Forever Young Store Blog

Does organic mascara will have a real voluminizing effect?

A few weeks ago, one of my customer service rep. had a customer asking if the organic mascara will have the same voluminizing effect as the commercial mascaras.

It's very hard to find a organic mascara, in fact may of those called "organic" contain parabens in the for of methylparaben, propylparaben or phenonip. Just for you to know parabens have been linked with breast cancer.

The honest answer is that don't expect organic mascara to have the same effect as commercial mascara. It probably will not make your eyelashes to have that "voluminizing" effect. It won't run or smudge but is not waterproof. The reason why is because the ingredients required to do this effects cannot be made or grown organically and tend to aggravate allergic reactions.

Organic mascara is designed to thicken and give the appearance of longer eyelashes. Zuzu Luxe mascara will provide just natural beauty.

Before buying any product, please make sure that you check the ingredients. You can consult how dangerous they are here:
http://www.ewg.org/issues/siteindex/issues.php?issueid=5005

None of the products we sell are tested on animals. Companies doing this cruel practice should not have support. You can also check which companies test on animals here:
http://www.caringconsumer.com/

Please share with us your thoughts, and let me know if you have a question as well. I'm here to help. You can contact me at: xjones@foreveryoungstore.com

Be Forever Young With Vitamin C Serum - Part II

In the first part of this topic, I explained how Vitamin C works and the benefits it will provide to your skin. Our Vitamin C serum is a natural skin care and age defying antiwrinkle product.

Our formula contains L-ascobic acid, distilled water and hyaluronic acid. It doesn't contain parabens or any other chemical preservative. Because of this reason, we run small batches to keep our Vitamin C Serum fresh. Once you open the bottle you should use it with three months to make sure your skin will receive the maximum antioxidant benefit.   

The Hyaluronic Acid is a super-moisturizer and skin protectant which holds 1,000 times its molecular weight in water to "hyper-hydrate” skin cells. While it plumps up fine lines & wrinkles to leave behind smoother, younger looking skin, it also helps to prevent the usual drying and irritating effects often associated with other Vitamin C therapies.

But Vitamin C Serum comes in different concentrations, which one is ideal for you?  I will concentrate in 10% and 25% Vitamin C Serum that Forever Young Store carries.

If you have sensitive skin or if you are using Vitamin C Serum for the first time then I advice you to start with the 10% Vitamin C Serum. If you have oily skin or you have used before the Vitamin C, then you should use the 25% Vitamin C Serum.

If you have ever wonder how to use the Vitamin C serum, just keep in mind that the big benefits of Vitamin C in terms of free radical protection should be taken advantage of during the day.

How to use it: Apply to freshly cleansed, dry skin once daily. Allow product to fully dry before following with moisturizer cream. Keep the bottle tightly capped. If you want, you can apply it at night on a spot.

Note: Because of its low pH, you should avoid the eyes area.

If you have questions please feel free to contact me at any time at: xjones@foreveryoungstore.com or just ask your questions here and I will do my best to answer them asap.   

Be Forever Young With Vitamin C Serum - Part I

I have been using Vitamin C Serum a year ago. The results for me at least have been great. I'm 34 years old and most people think I'm 26.

I understand that with so many options in the market sometimes is hard to decide which product is right for you. That's why I'm beginning a series of articles explaining some of the facial skin care products that Forever Young Store carries.

I want to share with you some key information about the Vitamin C Serum, how it works and when and how to use it to achieve the maximum results. This article is divided in two parts. In the first part I want to explain more in depth about why it works. In part numebr I want to discuss more about how to use Vitamin C Serum properly. 

Environmental elements like sunlight, stress and air pollution generate free radicals in our skin. The free radical/oxidation process attack the skin's collagen layer. This is called photoaging which results in fine lines and wrinkles and discolouration of the skin such as brown freckles and white marks.

According to the "Delivery of topical L-ascorbic acid into the skin is critically dependent on formulation characteristics" research at Duke University in North Carolina it has been found that Vitamin C (L-ascorbic Acid) is an antioxidant, which is proven to be effective in protecting against photoaging and may turn out to reverse some of the changes associated with aging.

However, in order to be effective, a Vitamin C formulation must contain a high concentration. The tricky part is finding a way to get large amounts of Vitamin C into the skin. First, the Duke studies show that L-ascorbic acid at low pH is the only form of Vitamin C the body can effectively use for collagen production.

Once in the skin, additional studies show that L-ascorbic acid has the following effects: it stimulates collagen synthesis, provides photoprotection, stays in skin for up to 72 hours, and prevents UV immunosuppression, a reaction which occurs in more than 90% of skin cancer patients.

Bottom line for you is that the Vitamin C Serum will provide the following benefits for your skin:

Aging Skin – Vitamin C rebuilds collagen

Oily/Acne Skin – Regulates oil production

Fading of hyperpigmentation & evens skin tone

Skin that is too sensitive for other vitamin C products

To revive dull, ashy skin

Ok, this is pretty much how it works and for which skin conditions Vitamin C Serum is ideal. In part II of this article I want to discuss more in depth when and how to use it. If you have questions please feel free to contact me at any time at: xjones@foreveryoungstore.com or just ask your questions here and I will do my best to answer them asap.

