Baobab Moisturizer from Africa's Tree of Life

Carley’s Baobab Moisturizer

from the ‘Tree of Life’

Africa’s Baobab Tree (Adansonia digitata) is the one we see in pictures of Africa. It almost looks like it has been uprooted and planted upside down. It is called the tree of life because every part of the tree is used by the people of Africa. And many use it to survive years of drought and famine. Botanically it is known as Adansonia digitata, named after the French botanist Michel Adanson who studied these trees.

A young tree is 300 years old. Some are known to have to lived 6 thousand years. We use the oil from these famous trees as a primary ingredient in this moisturizer.

Aren’t there other companies selling Baobab moisturizers? A few yes. But only as a minor ingredient.

The pure oil is extracted from the seeds and the oil is easily and quickly absorbed by the skin leaving no oiliness or greasiness (when incorporated in a true moisturizer). Baobab oil is highly moisturizing, emollient and soothing which is partly due to the many nutritious ingredients found in this oil. It also contains vitamins A, D, E and F.

Vitamins A and F (which are polyunsaturated fatty acid) are actively involved in the rejuvenation and renewal of cell membranes, while vitamin E is a superior antioxidant, which helps to fight aging. There are also many other ingredients which improve the health of the skin.

Baobab oil is ideal to help treat dry and damaged skin, as well as for intensive hair care and its soothing properties are helpful for eczema and psoriasis treatments due to the Omega 3, 6 and 9 contained in the oil.

The baobab seed oil is pure, cold-pressed and unrefined – containing no additives.

Baobab oil does far more than just moisturize the skin and this rich, golden oil also helps to improve skin elasticity, encourages regeneration of skin cells and does not clog the pores.

It is also said to alleviate pain from burns and regenerates the epithelial tissues in a short time, thereby improving skin tone and elasticity.

So what makes OUR Baobab Moisturizer so different?

At $300 a gallon, Baobab oil is commonly used in VERY small percentages in creams, lotions, body butters and other skin care formulations.

We decided to offer this moisturizer with Baobab as the ONLY oil. No one is doing this.

Baobab oil is known for the following beauty benefits:

• Skin softening
• Skin restructuring
• Quick absorption
• Improves elasticity of the skin
• Encourages regeneration of cells
• Does not clog skin pores
• The essential fatty acids contribute towards maintaining a healthy skin
• Superb moisturizing benefits for skin and hair
• It is a non-siccative (non-drying) oil

The Baobab is probably the best known tree in Africa. Its thick, grey, fibrous trunk (reaching, in some instances, over 25 meters in circumference) and large, spreading crown, seasonally devoid of foliage, are instantly recognizable. Baobabs are extremely long-lived, with some specimens believed to be as much as 6,000 years old. The baobab belongs to its own family, Bombacaceae.

The Baobab tree has digitate (hand-shaped) leaves, and ovoid fruit, with a hard woody shell covered in yellowish-green velvety hairs, are again easily identified. Inside its shell, the fruit contains a number of seeds, embedded in a whitish, powdery pulp. Tangy and nutritious, the pulp makes a tasty food or, after soaking in water or milk, a refreshing beverage.

The tree is found throughout Africa, generally at low altitudes and in the hotter, drier areas. In fact, so widespread is the tree that, to many people, it is an icon, symbolic of the continent itself.

The oil is extracted by cold-pressing the seeds.

Why are our moisturizers so special?

Heat is the enemy of high end oils. Excess heat destroys their delicate properties. We are able to use these kind of precious ingredients because of our methods treat our ingredients so delicately. Almost all moisturizers are made by a few big manufacturers. Big manufacturers make their products in huge batches (100’s of thousands of jars at a time) and use high heat to speed production. We are completely different. All products are made in small batches of a few hundred jars at a time. We carefully control temperatures so precise the oils never go above 140 degrees F. And the mixing takes place at exactly 126 degrees F. We use precise scales and spreadsheets to insure batches are made exactly as planned. This is an artisan process. Almost no one is doing this. Plus everything is made and shipped fresh.

When we first started offering skin care products in 1999, it was in response to requests for a well made moisturizer, with high end ingredients that was pH neutral and freshly made. At the time no one was doing this. As far as I know, we still are the only ones doing it. Most skin care products you buy today were made years ago.

We’ve continued adding to our line because people are different and they also need moisturizers for different situations, skin conditions and skin types. Unless you have an identical twin, your skin has it’s own unique skin chemistry.

Every oil and butter we work with has different properties. And combining them will also change how they perform. The possibilities are endless. Our goal is mainly just to solve skin issues and in so doing earn your continued business.

In the moisturizer business there is a rule called the ‘One Drop Rule’. What is it?

As long as a product has one drop of the ingredient it can be named after that ingredient. So we could legally call our moisturizer Baobab and only have a drop in it. It would be legal, but in our mind it would be wrong.

So why do companies do this? Mainly to save money. At about $300 a gallon Baobab oil has to be kept under lock and key. It is the most precious carrier oil we have ever worked with. The supplies world wide are limited.

So why are we different?

