Merz Tea Time is a new webcast by Merz Apothecary in Chicago IL. Merz is a 145-year-old apothecary and online giant based in Chicago. Keys and Merz have had a 12-year relationship that has grown even stronger in these tough times. Merz Tea Time is a new live online webcast created by Merz to inform in a Joe Rogan style interaction with Merz vendors. One of the first guests in this series was Bob Root, Keys founder, formulator, and head engineer. Rogan style, the conversation bounces all over the gamut from skincare to the origin of Keys and why the company exists. It is a funny, educational, and insightful podcast.
If you are offering podcast, webcasts or ZoomCasts to your customers, please contact us to book time with Bob
Smizing – Smiling with your eyes is the secret to business success moving forward. It is the New Normal
by Wendy Steele, Keys CEO, Founder & Melanoma Survivor
Making sure that your staff knows how to Smize can make the difference between profit and loss or making it or not in these times. Here is how I learned to smize and why you should care.
Human ingenuity always amazes me, and I am seeing great things “here and there” now that our society is trying to move forward. Many things have changed and will never return to normal. The new normal is 2 meters of separation, avoiding crowds and wearing masks. Whether you agree or disagree with how things are being handled, change is inevitable, and growth is optional.
Masks are probably one change that will stick with us and make sense in many ways. In Japan, if you have a cold, you wear a mask. In Bejing, if you are exposed to allergens, you wear a mask. In San Francisco, if you ride a bike through the industrial areas, you wear a mask. Now, if you shop at Costco or the grocery store, you should wear a mask. I get that.
Our friends at Jams World have some cool looking masks. Theirs is the one I am wearing. I have also seen some super fashion statement masks that are very cute, and some are very cool. If we have to wear them, we might as well have some FUN. I am taking life’s changes in stride because it is more comfortable.
I have to admit that I have worn buffs and neck gaters for years. I wear them to protect my neck from the sun, and occasionally I would pull it up over my face as a sort of joke for friends. Not much fun these days, but it is a good option as well. People would ask me what I was wearing and why in a sort of judgemental way. I wrote them off as muggles. What I do and what I wear is my business, and people’s insecurities are theirs. Not mine. Yesterday, I went to pick up lunch from my favorite Southwestern restaurant, and when Monica walked out to my car with our lunch, she was wearing a very cute “bandito” neckerchief hiked up over her mouth and nose. It was damned cute, and I knew that I had made the new order transition because I felt like asking her where she bought it. So, I am back to wearing my neck gaters because they are so much more fun than a surgical mask.
IMS – Get Over It.
I have seen some very terrifying masks, which is what inspired this article. Sometimes, it is not the mask that bothers me; it is the eyes of the wearer.
So the topic of this article is a kind of RBF story or to be more specific, IMS. Irritable Mask Syndrome is genuine and seems to be caused by various things. Some have told me that masks are an invasion of identity or uncomfortable. One said having to wear one is unconstitutional. Some feel self-conscious while others seem to like that they can hide behind one.
IMS Revealed
I was out walking, which I do a lot. Most of the time, I don’t see anyone, and sometimes, these days, when I do see people, they have their masks on. One day, just recently, I saw someone who was wearing a mask and stressed at having to wear it. Even though her mask covered most of her face, it was a clear case of IMS. I thought, how is that possible. How can her negative appearance scream out so much that I noticed her temperament wearing a big mask? We passed quite away from each other, and there was no attempt at a gesture or acknowledging of me. In some ways, it reminded me of being in New York City three weeks after 9.11. It stunned me a bit that this ‘no-no’ bothered me so much. Usually, I do not let people annoy me, but she did. I was mad at me for having the feelings, not her. About a mile down the road, I saw another masked woman headed toward me. As she passed, her eyes glistened and sparkled. Her eyes were smiling, and with my eyes, I smiled back and waved to acknowledge her. It suddenly dawned on me that the first woman had terror or anger in her eyes, which affected me, and this second woman made me feel good. All with their eyes only.
Oh No, I thought, do I have IMS? So when I got back home, I kept my mask on and looked into the bathroom mirror. Thankfully, I did not have IMS, but I wondered, “Could I practice smiling with my eyes?” What would that look like, and how hard could it be. Damned hard, I found out.
Smizing – The Duchenne Smile
The second woman started it with her smiling eyes, and I mirrored her. That was easy. It was automatic. What I discovered is that it is both an art and talent to be able to initiate smiling eyes. So, I grabbed my iPad and looked up “how to smile with your eyes” and surprise-surprise; there were many articles with most talking about something called a Duchenne smile.
A Duchenne smile involves contraction of both the zygomatic major muscle (which raises the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi muscle (which raises the cheeks and forms crow’s feet around the eyes). The Duchenne smile has been described as “smizing,” as in “smiling with the eyes.”
So, I texted an actress friend of mine and asked her if she knew about the Duchenne smile. She laughed at me and told me she spent almost a year in an acting class trying to learn to smile with her eyes, and it was quite hard to master until she stopped trying. She said it comes from the soul, and when you smile naturally, your eyes squint and raise a bit. Little bags form under the eyes, and there you have it. She said it is the opposite of Instagram’s face because you don’t look perfect. You look happy and excited to be alive as opposed to trying to impress. Her best lesson for me was to be comfortable at smiling at everyone all the time. She said you would get better at it.
So, I tried it in the mirror, and it was true. That little squint made my eyes sparkle, and I was even happier feeling. So, I tried it with my mask, and it worked. I just made up that I did not have a mask, and my eyes do all the work since my face was covered.
So try smiling at your cellphone and do a bunch of selfies before and afters. You will be amazed. Now do the same thing with your mask on and notice how you feel. Then go out and practice on everyone you walk by to see what their reaction is.
So if you are like me, you have to believe that the world would be a better place if everyone smiled at each other. Now we have to wear masks, so we have to work a bit harder at it.
by Wendy Steele, Keys CEO Melanoma survivor, and Founder
So, how do the sunscreens you sell to your customers rank on Saftey and Efficacy? Do they actually work and are they safe. The controversy rages on whether sports sunscreen is safe. The FDA says they should be reapplied every 15 minutes in high-stress conditions. Our Solar Rx Moisturizer with sunscreen has the highest and best rating. It can be worn all day as a foundation. How do the ones you sell rate against Keys Solar Rx? The results may surprise you. Every year the Environmental Working Group publishes a sunscreen report. Keys has been at the top of the list since the first report ten years ago. This year the report is better to read in every aspect. It is easy to read and figure out which is best for your customers. They already read the report, it is time you compare what they know to what you sell.
First, there are fundamentally two types of sunscreens. There are “go-to beach” sports screens and daily moisturizers with SPF. Keys Solar RX is a daily sunscreen foundation with anti-aging moisturizing properties. Having both types on your shelves is important and knowing when to recommend one of the other is essential.
Keys has received the highest ranking in the 2020 EWG sunscreen report for safety and efficacy. Keys Solar Rx and Keys KPRO SPF each received a 1 rating in this year’s EWG sunscreen report. The scale of 1 to 10 ranks safety based on ingredients and efficacy based on the type and concentration of sunscreen ingredients; 1 being the highest rating and 10 the worst. As you can see from the chart to the right, there are very few #1 ranked sunscreens with the majority rated 3-6 on the EWG scale.
Keys uses a 20.5% level of its proprietary uncoated zinc oxide blend. The base moisturizer is our Luminos lotion formulation that focuses on avocado oil, black seed oil, carrot seed oil, agave aloe, and Shea butter for maximum hydration.
Spherical Zinc Oxide particles
Keys SPF products use a technique from high technology sputtering to process the particles for maximum UV blocking efficacy. Our zinc oxide blend uses a vapor deposition process to make our particles spherical and, therefore, transparent. The mixture maximizes UVB and UVA properties for perfect UV filtering.
Keys SPF products are the best moisturizers with UV protection. Solar Rx and KPRO SPF are for everyday use in non-sport applications. The products last all day and need not be reapplied, assuming the wearer does not sweat or do physical activity. Keys Solar Rx is perfect under makeup, acting as a clear luminescent foundation. KPRO adds sparkle from our OptiFx particles for special occasions.
How Do The Sunscreens You Are Selling Rate Against Keys
Click Here or the image above to access the Moisturizer with SPF EWG report and scroll down to Keys to read the reviews
Anti-Aging
Keys CEO, Wendy Steele, Melanoma survivor and reason for Solar Rx being developed
Both Solar Rx and KPRO SPF have anti-aging emollient properties because of the ingredient purity and quality. These are the most exquisite oils that money can buy blended into a formulation that hydrates, moisturizes, and effects fine lines. Avocado oil has skin clearing properties and, over time, will reduce dark spots and patches.
Therapeutic
Keys Solar Rx broadens its purpose as a skin ailment and disorder product because the zinc oxide is uncoated. This means that the wearer gains all the benefits of a zinc cream at even higher concentrations than over the counter skin disorder products. Most zinc creams contain 6%-8% uncoated zinc oxide. Solar Rx is at 20.5% uncoated zinc level. One major benefit is as a redness reduction solution. Many dermatologists prescribe zinc oxide cream and ointments. Solar Rx is a universal solution while also providing UVA and UVB blocking.
10 Years
This is the tenth year that Keys Solar Rx has received the highest rating from the EWG. Consumer Union thrust Keys Solar Rx into the limelight when it rated Solar Rx the highest and most effective sunscreen in its class. It has been the choice of Hollywood makeup artists and actors. It was featured two years in a row at Maria Shriver’s California Women’s Conference. Originally developed for Wendy Steele, Keys CEO, melanoma diagnosis, Solar Rx is Keys number one selling product.
Dr. Google at it again. This Time with Apple as a partner.
After all this, there will be no industries untouched in some way or another. Perhaps the most impacted will be the medical industry. We have talked about Dr. Google for many years now and marvel at how over 95% of us consult Google first before going to the doctor. Contrary to some, people consult Google first because it is fast, efficient, and free. Now Google and Apple are taking another leap and may finally be integrating live doctors into the technology shift. Hopefully, as most doctors I know are, frankly, Luddites, I sincerely hope that everyday problems and illnesses will go online first. Cleary, in the next five years, the primary first contact will be an AI consultant the will screen and pass off patients to a live doctor.
Although this article in Apple News may seem to be C-19 focused, it is a wave of the future and one of the positive benefits for us all that will come out of this common disease.
Google starts showing virtual doctor options in Search and Maps
Some medical facilities are discouraging personal visits in response to C-19
As part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some medical facilities are currently discouraging visits in person. But pandemic or no pandemic, many ailments won’t merely disappear, and so sometimes we need to get help.
In such a scenario, Google wants to assist. The web giant recently announced it would begin highlighting health facilities that offer consultations over a video connection, enabling you to avoid a potentially busy waiting room, thereby reducing person-to-person contact.
“Over the coming week, we’re beginning to roll out two new features in Search and Maps that make it easier for people to connect to virtual health care options, whether it’s to a doctor’s office down the street, the hospital across town, or a national telehealth platform,” Julie Black, director of product management at Google Health, announced in an online post.
The features have been made possible after Google started allowing health care providers such as hospitals, doctors, and mental health professionals to add information for a virtual care service to their online business profile. It means that if you use Google Search or Maps to look for a local provider, you may see a “get online care” link in the results.
Clicking this link will take you to that provider’s virtual care website where you can find more information and perhaps set up a health care consultation that will take place online.
Black said Google Search will also start showing widely available virtual care platforms, giving people more options when it comes to making virtual visits.
“For example, when people search for ‘immediate care,’ we’ll be able to also present available virtual care options and related information such as the out-of-pocket price charged for a visit (for those without insurance) and an easy way for people to directly connect with the virtual care platform,” the executive said.
The update to Search and Maps is likely to prove popular as Black noted in her post that since the pandemic started, interest in virtual care and telehealth has risen dramatically.
The severity of the pandemic has even prompted a collaboration between Google and Apple, with the two companies planning a new opt-in system using Bluetooth technology on smartphones to track the spread of the coronavirus, officially known as C-19. Data collected through the new system will be shared with local public health authorities to help them make better-informed decisions on how to deal with the outbreak.
Friday, April 10, 2020, 6:00am. My Friday started like all the rest of my days in week four of my sequester. In the high desert of New Mexico, mornings start crisp and cool with a bright sunrise over the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. Not a bad way to start the day. So, this Friday, I punched the Nespresso Machine and waited the moments for it to brew. Cat Isabel cruised by, and Jasper dog and Wendy were out an asleep in bed. I sort of like the solitude and rarely look at email until after the first espresso. I know you are saying, “poor baby.”
Today was different, and for some reason, I opened my email on my iPad. I never do that! Maybe it was a mistake or something Freudian.
The first thing I saw was an email from Megan, an old consulting client and long time friend in New York marked “Urgent”- Respond Immediately! She is an executive with a mega-company, and I worried that something was very wrong. So, I popped open the email and began to laugh out loud. Here was the first line. “Bob, holy shit, I need your help now. I am working from home and have to teleconference every day next week, and I look like shit on camera.” “What should I do?”
Before I go on, Megan knows me very well and my misspent youth. I spent many years involved with Hollywood mostly behind the camera in the early days of digital productions. Lots of tall tales, but I do know a few things about making people look good on camera. Keys KPRO line was developed in Hollywood with makeup artists. Today my Beta test team, Wendy calls them “Bob’s Possie,” are makeup artists, actors or makeup specialists. So, Megan is in trouble and needs some image guidance.
First, my days for the last month or so have been turbulent with lots of customer questions, manufacturing issues, and scrambling like most everyone. Most days are 12-14 hours. It may seem to pale in these times, but honestly, I welcomed the Saturday Night Live moment. So as I sipped my Nespresso, I decided to take the request seriously because I know her, and she was in distress over how she looks to her peers.
Megan lives on the water in Connecticut. She has this beautiful porch that overlooks the sound. It is a very old New England style home and a perfect setting for an executive to have a conference call. She is a big dog, so people expect her to have a nice home. She does, and why not show it off.
It is crucial to recognize that Megan is quite pretty, thin, and self-assured. Said, nobody looks good on a cheap webcam in poor lighting. That is why the lighting people get paid whatever they ask for, followed quickly by the makeup artist. Lighting is everything!
Rather then paraphrasing herein is my email to Megan.
Megan, do not ever do that again. Do Not ever use urgent unless you or mark have been hit by a beer truck.
Here is what I want you to do in order:
Move your computer out onto the porch where people can see the water and boats going by. It will distract them from looking at just you with a bare white wall behind you.
Make a couple of reflector flats by taking cardboard and covering it with crinkled aluminum foil. Position these, so the outdoor light fill in so that it is not too bright behind you. A movie screen will do if you have one tucked away from 25 years ago in your basement.
Move your computer toward the back of the table so that you do not fill the screen of your webcam. They know what you look like, so you do not have to hover an inch away from the webcam.
I will FedEx you Our Luminos and KPRO tinted moisturizer. I developed Luminos as a means of tricking digital cameras into softening and diffuse the look on screen without looking like a soft-focus filter. I want you to Google “Strobing” and notice where they suggest to create a brighter area on your face. This is around the eyes and on your cheekbones. This is where you will use the KPRO tinted moisturizer.
I am going to order you a ring light from Amazon that I want you to hang over the camera on your computer. These light fill in your face with no shadows (Here is what I sent her). I hope it will arrive Monday for you, but you can use most any light right above the camera to light your face.
When you get the ring light, practice with it by not looking directly in the camera, but by sitting off angle a bit and looking slightly to the left or right of the camera.
Then when it comes to the teleconference, wear bright jewel tones like reds, blues, and greens. Dress up!
Do not stare at the camera, and do not stay still. You want people to believe you are still alive.
Consider using the stand that holds the ring light that I bought you and your iPhone. The iPhone camera is better than the one on your computer, and you can move it off-angle. You don’t need to see other people on the conference call. You will see what I mean. People on a webcam can be extremely distracting.
So, this is as important as dressing up going to the office for a big meeting. You do not want people to think you are on vacation and doing the frump thing. Get up and walk around once in a while. I know how much you hate sitting still. And do not hold up charts in front of the camera. People cannot see them. Send any presentation ahead of time, even though you like the art of surprise.
Lastly, Smile and keep your hands away from your face!
Bob
So, I heard back from her that the first call went off well, and everyone complimented her on how she looked, that she looked rested (Thank you, Luminos) and that she seemed like a Dover pro doing teleconferences. The ring light did not arrive on time, but she received it later on Monday. It will be an addition to the Tuesday call.
Now some of you might think that this is a sort of quirky subject at a time when there is lots of bad news. To me, there are a lot of people working from home, and the estimates are that video chatting is up 10,000% or an order of magnitude in geek terms. Keeping moving in tough times is not only necessary, but it is also something that can energize and console people. Clearly, there is no replacement for personal energy being with people. A well-lighted video call can be the next best thing.
Lights, Camera, Action!
“It is a serious time, but even in times of war you must laugh when you can.” Churchhill
Having trouble getting products to sell? Stop buying from distribution! Buying Direct is Just Plain Smart
It is time to get wise. Yes, stop buying through distribution because if you are a small business, they don’t want you anyhow. Maybe the writing is on the wall. Scrapping for inventory against Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joes is not a win-win proposition for the small retailer. Pharmacies & Apothecaries learned long ago after Wal-Mart and Groceries got into their business, learning to differentiate and not sell the same things as big-box retailers.
Some Evidence
UNFI CEO, Steven Spiner said,(the) “Top 100 customers represent about 75% of UNFI’s total volume.” ( As reported by Winsight Grocery Research – Read Article Here)
Groceries Flow Where Attention Goes! – The fable of the squeaky wheel.
The entire quote was, “Wholesale sales to our top 100 customers were up 4.3%. For customers two through 100, the increase was 2.2%.” Top 100 customers represent about 75% of UNFI’s total volume.” Even more telling.
The solution? Buy direct and get the products you need. Better yet, they are usually different and better products than those carried by distributors. Differentiated products mean that you are differentiated and unique in the eyes of your once loyal customers.
Change The Game
So, tear down your BOGO signs and replace them with signs about products that help your customers have better lives. Buy direct from small manufactures and became the trusted advisors in your community once again.
How can you expect to succeed in business if you are carrying the same products as everyone else? We know, we know, it is easy to buy through distribution. But why would you want to be just another lemonade stand littering a suburban corner? More than likely, being a commodity retailer is not how you started. How did you end up there?
So, for our sake, and the sake of all the cool little manufacturers out there, change the game and buy direct. It feels good, it helps us, and it helps you. So be the hero and break the distribution habit. Your customers will thank you.
Lastly, I always find it a bit disconcerting that the natural markets that I walk into promote the fact that they buy from local farms, ranches, and bakers, but the center of the store is full of distribution products.
Bob Root
Bob Root, Keys CTO & Founder
Bob Root is a founder of Keys and its Chief Scientist. Bob is a former high tech Fortune 500 CEO and started in the photographic industry at Polaroid. He is the author of four books and is a former member of the Washington Speakers Bureau. This OpED article comes from his perspective, watching the destruction of the photographic industry and the total state change that the computer industry experience in the 90’s. He believes in the traditional grocery model growing up as the grandson of Root’s Grocery founder but admits that mom & pop retailers may not survive and that the industry is heading the wrong way.
The Center for Disease Control, The President and State Health Organizations, are asking us to stay out of the grocery stores for the next two weeks. Why?
The reason we are being asked not to treat grocery shopping as entertainment is that smart people know that we can cap this virus by exposing fewer people to other people. So, where do we typically go when we are being asked to stay at home? Of course, we go grocery shopping. It is allowed, right!
We do not have to elaborate. They are asking us to stay at home for a reason. STAY HOME, and do your part!
When you do shop, shop smart and not often. A least for now, help out by trying to live off of what you have in your stockpile. When you do shop, buy all of what you need quickly and get the hell out of the store. The operative word is to buy all that you need, don’t hoard, and shop wisely.
Grocery shopping is not a family outing. Figure out a way to go it alone. Better yet, have someone shop for you like Instacart.com. Sprouts, Sams, and other grocery chains have Instacart accounts. (www.Instacart.com) It can indeed be as much fun unpacking what an Instacart shopper brought you as buying it in the first place.
It is time for innovation, ingenuity, and sucking it up. The life you save may be your own.
Speed is Life – Time flies fast, but it’s good when you are the pilot. Just control your time well away from hijackers. Save time profitably; Spend time productively!
Helping You Spend Your Time Wisely
Now more than ever, your times is the most valuable commodity that you have. Spending time ordering the old way is a waste of your time.
Our fantastic geeks at Keys have streamlined our online ordering system, which now rivals Amazon and other leading online sites. The difference is that ours is for the wholesale trade only customers.
Here are a few of the many features:
24/7/365 Online Ordering
Orders directly load to fulfillment servers for next day shipping.
Fast loading website with 50 servers located around the US.
Single page “Order Sheet” style fast ordering page.
One-Click “Add All” ordering feature.
Saved Wholesale address book for a quick bill to and ship to information.
Centrally stored credit card information on Wells Fargo site for remembered payment.
Product catalog showing all products by category in Features, Benefits, and Advantages format.
Useful blog articles built into the site.
Automatic discounting for volume purchases.
Automatic promotions when applicable.
Quick “Remember Me” login.
Face recognition & Touch-ID login for Apple devices.
The adaptive format lets you order from a desktop, tablet or smartphone.
Trust Earns Trust
Know that Keys natural solutions are designed to solve problems and make your customers feel good. As Trusted Advisors to your community, you can trust Keys to help you and your customer. Keys products are natural functional medicine solutions with a long list of features, benefits, and advantages.
Some Good News – Nitric Oxide Therapy May Help The Suffering
FDA opens up Bellerophon’s (Nitric Oxide) gas therapy for COVID-19
Bob Root, Keys Chief Scientist & Founder
Bob Root, Keys Scientist: I have a core belief for my life when it comes to health. The only person I hold responsible for my health is me. Yes, me. When I am confronted with a malady or this giant COVID dragon in front of us all, I turn to science to learn what I can. Sometimes I don’t understand and sometimes one article leads to another. When the path turns cold, I back up and take another path until I find what I am looking for. It is just who I am. Sometimes I find something so interesting I share it with my friends. Not to proclaim something, but to entice them to study themselves. Like my books, I try to inform and not convince. In these times, there is so much misinformation. I never want to subtract but add something that may fuel a new way, a new path or some new thinking. So is this bit of news:
There is some interesting and I feel, good news on the horizon that I am reading about in the scientific community about prevention, relief, and vaccines.Please remember that scientists’ comments and findings are revised carefully by peers.Yes, it slows the process but is a positive factor in weeding out BS.
First of all, my compliments to the FDA for opening up the emergency expanded access program for SARS-COVID. “NO” is the chemical acronym for Nitric Oxide.It is made in cells in our body but can be supplemented through nitric oxide mass inhalation.More important is that is is a common therapy in “Blue Baby” syndrome and has been used for years to treat the newborn malady.A doctor at UCLA Medical Center says he can watch blue babies with respiratory distress turn pink in front of his eyes.So now, it seems that “NO” may be a tool, not the solution, but a tool, with SARS COVID-19.Below is published verbatim and not my words.
Bob
FDA opens up Bellerophon’s gas therapy for COVID-19
Using a regulatory pathway that allows patients with life-threatening conditions to use unapproved therapies, the FDA has granted “emergency expanded access” to Bellerophon Therapeutics’ inhaled nitric oxide delivery system for treating the novel coronavirus.
Also known as compassionate use, the agency’s policy is typically administered on a per-patient basis—at times when clinical trials are infeasible, the benefits are seen to outweigh the risks, and there are no available alternatives.
According to Bellerophon, the FDA’s decision now opens up its INOpulse system for use at high-doses in ventilated COVID-19 patients, immediately.
