Our Story

Cora's Blissfully Natural Products LLC
We are a Mother Daughter Team
This is Our Story!
Our becoming soap makers were out of need; My Daughter has very dry skin and rashes Caused by persistent low blood sugars due to a genetic mutation of the pancreas. We tried every soap, lotion, and cream. Nothing seem to work not even prescription types.

INSPIRATION!
In November of 2006 My Daughter was trying to figure out what to do for Her Heritage 4-H project. She started reading this book; (Once Upon a Time The way America was: by Eric Sloane). While studying History. (In this book Mr. Sloane states " what a bore life has become!") When we want water, electricity, food, or clothes; we couldn't care less where these things come from.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS!
After reading what the true American Heritage is; we talked it over and my Daughter decided to take the adventure of a lifetime. She was going to live like the early pioneer's. Sounds like this might be easy to do; but it's not. I turned off the TV, and started getting Her up earlier in the morning so that she could get all her chores done before school. She had to get up and clean her room, go out and water and feed her 4-H steers and work on three Heritage projects. The project were to make a quilt, to research her family tree, and learn to make soap. As for her quilt it was made to fit a full size bed. I did allow her to use the sewing machine to sew the quilt top, but she used her Great Grandmothers quilting rack to put the quilt together and tie it. The family history she used the computer to do the research; (hey have you noticed that so far she hasn't given up electricity yet.) The history she used to make a living history quilt. She printed the names of the male side of the family on to fabric to make the squares for her quilt. (The pioneer women would of hand stitched the each name); all the sewing was done in the day light hours it took her seven months to complete the quilt. To display the computer printout of the family trees she made home made paper and covered it with fabric left over from her quilt; (this too was done in day light hour only (pioneers did not have electricity). While doing all her chores and projects as close to how a pioneer might; she was learning to make soap.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!
It is now Winter
Where we live winters very from year to year. The winter of 2006-2007 turned out to be very cold with temperatures below zero, high winds, and snows.
Life as a pioneer is hard. Even in below zero weather and the wind making it even colder. She still had to go out feed and water her steers. Every morning she had to break the ice in the water buckets (pioneers did not have heated water troth's) nor did she; but we did have frost free water lines. That did not mean anything that year the wind chill even froze them up. The day are now shorter and less day light meant fewer hours to do all her chores, school and projects.
To make soap she first had to learn how the pioneers made it. The pioneers usually made it in the fall of the year during butchering time when there was as excess of fat. If they were lucky they were getting a little rain. If not they would use dishwater. The pioneer woman made her own lye from fireplace ash, and test it by floating an egg.
In 2006-2007 there is melt and pour, rebatching and from scratch soap. In 4-H you must learn all the ways to make soap. (So she did). Made a lot of soap! So much soap she really did not know what to do with it all. Then one day I said while looking at all that soap" 4-H is not just making something to show at Fair time, it is about taking what you have learned and putting it to work. That was two weeks before Christmas 2006. We put the soap in cute baskets and loaded them in the car, and set out to see if any friends and family might buy her soap. That day she sold it all, with orders for more.

By the spring of 2007 she had created her own line of products. Sold them to friends, family and anyone who wanted additive and preservative free personal care products. WE have been hard at work, school, and play from that day on.

When She started her pioneer adventure it was to experience life as close to that of those who built this country. What she learned is that as a child in the year 2006.She spent to much time in front of the Television, she was wasteful, that she expected everything to be given to her, and that she was pretty lazy.

After her adventure ended in June of 2007 she learned that she was quite capable of doing anything she set her mind too. She learned that hard work won't kill you in fact it feels good. Most of all found the true American Heritage.
Our American Heritage is
Spirit, Hard Work, and To Be Frugal

All Our soaps are made from scratch in small batches. The goats milk is whole milk right from the goat its self. The rose hip in our oil grows wild on our small farm, and so does the lavender that might be in some of our products. All the oils used in our products are vegetable and of food quality. NO animal testing. All testing is done on friends and family.

2007 Living History Quilt

2007 Living History Quilt
received the Purple Rosette

Family Heritage and Genealogy

Family Heritage and Genealogy
Cora received Purple Rosette

Just Life on the Farm


Business Card Rolodex ! I Do Not spam.

What you Might Not Know about Your Personal care Products
Please Read this

Back when Cora’s Blissfully Natural Products was a 4-H project; She had to do research on what was in our own personal care products. This is some of what she found. Needless to say we never used them again.

The Information below was used for Cora’s 4-H Oral Presentation that year.


POPULAR BUZZ WORDS.
Although there are many popular buzzwords in the market place today here are three; Pure, Natural, Non-Toxic.
The very name makes these words sound like the product should be healthy for you, right? That’s the deception. . Let’s discuss the three words mentioned above one at a time.
Pure.
The dictionary’s definition of Pure is “unmixed or unpolluted”. “Absolute”.
The Cosmetic Industry’s definition of Pure is any product containing any ingredient or portion thereof that could be traced back to a pure or original origin. In other words, if there is a “trace” of something
original in there, you can call the whole product pure. I hardly think this makes the product “unpolluted” or “absolute”.
Natural:
The dictionary’s definition of Natural is: “Pertaining to, in accordance with, or determined by, nature; Being or found in its native state”. “Not artificial”.
According to the Cosmetic Industry, you can proudly display the “natural” label if at least 5% of the ingredients are derived from a natural source. This means that you could have one ingredient that has a minimum of 5% of that ingredient that has come from a natural source and that is enough to meet the labeling requirements to call the entire product “Natural”. That means your product could be 5% natural and 95% artificial and still be called “natural”.
Webster’s Dictionary defines Non Toxic as: “not producing or resulting from poison”.
The cosmetic industry gives this definition: “If no more than 49% of all laboratory animals that the product is tested on die, then you can call the product Non Toxic.” That means that the product could be 48.9% likely to kill you. I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to take those odds. That is a rather risky gamble with your health.

