How My Acne Made Me Beautiful: The Natural Way to Help Cure Acne

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I let acne define my beauty

As a teenager I spent a lot of time reassuring myself that when I was in my twenties I’d finally be beautiful. I’m not exactly sure how this hopeful and destructive mantra worked its way into my head, but I’m guessing it had something to do with my belief that acne problems disappeared when you became an adult. When I decided I wanted to write a blog about acne I wanted to include photo evidence of my own acne battle, as proof of the struggle that was most definitely real.

Taken on a camping trip in Ely circa 2015. Where are your favorite camping spots?

So for you, dear Reader, I made the long and arduous trek through my Facebook photos: a timeline of my most awkward and embarrassing years documented by photos posted with careless enthusiasm by a younger me.

I scanned every photo of myself, searching for the tell-tale traces of a bumpy forehead or a crusty, make-up coved chin spot…and came up empty. As expected, the girl on my Facebook is a total goofball (see grainy photo on the left), but unexpectedly, she’s virtually acne-free. How??

I tried to hide my acne


I grew up under a lens. At least, that’s how it felt. Facebook, Selfies, Snapchat, and Instagram are only a few examples of the visual and digital world that consumed my adolescence.

So how do you face this world when you feel like the face you have isn’t good enough? You put forth a face that isn’t yours.

So we cake on the make-up, we angle our cameras to adjust the parts of us that we don’t like, or we digitally make them disappear.

Hiding your acne won’t make it go away

I realized I didn’t need to find proof of my acne because it’s currently all over my face! And the only reason I don’t have pictures that prove I have acne is because I avoid taking them. (Although, I did find one. Please feel free to zoom in on the picture below so you can see the giant spot on the bottom right of my chin).

Taken in Bayeux, France in fall 2019.

Yes, that’s right. I’m almost twenty-two and I still struggle with acne.

And do you want to know something else?

That’s perfectly normal.

It’s okay to have acne

I am not abnormal for having acne, and neither are you. In fact, according to Mayo Clinic, “For many women, acne can persist for decades, with flares common a week before menstruation.”

Decades.

While this information is comforting in its unifying nature, it still won’t cure the actual acne.

Getting rid of acne

Acne, pimples, zits — like adorable puppies — come in many shapes and sizes, grow rapidly, and typically in batches. Puppies are pretty great, but if you had to walk around with five of them hanging off of your face and biting you, you’d probably change your mind pretty quickly.

Now, if all the puppies on your face happened to be labrador retrievers, you could probably get rid of them by throwing a stick. However, oftentimes we find ourselves with a variety of puppy breeds on our faces so even if you get rid of the labradors you still have four terriers gnawing your chin. This isn’t an easy problem to solve, in fact, I spent about half my life trying to figure it out.

I’ve tried just about everything to get rid of acne over the span of ten years. When I saw a dermatologist as a teenager I was given a harsh face wash and a salve that smelled like rotten eggs. I eventually tried a three step acne kit that cleared my face somewhat and bleached all of my towels.

When I got tired of smelling like a floor-cleaning solution factory, I gave up and tried water-only rinsing my face twice a day which worked until it didn’t. At this point, I became desperate and went into a chaotic DIY phase. I made homemade face scrubs from anything I could find in my kitchen (would not recommend) and once I even covered my face with peanut butter (would really not recommend). I disliked the thought of switching back to something with harsh chemicals, but I felt like I didn’t have other options.

A natural solution for acne

It didn’t matter if I had one tiny pimple or a huge acne flare-up. I realized that the problem had less to do with whether I had acne or not and more to do with how I let my appearance dictate my sense of worth and value.

A few months ago I tried a sample of the  Honey Carrot and Tangerine Face and Body Bar. When I woke up, the painful cyst on my chin was barely there so I continued to use it for the rest of the week. During that week I had the clearest, most beautiful skin I’ve ever had (included proof in the picture below). This bar smells like glowing memories: a warm, happy deja vu…and can be used with any skin type.

Besides minimizing my acne, I felt like the Honey Carrot Bar also brightened my complexion and lightened my darker acne scars.

I was so thrilled with the results that I ordered the next biggest size along with a sample Acne Battle Bar, because my skin tends to get oily and I wanted a cleanser that would tackle everything from whiteheads to cysts. The Acne Battle Bar is packed with antibacterial, moisturizing and exfoliating ingredients like grapeseed oil and oatmeal…and the reviews glow as much as I want my skin to. Of course, I didn’t want my roommate to be jealous when all my fantastic soap arrived wrapped neatly in Tiffany blue tissue paper, so I had to order a sample Calendula Castile Bar for our bathroom counter, perfect for my roommate’s eczema (and also for my sensitive skin!). 

