Thursday, November 19, 2015

What's my personal go-to store for natural beauty and personal care needs? Pharmaca!

Pharmaca physical store locations are a natural beauty lover's playground!

I often get asked by people who would like to switch to less toxic beauty and personal care options, “Where do I start? How do I know if a natural brand will actually work for me? How do I know whether I will have an allergic reaction?” Well, trial and error is one way to go about it. But what if you could sample and try various natural beauty products, so that you could commit to buy the right ones for you? What if you could talk directly to a licensed esthetician and / or herbalist with whom you could consult, and who could help you choose the best and most effective products for you? Pharmaca stores offer these services, and more!

As a long-time online shopper with Pharmaca.com, where I personally find most of my natural beauty and non-toxic personal care products, I was always interested in the physical locations that Pharmaca offers around the country. So I ventured out to the La Jolla Pharmaca location, located near San Diego California, earlier this month to find out what this company offers in their stores that might attract local customers in the San Diego area. I am always a fan of online discounts and the convenience of ordering at the computer (hence my love of Pharmaca.com), but there are many attractions to visiting a Pharmaca store in person, and it’s well worth a trip if you have a physical Pharmaca location near you.

Pharmaca is an integrative pharmacy that offers the typical pharmaceutical prescription-filling services, but the company is also a retailer of natural and homeopathic products – everything from raw foods, to herbal supplements, to the best natural beauty and natural personal care brands on the market. Of course my favorite Pharmaca offering is the natural beauty and non-toxic personal care selection! And here is where the fun part of an in-person visit comes in: much like Sephora, visitors are free to sample the various natural beauty brands, including makeup, natural perfumes, creams, hair products, and various other natural brand goodies. There are also licensed estheticians and herbalists on premise to help customers with whatever questions they may have about beauty products, skincare and herbal supplements.

I met with one of Pharmaca’s La-Jolla-based senior estheticians, Amy Rellstab, who assists customers in finding the right makeup, skincare and personal care products. She emphasized that an in-person visit is beneficial for anyone who would like expert consultations on color matching, makeup application, and product information. A licensed esthetician may also offer you samples of some products, such as facial creams (which are often culprits when it comes to facial allergic reactions), so that you can try out a product in a few applications, before buying a full-size tube.

Although Pharmaca does not yet offer daily spa service (and I’m hoping they one day will!), the stores do offer spa days every month, where customers can enjoy beauty treatments, makeovers, presentations from visiting brand representatives, and other fun beauty-related offerings. Attending one of these spa days is another great way to familiarize oneself with various amazing natural brands on the market! Advertisements for these spa days are available in-store, but you can also give your local Pharmaca a call to see when the next spa day will be.

I asked Pharmaca’s esthetician Amy Rellstab why it is beneficial to consider less toxic brands, such as are available at Pharmaca, over popular brand-name personal care products that contain more chemicals and synthetics. Afterall, most people tend to assume that since a product is on a store's shelf, it must be safe to use. Amy explained that although many of those popular brand name personal care products appear to be effective, they will contain chemicals that are known to be carcinogenic. There just is not enough government regulation currently for the cosmetic market that would ban corporations from adding potentially dangerous substances into their cosmetic products. Amy also mentioned that the list of ingredients for many of these popular brand name products are so extensive and chemical-ridden that she will often have to look up the complicated names of various chemicals present in products, even though she has been working with beauty products for years!

One rule I go for is: if there are more than two or three incomprehensible ingredients in a product, it’s probably too chemical-ridden to be honestly safe for my skin. And if it has parabens and other obvious culprits in it – forget it! Esthetician Amy Rellstab also highlighted parabens as one of the worst toxic culprits she finds in popular brand name products.

Pharmaca, as a company, is very selective in the brands they choose to represent and to sell, and I certainly feel much safer purchasing from them than from most other stores. The brands that Pharmaca represents do not contain any of the worst carcinogenic ingredients found in most popular brand name products.

So, take a drive over to a Pharmaca store and start trying some less toxic options for your skincare, beauty and personal care needs! Your body, both externally and internally, deserves the safer options, with fewer chemicals and fewer synthetics. Check out the Pharmaca store locator to see if you have a location near you!

