1 January
When the shop reopens in January I will launch my new lines of hair and facial care products. I've been posting pictures of shampoo bars for a while now, but the four formulas available will be Blucalyptus, Cafe Mint, A&A, and Creamy Thai. All four are formulated for slightly different hair types, but great for most!
Also available will be my regular solid conditioning bars as well as my Stellar conditioner bars formulated specifically for colour treated hair. Menhadi will be back in stock as well as an all new 8 ounce bottle of creamy rinse out conditioner.
Several new salt bars will be available in a new 'handier' size for kitchen sink side use!
I'm super proud to launch my facial care line which includes my green tea and rose oil-free lotion for problem skin. It soothes, calms, and reduces redness. Also available will be an oily skin gel cream, and herbal eye serum, a foaming face wash for sensitive and aggravated skin, and a beautiful super emollient skin cream with sunflower oil.
Several soaps will be available and restocked, including Lavender Cream and a much requested SUPER XL tube of Nataraja Healing Heel Balm will be available in limited quantities!
15 January
I will launch my Limited Edition Valentine's Day products on the 15th! My super best selling grab bags will once again be available. I'm switching things up, they'll no longer be just 'samplers' but instead include some limited edition items. The theme of the Valentine's bags are super cute!
There will be a super amazing Valentine's salt bar, my Lovely in Lace bars, and my Whipped Dream bar, and my super amazing Cioccolato Orchidea bar which I must admit is super gorgeous. I'm also releasing an all new Friendship bar. Same beautiful colours and scent, all new formula and size! Also coming will be a mildly exfoliating pineapple bar and a girlie and sweet fruit scented shave bar.
GGA2, my men's inspired line with exclusive manlier packaging will also launch mid January. Available will be a soothing after shave lotion, a carrot face cream, an eye serum, scrub, as well as several new shave bars and a limited round shave bar. They're harder to make and get out of a round mould as the formula is softer at cure!
I'll also be adding to my regular facial line. My White Lychee cream is super emollient and full of antioxidants. I'll have a beautiful new anti-puffiness eye serum in a roller.
Make sure you keep an eye on my Instagram, @glitterandgratitude for sneak peeks and as always, if you have a request, let me know! I love to hear what you're thinking, my goal is to help and heal YOU!
With glitter and gratitude,
Gia
Saturday 19 December 2015
Friday 11 December 2015
Why Soy Free?
A lot of people ask me why I don't use soy in my products because apparently everyone thinks that soy is an amazing natural and organic ingredient! I see people boast about using it and I can only sigh.
Soy is the #1 GMO product in the world. That means it is the least natural plant source. It's been chemically and biologically altered to grow better, hardier, and more. Now, some argue that that's what we need to do to ensure that crops are safe and we produce more food for the population. This by no means means that that plant it now organic. It means it's been bread to survive, which means it can withstand certain chemical pesticides other plants can't so when they spray the field with the pesticides, everything else dies, but it lives.
GMO crops can cause new allergies to be develop, create super resistant bugs and weeds that means STRONGER pesticides need to be used and that's not good for the crops or the surrounding environment.
ASIDE from all that, yes. There are some nongmo soy sources, so let's talk about those.
Soy contains phytoestrogens that hinder the body's natural estrogen from attaching to cells.
Soy is also high in isoflavones, a natural type of plant estrogen that can increase estrogen levels in humans.
There are several studies that say soy causes issues with breast cancer and certain ones that say it's perfectly fine. The fact is, soy contains estrogen altering substances.
I have endometriosis. It's painful. It's crippling. I will have a hysterectomy because of it. Soy makes it worse. Soy causes complications. Soy exacerbates the tissue growth.... not just ingesting it, but applying it on the skin. Yes, it's got some great omegas, etc. But I can get those from over a dozen other sources that will not render me immobile with pain.
I didn't make the choice to keep soy out of my products based on fear mongering or random studies. I did so based on my own personal experiences with it knowing it's done me more hard than good. I would never want to risk that for anyone else. Ever.
Here is a great article about the differences between Eastern and Western soy consumption and what should be avoided. Again, use your own judgment.
Here is another good article explaining what to eat and avoid with endo.
Here is a personal account of one person's unbiased experience and research.
