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An All-Natural Approach
Products for Healthy, Beautiful Skin By Gwen Morrison
It's no secret that more women are turning to all-natural personal care and beauty products. But few take their search more seriously than Crystel Riggs of Clemson, S.C. For Riggs, using naturally-formulated products has become a way of life.
Riggs' oldest daughter is prone to allergic outbreaks of eczema, which cause her skin to break open and bleed within days of using an offending skin care product. This painful process prompted Riggs to investigate using all-natural products for her family. She began her search at a local health food store, where she discovered castile soap, an all-natural product made with 100-percent pure essential oils. The soap can be used for everyday body washing and as shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent and more. It is available in several varieties including peppermint, almond, lavender, lemon and rose, baby mild aloe-vera, eucalyptus and tea tree.
For Riggs, however, simply finding one acceptable product wasn't enough. She took her quest to provide natural products for her family a step further she now makes her own liquid soaps.
"I use a liquid castile soap blend as a base for the shampoos and body washes and add the oils according to what I need them to do," says Riggs. "The kids use the shampoo that I make, and I add lavender and rosemary to it. Rosemary promotes a healthy scalp and hair growth, and lavender helps them avoid head lice infestations when it goes around at school."
Riggs swears by the natural body products she makes for herself and her family. She is now preparing a room in her home to produce bar soaps made from oils and butters. Riggs admits she has done extensive research on the products she creates and cautions parents against using any of the essential oils on their children without first learning about them. "There are very few oils that are recommended for children under 12," says Riggs. "Getting the proper usage rates is also important."
Riggs' daughter has not had an eczema outbreak in more than five years the same length of time the family has been using all-natural products.
"Increasing news reports of food and meat contaminates, pharmaceutical drug deaths, various product recalls and genetic engineering of foods are helping to increase the average person's awareness of the impact of pesticides, environmental toxins and chemicals on our bodies and health," says Laymon. "What is best for us is that which resonates with our natural state of being."