Products we love: Four Elements skin care

Four Elements combines their knowledge of natural healing with certified organic herbs to create medicinal wellness products, including skin care, tinctures, and tea. 

Moisture Creams

Calendula Neroli

• Soothing Calendula mix with moisture balancing Neroli and Organic Shea in this healing and luxurious cream.
• Best for mature and sensitive skin.
• Our Wellness Manager, Tyneisha uses this cream everyday!

Lemon Balm Moisture Cream

• This potent herbal cream features refreshing and calming Lemon Balm, St. John's Wart and thyme to promote skin comfort in even the most delicate areas.
• Great for acute skin outbreaks.

Unscented Comfrey Moisture Cream

• Pure enough for those who have the most sensitive skin, but effective enough for hard-working skin.
• With comfrey root, a traditional topical skin herb, just a bit of this cream is all you’ll need to relieve dry skin.

Look No X-Ma Moisture Cream

• Originally created for babies this gentle and mild cream can be used for all skin types and is effective enough for use on more chronic skin issues.

Herbal First Aid Salve

This vibrantly green salve contains ten active botanicals to help maintain topical skin health. Great for bug bites and other acute skin irritations.

Arnica Capsicum Botanical Liniment

Warming and toning herbs are infused into witch-hazel and blended with bracing essential oils to maintain joint and muscle comfort. This astringent rub is perfect for the medicine cabinet or the gym bag.

Jewelweed Chickweed Soap

An herb-infused soap inspired by bumping into the wrong plants and bugs in the forest. Great for foragers, campers and nature lovers.

Tinctures

Certified organic and hand-harvested at their peak potency and processed in small batches to maintain the optimal quality of the plant.

Products we love: Sparoom Diffuser

You asked, we listened. We're happy to introduce Sparoom diffusers to our shelves. 

Essential oil diffusers are a safer alternative to candles and have added aromatherapy benefits to aid sleep, pain, repel insects, improve cognitive function and more. 

Fill the diffuser with water and a few drops of essential oil. Create blends such as a autumnal season blend using:

• 3 drops peppermint
• 3 drops fir
• 1 drop eucalyptus
• 1 drop tea tree
• 2 drops rosemary

3 Reasons Why We Love Alaffia

We're excited to introduce Alaffia's new face care!

Alaffia's body care is not only an amazing product, but their mission is more than skin deep. Find three reasons why we love Alaffia below.

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Coconut Reishi products use nutrient rich herbs to replenish the skin's moisture barrier for all skin types.

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Neem Tumeric face care blends active herbs to sooth and clarify oily/acne prone skin.

1. Alaffia is a cooperative.

Alaffia works with Togolese women’s cooperatives that celebrate their members’ unique skills, traditions and knowledge.

2. Fair wages are a priority.

Employees receive fair wages and are able to support their families, while maintaining traditions and managing a sustainable resource: shea butter. Fair for Life: Social & Fair Trade Certification confirms Alaffia meets standards concerning fair working conditions, environmental performance and community relations.

3. Empowerment is valued over profit.

Alaffia’s success is not simply measured by profit, but rather empowerment. Their goal is to alleviate poverty and encourage gender equality, through empowerment projects focusing on education, improving health and reforestation.

3 ways to detox using activated charcoal

Activated charcoal, sometimes referred to as activated carbon, has a long history of use throughout the world. Dating as far back as 400 BCE to purify water, research suggests activated charcoal may support total body cleansing due to its highly absorptive properties. 

Derived from non GMO coconut shells, our new activated charcoal powder makes a great base for these 3 easy detox tips. 

1. Create a skin mask

Add water or apple cider vinegar to create a paste. 

2. Create a toothpaste

Add water or apple cider vinegar to create a paste. This paste will also brighten your teeth!

3. Add to a glass of water

Your water may turn black, but it's tasteless.  

Activated charcoal is highly absorbent and may reduce the effectiveness of some medications or nutritional supplements. Use product as directed on the product label. 