Because Apple Valley Natural soap is made with natural ingredients, it doesn’t cleanse with harsh chemicals and detergents that dry out your skin. Instead, our soap contains natural glycerin, a byproduct of natural oils and fats. Glycerin works as a humectant and draws water into the skin while also strengthening it. Studies have shown that Glycerin hydrates and improves the skin’s ability to defend against harmful agents, allowing it to act as a natural and effective cleanser.

I went to art class right after picking my package up and decided to have an impromptu photo shoot with my soap and my art supplies.

These bars are working wonders and I love using a small pump of Organic Moroccan Argan oil for an extra moisturizing boost.

If you suffer from dry skin, the Antioxidant Beauty Facial Soap Bar is packed with vitamins that will pamper and brighten your skin. Regardless of your skin type, you should try to keep your skin hydrated and clean. I do this by trying to drink at least six glasses of water a day and changing my pillowcase every week. 

You define your own beauty

My acne is hormonal, which means that sometimes the only real way to get rid of it is time. My acne makes me beautiful because it reminds me that I am more than my appearance. I love, love, love using Apple Valley Natural Soap to wash my face. Even when there’s nothing I can do about my acne, washing my face makes me feel beautiful because it smells SO amazing and feels soooo dreamy.

As I scrutinized pictures of myself for flaws I could expose for the purpose of this blog, I continually caught myself on this heartbreaking thought: “She’s so beautiful, and she didn’t know it.” I still criticize my appearance all of the time, when I should be appreciating the beauty I already have. I celebrate my younger self for her beauty: her beautiful intellect, her beautiful humor, her beautiful thoughtfulness. God made everyone with natural beauty, inside and out. We hope that our products will encourage your natural outer beauty, so that your inner beauty can shine.

The Lowdown on Deodorant: Why We Choose Natural Ingredients

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Misconceptions about deodorant

When I broke my leg in eighth grade while downhill skiing I was perplexed. I had been wearing my deodorant the entire time, yet there I was with a spiral fracture in my right tibia.

24 hour protection. Pshhh, yeah right!

While it may have been my eighth grade error of misinterpreting exactly what type of protection my deodorant was offering, there is certainly a valid reason for the disillusionment caused by that bold, 24 hour protection claim. Many ingredients in household name deodorants have been under speculation for causing more damage to our bodies than protection. Chemicals such as phthalates and parabens are capable of disrupting hormone balances in the body and exposure to these chemicals has been linked to breast cancer. The worst part is, this isn’t the first time deodorant ads have been deceiving.

The rise of deodorant and women’s sports

Up until deodorant was invented in the late 1800s, natural, healthy body odor wasn’t considered a problem, but the deodorant company aided it in becoming one. Advertisements claimed that the reason behind a woman’s popularity with men was dependent on how she smelled.

Interestingly enough, if you look at the history of women’s participation in athletic activity, the late 1800’s also saw a rise in the formation of women’s informal athletic clubs (The Sport Journal). So while false advertising was inappropriately preying on women’s self esteem, the increased need for deodorant may have been completely relevant for our great-great-great-great-grandmothers who were movin’ and groovin’.

For a long time, women were discouraged from physical activity. In Aristotle’s time, it was believed that every human had a limited amount of energy and if women engaged in too much intellectual stimulation or physical exertion they wouldn’t have enough energy left for child-bearing (National Woman’s History Museum). Obviously, Aristotle didn’t know that if you have enough strength to birth a child and then spend the next five years raising it you’ve probably got quite a bit of moxie.

Women today

Yes, this is me! I wish I was still this flexible!

Women in the late 1800s and early 1900s enjoyed tennis, bowling, and archery. Women today still enjoy these sports, along with other sports like soccer, football, and hockey. According to an article in The Sport Journal, “College women’s athletic participation has increased from 15% in 1972 to 43% in 2001. High school girl’s athletic participation increased from 295,000 in 1971 to 2.8 million in 2002-2003, an increase of over 840%.”

I was a dancer up until I started college and I wore deodorant, not because I was afraid of being rejected at the school dance, but because I didn’t want sweat or stink getting in the way of my hard work. Sports aren’t the only activity that work up a sweat, many jobs require manual labor, as well as household chores (maneuvering a vacuum around takes muscle!). Regardless of the form, physical activity not only benefits the body, it benefits the mind.

Our goal at Apple Valley Natural Soap

We want you to embrace your right to move, which is why we’ve created a Natural Deodorant Creme that is safe and effective. I know it can sound a bit intimidating. I’m used to the idea that my armpits are a force that only a complex formula of hard-core chemicals can tame, but if you look at the chemicals in common deodorant versus the ingredients we use, you’ll see that nature has the upper-hand.

Apple Valley Natural Soap takes the field with an all-star team of sweat and odor-eliminating ingredients

Natural odor-eliminating ingredients on offense

Virgin Coconut Oil — Contains lauric acid — a fatty acid that makes up 50% of coconut oil and demolishes bacteria with its antimicrobial properties.

