co-op 108

After Sun Facial Care

coop108 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:39:54 +0000

PERFECT AFTER SUN FACIAL CARE.

SUN! WONDERFUL SUN! And with it all the damage it does to our delicate facial skin. Have no fear, our facial serums are perfect for AFTER SUN care. Each of our serums, besides working with different skin types, have wonderful healing plant oils that restore and repair damaged tissue. Each of them is formulated with so many wonderful ingredients and each essential oil has so many properties that it would take a very long time to include them all. However, here are some of the highlights that particularly pertain to after sun care. Oh, and if you want to see some slides of how the sun damages our skin, check out the link at the end of this post.

Our Hydrating Facial Serum, is the richest, and is perfect for all skin types but especially for dry or delicate skin. It contains some of the most costly and soothing oils known. Blue chamomile, or (Matricaria recutitia) is a lovely blue oil high in chamazulenes that soothes inflammations and burns. Sandalwood, with it’s luscious soft, woody scent is also one of the most soothing and cooling essential oils used in Ayurvedic medicine for all kinds of heat natured disease. And pomegranate seed oil (Punica granatum) is amazing! It contains high levels of anti-oxidants that fight free radicals and skin aging, and is also a potent source of punicic and ellagic acids. Put together these qualities protect and moisturize dry, cracked, mature, and irritated skin and return elasticity to the skin.

Both our Regenerative Facial Serum and the Balancing Facial Serum contain Carrot seed oil,(Daucus carota) is fantastic for skin care. Revitalizing and toning it is considered one of the best oils for maturing skin. Carrot Seed Oil also assists in removing toxins and water build up in the skin giving it a fresher more firm appearance. Both the Regenerative and Balancing serums also contain organic lemon oil which calms the sebaceous glands, promotes circulation, acts as a mild exfoliant and refreshes skin. Prolonged use of lemon oil can also help to get rid of capillaries and soften scars.

In addition our Regenerative Serum contains Borage Seed oil, argan oil, clary sage EO, geranium EO, and sweet orange and lemon oils. Borage seed oil (Borago officinalis) is very high in Gamma linolenic acid and is converted into prostaglandin. Prostaglandin helps heal inflammation of the skin and aids in healing symptoms of dry and cracked skin, eczema and psoriasis. Argan oil (Argania spinosa) often called ‘liquid gold’, contains extremely high levels of Vitamin E and 80% fatty acids making it perfect for healing many skin ailments as well as protecting against premature aging caused by oxidation. The active substances called triterpenoids in Argan oil offer incredible skin protection benefits including tissue healing (scars), anti-inflammatory, sun-protective and disinfectant properties. Clary sage (Salvia sclarea) is used to regenerate skin, smoothe wrinkles and overall skin rejuvenation. Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) stimulates the lymphatic system. On the other hand, it balances the production of sebum in the skin, while keeping it supple and helping with the healing of wounds.

Our wonderful Balancing Serum besides the Carrot seed oil and Lemon, contains Lemongrass and Lavender and Evening Primrose oil. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) is anti-inflammatory and has sedative properties, mmm think relaxing after a hard day, relaxing in the sun. Lavender (Lavendula officianalis) is one of the most famous and effective essential oils for the skin and has been used since antiquity. Among its many properties, it’s known to be analgesic, antidepressant, antirheumatic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antiviral, bactericide, deodorant, diuretic, fungicide. It is the first essential oil one should reach for in the case of minor burns and sunburn. Our Evening Primrose Oil (Oenothera biennis) is wildcrafted and due to its high content of gamma linolenic acid (10% GLA), an essential fatty acid that is vital to cell and body functions and not produced by the body itself it is extremely healing.

Note of caution: Products containing citrus oils, such as lemon and orange should be used only for AFTER SUN care as they can cause the skin to be even more sensitive to the suns rays and oil in general can intensify the suns effects. Come on, we want to protect our faces not fry them.