Inhaled nitric oxide acts as a vasodilator, relaxing the lungs’ muscles and blood vessels, and is used in hospitals worldwide. Bellerophon has been researching its use to combat potentially harmful high blood pressure in the lungs among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung disease and sarcoidosis.
The compound has also been tested as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus’ closely related predecessor—the strain behind the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s. Previous studies showed that nitric oxide slowed down the replication of that virus and reduced the need for long-term ventilator support.
According to Bellerophon, the genetic similarities between the two coronaviruses “support the potential for [inhaled nitric oxide] to provide meaningful benefit for patients infected with COVID-19” and inhibit the progression of upper respiratory tract symptoms.
“Based on currently available data and its significant role in the immune response, we believe INOpulse has the potential to be a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19,” said CEO Fabian Tenenbaum. “INOpulse technology utilizes targeted pulsatile delivery of inhaled nitric oxide, providing important antiviral potential, as well as improved arterial oxygenation.”
“Importantly, INOpulse is designed to treat patients in the outpatient setting, which may be critical in helping combat the further spread of the virus and significantly alleviate the mounting impact on hospitals and intensive care units,” Tenenbaum added.
Prior to the outbreak, Bellerophon had been building up inventory of its INOpulse device for a planned, large phase 3 trial in pulmonary fibrosis—which the company is currently looking to divert to hospitals in need, Tenenbaum told FierceMedTech in an interview.
Additionally, about a month ago, Bellerophon completed a safety trial in healthy volunteers showing its high-dose paradigm could be tolerated, at levels similar to those used against the earlier SARS outbreak, he said. The FDA is also currently reviewing a research protocol for a new clinical trial against COVID-19 to explore the device’s next steps in development.
The FDA’s access decision comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump pointed to compassionate use as one of the ways the administration is responding to the spread of the virus.
“Disseminating information about promising off-label uses of drugs we already have, investigating their effectiveness, and pursuing other therapeutics will help give American healthcare providers the tools they need to save lives,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in an FDA statement on the agency’s work to facilitate development of investigational treatments such as the malaria drug chloroquine and Gilead’s remdesivir antiviral, which is also available under compassionate use.
“While there are no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19, there are several FDA-approved treatments that may help ease the symptoms from a supportive care perspective,” the agency said March 19.
The new emergency expanded access pathway allows doctors to request use of the INOpulse for multiple patients at once, without including their names or other personally identifying details, Tenenbaum said.
Inhaled nitric oxide has also been pursued as a COVID-19 therapy by several others, and is currently undergoing clinical trials in China—both as a potential treatment for patients and as a preventive measure for healthcare providers—with studies sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Mallinckrodt, for one, has been exploring its use against the disease in coordination with the FDA, NIH and BARDA, and previously markets the gas as a treatment for neonates suffering from respiratory failure.
Time To Get Wise – Covid Boom or Bust. The grocery business has been around a long time, but there is no need to be arcane.
I have over 35 retailers that I regularly contact to get a feel for what is happening in the market. These are regularly scheduled connections, and I thought that with the Covid virus problem facing us all that I should back off the calls. Truthfully, Keys business has almost doubled in the last month, and I am plenty busy with Keys projects and orders. So I decided not to call and mistakingly forgot to tell my group I was not going to call.
To my surprise, some of them checked-in to make sure I was okay, and they really wanted to chat. So, I quickly got off a note to all that I was okay and busy, but honestly did not want to bother them. I did have a chance to chat with a few, and most are crazy busy finding that their business has almost doubled or tripled. Most have had to alter their grocery business more back to their roots closing off the freshly prepared food and salad bars and spending their days stocking shelves. Many are frustrated and adapting to the use of InstaCart.com and other delivery services.
This is a brief story of one traditionally stable grocer who was at wit’s end. The reason I share is that I can imagine that some simple solutions are staring you in the face that you might not see.
Let’s call my grocer friend Art. He has been in the natural food business for 35 years and inherited his business from his Mom & Dad. Art was very frustrated that his business grew overnight, and he claims he cannot higher qualified people to work in the store, prep packaged food, stock, or cook. He said that his local employment agency and temporary service companies were not of any help. Art pissed me off quite a bit because he was grousing more than doing. Meaning, he was bending my ear instead of thinking. When Art stopped his tirade, I offered him a simple solution that stunned him into silence. Here is what I said.
Art, you are a member of your local Chamber of Commerce. You need people that understand food, customers, and how to be clean. All the restaurants in your community are closed. Their food server, cleaning staff and “back of the house” are all out of work. Call your chamber president and have him or her offer to go to the restaurant owners and offer jobs to their idle people. Simple right?
So, he emailed me this morning to say thanks and let me know that within hours, he had staffed-up with qualified people. Now he said, I need an IT person to figure out this InstaCart thing. My answer, “Don’t make me slap you!” There are furloughed IT people out there as well, and there are freelancers that know this stuff like the back of their hands. Just ask for help and stop being the victim.
So, it is time to get wise and stop the grousing. This will pass and it is your choice of how you will react and respond.
It is important to be effective and know what you are putting on your hands. There are a number of natural commercially available products that work. Right now, they are hard to find in the stores. So, it is time to make your own. It is simple and done right, just as effective as the store-bought sanitizing products.
DIY Sanitizers Formulas
So here is a formula for creating the world’s best hand sanitizers.
Use 98% of 99% Isopropyl alcohol and 1% spearmint essential oil.
Can’t find Isopropyl Alcohol? Turn to white lightening. Yes, Grain Alcohol or 190 proof ethanol. Do not dilute or buy less than 190 proof. This means the alcohol level is 95%. It doesn’t matter the source; ethanol is alcohol. Also, mix it with spearmint essential oil for lubrication and positive microbiome effects.
Wash Hands
Washing your hands with Castile soap is best. Seriously, but when you cannot, alcohol sanitizer helps.
My suggestion is to put it into a spray bottle. A 1 ounce (30ml) size will do for your pocket or purse. Spray it on your hands or surface. Spray on hands liberally and rub until dry: just a moment or two.
Denatured Alcohol, But Be Careful
There is also another choice at Home Depot od Lowes in the paint aisle. It is denatured alcohol altered with Menthol. Warning! Denatured alcohol can have other additives like Methyl Ethyl Ketone (aka MEK). Avoid at all costs, and if it is not marked, do not buy it.
Yes, it is flu season, and traveling is getting to be a more significant concern. It is the time of year to write about not only how to wash your hands, but why doing it the wrong way can hurt.
Many years ago, we researched the University of California Irvine on proper handwashing as a means to stay healthy during flu and virus outbreaks. The study formed our opinion, which I will share here.
The primary purpose of washing your hands is not to spread viruses to your face. The average person touches their face about 50 times a day. When I mentally checked in with how often I touch my face or nose with my hands, I quickly lost count—much more than 50 times a day.
So why wash your hands? The process of washing hands is to reduce the bacterial mass on your hands without harming the Microbiome. Our skin has friendly bacteria. Our Microbiome is occasionally invaded by bad gram-positive and gram-negative rods known as pathogens. These are the disease-carrying bacterial that infect us mostly through our noses and mouths. Was to remove them lowers the risk of infection.
Our Galleyon foaming soap helps to remove the bacterial mass because it is a Castile based soap that uses a high concentration of spearmint essential oil. Galleyon makes an excellent cleanser because Castile soaps are alkaline, and the spearmint aid in the cleaning process to reduce the overall bacterial count.
How to Wash with Galleyon
It is simple, and you might not be washing long enough.
Wet your hands thoroughly with warm water. This will open the pores of the skin to let the soap get deep in.
Apply a few pumps of Galleyon Foam and wash all parts of your hands for at least 30 seconds. More if you like, but not less.
Rinse with cool to warm water under flowing water. Rince longer than you think.
Shake your hands over the sink rapidly to release the water.
Use a paper towel to dry because a cloth towel used more than once is a home for the harmful bacteria to accumulate. Optionally air dry or use one of those clean air dry blowers like the Dyson Blade.
You’re Done!
What Not to Do.
Antibacterial agents
Stop! The term antibacterial has two distinct meanings in the world of science. Reducing the biomass on your hands is the good antibacterial action, and killing the bacterial with bactericides like triclosan is terrible. Killing bactericides like triclosan indiscriminately kill good and bad bacteria at the same time. The grandmothers’ tale is accurate. If you kill all the bacterial, there is no defense for the bad guys to invade harder and faster. I read one article where someone said to use Lysol to sanitize. Nuts!
Hand Sanitizers
Okay, you can make your own hand sanitizer with Galleyon by mixing one part of the liquids soap with five parts water. Spraying it on parts or your hands will help, but not that much. Using most hand sanitizers can hurt because they are mostly ethanol alcohol—usually about 60%. Ethanol is a bacteriacide that also indiscriminately kill good and bad bacteria. I was just on a plane where I watched a guy, who looked like an engineer, put on rubber gloves, take what seemed like an alcohol wipe, and cleaned his entire seat area. Then he carefully captured the wipe by removing his glove in a way to make it into a baggy. This was good because he sanitized the area as opposed to his skin. A+ The message is to sanitize your surroundings and not your hands. Keep that good bacteria working for you.
Gloves?
Wearing gloves is a good thing, but it is hard to do and uncomfortable. Those Nitrile blue or black gloves work, but they can get hot, and your hands can get sweaty wearing them. Bacterial needs oxygen (air) and water to propagate. So, unless you change them out and wash between, they are not that good. Cloth or porous gloves do nothing!
Don’t Touch Your Face.
One of the best deterrents is not to touch public things and not touch your hands/fingers to your face. I recently had a meeting in Las Vegas and had to fly through Phoenix to get there. The areas I was in were very low humidity, and most people were not sick. Said Wendy warned me not to touch anything and never touch my face. That was hard, but I made a conscious effort. I did watch most people as they grabbed handrails, pushed open doors on trash containers, and washing in the bathroom to little and without soap. They were continually touching their faces, and I could quickly see Wendy’s point. Research it if you want, but touching public fixtures and then your face is a disaster.
Okay, that is it. Wash your hands a lot with a Castile soap like Galleyon, and you have a pretty good chance at warding off a bacterial or virus attacks.
Our new wholesale website is chocked full of simple innovations making your buying experience quick, easy, and 24/7.
RegistrationCurrent Dealer/Reseller Registration/Log In
If you buy from Keys already using Text, Email, Vmail or through your Rep, you can add online ordering easily by going to the box to the left and click “Lost Password,” or click on the Sign-Up tab in the menu above. Scroll down to the “Reset Password” box and enter your email address. You will be redirected to a page where you can reset your password from the one we made up for you. Once you have put your email address in, click the reset password button. The go back to the login using your email address used for the password reset as your username and enter the password you just created. You are in! Buy away.
New Dealer/Reseller Sign-Up
I the top menu, there is a tab titled “Sign-Up.” Click and scroll down to the application form. It is simple, easy, and quick. Once approved, you will be able to log in and see wholesale pricing and enter orders yourself.
Merz, 145 Years and Going Strong – Honest, Integrity, Innovation
There is no doubt that the natural market industry is in turmoil since Amazon bought Whole Foods. With all this change and dynamics, Merz Apothecary in Chicago has not missed a beat. Why, because they lead with their H.I.P.S. Honesty, Integrity, Persistence, and Sincerity.
Keys Partners with Merz for 12 Years.
Keys is celebrating our 12th anniversary with the world-class apothecary, Merz Apothecary in Chicago, Illinois. 145 years-old and going strong, we have had an excellent symbiotic relationship where their customers and our functional products have been the center of attention. Now with AmazonGo, Amazon’s Whole Foods, and the new suburban Amazon grocery stores emerging, we are excited to strengthen our partnership with Merz further. Put, if you perceive Amazon to be a vast coastal tidal wave, Merz is a world-class surfer.
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO offered, “For Keys and our products, we have always sought great partnerships with retailers who are trusted advisors. Keys is not a brand just offering a natural alternative to conventional products. Our products are a functional part of today’s wholistic wellness and integrated medicine scene. There is something to be said for a company that is 145 years old that is also an industry innovator. We are super-proud to be in their stores and as our partnership.”
To summarize our relationship with Merz, they have learned to differentiate themselves, and Keys products are a part of that differentiation. They mirror our philosophy that Keys products must solve problems and make people feel good.
Merz History is More than Interesting.
In 1875, Chicago pharmacist Peter Merz opened a small drugstore on the city’s North Side. Being of Swiss descent, Merz decided to call the store an “Apothecary” in the European tradition. Even from the beginning, Merz Apothecary set itself apart.
At that time, your neighborhood drugstore was not only a place to fill prescriptions but a source of information and remedies for common ailments. Pharmacists were consulted like family doctors, and they would hand mix formulas for each specific customer. However, Merz Apothecary differed from the typical American drugstore because the clientele were mostly European immigrants. Like European apothecaries, Merz focused heavily on herbal medicines and traditional formulas, which were already popular with its international customers.
Although Merz Apothecary was a humble store, it served as a gathering place for the community. Comfortable leather chairs allowed patrons to sit and chat as they waited for their remedies to be prepared. Merz and his pharmacists spoke many languages, allowing customers to shop and seek advice in their native tongues. The store’s reputation steadily spread, and the business continued to grow over the next 85 years. Heralded by several generations of the Merz family, the store retained its international focus and developed a devoted following among Europeans throughout the Midwest.
In the early 1960s, competition from large chain drugstores began driving independent pharmacies out of business. But Merz Apothecary’s loyal customer base and traditional herbal approach to health allowed it to thrive during this challenging period. Customers continued to seek out the advice of Merz’s experienced pharmacists and request their hand-mixed formulas.
Abdul & Anthony
Despite the success of the business, in 1972 Ralph Merz was ready to retire without a successor, and the store was about to close permanently. One month before the scheduled closing, a 26-year-old Indian-born pharmacist named Abdul Qaiyum walked into Merz Apothecary after hearing about it from his German in-laws. He immediately fell in love with the store. With its focus on natural remedies, Merz reminded him of his family’s business and the healing traditions in his homeland. He purchased it a few days later.
The Transformation
Over the next few years, independent pharmacies continued to vanish, yet Merz expanded dramatically, due in part to a booming mail-order business. In 1982, Abdul moved Merz to its current, larger location, only a few miles from the original store. The new store was custom-built to replicate a turn-of-the-century European apothecary, complete with a hand-carved wooden exterior, leaded glass windows, tin ceilings, and solid oak cabinets. The original antique pharmacy jars and herb containers now had a fitting home.
The shift in the location was matched by an essential change in their wellness approach. With the move, Abdul expanded the store’s inventory to include homeopathic medicines, supplements, and natural self-care products. Abdul nurtured a larger vision of health and wellness: to feel good mentally, physically, and emotionally. To meet those needs, he began offering natural personal care products from around the world. Promoting external and internal health, along with physical and emotional well-being, was unheard of at the time. Merz popularity grew enormously among Americans and international customers alike.
The Internet
Recognizing the opportunity to offer an expanded vision of health and personal care, Abdul and his son, Anthony, founded Smallflower.com in 1998. So many customers had trouble spelling “Apothecary” that the Qaiyums chose the name Smallflower (one of their best-selling herbs) for their website. They also began selling through Amazon in 2004, before most people had even heard of the online retailer!
As one of the first e-commerce sites and one of the first sellers on Amazon, Merz knew early that they had to stand out from the competition. Their goal was, and still is, to blend Old World traditions with new technology, without losing the vision and character that make Merz Apothecary special. Rightfully, they are quite proud of the path they’ve taken so far! When customers shop with them online, they can be confident they’re dealing with a staff that has intimate knowledge of the products and superior customer service skills.
E-commerce is a vital component of Merz business and an area that has experienced rapid growth in the last few years. They created a marketing department and customer service team to ensure that Smallfower continues to thrive. And rather than view Amazon as competition, they have partnered with them online to grow their business. They sell directly to customers and ship items to Amazon to be fulfilled. To keep up with demand, they have a dedicated FBA team and warehouse space.
The Expansion
Merz devoted customer base has grown not only online, but also at their brick-and-mortar stores. In 2003, the Qaiyums decided to open Merz Downtown to serve customers in Chicago’s Loop. Located in the historic Palmer House Hotel, the downtown location is frequented by working professionals, loop locals, and tourists from around the world.
Although the packed shelves are part of our original location’s charm, They reached a point where they were practically bursting at the seams! In 2014, they opened Q Brothers, a boutique space adjacent to their Lincoln Square store. Their new space allowed them to bring in an outstanding selection of men’s shaving and grooming products, expand their fine skincare lines, and offer a comprehensive assortment of natural cosmetics. The expansion also made room to create a fragrance counter with a carefully curated collection of hard-to-find, niche fragrances.
Q Brothers is a beautifully designed boutique space, but unlike some specialty stores, they work hard to maintain a comfortable and friendly atmosphere! We want to make sure the essence of Merz—the care, knowledge, and approachability—is imbued in everything we do.
The Present
These days, Merz Apothecary is a Chicago landmark (tour buses from around the Midwest make regular stops here) and a mecca for people who want unique and natural products. They send packages to customers around the world and are often featured in blogs, books, and magazines.
Even as they have increased in size, they have worked hard to continue being a true family-run, neighborhood business. Abdul scouts out fantastic new products to fill the shelves year-round, and assists at the pharmacy counter during the holidays. Anthony stays busy, ensuring all aspects of the business are running smoothly, but can still be spotted helping customers in the store.
All that they do is possible only through the help of an amazing team dedicated to carrying on the traditions Merz started back in 1875. The location and people have changed over the years, but Merz’s goal has remained the same: to support every customer’s well-being through genuinely superior service.
Keys are very proud and excited the Merz and Smallflower sell our entire line of products. We are pleased to call Merz our friends and partners.
Will Natural Pharmacies, Apothecaries, and Natural Markets survive the Amazon invasion. I believe the answer is yes if you are smart and act quickly.
by Bob Root, Keys co-founder and Chief Technologist and Scientist.
Bob Root – Keys Founder & Scientist
You may know me as the formulator and one of the founders of Keys. Less known is that I am an entrepreneur survivor of the photography industry and the personal computer collapses.
Keys is a company that made a conscious decision to only sell our products exclusively through established brick and mortar Natural Pharmacies, Apothecaries, and Natural Markets. We have flourished in what has become a commodity market. Now it is becoming a war zone between the grocery titans that are threatened by the Amazon juggernaut.
We are more than concerned now than ever that our channels are now under attack by Amazon and its new subsidiaries. Referred to as “Death by Jeff,” there are several books about the topic, so it probably is a survival tool to make yourself aware.
There used to be a camera store on every corner and a computer store on every block. Both have all but disappeared for numerous reasons, but primarily because of the onslaught of Amazon into these markets. Amazon is the largest retailer of computers, tech, and cameras. The retailers who thrived in these markets are gone. Why? Where did all the bookstores go? Yesterday, Pier 1 announced they are closing half for their 900 stores and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the natural markets sector, Lucky’s, Earthfare are gone and Sprouts stock is plummeting. All because of Amazon.
Living through the morphing of these two industries not only saw retail channels collapse, but many brands died in the process. There was a common thread as to why both went out of business. “They tried to compete on price and bought products primarily through distribution for convenience.”
When Walmart became a food supermarket, it started the movement to big box stores concept where they became the one-stop place for food, household items, and prescriptions. Cameras and computers were too technical for commodity stores in the early days. Same as in natural products, differentiation between conventional products with nasty pesticides and chemicals were quite easy ten years ago, and many brands traded only on the fact that they were chemical-free without offering differentiated features, benefits, and advantages to their customers. NGOs like the EWG trade on fear and drove to educate consumers about harmful chemicals in conventional products. The “Dirty Dozen” chemicals are almost gone, driving all stores to more commodity and price-based shopping for natural products. Big box stores are now as natural as they are conventional, making them the preferred markets of choice.
Today, Amazon owns Whole Foods, is sweeping urban markets with Amazon Go convenience stores, and will be announcing an entire new chain of local grocery stores coming in 2020. Their goal is simple to understand. It is “Domination.” Like a scorpion stings anything, it is merely their nature. Competing with them toe-to-toe is death. They plan to target a broad range of customers while also providing a full array of online products deliverable to their stores for pickup. Not only does it look like an unstoppable machine. It is unstoppable.
There literally are bunches of books written about Amazon as a market eating machine, but coming from two markets that were devoured by Amazon gives me a unique perspective that I feel I need to share.
Camera stores, computer stores, and natural product sellers all started the same. They differentiated themselves through unique product offerings and customized services, all cemented by consumer education. Not too long ago, you could march into a camera store with a roll of film or a memory card and get pictures to share with your friends. That is gone.
The emphasis is on differentiated products. Last year we saw a 300% increase in natural markets going out of business. Why? Frankly, it is simple to see from a high altitude, but they probably did not see their death coming. What they did to kill themselves was to buy exclusively from distributors the same products that Amazon, big-box, and grocery stores have and trying to sell at higher prices. They honestly expected loyal customers to pay more for the same products. What they forgot was to differentiate their product offering, making it desirable for people looking for products that work and are not the same things as Kroger or Walmart sells. When Amazon bought Whole Foods, they brought their buying power and AI systems to the grocery market, starting a war a couple of years back. Again, I could probably write a 1000 page book detailing the problem and solution, but here it is in a nutshell.
For pharmacies, apothecaries, and natural markets to survive Amazon, they have to return to their origins and differentiate their product offerings and themselves by:
Join the “Buy Direct” movement and carry only products not sold by distribution (aka commodity)
Carry products that not sold in mainstream grocery stores or Amazon’s grocery stores
Carry products that are functional and on purpose
Regain margins by offering differentiated products
Educate consumers as to why the products you carry are better than the commodity stores
Reinstate the Pharmacy, Apothecary and Natural market as a trusted advisor in the community
Stop trying to compete with big-box stores by driving down manufacturers’ pricing stifling their product innovation.
Hire buyers that know product differentiation in place of beating up salespeople for BOGOs, better pricing, and Free-Fills.
So, if you find yourself asking your vendors to lower their price and be “Cheaper Please Cheaper,” you are driving yourself and them out of business. So get on the high side of things and offer your customers new and different products than those carried by Walmart, Kroger, and any other super-duper markets. It goes beyond supporting the small boutique product manufacturers. Frankly, they do not need your charity; they need your business because distributors won’t carry their products because they are not cheap enough. Become the boutique reseller you once were through differentiated products, education, being their trusted advisor, and refocusing your attention on the customer.
Bob
Keys products are functional and integrated medicine natural products that have measurable results. Bob is the Chief Technology Officer and head formulator. Keys was born after he created his products for his wife, Wendy, after her Melanoma diagnosis and subsequent battle with chemicals in her prescription products. Bob is a former High Tech CEO and engineer from Silicon Valley. He began his career at Polaroid before migrating to the personal computer industry in its fledgling days. Bob is the author of “Chemical-Free Skin Health®,” “Keto Plus” and “Defining Moments,” books. He has written hundreds of articles on the natural products market and was a member of the Washington Speakers Bureau. He is a member of the World Future Society who specialized in skip-generation technology and scenario planning.
In the first two parts of my story, I was diagnosed with two atypical biopsies, discovered that the diagnosis was a coverup for a botched lab test and prepared myself for a visit to the revered hallowed halls of the Mayo Clinic. Surely Mayo would be a much better experience. Right? It can’t get any worse or can it?
Hold the Mayo!
Bob and I arrived in Rochester, Minnesota, yesterday late. It was a long drive from South Central Michigan. We pushed through to make it a one-day trip so that we could relax a bit before my appointment at the Mayo Clinic.
I am not one to ever do things on blind faith. I operate much better when I have a chance to ask my questions, consider the responses, ask some more questions, and then fix on a plan of action.