Aluminum-Free Baking Soda — Sweat is odorless, but bacteria breaks it down into acidic waste causing it to take on an odor. Baking Soda’s Basic pH tampers with the acidity, eliminating the odor and being basically AWESOME.

Natural sweat-eliminating ingredients on defense

Diatomaceous Earth — The fossilized remains of very small aquatic organisms called diatoms. Their skeletons are made up of natural silica, which has absorption properties. This versatile player works to absorb sweat and also dries up bacteria.

Arrowroot Powder — Another absorption agent, and totally gluten free!

Kaolin Clay — A gentle clay that won’t dry out sensitive skin. Removes toxins and lets skin breathe.

Our natural Deodorant Creme comes scented (with essential oils picked especially for the additional boost of their antimicrobial properties) as well as unscented. Now, get out there and move!

Much Love,

Nora

Beauty and Health Benefits of Salt for Your Skin

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I challenge you to a friendly contest.

Get a pencil and set your timer for thirty seconds.

Now, on the countdown of three start your timer and write down all the uses of salt that you can think of!

Okay?

Three.

Two.

One.

Go!

Time’s up!

Hopefully you were able to think of a few things. I’ll share my list at the bottom and you can see how yours compares to mine. However, before you scroll down there to competitively evaluate who came up with more answers…I think both of us deserve a freebie (like the Free Space in BINGO) for all of our hard work.

Free Space: Salt Soap Bars

Why put salt in soap?

I know you’re probably wondering if salt is used to flavor soap like it’s used to flavor food (and let me tell you, some of the AVNS soaps do look good enough to eat!). However, that’s not the reason salt bars exist.

The salt in salt bars simultaneously serves as an exfoliant and a natural antibacterial agent. When the larger grains come into contact with your skin they remove the dead skin cells that have accumulated and allow clogged pores to breathe. 

While the AVNS Lime Spa Salt Bar is a great way to prepare for a flawless shave, our Pink Himalayan Salt Bar provides the perfect grit for combating calloused hands and feet. When new skin is exposed, the salt also cleanses it from bacteria (and if you’re ready to relive your high school biology days hang in there and I’ll explain how).

Salt as a natural antibacterial agent

The salt creates a hypertonic solution (meaning it will attract water through osmosis). Because bacteria is mostly composed of water — just like the human body — when it comes into contact with salt, the salt will leech water from the bacteria, leaving it to shrivel and die. 

I took this photo off the quaint coast of the Cinque Terre in Italy during my study abroad trip to Europe this past fall, where are your favorite oceanside travel destinations?

Keeping harmful bacteria off of your skin is important, but many artificial chemicals used in antibacterial soaps have been banned because they were not shown to have any health benefits and in some cases there has been evidence suggesting some chemicals may have dangerous effects. 

Antibacterial hand sanitizers often contain alcohol that strips the skin of bacteria, but because it is such a harsh substance it makes your skin dry. Salt bars are a natural solution that will fight bacteria, but will also replenish your skin and body with much needed minerals. The European Spa Salt used by Apple Valley Natural Soap is solar evaporated and comes from the pristine waters of the Mediterranean sea.

Apple Valley Natural Soap’s stunning salt bars

AVNS has a striking lineup of beautiful salt bars, I’m actually going to leave a link right here so you can just go look at all of them side by side because the gentle color palate and rich texture of the salt is soooooo aesthetically pleasing. It’s like looking at artisanal blocks of artist’s chalk…except instead of drawing on the sidewalk you get to lather your body! The dove grey Orange Anise Salt Bar is hands(washing)down the most gorgeous bar of soap I’ve ever seen and Marianne recommends pairing it with a white or black soap placemat as a modern finishing touch (just beware that this stylish touch could make people mistake your bathroom for a high-end art gallery!). The best part is — these bars aren’t just for looks! You won’t even need to scratch your head in wonder when I tell you that the glowing white Lavender Rosemary Salt Bar doesn’t just look great on a placemat, it also acts as a Shampoo Bar that relieves itchy scalps.

I guess I ended up with more than one freebie because we’ve now covered salt as: an antibacterial, an exfoliant, and a source of skin-nourishing minerals…but hey, one salt bar will cover all those things, so I guess it’s three freebies in one!

Without further ado: Nora’s 30 second Salt List

  1. Melts snow on roads and sidewalks
  2. Himalayan Salt Rock Lamp
  3. Salt Blocks for horses
  4. Flavors food
  5. Repels leeches
  6. Helps your hair curl?

Everything You Need to Know About Castile Soap

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How is my love for acting related to Castile soap?

When I play a character in a show, I not only get to fill their shoes, I also trace their footsteps. 

Here I am with my fellow actor Dah in our production of I Hate Hamlet. I absolutely loved my costumes for this show…I felt like a princess!