Soy is the #1 GMO product in the world. That means it is the least natural plant source. It's been chemically and biologically altered to grow better, hardier, and more. Now, some argue that that's what we need to do to ensure that crops are safe and we produce more food for the population. This by no means means that that plant it now organic. It means it's been bread to survive, which means it can withstand certain chemical pesticides other plants can't so when they spray the field with the pesticides, everything else dies, but it lives.
GMO crops can cause new allergies to be develop, create super resistant bugs and weeds that means STRONGER pesticides need to be used and that's not good for the crops or the surrounding environment.
ASIDE from all that, yes. There are some nongmo soy sources, so let's talk about those.
Soy contains phytoestrogens that hinder the body's natural estrogen from attaching to cells.
Soy is also high in isoflavones, a natural type of plant estrogen that can increase estrogen levels in humans.
There are several studies that say soy causes issues with breast cancer and certain ones that say it's perfectly fine. The fact is, soy contains estrogen altering substances.
I have endometriosis. It's painful. It's crippling. I will have a hysterectomy because of it. Soy makes it worse. Soy causes complications. Soy exacerbates the tissue growth.... not just ingesting it, but applying it on the skin. Yes, it's got some great omegas, etc. But I can get those from over a dozen other sources that will not render me immobile with pain.
I didn't make the choice to keep soy out of my products based on fear mongering or random studies. I did so based on my own personal experiences with it knowing it's done me more hard than good. I would never want to risk that for anyone else. Ever.
Here is a great article about the differences between Eastern and Western soy consumption and what should be avoided. Again, use your own judgment.
Here is another good article explaining what to eat and avoid with endo.
Here is a personal account of one person's unbiased experience and research.
Sunday 6 December 2015
Formulating 101: Emulsifiers
What is an emulsifier?
My favourite and most used emulsifier is ECOMulse
It's a naturally derived compounds that fits the needs of most of my lotions and potions! It's fairly easy to work with. It's also often called Natramulse or Ritamulse, depending on the manufacturer.
For cationic emulsions I use SugarMulse or one of the popular BTMS formulas available.
Although the components sound long and complicated, they're natural and not at all harmful. You will often see a company claim that their products are 'chemical free' or 'free from chemicals'.
EVERYTHING IS A CHEMICAL. Anything with substance or components is a chemical. Water is a chemical compound! Don't trip and fall for fear mongering!
When water and oil are mixed together and vigorously shaken, a dispersion of oil droplets in water - and vice versa - is formed. When shaking stops, the phases start to separate. However, when an emulsifier is added to the system, the droplets remain dispersed, and a stable emulsion is obtained.
An emulsifier consists of a water-loving hydrophilic head and an oil-loving hydrophobic tail. The hydrophilic head is directed to the aqueous phase and the hydrophobic tail to the oil phase (see figure 1). The emulsifier positions itself at the oil/water or air/water interface and, by reducing the surface tension, has a stabilising effect on the emulsion.In simple terms an emulsifier is a compound that can blend oil and water together into a homogeneous mixture.
My favourite and most used emulsifier is ECOMulse
ECOMulse is a natural source, self-emulsifier for oil in water emulsions. It contains no ethoxylated ingredients. This system is based on acyl lactylates, which are conditioning to both hair and skin. The anionic lactylates are produced by a reaction between the acyl group of fatty acids and lactic acid. Lactic acid and fatty acids are natural moisturizing factor (NMF) constituents that are found in the skin. The lactylates are excellent viscosity enhancers, stabilizers, and conditioners. ECOMulse™ is a complete, balanced and highly desirable emulsification system. When used in lotions and creams, it will provide a soft, conditioned, talc-like feel to skin. Note, because this is based on anionic lactylates, it does not conform to the HLB system for non-ionic surfactants and no HLB number has been determined by the manufacturer. EcoMulse is manufactured using raw materials that are GMO-free.
It's a naturally derived compounds that fits the needs of most of my lotions and potions! It's fairly easy to work with. It's also often called Natramulse or Ritamulse, depending on the manufacturer.
For cationic emulsions I use SugarMulse or one of the popular BTMS formulas available.
Although the components sound long and complicated, they're natural and not at all harmful. You will often see a company claim that their products are 'chemical free' or 'free from chemicals'.
EVERYTHING IS A CHEMICAL. Anything with substance or components is a chemical. Water is a chemical compound! Don't trip and fall for fear mongering!
Wednesday 2 December 2015
What's in a name?
I get asked a lot about the names of my products!
