Scrubz! Natural Skin Care Porducts! How I Reunited and Rejuvenated!

 

It’s a small world. It is also an amazing world when technology brings friends back together. This is what happened when I was reunited with a couple of my Sorority Sisters via Facebook. I also found a line of products I adore!

I was contacted through Facebook Message by one of my Sorority Sisters from college. She “found” me and wanted to “friend” me. I immediately obliged. We caught up through messaging one another over several months. At one point, this college friend posted a photo and I noticed that a comment was made by another one of my Sorority Sisters, Roberta Perry. I contacted Roberta and another friendship was reunited! I was now reunited with two college friends after roughly twenty-five years had passed!

Roberta Perry and Michelle Tucker

I next discovered that Roberta and her sister Michelle are the owners of a fabulous line of body products called Scrubz! Roberta found that the skin products on the market were not satisfying her addiction to soft skin. They were either filled with artificial preservatives and/or colors, didn't do what they promised, or the scents were not quite right. She tried various formulations of scrubs, testing jar after jar on herself and her sister, Michelle Tucker. She did extensive research into natural based plant oils and how wonderful they are for your skin.

One day, Michelle, having just recently sampled the latest formula, burst in the room announcing, "you have to sell this stuff...it's amazing!" Two days later, Michelle called Roberta and announced she had the perfect name, so in July of 2006,Scrubz™ All Natural Sugar Body Scrub was born.

 

Michelle joined the business, and with her help, the product line has grown to include Handz™, Facez™, Shavez™, Butterz™, Oilz™, OIlz+™, Balmz™, Bye Bye Bagz™, Bye Bye MakeUp™, Lipz Service™ and Lipz™.

 

Scrubz™ uses the finest and most natural ingredients, and their fragrance list is so extensive, there is a scent to please everyone, including their Unscented line which is 100% Pure and Fragrance Free. Over those first few years, they “perfected” their products and tried to market them to small stores or by doing home parties. They found that they were “selling out” just as quickly as they could produce.

Then in February of 2011, they found they needed to literally “get out of the kitchen” and find some retail property. Their store in Bethpage, NY...on Long Island...is the perfect match for their exquisite products! Quaint, yet spaciously designed for a sitting area, it smells like a garden and the decor reminds you of a Parisian parlor! It is beyond lovely! If you live on Long Island, I urge you to go see it for yourself!

More recently, Roberta and Michelle were able to persuade both Whole Foods and Nature’s Way stores to carry some of their products. As of January 2013, they added their product line for sale online at scrubzbodyscrub.com! You can also “like” them on Facebook to get tips on living a healthy lifestyle or finding out about seasonal or “Limited Edition” products. Go on to their e-mail list and you get promotional discounts, birthday surprises and weekly discounts on the “Scents of the Week.” Bring in two clean, empty containers, and get deep discounts on whichever scents they chose to make large batches of for that week! They will also custom make a scent of your choosing. I plan to bring in one of my favorite essential oils and have them make a scrub personalized just for me!

When I initially discovered that Roberta had her own line of all natural products, I knew I wanted to blog about them. I was sent a selection of their most popular items and have since purchased additional items to try out. I am now an official Scrubz addict! I have gone through 3 small containers of seasonal or “limited edition” scrubs in just a few months. My favorites were “Pink Lemonade,” “Watermelon” and “Summer Daze.” They also have year-round scents as well.

I have used other scrub products in the past but have always been disappointed. I would scoop some into my hand only to find half of it had fallen to the tub in transferring it to my skin or had it feel so harsh and gritty, it actually left streaks of abrasion across my body. I was completely turned off. I wanted to give Scrubz a try. From the very first scoop, the beautifully textured product distributed flawlessly over my skin. None fell to the floor of the tub, it just spread over my skin and left a lovely, thin, oil base and amazing scent as I soothingly rubbed it over my skin! What a tremendous difference from scrub products I’ve tried in the past! 

But wait! They don’t just make scrub products. They have a lip moisturizer called “Balmz” that I swear feels like a rose petal is touching your lips as the light, creamy texture glides over your pucker. For dry, chapped, peeling lips, you can try “Lipz Service.” This is a special scrub for the lips to slough off old skin with the delicious sugar base, while allowing the lips to heal with their special blend of soothing oils.

They also have a scrub called “Facez.” This exfoliating scrub is more refined for delicate facial skin and has a slightly higher oil ratio than their body scrub to moisturize the face after use. It is truly a perfect blend for facial skin and is fragrance free. 

Why all the fuss about Exfoliation? 

Exfoliation is more than just a beauty process - it is truly one of the best things you can do to improve the appearance of your skin and keep it healthy.

