Why Use Safer Skin Care and Cosmetic Products? And why I’m selling Beautycounter now!

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(I’m wearing Beautycounter Satin Powder Blush in Passion Fruit above)

What is so important about safer and less toxic beauty products?

You may know that our skin is the largest organ of the human body.  That’s why it’s critical to take care of it in a way that is healthy and nourishing just like we do for the rest of our body.  What we put on our skin not only may soften, tighten, or heal, but the products we use can also be absorbed into the bloodstream, reaching the internal organs of the body. If we’re not using high quality and non or less toxic products, we can seriously affect our health.

So because of this, I try to avoid conventional body and hair care as much as possible, instead using things like coconut and castor oil, castile soap and little to no makeup.  With a little patience (and some great essential oils) you can switch over to making really great and effective natural personal care products for yourself. I also like to support local businesses that make handmade skin care products when I can.

But let’s be honest, sometimes we just don’t have the time or patience to make fresh aloe vera shampoo every week or handmade goat milk soap lol!  I’ll admit that I have tried making organic beet powder lipstick and it doesn’t stay on for long lol!! Since I really need to watch my toxic load because of cancer, I needed quality less toxic cosmetics that I can feel comfortable using that work well at the same time.

Over a year ago started researching some of the companies that provide safer options for cosmetics and body care.  I wanted to find a company that I could market through my website and not have to reinvent the wheel doing it.  After procrastinating for a long time, and honestly because Covid really hurt us financially, I knew I needed to bring in more income so we wouldn’t have to dig into our life savings to pay for my cancer treatments. 

https://www.beautycounter.com/beckybarranca?goto=/

So I chose Beautycounter, they have an excellent selection of safer. less toxic skin care and makeup products, there are also a few choices for my vegan friends! They are truly concerned about getting quality cosmetics to people and have a great business model.  It also helped that my natural living hero- Kelly Moeggenborg of Kelly the Kitchen Kop https://kellythekitchenkop.com/ has been working with Beautycounter for some time, and I have been trusting her recommendations for years!  She is now my Beautycounter mentor and I couldn’t be more excited to work with her!

KELLY MOEGGENBORG, Author of Real Food For Rookies
and
Blogger – Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Beautycounter’s mission:

“… To get safer products into the hands of everyone.

Decades of studies indicate that serious health issues (including but not limited to asthma, cancer, and infertility) are on the rise and are due in some part to our ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals—whether it’s in the shower, on our commute, while we eat lunch at a local restaurant, or when we clean our kitchens at home. There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today. Many don’t have any safety data. This is particularly true of those used in the skin care and beauty industry. What’s worse is that the Food and Drug Administration (the agency that regulates cosmetics in the United States) does not have the authority to remove harmful ingredients from the products we put on our bodies and on our kids’ bodies every single day, day after day.” (Beautycounter.com, accessed December 2020)

Clean Beauty

Beautycounter products certainly don’t come cheap, I was used drugstore cosmetics but their quality is excellent.  The products I use the most are the basics: lipstick, blush, and mascara.  I love their sunscreen and facial cream for daytime. I still like to use this castor oil https://amzn.to/3gNGvrn and rosemary essential oil at night.  I have been trying more and more products as I go and will share the results with you.

This is me wearing the Beautycounter Color Intense lipstick in Girls Night. https://www.beautycounter.com/beckybarranca?goto=/products/makeup (It happens that I was on Date Night with hubby this time lol!) I love that this lipstick has a fresh peppermint scent and is super creamy and hydrating.

Beautycounter also has a special membership plan called Band of Beauty available that affords you several different perks:

  • Free Shipping on Qualifying Orders of $100+
  • 10% Product Credit on Applicable Orders
  • A welcome gift when you spend $50+ on products when enrolling
  • Members receive exclusive offers

So I invite you to join me on this new adventure and consider becoming a Band of Beauty member and treat your body’s largest organ to a high quality, less toxic product! Click this link to get more details: https://www.beautycounter.com/beckybarranca?goto=/member-program

And if you’re not a big makeup artist like me, let’s learn together.  While I wear lipstick and blush just about everyday, I haven’t done any fancy makeup for ages! There are some great tutorials and makeup ideas available! 

