The first thing out of my mouth was “God Bless this person.” You may be asking why I had such an unusual knee-jerk reaction? Well, instead of just sticking it to us and telling us to take a hike under their breath, this person actually took the time to write us acknowledging they know we have a great product but it’s just too much for the every-day-folk’s pocket book.

This got me thinking that maybe there are others out there considering to buy our products and wondering why we charge the higher prices that we do. So, it’s high time you know what I know.

Local Ingredients Mountain Rose Herbs

You’re Now a Mouse in the Corner – Here’s What I Wrote Back

“Thank you so much for taking the time to voice your thoughts. It is obvious that you care a great deal about your health and the health of your family. Please allow me to explain how our prices have come to be.

“Although I would love to make a lower price product I am unable to do so without compromising the integrity of the ingredients I choose to use.

“I am not sure if you have ever owned a company before but starting up a smaller company such as ours in this economy is not an easy task.  Especially if it is a conscientious company – which is exactly what Nurture My Body is.

“Our company is run by myself and my husband and we employ our daughter part time. We cannot afford to pay other employees so we do all of the work ourselves. With many long days! But, we love it.  The reason why our products are expensive is the cost of our raw ingredients.

“We actually cannot even mark up our products properly as we are at the top of our price point and are competitively priced for our market. We have not taken a vacation together since we started our company 4 years ago. Nor do we spend frivolously.

“Other companies start out in debt by taking out huge loans to start up. However we chose not to. Other companies also source out less expensive ingredients such as petroleum ingredients or chemicals so they can make a bigger profit. Larger companies can buy their ingredients in bulk. We are a smaller company going up against the “big guys” and are not able to buy in bulk.

Local Organic Farmer Purple Haze Lavender

“We source out our ingredients from local Organic Growers and when the ingredient can not be grown in the US then we import from smaller organic growers out of the country. We do this to help support their growth as well as know they are fairly paying their employees and we are getting a pure ingredient. This is called fair trade and it is wonderful to do business with people we trust.

“I am so baffled at times and talk to other small business owners in the green and organic industries and many of us are so confused. We all share the same quandaries about price point, safe ingredients and costly organic sources.

“Part of the reason why people have gotten so sick is that as a society we have demanded to buy things cheaper, so cheaper ingredients (such as chemicals) were used by companies, with the result being lower quality products produced.

“Come to find out that those ingredients weren’t healthy. So, the consumers point their fingers and say, ‘Why you greedy producers. You just wanted to make a lot of money.’ (Which in some cases is true.) But no one wants to take responsibility for their own choices – namely buying products that are cheaper.

We Care About You and Our Planet

“We are trying to bring people around the world products made with the safest ingredients. And we run our company in a way that leaves the lowest carbon footprint on our precious earth.

“As I have said I wish I could make cheaper products but I can’t; to do so would be going backwards. I personally have learned to do with less and buy quality personal care products as well as healthy food for my body. I have also made the choice to not compromise my integrity for greed.

“Unfortunately it leaves my products too expensive for some because as a society we are used to buying cheap junk, and I can only hope that there are enough people out there that understand our products’ value.

“My husband, Rich, made a great video about this very subject, called ‘Costing Your Life.’ Please take a moment to watch it, and perhaps in the end we will have been blessed by contributing to yet another caring soul that has crossed our path.”

In great sincerity,

Patty Kerr
Owner
Nurture My Body

Cruelty free products only are what’s available at Nurture My Body.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Certainly not in your toothpaste. Or lipstick. What about your body lotion and underarm deodorant? Or hair spray? And, of course there’s NO WAY that manufacturers would put cancer-causing chemicals in your baby shampoo and baby lotion, would they?

Would the Government allow that?

Watch this if you love yourself, your spouse, your parents and especially your children.

Here at Nurture My Body we make absolutely chemical free beauty products. And they’re made with certified organic ingredients, are not tested on animals, are phthalate-free and packaged with eco-friendly materials.

Nurture My Body is a proud Signer of The Compact for Safe Cosmetics. This means that we care what goes on (and in) your body. To see our wondrous company listed as one of the signers, click on the Compact for Safe Cosmetics badge below.

We are a Signer of The Compact for Safe Cosmetics

Come visit us now at Nurture My Body if you decide that chemical free beauty products are safer for you and your family. Especially your kids.

How We Release the Miracle of Plants

The chemicals of the plants are released in a wide variety of ways. Plants react to stimuli. Some plants are soluble in water while others require a medium such as grain alcohol or oil to withdraw the chemicals of the plant.

Two of the methods we use to release nature’s miraculous healing chemicals are infusions and extracts. These two principles are done in-house to insure that when we use the infusions or extracts in our formulations they are the freshest, so the healing properties are most potent.