Pores get filled with dead skin, oil, external particles, etc. Because of this, there is nothing better than a good, regular, gentle exfoliation to keep skin fresh and healthy. In general, scrubs function by removing old cells to produce a smoother skin surface. They also provide excellent physical stimulation to skin through a massaging effect,  which in turn helps improve blood and lymph circulation. When exfoliation is done well, it rejuvenates the skin, giving it a healthy polished glow. The skin is constantly generating new skin cells and sending them to the surface. However, as time goes on, the process of cell turnover decreases, and the skin can start to look dry and less glowing. Since exfoliation increases cell turnover, the skin appears younger and feels tighter and more polished. Oil-based sugar scrubs focus on skin treatment and then rejuvenation, first with gentle skin polishing and then with nourishment, using natural oils and emollients. Scrub products also help to emphasize the holistic approach of de-stressing and relaxation.

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The Oil Cleansing Method

The Oil Cleansing Method, or “OCM” is a way to clean your body and face using natural oils.

For many people, the simplest way to clear up acne, blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, blemishes, rashes or outbreaks on your face is simple: STOP using soap and other harsh cleansers and moisturizers, and turn to the most natural, time-honored facial trick of all: cleaning your skin with natural oils.

The biggest reason we have so much trouble with commercial skin care products is that they strip the oil out of our skin. Each time we do this, our skin over-compensates, trying to repair itself by replacing the oil that was taken away. When you use natural oils to remove oily dirt you’re employing the chemical principle called “like dissolves like.”  Natural oils are close enough in their basic structure to bind to dirty oils chemically and then to dissolve all the gunk on your skin and face. Pretty cool, huh?

Do not be afraid of applying oil to your face. Oil, alone, will not bring you blemishes. Pimples, cysts, blackheads, whiteheads...these are a result of several different factors including hormones, bacteria, dead skin cells and the buildup of all of these. Your skin naturally produces Sebum oil because it needs it and it is there for the benefit of your skin. Not only does this natural oil help lubricate, it also heals, protects, and moisturizes your skin so that it may function properly. Properly functioning skin is beautiful, clear, and glowing. Learning to work with it, and not against it, will make your skin shine with health, not extra oil.

So now you have the scoop on Scrubz! If you are not in the area, I urge you to go online to see their gorgeous website and try a jar of Scrubz, or other products, for yourself! Their newest scent, “Fall Harvest” is out. It is a combination of apple, pomegranate, pear and other fruit oils to make this scent a burst of Fall freshness! 

"Fall Harvest"

As for me, I now have three fabulous friends in my life, two old, one new, and a line of products I absolutely crave! What could be more delightful? Other than a jar of new “Fall Harvest!”

Please don't forget to visit Scrubz at their Facebook and Twitter pages!

Scrubz Products:  facebook.com/scrubzbodyproducts  

Scrubz Parties:  facebook.com/scrubzparties

Scrubz for Guys facebook.com/shavezbyscrubzformen

Twitter: twitter.com/scrubzbody

A huge thank you to Roberta Perry and Michelle Tucker for allowing me to indulge in their vast array of products before putting together this blog!

Back to School Health and Resource Fair-Special Needs Network, Inc.

Areva is a nationally recognized children and women’s rights advocate and autism spokesperson. She is the founder and President of Special Needs Network, Inc., a Los Angeles based non-profit organization created specifically to raise awareness of issues that impact individuals with autism and related disabilities, living in under-served and marginalized communities. SNN has provided services to over 30,000 families in communities across California. Red Book Magazine named Areva one of '10 women changing the face of autism'. Areva has raised millions of dollars for autism related causes and, through her advocacy, has made the issue of serving minority children with autism a key priority for local and state policy-makers, and positioned Special Needs Network as the “go to” autism agency in the state

Terrific Site! Easy Canvas Prints!

 

Turn your photos to canvas with Easy Canvas Prints™. Photos on canvas are great for decorating your home or office, and perfect as photo gifts! With their easy to use canvas prints designer, you can turn your very own image into a stunning work of art on canvas! Canvas prints are printed and stretched in-house by canvas professionals, and come ready to hang or display with a classic semi-gloss finish. Just choose your canvas size and wrap thickness, upload your pictures or art, and choose your border for a personalized canvas print of your own. You won’t be able to wait to see the quality of your canvas pictures!

I decided to try using Easy Canvas Prints with a photo of my son. No parent can ever have too many photos of their children displayed! The photo I chose had a very laid-back, casual look to it. I felt that it would be a good match for a canvas print. I was also planing on displaying it in my son’s room, which is far from formal. You can see how lovely it is from the photo below.