Because of this, I’ve travelled through a number of character paths that have taken me around the world: I’ve stolen a Commedia dell’arte romp through the winding canals of Venice, floated through the dreamscape of Charles Dickens’s London, explored the historical and haunted flats that make up the New York City skyline, and washed a peasant’s laundry in (and I think you’ll see where I’m going here) Castile, Spain.

Castile? Wait, isn’t that a type of soap?

You guessed it!

The history of soap

Early soaps were made from combining animal fats and plant oils with salt or ash. This primitive soap was used for cleaning cooking utensils and medicinal purposes rather than for beauty and personal hygiene. As soap making became more refined it also became more expensive because it required both technique and coveted family recipes. Prices only dropped after production became more mainstream when chemicals were introduced to simplify the process.

What is Castile Soap?

Castile soap has been around for quite some time, but unlike the first soaps ever made it does not contain animal fat or ashes. However, a traditional Castile soap is also free from modern chemicals used in most mass-produced soaps.

So if it doesn’t have chemicals or animal byproduct, what exactly is it made of?

Olive oil.

And I’m sure you already guessed where those olives were grown.

Spain exports the world’s majority of olive oil and the production of olive oil in Spain can be traced back about 3,000 years. Although Castile soap got its name from a specific region in Spain, Castile soap can be made with olive oil from anywhere…which has its disadvantages.

The benefits of olive oil in Castile soap

Because Castile soap is generally defined as soap made with olive oil, many companies can get away with using small quantities of low grade olive oil while still labeling the soap as “Castile Soap” This soap will not have the same benefits as a soap composed of high quality olive oil.

Now, the advantage of using olive oil from outside of Castile is that it allows us to pick from the best. In keeping with the origins of the first Castile soaps, our organic virgin olive oil is sourced mainly from the Mediterranean region. Our true Castile soaps provide a gentle cleanse and act as a nourishing moisturizer. Our virgin olive oil is chemical free and retains its vitamin content, the reason behind olive oil’s health benefits (especially vitamin E). Vitamin E protects skin from the damage of free radicals and can help alleviate symptoms of eczema.

We choose to go organic with our virgin olive oil and many of our other products to promote the protection of the earth and water from harmful pesticides and we want our Castile soap to do the same for your skin. Our Calendula Castile Bar is the perfect soothing solution for sensitive skin (babies would highly recommend it…if they could talk). Our Lavender Castile Bar will create a calming, creamy lather…perfect for shaving! I know I’ve got the Lavender Orange Castile Bar on my wish-list and I’ve got an audition for Antigone tomorrow so I’m ready to get into character (Greece likes its olive oil too!)

Wish me Luck!

Nora

How to Achieve the Perfect Shave in Under Ten Minutes

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We’ve all been there

It’s a frigid Tuesday, the most unassuming day of the week. Sweater weather is in full swing — even though it’s February — and snow swirls in gusts outside your window. You’ve just lit one of your favorite candles and are curled up on the couch pretending to read a good book while you secretly binge-watch “Grey’s Anatomy” (Season three) for the seventeenth time. Nothing like the perfect night off.

Then it hits.

The unexpected need to shave

Your husband comes home determined to whisk you off on a spur-of-the-moment romantic date. The girls call, you haven’t seen them for ages and they’re getting together tonight for pedicures. You’ve been promising your kids you’ll take them to the community center pool and tonight they’re not taking no for an answer. You spring into action, but as you’re pulling out the cute black dress, pedicure appropriate khakis, or kid-proof swimsuit — the thought hits you: when was the last time I shaved my legs?

Next thing you know, you’ve stripped off your fluffy pajama pants and staring up at you are your two, hairy Chewbacca legs. You’ve literally been caught with your pants down and you only have ten minutes to achieve the perfect shave.

There are those of you who do not shave, I applaud you. Smooth legs are a preference and they may not be yours and that is okay because your legs are beautiful with or without hair and you know it. While I would someday like to grow my leg hair out long enough to knit around myself, I cannot resist the feeling of freshly shaved legs against smooth sheets. For those of you who feel the same way — let’s figure out how to get you and your smoothest legs out the door in the next ten minutes.

How to get smooth legs quickly

Step One: Let ‘em Soak

As tempting as it is to give your legs a one-second splash before you get razor crazy, you’ll actually benefit from a longer soak. According to Dr. Christy Rainey, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, the warm water will open your skin follicles, leaving your hair shaft better exposed for a closer shave.

Step Two: Exfoliate First

Exfoliating is the best way to prep your skin for a smooth shave. After you’ve soaked for a minute or two your top layer of skin will be soft. When you exfoliate, you gently remove all the grime and dead skin that has accumulated on the surface of your skin, clogging your pores. Removing the build-up will let the razor glide over your skin and the circular motion of your exfoliation will help position your hairs upright so that the razor can cut them. The Sweet Rosehips Body Polish is a gentle scrub that will leave your skin smelling sweet and feeling soft.

Step Three: Lather Up!

