Via Nature Skin Lotions: Swiss Apple Hydrating & Fragrance Free for Sensitive Skin: Product Reviews

When I was at Natural Products Expo East, I visited the Via Nature booth, and I spoke with Tracy about their products, which use Swiss Apple Stem Cell technology. She explained that their skin lotions and body lotions use Swiss Apple stem cells, which have been proven to work to rejuvenate the skin and offer a natural dry skin, and itchy skin remedy.

Tracy sent me some of their products to try. They have 4 different Hand and Body lotions:

• Swiss Apple Hydrating Skin Lotion with Peptides and Rosehip Oil
  for Sensitive to Normal Skin
• Fragrance Free Sensitive Care Skin Lotion with Argan Oil and Hyaluronic Acid
  for All Skin Types
• Vanilla Coconut Moisturizing Skin Lotion with Argan Oil and Hyaluronic Acid
  for Normal Skin
• Lavender Eucalyptus Soothing Skin Lotion with Antioxidant Omega Essential Complex
  for Sensitive to Normal Skin

My favorite scent is the Swiss Apple. It gives me the feeling of walking through a field of fresh apples. 

The Vanilla Coconut has a very subtle scent, like it is barely there. I find that to be very nice, so that you don't overwhelm everyone as you walk into a room. 

I also really like the Fragrance Free lotion for sensitive skin. As Tracy suggested, I tried it on my face, and it didn't give me any bad reaction, like you might get from a scented product that is not meant for the face. And it has a nice light feel to it.


Tracy told me that one of her customers likes to use the Lavender Eucalyptus lotion on her baby. She finds it to have a calming affect.

All the lotions are nice and light. They do not feel greasy on the skin, and they soak in pretty quickly. Yet they do have a good moisturizing feeling to them.

According to Via Nature, all of the ingredients in their products have functional benefits. For example:

• Plant Stem Cells: Awaken and renew your healthy skin
• Anti-Aging Peptides: Improve structural integrity, epidermal nourishment. Improve skin firmness and smoothness
  
• Rosehip Oil: Rich in Vitamin A & C plus Omega 3 & 6
• Hyaluronic Acid: Helps keep skin moist and agile, aiding in healthy, youthful appearance
• Argan Oil: Conditions and hydrates the skin deeply
• Omega 3,6,7,9 essential complexes: Calms and soothes; Enhances the skin's healing process; improves elasticity, softness, smoothness

I don't know how Via Nature does it, but with all these natural, functional ingredients, they have managed to keep their pricing very reasonable. In January, their products are currently on sale on my website. The sale price for the body lotions is only $5.31 for 8 fl oz, a 41% discount off the retail price of $8.99. Even without the sale, my prices are highly discounted off the retail price.

I definitely plan to order some for myself when my samples run out.

You can see all the Via Nature products here

Something I am really excited about is that Via Nature is coming out with a new skin care line, using the rejuvenating, age-defying properties of plant stem cells. Tracy said they are sending me some samples soon, so I hope to report back to you soon with my review of the new skin care line. Please stay tuned....

King Bio: Acute Pain Relief Cream and Advanced Arnica: Product Reviews

In October of 2014, I went to Natural Products Expo in Baltimore for 2 days. My goal was to visit approximately 150 vendors whose products I carry on my website, 100 vendors I had flagged whose products looked interesting, and many other vendors that caught my fancy as I was walking through the show. For many of the booths that I visited, I picked up literature and samples. By the end of each day, I was carrying several heavy bags of literature and samples, weighing many pounds. At the end of the 2 days, I was experiencing shoulder pain, and needed help. Fortunately, when it came to finding a source of natural relief of back, muscle, and shoulder pain, I was in the right place.

Fortunately, one of the booths I stopped at was King Bio, and they were sympathetic to my plight. They gave me a tube of Acute Pain Relief, and a spray bottle of Advanced Arnica, and suggested that I use these to recover from my soreness.

Over the next week I used the Acute Pain Relief cream on my shoulders twice a day, and took the Arnica spray internally several times a day. The cream had an immediate cooling effect, probably because of the camphor. It gave me an immediate feeling of relief. And when I got a massage, I had the massage therapist use the cream on my shoulders. That really seemed to help. By using the cream and the Arnica spray, my shoulders improved greatly. They probably would have improved on their own, but I felt that the cream and the Arnica helped speed up the process. Thank you, King Bio!

Andalou Naturals Brightening Skin Care Kit: Product Review

I'm always in search of the best skin care product—especially organic skin care and anti-aging products—and was intrigued when I was at Natural Products Expo East a few months ago and visited the  booth. The woman I spoke with told me about their different natural skin care products, which are based on plant stem cell technology. The theory is that the stem cells help your own cells to rejuvenate.

Andalou Naturals has several different regimens, including Age-Defying, Clarifying, and Brightening. I asked which would be the right one for me to try. I told her that I wanted the age-defying properties, to combat aging skin, but that my skin was looking pretty dull—probably from lack of sleep. She told me that all these lines would have age-defying properties, so she suggested that I try the Brightening line.

The company sent me a Get Started Brightening 5-Piece Kit. Each of the lines has a kit like this, and it is great either for traveling or for trying out the product lines.