So, since I was traveling and on my way to Minneapolis, when I received the pathology report, it made sense to secure a referral from my primary dermatologist, so that I could visit the Mayo Clinic Department of Dermatology.
My primary physician who also helped me with the Mayo referral said my assessment should also determine “were the doctors at Mayo smart enough for me.” I honestly believe it was a little uptown rivalry between Mayo and Johns Hopkins that sparked the comment.
I was surprised to find that so many friends when they learned I was going to Mayo, responded with some apprehension about my visit. It was like they thought it is a oneway door. My attitude about this visit was based on my approaching it from a wellness perspective. Admittedly, most of my hospital, clinic, and doctor experience do not understand visits for wellness. What’s wrong is usually the first words. For some unknown reason, I thought Mayo would be different. Surely they must understand wellness!
I was not sick, I was happy to know that the ugly duckling moles removed were not cancerous…no Melanoma, no basal cell carcinoma and no squamous cell, just atypical. No, I did not know if there was anything to worry about because the labs were botched. I thought Mayo would use state-of-the-art technology to give me a clean review. By now, the biopsies had healed, and I could not even tell where they were.
So from a wellness perspective, I admit that I am a Melanoma survivor who does not quite understand what “atypical” actually means. When I look at my body, many moles look “atypical.” So, my important questions for the doctors at Mayo Clinic: What is my normal? What advanced medical scanning process or techniques can we use to determine how to address my “a-typicalness” given the high number of moles on my body and considering my history of Melanoma and basal cell carcinoma?
My nature is also to be deeply curious, especially when it comes to my body. I am ultimately responsible for how I take care of myself and my skin health. I was interested to learn as much as possible about new advancements and technologies being used for skin screening.
Mehmet Oz (Dr. Oz) would have been proud of me. Being a good patient, I wrote my list of questions and was excited at the prospect of learning more! I anticipated that perhaps I could participate in a more advanced screening process that I hoped that Mayo was using for skin cancer screening. At the same time, I brought along my medical pictures that were taken of my body. I laughed at the thought that (back then) digital cameras were not being used by dermatologists and how arcane these 35 mm photos now seemed in light of the advancements in photo-technology.
Arriving at Mayo seemed very much like coming to a hotel. The covered car entrances had what looked like helpful bellmen, and someone was announcing over a public address system the arrival of this shuttle or that shuttle. It was highly orchestrated and appeared as though it was a well-designed movie set. Once inside the slow-moving revolving doors, my first thought was, I was back in New York at Pfizer corporate HDQ’s building. The eye was drawn to the highly polished marble looking floors and expansive, glass, artwork and artistic chandeliers. When I heard the music coming from grand pianos, I immediately thought of Nordstrom or a big cruise ship. I also thought fleetingly of the Titanic, and wondered if that’s what James Cameron would have said with some attitude while walking in the door? There was no feeling that I was in a medical institution until I saw people in wheelchairs and noticed a sort of uniform look to the staff members. There was a curious absence of white coats.
Mayo is very efficient at moving people through to their appointed time. They take pride in this. The deck of new patient paperwork was a bit daunting. As a first time visitor, it took me about 30 minutes to complete the deck. I realized as I was reading each question and checking off “no’s” and “none,” that the overwhelming assumption is that there is something wrong with you. Otherwise, why would you be there? Leaving the expansive waiting area, I was escorted down the very long corridor by a tall woman in a suit. There were rows and rows of examining rooms behind closed doors. When escorted into the examining room, I was surprised. The room reminded me of coming into a perfectly set hotel room, but with no windows, with a long couch, separate changing room, and an examining table that had a folded card on it saying that it had been sanitized and disinfected with something in a bottle from 3M. (After a day to reflect on this I now realize there were lots of subliminal messages swirling in my head around these visual images.)
The friendly and efficient nurse was welcoming and asked me to get changed into a gown. She gave me a heads up that two doctors would be seeing me today. While waiting for the doctors, the nurse confirmed some pertinent background information: my Melanoma surgery, my basal cell carcinoma surgery, and all the biopsies. She had the most recent pathology report from regarding 2 ugly duckling moles that were excised that came back with the moderately atypical notation. I asked the nurse if they received my pathology slides, as I was told the day before on the phone, that these slides were being FedEx’d in from the lab in Maryland. The nurse said she did not see any record of them and said she would check for them. Damned, they did not send them!
A charming resident doctor then greeted me. She let me know that she would do a thorough visual body screening check for me first. Great! This time gave me a chance to let her know of my primary questions:
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO at Mayo
I mentioned that with the high number of moles on my body and with many of them looking more atypical than normal I was hoping to learn more about how I could determine “what is my normal.” I let her know that I was very interested in learning more about what point of care diagnostics Mayo is offering to skin cancer patients like me?
Was Mayo using the Dermatascope? Yes, in some cases for some moles, but not for the entire body. What? Why?
What about cellular scanning? No, not yet. What? Why?
What about body scanners? No, not yet. What? Why? Are you serious?
What about passive thermography? Nope. Uh oh…oh no, I was in shock.
She said that there were things in the works but not available.
When she asked if I had any other questions, I asked about my pathology slides and wondered if anyone had received them or looked at them? She said she would check. She also wanted to know how long I planned to be in Rochester and I let her know that I was going to Minneapolis next week for business.
The resident then announced “my consultant” would be coming in shortly. “Consultant?” The card I was given showed he was Dermatology Surgeon. I guess I was expecting a white coat because I was surprised when he walked in an Armani suit. Wait a minute a suit?
What about my pathology slides? Is Mayo now a part of my dermatologist’s coverup?
My antenna was up, was this a business or a medical facility? I was about to learn that if you are looking for advanced thinking that you probably should not go to an institution touting its past. To me, trying to look for the most advanced thinkers conjures up research facilities and universities with wild-haired young passionate and inquisitive looking characters like you would see at Berkeley or Stanford.
Determined more than ever now, not to give up, I asked the same set of questions to my “consultant”, to see if he had any further insight. He let me know that there was much they were still learning about Melanoma and that there were many facets to making a diagnosis and that it still relied on identifying the ugly ducklings, then cutting, biopsying and prescribing treatment. He let me know that he did not believe that there would be a time when technology or machines could do better than the human eye and human brain for detecting Melanoma. And that at this time, the best practice was still visually inspecting the body regularly and to have photos taken so that a visual comparison could be made manually by looking at the pictures and comparing them to the visual inspection, real-time of the body.
I let him know that I was in shock, as I am such a fan of technology and found it hard to believe that current technology would not have some positive impact on people like me. The fact that German scientists are experimenting with skin cancer detection devices based on the iPhone tells me that this is not as much rocket science as the people at Mayo would want me to believe.
How about could we at least start with a more sophisticated way of taking full-body pictures that would accurately show a comparison of changes in moles over time and recognize the fact is that this is not advanced thinking? It is 20-year-old optical comparator technology used in everyday manufacturing.
Finally, my consultant recommended that “given my history and as a precaution,” he would perform another procedure to excise both of the atypical areas on my chest surgically. He described the size of the incisions and said that while one area would be easy to hide the scar, the other would not be so easy. He described the size of the scar and the fact that it would probably pucker a little as it was in a hard area to heal. He asked, “How does that sound?” I felt my face get hot and flushed. I was searching for the right words. What I blurted out: “Honestly, that sounds terrible! It sounds barbaric to me that you are recommending more cutting even though this is not cancerous. Moreover, if I were to do this, I would not even consider doing this without a plastic surgeon!”
Okay, it was a straight throw down! I realized that I was firmly in control of my body and that I was not ready to check into this hotel. It was at this very moment that I thought, his path was only crossing mine and that we were in two very different worlds.
It became apparent to me that I am off to Stanford or Berkeley or where ever this may take me. In one sense, I am relieved, and in another, I am very disappointed. I realize again never to assume. It taught me a lesson to seek out people and organizations that are on a constant quest to improve and learn, and that do not rest on their reputation alone.
Back to the original test results? My results were not atypical. The test was botched, and they did not want to admit it. These “doctors” put me through a very scary and expensive ringer. As a Melanoma survivor, I have no insurance for this and mine is a vote of no-confidence!
Maybe my experience was a comedy of errors that just seemed to fall in place one after the other. This was a chronical of my experiences as I saw them. My message is to be on guard at all times when it comes to your health and wellness. Please take off the doctor goggles.
You have to be your own judge of your doctors, clinics, and hospitals. Blindly following the system can be harmful to your health.
My Ugly Ducklings Skin Cancer Story by Wendy Steele
In part one of my Ugly Ducklings story, I explained the process and reasons I went through having three moles , aka Ugly Ducklings, biopsied and tested. My story turned from being alarmed at the doctor’s findings to anger when I realized that there was a coverup of a sloppy lab process. I was lead to believe I had potentially cancerous growths that needed retesting only to find out the lab messed up the test. Not atypical, but typical!
You are Responsible for Your Health!
I chose the title “You Are Responsible for Your Health” because I have been saying it for years, and I learned firsthand how true this statement is after my experiences over the last two weeks. It does not cut it when people say to me that life is so fast-paced that people make mistakes. This excuse does not fly when it comes to my health.
To put everything into perspective, I received my biopsy results that showed two of the ugly duckling moles removed were “atypical.” What then happened was weird behavior from my dermatologist. Not at all what I expected!
Almost everyone lives somewhere and develops doctors and services in their community that they frequent. Not Me!
I travel for Keys visiting our customers and resellers 200+ days a year. I often do not have the luxury of getting things done in the same place by the same people. I have trusted professionals all over North America that I rely on for haircuts to healthcare.
A while back, and because of my extensive travel, I joined a Doctor Concierge service offered by my primary physician. I would say he is also one of the more advanced thinking doctors I have met. He is a teaching doctor at Johns Hopkins, and I pay him for a comprehensive annual physical that is wellness-based. Then, as a part of the concierge service, I receive email, phone, and referral help from him while I am on the road. Pretty neat and little did I know I would rely on it when my dermatologist was not able to help me.
Here is the deal in a nutshell. I received the news that my two moles were not cancer, but “atypical.” I thought to myself, what exactly does that mean? I called my dermatologist, and her nurse assistant explained that they wanted to take a more extensive biopsy area and a layer deeper of skin to be sure that they had “clear margins.” As a Melanoma survivor, I want to make sure that any “questionable” area be excised to make sure nothing undesirable is left. I have had numerous Mohs surgeries.
What happened next was minimally very disappointing. I told my dermatologists office that I was traveling and asked if they could give me a referral to the Mayo Clinic. The silence on the other end of the phone indicated they did not know how to do this. So, I began my strange journey to get to Rochester, Minnesota.
Since my dermatologist was not able to help, I thought, “my concierge service”! I called my primary physician, and he called back in just a few minutes. When I answered the call, he said, “Hi Wendy, this is Steve Katz returning your call”….he said, “Steve” not “Doctor Katz”! I was relieved and immediately began to feel better.
I explained my situation, and he asked me where I was going to be over the next few weeks. I said, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque. He said, “I will get to work and get back to you.” I hung up and told Bob, “Steve is on the case”!
To my surprise within 10 minutes, I received a call from the Mayo Clinic referral service in Rochester, Minnesota. Steve gave them my information, situation, and timing. He signed me up as a patient and explained that I am a Melanoma patient. A few calls later, literally minutes, and I had an appointment with one of Mayo’s wunderkind Mohs surgeon dermatologists.
What happened next unsettled me tremendously.
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO
Kelly called me from Mayo Dermatology and told me that I needed to have my dermatologist officially refer me and send my patient records as well as the atypical dermatology report to them. I called and luckily was able to talk to my primary dermatology assistant who agreed to call Mayo immediately. She did, and all was set except for one shockingly simple problem.
Kelly called me back from Mayo and told me that I had an appointment on the following Thursday with a specialist in Mayo Dermatology. Then there was a pause and a bit of silence. Kelly then said that the doctor might not be able to do the additional excision that day because when they asked for the pathology slides from my regular dermatologist, they responded to Mayo that “We do not have them, and no one has ever asked for pathology slides before.” To me, that seemed a normal thing for a Melanoma patient to have their dermatologist keep these. It sounded to me that Kelly at Mayo was shocked at this response from my primary dermatologist’s office, mainly because Kelly repeated that she found this to be “very surprising” no less than 3 times during our conversation. Uh Oh!
Does it not seem strange to you that a doctor, a pathology lab would not keep the slides from the biopsy or images at least from an atypical diagnosis for a Melanoma patient? So, I am going to find out what the heck is going on. I realize the institutional assumption is that I would have to return to the same doc for more work?
I am taking charge of my health. NEVER ASSUME.
I also hate that phrase on TV…you know the one in the pharmaceutical commercials. “Ask your doctor!” I believe the phrase should be “Tell Your Doctor!”
WISDOM FROM “UGLY DUCKLINGS” On My Skin Cancer Anniversary by Wendy Steele
Anniversary is a thing to celebrate and to remember. Sounds strange that I celebrate my Melanoma diagnosis and use this to remember my experiences. What I learned then and know now is that I am in charge of my health and well-being.
My doctors have all earned a basic level of my trust. The keyword is basic! I never let down my guard and question everything I hear. I respect the doctors I have chosen, but I do not treat them like gods. I have way too many experiences where what they thought or said was just wrong.
I bristle when I hear people that blindly follow their doctors, especially when they assume the worst and use Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt tactics to get me to agree with a treatment. They all do it! It is how they survive in a corrupt and broken medical system. Below is an example of one of my experiences that led me to a terrible experience at the Mayo Clinic a few years ago. As a part of my Melanoma anniversary celebration, the story below is an essential reminder to me.
One Experience Among Many! – Part One!
My experience with several “ugly ducklings” has once again put a bright spotlight on my desire and responsibility to share my personal wisdom about skin health.
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO
So far, I have had the pleasure to personally talk to and meet many of our customers during multiple special events. At one event, I was wearing several flesh-colored bandage strips on my upper chest and self-consciously made sure that I covered those strategically with clothing, as I did not want to reveal those ugly little bandages. I thought later that perhaps I would have been better off letting them show because then I could share more personally my own experiences with “ugly ducklings.” Knowledge is a powerful thing.
As the story goes, I visited my dermatologist for my overdue annual skin check. Because I am a Melanoma survivor, it means that I am, and always will be, a Melanoma patient. I live 365 days a year with the reality that I am a melanoma patient.
Before my appointment, I called ahead, and I alerted my doctor, “ I have several ugly ducklings that I wanted to have excised and checked.”
So what are ugly ducklings? “Ugly ducklings” are a recognized medical research term being used by skin specialists to help people understand how to recognize and track early warning signs of skin cancer. The more you know about how to identify ugly ducklings, the more effective you may be at beating skin cancer through an early treatment!
On appointment day, the excellent news reality of my melanoma patient status is that I get much extra attention when I have my skin checked. In my case, my Doc and her specially trained RN assistant double-teamed me as they scanned my entire body- scalp to soles of my feet, hands fingers, and places where the sun never sees. I have lots of spots and freckles on my body. The fact is I could easily count more than 100 moles on my body. So many that five years ago my dermatologist decided that they should all photographed so that we could keep track of any changes in my moles! So with double team attention and prior photos in their hands, my body exam took about 15 minutes with two sets of trained eyes on me.
At the end of the exam, in addition to the two ugly ducklings, my Doc identified a third one. All of these were on my upper chest near the pectorals. All three were excised and sent for biopsy.
These moles were not truly ugly. They just looked different to me. Moreover, they looked different to my doctor. So this is the “ugly duckling” practice at work…prompting me to get checked by my dermatologist.
So what exactly should you be looking for when you check your skin every month? Also, what early warning signs should you pay attention to always and act on immediately? Here’s what I do:
I pay attention to any mole that stands out – that is anything that I think looks darker, redder more round rather than oval. These are moles which my eye are automatically drawn to looking at. It is because it just looks different from the other moles that I have! The fact is I know these moles better than my doctor-mainly because I live with them and see them every day! Anything that stands out to me could be the first sign of an ugly duckling, an outlier that bears having checked for any change.
I also watch closely any moles where one half of the mole does not look like the other half, this is known as asymmetry
I pay attention to moles with blurred, ragged or notched edges – with irregular borders
Color changes in moles – from clear to red to brown to black or even blue – all are early warning signs
Anything larger than 6mm in diameter, i.e., the size of a pencil eraser bears watching more closely and getting checked
Every day we are aging and evolving, and any change or growth in the mole is an early warning sign.
Any of the above signs in new moles or growths or existing moles or growths should be checked immediately by a dermatologist. What I just described above is now known as the A, B, C, D, E‘s of melanoma skin cancer. They are all early warning signs to pay close attention to and pro-actively take action on with your doctor.
Another thing that I have learned is if a mole is itchy, crusty, or bleeds, you should immediately ask your doctor to remove it and order a biopsy. Do not let a doctor freeze or burn off these moles because you will not know if there were abnormal or cancerous cells in the tissue that are burned or frozen off. If you experience a regrowth of an area that was previously burned or frozen, immediately have a re-excision and order a biopsy to be sure it is cleared of any potential skin cancer.
So what was the result of my ugly duckling moles that were excised?
Two out of the three came back from pathology as abnormal! Not cancer, but unusual. Now, I am in the process of learning exactly what an abnormal pathology report looks like up close and personally in real-time. I am about to learn more about the wisdom from ugly ducklings and what my next steps will be. I want to share this experience so that others will not be fearful but instead may learn from my experience.
What came next was initially alarming and later another big lesson why you cannot always trust your doctor. What started as fear turned to anger and a lot of time and expense.
My name is Bob Root. I am one of the Keys founders and the chief scientist. A customer contacted Keys Customer Service with three fundamental questions. The questions are mostly about being organic and safety as well as functionality. I have answers, and they might not be what you think.
First, What Does The USDA Say About Organic and Skin Care?
USDA certified organic foods are grown and processed according to federal guidelines addressing, among many factors, soil quality, animal raising practices, pest and weed control, and use of additives. Organic producers rely on natural substances and physical, mechanical, or biologically based farming methods to the fullest extent possible. Skin care and cosmetics can have a USDA certification if the ingredients they use are the same as food that has been certified organic
● FDA does not define or regulate the term “organic,” as it applies to cosmetics, body care, or personal care products.
● USDA regulates the term “organic” as it applies to agricultural products through its National Organic Program (NOP) regulation, 7 CFR Part 205.
● If a cosmetic, body care product, or personal care product contains or is made up of agricultural ingredients, and can meet the USDA/NOP organic production, handling, processing and labeling standards, it may
be eligible to be certified under the NOP regulations.
● The operations which produce the organic agricultural ingredients, the handlers of these agricultural ingredients, and the manufacturer of the final product must all be certified by a USDA-accredited organic certifying agent.
“I am delighted with the questions and order of the questions asked because I have waited a long time for the market to mature to understand my answers.” This will be one of the main subjects on my Joe Rogan Podcast.
Questions & Answers!
The Customer asked:“I am thinking of getting Keys MetaClean Healing Soap & Shampoo, it says there is >85% organic content, what is the rest that is not organic in this shampoo?”
Bob Response: “There is a reasonably simple answer here, but has more far-reaching implications because consumers have a perception that the meaning of organic equates to safety. Later for that.
One of the biggest consumer misunderstandings in skincare is that organic is not a synonym for safe. Safety comes in many forms including trusting the people who use the products you buy.
At core levels, an ingredient, like Avocado oil, can be purchased from a producer that has followed and been monitored by the USDA(United States Department of Agriculture). Wild-crafted ingredients like Shea Butter and high-quality beeswax cannot be certified as Organic because they cannot be traced through the process of where a plant comes from or how they are pollinated. It is pretty hard to trace the pollination path of bees through the jungle.
Technically, MetaClean is considered to be organic because it exceeds the 70% rule put forth by the USDA for skin care and cosmetics. Yes, a product can be USDA certified organic and still have 30% non-organic ingredients including water. We choose to list the true organic content as opposed to using a blanket statement that may or may not be true. So MetaClean has 85% organic ingredients and 15% wild-crafted. In this case, it is Shea Butter made by hand in Ghana by a women’s tribe that we have been buying from for nearly 15 years.
As to safety, there seems to be an impression that organic farms are safe, run by Hippies and use state-of-the-art equipment. People often opt to buy at a farmers market versus trust a new age supplier. That may be a bad decision.
To gain a USDA Certificate, it takes modern machinery and techniques to get certified. We love “wild-crafted” ingredients because they are hand-made and usually of the highest quality. Most often, they come from places that do not even know what a pesticide is and their religions or culture do not permit them to use pesticides. So, that farm on the California coast near the diesel truck stop and using 100-year-old rusted machinery lubricated with motor oil is organic and not safe. Most often they have spent more on their Organic Farm sign or Facebook page than they have testing their food for pollutants and pesticides.”
Whole versus Fractionated Ingredients
Customer Asked,“When you list on the right the vitamins/actions, are you indicating that the actual ingredient is providing those vitamins, for example, Avocado Oil gives Retinol vitamin or is Retinol separate from the Avocado Oil?”
Bob Response, “Great question and a good pick for an ingredient to use as an example! We opt to use only whole ingredients because of how pure forms interact. We use the term “Chemical-Free Skin Health” as a marketing term because fractionated and estered whole ingredients used in most skin care products are used to amplify the effects of the base ingredient. The product branded as Retinol is a powerful and violent product using massive levels of a particular type of vitamin A extracted and condensed into something that has immediate effects on the skin. The adage that if it burns and makes something red it must be working. Retinol, the brand, works in minutes and overnight. Is it better? To me, the answer is no because it harms.
Whole retinol in avocado oil has gradual effects improving the skin elasticity and tone over a much more extended period. Use it every day, and you will see a difference in a couple of weeks, and it is life-long if you keep using it. More important, the “Keys Challenge” has always been to see how long it takes before your friends notice a change.
So, quick results are quick but are they harming. That is the biggest question.
To answer directly, we do not separate ingredients into their constituent components; we appreciate what they do for you in their native form.
Product Safety Rankings
Customer Asked,“What is it in here that can be unsafe for some individuals since it is not complete 0 on safe scale.”
Bob Response: “I would never design, produce or sell a product that is knowingly not safe. I am an engineer who developed products for my wife suffering from the chemical after effects of Melanoma caused by prescription sunscreens, creams, and lotions. We make and design products that solve skin problems and make people feel good. Part of feeling good is knowing that I am here to ensure that my products are safe.
So, I suspect you are talking about the ranking on the EWG Skin Deep database. You should probably direct the question to them, and you might start by asking why Aloe Vera has a 3 ranking (if 100% natural).
The database is an excellent tool and has been abused by companies in the past selling just plain water to get a 0 ranking. Also, the database is an accumulation of many databases. The EWG does not have its own broad spectrum testing program. I have long questioned the numeric ranking system versus a pass/fail system or a category ranking similar to the way California ranks restaurants. Where you have a choice of eating at an A establishment or not at a B
Thank you for your questions and taking the time to contact us. I hope I have answered them to your satisfaction. Bob
When I started writing my book, Chemical-Free Skin Health, I thought I would mention Parabens as a side comment in the chapter on the Dirty Dozen Chemicals in most skincare products. Yes, about 95% of every skincare product produced has a bacteriacide that goes by many names. Most are listed on product labels as Methyl-Paraben or something with paraben in the name.
I was speaking at a conference and was attacked by a person in the audience because they claimed that parabens were not harmful in the small amount used in a product. True that most applications of this bacteriacide are in the 0.5% range and are useful in keeping mold and bacteria growth in check. Back to the incident, I responded that “the average woman uses between 20 to 40 products a day on her skin. Because paraben use is cumulative, that means that the average woman is exposing herself to 10%-20% parabens levels every day. They sat down, and the moderator of the discussion took a quick turn away.
