Sumbody Skincare Review

Hi Luvs,

Hope everyone is having a good week. The weather is gloomy today. Yet again it’s overcast but it worked out well. I still have my AC in my closet and have survived the summer without it. When I get back from vacation it will be September so I don’t expect to need it then. It’s the tiny steps we can take to reduce our carbon foot print. Now I’m not saying don’t use AC, if the summer was hot I would have but sometimes an open window does the trick. A day or two of not using the AC here and there makes a difference.

Why do I always digress? I log in to write about one subject but their I go off on a tangent. This isn’t even a tangent, these topics are so unrelated.

Okay so, Sumbody Skincare. What I like about Sumbody is that I relate to their story. I just assumed all products on the store shelf was safe to use until I had kids. Then reality hit me, all these product seeking CEO don’t care about our health just their buttom line. They have been adding toxic chemicals to our everyday products to keep prices low and compete with competitors. This is partially our fault, we should spend more time looking at the ingredients list on our products. Just because it’s within your budget doesn’t mean that it should be used on your body. You know that one thing that you can’t change or live without? yea that. Doing research on the best baby products to use on Mia I found a list of over 150 BABY products with TOXIC chemicals in it.

I was shocked, mostly because these were products from some of my favourite brands, brands that I have been using all my life. Of course I was also infuriated at the time because back then I had doctors yelling at me every month “You probably have cancer? yes, we get that you want to keep your baby safe, but what will that baby do without it’s mother? You need to have surgery now…” So in a fit of hormonal rage I almost made my own baby products but you know, I was fat and sick so I couldn’t. Luckily I was in France, they have higher standards for the safety of their products and I was able to find safe products to use on Mia. And as expected when I moved to the US, the good products that I loved were no longer available. So I needed to do more research, safe but effective seemed to be a hard thing to find. I remember right after my first purchase, I found out that The Honest Company was being sued because their safe sunscreen wasn’t effective. Well more research… I winded up using Burt Bees I liked the way it smelled so much that I started using it on myself then I have my moment of clarity. One day in the shower -the only time of the day us moms get 30 seconds alone before little people start banging down the door – with my hair soaking in conditioner as I reached for my favorite body wash, I look at it and thought to myself “you sneaky bastard, what are you made of?”

Us mom’s go crazy finding the safest products on the market for our little ones and never once think about putting the same level of concern into sourcing our own products. And who can blame us, I never majored in Chemistry, I don’t even know what half the ingredients on the list means. But there is GOOGLE, and I’m going to try to restrain myself from going on a tangent about how amazing google is. Anyways, google, you can google all of those ingredients and find out what is and isn’t safe for you to us. You can even google the product name and  see what other reviewers/ review site think about it. I don’t really recommend trusting these people or sites, it’s really best to comb through the ingredient list yourself but sometimes we don’t have time for that. I try to but honestly at least 20% of the products I used were not vetted or checked.

Sumbody’s founder Deborah, had actually studied cosmetology and knew how to make her own healthy products. When she had her kids and started paying attention to the ingredients list on “Natural” baby products she took matters into her own hands. Sumbody was born with a mom’s care and began as a line created for her family. It soon expanded to clients and it was just an explosion from there. Some of you may have even received their products in your subscription boxes. If you follow their instagram you will see Deborah in the garden getting you fresh ingredient for their products. I have myself tried a few of their products!

My Sumbody Skincare routine:

Step 1: Cool Train Charcoal Cleanser

Charcoal cleansers are a great way to clean your pores. This one is great for acne sufferers, it’s design to draw out acne causing toxins without harsh chemicals that will dry out your skin. A good deep cleaner without the dry out factor is really important for me since I have dry skin. I’m not acne prone but I have sensitive skin and I can easily break out after makeup if I don’t properly remove all of the make up at night.