DIY Body Scrub with Essential Oils

Your skin is your body's first line of defense against a host of tough customers - sun exposure, pollution, hot days and freezing cold temps. It's important to take good care of your skin with organic tools - such as body scrubs and essential oils - so it can take good care of you.  

Basic formula and function

Start with the basic formula: something scrubby + skin care oil. For scrubby ingredients, use food-grade, biodegradable ingredients like sugar, salt or coffee grounds (before or after brewing). These will exfoliate the skin, removing dry, dead and dull-looking skin cells and helping to prevent clogged pores. Incredibly, your skin will respond by generating new, fresh skin cells more quickly.

Next, choose plant-based oils that nourish the skin and provide lubrication for the scrubby ingredients. Sweet almond oil is a great choice, with its rich texture and skin-hydrating properties.

Add your favorite essential oils to the mix and take the benefits of your scrub to a whole new level of luxury and efficacy. 

Not sure where to start? Find some inspiration below. 

Clarifying Energizing Body Scrub

• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon coarsely ground coffee
• 3 1/2 tablespoons sweet almond oil
• 30 drops sweet Orange essential oil
• 9 drops peppermint essential oil
• 9 drops spearmint essential oil
• 4-ounce amber glass wide-mouth jar

Clean & Fresh Body Scrub

• 18 drops fresh ginger essential oil
• 16 drops grapefruit essential oil
• 14 drops coriander seed essential oil
• 4 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (optional)

Peppermint Citrus Scrub

• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• ¼-1/3 cup oil: coconut oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, apricot oil, avocado oil, or a combination
• Optional: 2-4 tablespoons orange or grapefruit zest (for extra exfoliation)
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil
• 10-15 drops wild orange essential oil (lemon or grapefruit will also work- or any combination of these)

Preparation

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until well blended. Transfer to wide-mouth jar.
2. To use, scoop scrub out of jar with fingertips and apply to skin using gentle circular motions.
3. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

Authored by Aura Cacia. Reprinted by permission from StrongerTogether.coop. Find articles about your food and where it comes from, recipes and a whole lot more at www.strongertogether.coop.

Herb Tinctures: Dosing Basics

Our health & beauty section has a wide variety of herb tinctures, including new Herbalogic and Herb Pharm for kids. New to tinctures? Watch Herbalogic's video on the basics of how to take and use herb tinctures. Want to learn more? Watch more videos here.

Introducing Zum cruelty-free soap

We're proud to introduce Indigo Wild's Zum cruelty-free soap to our health & beauty department! While the soaps are made with a goat milk base, all Zum products are cruelty-free. Indigo Wild products are never tested on animals and the organization truly cares about the treatment of their goats. The goats graze on grass, clover, alfalfa, alfalfa hay and legume hay in free range pastures and are never fed meat or soy. Large shelters keep them out of any seasonal elements such as extreme heat, cold or rain and exposure to any pesticides, fertilizers or chemicals is strictly prohibited.

During the winter kidding season, goats are not milked and their kids' are given first access to mom’s milk. Once the kids are big enough to graze on their own, does will return to the milk stream increasing supplies for products. Indigo Wild follows the goats' natural breeding cycle and breeding is done the old-fashioned way as nature intends.

Find Zum soaps for $3.99 ea.

What’s the deal with Castile?

Traditionally made from olive oil in the Castile region of Spain, Castile soap has come to mean any vegetable oil-based soap. Most commercially made soaps are animal fat-based soap, often a complex blend of detergents with a higher ecological impact due to the waste stream during manufacture and slower biodegradability. Dr. Bronner’s soaps are 100% true pure-castile soaps. The coconut oil based soap contains certified organic, fair trade and 100% vegan ingredients and uses no detergents, foaming agents or animal testing. The soap is packaged using 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, too.

You can use Dr. Bronner’s for more than just a body soap - in fact it has 18 uses! Lisa Bronner, granddaughter to the founder Dr. Emanuel Bronner, breaks it down for us.