We decided a long time ago, not to go big. Not to sell out. Our business model was the very best ingredients, fresh made and shipped direct to our customers. No Retail stores to get in the way. Or tell us what to do. We are not perfect. We make mistakes. We are working with highly precious ingredients that make producing products with them difficult. If our products aren’t good enough, then we keep improving them until they are good enough. We listen to our customers and respond to their requests and suggestions. Our only boss is our customers. Our guarantee comes with no time limit.

What’s in it? (in order of prominence)

Reverse Osmosis purified water infused with Green Tea: virtually all skin care products ‘say’ they use purified water. But the real deal is reverse osmosis purified water. This mean ZERO contaminants which means the starting point is pure. It’s expensive to do (goes through 5 filters, which have to be changed often), but it is the only water we use. We use the waste water from this purifying process to water our flowers and landscaping. So there is no waste. Don’t some products use distilled water? Yes but distilled water is environmentally expensive to make (heat is used to boil the dirty water and stream is collected). The problem we have with distilled water is it has a lower pH due to the extra ions added during the process. We prefer to work with pH neutral water. To me there is no more perfect water than R-O water. I remember the 1st time we made soap with it. As we poured the soap is was so creamy! It looked like home made ice cream right before it gets solid. It’s one of our special secrets to how good our products are. Again, no one does this.

Baobab Oil. (Adansonia digitata). Our supplier claims this oil is Organic. The trees grow wild. I tend to believe this oil falls into the category of being Wild Crafted. Most precious oils are wild crafted. I know it is the highest quality we can buy.

Emulsifying wax: This is a vegetable wax that is used to combine the oils and water.

Stearic acid: is not an acid, but another vegetable wax. Adds creaminess.

Glycerin (vegetable). What skin care product doesn’t benefit from Glycerin? Problem is most store bought and even high end moisturizers often use animal derived Glycerin. You don’t even want to know how they make this glycerin. Unless the label specifically says vegetable, it is almost always animal derived. Yuck!

Cetyl Stearyl Alcohol (vegetable) this is a waxy vegetable ingredient used to give the moisturizers a bit of heft and contact feel.

Germall Plus (4/10’s of 1%) (diazolidinyl Urea, 3-Iodo-2-propylbutylcarbarmate) (a vegetable derived preservative to keep our product fresh) only needs 4/10’s of one percent to keep our product safe. Look before you ask, no totally natural preservative really protects products from bacteria. We don’t like using Parabens. and since we pH balance our moisturizers we are limited in our choice of preservatives. What’s great about this one is so little is needed to afford protection.

Rose Otto (Rosa damascena) Many consider Rose Otto to be the King of essential Oils. Bulgarian Rose Otto is the finest in the world. Rosa damascena may also be known by the names of Damask rose and Anatolian rose. Its odor is deep, sweet, rosy-floral and tenacious.

About 30 roses are required to make 1 drop of oil and 60,000 petals to make 1 ounce of oil. 1 ounce of this oil is $321.00. Almost a dollar a drop. 8 ounces is $2417.00. OH it is so wonderful! And it’s so powerful a small amount is needed.

The essential oil of rose has a deep psychological effect. It is harmonizing, anti-depressive and helps make sorrow easier; soothes feelings such as anger, fear and anxiety.

Oil of rose is ideal for all skin care, especially for mature, dry or sensitive skin. It is antidepressant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, bactericide, diuretic, emmenagogue, laxative, sedative and stomachic. Eases nervous tension and stress. Gives a woman positive feelings about herself. Calms premenstrual tension, promotes vaginal secretions and regulates the menstrual cycle. Helpful with sexual difficulties, particularly frigidity and impotence.

Best if used within one year of receipt. I’ll bet no skin care product you have bought from a store was made within the last year. Most of the products were made years ago. We find we can better control our quality if we make products as they are used. Fresh just makes for better skin care products. Our families all use our products. We only sell what we would use.

pH neutral: And why is this important? Although we use ingredients that have an acid pH, the finished moisturizer is pH neutral, like all of our moisturizers. We believe the skin is actually stressed by acids. Virtually all moisturizers on the market are acid. We wondered why? If acids are so good for the skin as these products claim, why does it feel so good to take a swim in the ocean? Ocean water pH is very much the opposite of acid. Slightly alkaline. Why is it recommended to keep swimming pool water slightly alkaline? There is a whole line of thinking now that promotes alkalines. We believe the skin and all of nature loves alkaline and hates acids. If the ocean were to all of a sudden become slightly acid, mostly it would be a dead body of water. Forget this nonsense of the ‘acid mantle’. Our bodies when healthy, are pH neutral to slightly alkaline.

No animal ingredients or testing EVER! We also get assurances from our suppliers that all of our raw ingredients are not animal derived or any animal testing done there either.

Most skin care products you buy to use today, were made in large factories years ago and have been in storage. Everything we ship was made in small batches within a few weeks of shipping. Fresh matters! Quality ingredients matter!

Most of our ingredients are as close to natural as possible. We avoid overly processed ingredients. Processing means heat and that destroys the goodness in these precious ingredients we use.