The rub is simple. Parabens kill good and bad bacteria indiscriminately. That is in the bottle and on your skin. The MSDS (federal product safety document) requires a fully garbed and nitrile gloved worker also to wear a respirator if exposed to >2% paraben levels. Someone using 10%-20% level of parabens cumulatively is damaging the skin microbiome and affecting that person’s overall health.
In keeping with the times, we created a new area of Clean Green Cafe blog for quick informational bites. Infograms™ is focused on helping you understand our product applications. Infograms will offer tips and tricks as well as educational information. We will bring you industry news and our perspective on various important subjects. Clean Green Cafe will continue to have in-depth content while Infograms will be quick short bits of information. Often there will be crossover content where Infograms will link to a larger more profound article on the Clean Green Cafe Side.
An InfoGram is a bit like Twitter with a few exceptions.
Like Twitter the messages are short and to the point.
They are quick reads at mostly under one minute and never more than two minutes
Messages are straightforward.
No flowery words our comments that are up in the air.
You can choose to subscribe to Infograms separately from Clean Green Cafe for quick bites.
Infograms a frank and friendly…you know where we stand
Important to note is that the InfoGram blog is independent of Clean Green Cafe. That means that you need to subscribe to Infograms knowing that there will be more, but shorter content coming your way in the form of emails. We invite you to click on the links in emails to get to the main article, but please know that 100% of the content of the Infogram will be in the body of the email you receive. So, it is essential to subscribe so that you do not have to bookmark Inforgram to read the content.
Hope this makes sense, but, you need to subscribe to Infograms on the Infogram site at this link to get more frequent short information content
In the summer virtually, everyone gets a bottle of sunscreen for a long day outside whether it be at a beach, lake or pool etc. It’s important to protect your skin from UV rays. However, applying sunscreen should not be restricted to the summer. The need for shielding your skin from the sun is a necessity all year round. In addition, it’s important to moisturize your skin on a daily basis.
Because of the need to moisturize and protect from the sun on a daily basis, the popularity of products that meet multiple needs has skyrocketed.
With so many products on the market today, it’s hard to know which to buy and how they can benefit us. That’s why we created this article with tips on what to look for and avoid when selecting a daily moisturizer/SPF.
One of the markets top moisturizers is Solar RX Moisturizer SPFdue to its UVA-UVB protection minimizing the chemical burden on the skin. In addition, its lack of additives such as biocides and paraben which kill the microbiome of the skin causing disorders that are chemically driven.
UVA-UVB SPF Protection
The sunlight that reaches has two parts to its rays. These two parts of rays are made up from UVA and UVB rays.
UVA rays penetrate deep into the dermis of the skin, which is the skins thickest layer. The dermis, if unprotected, can lead to premature skin aging and wrinkling, even suppression of the immune system.
UVB rays typically burn the superficial layers of your skin. This plays a key role in the development of cancer. The intensity of UVB rays can vary depending on the season of the year. With that said it’s important to wear a moisturizer SPF that block both UVA and UVB rays. Remember that sunburn skin does not just feel awful, it can cause permanent damage to your skin.
Avoid SPF Products with Parabens
Most often products can contain parabens. Parabens are often used in products as preservatives. Parabens have been used since the 50’s and are often used in beauty products. Some of the most commonly found are lotions, lipstick, shampoos, deodorants and more.
Some studies have shown that parabens can mimic the activity of the hormone estrogen, parabens have been found present in breast cancer tumors. Parabens are additives that kill the microbiome of the skin and can lead to disorders that are chemically driven. Solar RXdoes not contain parabens!
Zinc Oxide for SPF
Solar RX contains uncoated zinc oxide. Let’s talk about just a few benefits from zinc oxide.
Helps lower skin inflammation caused by allergies, irritation, and rashes
Keeps moisture locked into dry skin
Treats pigment disorders
Provides broad-spectrum sun protection that prevents burns
Helps prevent aging of the skin.
Why Use a Moisturizer with an SPF in it?
Why would anyone buy a moisturizer that has SPF in it? The list of benefits goes on, but the short answer would be to save time and money. Buying an SPF and moisturizer separately can be costly. Add in the fact that you have to apply them separately, it’s a no-brainer.
Ashley Bio
“Hi! I am Ashley and I love writing about beauty related topics. When I am not writing about skincare and beauty products you will probably find me reading a book. Through work experience, I have been able to craft excellent writing skills in a number of different styles and tones. in addition a deep understanding of consumers and what motivates them online and of course grammar skills.
Ashley Parker is a freelance journalist and writer. She is a non-paid contributor to Clean Green Cafe. Although her opinions and views are her own, we believe they fully align with our philosophies. She runs the SkinStore blog
Galleyon Natural Antibacterial Foaming Soap has been a cornerstone of Keys for near 15 years. Galleyon is an alternative to soaps that contained Triclosan. Unlike antibacterial soaps, it is not a biocide, so it does not kill our skin’s natural Probiome. It reduces the levels of harmful bacteria without harming the natural colonies of bacteria on our skin.
Antibacterial Foaming Soap & More
Over the years, Galleyon has become much more. Surgeons and medical workers have been known to wash with a clinical bacteriacide and then wash with Galleyon to protect their skin from the bactericidal soaps and gloves they have to wear. A car mechanic reports how great Galleyon was at removing automotive grease and grime. Teens like to shower with Galleyon because it tingles, smells good and makes them feel good. Runners and athletes love it as a whole body soap, and even surfers use it to get rid of the crud they surf through. All the interesting stuff.
The secret to Galleyon is the Lakota Sioux Spearmint Essential oil and the blood orange essential oils we use. The spearmint is off the scale for quality and bacteria reducing properties. The blood orange essential oil is cleansing, deep cleaning and very friendly to the skin. Our base Castile soap was designed to be low alkalinity and brags to be the mildest Castile available. Put them together with avocado oil, and you have Galleyon.
So What Is New?
To the naturally cleansing Castile base soap, we add the spearmint blood orange and avocado oil. What is different is that we have figured out how to get more of the spearmint and blood orange into the soap base without separating. More is better, right? The main benefit is that all the benefits of the essential oils are now in higher concentration without affecting the gentleness of the product. Galleyon’s pH is the same as it was, but the intensity and cleansing properties are better now.
What you will notice is a stronger scent of spearmint and a bit of a raspberry scent coming from the California Blood Orange essential oil.
For our cult full body users, you will notice more tingle and a softer feel. All without a price increase!
PurPlay Classic Has Suprised Us! A Very Pleasant Surprise.
We have learned a great deal very quickly after launching PurPlay just a month ago. One thing that is clear is that it is much more. It is also a personal lubricant for dryness.
We began to think about the PurPlay product line nearly five years ago when women would ask what they could use for vagina personal lubricant for dryness, chafing and minor discomfort from the weather, traveling, etc. Our initial answer was Tortuga lotion and then later AvoJel.
We love to hear from our friends and Keys customers are particularly vocal about what they want and what they like. Over the years, we heard lots of suggestions, and one that was lingering along was the area of a personal lubricant for dryness. About two years ago, the low rumble of voices became a loud chorus asking us to do something. Customers complained that personal lubricants were full of chemicals. They complained that some reduced sensitivity because they were too thick. Others complained that water-based lubes only lasted a few minutes. Our customers got louder and louder asking for a Keys style of product that was natural, functional, vegan and gluten-free.
PurPlay Classic
Classic was our first experimental personal lubricant product. We looked for oils that when combined mirrored and mimicked natural sexual lubricant produced by men and women. Viscosity and slip were critical to match while sensitivity was a very close third. It was both easy and hard to figure out the right oils because only a few oils are near-water in viscosity, produce good slip with heightened sensitivity, and that would last without reapplying. We discovered that if we refined coconut oil to remove the aggressive properties and blended in, at temperature, organic avocado oil that it nearly resembled the lubricants we all naturally produce. It worked, and beta testers roared.
You learn a lot in Beta Testing
All Keys products are reviewed a tried by people before we productize them. They testers are called Alpha and Beta. Alpha testers test a product before the ingredients and formulation are complete. Beta testers are a different group that examines the final formulations before the product launches and test for precise questions. Sharing this is important to recognize that during Beta, you learn the answers to your specific questions and can re4fine the product based on that premise. When you launch, you learn about many things that you could not envision from actual customers. Often what you learn are revolutionary and exciting features. The critical thing for a designer, you have to listen carefully.
PurPlay Classic – Personal Lubricant For Dryness
Some of our team predicted that PurPlay Classic would be the top seller right out of the gate. They were right, but not for the reasons they gave. All said that Classic would be first because it was pure, chemical-free and so heightened sensitivity for both men and women that it would be a hit. It was and is a hit, but for other reasons. Yes, it is a world-class personal lubricant, but much more as we are learning. It is truly a world class personal lubricant for dryness.
We harken back to our original customers from nearly five years ago that asked for a personal lubricant that would help with daily vaginal dryness and the associated discomfort that includes chafing. Little did we realize how big a deal this was for many women. So, more than half of the sales of PurPlay Classic seem to be from women seeking a daily lubricant that is comforting. Classic is just that, and you can feel it by spraying a little on your fingers.
Bob and I have a rule in our lives that products that come into our home have to have more than one purpose. PurPlay Classic is probably the best sexual, personal lubricant available. It is also functional in helping women to find daily comfort. Adding to the feelings of safety by being chemical-free, vegan and gluten-free increase the value of PurPlay Classic.
We are just one month into a great and exciting product for us. I am confident I will be hearing and learning more from our customers about how and why they use our PurPlay products. I will be sure to share with you as the list builds.
Keys, Thievery Corporation and Cafe Cody – The Beginning
Every company has many stories of how it started and defining moments that changed the course of its history. For us, Thievery Corporation and Cafe Cody were defining moments.
Every entrepreneur has good days, average days and some really bad experiences that teach, scar and modify you.Creating defining moments mark course changes for everyone.It is how we respond that separates us all.
Keys is no different, but with the caveat that we chase defining moments rather than avoiding them.Change is good, so constant change must be better.Innovation follows function, but form follows emotion.Recognizing our core need to innovate and change, there are so many defining moments and we embrace all of them.
One such story is our close encounter with the musical group Thievery Corporation and how they and a small internet radio station in Mallorca Spain altered the direction of our company numerous times.
So this story starts like all other Keys stories.
Boy high tech Silicone Valley CEO meets girl VP at Coca Cola.They have a 3000 mile relationship, fall in love and run away together for a new life away from the corporate grind.They plan their getaway to the Caribbean on a 85’ sailboat when a diagnosis of Melanoma changes their direction forever.
Keys was born in earnest to create products that Wendy could use to battle off the skin distress Wendy suffered from the chemicals in prescription products prescribed to her after her Melanoma surgery.
Keys started over 15 years ago building natural skincare products with the help of many friends who advised, guided and helped in sometimes the simplest ways.The advisors and advice were too numerous and great to single out just one.
So, in those early days we had developed four products that included Solar Rx SPF, Island Rx soap, Windsurfer soap and Tortuga lotion.In our little factory, we employed manufacturing techniques from a combination of high tech and Coca-Cola.We manufactured, shipped and designed everything ourselves.All were chemical-free, vegan, gluten-free and completely whole natural. Our skincare factory resembled more of a food production process.Rightfully, loyal customer adopted our products and we experienced good growth in our little niche market.Many of this customers are still with us today and feel more like family.
One of the early stories became the foundation of our close encounter with the music of Thievery Corporation and our long support of a little internet radio station in Mallorca Spain called CafeCody.com
What is funny is the event lead to one of our fastest, most beloved and highest selling products.Eye Butter was not born out of need, but more want.So, here is that story.
Eye Butter and Thievery Corporation
One day, in our early days, a call came in form a industry supporter of Keys asking if we would like to present and be a part of an event in Hollywood for 300 Hollywood Makeup Artist.Sponsored by the Environmental Media Association, the event launched us into many movies, TV shows and a very nice relationship with, then first lady of California, Maria Shriver.
The answer to whether we wanted to participate in the makeup artist event was an immediate yes.
Circa 2006
As the story goes, the person on the other end of the phone said, “the only problem is that you need a product that will interest the makeup artists. Oh Great!The event is a couple of months away and we had no idea of what to design. Wendy had used Tortuga for everything from a lip cream to eye cream.She thought, we need an eye cream anyhow, so why not do that.
Years before, I had been to an industry trade show in New York City and ran into this wonderful woman from Ghana who had sent me samples of her Shea Butter.There were several types and I was using the unfiltered unprocessed version for our Tortuga lotion and Solar Rx.It was and still is the most amazing ingredient that we get from the tribe directly in Ghana.Part of the problem with using it for an eye cream was that it’s color is grey and the amount I would have to use in an eye cream would make the product grey.Not so desirable. I remembered that one of the sample she sent was a beautiful yellow.I dug it out of a cabinet.
It only took 10 or so tweaks to get the formula for the new eye cream. After those experimental versions, I had enough to makeup just one jar to show our team.We gathered around a big teak table that was our conference table and just about everything else work surface. I popped the top and the smell of fresh cucumber stunned everyone.The yellow color was perfect and the consistency excited everybody. This would be it for our future eye cream and our entry pass to the Hollywood makeup artists event in Santa Monica California.The event coordinator agreed that it was perfect and asked me to makeup 300 samples for their gift bag.
But what to call it. We sat around the table throwing out ideas that got worse as we went on.From the Coca-Cola influence, all Keys products have names that have some special meaning.Tortuga, Island Rx etc became the naming standard for Keys. So, just Eye Cream would not work.
I had filled the jar with a French pastry piping bag with a fluted tip to make it look more attractive.One of our teams young son said it looked like butter and suggested Eye Butter.Although we had been trying to bring cucumber into the name, Eye Butter it was.We were running out of time.
So, I am an engineer with a predisposed opinion about everything.When the event coordinator asked for 300 samples, I just assumed that it would be the full 15ml jar that I had showed them.Little did I know that I was the only company that brought full size products to the event.
The event came and the opening speeches started as volunteers handed out the treasure bags for the makeup artists. Being somewhat respectful, the makeup artists sneaked a peek at what was in the bag.Almost everyone noticed the big Eye Butter jar and could not resist.I am still friends with some of the makeup artists I met that day.We still laugh at what happened next.
The makeup artist could not resist and as Amy Smart, the eco inspired actress began to speak, the artists dug into the bag and pulled out the Eye Butter.Unbelievably, the room filled with that smell of fresh cucumber.Everyone dipped into the jar and started to apply it to their eyes directly on top of their makeup.It was controlled chaos.The event coordinator was thrilled, but her east coast counterpart was perturbed at me and remains so to this day.
After my part, it took me over an hour to get out of the hotel.The makeup artist had a million questions and a bunch of opinion of how it should be refined.Great event!It was the beginning of Keys in Hollywood, but it also was the beginning of our relationship with Thievery and Cafe Cody.
As I said, Eye Butter is consistently in the top 5 products we sell yearly.Seasonally, it moves into the #1 position frequently.Okay you say, but who is this Thievery Corporation and what is CafeCody.com?More important, what do they both have to do with Keys?
The Thievery Cody Connection to Keys
My trip to California from our factory outside of Annapolis Maryland was bittersweet. Yes, I was heading back home to LA ,but it would be alone and not with my pal and sweetie.The reason was that just a few weeks prior to the event Wendy fell off a ladder and tore just about every ligament in her right ankle. She would be relegated to cruising around the factory using an office chair as a makeshift scooter with ankle elevated. No way could she fly or standup for even a few minutes at the event.
So, I was off to LAX.It was a lonesome trip with the only upside that my 3 million miles on American Airlines scored me a first-class upgrade. Walking out of LAX, I was greeted with the wonderful weather of the Southern California’s center of everything.I gathered my boxes of samples and bag to head to the rental car agency.
When I jumped into the car, I decided to take the coast road to the Marina Del Rey Marriott hotel.I arrived a bit early for check-in, so I got to hangout in the lobby.That is when it happened.
The MDR Marriott is very trendy and contemporary.Sitting in the lobby, I heard music like I never heard before.It was an interesting combination of a downtempo beat, a bit of reggae with almost jazz scat singer vocals. Determined to find out who the artist was, I went to the from desk and asked what the music was.The front desk person said she did not know.Out of character, I said, I need to know now!I even shocked myself at my aggressive behavior.Then I heard a voice from my side of the counter from an older hip looking guy.He said, the music is called Chill and that is Thievery Corporation’s “Lebanese Blonde!”He said there is also a guy in Mallorca starting an internet radio station and it is called Cafe Cody…cafecody.com. There are lots of artists including big names like Madonna recording the genre.I thanked him and out of curiosity I asked how do you know.He said he was with SONY music and was in MDR for meetings.
I have always believed in coincidences, but this one would turn out to be life changing for me, Wendy and Keys.
Excited, I checked into my room and called Wendy.She thought I was insane as I tried to explain the music.I spent the rest of the evening trying to listen to Cafe Cody.Today, you can just click the link, but ten years ago it required all sorts of software and tweaking to listen.It was internet bootleg music in the early days.
So I did the event and headed back east.When I arrived, my first task was to get Cafe Cody up on our internet at the factory and broadcast it throughout.It was an instant hit with every human, dog and cat at the factory.Friends who visited became instant fans.Chill music still plays in our offices with the factory listen on Chill-day which comes just after Outlaw Country Day.
The Story Continues
Clearly, when I hear Thievery’s Lebanese Blonde, I am immediately transported back to the MDR Marriott and that first encounter with Thievery Corporation.
Part of the irony of the story is that we have never been able to see them live and that is about to change.
Thievery Live!
It was not without trying, but we could never connect with Thievery live.Even though they were based about 35 miles west of our factory in Washington DC, no matter the appearance, we were either out of town or torn away for business.A couple of times we were close within a few hundred miles.Once, we were scheduled to be in Las Vegas and Thievery was going to be at The Brooklyn Bowl, but we had to cancel.
The inspiration for this article is that a couple of weeks ago, Wendy received a marketing email from Thievery that they would be in Reno NV the 4th of September around Burning Man time and over the labor day weekend. Hmmmm.We both looked at each other and said yes!It is only a four hour drive from Eugene where are new factory is located.…and it would be nice to get away.So Wendy began.show tickets?Got ‘em.Hotel reservation on labor day??? Got ‘em
So here we go and will update you on what it was like for us to finally here Thievery live.
Are we crazy.Well Yes, but it pays to be a bit crazy most of the time.I just only wish that words could capture what Thievery and Cody have meant to us.The music has sustained us through good time and not so good times.
Everyone at Keys is inspired by different things.Two things we all share at Keys are a love of Thievery Corporation and CafeCody.comTo both we are grateful and forever fans because they both have bright us meaning and have been a thread of normality for us.
It is just another story about Keys and one of the important ones.
Rememberin the past, living in the present and planning for the future.
Three Unique Personal Lubricants Combine Herbal Extracts and Pure Oils to Stimulate and Calm.
Spray & Play™
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO
PurPlay Now for Sale! We are so happy to announcee that Purplay is now available!…Wendy Steele, Keys CEO
“The PurPlay products use herbal extract blends along with natural oils to create personal lubricants that either stimulate, relax or heighten the sexual experience.Specifically formulated based on the science of stimulating a woman’s pleasure receptors, PurPlay also enhances the intimate play experience for men. PurPlay for sale now on the Keys Store and at select resellers.”
PurPlay now comes in three versions:
PurPlay Classic™provides superior lubrication improving intimate experiences for both women and men.
PurPlay Surf™relaxes and calms so women can enjoy intimate play.
PurPlay Astra™stimulates her pleasure receptors for erotic play.
The Three PurPlay Products:
PurPlay Astra™
For sultry intimate play.Stimulating herbal oil blend provides her with ultra exhilarating sensual experiences.Her choice for euphoric play.His choice for silky smooth heightened enjoyment.Long lasting for “climactic maximus.”
PurPlay Astra – Click to Buy
Stimulating Euphoric Herbal Lubricant
SRP $24.95
PurPlay Surf™
Like magic waves of pleasure, rainforest herbal oil blend stimulates feelings of intimacy and arousal so she can relax and enjoy romantic play.Soothing herbs send subtle messages calming both mind and body while heightening the senses.Women and men enjoy a silky smooth sensual experience. For waves of erotic sensory play.
PurPlay Surf – Click to Buy
Sensual Herbal Lubricant
SRP $24.95
PurPlay Classic™
Natural alternative to synthetic personal lubricants.Specially formulated organic coconut and avocado oil blend supplements natural lubricants made by the body to maximize intimate play.Simply your natural choice for silky smooth pure pleasure!
PurPlay Classic – Click to Buy
Natural Pure Pleasure Lubricant
SRP $24.95
Potential Side Effects
Wendy Steele offered, “PurPlay testers did expose some interesting side effects.PurPlay Astra testers offered that they sometimes got the “giggles.”PurPlay Surf users found that they wanted more cuddle time and PurPlay Classic users coined the phrase “Affectionitus” or wanting more!”
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO, said, “Over the years, we have had many requests from our female customers to produce a natural personal lubricant for sex.Four years of research lead us to the conclusion that one product does NOT fit all.Hectic lifestyles, personal preferences and different perceptions around intimacy revealed a need for three distinct types of lubricants for women.So we challenged our engineers to discover natural ways to heighten the sexual experience, provide a version that calms and relaxes and develop a third product that provides an extremely stimulating erotic experience.”
PurPlay Now – Its Only Natural!
Bob Root – Formulator & Scientist
Recent trends in the personal lubricant market use unpleasant menthol or numbing chemicals to desensitize or stimulate.Bob Root, Keys CTO offered, “Major brands of personal lubricants are anything but natural and often use menthol and lidocaine to either stimulate or desensitize.Many women experience pain, burning or lose total sensation with those products.We (Keys) first had to study female pleasure nerve receptors to understand the effect we wanted to create.Making adjustments based on feedback from our alpha testers, we created whole herb extracts using modern extraction techniques.With just the right combination and proportion of ancient aboriginal herbs, we believe we have the right formulas to create the basis for experiences women want.They are added to a blend of a specially refined coconut oil and avocado oil.All are 100% natural, vegan and gluten-free.”
Bob continued, “We created a base oil blend that lasts long and is very lubricating while heightening the sexual experience.For the relaxing formula, we add an herbal extract blend that offers overall calming and relaxation to enjoy intimacy without desensitizing.The third formula offers an erotic stimulation that can last through multiple orgasms.”
“We have tested our PurPlay lubricants on materials used in the manufacturing of condoms with no notable problems.Urban myth or a generalization that oils do not play well with condoms does not seem to be an issue with PurPlay”, Bob said.“We recommend testing your condom of choice with PurPlay to be sure.”We are offering free evaluation samples to condom manufacturers for their own certification.
PurPlay Now for Sale – Spray & Play™
Click to Buy
PurPlay comes in a 30ml airless sprayer.Wendy Steele added, “Most personal lubricants are liquid, in a tube, need to be warmed and are messy.Not only did we create three functional personal lubricants, we revolutionized how they are applied and feel.We employ an airless spray mist bottle to dispense a lubricant that feels warm, no cold shock.Because it is airless, it can spray at any angle.It fits comfortably in the hand and is intuitive to use even in the dark.PurPlay™ is long lasting and can be sprayed as often as desired.The ingredients are compatible with all sorts of sex toy play.”
For Women…and for Men
Both men and women who tested PurPlay reported that using PurPlay lead to more playful and fulfilling sexual experiences.
