SHAMpoo is bad for your hair and skin

I look at the word Shampoo now with a very different view. Sham - a thing that is not what it is purported to be, bogus, false; and Poo - well, we all know what that is.

If I was standing on the street with a bottle of coloured liquid and I told you that liquid contained a toxic chemical, would you buy that product from me and scrub it into your scalp?

Of course not.  But if you're buying popular shampoo products, that's exactly what you're doing right now.  Such is the power of brand marketing.

After developing and using Re:think Beauty products for the past two years, my skin never looked and felt better...until a few months ago.  I started to get breakouts on my neck and back.  They weren't your average pimples.  I was shocked to say the least.  Here I was banging on about how effective our natural skin care products were with sore, inflamed, cystic zits for all to see.  You know, I almost considered packing it in - convinced something had gone wrong with the products.

Then came a touching email from a Pantry Pal wanting some product advice.  She went into detail about the affects her conditioner was having on her skin.  There came my light bulb moment.  I had been so pre-occupied with developing and perfecting safe skin formulas that I had forgotten all about my hair.  Besides, I was using a shampoo with 'herbal' and 'all natural' in the title, surely this could not be causing my acne?

I stopped using my shampoo and conditioner and noticed a difference in my skin and hair almost immediately.

Methylisothiazoline, or MIT, is a common ingredient in commercial shampoo and conditioners.  Tests have proven it causes neurological damage and skin irritations.  Why are these dangerous personal care products allowed to remain on the market? Because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is responsible for regulating these products, spends almost no time, money or effort actually investigating the safety of such products.  Instead, it spends the vast majority of its time approving new prescription drugs rather than protecting the public against the dangers from such drugs or personal care products.  Remember, your skin eats what you put on it.

It may surprise you to learn that manufacturers can put practically any chemical they want into hair care, even if it is considered a toxic waste chemical by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).  Taking hot showers can drastically worsen the absorption of these chemicals.  The steam from the shower opens pores, allowing the poison to penetrate more easily.

Now to my 'herbal, all natural' shampoo and conditioner; pure exploitation.  The company is using the word 'herbal' to imply that the shampoo is healthy, even though it is primarily made with the same ingredients as other popular shampoos.  The first three ingredients are water, sodium laureth, and sodium lauryl sulfate.  You can find the same three ingredients in 99% of shampoos.  Think the colour of the shampoo is from the herbs?  Think again.  Three other ingredients in the shampoo are Yellow #5, Orange #4 and Violet #2 (man-made, chemical colour preservatives).

The truth here is that shampoo is bad for your hair.  It cleans out dirt, but also the oil that makes your hair shiny and strong.  Shampoos are very harsh and damage your hair permanently.  Conditioner was soon introduced as people noticed that shampoo sucked the oils out of their hair leaving it dry and brittle.  Conditioner puts artificial oils in your hair, and they stay there just long enough so that you don't associate the damage to your hair with the shampoo that caused it.

Remember that your hair is dead.  Remember that shampoo is just detergent made to smell nice.  Remember that the oils your hair needs come naturally out of your scalp, as they've been doing for thousands of years before conditioner was invented.  When you think about it, nothing that is claimed about shampoo and conditioner is true.  It's just marketing by using impressive computer graphics and made up names for ingredients to make soap for hair seem interesting and expensive.

I'm angry.  For some, you may not experience any side effects, but for those of us with sensitive skin these chemicals have left permanent damage.  Oh, I'm sure my chemically caused acne scars will fade over time but they will always exist as a terrifying reminder of the crap we're putting into our bodies and the lies we're fed.

However, I am thankful for the inspiration this has all ignited because without it, I may not have developed our own, 'safe enough to eat' hair and body wash.  Yes, you heard it here first.  We are in the final stages of getting this amazing bottle of pure hair and body bliss on the Pantry shelves.  This formula will clean your hair without stripping it of natural oils.  And the thing we believe in most here at the Pantry is less is more.  Our hair wash works as a shampoo and conditioner in one, and as a body wash - one bottle that serves three purposes.

Stay tuned Pals, and get ready to redefine the beauty industry with us!

The Sisters xx

Oils ain't oils

The one simple rule we have at Re:think Beauty is all of our products must be safe enough to eat.  If you can't put it in your mouth, then why put it on your skin?

We often get asked why we don’t include essential oils in our products, namely the doTerra essential oils brand as this is marketed as food grade.  Here's why;

Essential oils were used and experimented with extensively through the development stage of Re:think Beauty products...until my deodorant burnt my armpits.  Skin absorbs essential oils.  At the time, our deodorant included all but a few drops of 'food grade' essential oil.  I heard alarm bells, closed development down and headed straight back to the drawing board and this is what I found:

A very popular company uses the term 'certified pure therapeutic grade' in its marketing.  Well, it’s exactly only that – marketing.  There aren't any certified essential oils because there isn’t any recognised organisation or agency that certifies essential oils.

So, this company coined the term, put it on their bottles and trademarked the term.  What does it mean?  Nothing as their oils are not certified.  They use the term as their way of letting others know that they test their oils (like most good providers do).  But, it makes for good marketing that their sales reps and users most often than not misunderstand this trademark to mean that the oils are certified.