Once your bristles are ready it’s time to get the soap out. I used to rely on shaving cream and let me tell you, more times than not I’d end up reaching for an empty aluminum can of disappointment. Left with no choices, I’d resort to whatever cheap body wash someone else had abandoned and often times it left me with dry, scaly legs. Thankfully, you can eliminate waste and double up by simply using an AVNS body bar. The Rosemary Lavender Coconut Bar or Wildflowers Coconut Bar can be worked up into an incredibly thick and luscious lather, will last longer, give you a natural cleanse and provide additional moisture.

Step Four: The Razor Race

At this point, it’s up to you. You know your legs and you know how to shave them. Long, even razor strokes and frequent razor rinses will keep you from getting burns and cuts.

Step Five: Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize.

The body scrub I mentioned above is fantastic because it often a provides a two-in-one exfoliant and moisturizer. But if you’re heading out into the frozen tundra and are prone to dry, winter skin, you’ll need to lock in all the moisture possible. Using one of our Lavender Lotion Bars or Lavender Vanilla Baby Butter will not only give you baby-soft skin, the organic lavender essential oil we use may also help heal and protect any micro cuts left by your razor. 

Step Six: Stock Up

You never know when the unexpected may strike. Having products ready will prevent you from having to undergo the dreaded dry-shave. But guess what? As thrilling as the unexpected is, you never need a reason to pamper yourself other than the fact that you deserve it!

Much Love,

Nora

I’ve Got a Golden Ticket (To Apple Valley Natural Soap): how we make our natural soap

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Chocolate factory…or Natural Soap factory?

If at first glance you mistook the photo above for a thick block of delicious chocolate fudge, don’t worry, I did too. Believe it or not, that’s actually the Salted Chocolate Sink Bar…so even if you can’t sink your teeth into it, you can still give your hands a good lather. The Salted Chocolate isn’t the only AVNS soap bar that looks good enough to eat, in fact, just browsing the AVNS website makes me feel like a kid in a candy store, and let me tell you, meeting Marianne for the first time felt a little like shaking hands with Willy Wonka himself.

I love chocolate, so it’s no surprise that I adore Rohld Dahl’s classic tale, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I’ve always envied Charlie Bucket, the young hero who visits the mysterious and alluring chocolate factory and is swept into a whimsical adventure as he becomes privy to the secrets and inner workings of the fantastic factory.

While Charlie’s journey allows readers to peer into the fantastic world of Wonka’s factory, today I’ll be giving you the inside scoop on the process behind making our scrumptious soap!

Soap needs to be clean in order to clean!

You can have a giant factory with a bazillion hallways and rooms and a giant chocolate-churning fountain…or just a simple kitchen, but no matter where you set up, both Wonka and Marianne will agree that an important step in the creative process is cleanliness. When Augustus Gloop falls into Wonka’s chocolate river, Wonka is more distraught by the thought of contamination than he is about Gloop’s safety. The spaces where AVNS soap is made undergo scrutinous sterilization to ensure that the purity of each product remains intact.

Combining and balancing ingredients

The next step in soap making is to create a recipe. Great soap calls for a great recipe. The base ingredients lye and water are combined. The oils and butters are also combined as they gently melt at the correct temperature. Any delicate, heat-sensitive oils are added secondarily. When both the lye and oils are at the correct temperature, they are blended together until light trace (soap talk for the absence of oil streaks in the mixture). Finally, any essential oils and herbs are added and the soap is poured into molds.

As any chocolatier or “soaplatier” will tell you, attaining the correct balance of ingredients is essential. After Augustus Gloop gets sucked up the chocolate pipe and carried away to the fudge room, Mrs. Gloop panics at the thought of her son being turned into fudge. However, Mr. Wonka (knowing that Gloop would unbalance his recipe) reassures her he will not allow this to happen, “’Because the taste would be terrible..Just imagine it! Augustus-flavoured chocolate-coated Gloop! No one would buy it” (Dahl).

Can you imagine? Salted Chocolate Gloop Sink Bar? No, thank you.

The setting and curing process

One of my favorite parts in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is when Violet Beauregarde steals a stick of gum from Wonka’s Great Gum Machine and starts chewing. Wonka tries to warn the greedy girl that his recipe is premature, but Violet does not heed his warning and before she knows it, she begins to swell like a blueberry while consequently turning a violent shade of violet. Using our soap will never turn you into a blueberry because like Willy Wonka, we know that timing is everything. After the soap is poured into molds it sets for 12-36 hours and then cures for another 2-6 months.

What matters most

Willy Wonka prides himself on the inventive and exotic origins of his candy creations, but what is most important to him — and what Charlie learns during his visit — is that at the end of the day, what really matters most is the chocolate.