For optimal results, incorporate PurPlay Surf or Astra into your foreplay allowing 5 minutes for herbal effects to take place before intense play.As the anticipation builds, so does the effects of the herbs.Testers found that they like the choice of three different products.After a hectic day, PurPlay Surf relaxes and calms.PurPlay Astra offers her an erotic experience when a planned encounter or spontaneous play presents itself.PurPlay Classic provides long-lasting superior lubrication for extended intimate play.
In the 1950’s virtually every woman owned a jar of Pond’s Cold Cream. They removed makeup, washed their face, moisturized and exfoliated with it. The problem was that it was full of chemicals and today’s natural woman wants something safer and healthier. Keys Tortuga to the rescue!
Tortuga Exfoliates
The petrochemicals in cold creams simply dissolved dead skin. Many women today use salt and sugar scrubs to exfoliate. Yes, they make the skin feel smoother, but like sandpaper, they can damage the alive part of the skin. With Keys Tortuga, the avocado oil we use contains natural retinol’s that will nicely exfoliate the skin, moisturize it and leave it clean and fresh without a sub or harsh soap.
The process is simple. Just wet your face with warm clear water. Take a pea size dollop of Tortuga and begin to massage it into the skin. You can start with the forehead and work down adding more Tortuga creating a light coat. Then start where you began and massage with your fingers. You will notice that the skin begins to slough off. If needed, add more Tortuga. When you have completed the process, since your face with cool clear water and pat dry. You’re done!
Tortuga Removes Makeup
Even stage makeup is no match to Keys Tortuga. For years stage and screen actors have used Tortuga to remove stubborn and waterproof makeup. They spread Tortuga thinly all over their face and use a tissue or washcloth to remove makeup. Using more Tortuga for a hard area, they remove all the makeup and then rinse with cool clear water and pat dry.
Tortuga As A Moisturizer
Like exfoliation, you can wet the face and lightly massage Tortuga into the skin. Keep the face wet and lightly massage Tortuga on the face, neck and décolletage. Let the thin and water air dry. You want a very thin layer and let it dry. Why it is a preferred moisturizing method is because you are trapping moisture from the water in the skin. Also, the natural retinol in avocado oil helps smooth and fade spots and dark patches. Carrot seed oil and black seed oils deep moisturize and have an effect on skin elasticity. The idea is to really dilute the Keys Tortuga using the water.
That’s It!
Last point. In all cases, you can use Keys Tortuga around the eyes and it will not burn or cause tearing. It does everything that cold cream does and better because it has no harsh chemicals and the ingredients are probiomme…meaning good for the skin health.
We get lots of questions on our customer service system. This week the dominant question has to do with thinning Keys lotions in cold weather. We generally get very unique questions which is why we don’t have a FAQ page. We answer each question individually. Sometime we do get a burst of questions that are similar. In the future, as we receive similar questions we will post them here as well.
Over the last couple of weeks we have had a number of questions regarding the viscosity (thinning) of some of our lotions.
We think the question is coming up because of cold weather around the country. So, first thing, Keys does not use glycols in our products. Glycols keep a product viscosity consistent over a wide range of temperatures. Thinning can be done by raising the temperature or adding water.
Most of the question circle around how to go about thinning our lotions. Some request us to make a thinner lotion. Thinning our products in the manufacturing process lessen the quality, so we won’t do that.
There are some tricks that include heating the bottle to around 90 degrees F. Some people place the bottle near a window to catch some sunlight. Add water as you apply to thin the lotion. As the water evaporates on the skin, the lotion will be more even on the skin and deeper in the pores.
The reality is that if we made our lotions by thinning, we would lose some of the emollience.
So here are the tricks:
Heat the lotion to nearly skin temperature which is typically 90 degrees F
Put a drop of a lotion in the palm of your hand and add a few drops of water. Be your own judge of how much water to add.
Apply lotions to a wet face after washing. Again, the lotion will thin and go into the pores. Allow your face to air dry.
Do not use these tricks with Solar Rx Sunscreen/Moisturizer as thinning it will reduce the efficacy on the SPF.
Keys does not use preservatives and all of our lotions are water soluble. Do not dilute the lotion in the bottle as you may expose the contents to airborne bacteria.
Hope this helps!
Mickey
If you would like to purchase our lotions you can go to our store by clicking here.
A few years ago Keys engineers started working on a line of personal lubricants because we had so many requests for a better and natural product. Although many people use Tortuga lotion as a personal lubricant, (Read Story) it was not ideal because it is a water based lotion.So, we set out to invent something great and not a copycat product.PurPlay was born out of industry research and talking to many women about what they were looking for in a personal lubricant.To our surprise, it was a lot bigger project than we thought.
PurPlay Has To Be Innovative
Turns out that women wanted more than a same old water or silicone based lubricant. Women want the natural wellness and health features known from Keys and they wanted something more.They want a product and that is a stimulant without menthol or burning sensations.Women also wanted a different product that would help them relax and calm down to better enjoy the experience. They did not want a product that numbs or desensitizes. A very tall set of features.
In theory, the base lubricant was easy using some technology we developed for our Reflex product.As we solicited early product testers, we found that there were a number of problems to address.Some physical, some emotional and some about the ways to use the product.
PurPlay Not Just Another Lube
Seems as though personal lubricant makers never used their own products. Maybe they do not care that a product feels cold, stings, burns or totally collapses the libido. PurPlay testers pointed out some things that should be solved that had noting to do with our product.It was an industry issue where lubricant makers did not understand these problems or tried to solve them the wrong way.At Keys, we have always built every product to make people feel good and solve their problems.PurPlay started as a single product simple lubricant that tester pointed out that there should be three products with different features and functions.
Over the five years, we identified that there are indeed three distinct products that needed to be developed.In the early Fall of 2017, we began testing. Well, we guess it leaked out and we started to get more volunteers to test the products.Then we started to get request from bloggers, social media types and conventional press. We needed to accelerate our development.
So, if you have heard a rumor that Keys was developing a line of purpose designed personal lubricants, the rumors are true and we are close to releasing these new products in the early second quarter of 2018.
A Keys Top Selling Product Now in a New Airless Pump
Eye Butter is a wildly successful product for us. In fact, Eye Butter has been a top selling Keys product since it was introduced almost 15 years ago. The anti-aging properties, anti-allergenics, soothing, anti-puffies and makeup friendly properties are Hollywood and everyday proven. Just as popular for men as it is for women, Eye Butter has been ranked the finest most effective eye cream by Hollywood makeup artists. ..and it is all natural whole ingredients.
So, how could we make it better. We can’t improve Eye Butter itself, but we can improve how it is packaged. It was now about 4 years ago that our customers asked us to create an airless pump so people could travel with a more compact container. We found a airless pump that worked and the pump version of Eye Butter became the most popular container almost overnight. People still buy the Eye Butter in the jar because it is more traditional and it was easier to get a small amount.
As quickly as the Eye Butter airless pump became popular, we started to get suggestions.
What People Asked For
Could you make the pump more precise?
Could you make the container body transparent so you can see how much product is left?
Could you make the container easier to hold
So, we did it and we are pleased to introduce the new Eye Butter 15ml Airless Pump today. Ant order from today on will come in the new container.
Same great Eye Butter in a New Travel Container!
Eye Butter also makes a great lip balm to make lipstick look bolder and brighter, eliminate chapped lips quickly and for its anti-allergy properties. Like all Keys products, it is Vegan, Gluten-Free, Free of manmade chemicals, soy-free and non-GMO
Eye Butter – Refreshing Anit-Aging Eye Cream
NEW! Airless Travel Pump. Smoother & Silkier
Natural Eye & Lip Cream with Cucumber, Avocado Oil and Shea
Keys Whole Natural Cucumber Extract
Softens & Hydrates
Aloe Vera Conditions & Conceals
For Sensitive Skin
Deep Penetrating
Makeup Friendly
Moistuizing
Reduces fine lines
Will not sting eyes
The Secret
Eye Butter combines an age old secret to eye care with pharmaceutical grade ingredients to soften eye tissue, reduce fine lines and tighten the skin. The glowing effect brightens the skin around the eyes, enhances skin color and is a great natural foundation for mineral eye makeup. Eye Butter like all Keys products is first and foremost skin therapy.
The secret to Eye Butter is naturally distilled organic cucumbers. We distill our own cucumber to create an extract that is high in the ingredients that have been known for years to tighten and tone eye tissue. Actor and models have placed cucumber slices on their eyes to reduce puffiness and to tighten eye tissue. Our cucumber extract has all of those natural features in a concentration you can feel and see.
The secrets to eye butter does not stop with our cucumber extract. We combine a natural filtered and unprocessed Shea Butter from Ghana that has the highest fatty acid levels we have been able to find with pharmaceutical grade oils in therapeutic proportions. Avocado, Black Cumin and Carrot Seed oil hydrate, rejuvenate, tighten and create a soft glow around the eyes. Aloe Vera creates a prismatic effect similar to Luminos and creates a natural clinging action to gently hold eye makeup.
There is More!
Eye Butter has natural anti allergen features as well. Eyes that are irritated by pollen, danader and other allergens receive an interesting barrier when you apply Eye Butter around the eyes. These natural and made allergens cling to the surface of Eye Butter providing a shield protecting sensitive eye tissue from itching. This has a great natural anti aging benefit because rubbing the eyes causes skin to sag and look older, tired and irritated. With Eye Butter you get younger looking skin without the itching during allergy season.
Keys Eye Butter is featured on the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep Report as one of the safest around the eye products on the market.
”Eye Butter was created to be our first product for Hollywood. In 2006 we were invited by the Environmental Working Group to attend a presentation in Santa Monica California to 300 Hollywood makeup artists. Eye Butter was a natural for the group because all of our researched showed that most of the hard work by makeup artists was around the eyes. We put our Eye Butter in the goody bag and when they opened our oversized sample, the room filled with the smell of fresh cucumber. It was an overnight hit and many of our makeup artist advisors today were in that room.” Wendy Steele , Key CEO and Founder
Being insiders in the medical and pharmaceutical industry, it is clear that there are many severe problems with our healthcare systems.Young greedy new doctors flock to rich suburbs to make their fortunes. Many 65+ year old’s bilking the healthcare insurance systems by treating their doctor visits as a new-age hobby.Healthcare, en-mass, using TV commercials creating FUD…Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt…to drive people to take pharmaceuticals feeding the cycle of doctor to hospital to drugs to the casket.
Today, self-aware medical practitioners realize that the healthcare system treats the 60+ as expendable.While many doctors are disturbed by this flaw in the system, they admit privately that healthcare in America is set to find cancer and then get every last dollar out of insurances to either cure or kill the patient.
According to AARP (AARP Study) the vast majority of Americans age 50+ (85%) say they have taken a prescription drug in the past five years, and three-fourths (76%) say they are currently taking at least one prescription drug on a regular basis.Just watch the Weather Channel to see an unbelievable amount of pharmaceutical commercials flanked by lawyer adverts asking if you have been harmed by a drug or medical device.
In researching this article, I must admit that I slipped into a cross between depression from all the sickening stories of peoples’ lives being ruined to a mild case of hypochondria where I took on the symptoms of various maladies.
What To Do
I guess the easiest answer of what to do appears to be only two choices.Either you bitch about the system in hopes of some Washington politico changing it or, like Apple, you change the game.This article is about once such game changer and a very simple example of how it can be changed overnight.
Melanoma
We started Keys Care because of my sweeties bout with Melanoma.The Mohs surgery saved her and the prescriptions left her skin a total train wreck.We fixed her skin.Visits to Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic and Dermatologist are a way of life for Wendy.Sometimes waiting 6 months for an appointment to have a 5 minute look by the doc to make sure that suspicious mole was benign.Yes, it seems inhuman, but it is typical. Again, many docs are well intentioned, but they have no control over the required insurance process that rakes the patient over some hot sharp coals.
Patient?
Funny use of a term to describe people.To see a doc you must be patient?Seems so!
Apple To The Rescue
When I saw the first Apple Watch with built-in heart monitor 3 years ago, I clearly saw the revolution starting.I saw the same sensor reported to also be a blood glucose monitor that was quickly turned off because of heat from the medical community.Yes, a heart tracker was okay for fitness, but leave doctoring to the doctors was a cry heard down many halls including the FDA.
The War is All But Over and Apple is the Victor
The invention of the Apple Healthkit enabling software is the nuclear hand grenade with the healthcare system holding the pin.Envision a software that would let developers create apps that use the sensors and cameras on Apple devises to alert, diagnose and schedule immediate treatment for disorders they detect.I know, it is hard to imagine, so during the launch of the new Apple Watch 3 and iPhone X, I decided to create such a hypothesis to show how such a bold move would be possible. Some quick searches of the web and to my surprise, my hypothesis is already in play.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the Glue
Elon Musk says that AI can destroy humans faster than a world war.Probably true, but it can also change lives and save them as well.Ultimately, AI will give way to intelligent neural networks, but what Apple has created is nothing less than the first true revolution in healthcare.
A Simple Example
Before I detail this my example, it is important to realize a couple of things.
Any systems based on a database like medicine or law will be replaced by AI in the next 10 years
My simple example below is one of tens of thousands possible uses of AI
Denial is futile
Herein is a simple hypothesis based on Wendy’s life after Melanoma.
To reiterate, here is a true story that happened to her not too long ago.She had a mole removed from her breast about a year prior to this incident.She visited the dermatologist who took a biopsy a few days before Wendy had to travel on customer visits.The report is that it is suspicious and the doc recommends to take another biopsy.Her skepticism is a learned trait and she questions the doc intensely. Revealed, it turns out that it was not that the biopsy was suspicious, it was that the test sample was flawed and they could not get a good reading. This is not how the doc sold the need for another biopsy.After all, they have to protect their own, don’t they.So, now it is a 6 month wait to see a competent dermatologist for an appointment.She opts to travel across country to Mayo Clinic.Greeted by a suited doc, he whips out his binocular magnifier and before looking her over he reads her medical record. Reading the chart first…Hmmmm he says, this one looks suspicious.Wendy says WHAT?He says we should cut this one out.She says, you are looking at a flawed biopsy and we need to take another biopsy, not cut my TIT up.She says, can we have a look at it with a Molescope.He says, we have one, but my eyes are better.Wendy walks out.
I realized that at one point there were six doctors, two assistants and Wendy in the room.I said the the receptionist, “now that was a fair fight!”
Now for what I see will happen in the near future…like next year!
I will use my iPhone 7 plus to take closeup pictures of moles and any regularities using a Molescope ll which I purchased on Amazon for $299.This is the fun part for me! We will upload the images that we also mapped onto her body locations. An AI programs scans the images in real-time looking both at a visible light picture and the thermal image as well.In real-time it looks for irregular shapes and ‘hot’ moles.In real-time it pops up a window with green lettering that says “nothing suspicious.”Recommends a reshoot of certain moles in 6 months.
6 months later I get to reshoot and upload again.In real-time, a red window pops up with four suspicious moles that are now ‘hot’ and has grown irregularly.Immediately a window pops up asking her a zip code for where she is now because the AI software knows she is constantly traveling.She types in 92102.The AI software pops up a screen that looks like expedia.com.It says in a Siri voice, “Choose a date and time to schedule a biopsy.”She says, speaking to Siri, “I see tomorrow at 2pm is open.Can you book that.”Siri says, “I have scheduled your biopsy and forwarded your medical records with the images and location for the biopsies.”Siri, “Would you like me to book a car to pick you up?”“Yes,” Wendy says.
The next day the car arrives at 1:30p and she arrives 5 minutes before her appointment.She thinks, “Funny, the place has no waiting room, no disinterested receptionist behind a shut glass window and there is a man that has an iPad that greets her.“Hello Ms. Steele.”Wendy says, “How did you know it was me?”He says, “Apples new face recognition software identified you and brought your records up on the iPad.”“WOW” she says.
Wendy asks if he is a nurse.He answers, “no, I am an engineer.”He leads her into a room and asks her to sit in a chair that looks like something in a SpaceX capsule.She says, “When will the doctor be in to do the biopsy?” He laughs, and says’ “The doctor is here.” As he points to a robotic arm.Wendy actually relaxes because she is no stranger to doctors, but also is relieved that this robot has no ego.
“So what is going to happen now,” she says.He says, “I see you have four suspicious areas from the initial scan.The robot will scan these suspicious areas again to see if the more high powered sensors confirm the scanned irregularities.”The what?“Here, watch this 2 minute video and at the end you can ask me any questions you have.”She watches and has no questions.It is all covered and she is now curious to get started.
The robot begins to work by first positioning its arm in front of her face.Siri’s voice says, “I am scanning to make sure that you are Wendy Steele and will map the locations of the irregularities.”Siri says, “Welcome Wendy Steele, I will start now.” Siri starts and says, “Hmmmm.”Wendy says “WHAT?”Siri says, “Haha a bit of Siri humor!”“Now relax, this will take about a minute.”The arm swings to the first mole.Siri says, “this one is okay.”The arm moves to the next mole.Siri says, “This one is okay as well.”The arm move to the third mole.Siri says, “This one does not look right and we will come back to it for a closer look.”On to the fourth, Siri says, “This one is okay as well.”Back to the third, the robot moves in close and relooks at the mole.Siri says, “This one looks like a basil cell carcinoma and I would like to do a Mohs style biopsy.Do you agree to the biopsy?”Wendy says, “Yes, do I need to sign something?”Siri says, “No, I recognize your voice print and you only have to say, I agree.”Wendy says “I agree.”The robot swabs a topical anesthetic, waits for 60 seconds and then injects a subdermal anesthetic.
On the screen in from of her, a 4k video of an undersea adventure pops up for her to enjoy while she waits the four minutes for the anesthetic to take effect.See Siri knows Wendy is a swimmer and the undersea video relaxes her while her favorite chill artists, Thievery Corporation, plays “Lebonese Blonde.”
The video ends and the robot swings in on the mole.It uses a new form of Mohs surgery.Rather then taking a biopsy and checking for clear cancer-free margins and then a larger biopsy plug, Siri tells Wendy, “I am going to take a dozen small needle biopsies around the mole where I think clear margins should be. Then I will use a small robotic knife the remove the mole and test it in real-time.If all is clear, I will glue the site closed and you will be done.”
The process begins as Wendy strains to look away as her curiosity peaks.Two minute and it was done.Siri says, “Wendy you are done.I have posted your calendar with a reminder to take another picture of the area next week so I can see that everything is healing properly.
20 minute start to finish and Wendy steps into the waiting car for her return ride with only a small dot bandage on her arm.She thinks, a glass of wine would be nice.After all, no big bandage with instructions to keep the arm elevated.Yes, wine sounds good and asks Siri on her Apple Watch 3, “Siri, where is a good wine bar near me with Tapas?”Siri says, “I like the Vampire Lounge on Santa Monica Blvd.Would you like to go there?”Wendy says, “Yes!”Siri says, “I have loaded the destination on the cars CarPlay Maps®.You will be there in 5 minutes.”
Far fetched?NO!…and yes it is coming soon.
The simplest way to describe it is when check engine light comes on in Wendy’s Corvette Grand Sport, she takes it to the nearest Corvette dealership.They greet her, take the car, fix it and return her on her way in a matter of minutes.All day, everyday. Shouldn’t healthcare be the same?
Impersonal?No way.I would choose Siri over an intern doctor that probably has not slept in 18 hours and is being trained using 25 year old techniques.
Lastly, they say medicine is an art.That’s NICE! I believe it needs to be a science and Apple is on its way to making it so.
The FDA has given Apple a Fast Track allowance.Seems as though it is a pretty tame and low-end allowance though. We will see if Apple will go rogue.
A Bit of Advise!Run Out and Buy Apple Stock Now!
When Wall Street gets its head out of its own proverbial healthcare ass and realizes what Apple has created, they will bail like fleeing rats from the healthcare systems ship.
Authors Note:I have a vested interest in Wendy’s health and safety.Her example herein is our story of how Tim Cook’s Apple will affect us personally.I sat down for 30 minutes and typed on my iPad non-stop listing industries and markets the iPhone cameras, sensors and Apple Watch will create and enable.The current heart monitor in the Apple Watch WILL save lives world wide.Add AI and we can turn painfully slow experiences into instant experiences.Apple’s Augmented Reality, Siri and Sensors in its products will revolutionize many industries.Apple is no longer an entertainment company with Tweets, Facebook and picture sharing.It will be the largest medical device company in the world in five years or less.After all, it only took 2.5 years for it to become the worlds largest producer of watches…and now those watches an Apple are on the FDA Fast Track medical device program.
Bob
_______________________________________
Authors Notes:This article was inspired by Tim Cook at Apple.During his keynote presentation introducing the Apple Watch 3 and iPhone X, there were numerous referrals to medical technology and health.So, I decided to take a quick look at any and all advancements that related to our own healthcare scare.Wendy’s Melanoma was a wakeup call that would not be forgotten.I looked at the Apple Watch and iPhone technology as it relates to our skin.It is a road to this article that was clear, wide, paved and well signaged.It took me all of an hour to research and another hour to write. Imagine if I really dug deep into what is possible. The next couple of years will be amazing!
Again, this is just one tiny segment of the medical market.No brainer how impactful Apple will be.
Another fine point is how the Apple Watch has improved our daily health from just our Healthkit and Activity app mapping.It is very interesting to monitor your heart and exercising. Just beware the “Open Rings” syndrome…that in a future article.
Truth be told, I trust Apple with my medical information more then some local doctors office
Bob Root is a former Silicone Valley Tech CEO and is the founder of Keys Care and Applied Alchemy products companies.He is a member of the World Future Society and has briefed military and business leaders on the use of mesh network nanobots, neural networks, AI drones and advanced AI medical systems.He is an author and speaker of diverse futurist subjects.
Disclaimer:Bob was affiliated with Apple in the early days of the Macintosh and was a vendor to Apple while in Silicon Valley.
As always, this article is the thoughts and view of Bob Root and not that of Keys or Orion Learning Intl., inc.
Keys Natural Skincare & Beauty (Probiome) was born after co-founder Wendy Steele was diagnosed with and beat melanoma. The cancer was gone, but she was still dealing with some nasty side effects on her skin – itchy, irritated patches that were just made worse by sticky sunscreens. Her then-boyfriend (now husband) Bob Root decided to take matters into his own hands and researched the work of everyone from Harvard MDs to aboriginal healers.
The products that Bob developed for Wendy worked great for her, so together they decided to start manufacturing for the public. We sat down with Bob to discuss their products, how the company got started, and his best advice for people looking to switch to natural skincare.
Smallflower: The Keys story starts with Wendy’s bout with Melanoma and her struggles with ineffective treatments for the subsequent skin troubles. As you were first working on products with Wendy, when did you realize that you were on to something bigger than a one-off personal solution?
Bob Root: Wendy’s Melanoma came at a time where our core business was brand marketing consulting for major tech and pharmaceutical companies. I shared prototype products with the pharma people and they encouraged us to develop the first four products. We sold online only, and the big break came in 2007 when Consumer Reports Magazine ranked Solar Rx number one in its category.
At the same time, the Environmental Working Group ranked Keys’ four products number one in each of their respective categories. Now at 43 products, we continue to have the safest ratings on the EWG. This series of events caught the attention of over 500 retailers which increased the brand awareness. Over the years, we’ve continued to work with integrity, avoiding high-volume big-box store lures.
“Probiome is a Keys-registered trademark for products that restore the balance on the skin by creating formulations that promote good bacteria growth on the skin”
S: Can you briefly describe the Probiome line and name, where the idea came from, and where you think probiotic and microbiome-friendly products are going to go over the next few years?
BR: Ten years ago, I became a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Microbiome Project. The project discovered that our skin has 10 times more bacteria than human skin cells. Creating a balance is what Probiome means.
