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Behind the scenes with Shay: on being a natural skincare formulator, how botanical ingredients work topically, and what really makes a skincare brand ethical + sustainable.

oatmeal and cucumber in pestle

DIY Antioxidant Face Mask

Masks and scrubs made with antioxidant-rich fruit and veggies can help give you a brighter, smoother complexion. It's quick and easy to do, and uses ingredients you probably already have on hand.

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Tags: recipes
Mauritia flexuosa palm tree fruits

Buriti oil saved my skin

I found out the hard way how different the sun is in North Carolina than back in Massachusetts. Different meaning intense. One summer here and my hands and forearms became covered in sunspots. Luckily, I'd just discovered Buriti (pronounced bur-ree-chee) oil...

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seaweed closeup

Seaweed baths for body and mind

Seaweed has a long history of being used in the bath for relief from muscle and joint pains. And bonus, it makes skin really soft...

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Tags: recipes, seaweed
Face the elements with no worries

Face the elements with no worries

Something about the term "anti-aging" rubs me the wrong way but hitting my 50s and leaving the farm to go sailing has me warming up to it. Not that I'm against growing older. I just don't want to look my age.

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Wear Your Herbs: Echinacea

Wear Your Herbs: Echinacea

Echinacea (or Purple Coneflower) is one you probably know as an immune-stimulating medicinal herb, but its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties have an important place in your first-aid kit too.

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just-picked heads of lettuce in basket in garden with garden tools

Soothing Lettuce face mask recipe

A lettuce face mask restores skin’s natural pH, smooths rough skin, and can help heal pimples. Any lettuce will do, but it’s a bit more thrilling using lettuce you’ve picked from your own garden 🙂

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Tags: lettuce, recipes
kelp salve shown with kelp forest in ocean

Kelp salve is.... kelp colored.

Ah, the trials and tribulations of an organic skincare formulator! It's finally sunk in why I can't achieve the green color I want for our new seaweed salve and balm: Kelp is brown.

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rosemary spring, fresh lemon slices, coconut oil, soap, natural ingredients on table with wooden spoon

Read any good labels lately?

If you’re a compulsive label-reader like me, you know a good label is hard to find! Most annoying is when ingredients aren’t fully disclosed. Hiding preservatives under the name ‘parfum’ is pretty low, and hiding essential oils under the term ‘proprietary blend’ is not much better.

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Golden-colored anhydrous, natural cream made with calendula, bladderwrack, and buriti oil

Showing a bit of cheek

It happened on Instagram. I couldn't help myself. After reading the list of ingredients for a 'daily skin repair lotion' of a well-known skincare brand made especially for sailors, I couldn't stay quiet.

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Fresh peppermint, sage and rosemary with salt. ingredients to make a body scrub

So down on plastic

Hype. Spin. Noise! How nutty it is that in this age of information, we can’t tell what’s real. My remedy has been plugging in to the garden, the 'really real' world...

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Tags: manifesto