell it to the bees- to keep a secret
The bees knees- Absolute cream of the crop, excellent.

The Hindu gods Vishnu, Krishna and Indra were called Madhava or "nectar born ones", and were often represented as bees perched on a lotus flower. Madhava is derived from madhu meaning honey, which seems to be related to the saxon medu meaning mead, and also the name of the celtic queen of the fairies Madb.

Known as messangers of God by some country folk, the bee were thought to have special knowledge of the future, and to kill one brought extreme bad luck. Bees have been acknowledged throughout history from Egyptian, Celts, to the Elysium mysteries, Roman, and Greek mythology and foklore.

The legs of a Bee are covered with fine hairs which allow them to collect pollen to bring to their hives and make honey. They can also “taste” through their legs.

Dont confuse bees with wasps. If a bee stings you it dies, if a wasp stings you it goes on to live another day and sting again, and again,,,,,,and again!

Have a fab Bank holiday weekend
Gillian :)

The Organic apprentice

Hi there

Well its been an interesting and exhausting week!

I took the executive decision to show my organic products at the Natural Organic show in London, and boy was I glad!. The drive to London from Lancashire was met with rain, hail, snow, a brief sun spot and more hail rain and snow down the M6. Fortunately it was a clear run and I pulled up to the site dreading it, but it went better than expected. WOW! this exhibition centre had porters to help unload your van, ( unheard of in my experience of shows)and my colleague Kei was waiting to help build the stand. So we were all off to a good start. This was on the Saturday,so after an evening of catching up with friends and a restraint of too many glasses of wine, ok I indulged in 2 large ones!, Sunday was the big opening day!

I was mobbed! I am not one to show off but it went crazy, people loved my organic products, they all said they were led by their noses by the amazing aromas. It was weird that there was a lot of Norwegiens, but I picked up Distrubutors from Norway, Sweden, France & Japan, along with amazing shops from the Uk. It felt great to talk all day about my products, call me sad, but I am so passionate about them and its all worth while when customers come back to me and say its healed their skin, or they just love it.

Opposite me was Burts Bees, a company that I identify with, and fortuntious in more ways than I can imagine. I will save it for another post, suffice to say that the universe works in miraculous ways!

So this evening its the first day back in the office and I am running late to watch the Apprentice. I tuned in at 9.30pm to find chaos in Bluewater shopping Centre! My secrest Favourite, Simon, is taking photos, Claire ( I call her The Corporate Communicator- as she knows the lingo bosses of corporates companies like to hear- whether that means she is good at her job is a different matter) is giving Simon, my favourite, the evils, the dressing down-err excuse me!, she was completely unprofessional. However Kev-the-Chef as named by Deborah from Scottish linen ( so love that that nick name deborah-thank you) was like an idiot bluffing his way through the chaos.

How could Alan, excuse me, Sir Alan! Have fired such an honest grafter as Simon? In my eyes, he is a man, ok yes I admit there is something fanciable about him, and you know what it is...he is a man! Yes! Thank the Lord. He is not some metro sexual man that spends more time in the bathroom or in front of the mirror than me, this guy has a hairy chest and would not wax if you paid him. I like a hairy chest. He is a wash, wet shave and go sort of man, I like that! Alan...opps Sir alan you made a boob here. However I know you like him and will offer him ajob. The question is does a man like Simon want to work for you? The ball is in Simon's court, but I would welcome him on my team any day.

What do you think? Was Sir Alan right in his decision?

Bye for now
Gillian

Organic Soap suds sold out!

Hi there

Well finally my wonderful organic soap is up for sale on my website. Its been a eye opener finding the perfect ingredients to give lots of organic soap suds!

I created it because I couldnt find my perfect soap. I have tried lots, most of them dry your skin, or crack, or go into a gloppy mess which makes your sink look awful and your skin worse.

So after much messing about its perfected, yes, whey hey hey! Its wonderful, keeps its shape, doesnt crack, doesnt go gloppy all natural and most of all leaves your skin soft and moisturised and, yes there is more, it smells heavenly...Ahhhhh.

I despatched my first order of my new organic super size bath soap in soothing Wisdom and nurturing Love on Friday which arrived Saturday morning to a shop in Nottinghill at 9.30am, by 10.45am they had sold out! They were on the phone doubling their order. The same thing happened Monday morning with another customer who has several stores, in one day 50% sold out!

A friend of mine Frank who is a gifted photographer & took the photo of me on my website, said today over a working lunch at a local hostelry, that soap is fab, it gives lots of suds! Infact its so gentle men can wet shave with it.