Parabens and Triclosan destroy good and bad bacteria collaterally. This imbalance allows bad bacteria to attack the skin. I firmly believe that greater than 50 percent of diagnosed skin disorders are caused by products containing parabens and triclosan.Probiome is our registered trademark for products that restore the balance on the skin. We do this with formulations that promote good bacteria growth on the skin, similarly to how probiotics restore the flora in the gut. The difference is that gut flora can be promoted by adding breeder bacteria. Skin needs an environment that attracts natural growth of the skin flora.
Natural instead of conventional is a good first step. Natural oils that promote growth is the real answer. Our products are the real deal, because they use the right ingredients of the highest quality and in therapeutic proportions.
S: For someone who is new to natural skincare products, what’s the single best piece of advice you can give them?
BR: Read the label – if you can’t recognize the names of the ingredients, don’t buy it. Find a manufacturer that you trust implicitly.
Also, vote with your wallet. It will change the world faster than donating to Non-Governmental Organizations. Manufacturers follow the money.
S: If there was one currently popular skincare ingredient you could get banned, what would it be and why?
BR: Parabens! FDA recently banned Triclosan. To brag a little bit, my book helped a lot to polarize the FDA.
S: Are there any upcoming projects you’re excited about, that you can give us some hints about?
BR: Our Alternative Naturals line has very deep potential. Basically, the initial challenge was to replace petroleum jelly with a jelled avocado oil for the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS).
It blossomed into a series of products that offer a non-petroleum jelly carrier for solution-oriented products. So we will continue to replace the top ten used solution-oriented products that have petrolatum as its carrier with AvoJel.
Another hot project is bio-based 3D printing of skin cells as a catalyst for age-reversing skin repair. It’s really out there, but it’s where I’m headed. It’s more than anti-aging, it’s un-aging.
S: What’s one Keys product that nobody should be without?
BR: For anti-aging, Solar Rx. We use no chemical sunscreens, only pure uncoated zinc oxide in a natural lotion base. Solar Rx is for those who want to avoid the extreme aging effects of UVA and UVB on a daily basis.
This is a reprint of the Small Flower article. You can Click Here to go to their site.
My 20 Year Journey to Feel Safer in a Hostile Environment
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO & Founder
Twenty years ago I learned everything I could about how to protect my skin from ultra-violet radiation. Because I am a Melanoma skin cancer survivor UV awareness is critically important to me. Thus, my mission was to discover how to feel safer in a hostile daily environment.
The sun’s rays are a formidable foe. For millions of high-risk and sun sensitive people the sun is public enemy #1.
Moreover, many years ago, my early stage Melanoma diagnosis served as a fork in the road. With education, I consciously changed all of my thinking about sun exposure. First, the California tan faded. I stayed the course, even when many others were skeptical and even opposed my thinking.
Sometimes I Just Get Angry
Reflecting now on this 20-year journey, I realize I was ribbed and sometimes even ridiculed by others. Many proclaimed that I must have daily sun exposure for healthy Vitamin D levels. And others lived by the ‘ignorance is bliss’ rule.
This was not an option for me. Based on my skin type and history, those behaviors were risky for me. Instead, I chose to supplement with a daily Vitamin D emulsion. In addition, I have my Vitamin D levels tested regularly.
Consequently, I redefined what I was willing to do to protect my skin and my life! Then I discovered my personal truth that ultimately made me feel safer.
You Have a Choice
Staying away from UV is the “trick” to Anti-Aging
I learned to change my habits. I shifted outdoor exercise to early morning or late in the day. I limited the amount of time I spent outside when the sun was at the highest UV index levels. Most importantly, I learned to keep my skin covered by wearing protective clothing. I researched and found the widest-brimmed hats with chin strings. I found the most comfortable fingerless gloves for driving and dog walking. I bought the best protective sunglasses I could find. And I applied zinc oxide to my face and neck.
Ultimately, I learned how to demonstrate daily what many should consciously practice. I have been told that I am a walking billboard for high-risk sun sensitive people. Therefore, I am not afraid to talk to people about why I do this.
Nevertheless, I know I am not super woman. I obviously cannot control the power of the sun. At the same time, the science of UV radiation is proven. The danger is ever-present. Also, I know all too well how easily UVA penetrates through clouds and even rain. UVA-UV Aging and UVB –UV Burning is part of my vocabulary.
I Am Done With Opinions
Simultaneously, I learned that there are hostile people who strongly opposed the use of sunscreen. This hostile group believes that sunscreen use is the cause of more instances of skin cancer. Moreover, I believe I understand why they may believe this. Because I also believe that applying ‘sunscreen’ may give people a false sense of security. However, I also believe that ‘sunscreen’ is just one small part of the protection equation. It is not the ‘end all be all’ answer to UV protection.
Finally the FDA agrees! Yes, the FDA has validated that in the US we live in a hostile UV environment. All sunscreen products now require the disclosure of UVA and UVB protection. The directive on all labels must be clearly stated. Exposure to sun should be limited. AND to avoid skin cancer, sunscreen is to be COMBINED WITH shade and other protective measures i.e. clothing, hats and sunglasses. The hostile ignore the data.
Saving Lives
Keys developed Solar Rx over 15 years ago. We pioneered Solar Rx as the best Moisturizer with Sunscreen. Solar Rx is for daily use on the face, neck and hands. At Keys we continue to educate about sun awareness. Also, we educate customers that our product is not for the beach or pool or for prolonged outside exercise activity.
It is self-evident that continued exposure to radiation from the sun is dangerous. Unfortunately, many have an acquaintance, a friend or a loved one who has been affected by Melanoma skin cancer. Early onset of skin cancer has been attributed to using tanning beds as teens. We read press stories about young adults whose melanoma diagnosis came too late to save their lives.
Moreover, personal experiences now serve as reminder of the horror stories of skin cancer surgery. Dermatology scars are the new normal while many are hidden as badges of stupidity.
As a result of my personal experience with Melanoma, I know so much more than I did 20 years ago. I believe adopting pro-active behaviors allow me to embrace a healthy and safe life. And even in the face of hostile adversity I am grateful and give thanks to everyday I can be outside and feel a little bit safer.
Most importantly, it is my hope that many more realize that knowing better can help you make better choices. With education you can also make better choices for yourself as well as your loved ones and help to save another life.
In closing, education, prevention and early detection are the gold standard to stamp out skin cancer. Listening to the opinions of the hostile minority could kill you!
A skin health series eBook by Bob Root, Keys Scientist & Founder
With all the things that can effect our skin everyday, it truly is time to Get Wise about our skin health. The number one question I was asked from day one when my book Chemical-Free Skin Health® was introduced at Maria Shriver’s California Women’s Conference was “How can I protect my skin and make sure it is as healthy as it can be?” To this day, when I give speeches and talks, the question is still number one.
This is a serial sequential book that I am writing. It will be released in chapters as I finish writing them. So, make sure you signup to get notices.
The catalyst for eBook sequel series was my book, Chemical-Free Skin Health®. You taking action to nourish the microbiome of your skin propagates skin health. Avoiding chemicals in skincare and household products will teach you to protect your microbiome. Yes, choosing the right skincare products will help to nourish, restore and repair damaged skin. Avoiding products and your environment will help to minimize damage to your skin’s microbiome.
About This eBook – Get Wise
Click To Read – Get Wise!
The format of the book is important to understand so that you are not disappointed that the book is “incomplete.” It may never be complete!
Clearly, there have been some revolutions in the publishing of books. For centuries, books were available in paper form only. Over twenty years ago a revolution in printing called ‘on-demand’ allowed authors to self-publish and only print what had been ordered by readers and book stores. Then along came the eBook with the most notable, Kindle, where paper was no longer necessary. An author, without having a publisher, could upload their work to Kindle and then people could buy and read on their smartphones or pad devices. This was perhaps the biggest innovation in writing and may be for a long time to come.
The Next Iteration
Blogs are a real-time version of books and magazines. On a whim, a author or editor can write something short or long and publish it in a matter of minutes. A good connection to Google and it can go worldwide in just a few minutes. The problem is that each ‘post’ stands alone. Sure, you can create various categories for people to inspect writings by topic, but the main webpage still adds article sequentially. I have thought for years on how to create a book within a blog so that the chapters come in sequence.
The Rub
Okay, you could say, why don’t you just publish all the chapters at once. Besides that being what Kindle is, writers don’t usually write that way. The chapters come in sequence and are written sequentially. The rub is that if you want to publish a book as it is written, it becomes a Serial and the chapters become episodes. Blog are just not structured that way. So, how to publish. Well some innovative people figured it out and that is what this book is. It is a serial and episodes that develop as the book is being written and guided by real-time events. For example, my paper and Kindle book, Chemical-Free Skin Health® talked about a chemical called Triclosan. Whether the book influenced the FDA or not, they band the chemical just last year. With this new technique, I can add a chapter as the world of change unfolds.
The Next New Thing
So this eBook could be a book without an ending. Theoretically, it could just go on and on. Episode after episode, it more resembles a movie series like Star Wars or an even better example would be a long run TV series like Star Trek where each episode is sort of a stand alone story within the framework of the Star Trek mission to explore the universe.
Get Wise the eBook
This eBook/Series/Sequel/Episodes titled, Get Wise, is a book that is about the health of our skin. I can envision hundreds of chapters. Some small and some large. The central theme is focused on teaching people how to manage their own skin health. It was born from the many questions and continued communication I have received since publishing Chemical-Free Skin Health. People of all ages ask me how can they take car of their aging skin. Understanding, learning, observing, orienting and deciding what to do requires a guide. Like a Sherpa guiding climbers up Mount Everest, a guide to skin health is smart. The problem is that most companies want to use their guidance to promote their own products. In fact, I will tell you right now that I will tell you which of my products I use to circumvent something from harming my skin. The difference is that I am going to tell you what I know and the facts behind what I know so that you can make your own decisions. In short, I plan to give you the knowledge so that you can build and orchestrate your own skincare regimen. The spoiler alert if that it is not about products to use, but lifestyle decisions you must make.
The Timeline
The timeline for the chapters is totally unknown to me. I have an idea of how I will write the first few chapters. I also know for sure that some chapters will come easily and others will not. Some will be short and some will be long. They will simply, be published when they are published.
What I do promise is that if you signup to receive timely notices of things we publish, we will notify you when a new chapter is out.
Wendy’s Regimen – Easy Steps for Simplifying Your Daily Skin Care Routine
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO & Founder
You don’t have to be expert with an overflowing cabinet of miracle products to take good daily care of your skin. More specifically, when caring for your face it is much more desirable to keep it simple. Besides that you are more likely to be consistent with your facial care if you follow a few easy steps.
Consistency is the key to looking and feeling healthy and refreshed! For the past 5 years I continue to use this basic routine on my sensitive face with great results.
Here is what you will need for this step-by-step daily morning routine: Wendy’s Regimen
Island Rx Foaming Facial Cleanser
OMNI Skin Elixir Spray
Reflex ProBiome Anti-Aging Serum
Solar Rx Moisturizer SPF30+
Start with a clean face. Wet your face and use 1-2 pumps of Island Rx Foaming Facial Cleanser. Apply foam to wet skin. Using fingers, massage foam over face. Rinse thoroughly and lightly pat dry. Island Rx Foaming Facial Cleanser provides a deep and very gentle cleansing.
Follow with a light spritz (2-3 sprays) of OMNI Skin Elixir Spray. The multi-faceted botanical skin elixir is an herbal remedy. It is designed to refresh and soothe the skin.
While skin is still damp from spray, apply 3-5 drops of Reflex ProBiome Anti-Aging Serum. My sensitive facial skin sometimes requires more or less Reflex. Your skin type may vary. It also depends on the amount of dryness or humidity in your environment. Allow Reflex Serum to settle on your face and neck until absorbed. The combination of OMNI and Reflex Serum do a great job of soothing my skin while giving it a refreshed dewy look.
Finally, apply 1-3 pumps of Solar Rx Moisturizer SPF 30+ all over face and neck. I like that Reflex Serum provides a very smooth base for Solar Rx as my pre-makeup primer.
Besides the simplicity of these steps, using these products together reduces the redness in my skin. All provide a smooth clear foundation to start the day.
If you are going to apply make-up, it should be applied after Solar Rx Moisturizer SPF 30+
Wendy’s Regimen Recipe (Print or Save)
Wendy’s Daily Keys Anti-Aging Regimen
Recipe Type: Daytime Daily Anti-Aging Regimen
Author: Wendy Steele, Keys CEO
Prep time:
Total time:
This has been my daily recipe for youthful skin for the last five years.
Ingredients
Water
Keys Island Rx Foaming Face Wash
Keys Omni Skin Elixir Spray
Keys Reflex ProBiome
Keys Solar Rx Moisturizer SPF30+
Instructions
Wet your face
Apply 1 or 2 pumps of Island Rx Foaming Wash
Lather in hands
Wash face using fingers in a circular motion
Rinse with cool water
Pat dry
Spray Omni evenly over the face and neck with eyes closed. Air dry
Apply 3 or 5 drops of Reflex and spread evenly over the skin. More in dry areas. Let set to absorb
Apply 2 or 3 pumps of Solar Rx over the entire face and neck (more as needed) evenly. Let stand.
Apply makeup on top noting that many people do not use foundation because Solar Rx provides a luminescent finish
3.5.3226
Buy all four products and get 10% off your entire order by using the code WENDY (case sensitive) at checkout! Offer expires June 30, 2017
The most powerful ingredient in Keys products is Love!
Keys products were born at the intersection of love and positive intention! I believe every product should be made with love and include the power of positive intention.
One of the best parts of my job as Keys CEO is to retell my story. It is a story of how and why this journey of creating clean, simple all natural skin care products actually began.
First, Keys is entirely my fault! Our products would not exist today were it not for my journey battling early stage Melanoma Skin Cancer and the pharmaceutical aftermath of treating my sensitive skin issues during my post cancer recovery.
I still feel I am one of the luckiest women on the planet. A very special man in my life, my then boyfriend, found the early stage Melanoma on the outside of my left ankle. Being tall with really long legs, I had a tough time actually seeing this particular spot on my lower leg. In fact I had no clue what it looked like until he held a mirror up to my skin and pointed to the suspicious spot. The spot was not a mole. Instead it looked like a piece of hot wax had dripped on my skin. This thing was clear, almost translucent, slightly raised and the size of the tip of my little finger. Now is was on our radar and we both vowed to regularly and visually check it for any changes.
A Defining Moment
About a month later that the waxy spot turned bright red! Time for a biopsy. My doctor at Scripps Clinic in San Diego called with the biopsy results confirming Melanoma skin cancer. Cleared my calendar and reported for surgery two days later. Wow, so many thoughts flashed through my mind. Initially, it was an immediate reminder that my dad had successfully battled deadly Melanoma.
He Saved My Life!
The day after my Mohs micro-surgery, I made the most fateful decision of my life. I decided to marry this very special man because he saved my life! ?
Amazingly, from day one KEYS products exist because real people designed them with a positive intention for skin health. Designed and produced naturally with love for real people to use and maybe just fall in love with over and over again.
Finally, this is dedicated with love to our formulator and the people that make Keys products every day. Here’s to the genius that saved my life. Here’s to the genius that believed that natural products could be made with less than 10 ingredients and with love and a positive intention. And to Matt, Marty and the entire team that realized that their positive intention goes into every product they make with love and caring. Here’s to the belief that these products could make a difference for Cancer survivors, for people with sensitive skin, for people who know more and care to learn more – because they did and they do!
With daily appreciation and my deep admiration and love!
Yes, there is love in every Keys product. Unfortunately, the EWG, USDA and the FDA refuse to allow it on our labels.
Where art meets science!
Wendy
You can read our entire story by clicking the image below.
This is a brief show about how Keys was started first as a love story before it ever became the idea for products. This is the Keys Love Story
Watch on YouTube
Keys Love – Our Story
What happens when a brainiac boyfriend discovers his smokin hot girlfriend has Melanoma. He fixes the problems!
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO and Founder, fondly says that Keys is all her fault. The reality is that she survived deadly Melanoma but could not beat the chemicals in prescription and skincare products that left her skin a train-wreck. Wendy experienced just about every type of skin disorder imaginable and all we traced back to the Dirty Dozen chemicals in about 98% of the skin care and prescription products available OTC and from doctors.
Wendy’s boyfriend, Bob Root, a former Silicon Valley CEO/Engineer undertook the project to develop products to help Wendy. He gathered information from Harvard MD’s turned naturopaths to aboriginal healers. He realized that there was a pattern and scheme to skin health. It was to be Chemical-Free. Thus the Keys tagline of Chemical-Free Skin Health®.
Bob’s products worked and worked quickly for Wendy. Friends with similar disorders, their family members with something as simple as dry skin, through acne and skin cancer suffers found relief using Bob’s products that he gifted them. Creating the Keys line was not a decision, it was market demand that brought out the initial four products and stunned the burgeoning natural products industry. Why, they all still had some chemicals and Bob’s did not!
Functionality is paramount at Keys. Coming from Silicon Valley, to Bob, products have to do something. Great if they make people feel good, but in his mind, they have to solve problems. He solved his girlfriends problems and the precursor for anything Keys makes is that it has to solve problems people are experiencing without using any chemicals.
So, in a snapshot, here is what you can expect from everything Keys makes:
All products solve problems and make people (and their pets) feel good
All products are free of man-made chemicals. Ergo Chemical-Free
All products use the highest quality whole natural ingredients
All products have the highest proportion of functional ingredients with no scrimping or compromises
All products are priced fairly well below chemical-laden pharmaceuticals because of the very high tech low overhead business systems Keys employs. They were the first 100% cloud-based company in the natural products industry.
All products are natural whole ingredients
All products are Vegan
All products are Gluten-Free
All products are non-GMO
All products use organic or wild-crafted ingredients
Bob in his top selling book, Chemical-Free Skin Health®, points out that it was a lot of trial and error to develop those first four products for Wendy. My incentive was that Wendy was in trouble because of western medicine and I was determined to figure out how to solve her problems naturally. The other 45+ products in the Keys line were all inspired by skin disorders and problems related to him by loyal customers that believe in him. He does not take that lightly!
Now Bob & Wendy are married and still developing products, giving speeches, writing books and listening to what customers have to say. Funny, Bob still refers to Wendy as his smoking hot girlfriend and she as her brainiac boyfriend. 20 years solving problems and making people feel good together with chemical-free skin health products.
This January 1st marked the 2oth anniversary for Bob and Wendy. What began as a chance meeting at Larry Wilson’s Ranch in Santa Fe New Mexico turned into a lifelong passion for each other and their projects. This is one of those stories about how Keys started.
20 Years in a Snapshot
What happens when a brainiac boyfriend discovers his smokin hot girlfriend has Melanoma. He fixes the problems!
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO and Founder, fondly says that Keys is all her fault. The reality is that she survived deadly Melanoma but could not beat the chemicals in prescription and skincare products that left her skin a train-wreck. Wendy experienced just about every type of skin disorder imaginable and all we traced back to the Dirty Dozen chemicals in about 98% of the skin care and prescription products available OTC and from doctors.
Wendy’s boyfriend, Bob Root, a former Silicon Valley CEO/Engineer undertook the project to develop products to help Wendy. He gathered information from Harvard MD’s turned naturopaths to aboriginal healers. He realized that there was a pattern and scheme to skin health. It was to be Chemical-Free. Thus the Keys tagline of Chemical-Free Skin Health®.
Bob’s products worked and worked quickly for Wendy. Friends with similar disorders, their family members with something as simple as dry skin, through acne and skin cancer suffers found relief using Bob’s products that he gifted them. Creating the Keys line was not a decision, it was market demand that brought out the initial four products and stunned the burgeoning natural products industry. Why, they all still had some chemicals and Bob’s did not!
Functionality is paramount at Keys. Coming from Silicon Valley, to Bob, products have to do something. Great if they make people feel good, but in his mind, they have to solve problems. He solved his girlfriends problems and the precursor for anything Keys makes is that it has to solve problems people are experiencing without using any chemicals.
So, in a snapshot, here is what you can expect from everything Keys makes:
All products solve problems and make people (and their pets) feel good
All products are free of man-made chemicals. Ergo Chemical-Free
All products use the highest quality whole natural ingredients
All products have the highest proportion of functional ingredients with no scrimping or compromises
All products are priced fairly well below chemical-laden pharmaceuticals because of the very high tech low overhead business systems Keys employs. They were the first 100% cloud-based company in the natural products industry.
All products are natural whole ingredients
All products are Vegan
All products are Gluten-Free
All products are non-GMO
All products use organic or wild-crafted ingredients
Bob in his top selling book, Chemical-Free Skin Health®, points out that it was a lot of trial and error to develop those first four products for Wendy. My incentive was that Wendy was in trouble because of western medicine and I was determined to figure out how to solve her problems naturally. The other 45+ products in the Keys line were all inspired by skin disorders and problems related to him by loyal customers that believe in him. He does not take that lightly!
You can read more of the story in detail below. Now Bob & Wendy are married and still developing products, giving speeches, writing books and listening to what customers have to say. Funny, Bob still refers to Wendy as his smoking hot girlfriend and she as her brainiac boyfriend. 20 years solving problems and making people feel good together with chemical-free skin health products.
Winner! Our KODA Dog Bandana Photo Contest has been a huge hit and lots of fun. The contest will run through the end of September, so there is still time to enter and win. Click Here to read more about the contest.
The August Winner is Fiona. Our judges picked Fiona based on her story and picture. Here she is:
Here is what Fiona’s mom, Donna, wrote:
I have tried numerous “organic” or “natural” shampoos on Fiona. Every single one (including shampoos the vet prescribed), Fiona had a severe allergic reaction. I was at a loss. Since I have been using your products for many years, I decided to try the Koda line. I was thrilled to find that Fiona did not have any allergic reactions to your shampoo. Yeah! She is a happy little girl and so is her mom!! I am thankful you have such a wonderful line of people and “furry friend” products that are natural and safe.
Fiona’s Winner’s package is on the way to her to enjoy.
Don’t Give Up!
Photo contest continues and you still have a chance to enter and win the September prize. If you have already submitted your picture, your entry is still in play to win in September. You still have a chance.
The contest rules are simple. Request a bandana using the online form. When you receive your KODA Bandana, take a picture of your pup wearing it. Then upload it for a chance to win. Click Here to see the contest and to access the online forms.
Triclosan and 18 Other Chemicals Banned In Antibacterial Soaps and Hand Sanitizers
By Bob Root
Keys CTO and Author of Chemical-Free Skin Health®
I must first admit that I have little use for Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s), industry consultants and individuals who gain income, notoriety or donations based on creating fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) in the minds of consumers. I believe that the best path to information is data. A point-of-view or opinion that is not based in facts wastes everyone’s time.
What is Triclosan?
Triclosan is a chemical developed by a Swiss group called Ciba. They were acquired by BASF in April 2009. Triclosan is a broad spectrum bactericide that kills all forms of bacteria. This includes the good and the bad. For more background on why our good bacteria being killed off affects our skin’s eco system, please read an article I wrote in February of 2011 titled, “ARE WE KILLING OUR SKIN’S ECOSYSTEM? ”
The FDA Ban of Triclosan!
So, the facts! The US FDA has banned Triclosan and 18 other chemicals being used in soaps and hand sanitizers. They have not stated just their lack of efficacy, they have been banned because of concerns to humans! Banned! Do not take my word for it, read here what the FDA said in the public filing. Evidence shows that not only are they non-affective, they can cause damage to human and animals who have been and continue to be exposed to Triclosan. These include concerns over propagating Staph, hormone disruption, cancer and destruction of the human microbiome.
The good news is that the FDA has stepped in and banned Triclosan’s use. Many leading consumer products companies have already announce removal of the chemicals including Triclosan.