Consultants of this company are taught to recommend internal use of essential oils to the general public.  However, this contradicts the respected advice and scope of practice recommended by Aromatherapy and Herbal associations, organisations and health care providers (including both mainstream and alternative medicines).  Essential oils are quite potent.  For example one drop of an essential oil is the equivalent of 25-75 cups of the herbal tea of the same plant.  Essential oils are very powerful and there have been reported cases of poisonings and fatality due to the self-dosing of essential oils.  It is not something to do lightly.

We talk a lot about synthetic chemicals to avoid, but did you know that even some natural ingredients can be dangerous?  Like certain essential oils.  And, without the proper knowledge (or concern) of these risks, companies can make potentially dangerous products.

Take, for instance, a popular Deep Blue Rub.  According to the company's website, it is a blend of "wintergreen, camphor, peppermint, blue tansy, blue chamomile, helichrysum and osmanthus".

Wintergreen contains methyl salicylate, a toxic compound that's also used in Icy Heat, Tiger Balm and BenGay.  While it does provide that soothing feeling to aching muscles, it can be toxic if applied to more than 40% of the body in a typical concentration used.  There have been cases of death from the over-application of creams containing this ingredient.  Camphor essential oil is a neurotoxin and convulsant, as well as containing higher amounts of safrole, a potential carcinogen.  Blue Tansy also contains up to 18% camphor.

The most dangerous thing about essential oils is the misconception that if something is 'natural', it is safe.  This is simply not true. There are many toxins found in nature. Essential oils can be effective remedies for a variety of ills but they should always be used with caution. 

In general, essential oils are marketed as safe when used externally (not ingested) in low concentrations.  But my armpits are proof that your skin eats what you put on it.

And, we kind of like the smell of our products in their natural state - without the need to apply potentially poisonous substances for the sake of our product smelling more like flowers than food.  It's not worth the risk to your health.

It's just the facts and our intention at My Sister's Pantry is to educate and promote a healthier you in a responsible way.

Why our Babushkas don't love a lot of dried fruit

Our Babushkas don't love a lot of dried fruit. Why? Because dried fruit has had it's fluid removed - it's been dried - therefore concentrating the sugar content. And, we don't like high amounts of sugar in our Babushkas either.

A lot of mainstream mueslis do fill their mixes up with lots of fruit. A while you might think eating that muesli is good for you, you're actually downing teaspoons of sugar in each mouth full. Think, if you're eating 100g of fresh apricot, you're getting around 1% of fructose in that serving. Eating 100g of dried apricot and that fructose level goes up to 12%.

So, what is fructose? Fructose is said to be the bad element in sugar. High fructose foods are recommended to be avoided as these contribute to a lot of health issues, including weight gain and digestive issues. And, going back to the dried fruits - they contain high levels of fructose (the sugar we want to avoid).

A lot of dried fruits are often covered in yucky oils and contain preservatives, including sulphates. Sulphates have been linked to digestive issues and lots of kids can't actually tolerate them.

Our Organic Mueslis and Toppers only contain organic ingredients, so let's firstly point out we don't have any harsh preservatives, or yucky oils in there to mask or enhance the taste.

Secondly, the only dried fruits we're using at this stage are organic sultanas and goji berries. Sultanas were a must for our Hot X Bun Babushka as you'd know, any hot cross bun isn't complete without sultanas. These little juicy guys contain a lot of fibre, vitamins and minerals. But again, we don't over load them in our Babushkas. And goji berries (in our Berry Nib + Choc Coated) are those little red superfood berries that you see going around. Goji berries are high in vitamin C and fibre, and low in calories. They are also a good source of iron and vitamin A. The complex carbohydrates that make goji berries so yummy raise blood sugar slowly, so you don't experience a sugar crash afterwards. We love that!

So, to finish up - We choose not to load our Babushkas with loads of dried fruit because dried fruits are loaded with sugar, and lots amounts of sugar increase your chances of gaining weight, being moody, giving you acne, leaving you feeling bloated, causing head aches and not leaving you satisfied and feeling fuller for longer.

Instead, we fill our Babushkas up with truck loads of all the good stuff - seeds, nuts, superfoods, coconut oil and only small amounts of natural sweeteners.

We hope we've encouraged you to choose the healthier option next time you reach for your bowl of breaky. Please email us mysisterspantrysthgippy@outlook.com if you have any questions.

Your friends,

The Sisters xx

*info sourced from websites - I quit sugar and Healthline.

Babushkas Raw Chocolate

We are always trying and testing new recipes here at My Sister's Pantry. And, we always get so excited when we hit the jackpot and create something special. We've got three words for you: Organic. Raw. Chocolate.

It's our new goodie. We have created a raw chocolate that is so unique - it's filled with our organic muesli! It's raw, so yes not overly sweet. Raw cacao is in it and it's sweetened with a tiny amount of rice malt syrup. But, Little Sis admittedly is a lover of dark chocolate so we do warn you - it's on the dark side. The little bits of muesli though add pops of sweetness too and a real crunchy texture.

Our chocolate is beautiful and glossy. It comes in a block so you can pick off pieces as you go, or eat the entire thing (and that's ok, we do it all the time!). We recommend our chocolate to be kept in the fridge in warmer months, but it can be left out at room temperature and won't melt (and doesn't melt in your hands).

We are absolutely thrilled to bits that we can soon bring you our very own Babushkas Raw Chocolate. It's delicious, it's a sweet treat, and it's still all good for you. No nasties, no hidden sugars, no processed sugars (remember only sweetened by a small drizzle of rice malt syrup). It really is the best chocolate and we can't for you to try it!

Coming soon........

Your friends,

The Sisters xx