Body Uses

Face 2-3 drops on wet hands, applied to wet face Body one small squirt on a wet washcloth, applied to a wet body Hair ½ Tbsp. in your hand, worked into wet hair, or dilute ½ Tbsp. in ½ a cup of water and work that into wet hair Bath Completely depends upon water amount, but roughly 2 Tbsp. soap in an average sized tub. (Doesn’t bubble, but still cleans) Shaving Face – 10 drops Underarms – 3 drops Legs – ½ tsp Work to a lather in wet hands and then apply to area. Teeth 1 drop on a toothbrush. (Yes, it tastes like soap.) Foot Bath 1 ½ tsp. in a small tub of hot water. Clearing Congestion 1 Tbsp. in a bowl of steamy hot water. Breathe in mist with a towel draped over the head.

Household Uses

Dishes (handwashing) Pre-dilute 1:10 with water. Squirt on a scrub brush and scrub dishes. Laundry 1/3-1/2 c. of soap for a large load in a normal washer. Add ½ c. vinegar to the rinse cycle. Use half of these amounts for HE Mopping ½ c. of soap in 3 gallons of hot water All-purpose cleaning ¼ c. soap in a quart of water in a spray bottle. Add ¼ tsp. tea tree essential oil if desired. Windows 1 Tbsp. soap in a quart of water in a spray bottle. Follow up with pure club soda, or half vinegar/ half water. Toilet Predilute 1:4 with water in a squirt bottle. Add ¼ tsp. tea tree oil. Empty toilet, squirt bowl thoroughly, sprinkle baking soda on the brush, scrub bowl, let sit 10 minutes, turn water on, flush.

Other Uses

Fruit and Veggie Rinse 1 dash (approx.. ¼ tsp.) in a bowl of water. Dunk produce and swish. Then rinse in clear water. Dog washing Amount varies widely depending on size, hair type and length, and overall dirtiness. I wet my dog thoroughly, then start to work in castile soap up and down their body until I have a good lather. Really massage it in down to the skin. Your dog will thank you for it. Plant spray for bugs 1 Tbsp. in a quart of water. Add ½ tsp. cayenne pepper or cinnamon, if desired. Ant spray (not on plants) ¼ c. tea tree soap in a quart of water. (This concentration will burn plants.)

Spring cleaning? We're here to help!

Shop during Earth Day weekend (Friday, April 22 - Sunday, April 24) to enter to win our Spring Cleaning Giveaway*! The more you shop, the better your chances. Remember to grab your raffle ticket from your cashier when you check out.

While we sell a number of natural cleaning products in store for your convenience, consider making your own cleaning solutions with common household items.

The basic supplies you’ll need to make your own green cleaners include:

• Distilled white vinegar
• Baking soda
• Water
• Essential oils - we have a wide variety in our Health & Beauty section (optional)

Use the recipes below as an alternative to what is sold on the shelves.

Glass: Mix 1/4 cup vinegar with 1 quart of water in a spray bottle. Spray on glass and wipe clean with old newspaper or a lint-free cloth.

Countertops and bathroom tile: Mix 2 parts vinegar and 1 part baking soda with 4 parts water. Apply with a sponge, scour, and wipe away.

Floors: Mix 4 cups of white distilled vinegar with about a gallon of hot water. If desired, add a few drops of pure peppermint or lemon oil for a pleasant scent. After damp mopping the floors, the smell of vinegar will dissipate quickly, leaving behind only the scent of the oil.

Toilet bowl cleaner: Sprinkle a toilet brush with baking soda and scrub away! Occasionally disinfect your toilet by scrubbing with borax instead. Wipe the outside of the toilet clean with straight vinegar.

Mold and mildew: Wipe with straight vinegar.

*Spring Cleaning Giveaway includes Seventh Generation all purpose cleaner, Seventh Generation trash bags, Seventh Generation natural sponges (4), Seventh Generation chlorine free bleach, Seventh Generation bath tissue (2), Seventh Generation tissues, Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes, Seventh Generation dish liquid