We know you will enjoy our interview with Ann and if you choose to go there to shop you can expect excellent customer service, safe products and perhaps a side ache from laughing!

Maureen and Ann - Owners of Organic Diva

Patty: Can you let us know about your store Organic Diva?

Ann: Organic Diva is an online retailer of non-toxic personal care products. Founded under the premise that “Some men and some makeup aren’t good enough for you,” Organic Diva has the strictest criteria for the products we allow on our site. We only carry those companies and products who share our standards and mission–companies like our favorite Nurture My Body.

Patty: Tell us a little bit about why you started Organic Diva?

Ann: Organic Diva was born out of frustration. After a health issue, I searched high and low to find non-toxic cosmetics, lotions and soaps. When I found that the marketing terms “organic” and “natural” didn’t guarantee healthier options, I developed a criteria for the personal care products I used. It meant paying less attention to marketing claims and more attention to each and every ingredient in a product.

Patty: What is your criteria for choosing products to carry in your store?

Ann: Most women don’t have the time to research the ingredients in the products they use every day. At Organic Diva, our mission is to create one central location where women know each and every product meets the same criteria. And here’s the standards for the products you’ll find on our site:

1. All must sign The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the pledge to not use cancer-causing or hormone-disrupting ingredients in their products.
2. All must earn the lowest toxicity rating of 0-3 by The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Report. (Products are rated on a 0-10 scale. 0 being least toxic, 10 being most toxic. As a result, we don’t always carry a company’s complete line of products . . . if an individual product doesn’t meet our toxicity standards it’s not on our site.)
3. All must fully disclose product ingredients.
4. All must earn a well-manicured thumbs up by Organic Diva’s product testers throughout the country.

Patty: What organizations or causes are you passionate about?

Ann: My mother and grandmother are breast cancer survivors. I’m most passionate about breast cancer awareness and prevention.

Patty: Many clients ask me to recommend a good sunscreen. What would you recommend?

Soleo Sunscreen

SUNSCREEN FOR THE BOD

I never met an Aussie I didn’t like and Soleo Organic All Natural Sunscreen is no different. Created in Australia, this innovative formula is free of chemical UV- absorbers, titanium dioxide or synthetic preservatives. Water-resistant, biodegradable, neutrally scented, and has a low skin irritation factor, Soleo is rated one of the best, most effective, least toxic sunscreens by the Environmental Working Group. And best of all, you won’t look like Casper! Great for a day at the beach. SPF 30+ Retails for 19.99 (2.8 oz.)

Keys Solar RX Sunblock

SUNSCREEN FOR THE FACE

The best anti-aging secret? A great non-toxic sunscreen. Keys Solar RX is the answer. Developed by a melanoma survivor, Solar Rx offers protection from  UVA and UVB rays without the use of toxic chemical sunscreens (only pure uncoated zinc oxide in a natural lotion base). Solar Rx is for those who want to avoid the extreme aging effects of UVA and UVB on a daily basis. Great for face, neck and hands. SPF 30+ Retails for $26.95. (3.4 oz.)

Patty: What about a great mascara that works?

Jane Iredale's Longest Lash Mascara

Jane Iredale Base

Ann: Yes. Both Afterglow Mineral Foundation and Jane Iredale Purepressed Base Foundations offer good SPF 20+ protection.

The Environmental Working Group named Jane Iredale Purepressed Base Foundation as one of the best cosmetics containing SPF protection. It’s a concealer, foundation, powder and sunscreen all in one. Fabulous colors and great sun protection too. Retails for $42.

Patty: I also have many clients that like a very natural look up make up. What would you suggest?

After Glow Bronzer

Ann: When it comes to makeup, less truly is more. For the summer, find a great bronzer, a good mascara and fabulous pink lip gloss. What’s in my makeup bag? Afterglow Organic Glow Bronzer for $23, Jane Iredale Longest Lash Mascara in Black Ice and Puregloss Lip Gloss in Pink Candy.

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

Thank you Jackie! It’s YOU that makes our dream so worth it.

My name is Patty Kerr, and I want to use this space to begin telling you some things about myself and the business that I run along with my husband, Rich.

I have worked in the beauty industry for 30 years as a hairstylist, esthetician, barber and manicurist. I am also trained in nutrition, herbalism, natural body care and aromatherapy. The inspiration behind Nurture My Body came after a doctor told me I would not be able to continue working in the industry after I became seriously ill from overexposure to chemicals in the hair and body care products with which I worked. To think they were called hair care products and they were poisoning me!

Patty Kerr, Founder

That said, I never take ‘no’ for an answer and was determined to continue working in the industry I love. So I began researching “natural” personal care products, and realized that they contained few truly natural ingredients while the rest were chemicals.