The Brightening Kit contains the following:
- .8oz Meyer Lemon Creamy Cleanser
- .5oz Pumpkin Honey Glycolic Mask
- 1oz Clementine + C Illuminating Toner
- .4oz Probiotic + C Renewal Cream
- .4oz Purple Carrot + C Luminous Night Cream

When I got the kit, I looked at all the information, and I saw that the Brightening line is recommended for Normal and Combination skin. That used to be my skin type, but as I have gotten a little older, and especially during the colder months, my skin type tends more towards Dry. So this line might not be the ideal line for me, but I wanted to check it out anyway.

I started with the Meyer Lemon Creamy Cleanser, which has a nice fresh lemony scent. I rinsed that off, dried my skin, and applied the Pumpkin Honey Glycolic Mask for 10 minutes. That also has a nice, pleasant scent. I washed off the mask, and dried my face.  I then put some of the Illuminating Toner on a cotton ball. I love a good toner/freshener. It seems that no matter how well I cleanse my face, I always get more dirt off on that cotton ball with a good toner, and this time was no exception. The toner was not at all irritating, and my face felt refreshed and clean afterwards. Finally, I added the Luminous Night Cream. All the products felt nice and light. No heavy thick feel to any of them, and no heavy fragrances.

When I was done, my skin felt clean and smooth. I really liked the way it felt. And, after  using it for a couple of weeks, I think my skin does appear a little brighter, and the circles under my eyes are less noticeable.

I really like that their products are all natural, vegetarian/vegan, fair trade, no animal testing. As they say on their website:

We champion Certified Organic, Natural Origin, BioActive, Fair-Trade, Verified Gluten-Free, Non-GMO Project Verified, Vegetarian and Vegan Ingredients, Eco-Friendly Practices, and a Meaningful No Animal Testing Policy.
We reject GMO's, Petrochemicals, Phthalates, Sulfates, Synthetic Colors, Dyes, Fragrances, Triclosan, PEG, MEA, TEA, DEA, or Paraben Preservatives. 

For long-term use, I'd like to try the Andalou Get Started Age-Defying Kit. I think that would be more appropriate for my skin type, since it is recommended for Dry and Sensitive skin. I hope to do a review of the Andalou Age-Defying skin products at some time in the future. And for people with Active and Oily skin, they recommend the Andalou Get Started Clarifying Kit.

Teeccino Organic Herbal Coffee Alternative (caffeine-free), for those chilly winter months: Product Review

I'm a tea drinker and prefer organic tea and herbal tea. (I've learned from Weight Watchers that it's good to have a nice cup of tea rather than to go for the food.) My husband grew up drinking Postum, which was discontinued years ago. We have one jar left, and serve it on special occasions. We've been searching for a convincing coffee alternative. I recently discovered Teeccino Herbal Coffee. Teeccino has a bolder, more savory taste that is more coffee-like than tea-like, and comes either in tea type bags or loose so it can be brewed like coffee. It even comes in an organic chocolate flavor! Is this the coffee substitute we've been searching for?

The advantage to coffee substitutes is that they have none of the caffeine or the chemicals found in decaffeinated coffee and non-herbal tea (which is really low-caffeine, not no-caffeine).

When my first package of Teeccino arrived, I couldn't wait to try the Teeccino Herbal Coffee Chocolate Organic Dark Roast! I dunk a bag in hot water just like preparing tea, then put in sweetener & milk. Bottom line? I think it's delicious! It's soothing and relaxing. It satisfies me and keeps me from eating more dessert. You can use any sweetener you want. To keep down the Weight Watchers PointsPlus values, I like to use Stevia and Skim Plus milk. Some of my favorite Stevias are: Nature's Answer Liquid Stevia, Cid Botanicals Stevia, and  Sweet Leaf Stevia. (Note: if you do use Stevia, make sure not to add too much, or it might have an aftertaste. I add a little at a time until it is sweet enough for me.)

The Teeccino Herbal Coffee Chocolate Organic Dark Roast is a little different in taste from regular hot chocolate, but is definitely chocolatey. Its ingredients are carob, barley, chicory, ramon seeds, natural chocolate flavor, cocoa, and chile flakes. The chile flakes give the drink a nice, subtle kick! All the ingredients are organic except for the natural chocolate flavor.

I served the Teeccino Herbal Coffee Chocolate Organic Dark Roast to my sister-in-law and her friend, and they really liked it. And I served it to my friend who has a discerning palette and tends to like gourmet foods. He liked it so much that he ordered several Teeccino products for himself.

If you're in the mood for something with a coffee-like flavor but want to avoid the caffeine, try the French Roast, a dark roast which is made from organic carob, barley, chicory, ramon seeds, and natural coffee flavor.

Teeccino also offers Vanilla Nut, as well as Medium Roast, Light Roast, Mediterranean Hazelnut, Chocolate Mint, and Mocha. Teeccino herbal coffees are available in "tee" bags or loose so you can brew it in your favorite coffee maker as you would with regular ground coffee.
You can see all the varieties we have in stock.

All Teeccino products are Kosher Parve, certified by Star-K of Baltimore.