“ are internal tokens (with no value in dollars) that allow members to receive credit for help they provide to non-profits or individual Simbi members, without having to exchange talents directly.
Handmade non-toxic skin care
50
Detox your personal care and recapture your glow.
This nourishing skin care kit includes moisturizer and sunscreen with high quality coconut oil, beeswax, shea butter, aloe, essential oils (for healing and a very light, fresh scent), jojoba oil, vitamin e oil, and non-nano zinc oxide.
The photo is a no-filter, un-retouched close-up of my skin at age 56 after about a year of using nothing but these products.
Note - these products don't contain emulsifiers or preservatives, so they'll need to be stirred occasionally before using and may need to be reheated and stirred at some point if you have them around long enough, as they do separate. It's the price of being entirely natural, handmade and not containing any ingredients except those your skin needs. The sunscreen helps protect your skin, but is equivalent to about 20 SPF when stirred and properly (thickly) applied - to be safe, it should be used only in non-peak hours (before 11 and after 3). If you have to be out for long periods or in peak sun hours, please consider using one of the non-toxic products recommended by the Environmental Working Group.
My jam: I make kits of organic, handmade, small-batch, animal- and environment-friendly personal care and baby products as well as non-toxic cleaners. Each product comes in an attractive, reusable glass container, and includes a recipe, sourcing information for ingredients and a link to an instruction video.
I look for inventive, lovely ways to package kits in up-cycled thrift store finds you can pass on or use forever if it tickles you as much as it tickles me.
My aim is to make homes healthier, reduce plastic container use, empower people to make better, safer products for much less money, and to build community through swapping and through maker sessions.
Once you have your containers, you can refill using the instructions and ingredient sourcing information, or bring your containers back for refilling at a maker session. (Drop ins are fine - you don't need to attend a whole session unless you want to.)
Training & Qualifications
Pure passion. I'm a writer and editor, and I've written on health for the Globe and Mail in their special features for about 10 years now. Everything I've learned about illness from the experts I've interviewed has convinced me that our immune systems are overloaded and hyper-reactive, leaving us vulnerable to many forms of disease.
My husband is the bee biologist Mark Winston. In his Governor General's Literary Award-winning book, Bee Times, Lessons from the Hive, he writes about the destructive synergistic impact toxins have on bees, and describes hive collapse as the "canary in the coal mine" in terms of the synergistic effects agricultural and other toxins can have on humans. As these chemicals are tested in isolation, not in context or combination, we're only now becoming aware than the many toxins humans have in their bodies at any given time add up to reduced resilience and energy even if they are perfectly safe individually.
Along the way, he introduced me to Hives for Humanity, a social enterprise in the downtown east side that supports street-involved individuals by teaching them to care for bees. I bought their balm, and before long, was buying it in multitudes to give to friends, as it made my 56-year-old skin glow and feel amazing. I've paid $70 for moisturizer that wasn't nearly as effective, and Hives for Humanity balm costs $15 for what is essentially a six-month supply if you use it liberally. (If you want to start down this path yourself, which would be totally great, just Google them and head over to Pinterest for recipe choices. You can do it!)
In addition to living more lightly on the planet, and creating amazing products that feel wonderful to apply as well as on the skin, this little cottage social enterprise allows me to do what I can to get these toxins out of our homes and off our bodies. I've spoken to so many people who love these ideas and these products, but don't have the time or the desire to make the switch. If that describes you, I'd love to help.
Availability & Preferences
I check in once a day. Products can be ready for pick up in two business days.
