Smoke Signals

Benzoin (Styrax Benzoin) is one of creation's amazing trees with lovely, small clustered, white, bell-shaped and fragrant flowers.  ...Magical in its' own right.  The essential oil is obtained from incisions made to the 8-10 year old tree's bark and is an organic preservative of fats.  Thus benzoin oil is ideal when formulating natural products without ingredients foreign to your body such as BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene).  I'll be more detailed about BHT in the upcoming post.  Benzoin has been used for many years in some of the oldest civilizations of the world, notably for religious ceremonies and as medicines, mostly due to its antidepressant, aromatic and disinfectant properties. This essential oil is actually a resin.  This allows it to form a protective film over the skin, which stops it from losing moisture.  This is why TribalMama.com utilizes benzoin in all of our lotion bars , our Rose Garden lip balm , and Ancients Path and Black Beauty

I don't know about your “kid in you” but mine (and my children too) feel free outdoors. The flow of creativity can escape. Energy is found. Appreciation takes place and how innately we are reminded that we are alive, living, surrounded by other living entities...many of them in which work together, in harmony, for the sake of our existence. Studies now show that the bacteria in soil is good for us. “What we think happens is that the bacteria activate immune cells, which release chemicals called cytokines that then act on receptors on the sensory nerves to increase their activity,” says Christopher Lowry, a neuroscientist at the University of Bristol in England ( 1 ). Cytokines are part of a chain reaction, the end result of which is the release of serotonin( 2 ). And serotonin is known as a feel good hormone ( 3 ). Whether its healthy or not, worrying about getting dirty is no fun. And who really cares when you have a nourishing, sensory experience awaiting

If the ingredient is vague...it is more than likely hiding something.  “Fragrance” can actually be a cocktail of chemicals and you’d never know it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require companies to disclose the breakdown of a fragrance’s ingredients to consumers because the chemicals that produce fragrance are considered “trade secrets.” Most of the time, synthetic chemicals and cancer-causing toxins (like phthalates, commonly used to make fragrances last longer) are shielded under this overused sneaky term. Constant exposure to fragrances has been shown to negatively impact the part of the nervous system that consists in the brain and spinal cord and subsequently coordinates the activity of the entire nervous system. It may also trigger allergies, migraines and asthma symptoms ( 1 ). Ok, so WHAT is fragrance?   “The fragrance mixture itself can be comprised of dozens, even hundreds, of individual chemicals, and those don’t have to be lis