Ordering an Easy Canvas Print was even easier than ordering online 4x6 photos. Seriously! You pick your size, it shows you approximately how big the canvas will look in a virtual room, you upload a photo, click and drag it to the blank canvas in the size you want, choose a border, and you’re done! You can go back to make minor adjustments if you like, but the process was easier than I imagined! The canvas print came back exactly on the date the shipping information had given me too! I am not only impressed, I am hooked on making more canvases! My next one is going to be a canvas photo of my son driving a go-cart solo for his first time! He saw how well the first canvas came back that he is requesting a 16x20 to fill up a large blank area in his room! I can’t wait to see how that one turns out!

Ordering canvases is not only practical, (no glass to worry about if you have young ones), it can be used to display formal arrangements too. I can see some black and white wedding photos with black edging grouped together. You can take a picture of each of your children and make a grouping for a playroom. You can even take photos of vacations and display them as treasured memories. I can promise you, your canvas print will be your favorite photo print yet!

To see Easy Canvas Prints for yourself, go to: http://www.easycanvasprints.com/

By the way, Easy Canvas Prints highly recommends AlliedShirts for all your custom shirt needs! Check them out at:http://www.alliedshirts.com/.

Is This a Playdate or Unpaid Caregiving?

My son, as many of the regular readers know, is the epitome of eight-year-old social chairman. He regularly has playdates all weekend long. Sometimes with a couple different children on the same day. I enjoy having his friends over or him being invited to other’s homes. It takes a "do nothing day" and makes it into something a little more special.

Lately, I have noticed that a couple of the Moms of my son's friends seem to be slowly taking advantage of my generosity in having their child over for a playdate. As an example, one Mom begged me to have her son over for "a couple hours," which turned into six. Later, I found out that her "emergency" was a workout at the gym followed by a manicure!

A different Mom said she needed somewhere for her son to go because they lost heat in her home. I readily obliged to have her son over and extended the invitation to her as well. She said that she was able to go somewhere else. Where did the Mom go? Out to lunch and then drinks with some friends! I can't help but wonder...have playdates turned into unpaid caregiving?

I sympathize with with some of these Moms. They either work full-time or are working, single Moms and need a break. But a little reciprocation would be appreciated. Most Moms will have my son over for a couple hours, maybe three. Just enough time for me to do a good grocery shopping. However, I am using my time for an essential activity. It is not a haircut or a massage. Also, when I have my son's friends over, for hours, I end up doing marathon laundry or a massive clean up of an overstuffed closet. Certainly not the most exciting things in the world. In fact, my son has one of his friends over right now. I was told this kid's Mom was getting the spider veins removed from her legs. Not only did her procedure take hours, I had to drop her son home because her legs swelled up and she couldn’t come to pick him up! At least I'm doing something productive like writing this blog. She's having an elective cosmetic procedure!

When the weather is nicer, the kids can play outside, we can go to the park, visit local farms, enjoy the pleasure of the outdoors. It is just these winter months that are the most irritating. And a day without a playdate...let's just say I would rather deal with the monsoon of toys that get strewn around my entire house.

One Mom asked me to drive her child home because she was "exhausted." I've had a Mom text me that she was running late, would I mind getting a pizza for the kids, and she never even offered to reimburse me for the food! This was at the end of an almost 7 hour playdate!

I've also noticed that none of my son's friend's help clean up the monsoon they created when it is time for them to go. I always ask my son if he helped clean up before we leave a friend’s home. Most of these Moms just rudely sit in their warm cars in my driveway, blasting the horn until their charge appears. To the contrary, I always walk to the front door of the friend’s home, even if the weather is brutal. I inquire about how the playdate went, then make sure that my son helped to clean up. I also make sure to remind my son to say “thank you” for the playdate to his friend as well as his friend’s Mom.

With a couple Moms, I decided to put my foot down. When my dog was sick and needed rest, not two wild, rambunctious kids bothering him, I said to a Mom that I would give her money to take my son to the movies or bowling together with her son, but I just couldn't have the kids playing at my house. The poor dog hides from them when he is feeling well! He didn't need these wild kids piling things on him when he wasn't feeling his best. The Mom appeared a little affronted, but I had reached my limit.

Playdates outside the home will also need to be either paid for upfront or by the other Mom at the counter. I went to get tickets for a popular movie an hour before the movie started, dropping my son off at his friend’s house on the way. I paid $58 for 2 adult tickets, 2 child tickets and 4,  3D glasses (they are no longer free.) How did she reciprocate? By buying a tub of popcorn, which included free refills, and a drink. The second drink came with the popcorn. I told her how much I spent and when she said she would pay for the popcorn and drinks, my reaction was, “huh”?