Slides of how the sun damages our skin: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sun-damage/SN00021

Changing things up a little

admin — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:58:26 +0000

We’ve outgrown our old storefront! We are excited about moving on up to Woo and unveiling our new shop to you all. The only sucky part is that it was a bit of a nightmare to migrate our old accounts to our new store (not the fault of Woo, however). So, if you’ve shopped with us before, we hope that you won’t mind creating a new account when you shop with us again. And heck, just because we’re so pleased with this new development, and to make it easier on everyone, we’re offering 15% on all orders through the end of January whether you’re a current customer or not! Check out our brand new hydrating facial serum, balancing facial serum, or regenerative facial serum if you can’t decide what to you use all that coupon goodness on. Use the coupon code WOOHOO! in your cart to get your discount.

Lots of love,
The folks at 108

An exciting discovery in the world of oils!

mira — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:17:08 +0000

We’ve been formulating a few new products recently, and in doing so I’ve been looking for oils that are not only hydrating and absorbent, but light, thin, and very stable. In my search I began experimenting with an oil that we use for our Oh Baby! oil due to its mildness and almost completely hypo-allergenic nature: fractionated coconut oil.

Fractionated coconut oil is exactly what is sounds like: a fraction of pure coconut oil (which is semi-solid at room temperature). To obtain this, the coconut oil undergoes hydrolysis, then this product is steam distilled. The result is that almost all of the long chain fatty acids (triglycerides) are removed so that only the medium chain saturated triglycerides remain. This produces a thin, liquid oil rich in medium chain triglycerides and with a very very long shelf life because of its complete saturation. In its virgin state, coconut oil is already a very stable oil with many beneficial uses. After fractionation, it becomes even more stable, and its antioxidant and disinfectant properties increase since the comparative concentration of capric and caprylic (medium chain) triglycerides is even higher. What a perfect, versatile, nutritive oil!

It turns out that fractionated coconut oil has a wide range of uses, such as:

*In preparation of soaps, lotions, ointments and other cosmetics.
In aromatherapy, as carrier oil, since it facilitates absorption of other oils and herbal extracts.
In massage.
In medicines, due to its anti septic and disinfectant properties.
In hair care.
And of course, in cooking, as it does not go rancid easily and is very stable.

Obviously, since it involves a lot more processing (such as hydrolysis and steam distillation), fractionated coconut oil is more costly than ordinary coconut oil. But then, it has its own benefits and justifications. Keeping in mind it’s very-very long shelf life, stability and rancidity resistant properties, it is worth the price you pay.*

I’m very excited to have discovered this fantastic oil, which happens to be exactly suited to some of our upcoming products- a cooling after sun skin oil, and a new line of pure perfumes scented with 100% essential oils. Look for them soon, and enjoy the coconut oil!

** passages excerpted and edited from an article by Aparup Mukherjee

A propos of nothing

admin — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:38:22 +0000

Hello friends. This really has nothing to do with our worker-owned co-op. The only lead-in is the summer release of this Julia Roberts movie based on the book Eat, Pray, Love (which, for reasons I won’t go into here, I strongly disliked) and the subsequent fervent merchandising of candles! fragrances! home decor! to coincide with the distribution of the film. At some point during the press junket Julia Roberts mentioned a certain guru with whom she felt a particular kinship, and into whose wisdom she tried to tap while making the movie (or something like that).

Rest assured the following is not us here at Co-op One-Oh-Eight trying to capitalize on the legend/aura/history/etc. of Maharaj-ji. It is more like me (Erica) going, huh, I guess I sort of have a story, too. Actually I have three. And if anyone has any interest or curiosity after this particular post, then maybe I’ll tell you the others.

The first dream

(February 2008) This was several months ago.

There was some kind of cataclysmic earthquake or event, the end result of which was a massive flood. The ground around me was shaking and splitting apart. Maybe I was on a houseboat, or some kind of floating island, and could feel it pitching and lurching beneath my feet as the water rose in great swells and seeped around the edges. You know how dreams are. It was something like that. It was bad.

I was trying to find my children- not because I thought I could protect or save them, but because I knew we were all going to die. This was it, this was the end, and I wanted to be with them so they weren’t afraid. I wanted us all to die together. That was very important, that I hold them at the end. Or maybe it was just that I needed to see them one last time. You know how dreams are.