My next step took some guts—I tested out the real natural products on myself as well as on my friends and family. I made sure to sort out the fake naturals and test those too. The results were unexpected:

While I liked the ingredients that the real naturals were using, I found that they did not leave my hair and skin feeling as good as the high-end products which contained the chemicals! Something was wrong—chemicals shouldn’t make your hair feel better than Mother Nature!

I was determined to correct this and make a product which made my body feel far better than any chemical could, but base it on the use of fully natural or organic ingredients. My background knowledge in the field, along with years of painstaking research, guided me. And so, Nurture My Body was born.

Out of the 105 ingredients found in our products, only 7 of them are derived (and derived naturally, at that!). Even being a small step away from nature, they are irrefutably safe. This was because I wasn’t pleased with the results that some organic ingredients offered and chose a healthy alternative. In fact, out of 51 products 47 have an EWG rating of 0 and 4 have a 1! EWG is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the power of information to protect human health and the environment. It has created the Skin Deep database, which rates cosmetic products based on its ingredients and how hazardous they are. A low EWG rating (on a scale of 0 to 10) means that all our products are low to non-hazardous to the human health and the environment.

At Nurture My Body, we believe in helping to preserve the Earth’s resources and we use green practices in our work environment, from powering the property with solar energy, to recycling our waste, as well as using eco-friendly packaging materials. Together with Rich, my husband and VP of Nurture My Body, it is our greatest desire to give back to the world by helping with the longevity and quality of human life and the preservation of this beautiful planet we all inhabit.

I am so happy to begin sharing my thoughts and findings with all of you, and I hope you will find the information as refreshing as you will find our products!

Sincerely,

Patty Kerr

We’ve been in business since June, 2006, and in all that time, nothing like this has EVER happened before. This is a big one for us, and we were so floored by this wonderful act of kindness to Mother Earth and to us that we just knew it deserved more than just a short little mention.

A couple of weeks ago a customer of ours from Hawaii called to return her used glass bottles to us to recycle because Hawaii does not recycle glass. She loves Mother Nature that much. I was sincerely touched and offered to pay for the shipping. She said don’t bother, it won’t cost much. Then I forgot about it.

Well, today we receive a box from her that included not only the empty glass product bottles for us to recycle but two canning jars that at first I thought she also wanted to have me recycle. I said to myself, ‘well, OK, if she wants to have me recycle the canning jars for her too then I will.’ Until I picked up the two jars and saw they were filled with homemade Organic Orange Marmalade and Papaya Coconut Jam!

Needless to say, Patty and I had our mouths agape for about 30 seconds because in the 4 years of doing business and giving away free $50 Gift Boxes to our customers every month, no one has EVER given US a gift in return! It brought tears of joy to know how much a person who doesn’t even know us face-to-face loves our products and Mother Nature so much to pay for shipping of the returned bottles and additionally include a handmade gift for us. Words can’t begin to express our humble gratitude.

Thank you SO much Bridgette,

–Rich & Patty

Bridgette's Organic Jams!

Now we should say that after tasting these *amazing* jams, we immediately wanted to know if Bridgette makes organic jams for a business. This was her kind reply, and we’re officially encouraging her to go into it, we’d be the biggest customers!

****

Rich & Patty,

I’m actually active duty Navy (Chinese translator). Making jams is just a hobby of mine. I like to make homemade gifts, I think they mean a lot more than a card from Wal-mart The family gets a kick out of when I send them Hawaiian jams. I’m a big DIY kinda gal, and I love to cook, so it’s right up my alley! Thank you for the very sweet sentiment though – just thought I would express my thanks, I’m not expecting anything in return. Sounds cheesy, but your products have made my life so much easier (and less itchy). You make a difference and I thought you should know that

If you like them though, let me know – I’m planning on doing another batch of pineapple and maybe mango chutney soon.

Best wishes,

Bridgette

You now get to choose a glass or plastic bottle for your 8 oz. Hair Care, Body Care and Baby Care products.

Because there are those of you who are more comfortable to have plastic in the shower or around your precious babies.

Our research has shown that PET (#1), the plastic bottle we will be using with a disc top, is one of the safest options over some of the other plastics. However, all plastics demonstrate varying levels of leaching, particularly when heated.

Which is why we will still be offering our glass bottle option with the pump top.

We’re learning that sometimes it’s best to give you a choice.

Caring for you always,

Patty & Rich

Up until now we have shipped to 17 different countries around the world and many customers have wanted to better understand our product descriptions and valuable information we offer by having it translated into their own language.

So now, at the top of every page is a clickable link of flags that will send you to a drop-down box where you can select any of 52 languages to translate our site into.

How fantastic! ¡Cómo es fantástico! C’est fantastique! どのように素晴らしい！Wie fantastisch! Come fantastic!