Organic Beauty

Did you know that the average woman applies more than 200 chemicals to her skin daily by using body and skin care products? It was previously thought that our skin protected us against such chemicals, but the scary part is that recent research has shown that 60% of these chemicals are absorbed into the bloodstream. Did you ever ask yourself what are feeding your skin with? Are you putting carcinogens into your skin?

The number of people with eczema, allergies and skin problems is going up – it seems like some of these chemicals used in the skin care products are aggravating these conditions.

Parabens are a group of preservatives widely used in the beauty industry. Some people think around 90% of the cosmetic & beauty products use parabens. These parabens may come in the form of butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben, methylparaben, or propylparaben, and have been linked to breast.

The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (January 2002, pages 49–60) published a study that evaluated the estrogenic activity of parabens in human breast-cancer cells. You can read about cosmetic companies and breast cancer at  Breast Cancer Fund.

For me at least it is very obvious that I want to stay away from chemical preservatives. There a lot of companies saying that they carry organic vegan products, but when you check the labels of the ingredients of these organic natural products you can find parabens, phenonip, imidazolidinyl urea, etc. just to name a few.

Why Organic Beauty? To me at least, I use only organic beauty products because I want to preserve my health as well. There is no beauty without health.

Many people today don’t have the time or the chemical background to understand every product and sometimes companies take advantage of it. That’s why I began Forever Young Store.

Forever Young Store carries only truly organic beauty products free of harsh chemical preservatives. We are struggling to provide superior quality at affordable prices.

We are constantly looking for the best beauty products available. We will never ever sell a product that we haven’t tested ourselves. We have a great group of volunteer customers as well who are willing share with us their thoughts. We believe that if only one of our volunteers doesn’t find the product excellent then Forever Young Store is not going to sell it.

We will only provide the best of the best for you…. Welcome to the democratic world of organic beauty at Forever Young Store.

Forever Young Store & Fair Trade…

I spoke about beauty and how I think it is more than a cute face and a good-looking body. I came from a poor country and I have seen people struggling on a daily basis to provide for their families.

I’m Costa Rican. I never forgot my roots. Costa Rica is a small peaceful country ( we don’t have army), which is oriented to eco-tourism and building a sustainable economy. Our “gold” is the beauty and purity of our nature: the rain forest, volcanoes, mountains, beaches, exotic animals & vegetation and the best part is our friendly people.

Fair Trade is part of the business plan for me, it’s very important to help communities who are disadvantaged. Knowing that many families, especially women, are trying to make a decent income I decided that whatever my life in USA brought to me I was going to integrate and help them through my projects.

Forever Young Store is a great project. For me is not a business…it’s a way to touch so many people life’s. It begins with my customers to whom I want to make their natural beauty shine without worrying about toxics that could damage their health. And it closely integrates the providers that I so closely work together with.

Today, I would like to talk about a group of Costa Rican women who are making by hand the Yute Bags that my customers receive. Not only is Yute 100% biodegradable but these bags are also helping me to help many families in Costa Rica to earn a good income. It’s a win-win situation. I want to thank you to all of you for your dedication and the love that it put into every bag. I hope that Forever Young Store customers enjoy them and that we can keep having a positive impact.

To all of you, thank you for your dedication! Thank you for allowing me to share with all my customers your beautiful bags!

The purpose of this blog…

Beauty…I like to look myself in the mirror everyday and I really enjoy having a soft and smooth skin without wrinkles. I like my hair to be silky and shiny. I love makeup, perfume and fashion. I love seeing myself beautiful.  I love when others look at me as a beautiful woman, but it goes beyond this, because…I will never ever give up my beliefs to be beautiful. I will never ever be beautiful if what I’m putting on my skin or wearing comes from the suffering of other beings.

Beauty is much more than what you can see outside, beauty goes inside your soul, your mind, and your heart. There is inner beauty.

I always have thought that everything you do in life, even the small little things, have to have a goal to be meaningful. I always have thought that you have to live doing things that make you happy but without damaging others.

I believe in the power of one. One person can begin to change the world and when other people join, the force grows stronger. I believe that we share this planet with many beings and we have the responsibility to respect life and take care of our only home…the Earth. I believe that everything you do in life, good or bad, sooner or later will come back to you.

Now, you probably are thinking that I just forgot that I was talking about beauty and that somehow I was going to explain the purpose of this blog. 

First, let me explain whom this blog is for.

This blog is for those people who respect life, who respect all living beings, who are eco-logical, who want to exercise the power of one, and for those who believe in community.

I began this blog for the person, who cares about their appearance but do not want to use toxics on their skin.  This blog is for those who refuse to use products tested on animals or have products, which carry ingredients that were tested on previously on animals.

This blog is for those seeking beauty, justice, compassion and a better place to live. It is for those who want to make changes by doing the daily things differently and leading by example… 

Let’s talk about everything from beauty tips, and fashion trends, but let’s make a difference. Let’s be beautiful with consciousness! 

Welcome, to our community, and welcome to the power of one,