Triclosan – I Told You So in 2010
In my book, Chemical-Free Skin Health®, I dedicated a chapter to Triclosan and other biocides. My original thoughts was to right a few word in a much more all encompassing chapter. As I studied the chemical Triclosan more, it ultimately became an entire chapter because even in 2010, evidence was already huge that Triclosan was detrimental to human life. Below is the chapter from my book for you to read. I ask you to read it because the FDA ruling is just the tip of the iceberg.
Triclosan – EPA, It is Your Turn to Weigh-In
I write this article, not to reinforce what I wrote 6 years ago, it is to make you aware that Triclosan is used in much more than soaps and hand sanitizers. It is in our food, other personal care products, clothing and food preparation products. Again, read the chapter from my book below. As I said, it became a chapter because the threat is broader and it is the EPA’s turn to also ban the use of Triclosan and some parabens being used in food wrap, antibacterial clothing, sporting goods, toys, children’s car seats and many animal products. The same cause and effect the FDA details in their announcement also applies to products that are under the control of the EPA.
Do Better When You Know Better
There is even a bigger message in the Triclosan ban. Become aware so that you do better for yourself and your family by knowing better. The reality is that it has taken some advocates of reform nearly ten years to get the FDA to act. The good news is that they did. The bad news is that their are hundreds of other chemicals in use today that advocates have presented data showing their detrimental effects on humans and animals. Yet their is a very simple solution and it is back to the future.
You have two choices. Burden yourself with self-study to find out what all the chemicals are that could cause potential harm or merely switch to natural products that have simple whole natural ingredients. Whether it is Haagen Daz Five ice cream with only five ingredients, my products and those of others who offer simple man-made chemical-free ingredients, you can simplify your life by embracing trusted brands. Then you will also send a pocketbook message to the big brands that people want to return to the simpler past where everything is natural that we put into and on our bodies. Back to the future? Simply, 60 years ago nearly everything we ate and put in or on our bodies was naturally derived. My hallucination is that in the not too distant future, we will return to natural products that are chemical-free.
Congrats FDA! EPA, your turn! People, it is time to get wise and go natural!
You can also read more by purchasing my book on Amazon It is available in paperback or Kindle. Chemical-Free Skin Health is also available from the Keys Online store by Clicking Here
Excerpt from Chemical-Free Skin Health® by Bob Root
Copyright 2010-2016 by Orion Learning International Inc. M42 Publishing
Just as a note, I have also attached the chapter as a PDF document if you want to send it to your friends. Click the image to download
[bsk-pdf-manager-pdf id=”4″ featuredimage=”yes”]
Chapter 12: My Two Worst Public Enemies! Triclosan and Parabens
Early on I told you about how the skin works. Overly simplifying a particular facet of the skin, the bacteria that exist on it keep our skin in balance. Washing our skin and particularly the face removes the remnants of the bacteria, dirt, pollutants and dead skin. No matter how hard we try to remove the bacteria, it is nearly impossible unless we use germicides or bactericides like parabens and triclosan.
Here is my simple concern. If I can put a paraben in a product to kill off bacteria and germs in the container, what does it do to the good bacteria on my skin? If I wash my hands with a hand sanitizer that contains the broad spectrum bactericide, triclosan, what does it do to my good bacteria?
Search as I might, I have not found any evidence that parabens and triclosan are tuned killers. Meaning that they waste the bad guys and protect the good. Everything that I have read supports the contrary.
I have talked to dermatologists, doctors and scientists asking their concerns about what is going on in personal care and cosmetics that concern them. Over 90% express concern over parabens and triclosan because of the long term health effects. Not from the chemicals, but from the effect it has on killing the probiotics of our skin. All express an even greater concern about these chemicals being used in our food, toothpaste and mouth washes.
You can choose to read this chapter or not. It is somewhat geeky, but necessary to explain my perceptions.
What I believe is that the only thing known to man that kills the good bacteria on our skin are parabens and triclosan. Remove the good bacteria and our balance is disrupted. Disrupt the balance and those bacteria that come at us first are the worst kind and literally attack unprotected skin.
I personally believe that these two chemical types are responsible for many of the skin disorders that doctors see.
Also, it took western medicine a long time to buy into the fact that we need probiotics to help our gut perform. I believe it is also time that we start to explore probiotics for our skin.
Finally, I do believe that the people that have link MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) outbreaks to parabens and triclosan are probably correct. Only time and research will prove them right or wrong. Indications are they are correct and it is probably time to eliminate parabens and triclosan from your life.
So read on if you want!
Triclosan: The Biocide that Creates Super Bugs?
FACT vs FUD is a chapter in this book as well as an article on our blog. In this overly inflammatory news based society of ours, my resistance is to publish anything that is not based in research that is a bit beyond a theory.
Some History:
One of the inspirations for this book and this article was an experience I had while in a store outside of Dayton Ohio. I was not too far from the headquarters of Proctor & Gamble (Cincinnati) delivering a speech about the Dirty Dozen at an annual event the store promotes. Probably 200 in attendance, I went through the Dirty Dozen chemicals created by the Marin County Cancer Project. At the end, I provided some chemicals of concern, so I went back through my “most feared” list. In the book, I describe that some of the Dirty Dozen are much more damaging than others, but tend to be used in only discrete segments and in only some products. Some ingredients like parabens are much more widely used often in multiple doses during the manufacturing process elevating their concentrations in products to well beyond the called for percentages by the chemical maker. During my speech, I invited questions as we went along and there were plenty.
At the end, I voiced my concern that triclosan was perhaps my greatest fear because it is so powerful a biocide. I had explained earlier that triclosan is the main ingredient in hand sanitizers and antibacterial soaps. A biocide, by design, kills gram positive and gram negative bacteria as well as most all bacteria. My concern all along has been two very important concerns:
If it indiscriminately kills all bacteria, then what does it do to the flora-probiotic on our skin?
Will the destruction of all bacteria on the skin create super-bugs that morph and become resistant to both the biocide and antibiotics?
As I always do when speaking to a group, I try to connect with the eyes of people in my audience. It is my way of trying to figure out if I am connecting with them. In my corporate life, I received training on how to read an audience as well. As I call it, ‘Squirming Around’ is a big flag that I have touched a nerve. As a CEO of a publicly traded company, you better believe that I experienced this at every shareholder meeting. So, this day, I was thrust back to my corporate life by a gentleman that had asked no questions, been very polite and had friendly eyes. When I lumped triclosan in with parabens as my major concern, his hand shot skyward as to immediately interrupt me. I obliged by stopping to acknowledge his question.
He asked, “Why would you add the main ingredient in hand sanitizers with that of preservatives used in almost every product made from personal care, to toothpaste, to food?”
First things first, I knew immediately that this person was from the industry because the question was one I would have expected in a meeting inside a research and development process. Not being ever deterred by confrontation, I answered both technically and emotionally. Here is my initial response.
“I am more concerned with Triclosan than a Methyl Paraben for four primary reasons:
Triclosan has been used in hospital and scientific environments for many years because it is the most effect biocide.
The concentration of Triclosan in a function specific product like antibacterial soaps is much higher and therefore of greater concern to me because it does a much more wide reaching job of killing all bacteria on the skin including the good bugs!
The destruction from Triclosan is so powerful and long lived compare to parabens that I have more than a subtle concern that what bacteria arrive back on the scene will be the worst kind like staph, e. Coli etc.
I also worry that these strains of bacteria will grow back with a vengeance and become resistant to both Triclosan and known antibiotics.”
The man stood straight up as if to confront me. I could also tell that I had just scared the hell out of the rest of the audience. Before I could temper my comments with the fact that this was my personal concern and that I had not gathered all the facts, he spoke.
He said, “I am a scientist that works down the road. First, I am a parent and father. I do not care that we have the best health insurance; I worry about what we expose our kids to. We have had an outbreak of Staph in the middle schools in this area and what you are saying is that because we require our kids to wash with antibacterial soap containing Triclosan that we are exposing them to the potential of transmitted staph infections like the ones we are experiencing now?”
My only answer had to be from the heart and not my corporate training to dodge the question. I said, Yes!”
He shook his head and sat down. Honestly, you could have heard a mouse burp in that room! I tried to interject some humor and my time was up. The people filed out of the room as the other speaker got set up. The man approached as did the sponsors from the store.
The sponsor thanked me for the informative talk and quickly said, can you send me something about this. She offered that she was a Cancer survivor and had a more than passing concern.
The man also echoed by adding that he was privileged to be able to read many documents about uses of chemicals. He said that what he always noticed is that most have warnings of irritation when used in high percentages and that antibacterial soap using Triclosan actually exceeded the minimum percentages. I asked if he could provide me with percentage data and he said; “No! I am not allowed to do that!” I got the message. I walked back to my team that was exhibiting at the health fare and told them of the experience. I shared, that I only wish I had a study to hand to everyone that at least echoed my fears.
Over the last two years, I have shared the story with colleagues. This morning in July of 2010, I received an email with a copy of the Opinion from the EU Scientific Directorate! Being a geek, I read all 56 pages and decided to sit down to finish this chapter of the book.
Remember this is an opinion and I would encourage you to read the entire document. There must be additional testing. We do know that bacteria exposed to destructive agents does morph into “super bugs” in many cases. This opinion echoes much of that concern. In one sense, I am pleased that this concern of mine and others has now taken another step up in the process of science.
My opinion! For what it is worth, science generally follows an orderly path. The Mandelbrot theory says that, if that what we see occurs in a large scale, it will occur in a small scale. If we can kill bacteria…good and bad… with a large dose of a chemical, then small doses delivered more frequently and repeatedly will have the same effect. The other scientific principle that comes to mind here is Occam’s Razor which is the principle that “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity” or that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. So, to me it makes sense from a logical perspective that using a chemical like Triclosan everyday in large does will have a long term adverse effect on the flora of the skin. Only the test of time and scientific studies will bring the concern to even higher levels.
What I can share is that I personally avoid anything on or in my body designed to kill something like germs, bacteria and microbes. Like all of us, I have had to take antibiotics and we know from the warnings that sustained use can make them ineffective. Following Occam’s Razor, I also believe that is true of these chemicals under various names that are designed to make my life more pure…Purity at the sake of what?
So, my mother may not have been right that eating dirt was all that bad for me ☺
Triclosan: The Biocide that keeps on giving!
Most of the free world including the US requires that Triclosan be listed somewhere on the label if it is used in a product. But how about if it is used in product packaging or molded into materials. Unregulated therefore no requirement for listing. Herein is the fallacy of confusing consequence with sequence.
Have you ever wondered why cheese seems to last longer than it used to? Have you wondered how companies can claim that if you buy their storage products that food will last longer? Have you wondered how a manufacturer could claim that their running socks are antibacterial?
We know that Triclosan is used in sanitizers and toothpaste as well as antibacterial soaps. Did you ever wonder what chemical they use in making utensils, cooking equipment, cutting boards and even sport clothing to make them antibacterial. You guessed it, Triclosan. The white powdery substance can be molded into products to make virtually antibacterial. Many food packages are molded with Triclosan to make them antibacterial to preserve the food longer.
If there was any reason to buy organic and local at the farmers market, this is a darned good one for me.
So, like phthalates, Triclosan is not just in personal care. They found phthalates in children’s toys and car dashboards. Triclosan is in much more than antibacterial soap. So here is a partial list of products that use Triclosan:
Sanitizers
Antibacterial soap (really a detergent)
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Shaving Cream
Mouthwash
Skin Care
Makeup
Acne Products
Antimicrobial Creams
Cleaning Supplies
Kitchen Utensils
Food Storage
Plastic Wrap
Trash Bags
Toys
Bedding (People and Pets)
Socks
Sports Clothing
Child Car Seats
Someone asked me if I could link a direct connection to MRSA (Methicillin Resistent Staphylococcus Aureus) and Triclosan. I said, “Honestly, I do not know!” Do I believe that it is connected? Yes! So you can imagine my surprise when I read an article in a medical journal prescribe sits baths for MRSA suffers in a solution of 2% Tricolsan!
Triclosan is used in many common household products that you would not expect.
OK, I am starting to sound like a radical working at an NGO! Environmental issues are big as well.
Parabens!
Parabens…Good Guys or Bad Guys?
As a part of my ongoing series of looking at the Dirty Dozen Chemicals shown to provide elevated Cancer rates in people and animals, in this article, I outline why we do not use parabens leaving the judgmental diagnosis to the NGO’s attacking them. The Dirty Dozen Chemicals are a list of 12 developed originally by the Marin County Cancer Project which at the time, had the highest Cancer Rates in the US. Followed by Search For The Cause and Teens Turning Green the list is now designated the Dirty Thirty.
So, are parabens good guys or bad guys? Both it seems and there is a reason why we do not use them as well.
Below is a scavenged description of parabens from Wikipedia. On the surface and from a chemical perspective they do their job. Many chemists and companies support their use based on a belief of safety. I believe that they are looking at the wrong reasons for safety.
Our society seems to primarily look at safety as, “will what we put on our skin hurt us directly?” I believe that we should be looking at whether it hurts us based on contact and will it cause something else to hurt us because of it.
So first let’s try to understand what parabens are and why some manufacturers use them. Here is that Wikipedia description:
Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Parabens are effective preservatives in many types of formulas. These compounds, and their salts, are used primarily for their bactericidal and fungicidal properties. They can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, personal lubricants, topical/parenteral pharmaceuticals, spray tanning solution and toothpaste. They are also used as food additives.
Their efficacy as preservatives, in combination with their low cost, their long history of safe use and the inefficacy of natural alternatives like grapefruit seed extract (GSE), probably explains why parabens are so commonplace. They are becoming increasingly controversial, however, and some organizations which adhere to the precautionary principle object to their everyday use.
Chemistry
Parabens are esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid, from which the name is derived. Common parabens include methylparaben (E number E218), ethylparaben (E214), propylparaben (E216) and butylparaben. Less common parabens include isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, benzylparaben and their sodium salts.
Occurrence
Some parabens are found naturally in plant sources. For example, methylparaben is found in blueberries, where it acts as an antimicrobial agent. However, when parabens are eaten, they are metabolized and lose the ester group, making them less strongly estrogen-mimicking.
( Bob Comment) Part of the rub here is a number of studies that link parabens to breast Cancer because of these properties, but let’s not get too off track!
Synthesis
All commercially used parabens are synthetically produced, although some are identical to those found in nature. They are produced by the esterification of para-hydroxybenzoic acid with the appropriate alcohol. para-Hydroxybenzoic acid is in turn produced industrially from a modification of the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction, using potassium phenoxide and carbon dioxide.
Now that you are an expert on parabens, I think it is fair to talk about the pros and cons of them.
Remember that I believe that it is an indirect result of the parabens that is as important to look at as well as the direct result of their actions.
The pros of parabens or grapefruit seed extract are that they kill bacteria and fungus inside products. It is very difficult to sterilize containers and apparatus without using chemicals. The technique we use is super-heated steam on our equipment, but those parabens do a really good job of killing microbes, gram positive and gram negative rods. The con is that they do a good job of killing bacteria on our skin as well.
You might say that is good, but much research shows that what we want to do is inhibit bacteria growth on our skin while permitting flora bacteria to exist as it does in nature. To me, it is sort of like drinking parabens in hope they will kill diseased bacteria in our gut in hopes that they will leave all that good bacteria we want alone. If science could figure that out, it would be major… just has not happened yet.
Frankly, when I developed our first products, I did not know what parabens were. So it was simple…ignorance was bliss. I did know that I needed a preservative and my aboriginal friends suggested rosemary. Turns out it is also a natural high grade antioxidant, but for me, it minimized bacteria growth in our natural products.
When a contract manufacturer approached me to make our products, I politely listened as the salesperson told me why I had to use parabens. My silence forced him to exasperation and he blurted out, “What would you do if the FDA said you have to use parabens?” My answer? I would mark the products refrigerate after opening! He was not amused and yet that is exactly what I would do.
It turns out that we have traced part of Wendy’s reaction to prescription products after her Melanoma to a paraben reaction. Admittedly rare, I personally believe that it is more common than we think.
I will let our friends at the Breast Cancer Fund fight the paraben battle on their own front. I would encourage you to research that more for yourself.
Why We Do Not Use Parabens
Simply, I have done enough research and read enough that parabens in our personal care, household products and mouth care kill all forms of bacteria on our skin and in our gut. Like studies have shown with triclosan and germicides used in household products, my own studies have shown these same agents kill the natural flora on the skin and in the gut. What I believe happens next is that the really bad bacteria including gram positive rods like e. Coli and Staph (MRSA) have an opportunity to come back with a vengeance and attack our systems freely.
For example, it is common in our microbiology lab to take an agar petri dish and smear a natural ingredient on it to see if colony, gram positive or gram negative rods (bacteria) show up in an accelerated 72 hour test. What is not common, but we have done it, are to take a sample of “bugs” and kill them and then watch what grows back first in an open air environment. More than not, we see some harmless colony bacteria show up first, but then some really nasty bacteria take over and on most occasions we see fungus appear to feed on the bacteria. Can’t prove it, but I have to wonder if all this MRSA staph that has shown up in our middle schools is not a direct link to the triclosan in antibacterial soaps and the parabens in all of our products.
Okay, now that I have you flipped out a bit, I did a test of ten products at one of my labs and measured the cumulative amount of parabens in them. What I mean is that I know that the providers of parabens suggest a range or percentage to use. Let’s say it is 0.5% of the total solution. When I tested the products all showed excessive amounts of parabens well beyond the recommended dose. Knowing that chemists strive for economy, I began to wonder why the levels were so high…high enough to kill anything. I could not figure out why until I was giving a speech on the Dirty Dozen near Dayton Ohio and one chemist from P&G asked how many ingredients were typically in natural products. I answered, “probably 10 to 15.” He laughed and said our average is 45. It suddenly dawned on me how the paraben levels could be so high in the products I tested. The answer, the ingredient/chemical suppliers were also using parabens to preserve their raw material. Think it through! The manufacturer puts 0.5% into the product and each of the suppliers of those 40+ chemicals put 0.5% into the raw materials. Simply, we are being overdosed with parabens and every product we use adds to the equation. Ten products times the 1.6% average we tested is a daily dose of 16% on our skin. I think the most recent statistics I heard from the EWG is that the average woman uses 12 products a day containing parabens and men average 6 products. That means that if I am correct with my average that women are getting ~19.2% paraben contact. We have always joked that “chemists add and engineers subtract, but maybe it is not a joke.
Our Simple View
To overly simplify the reason we do not use parabens is that we believe that what comes out of the bottle designed to kill bacteria in the packaging also kills the flora on our skin and our gut facilitating bad super-bug bacteria to grow in its place that also facilitates fungal growth and imbalance.
Right now, this is a tested theory long from scientific fact. What if I am right!
See, I told my mother eating dirt was good!
BTW, The Mayo Clinic states, “Most MRSA infections occur in hospitals or other health care settings, such as nursing homes and dialysis centers. It’s known as health care-associated MRSA, or HA-MRSA. Older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at most risk of HA-MRSA. More recently, another type of MRSA has occurred among otherwise healthy people in the wider community. This form, community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA, is responsible for serious skin and soft tissue infections and for a serious form of pneumonia.”
I personally believe that people are walking in with the MRSA and when surgery is performed that is when it invades. Maybe hospitals should pretest for MRSA and an incoming inspection….Do you think?
Chapter Quick Notes:
Parabens and Triclosan are bactericides and germicides. That means they kill all bacteria indiscriminately. Good or bad bacteria alike, it they just kill.
Parabens and Triclosan indiscriminately kill the good probiotic bacteria on the skin. My belief is that this permits bad bacteria attacking the undefended skin.
Washing the skin does not remove our probiotic good bacteria from the skin.
Bactericides cause an imbalance on the skin possibly leading to many skin disorders.
Its your choice to buy direct or buy from one of our resellers. We have a large list of retailers that you can buy from at their establishments or online. It is convenient to be able to buy Keys while you are shopping for other products. You can find a dealer near you using our “Dealer Locator.” The reality is that not all dealers stock all of our products all of the time. So, it is important that you call them to make sure they have the products in stock.
Buying Direct
The other reality is that when you buy direct, we always have all of our products in stock. Ordering direct saves you time, fuel, money and no tax.
Discounts & Promotions
There are many ways to save at Keys. We have created a series of ongoing promotions and discounts to help you save. These are consumer programs that are automatic when you fulfill certain requirements.
Below are some of the ongoing promotions and discounts that have no expiration date.
If you are a domestic US customer and buy direct from us spending $75 or more, you will receive free USPS Priority Mail Shipping. When the net amount of your order exceeds $75 and you are shipping into a US address, your shipping is free
Our rewards program gives you points that can be used like money to purchase products on future orders. Every time you buy, you will get 5% of your gross purchase minus shipping charges in the form of usable money that you can apply to future orders or stockpile. At checkout, you can choose to apply the amount available to you. The system automatically keeps a record and calculates the rewards points available for you to use.
For many years we had a “Wendy’s Regime” that required you buy five (5) specific products. You asked to be able to build your own regimen and we listened. Now when you buy five (5) uniquely different products or more, you will receive a 10% discount on those products. Remember they all have to be different and if you buy more then one of a particular product, it will be at the regular price. This build your own DIY kit rewards buying five unique products at a time.
A few years ago, we started to receive requests for volume purchases from some of our Cancer survivors. They had to use a lot of our products like Tortuga and they requested that if they would buy more at one time, would we give them a discount. The answer is yes and we have had this program where you buy three (3) of a product at one time and you will automatically receive a 5% discount.
This program is similar to the one above where you buy 6 of a single product, you will get a 10% discount on those products. You can buy multiples of six of different products and get 10% off on each. This is not a mix and match program. You must buy six each of any product to get the discount.
Lastly
Keys products are very rich and emollient. They go a long way and last a long time. Less is more!
We also believe our products out perform products sold that can cost 5 to 6 times as much because we do not layer in huge margins for marketing and advertising. Our brand is one of the best there is, we solve problems with solutions and we are 100% natural, gluten-free, chemical-free and non-GMO…Nothing synthetic!
When Wendy Steele asked me to develop a sunscreen for her after beating Melanoma, she needed UVA and UVB blocking. What she wanted was a cosmetically clear anti-aging moisturizer that would prevent aging. The product, Solar Rx was heralded as innovative with design awards, product of the year and acknowledgement by the EWG and Consumer Reports Magazine. It is much more then a moisturizer and sun protection. It is a simple and inexpensive anti-aging tool.
“If you are age 10 to 80+, wearing a sunscreen everyday will protect you from skin cancer. What you might not know is that our Solar Rx is the number one anti-aging tool in your arsenal.”, Wendy Steele Keys founder and CEO
Today, you mostly see products that do just one thing. There are sunscreens, anti-aging creams, rosacea treatments, BB creams, foundations, moisturizers and anti-redness products. Keys Solar Rx is all these in one product. If simplicity and saving money is interesting to you, I will explain the what’s, why’s and how Solar Rx does all these things and more.
What, Why & How!
Below is a list of what you can expect from Solar Rx. Important is that Solar Rx is in a special category acknowledged by the US Food & Drug Administration and The Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database and Sunscreen Report. The category is Moisturizer with Sunscreen which fits more into the skincare and beauty market then sunscreens. Still, it has to undergo the same rigors as “go to beach” sunscreens. The simple fundamental difference is that moisturizers with sunscreen are water soluble and not designed to be used in direct sun white exercising, swimming or perspiring. Why make it then….
Solar Rx does much more then sunscreens and often repairs damage from chemical sunscreens. If you understand the features, benefits and advantages of any product, you can make informed decisions. Solar Rx is much more then just a anti-aging moisturizer with sun protection.