Types of Infusions

Infusion

There are two types of infusions, cold or hot. Cold infusion is used when the active principles of the plant are highly volatile and can be injured by heat. We infuse our herbs in an oil base. The benefit of this is that the infused oil contains the therapeutic properties of both the carrier oil and the herbs that were infused in it. The types of herbs used are ones that can release their active ingredients easily such as chamomile, in our Organic Baby Shampoo and Body Wash, and hops, in our Organic Exfoliating Cleanser and Organic Moisture Cream.

Hops

Infusing Once, Twice or Thrice and Why

The common mixture ratios for infusions are 1 oz herb to 1 pint liquid. The time the plant material is infused in the oil depends on the strength of the infusion desired. It can be heated by the sun or another heat source. Once the infusion is ready the plant material is strained out. Straining is generally done twice. You can also triple infuse an oil meaning the whole process is done three times.

And What is an Herbal Extract?

Liquid herbal extracts result from the evaporation of the substance the herbage was obtained from. Extracts can be obtained a few different ways. One is by expressing the juice of fresh plants, by using a solvent such as pure grape alcohol or by simmering or setting in water. Some herbs are not soluble in water thus requiring using the other methods as stated above. An advantage of herbal extracts is their ability to preserve the active constituents and their long shelf life. Our herbal extracts have high potencies and superior quality. We use carefully detailed methods and unsurpassed integrity.

Extracts

The Actual Making of an Extract Requires Patience

To make herbal extracts you can either use fresh or dried plant material. Cover completely the herbage with your liquid of choice in a container, generally 1 part herb to 5 parts liquid with fresh herbs being used, or 1 part herb to 3 parts liquid when using dried plant material. The mixture is then kept in a dark environment allowing the herbs to soak or macerate for 4 to 6 weeks being shaken every few days. This allows the liquid to extract the active constituents from the herbs. The herbs are then strained until the extract is clear. Some of the plant materials we use for extract are green tea, found in our Organic Vita C Cream and Organic Regenerating Cream Fragrance Free, and seaweed, found in our Organic Cleansing Milk.

Green Tea

We hope this has helped to inform you of two of the methods we use to make use of the miraculous healing properties of the certified organic plant materials that are in our personal care products. Nature is amazing and these methods are great ways that allow her to release her life essence to be used in healthy and rejuvenating formulations for your hair, skin and body.

Proud as a Peacock

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

I can tell you that Nurture My Body feels as proud as a peacock while being a signer of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. This is an organization that is helping to spearhead the requirement for companies to disclose all of their ingredients on their labels. Nurture My Body has always listed all of the ingredients used in our formulations, but the way we list them has changed per the requirement of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

INCI – What is That?

As a campaign signer we are now required to list our ingredients by their INCI name. INCI stands for International Nomenclature of Cosmetics Ingredients. It is a system for naming cosmetic ingredients that is multilingual, multinational and based on the Latin language.

Here is an example of a partial list of ingredients for our Acne Serum:

Old Version of an Ingredient Label

Water, Organic Aloe Vera Gel, Organic and Wildcrafted Herbal Infusion of Burdock Root, Echinacea, Dandelion Root and Leaf, Horsetail, Calendula Blossom

NEW Version of an Ingredient Label

Purified Water, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Gel**, Arctium Lappa (Burdock Root) Infusion**, Echinacea Angustifolia (Coneflower) Infusion**, Taraxacum Officinale (Dandelion Root and Leaf) Infusion**, Symphytum Officinale (Comfrey Root) Infusion****, Calendula Officinalis (Pot Marigold) Infusion**
* Organic  ** Certified Organic  *** Wildcrafted  **** Biodynamic/Demeter Certified

Whew, now that’s a lot to read. So, let me simplify it for you. Just look at the words in parentheses. Those are the common names of the plants.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has also asked to provide you with the nature of the plant if it is:

• Organic
• Certified Organic
• Wildcrafted

INCI Ingredient Requirement Example - Nurture My Body Acne Serum

You will notice after each ingredient there is an asterisk or series of asterisks. At the end of the ingredient list there is the explanation (legend) of how each plant was grown, harvested and manufactured.

The Most Important Thing to Learn About the New Ingredient Requirements

If the ingredient does not contain an INCI listing then it is not from a plant origin. It is either derived from plant material or is synthetic.

One example is our Lauryl Polyglucose which is a safe derivative found in our Organic Body Washes and Shampoos. For this particular ingredient it is shown on our Ingredients Glossary that it is a very gentle and mild surfactant that occurs naturally in ambrette seed and sweet orange. It is a fatty polyglycoside that is prepared by reacting corn starch glucose with natural fatty acids. It contains no solvents or hydrotropes.

Nurture My Body hides absolutely nothing when it comes to educating our customers and keeping you healthy.

How Companies Fool the Unknowing Consumer

This is what irritates me. Some companies think they can fool consumers to make their ingredients look more natural. They list a chemical ingredient and follow it with a plant name in parenthesis. Great (deceptive) example, a proven poison – sodium lauryl sulfate (corn). It’s an ingredient that is chemically processed from corn; however it is absolutely synthetic because it has been altered tremendously. But you think it’s OK because it’s followed by “Corn”. How deceitful.