AVNS has an impressive selection of unique soaps, all different and all hand made…but when stripped down to the core, there is a greater mission at hand. All of AVNS soaps are biodegradable, meaning that every ingredient used in an AVNS bar of soap can be broken down by microorganisms. This natural form of decomposition is eco-friendly, making our soaps like the Organic Coconut Bars, Organic Castile Soap Bars and the seasonal Camping Bar great (and packable) for your camping expeditions!

Although the Salted Chocolate Sink Bar is inedible, it does have a little Wonka-esque trick up its sleeve: it doesn’t contain added scent. The minimal ingredient list allows the natural scent of delicious organic cocoa butter to smell for itself! This isn’t the only unscented soap bar, many of our natural and organic soaps use minimal ingredients to cater to both the environment and sensitive skin. Our Calendula Castile Bar is only composed of saponified organic extra virgin olive oil and organic calendula petals, that’s a peace-sign amount of ingredients!

By using minimal, natural ingredients to make our soap, AVNS aims to promote peace: both inner and with the earth. I’d pick that kind of peace over a piece of chocolate any day.

P.S. Although our soap looks good enough to eat (and is Gloop-free) please do not nibble!

The Natural Benefits of Mint You Never Knew About

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Mint is everywhere

Buying toothpaste is probably one of the most mundane errands in existence. You can stand in the dairy section of a store and spend half an hour picking out which flavor of ice cream you want, but visit the toothpaste shelf, or even the entire dental hygiene aisle and you’ll be overwhelmed by one flavor: mint. Considering this minty domination, it’s no surprise I’ve always taken mint for granted…until I started college.

How mint saved me from spiders

I lived in a triple room on an all-girl floor my Freshman year of college and we had a communal bathroom with shower stalls (they were the size of telephone booths, I kid you not). One day halfway through first semester I was on my way to shower when I noticed a funny bit of grey fluff on my comforter at the base of my bottom-bunk. As my hand fluttered down to flick it off, eight thick legs unfolded from around the fluff and the fluff itself began to scuttle. My hand shot back and I kicked up my legs as I gave a loud, surprised shriek as I realized that the grey fluff was actually a big, grey spider. Not one of those wimpy, spindly things, but an armored tank of a spider who had claimed my bed as its own and was willing to go into battle if I refused to surrender. Even now I feel slightly chilled thinking about it.

Once I knew my bed was not spider resistant, my small, cozy room became a scary, spidery place. In my imagination, spiders lurked everywhere. In my pockets, under my bed, and in my shoes. I was living in terror, so I did what any smart, terrified girl would do…I called my parents.

For the rest of the week I dreamed of all the heavy duty traps and snares my mom would bring me to defeat the spiders. I pictured mini spider cages with steel bars so strong no amount of extra legs could bend them and web weakener serum that would discourage the spiders from building webs anywhere near me. I was a little disappointed when my mom showed up armed with only two sticky traps and a little bottle of…what?…peppermint essential oil?

“Peppermint repels spiders,” my mom said.

Huh, sure it does…

Despite being skeptical, I took my mom’s advice and for the rest of the year I crawled under my bed once a week and dispensed a few drops of peppermint oil along the baseboard of the wall. My roommates thought I was crazy, but I never saw another spider in my room.

Now, as to whether the spiders fled in response to the peppermint oil or just sensed a hostile vibe in the room and decided to skedaddle will forever be a question that keeps me up at night, but rest assured that there are some things I do know about mint.

What is Peppermint?

While we all know and love peppermint for its instant aroma of winter cheer, what you maybe didn’t know is that peppermint is a hybrid of spearmint and water-mint…that makes it like the golden-doodle of plants, right? Containing organic, Fair Trade peppermint essential oil from India and spearmint essential oil from Indonesia, both the Juniper Mint Castile Soap and the Matcha Mint Soap provide a big scrubba-dub-dub of rejuvenation. Did I mention that the Matcha Mint Bar also includes a refreshing measurement of matcha magic?…a matcha made in heaven!

How mint works to benefit skin

The rejuvenating quality of mint comes from the compound menthol. According to U.S National Library of Medicine, menthol triggers a specific receptor in our skin and the reaction is a cool-sensation. This creates a soothing feeling, which is especially great if you’re looking for the perfect exfoliation!

Toothpaste may be boring, but AVNS makes mint fun. You can choose from an amazing selection of minty combinations (including Rosemary Mint and Grapefruit Mint) and if you use a body or shampoo bar containing peppermint –like the Peppermint Tea Tree Shampoo Bar — who knows? You might even repel spiders! Only one way to find out!

How Embracing My Natural Textured Hair Changed My Life

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Hi, I’m Eleanor (but you can call me Nora)!

As the newest member of Apple Valley Natural Soap, I’ll be writing informative and (hopefully) entertaining blogs inspired by AVNS’s products and the ingredients that go into making them. I could not be more thrilled about joining this fantastic, curl-friendly company!

