The Clean Start: The Journey, Truths, Myths, & Tips
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Hi, Friend ~ Happy 2023 to You!
It's a New Year, it's a fresh start, and it's a reset. Every day, every week, and every month we have a new start, but it's nothing compared to the beginning of a new year. This is the big one! 💫 It's only right that we start our this new year on the right path. This might be a new journey for you... so welcome! You're on the right path. Let's make it a clean path, and let's make it count Guess what was the very first treatment ever developed in Qēt Botanicals? It was a cleanser. It's the first step to mindfully and naturally care for our complexion, and for me, I needed a new first step. Every time I washed my face my skin felt dry, tight, and uncomfortable. It's been almost 13 years since I developed that very first cleanser. For years my skin was up and down with sensitivities, rashes, Rosacea redness and bumps, hormonal and cystic acne, and at times it was pretty darn unhappy. Between my endocrinologist for my thyroid swings, dermatologist, enzyme specialist, allergist, and naturopath, I had to get to the root of my skin upset, my gut health, and make a change.
Here's a link with before and after images, with a quick recap of my personal journey.
Below: Some of my before photos. Cystic acne, Rosacea bumps, sensitive skin, swollen chin and nose. Not shown here are the bumps behind my ears, neck and on my chest. No fun, but manageable with the right skincare and nutrition, and the reason that Qēt was born in the first place. If we haven't met yet, thanks for being here. I'm Lisa, and I'm the founder, owner, and developer of this woman-owned, independent plant-powered brand. I'm a wife, a mom, plant and animal lover, Rosacea, auto immune and thyroid warrior, and most of all, I'm an advocate of real, down to earth personal care products that don't harm us, our hormones, or our surroundings. ___________________ And so it began. Who knew that this was beginning of this blooming and plant-powered brand we call Qēt ("keet")? I think I knew, and it was bubbling inside of me for more than 20 years. I was following Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database since 2004 and was learning more and more about what we should avoid in our every day products. Addicting to learn, and frightening! It was around 2010, I was 43 at the time, and I started digging into the truths about our ingredients and our health. Endocrine disrupting chemicals that change our hormones and can affect our physical health were hidden in numerous 'clean' and 'natural' products I was using. And I was making efforts to choose clean products! It wasn't working. It was time to back up, get simple, and make a change.
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The first step to a clear complexion, a healthy dermis, and strong, youthful skin is a proper cleanse. Meet the very first treatment ever developed in what would later be known as a treatment in this brand, Qēt Botanicals. It was the cleanser... it was the Balancing Cleansing Oil with Thyme. And there it began. My love of plant oils, their actives, the benefits, their vitamins and antioxidants, and their literally thousands of naturally benefitting constituents that are powerful and need to be respected. If we can clean and clear our skin with oils, imagine what we can do to nourish, protect, heal, and allow our skin to thrive and flourish with oils?
It was the start. From there came the toning hydrators, the moisturizing serums, the acne treatments, the weekly facial masks, the body loving treatments, the deodorants, and then the hair loving treatments and boosts. 🌟 Proven ingredients, every drop disclosed, every drop plant-powered and natural, nothing lab manufactured and synthetic, and every drop hand selected and small batched to keep us healthy, safe, and do its intended job.
That was my clean start. This is yours. ☝ The first Qēt product, also the first product to receive a clean-beauty award as the best cleanser for acne prone and upset skin. Balancing Cleansing Oil with Thyme. No benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, tea tree oil, or alcohols... nothing to dry the complexion out, everything to cleanse, reduce inflammation, and remove impurities.
The Truth about Cleansing Oils The skin on our face is an open door to everything we do every day. Whether inside or outside, our exposed skin (usually our faces, necks, and hands at the very least) are out there day in and day out. Our skin is also filled with oils and lipids to protect it. When we strip our skin too much, we've lost that acid mantle that protects our skin and the microbiome of our skin is compromised. It's like we've taken off a natural shield of protection. Every day, not matter where we are, we're picking up impurities on our skin. Dust and pollution floats around in the air, and if we wear makeup or moisturizers, that's also sitting on our skin. At the end of every day, our face isn't clean... even if we can't see it.
Cleansing with our cleansing oils at the end of the day is joyful and benefitting for our skin. How to use our cleansing oil: Whether you keep your skin dry, or make it damp, adding a small amount (a dime sized or so) of cleansing oil to your skin is the start. A gentle massage with the cleansing oil helps to break up any impurities, pollution, and any makeup, moisturizers, or anything on the skin.
Important... remember to remove it completely with a wet washcloth or cotton pad. Rinse and repeat if necessary.