Nurture My Body is Up To Date (almost)

You’ll notice that our product ingredients listed on our Website now reflect the current INCI requirements. We even go further to teach our customers the properties of each ingredient by offering a link to an Ingredients Glossary. Great idea, huh!

Our outstanding homework assignment is to now change all of the labels on our bottles. This will require twice as much space to do, making the labels even larger (or the font smaller!), so we are researching a solution.

Knowledge is Power (and Health)

We hope this information will make it easier for you to read our labels and other personal care labels. Knowledge is power and it is always our intent to have the most brilliant and trusting customers.

P.S. You can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Rich_Arnold

An example of this would be the surfactants (sudsing agents) that I use. The purest form of surfactant is Castile based. However, I do not like the way it leaves a waxy residue on the hair shaft or how you need to use a vinegar or lemon rinse to remove the soap film. So, I replaced it with our Decyl Polyglucose and Lauryl Polyglucose, both naturally derived and safe.

Below is a list of our 7 naturally derived ingredients, as well as an explanation of the Water Process we use in our formulations. Being a Hairstylist and an Esthetician for twenty-some-odd years, I have grown accustomed to using the best products out there and so I strive to provide you with high quality products that meet and surpass the high-end synthetic products in my field. As you can see below, these 7 naturally derived ingredients all have the lowest ratings from EWG (Environmental Working Group) and we are pleased as punch that we can provide you with the safest, yet most effective products we can dream up.

Grapefruit

1. Grapefruit Extract: (Citrus Paradisi) Is a liquid derived from the seeds, pulp, and white membranes of grapefruit. The extract is prepared by grinding grapefruit seeds and pulp into a fine powder. In the United States, standardized GSE contains 60% grapefruit extract materials and 40% vegetable glycerin. Per EWG*, Grapefruit Seed Extract has a low concern rate of 0 on a scale of 0 to 10. It is a natural preservative.
2. Vegetable Emulsifying Wax: Our vegetable emulsifying waxes are fatty polyglycosides that are prepared by reacting glucose or olive wax and collagen with natural fatty acids. They contain no solvents or hydrotropes. Per EWG*, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax has a low concern rate of 0 on a scale of 0 to 10. They are moisturizing to the skin and allow the liquids to mix with the oils in our formulations.
3. Xanthan Gum: Is a natural carbohydrate gum produced by a pure culture fermentation of a carbohydrate with Xanthomonas campestris. Per EWG*, Xanthan Gum has a low concern rate of 0 on a scale of 0 to 10. It is a thickener, emulsifier, and a stabilizer.
4. Vegetable Glycerin: Is a sweet oily fluid obtained by adding alkalies to fats and fixed oils. Per EWG*, Vegetable Glycerin has a low concern rate of 1 on a scale of 0 to 10. It is a demulcent, emollient, soothing and healing.
5. 

   Corn

   Decyl Polyglucose: Is a naturally based ingredient derived from corn and several different sugars. It occurs naturally in Sweet Orange and Ambrette seed. It is nitrogen and ethylene free. Per EWG*, Decyl Glucose has a low concern rate of 0 on a scale of 0 to 10. It is a surfactant as well as soothes the skin.

6. Lauryl Polyglucose: A highly active, non-ionic surfactant containing no solvents or hydrotropes. Per EWG*, Lauryl Glucose has a low concern rate of 0 on a scale of 0 to 10. It is a surfactant.
7. AHA: Alpha Hydroxy Acids are water soluble. They are a group of structurally related organic acids found in natural sources. Per EWG*, Alpha Hydroxy Acids have a low concern rate of 2 on a scale of 0 to 10. AHA’s allow the skin to be smoother and softer with an overall lessening of fine wrinkles and skin discoloration.

Purified Water

Purified Water: Well it’s not just water; we utilize a 2-step process.

In the first step we use a natural purification processes in combination with advanced technology. Our water filter not only removes harmful contaminants but it also enhances the water through a patented process that creates a quality of water beyond the reach of conventional water filters. The filter eliminates salt and other chemicals. The result is conditioned, purified, and enhanced water. You’ll notice the difference in your skin and hair after just one bath or shower. It’s like bringing a spa into your home.

The second process our purified water goes through is using an energizing device. After extensive research and basing their work on the knowledge of ancient cultures, our company based out of Austria has been able to develop the NARASAN technology that gives water back its original structure and spring energy: when the water passes through the NARASAN energising device, disturbance information in the structure is eliminated and its natural structure is reestablished – thereby the quality of water and even its action on life-energy are increased. Since our bodies are composed of mostly water it seemed only right to rehydrate the cells in order to make them more permeable for our other ingredients.

*Environmental Working Group: Click Here to Visit the Environmental Working Group. We have submitted our Company’s products and out of the 47 products currently listed we are proud to say that 44 rate a 0 and 3 rate a 1.

P.S. You can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Rich_Arnold