This Cleanser is made with:

Deionized Water, Witch Hazel Water, Matricaria Flower Water, Green Tea Extract, Organic Coconut Oil, Guar Gum, Dimethyl MEA (DMAE), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Sugar Cane Extract, Sugar Maple Extract, Orange Fruit Extract Citrus, Lemon Extract, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Algae Extract, Nettle Extract, Calendula Flower Extract, Chickweed Extract, Slippery Elm Extract, Milk Thistle Extract, Marshmallow Root Extract, Oat Extract, Charcoal (from Sawtooth Oak), Bambusa Arundinacea Vinegar Water, Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate), Vitamin C (Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate), Vitamin E (Tocopherol), Neem Seed Oil, Black Willow Bark Extract (Salix nigra), Lichen Extract, and Japanese Honeysuckle.

In addition to several cleansing ingredients you can easily find some hydrating ingredients in this list. Unlike serums which you massage into your face by using a circular motion with cleansers it’s best to rub it in an upward motion. I know there is some uncertainty about charcoal whether or not charcoal is a safe ingredient, but I still prefer my BBQ made over charcoal compared to a gas grill so it’s one of those things that I’m not ready to take sides on.

Step 2: Detox Facial Toner

Toner is losing its reputation in the beauty world with the emergence of so may types of beauty products but I think that’s because a lot of people forget about the benefits of toner. Toner is a cleanser. It’s a crucial part of your post make skincare routine. It really adds an extra layer of cleaning. It’s also amazing for people with oil skin. Toner draws out excess oils and dirty. This makes it tricky to use if you have dry skin but if you use a good moisturizer over it, then you should be fine. I usually apply toner after I remove make up, apply moisturizer, wash it off an hour later and reapply moisturizer. But I have severely dry skin. If you have oily skin you can even keep some in a spray bottle to freshen up your face during the day when it gets oily. Over washing your face signals to your cells that they did not produce enough oils in the first place so they produce more oils. Toner is a good middle ground. But be careful not to over apply toner either. Toner is also useful for shrinking pores!

This toner is made with: Witch Hazel Hydrosol (Hamamelis virginiana), Rosemary Hydrosol, Lavender Hydrosol, Tea Tree Hydrosol, Aloe Vera, Apple Cider Vinegar, Extracts of: Evening Primrose Oil, Laminaria, Bayberry, Rosemary, Butchers Broom, Blackberry Leaf, Gotu Kola, Red Rooibos Tea, Guarana, Coffee, Ginko Biloba, White Tea, Green Tea, Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Bladderack, Grapeseed, Horsetail, and Kelp.

 

Step 3: Rebel Scar Erasing Serum

This serum is made with Tamanu oil which promotes tissue healing. If you haven’t heard of Tamanu oil before then that’s a good enough reason to get this oil. Remember my last blog post where I talking about the importance of feeding your skin an array of nutrients?! The Tamanu oil also helps deal with acne scars which is amazing for me because I pop my pimples, I know I’m not supposed to but seriously, it’s gross and I’m not keen on leaving that gross stuff in my face. ughhhh. Plus it hurts, my face should not be throbbing? Anyway I digress, this serum gets rid of my acne scar 2x faster than if I left it alone and did nothing. It is also made with Shale and lavender oils, both of which potent anti-inflammatories which helps resolve acne.

 

The complete list of ingredients are:

Jojoba Oil, Tamanu Oil, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Lavender Essential Oil, Tea Tree Essential Oil, and Shale Oil.

Seriously how great is that for an ingredients list? It’s so short you could memorize it and I already knew of 5 out the 7 ingredients on the list!

I have also tried their Avocado oil which is made with 100% avocado oil. I love avocado. When I starting having kids I ate 1+ avocado a day. The benefits of avocado is amazing. It’s great to use in your hair or as a body oil. Because I have dry skin I tend to use it as a body oil. How do you think I keep those legs nice and sexy? By keeping them properly nourished!

Sumbody skincare is a gem in the beauty world and I hope you all try them!

Stay beautiful,

XOXO

Avi