I’ve been ruminating on a proper introduction and while I could go on for hours about my adorable dog, my passion for improv, and my international expeditions…I thought I’d share the aspect of my life that drew me to AVNS in the first place: my hair. However, in order to share my hair care journey, I’m going to have to come clean about something…

I Thought My Hair was Just Frizzy

I’m going to be honest,

I haven’t always taken care of my hair.

My hair was stick straight until sixth grade. Then it got frizzy. From seventh to tenth grade I blow-dried, straightened, and curled my hair with heat every day before school.

That’s right. For four years I woke up at five-thirty am every single morning so I could devote an extra hour to frying my hair.

Sometimes I’d have to straighten my hair and
use a curling iron to keep my hair from frizzing up again.

I did the math.

There are about 165 school days in a year, so one hour per day is 165 hours a year. Multiply that by four and your total is 660 hours. Divide that by 24 hours and that’s 27.5 days. That’s almost an entire non-leap-year February.

A month. A month-long, hair-frying marathon.

I find this horrifying, but not surprising. You see, I didn’t know any better and there was no one to tell me otherwise. I was stuck with a head full of poodle frizz and every hair commercial I saw just enforced my belief that you were either born with beautiful hair or could fix it with heat if you weren’t. Because of this, I did not feel comfortable or confident with my own hair.

Straightening My Hair Hurt My Self-Esteem

Now, I want to make it clear that there is a difference between doing something because you want to and doing something because you think you have to. There is also a difference between touching up your hair a bit every once in a while and changing it every day because you are ashamed of leaving the house otherwise.

How your hair looks my not seem like a big deal, but when you feel forced to alter something about your appearance in order to conform to society’s standards you risk sending another, more damaging message to yourself that says, “the way you are is unacceptable.”

I’m going to tell you something right now: that message is a huge, unacceptable lie.

Thankfully, nature gave me a huge dose of reality…or should I say, douse?

How I found out my hair was curly

In eleventh grade my family went on vacation in Mexico and because of the weight limits on luggage I was also forced to take a vacation from my blow-dryer and curler. After a day spent playing in the ocean all that salt gave my hair the boost it needed to prove to me that it could do more than frizz.

I guess nature has a habit of bringing out the best in us.

At first I thought maybe the curly hair thing was a fluke. For a few weeks I dipped my hair in a bowl filled with table salt and water to get the same results as I had from the ocean (Yes, I looked ridiculous doing this) but eventually I did some research. I bought curly hair products, styled my hair when it was wet, and left the heat tools in my drawer.

I included this goofy picture of me circa 2017 so you could see what damaged curly hair looks like. See how the top of my hair is curly and the bottom looks kind of straw-like? It took two years of hair cuts and no heat to fix the damage I’d caused to my hair.

My Hair’s Journey from Straight to Curly

My hair’s transformation did not occur overnight: the years of straightening had damaged my natural curl pattern beyond repair. Weaning myself off of heat tools also took several years because I was so used to relying on them, but it was worth it.

My decision to embrace my natural hair means I get to feel ten times better about myself without making any adjustments.

How My Curly Hair Led Me to Apple Valley Natural Soap

AVNS wants you to look great, but more importantly we want you to go through life feeling great. 

This is how my natural hair looks when I style it without heat. No curlers, just the perfect hair routine.

As a curly girl with defiant curls, I care about what goes into my hair products. Cheap brands of shampoo and conditioner may advertise products for curly hair, but if you take the time to pull out your magnifying glass and scan the ingredient list hidden on the back of your shampoo bottle, it will reveal silicones and sulfates (agents notorious for parching and dulling curls over time). Honesty in the health and beauty industry is so important, we want safe products with long term benefits and as consumers we want to invest in a company we can trust without constantly having to run DIY background checks on what we are using in our hair and on our bodies.  

AVNS proudly displays our ingredient list right under every product description, and why wouldn’t we? From straight to spiral and everything in between, we’ve got shampoo bars that will nourish your silky strands. And that, my friend, is the honest truth.

Psst. Starting out on your curl journey and looking for something to help tame that frizz? Try the Lavender Silk or Jojoba Silk bar!

Knitting a New Year

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Well, New Year’s Eve has come and gone. We’ve turned over those new leaves (whatever that means) and now we’re trying to decipher what the underside has in store for us. Some of us only take a peek before we quickly flip those leaves back over and pretend we never had any of those ambitious resolutions in the first place. Others are launching into new diets and exercise routines with a vigor that will most likely burn out within a month. If you’re like me, coming up with resolutions is a blast, but the follow-through proves to be a difficult task. Which is why I turned this year’s resolutions into resolu-fun!

The trick? Start small and have fun. Mini-resolutions, if you please. These mini-resolutions come in neat packages and promise instant gratification while hinting at a future opportunity for a change in lifestyle (if you so choose to accept your mission).

What in the world is she talking about? You ask, as you scan your list of resolutions to see if any of them seem mini, or at least small enough to fit in your mailbox.