So what's a Mom to do? I have enough on my plate than to take on the position of unpaid caregiver. I already scheduled an activity for my son on Sunday mornings, so that other Moms wouldn’t be able to just drop their child off at 11 am and pick them up at dinner time (or later!). I tell the Moms that there is a 3 or 4 hour playdate limit at my house. I certainly don't expect my child to exceed that limit on his playdates at other's homes either. More than a few hours becomes a burden and the kids end up spiraling out of control. My son needs to realize that a whole day does not purely revolve around him. There is now also a “clean up rule.” Fifteen minutes before the playdate ends, both kids put the house back in order. 

Maybe then, playdates will be something to be looked forward to by both my son and me!

My Son...The Treasurer?

My son is a natural born leader. I don’t say this just to puff myself up. In fact, I envy his innate abilities. I’ve witnessed his talents since he was a toddler. The kid just has what it takes. You can spot it a mile away.

His elementary school decided to form a Student Government. Two children from the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades were chosen to form the committee. I asked my son’s teacher how it came to be that my son was chosen. She said that first each 3rd grade class had to nominate one person. Then the individual class nominees were up for democratic voting by all of their 3rd grade peers. My son won! What an incredible honor! I can’t even think of two kids I was even close to when I was in 3rd grade!

It didn’t surprise me that my son was chosen. The kid can make friends with a tree. What did surprise me was that my son has learning disorders and the school administration is still allowing my son to participate. I give the school kudos. Especially since it took two agonizing years to get special services for my son.

My son is beyond elated! He was dressed and ready to go to his first meeting last week an hour ahead of schedule. He nagged us to go to the school before it was even open! He glowed when he told us how his first meeting went. A plethora of creative ideas for various goals were spewing out of my son’s mouth so fast, I thought he would pass out from not taking a breath! Now the Student Government must decide a President, Secretary and Treasurer. Only fifth graders are allowed to run for President; fourth graders for Secretary and third graders for Treasurer. Guess who wants to run for Treasurer?

My son has no problems with math or money comprehension. Thankfully, math is one area he excels at. My only fear for him is that he has to write a speech to present to his peers explaining why he should be chosen as Treasurer. A speech. Something you have to write. An area where all of his deficits lie.

We engaged his tutor to help him with his speech. It is basic. Not terribly convincing. However, I can visualize my son making this rather dry speech into something completely engaging. He has that “gift.”

I, the “Free Range Mom” who practically throws my son out of the nest, shouting, “Go for it!” am a little apprehensive for my son. He is getting better at dealing with failure. Yet, he is so convinced that he will be chosen as Treasurer, that if he is not chosen, I will be wondering whether it is because of his learning deficits. I would never relay these fears of mine to him. But I will be thinking of it. A lot.

I should, and am so grateful that my son was nominated and chosen to represent his class. He has myriad ideas about fundraising, raising money for charities, inspiring more “school spirit,” etc. He will be a perfect asset to the Student Government regardless whether he wins as Treasurer or not. Still, that nagging doubt will remain in the back of my head if he does not get chosen.

I want my son to win as Treasurer. I want him to win because I know he can carry out his responsibilities and be a highly enthusiastic part of the team. I want him to win because even though his writing and reading are sub-par, he can still show the world that he can accomplish what he sets his mind to regardless of his deficits. I want the school to see that regardless of “disabilities,” there are many ways a child can prove their value and worthiness. I want him to continue to nurture his amazing, innate characteristics! They have gotten him quite far in his short life. I want them to take him to the moon and back. And just possibly, to the Presidency!

I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed. Toes too! You go, kid!!

Chore Chart

Now that the holidays are behind us, and some routines for your child may have "relaxed" during this time, it is a terrific time to re-establish more structure for your family. To help your family get back on track and start the New Year off right, we came upon just the right solution for you!

I was excited to be invited to try out an online scheduling site called, "GoalForIt." This excellent online resource provides a variety of free solutions for personal success that are easy to use and can help bring more focus, balance and fulfillment into everyday living. I particularly love their simple-to-use Chore Chart, which can help children of all ages learn essential skills in a fun and rewarding way.

This FREE Chore Chart can help teach kids, tweens & teens many important lessons, including:

Responsibility:

Chore Chart is an ideal way to help your kids feel like they are making a contribution to their family by doing their part around the house.

Understanding right from wrong:

Setting behavior goals is an important way to help children strengthen their character and judgment.

Healthy Habits:

Teaching good habits involving nutrition and physical activity are the cornerstone of preventing obesity in children and adolescents.