Just one of many isles of non-toxic, delicious, effective, natural beauty selections offered at Pharmaca's La Jolla location. A tester for sampling is available for most products!


Friday, November 6, 2015

Chamomile tea works great as a natural remedy against blemishes and breakouts!

Try chamomile tea as a natural remedy against acne, blemishes, and breakouts:
Chamomile tea works great as a natural remedy for blemishes and acne

When it comes to the occasional blemish or breakout, many of us are quick to run to the nearest drugstore to purchase chemical-laden face washes that actually do more harm than good. But there is an ancient natural remedy that most people are not aware of, that most of us can find in our kitchens, and that is readily available in every grocery store's tea section!

Chamomile, used as an anti-inflammation and anti-fever herb since ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek times, is made into a pleasant tea beverage when the dried flowers of the chamomile plant are infused in hot water. Based on numerous studies about the consumption of chamomile tea, there are amazing benefits for the insides of our bodies, including reduction in cancer risk and reduction in thyroid issues.

Chamomile tea is also very effective as an anti-inflammatory and calming remedy when rubbed onto our skin. For many people, simply rubbing chamomile on a blemish or breakout will reduce the redness and the severity of the breakout. Working both as a healing agent and as a anti-inflammatory, chamomile will help battle acne naturally! Many chemically-laden acne washes will actually worsen redness in a breakout because of the harsh ingredients, that we would never want to ingest.

With chamomile tea, one may prepare a cup and drink it for all of the internal benefit of ingesting chamomile; and then, one may actually use the tea bag itself, instead of using a "cotton pad", to apply the soaked up chamomile liquid to the problem areas on the face or body. One or two gentle swipes is enough to let the skin absorb the healing benefits of chamomile tea. For best results, keep some chamomile tea in a jar (but be sure to drink it before the day is out as tea does go bad), and apply the tea to problem skin areas in the morning, at mid-day, and at night.

So, give chamomile tea a try next time you experience a blemish, and see if this natural remedy works for you!


Thursday, November 5, 2015

Who says we can't wear bright-colored lipstick during fall and winter seasons???

Check out Silk Naturals’ Velvet Matte Lipstick in the coral shade ‘Bauble’ and other amazing bright lipstick shades - all free of parabens and nasty additives!


Above: Silk Naturals Velvet Matte Lipstick in 'Bauble'
Above: Silk Naturals Velvet Matte Lipstick in 'Bauble'

‘Bauble’ (pictured with this article) is just one lipstick shade available in Silk Naturals’ most recent lip formula – the velvet matte formula. This lipstick is moisturizing, natural, and free of carcinogens and other toxic additives. This particular velvet matte lipstick formula is also one of the very few matte lipstick formulas on the market that is truly hydrating for the lips and doesn’t leave them looking parched or cracked! And I’ll tell you – I, for one, am not leaving this puppy in the bathroom drawer until spring arrives!

Though I do love the deep, sultry and dark colors most often preferred during the colder fall and winter months (and I do wear them myself too), I can’t help but get annoyed when I hear criticism over someone deciding to wear a bright pop of color on their lips – just because someone somewhere had decided that bright colors should only be worn in the spring and summer! So, all you ladies who stand with me as lovers of corals, neons, and all things vibrant, wear your bright lipsticks in protest! Flowers can bloom in winter too after all!

Check out the photos below for some wonderful ideas for non-toxic, green beauty brand lipsticks in fantastic bright shades! Remember to strongly consider natural brands for your makeup needs. With all of the amazing green beauty brands out there today, offering affordable, effective, luxurious and vibrantly pigmented makeup items, there is no need to go for the more popular brand name companies, who opt to pack their products with carcinogenic and toxic additives, choosing immense profit over quality ingredients. The photos in the slideshow below are proof that natural brands make awesome, vibrant, long-lasting lipstick products that are also healthy for our precious mouths!


Above: Honeybee Gardens Lipstick in 'Queen Bee'
Above: Silk Naturals Vegan Lipstick in 'Zing'
Above: Zuzu Luxe lip gloss in 'Pitaya'
Above: Bite Beauty Luminous Créme Lipstick in 'Violet'
Above: Bite Beauty Luminous Créme Lipstick in 'Palomino'
Above: Another view of Silk Naturals Velvet Matte Lipstick in 'Bauble'