Knitting. I’m talking about knitting.

yarn

I started knitting two days ago and not only am I already 1/16th of the way done with my first lumpy, puke-colored, spiderweb of a scarf, I have also (if I so choose to accept my mission) opened a crochet-covered door to a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Although currently a knitting novice, I optimistically imagine that someday I will become a professional. Every blanket in my house will be knit by me, every potholder in my kitchen will be a labor of my love, every gift I give will reek of the sweat I worked up as I frantically power-knit it the night before.

Of course, I’m not saying knitting is the be-all end-all for everyone. Raising one tomato plant could turn into a garden, playing a new card game could become a family tradition, buying one bar of Apple Valley Natural Soap could be the start of a more environmentally friendly and naturally healthy life.

Resolutions don’t have to be huge or life-altering, what matters most is embracing the promise of a new year.

With that being said, I understand that turning over into a new year also means facing the unexpected. We like resolutions because they give us a sense of control over our destinies. But the truth is, the New Year may bring on hardships that we’d rather not deal with. If you find yourself secretly dreading this upcoming year, don’t panic, you’re not alone.

My sweet Nana passed away unexpectedly at the end of October after a slow and tiring battle with a rapidly progressing form of dementia and my family is now faced with the unbearable process of moving forward. We find ourselves on the cusp of a new year forced to deal with something we didn’t anticipate. There is nothing neat or packable about death and there is nothing simple about moving forward.

monarch

Mentally, it seems unnatural. During difficult times, grief seems to occupy every moment and keeps us frozen in place, like leaves trembling upon a branch in the midst of a bitter winter. We define moving forward as an active process that requires “picking yourself up and dusting yourself off.” I would argue that this is not true. From what I have experienced these past couple months — in a spiritual sense — moving forward happens naturally.

Moving forward is a subtle process and for my family it involves crying. We cry over Nana’s music box collection, we cry over mushroom soup that will never taste quite right without her, we cry over butterflies and rainbows and dolphins and everything else beautiful that reminds us of the beautiful being she was. At first I mistook the crying for grief, but I’ve come to understand that the crying is actually a sign of moving forward. Every tear we share together is a step, a moment to thaw the grief. Moving forward doesn’t mean letting go, it means mending, knitting, and healing.

opened-glass-window-1906795

At first glance, this post doesn’t have much to do with soap. But Apple Valley Natural Soap’s mission is to help others embrace the blessings of natural ingredients through their products and it was reflecting on this idea that inspired me to consider the natural blessings of life. From the ability to knit, to the grace evident in the process of moving forward, God always provides an open window (and maybe crocheted curtains).

Always Cruelty-Free

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Imagine yourself in a grocery store on a Sunday afternoon, strolling down the cosmetic aisle with an iced coffee in your hand. Glancing over to the second shelf, there sits a dazzling bottle of sunscreen with your favorite scent, coconut honey, calling your name. While bolting to reach for the last bottle, the curly letters “cruelty-free” pop out from the label, and next to it a logo of a cute bunny. But then the question pops in your mind, “how does someone really know if it is cruelty-free?”

It may not be 100% cruelty-free? What? Yes, I know, believe it or not, most cosmetic companies are not all cruelty-free. That sweet little bottle of coconut honey sunscreen could quite possibly mean that the product itself was not tested on animals, but the beginning stages of creating the luscious scent or ingredients involved animal testing. So herein lies the problem; companies create their own bunny logos without any regulation on properly defining what it means to be “cruelty-free.” This logo could mean something completely different from company to company and how you and I may define it. That said, how can we be confident in deciding whether or not any product is 100% cruelty-free?

Thank goodness this problem was taken notice from national animal protection groups from around the world. These groups were determined to invent a universal standard for companies to follow to become cruelty-free and a logo that is internationally recognizable. And that is what they did. Eight national animal protection groups created the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC) and the Leaping Bunny Program was born. This program does not allow harm to fall upon animals during the development of cosmetic products, ingredients, and/or formulas; establishing a way for us to be confident in knowing that our furry friends are protected through this certifying program.

Now when you look at your coconut honey sunscreen bottle, you see that it is certified by the Leaping Bunny Program, and you can sigh in relief in knowing that our furry friends are safe.

Apple Valley Natural Soap believes in the mission to protect our furry friends and treating them fairly. We are proud to say we are certified Cruelty-Free through the Leaping Bunny Program alongside 1,400 other cosmetic companies. We all put in the effort and extra work to follow the standards to have quality products without putting animals in danger. Since there are no laws in the United States that prevent cosmetic testing on animals, we want to take a stance against the traditional ways of testing to make our world safer.

As stated by the Leaping Bunny Program, “60% of consumers are more likely to buy a product that has not been tested on animals.” That said, if it’s important to our customers, then it is important to us. So, when buying Apply Valley Natural Soap you can rest in knowing that when using our products it’s not just natural and handmade, but also always cruelty-free.