But I couldn’t get to them. The ground pitched, the swells swelled, and I was in the water, floating as giant waves rose and fell and all around me was sea and tide and nothing and there was no way I could ever find them or reach them or even know what ever became of them, where they were and what they felt and how they cried at the end.

Then it was calm. Like I was lying submerged in a tub, and someone pulled the plug and the water was slowing draining around me. My eyes were closed, but there was light, so bright that I could almost see beyond my eyelids. The water drained. I watched it slowly shimmer and dissipate, behind my closed eyelids. And here’s the thing- I knew that something terrible had happened, that everything I knew and loved, every ONE I knew and loved, my children, my family, my life- everyone and everything was dead and gone. And yet I felt okay. I felt completely and totally okay. I can’t remember now if that was before or after I realized there was someone there. Oh yes, there was someone there. Beyond my eyelids, in this bright, citrusy, glaring and obscure light after the water, there was this shadowy figure. I could only make out the outlines of a person. My eyes were closed, after all. But it was Maharaj-ji. I knew it was Maharaj-ji. And I was afraid to open my eyes, because like I said, I had just lost everything in the world that I ever loved- I had just lost THE WORLD itself, and yet I was strangely nonplussed. But I was afraid that if I opened my eyes, maybe I would have been wrong- maybe it wouldn’t be Maharaj-ji that I saw, and then… and then… And then, well, anyway, I woke up. I never did open my eyes.

Summertime!

mira — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:59:31 +0000

Well, its summertime in the beautiful Pioneer Valley, and it is HOT. Very little rain, and a lot of days over 90 degrees have made it a wonderful season for swimming and not much else. Nonetheless, my fellow co-operators and I have been busy creating some fantastic new products that we are so excited to share! In our small studio with nothing but a ceiling fan, plenty of windows, and a big green field full of tall grass and blooming wildflowers out back, we’ve been spending the hot days experimenting with beeswax, oils, scents, and textures. It has been a successful summer so far. After dozens of tries, we’ve finally created a line of lip balms that we love, and hope you will too. We have a gorgeous, alkanet-infused, deep red balm scented with sweet orange essential oil; a tingling, pepperminty, lip-loving balm, and a full line of colorful lip shimmers made with various micas and minerals that we are just about ready to unveil and introduce. We also have a new soothing after sun oil that cools hot skin with a gentle but effective blend of essential oils that feels like a sweet fresh breeze and leaves the skin healthy and glowing the next day.

With so many of our friends and fans raving about the way our body oil makes their skin smell, we decided to create a line of perfumes inspired by our BonvOILage body oil line. As a novice perfumer, and someone who is deeply fascinated by the alchemy of scents, this is very exciting to me. Of course, all of our perfume blends will be made of 100% pure essential oils, diluted in an organic carrier oil so that they will be gentle enough to use directly on the skin. A few of the perfumes will be the same scents that you already know and love, and a few of them will be brand new and just as fabulous. Watch out for them in the next couple of months – they’ll be recognizable by our lotus symbol and beautiful blue glass roller bottles.

Since our newest co-op member is pregnant, one of us is a young energetic mother of four, and another of us is a doula, we have ample interest in expanding our line of products for mothers and babies. We’re currently finalizing a great recipe for baby bum balm and developing some other mild, delicious skin care products for little ones. There is so much more to come, it seems like our passion for this work is only growing! Thank you for checking us out, for loving what we do, and for being passionate about your own important and awesome work, whatever it may be!

Variety is the spice of life

anasuya — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:06:43 +0000

If you notice small differences in our products it is because we make everything by hand and try to source locally. So for instance I noticed that our latest batch of Tattoo Salve is yellower than the last batch. That is because we have a new batch of deliciously golden beeswax from Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield and although we have used their beeswax before this particular batch is quite yellow. Who knows perhaps the bees this summer were out collecting from new fields or perhaps the flowers were loaded with pollen. We love it and hope you do too.