In each listing I include the translation and in many cases, a brief explanation of what it means.
The names I've chosen for my hand care line are all Hindi. They're picked to specifically match the formulation. For example, Gulaba means rose and it's the name of my hemp and rose hand cream. Sometimes it's a random and everyday word that is just beautiful to me, other times it's the name of a Hindu deity. After all! The logo for Glitter and Gratitude is a little G shaped elephant, the god Ganesh, the remover of obstacles!
He was an important part of the concept and motivation behind my shop and he helped motivate me every step of the way!
I know it's a little confusing, which is why I'm going to rearrange a few things. Starting in 2016 when I reopen, my core hand care/skin care line will bear the original Hindu names. But. All of my soaps, hair care products, and upcoming men's line will have more... user friendly names! It's important to keep the original focus of my company intact, it's important for me to continue to focus on why I started GGA.
In each listing I include the translation and in many cases, a brief explanation of what it means.
The names I've chosen for my hand care line are all Hindi. They're picked to specifically match the formulation. For example, Gulaba means rose and it's the name of my hemp and rose hand cream. Sometimes it's a random and everyday word that is just beautiful to me, other times it's the name of a Hindu deity. After all! The logo for Glitter and Gratitude is a little G shaped elephant, the god Ganesh, the remover of obstacles!
He was an important part of the concept and motivation behind my shop and he helped motivate me every step of the way!
I know it's a little confusing, which is why I'm going to rearrange a few things. Starting in 2016 when I reopen, my core hand care/skin care line will bear the original Hindu names. But. All of my soaps, hair care products, and upcoming men's line will have more... user friendly names! It's important to keep the original focus of my company intact, it's important for me to continue to focus on why I started GGA.
Tuesday 1 December 2015
Formulating 101: HLB
One of the first things you need to learn when you formulate creams, lotions, conditioners, cosmetics, etc is something called the HLB system.
The HLB system is a complicated formulary that helps you determine how much of certain oils and emulsifiers you need to create a stable and ph balanced emulsion, aka: lotion. The oil portion is called the lipophilic portion and the liquid portion is called the hydrophilic portion.
Each oil and butter had a very different makeup and requires a different percentage of emulsifier to break the surface tension that keeps an oil and liquid mixture apart and keep it combined. So you add the values of each ingredient and do some crazy math to determine what you need to do to combine everything into the consistency you want. You also need to take into consideration the ionic charge of your ingredients, either they are cationic (positive) or anionic (negative)!
You cannot just add some em wax to some oil and mix it in with some water and get a lotion! No! You need to break everything down into percentages and saturation levels so that it's a balanced solution.
I hate maths, I do, but this system has made it fun for me and I love experimenting with things to change up the emolliency and the feel of the finished product!
Later this week I'll talk more about actual emulsifiers and how they work and what they're made of.
With Glitter and Gratitude!
In 1949, while working as a chemist at the Atlas Powder Company, William C. (Bill) Griffin developed the HLB System. HLB stands for `Hydrophile-Lipophile Balance` and is a measure of the relative proportions of water-soluble and oil soluble components in a surfactant. For any given surfactant function, such as detergency, emulsification or wetting, there is usually an optimum HLB value. Current emulsion technology dictates that the surfactants' HLB in a system must match the HLB requirement of the insoluble materials. The HLB Calculator is an Excel Worksheet based on that system that quickly and easily allows the formulator to calculate HLB requirements for cosmetic formulations.
The HLB system is a complicated formulary that helps you determine how much of certain oils and emulsifiers you need to create a stable and ph balanced emulsion, aka: lotion. The oil portion is called the lipophilic portion and the liquid portion is called the hydrophilic portion.
Each oil and butter had a very different makeup and requires a different percentage of emulsifier to break the surface tension that keeps an oil and liquid mixture apart and keep it combined. So you add the values of each ingredient and do some crazy math to determine what you need to do to combine everything into the consistency you want. You also need to take into consideration the ionic charge of your ingredients, either they are cationic (positive) or anionic (negative)!
You cannot just add some em wax to some oil and mix it in with some water and get a lotion! No! You need to break everything down into percentages and saturation levels so that it's a balanced solution.
I hate maths, I do, but this system has made it fun for me and I love experimenting with things to change up the emolliency and the feel of the finished product!
Later this week I'll talk more about actual emulsifiers and how they work and what they're made of.
With Glitter and Gratitude!
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