beautyexplorerblog

I did not know this, jojoba oil (pronounced ho-ho-ba oil) comes from North America, concretely from the Southwestern region of the US and Northern Mexico. I always thought it was from Africa or Asia! The jojoba shrub is very hardy and grows where almost no other plant can, producing the nuts that give us the oil. Although Native Americans had used the jojoba plant (to make a coffee like drink among other uses) for hundreds of years, it was not until the 1970’s, when a ban on whale sperm oil forced the cosmetic industry to find an alternative oil and jojoba oil took off.  

Jojoba oil

Jojoba is really a wax, not an oil. Its conditioning properties make it a great ingredient in hair care products of all kinds and for any hair type. Being hypoallergenic, with contents of vitamin E in different forms (alpha, delta, and gamma tocopherols) and being very emolient, turns out it is very similar to human sebum, and it actually helps the scalp balance its production, specially when the hair is dry.

On the skin, jojoba oil has protective, moisturizing and flexibilizing propertie on the skin. Many people use it on babies because it is also non-allergenic and it doesn’t stain.

 To find out more, visit jojoba-oil.org or jojobacompany.com

A delicious, sweet smell of roses comes out of many Indian kitchens, as they use rosewater to flavor desserts, teas and other recipes. But why stop there, when rosewater, a byproduct of oil rose, is such a good ayurvedic skin toner? It brightens the skin and wakes you up smelling the roses! Rosewater has soothing and softening properties when applied to most types of skin. One of nature’s simplest beauty tonics, there are plenty of recipes to make your own face and hand cream from it, and you can add it to your last hair rinse to close the cuticule (and smell like roses!).

Many disagree about the origin of rose oil and rosewater, but it seems that around 5000 B.C. they already had rose fragrance containers in India, which would evolve and get quite intrincate through the ages (some even had sprinklers).

The Mughal queens in India used to rinse their mouths with it after a meal to freshen their breaths (remember: they spit it afterwards). Rosewater cools the eyes when applied in cotton pads, and can be a wonderful addition to a relaxing bath, especially if you add some rose petals to the water.

I found some organic and fair trade rosewater at Pukka and Zahra. Enjoy!

Queen Nefertari working her kohl through eternity!

Kohl has many names in Africa, the Middle East and Southern Asia, as it has been used for millennia throughout a vast collection of geographical regions. But today we are going to focus on the ancient Egypt and its kohl history. Kohl here was almost ommipresent in the daily life, widely used by men, women and children of any social background. What a glamorous civilization! Kohl was used to draw dark lines around the eyes and the eyelashes for several reasons. Egyptians used it to guard themselves from the evil eye, and also to protect their eyes and eyesight from the blazing sun and insects. It sure created a feline and striking effect, bringing out the eyes like no other eye make up can.

Different shades were available, from greenish (made from malachite) to blueish (lapislazuli) to very dark black (from different oxidated materials, mostly galena, which produces lead poisoning, so beware!). Women crushed the coloring materials and then mixed them with some oil to make a paste. They would use palettes, applicators and containers which would range from very simple and humble sticks to very sophisticated and embellished small containers and applicators. Kohl was so basic to their lives that many ancient egyptians were buried with their applicators and some kohl to touch up throughout eternity.

Please make sure you read the ingredients of your kohl as some illegal and not safe imports are available in the market.

Shea butter (or Karite) is a complex fat that is worldwide known for its amazing cosmetic properties. It is extracted from the nut of the Shea tree, usually gathered during the Summer by women and children. The nuts are  dried, toasted and powdered, then boiled in water and the cream that rises is separated and voila! You have yourself some shea butter. Shea trees can be found on the savannahs of Western Africa, and only the fruits that fell on the ground should be picked, since those are the ones with the nuts that contain the most fat.  Great care must be put into the process, since the nuts could germinate or get moldy, so as with most things in life, timing is everything when making shea butter. On good days, each person can get 40 kilos of fruit, trasnporting them on big head baskets, and every day it takes longer distances to reach unpicked tree areas.

In mandingue language, shea means “life”, and this is no surprise after you discover how it is engrained in people’s lives there. This fat seems to have endless uses around the house (oil for lamps, candles and cooking) the first aid kit (oinment for several medicinal uses) and then in the bathroom for hair styling and soap making ingredient. Shea butter even offers a very light sun protection, and it is very effective sealing moisture and creating a barrier to protect the skin from the wind and salt water. It absorbs quickly and penetrates deep into the skin and it works great as a hair conditioner also.
Shea Butter stimulates the cells’ metabolism, helping therefore in the production of collagen in the outermost layers of the skin. So this stuff really helps in the treatment of wrinkles, burns and scars. It also seems that it stimulates the capillary circulation, tissue oxygenation and waste elimination, a true multitasker.

To produce 1 kilo of shea butter, a woman needs 20 to 30 hours of hard work, and in most cases she gets paid less than a buck! Please purchase from fair trade companies. More information at Alaffia.com and Premium-Grade-SheaButter.com . Thank you!