Money Matters:

The optional point system teaches children three important lessons for managing money; earning, spending and saving.

I went to the site and set up my personal account. My focus was to make up a Chore Chart that my son could reasonably follow. This site is incredibly simple to use. To create a personalized chart, you choose a "background" that you or your child likes. You then go to the category options (ie. chores, behavior, healthy eating, etc.) and click on the goals that you would like to see on your chart. I was able to combine one chart to include not only chores, but also behavior goals and healthy habits. Then I selected how many times per week I thought my son could reasonably achieve these goals on a daily and weekly basis. This allowed both of us to see the big picture of how well my son was able to successfully carry out his goals. That's it! I made one up in just a few minutes. I had the option to print out the charts for a few weeks, complete with dates, enter the daily information directly to the website, or do a combination of both.

Once the chart was completed for the day, I had the option of entering how well my son did onto the website on a daily basis or at any other point in time. This process took virtually just a couple minutes. We would click on the appropriate day and goal. Then my son got to choose which type of “sticker” he could apply to that goal once it was finished. At the end of the week, I could print out a summary to review with my son. We could easily see where he would be rewarded or given a chance to try harder to complete the goals for the next week. We could even go back into the site and modify goals that we felt were more unreasonable for my son to achieve. There is even a “Moolah” button you can use to “bank” points for actual money. Overall, it was a fun, interactive way to work with your child to both empower him/her or to set and achieve reasonable goals. The site also offers suggestions about both rewarding your child or working on ways for your child to be more responsible for his/her goals.

My son was able to easily achieve most of the goals I set up for him. As he becomes better at being able to meet all of his goals, we can then collaborate together and work on either increasing the number of times he would need to meet a goal per week or add additional categories to his chart. We can even create our own personal goals. The Chore Chart is completely customizable and flexible.

I plan to continue to use the Chore Chart system! With it's ease of use and completely customizable system, I even want to make up a chart for myself! The website is user-friendly, simple to use and best of all...it WORKS!

Try it out with your family. Not only is it FREE, but it is simple to use. Best of all, my son actually likes it! With any child, that is half the battle! 

Here's to 2012 — by Margaret Hart

This is my first blog in the New Year, and I'd like to write something meaningful and inspirational, but I'm finding myself to be somewhat at a loss for words. I'm sort of temporarily tapped out.  Since early November, I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting ready for this and that, and now that the excitement of all the holidays is over, the company has left, and my son goes back to school tomorrow, there is a satisfying lull in my routine. I have nothing urgent on my calendar until February. And I'm liking this peaceful time of nothing pressing to do.  

Like most people, however, I am thinking about what I'd like to accomplish this year. My to-do list is always a mile long, but there are a few must-do priorities at the top. I'm not a "resolutions" type of person, I'm a goals and priorities gal, and one of the top goals is to continue to make my health a priority. As many moms know, we often put ourselves second or third to our children, our husbands, our jobs, and our pets. I made a conscious decision in 2010 to make myself a priority and started working out with a trainer and seeing a nutritionist. Thankfully, my husband is supportive and my son, who is the most health conscious seven-year-old I know, rarely wants to eat anything fattening or sugary, so I get a lot of support in my household.

Another big priority is to continue to focus on the next phase in my career, which I voluntarily stepped away from when my son was born. While he's been growing, I've enjoyed freelancing at my own pace, providing me with the flexibility to be a full-time mom.  Now that my son is becoming more and more independent, the economy is picking up, and I am seeing more opportunities, I am reviewing my options. Many of the stay-at-home moms I met last year when my son entered Kindergarten have gone back to work; some out of necessity, and others because they missed being in the workforce. I am torn.  I miss being in the workforce. But I know I'll miss being a full-time mom.  And I'm scared at the prospect of relinquishing control to a nanny.  I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

One of the biggest challenges I expect to face this year is taking on guardianship of my younger sister who  has down's syndrome and currently lives in a group home near my parents in Maine.  My parents are now in their early 70s, and it's getting harder for them to supervise her care. It's time for me to step into a role I have been anticipating for many years.  I'll be overseeing her transition to a group home in Connecticut, and becoming her full-time guardian ensuring all  her needs are met.  Fortunately, she is high functioning, relatively independent, and social, so I'm hopeful she will be happy making new friends and getting involved in  new activities. 

I'm looking forward to 2012 being a year of positive change for me and my family.  And even though I say every  year that I'm going to slow down, not take on so many projects, and try not to do too much, I know that I will. It's in my nature. If  I'm not running around with my  hair on fire, I'm bored. 

So here's to the New Year!  As my son likes to say, "Go like the wind Bulls Eye."