So its late on a wednesday and here i am posting this note, but not before i watched the Apprentice! I could not believe the boys, please sack the head chef! Who wants Carbonara for starters and main??? But the girls Bollywood evening with Bollywood dancers? It was some waiter from the local Indian that did a very bad impersonation of Michael Jackson. I almost choked on my butternut squash Thyme soup, ( homemade of course). I laughed so much in disbelief, what a prat! Has no one told him that practising your dance moves in your bedroom doesnt mean that it translates well to the stage. No doubt we will see him on Britains got talent at some point.

So love you and leave you
Gillian :)

Its in the Eco Bag

Well I am sure like the rest of you I was enthralled by the new budget !

How much more tax to we have to pay and being a small business the ramafications of it.

But as I sat slumped, yes slumped in the sofa, I know its bad for my posture but I was giving up the will to live when....Gordon Brown, yes our PM, talked about the tax on plastic bags and the environment. WOW ! my ears pricked up, I sat on the front of my seat, and waited with baited breath. Yes! finally something is being done about it. Last year I was so fed up with the numerous plastic bags on offer, the waste, and the pollution. I live in a wonderful country village in Lancashire near the Pennines, yet the rubbish of rotting plastic bags being windswept in the trees is awful.

Every morning I go for my morning walk usually at 6.30am through the forest 5 mins from my home with my loyal dog Woody. A golden Cocker spaniel. We, yes both of us pick up plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic wrappers strewn without a care in the world in the forest. In fact Woody thinks its great fun to run with the plastic bottles in his mouth! The modern version of a stick I suppose. Every morning we bring the assortment home to recycle, so at least its out of the forest and wildlife.

Last year I had made some natural unbleached cotton bags which I sell on my website, oops to upload photos & info. But I and all my friends use them for shopping. Infact I recall that when I was a child, everything was in a brown paper bag or loose. My mum had an assortment of bags, cotton, string, leather, canvas, for shopping and you took a bag to go shopping.

Now I go to the market to buy vegetables I put them loose in my bag. If I happen to go into a supermarket I remove the plastic packaging at the check out, or buy them losse if possible wihtout a bag. It does drive the checkout girls dizzy as trying to balance 3lbs of loose carrots on the new shelf/radar/scanning machine is difficult, it saves waste.

In Germany there was revolt by the Haus frau of over packaging. All the house wives decided to remove packaging at the till point and leave it to the supermarkets to recycle. What a brill idea. Infact so powerful was the movement it made the supermarkets re thingk excess packaging.

Who needs plastic on courgettes? Melons? peppers? Potatoes? they already have their own skin.

So thats my rant for today

Take a bag to go shopping and re use it, remove excess plastic at the till point and leave it to the supermarkets to recycle.

Lets start the revolution !

Have a great Easter
Gillian

Eczema cure?

Saturday 8.30am

This morning the phone was ringing off the hook at 8.30am, yes, its a Saturday and what was I doing in the office? Well its Vat return time and yet again and I had to collate all receipts.

I picked up the telephone- Hello Mandala Aroma? it was a customer I had advised on how to treat her 12 year old daughters eczema 2 weeks ago. She was absolutely full of excitment to tell me that my Wisdom Organic Body oil had worked, all her daughters ezcema had completely healed.

The consultant dermatologist a the hospital who had been treating her daughter for over 6 months with steroid creams and tablets with no signs of it going away. The eczema was on the childs upper back, stomach and other parts of her body. Her mother had used the oil on one side of the childs back as a test and it had healed. So the mother applied the Wisdom Body oil to the rest of the eczema as I had instructed, and within 2 weeks it had healed completely.

The Consultant asked the mother to bring in the bottle of Wisdom Body oil. He checked all the ingredients and explained that it was so pure and made in the same way as they use to make medicinal potions in ancient times.

When I originally examined the childs eczema it was itchy, red, scaly and bloody in parts where the child had scratched, further to this the itchiness created disturbed sleep.
I suggested to the mother to use Wisdom Organic Body oil as its so soothing and great for healing skin, and to dab it on the eczema, but avoid broken skin just dab around it. I also suggested 1 tsp of Organic Wisdom Bath oil in a warm tepid bath at night. Its full of organic Jojoba and evening primrose oil full of GLA excellent for skin.

I am so thrilled her daughter has found some relief from eczema, could my Wisdom Body oil be a cure for eczema? What I know is that my lifelong work inspires me to continue making organic blends that assist peoples well being and health.

What a great start to the weekend!
Gillian
www.mandala-aroma.com

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my Blog spot.

I hope you enjoy my ramblings, discoveries, inspirations and motivations in running my own business Mandala Aroma, organic aromatherapy products that encourage your own healing and assist your well being.

Will post some interesting articles, maybe some will be mundane, others possibly mind blowing, thats up to you to decide.