To further complicate the issue, we have no real hope for relief from the manufacturers’. Here is the reason why. The cosmetic/personal care industry is self regulating. That means, the only ones that are looking out for the consumer is the manufacturer of the product.

DID YOU KNOW... Recently a thousand people had to be evacuated from their homes, By order of OSHA because a factory near their homes had a one-gallon spill of a hazadorous chemical. This ingredient is used in hair shampoo!!!!

This is just the beginning of the list of chemicals to avoid in products you use daily:
1. Cocoamide DEA, diethanolamine, TEA, triethanolamine, MEA
2. Propylene glycol, propylene oxide, polyethylene glycol
3. Sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate
4. Sodium Fluoride
5. Mineral Oil , Petrolatum and Coal Tar
Q. What is DEA?
A. - DEA is diethanolamine, a chemical that is used as a wetting agent in shampoos, lotions, creams and other cosmetics. DEA is used widely because it provides a rich lather in shampoos and keeps a favorable consistency in lotions and creams. DEA by itself is not harmful but while sitting on the stores shelves or in your cabinet at home, DEA can react with other ingredients in the cosmetic formula to form an extremely potent carcinogen called nitrosodiethanolamine (NDEA). NDEA is readily absorbed through the skin and has been linked with stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder cancers.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
TEA
diethanolamine.htm", TEA (Triethanolamine). DEA and TEA can result in the formation of carcinogens in products containing nitrite preservatives. Chemical reactions between nitrites and DEA/ TEA occur during the manufacturing process and while products are stored in their containers. This reaction leads to the formation of nitrosamines. Most nitrosamines, including those formed from DEA or TEA, are carcinogenic.
PEG
The Industrial World USES Propylene Glycol (PG) and Polyethylene glycol (PEG): Industrial Antifreeze, Brake/Hydraulic Fluid, Paint, Airplane De-Icer. These chemicals have been found to cause adverse health effects: contact dermatitis, kidney damage and liver abnormalities; Inhibit skin cell growth in human tests; Damage cell membranes causing rashes, dry skin and surface damage to the skin.


SLS
Sodium Lauryl (or Laureth) Sulfate: Engine Degreaser, Garage/Concrete Floor Cleaner, Car Wash Soap; Surrounds hair follicle in shampoo to keep it from growing, causes hair to fall out; keeps children's eyes from developing properly, causes cataracts in older people; In Toothpaste: Weakens enamel on teeth to cause cavities: SLS is very abrasive and may burn the skin, mouth, Canker sores, or scalp. Products commonly found to contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or SLES
Soaps
Shampoos
Bubble-baths
Tooth paste
Washing-up liquid / dish soap
Laundry detergent
Children's soaps / shampoos
Stain Remover
Carpet Cleaner
Fabric glue
Body wash
Shave cream
Mascara
Mouthwash
Skin cleanser
Moisture lotion / Moisturizer
Sun Cream

Don’t believe this take a look for your self.

PLEASE READ YOUR PRODUCT LABELS!

The way Cora looked up the ingredients in our products, was one at a time.
Cora’s research took weeks.

Looking for Natural; No Additives, No Preservatives No animal testing, Personal care products.

Go to http://dragonfly.artfire.com








Cora's Blissfully Natural Products LLC

Cora's Blissfully Natural Products LLC
Fresh Cold Processed Goats Milk Soap

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

How to be Handsome Cosmetiques ( one of the 1800's beauty uses of ammonia)


The Ladies of the 1800’s had little to nothing to go on. The things that they used as beauty treatments shocks the heck out of me! Are you ready to step back in time?

One of the most useful articles of the toilet is a bottle of ammonia, and any lady who has once learned its value will never be without it. A few drops in the water takes the place of the usual amount of soap, and cleans out the pores of the skin as well as a bleach will do. Wash the face with a flesh-brush, and rub the lips well to tone their color.

It is well to bathe the eyes before putting in the spirits, and if it is desirable to increase their brightness, this may be done by dashing soapsuds into them. Always rub the eyes, in washing, toward the nose. If the eyebrows are in inclined to spread irregularly, pinch the hairs together where thickest, If they show a tendency to meet, this contact may be avoided by pulling out the hairs every morning before the toilet.

The dash of Orientalism in costume and lace now turns a lady’s attention to her eyelashes, which are worthless if not long and drooping. Indeed, do prevalent is the desire for this beautiful feature that hairdressers and ladies’ artists have scores of customers under treatment for invigorating their stunted eyelashes and eyebrows.

To obtain these fringed curtains anoint the roots with a balsam made of two drachms of nitric oxide of mercury mixed with one of the leaf lard. After and application, wash the roots with a camel’s hair brush dipped in warm milk. Tiny scissors are used, with which the lashes are carefully pulled and slightly trimmed every day. When Obtained, refrain from rubbing or even touching the lids with the finger nails. There is more beauty in a pair of well kept eyebrows and full sweeping eyelashes than people are aware of, and a very unattractive and lusterless eye assumes new beauty when it looks out from beneath a elongated fringes.

WARNING this not a Beauty tip!!
This is more of a history lesson.
Posted by dragonfly at 7:43 AM
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