I would also like to ask a favor – if you find that these products just aren’t in your budget at the moment, please consider supporting my small business by liking my Facebook @BeckyBLivingFree and IG @BeckyBarranca pages and giving me a like and/or comment here and there, it really helps me get more exposure! 

And again, here is my the link to my Beautycounter site : https://www.beautycounter.com/beckybarranca?goto=/ Please do check it out and see the great array of clean beauty products available to you! Thank you for all of your support!

Have a wonderful day, be blessed, and be you!

Becky

Seven Benefits of Eating Pomegranates

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I wanted to get this post up before the pomegranate season was completely over. I have loved pomegranates since I was a child, we had several trees in our backyard in Central Phoenix. I loved to just pull them off the stem, crack them open and eat them outside.  Now we have had pomegranates in our yard in Mesa since we moved in, but this is the first year that I really paid attention to watering them accurately. In the weeks before I went to Mexico City this fall, I was patiently waiting for my pomegranates to be ready.

Hanging out amongst my trees

When I arrived back from the Distrito Federal, (D.F. as many call the Capitol of Mexico) my pomegranates were ripe and waiting for me! Hurray! I was so excited (it’s the little things in life)!

Pomegranates have become extremely popular in the last decade or so, but they are truly an ancient fruit, originating in the Near East – Persia and India. They eventually made their way to the U.S. with the Spanish explorers who called them granadas, and now they are in my backyard, lol!!

Some of the our pomegranate harvest

HORTICULTURE

The pomegranate is actually a shrub rather than a tree as is generally thought. It grows well in arid areas, which makes it nice for those of us whose live in the 115+ degree summer weather! Given the proper amount of water and in the proper way, these shrubs/bushes will flourish even in the desert!

This summer I noticed that while some of my pomegranates were growing nice and large, some were also splitting. I made a call to the friendly and helpful Maricopa Cooperative Extension https://extension.arizona.edu/maricopa and they gave me some great watering tips. Apparently the reason my fruit was splitting was because I was watering them unevenly, too much some times and not enough at others. So I put them on a consistent deep watering plan and that seemed to really help.

Large but some about ready to split

Pomegranate Health Benefits

Pomegranates have so many health benefits, it will be hard to list all of them here! Some of the most important are:

Very in high antioxidants, which could aid in preventing cancer and fight certain types of tumor growth. Contain flavonols which may decrease inflammation in the body.

Improves memory

Supplies Iron to blood

High amounts of Vitamin K and C

May lower blood pressure

May reduce plaque in carotid artery and improve heart health, this study in the Clinical Health Journal found that patients who were given pomegranate juice demonstrated reduced LDL and blood pressure https://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(03)00213-9/fulltext

May have anti-tumor effects in fighting breast cancer. The National Institute of Health studies have been conducted that shown pomegranate extract can inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer cells. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23359482

The pomegranate leaf is also edible and has many health benefits.

*As always, the information provided here is not medical advice. Remember to consult with your medical provider to ensure that adding this or any food/herb/supplement will not contraindicate any medicines or health situation you may be experiencing.

Organic vs non organic? 

Well of course I always recommend eating organic foods a much as possible.  Regarding pomegranates, I researched the “Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen” and found them on neither,  maybe because the market is still emerging regarding this fruit and there have not been many studies done.  However, I did find in my research that the largest pomegranate producer in the USA does use pesticides in their production.  My suggestion as always is to grow your own if possible, if not then try the farmer’s market before buying conventional.  I have seen several posts on social media platforms from folks offering to sell pomegranates from their yards, please use discernment in these cases.

Finally ripened!!

My favorite way to eat pomegranate is straight from the tree. But I would also soon like to add a recipe for Chiles en Nogada. I first learned about this dish when I read the book “Como Agua Para Chocolate” and saw the movie. It looked so wonderful with all the different colors and flavors.

I do plan to make this dish in my kitchen some time soon and will share my recipe, but in the meantime here is a recipe you can try: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chiles-en-nogada-recipe4-2062175

What is your favorite way to eat pomegranates??