Oil removes oil, so yes, we need to remove it. Standing at the sink and trying to rinse away your cleanser doesn't remove it. It's important to remember to use a wet washcloth or cotton pad to remove your cleanser. When you do this, you're removing the cleanser, which in turn is removing the impurities, any makeup, pollution, or anything invisible that's settled on the skin. After this cleanse, there are no residual chemicals or artificial ingredients left on your skin, which is what we want. Skin feels soft and supple, not dry and tight. It's good, clean fun.
Cleansing Myths Do we need to cleanse again after cleansing with an oil? No, not if you've done it right. There's a lot of talk about double cleansing, or starting with an oil cleanser and then following with a foaming cleansing or something like it. Adding an additional cleanser after your cleansing oil is not necessary and is overdoing it. Foaming surfactants, creamy or milky cleansers, can often be drying. Doing this adds unnecessary ingredients on to your face after you've just use a limited ingredient clean cleanser that gets the job done.
And don't even think about using those makeup remover wipes. If we look at their ingredients, they're filled with strong preservatives and harsh ingredients to keep the product fresh in the package. Water breeds bacteria. When using water in skincare, you need to use more product and it needs to be paired with heavy-duty preservatives to keep the product stable. When a cleansing wipe is wiped on the skin, what's left on the skin are many artificial ingredients and preservatives. Additionally, the makeup removing cloths are very difficult to break down and will sit in landfills for way too many years, and maybe even indefinitely. We avoid using water in our treatments, as well as those heavy-duty preservatives that can sensitize our skin. Our treatments are pure, and much less is needed that you think!
The Importance of Removing Eye Makeup Not only is our eye makeup remover a clean beauty and award winning product, but it's also filled with lash and brow enriching ingredients. When you cleanse with our eye makeup remover, you're caring for the delicate skin around the eyes, as well as the dainty lashes and eyebrows. Mascara is a tricky thing... it either is rock hard, or it flakes, or its 'tubes' fall off, or it smudges. It's hard to find a mascara that fits the bill when it comes to what we want from a mascara for our lashes. If you have false eyelashes, they're also tricky. Even the 'safe' glue and methods for adhering synthetic lashes on to the delicate eyelids can be damaging to the natural lash growth and lash root, the eyelid, and even the eye itself. One thing is for sure, along with a cleansed face, it's important to remove any and all eye makeup, and face makeup, around the eyes every single night before bed. Lashes love to be softened and cleansed with our makeup remover before bed. They need love, too! 😍
To Use: Apply a small amount on wet or dry skin with wet or dry fingertips (you can decide which was feels best to you) and massage gently on the lashes and brows. That's all that it takes. You'll see the makeup start to dissolve and it's ready to be whisked away. I personally remove my mascara first as it makes quite a mess. I also like to use a damp cotton pad to remove it as I really don't want my mascara moving all over my face. Then I cleanse my face, remove the cleanser with a wet washcloth, repeat if necessary, and all is well! It takes only a minute or two, and it's on to the exfoliating, hydrating and moisturizing. 😊
Congratulations to you for being here! 👏👏👏 Because you're here means that you're not only on a clean path, but that this is where you've decided to be. It's our decisions that we make that take us on the path and journey that we're on. We're here for you! For years I couldn't figure out why my skin would give me so much trouble. I was already committed to clean eating and cleaning ingredients in the home. What I didn't know was that there were so many little hidden bad hormone changing chemicals in with the 'clean' ingredients in those 'natural' products that I was using prior to Qēt. This is why we're here, and it was a decision to start making a change that I made years ago. Every day is a new day. It's time to hit the reset button, start fresh, no regrets, no judgement, and just good choices that feel great.
Let's make this near year our best year yet! 😀 👍
It's the complexion connection. I like to share one to three notes, or blogs, each month with you. Going forward we share quick tips on our treatments, as well as healthy lifestyle ideas, recipes, and nudges that benefit both our skin and our wellbeing. We may even be throwing in more quick little video clips on IG and FB with Q&As to keep you updated and informed. Fun! Psst.... we also have exciting news to share and new things coming down the road soon in 2023. Stay tuned for that! Thanks again for being here. Let's keep choosing healthy while being our most radiant and glowing selves on this clean path and journey that we're on. Happy new year, happy new day, and all the best to you!
~ Lisa Founder+CEO
~ fresh ~ authentic ~ sumptuous ~ ~ non-toxic, organic ingredients, proven, and high-performing ~ ~ effective, award-winning botanical treatments made without compromises ~
Above: Our Affiliations and Awards || Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free, EWG Verified, EWG Skin Deep, Beauty Shortlist Awards, Member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Healing Lifestyles Earth Day Clean Beauty Awards, USA Love List, Green America Certified Business, Think Dirty Award Recipient, CertClean Clean Beauty Award
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