So here goes:
Solar Rx the Anti-Aging Moisturizer
The base lotion of Solar Rx is Keys Luminos intense moisturizer. It is made from pure virgin avocado oil, black seed oil and carrot seed oil with Shea butter from Ghana and our own freeze dried aloe vera. There is very little water in the product so it is very concentrated. There is more concentration of oil in one Solar Rx bottle then is a half-gallon of big-box-store lotions. Plus, there are no chemicals like PEG, glycols or parabens. This alone makes Solar Rx more economical because you only need a little to get the moisturizing benefits.
Solar Rx the UV Anti-Aging Protection
There are three forms of measured UV. UVA, UVB and UVC. UVC is rare, so we will not talk about it other then to say, that there are artificial sources of UVC like exotic metal welders experience and they use Solar Rx because it works.
For the rest of us, UVA and UVB rays cause burning and skin cancer. The FDA requires us to use language that talks about this for a reason. It is because the evidence says that skin cancer comes from overexposure to UV radiation with the emphasis on the word radiation.
Solar Rx the Anti-Aging Innovation
Think of UVB rays as the burning rays because that is what happens. UVA are the aging rays because the deep penetrating UVA rays break down the fundamental building block of youthful skin…collagen. These springy components deep in the skin is what makes our young skin look youthful and clear.
UVA radiation takes a lifetime to show its damage, but at about the age of 10, it starts working to destroy our skins collagen and other components. What we notice is that wrinkles start appearing at about age 15 and sooner for sports and athletic people. At about 25, people start to notice that they look tired because of fine lines and some sagging. At 35, we feel older because we look older. Tanning freaks look 45 at 35 because the collagen is almost unrepairable because of UVA damage. It gets worse as we get older and older. Just look around and compare.
UVA is often talked about as the burning and tanning rays. These rays cause the brown spots, discoloration and weird patches that seem to sneak up on us around 40. Weird looking discolored and tired skin come from these UVB rays
Skin Layers
Solar Rx prevents both UVA and UVB damage by blocking these rays using spherical zinc oxide particles. It block them unlike chemical sunscreen that convert UVA and UVB into heat deep in skin tissue. Simplicity is understated because Solar Rx uses just Zinc Oxide where chemical sunscreens have to use multiple types of chemicals to achieve similar protection
Solar Rx the Skin Clearing & Brightener Innovation
Above we are talking about how zinc oxide protects from UVA and UVB damage as an anti-aging secret. Did you know that uncoated zinc oxide like the type used in Solar Rx will help fade sun spots, brown spots, weird patches and discoloration. Further, the natural whole avocado oil that we use has natural fading properties which work with the uncoated zinc oxide to fade these discolorations. Yes, it take time, but it is not harsh like chemical whiteners and you do not have the additional cost of another product. It works slowly everyday to clear the skin. If you are observant, you will see changes in two weeks that become noticeable to friend in just a few months. Anti-aging is not just keeping the skin from getting leathery, it is making sure that it is clear and even. No Spots! Really!
You would pay over $100 for the products that would do just these three things!
Solar Rx the Anti-Redness Innovation
Inflammation equal redness on the skin. Redness often comes from skin treatments that burn and chemically peel the skin…inflammation. Redness comes from exposure to wind and the sun…inflammation. Redness comes from products that contain dirty dozen and the dirty 30 chemicals…inflammation. Redness comes from bacteria that is overpopulated on the skin because of antibacterial agents like parabens and triclosan. parabens are in 95%+ of skincare products. I think you get it. No inflammation is anti-aging. Solar Rx uses uncoated zinc oxide which renowned for reducing inflammation aka redness
Solar Rx the Rosacea Innovation
Rosacea seem to be a big mystery to doctors. Probably because it is cosmetic and not exciting to them. To those that suffer from the redness, blotchiness and irritation caused by rosacea, it is a very real problem. Solar Rx customers have told us for the last ten years that it helps and even eliminates the redness. We suspect that the majority of rosacea is redness caused by overgrowth of unfriendly bacteria affecting the skins’ microbiome. Simplified, most rosacea treatments use uncoated zinc oxide like what we use in Solar Rx. Simple!
Solar Rx the BB Cream
Anti-aging is coverage as much as it is therapeutic. We started working with makeup artist over 14 years ago using Solar Rx as a beauty balm that fills imperfections. Simply, the uncoated zinc oxide is a microfine particle that fill in pores and fine lines. The zinc is a filler and mixed with the Luminos base lotion and moisturizer acts like a beauty balm and filler combined. Solar Rx works better then most of the beauty balms on the market because the particles are spherical instead of jagged and they are uniform size.
Just as a note, BB Creams sell for up to $135 for 1.7 ounces at Sephora. Solar Rx is $26.95 for 3.4 ounces. As a personal note, one of the things I miss about the high tech industry is the magazine shootouts that compare one product against another based on performance. Can you imagine if the skincare and beauty industry had to undergo shootouts. I ready!
Solar Rx the Clear Foundation
Much of how Solar Rx works to help with fine lines is that it is a world-class moisturizer and the zinc oxide particles fill. Imagine that Solar Rx also accomplishes this be the shape of the zinc oxide particle transmitting and diffusing light. A very famous Hollywood makeup artist once told me that our wrinkles and fine lines are not the problem, it is the shadows they create that amplify them. I thought about this from an optical physics standpoint many years ago and realized that the shape of the Solar Rx spherical particles created an optical illusion reducing shadows on the skin. These little lenses help mute variations on the skin and also transmit texture, color and illumination giving the skin a glowing soft focus effect that is not just visible to the high definition cameras, but the naked eye. This is so true that if you apply Solar Rx to just half of your face, you will see the difference in the mirror. Apply it to the neck and it will actually provide fill light for under the chin… a super secret Hollywood lighting technique.
Products from Makeup Forever® and others do a similar job at nearly $100. The effect comes for free with Solar Rx
Solar Rx Instead of $300
All toll, if you were to purchase separate products based on what Solar Rx does, it would cost you somewhere north of $300. If you like the simplicity of one product and the low cost of $26.95, then Solar Rx is the answer.
Beauty cream, sun protection, redness prevention, moisturizer etc. in one product
Try it and if I am wrong, we will refund your purchase.
To buy Solar Rx, click the buy button below
To learn more, you can buy Bob Root’s book, Chemical Free Skin Health by below.
I am always please to be ranked in the safest and most efficacious category for our products. Solar Rx has been ranked by the EWG 2016 Sunscreen Report top in the “Moisturizer with Sunscreen group. It has been at the top of the list since it was introduced over ten years ago. We have made some improvements making it a primary moisturizer with SPF for thousands of people for everyday use. Solar Rx has been in numerous movies, TV shows and commercials because of its luminescent properties that optically smooth the skin while also providing deep natural chemical-free moisture.
Solar Rx is completely and fully all-natural, vegan, gluten-free and free of man-made chemicals. Punta!
Double Down On Anti-Aging
Solar Rx provides such good anti-aging for the skin in two distinct ways. The UVB (burning) rays and the UVA (aging) are physically blocked by our spherical OptiFX® zinc oxide particle. UV radiation is the number one cause of aging around the world. Protecting your skin from UV is the #1 thing that you can do to never look your age. Secondly, Solar Rx is a huge anti-aging product because it uses our Luminos™ Moisturizer as its base lotion. The lotion is made with vegan oil and homogenized into a ultra smooth lotion. Pharma grade avocado, carrot seed and black seed oil are blended with wild crafted Ghana Shea Butter to provide deep moisturizing.
No Pilling Under Makeup
Solar Rx OptiFX® Zinc Oxide particles are blended to provide the maximum UV protection. They are spherical by design making them transparent to visible light while opaque to invisible UVA, UVB and UVC rays. This means maximum protection with no white or blue cast. Many makeup artists use it as a base foundation to layer makeup on top. The fact that it has no silicone makes it play very well with both water and oil based makeup.
Solar Rx is Not for the Beach
What makes Solar Rx a great moisturizer providing everyday SPF protection is that it is water soluble. It provides deep moisturizing because of this design. So, it works everyday and all day as long as you do not perspire. It is not designed for Go To Beach, swimming or sports use. And, no we do not make a regular sunscreen.
Cover Up! Stop Melanoma!
Wendy wearing a SunBody Hat and Columbia Omni-Shade® Clothing
The reason we do not make a active life sunscreen is because as I am a Melanoma survivor. 19 years now free from skin cancer. Some people consider me an expert in skin cancer prevention. I am adamant that sunscreens give a false sense of protection. I subscribe to wearing big brim UPF rated hat, UPF rated sun clothing and UVA rated sunglasses. Only exposed skin should wear sunscreen. Avoidance of peak sun hours will protect you from over exposure to UV and make you younger looking. “Brown leather is out! Skin that is! So, it is time to get wise and avoid the sun. Make your own shade!” I say!
My personal favorites are SunBody Hats and Columbia Sportswear OmniShade® clothing. I do have various brands of UVA rated sunglasses with Oakley being my long time loyal favorites. When I started looking for sun clothing after my Melanoma surgery, it was hard to find anything to wear. I started with Sun Precautions and Oakley. THEY WERE IT! I now love love love my Columbia Omni-Shade® because they are stylish, cool and come in a wide range of colors. My SunBody hats are as chic as a big sun hat can get. I have tested them to over 100UPF. I love them also because they have stampede straps for high wind situations.
To read more about sun protection and anti-aging, read an article I wrote Here
Solar Rx is available both in a 100ml airless container and in sealed foil packets. It is the top selling Keys product.
To learn more about Keys “Clear Cosmetics,” Click Here
Click the Buy Button to go to our online store. Solar Rx is available at natural markets, naturopathic MD’s, functional medicine MD’s and apothecaries.
When we designed Avo Jel to be a vegan replacement for petroleum jelly, we quickly realized that it would not only replace petroleum jelly, but would add more things that is could do because it is avocado oil jelly. Yes, you can replace your petroleum jelly with Avo Jel and you can use it for many more uses because it does not have the impurities associated with crude oil based jellies. So, it is better and better for you!
Below are some uses for the sports enthusiast. Runners, bikers, swimmers and surfers have all been telling us how they use Avo Jel. Here are just a few.
So the first main benefit to keep in mind with Avo Jel is that it is made from the highest grade avocado oil available. So, no impurities, no petroleum and all the added benefits of this vegan alternative.
Sports Uses for Avo Jel:
Here are a few uses that our customers have shared with us. Find your own uses and let us know.
Lips
Avo Jel is very effective in quickly reducing chapping. Petroleum jelly is good at coating the lips to prevent windburn, dryness and will not sweat off. Avo Jel does the same, but adds the Omega fatty acids and oil that helps to repair the lips as well. So, it is great before, during and after a race.
Eyes
Avocado Oil is a mild sunscreen and will not sting the eyes like chemical sunscreens. Rub it lightly around the eye lids and you will gain some protection and the softening effect of avocado oil. You can layer Avo Jel over a zinc based sunscreen as well to gain even more protection.
Chaffing
Chafing during an event and afterwards is a huge problem. Layering AvoJel on these areas before going out prevents chafing, but unlike petroleum jelly, Avo Jel is a true moisturizer
Rash Guard
Avo Jel will not harm clothing or melt certain fabrics like petroleum jelly does. So, you can rub it on both the skin and clothing to eliminate rash. Don’t forget areas like the nipples to make sure that rubbing is minimized.
Pollution Protection
Surfers know that there is a lot of bacteria and pollutants in many popular surf spots warranting a dowse of a bleach mixture to prevent disease. Runners in places like New York City come back from a run and when the wipe their face, see black suit on the washcloth. Sorry to say that these are not extreme occurrences or one-off’s. Hydrocarbons and other pollutants are everywhere, so dabbing Avo Jel around the face and soft skin areas will help act as a barrier to pollutants.
Allergies
A high percentage of outdoors enthusiasts have allergies and run with drugs like Zyrtec and Claratin. These are effective, but also raise the question of drowsiness and performance inhibiting. Runners and bikers have told us that they dab a Q-Tip with Avo Jel and gently swab it inside each nostril. The AvoJel collects pollen and other allergens before they enter the upper nose. The theory is maximum performance using a simple concept.
Some people are just plain allergic to petroleum jelly because it is crude oil based. Not true with Avo Jel because is is avocado oil based. Plus, you get the Omega fatty acids benefits as well.
Water Repellent
Avo Jel is as water repellant as petroleum jelly, but without the petroleum.
Goggles – Seal
One great irritation in triathlons are leaking goggles. Petroleum jelly can degrade the soft plastic on some higher end goggles. Layering a thin layer on the soft mantle of the goggles will help prevent leaking without harming the goggles themselves.
The secondary benefit is the irritation that sometimes occurs from the goggle rubbing against the soft tissue around the eyes. Often people complain that their eye tissue becomes inflamed. AvoJel soothes.
Leash Strap
A lot of work goes into the design of a surfers leash strap to hold tight and not chafe. Holding tight is much more important, but by using Avo Jel, it will help to minimize chaffing around the ankle while also acting as a barrier for bacteria and pollutants.
Chemical barrier
Chemical sunscreens work by converting UVB (burning) and UVA (aging) rays into heat. By using Avo Jel over top, we have found empirical evidence that it helps chemical based sunscreens last longer. Conversely, if you are being exposed to chemicals on your equipment, AvoJel will also act as a barrier.
Chap Guard
It is fairly obvious that dryness, the sun, air and other environmental effects will quickly chap your lips. Other areas of soft tissue can also chap. Avo Jel offers superior protection and the Omega fatty acids will help to keep soft tissue youthful looking.
Feet
Runners and bikers tell us that they layer Avo Jel on their feet two days before a race by slipping on socks after a good coating. This make the skin soft and if you have calluses, it will soften them reducing cracking and bleeding.
Deter blisters by rubbing Avo Jel inside shoes or on feet before using compression socks.
Consider Keys Feet & Hands as an alternative to Avo Jel. It contains menthol which is stimulating and has some indications that it effects acupressure points.
Hair
Avocado oil is a natural hair conditioner and styler. In Jel form, it also protects the hair from drying from the sun and cracking from pollutants. Slick your hair back and look fast standing still.
The uses for Avo Jel in the sports world keep adding daily. These are just a few of the uses that we have heard from fans. If you can use petroleum jelly for something, you can use Avo Jel. Plus, it is better for you because it is made from Avocado oil and not petroleum. Avo Jel is just one of six avocado oil based jellies designed to replace drug store petrolatum based products. To learn more about all the Keys Alternative Naturals™ products, Click Here!
One of the main reason we developed the entire line of Keys Alternative Naturals was for triathlete and strenuous sports fans. We attended Surf Expo last year in hopes of gaining insight into the competitive performance market and we were not disappointed at the results of our visit. The trade show clearly pointed out the need for alternatives to conventional petroleum jelly based products. The attendees we met ranged in age from 12 to 60. All were engaged in some form of strenuous exercise and sports. We fronted the idea of various products that would replace Vaseline®, Begay® and IcyHot® with products made from a jellied avocado oil. The response was 100% positive and fueled our continual development of our Alternative Naturals line.
Along the way we have talked to many people in different market segments. By far, our Alternative Naturals line has the broadest reach across many market sectors and age groups. We knew that many of the jel based products would have an impact on sports. This is one account:
The Triathlete!
We met a surfer and triathlete in Florida who was about to compete in a national triathlon. We met him a few weeks before the race and deep into his training period. He had lots of rashes and chafing, so we offered him our AvoJel. We saw him again a week later and he showed us that the rash on his neck was gone and he said that all the chafing was almost gone as well. He asked how this was possible in that he had used petrolatum based products and the irritations only went away when he stopped training. Avocado oil is a very positive ingredient on the skin and we had hoped that he wold see fast results. We also knew that the AvoJel would act and perform the same as Vaseline® and we believed it would out perform it in the areas of fast results.
So, we asked our triathlete what he used before and after a race. He gave us a list, so we gave him AvoJel, Heat Cool and Feet & Hands as well as Urban Shield for fungus.
We saw him again a week after the race and he exclaimed that he had won his age group. Then he proceeded to tell us about how all the products performed.What he told us was that he used AvoJel on areas that got chafed and rubbed from clothing etc. He had no rashes or chafing even after the swim. AvoJel stayed on and resisted the water.
He applied Feet & hands to his feet before and after the race. No blisters or cracking. He said that the cooling menthol stimulated his feet and soothed them after the race.
He used Heat Cool on his muscles. First he commented that it felt like it was not working because there was no intense smell like Bengay®. He told us that what he really noticed quickly is that the aches went away making him appreciate the lighter scent with what he felt was more action. He said his wife and kids really appreciated the lighter scent ?
He shared that he would always get a bought of athletes foot shortly after a race and the Urban Shield seemed to be working (two weeks later, still no athletes foot). He noted that his cracking fingers and dry patchy skin had also disappeared.
So, our products succeeded in helping him and affirming that we were on the right track.
As we learn more about other uses for our products, we will let you know. Simply, we know, that if there is a use for petroleum jelly, our Alternative Naturals will match and exceed their use! Not only do we believe they work better, they are better for you because there is no petroleum.
Check out Keys Alternative Naturals by Clicking Here for more detailed product information.
Many devices around the home often call for lubrication with food grade silicone grease or petroleum jelly. If you are like me, the idea of using silicone or petrolatum that comes in contact with my food or water is not desirable. Enter Keys Avo Jel as a great substitute.
Recently, I needed to replace a water filter for my sink drinking water tap. I ordered the filters and when they arrived, the instructions said that it was very important to minimize the possibility of leaking to put “food grade silicone” on the O-rings where the filters came in contact with the housing. I thought for a moment and grabbed the Avo Jel. A couple of quick dollops on the O-rings and the new filters were on with no leaks. Because Avo Jel is pure avocado oil, using it offers a clean alternative to grease and petrolatum.
As you can see from the image below, the arrows point out where I put the Avo Jel.
I know that not everyone has to replace filters, but this is a good example where Avo Jel serves as a lubricant and seal instead of using conventional petroleum or silicone grease. Make things slide easier, lubricate water bottle tops and improve any seal safely using Avo Jel.
Let us know how you use Avo Jel as an alternative to chemical and petroleum based grease? If you want to learn about other uses, just Google “uses for petroleum jelly” or “uses for petroleum jelly around the home” and you will be amazed. Then realize that you can use Avo Jel for all the same purposes. Keeping in mind, Avo Jel is petroleum-free, silicone-free and chemical-free.
Just a few weeks ago we introduced our new line called Alternative Naturals™. Among the inductees was a new product called Urban Shield. Urban Shield has been in development for over five years and is a very close kin to Keys Super Star RediCare. In fact, think of Urban Shield as a gel version of RediCare and you will be more right than you know.
As history goes, RediCare was first developed for the search and rescue teams that were returning from Hurricane Katrina. Both dogs and people were covered with sores and skin disorders from the chemicals in the high waters around New Orleans. It was designed as a sprayable lotion to cover large areas quickly to provide relief without rubbing. It also worked on both long and short hair dogs to get to the skin quickly. Both dogs and handlers quickly realized how fast and effective it was. Bonus! Because of the Neem and Karanja oil as well as other essential oils, it was also an incredibly effective insect repellant. RediCare started its life as a sprayable therapy and quickly became known as a single universal go to product for people and dogs for all of its wonderful properties.
Not long after RediCare was introduced, the diabetic community discovered how quickly it would help with skin issues. Customers reported to us that the itching, pain and disruptions began to disappear.
Not far after the diabetics discovered RediCare, so did those going through radiation treatment and chemotherapy.
Then, moms discovered that RediCare killed head lice. We are still not sure how it does it, but reports continue that it works for lice and bed bugs.
Repelling more than 200 flying and drawling insect was a bonus for us and our customers with strong reports of high efficacy against fleas, ticks and mosquitoes as well as all sorts of a creepy crawlers.
Well, no surprise that Urban Shield contains most of the key ingredients that are contained in RediCare. Those being, Neem, Karanja, Avocado Oil, Black Seed Oil and Carrot Seed Oil. Envision a jelly with all the goodness of RediCare and you now know and understand Urban Shield. Urban Shield has the same properties of RediCare in a gel form that has even more intensity.
If you love RediCare, you will really love Urban Shield.
Click Here to got to Urban Shield on the Keys Online Store
Herein are some of the benefits of the key ingredients in Urban Shield.
Avocado oil – valued for its skin regenerative and moisturizing properties.
Avocado contains oils which are similar to human skin oils – sebum. Avocado offers the skin moisture. Avocado oil has both Vitamin A and a natural form of Retinol. The Vitamin A component helps promote a healthy skin microbiome to reduce skin blemishes (acne). The retinol component is whole and not esthered like synthetic Vitamin A. It provides natural skin lightening, uniformity of texture and color as well as acting as a natural exfoliant without the use of abrasives or salts. Avocado oil is also helpful in treating dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, acne and dry skin conditions. Keys uses both a virgin expeller pressed avocado oil and a filtered pharmaceutical grade in therapeutic proportions.
Proteins and Fatty Acids. Avocado oil contains a high amount of proteins and unsaturated fats, both of which are strong skin agents. Avocado oil contains omega-3 fatty acids like those found in fish oil
Sterolin. Avocado oil is high in a substance called sterolin, which case studies have shown softening of the skin and reduce the incidence of age spots
Antioxidants. Avocado oil is rich in antioxidants, making it useful for healing sun or chemical damaged skin. Antioxidants like vitamins A, D and E in avocado cause the skin to be suppler, and are thus particularly good for dry or aged skin.
Lecithin and Potassium. Avocado oil contains lecithin and potassium, which are all highly beneficial for the skin as well as the hair.
Carrot Seed Oil – is an essential oil for treating dry skin and can provide a good level of protection against wrinkles and aging or liver spots. It has many therapeutic values that are antiseptic, and cytophylactic,(stimulates cellular regeneration).
Carrot seed oil highly valued for skin care. It is used in skin creams to nourish, tighten, revitalize, and rejuvenate skin. It visibly improves skin tone, elasticity, and general skin health. It is claimed to slow the progression of visible wrinkles. Carrot Seed Oil is calming and appropriate for irritated skin. It is a good, essential oil for anyone who spends time outdoors. Carrot seed oil has high activity antioxidant properties.
Carrot seed oil may be found in many formulas dealing with skin conditions ranging from revitalizing and toning to eczema and ageing.
Carrot Oil has chemicals with these properties – analgesic, androgenic, anti-acne, anti-aging and anti-asthmatic activity. Carrot seed oil also assists in removing toxin and water build up in the skin giving it a fresher more firmer appearance. The aroma is earthy with a medium note.
At Keys, carrot seed oil makes up our base triangle of ingredients for the skin. It is used in conjunction with Avocado oil and Black Cumin (black seed) oil
Black Seed Oil aka Black Cumin – Nigella sativa is one the most revered medicinal seeds in history. Black cumin seeds were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The oil is used externally, for beauty as well as for treating skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. We seek out the finest grade for our products.
Black Seed Oil Benefits for Eczema
Black seed oil has lots of positive benefits for the entire body, but especially for the skin. The vitamins, antioxidants and amino acids are just a few of the advantages. Taking black seed oil can improve skin overall, but it can also do much more than just give skin a healthy glow. For more extreme issues, like eczema, black seed oil can offer much-needed relief. The symptoms of eczema can be uncomfortable and often painful, but there is hope.
Soothing Properties of Black Seed Oil
People who suffer from eczema experience a sore, red rash that can show up all over the body. The rash is often accompanied by swelling and inflammation. Black seed oil has natural anti-inflammatory properties and is known to help with swelling. The fatty acids and Omega-3 in black seed oil help with moisturizing; therefore, rubbing the oil on the affected skin can help immediately lessen the pain and itching caused by the eczema. It also softens skin and helps with the dryness that often accompanies eczema. The benefits from topical use often provide instant relief.
Black Seed Oil Benefits for Your Skin
While ingesting black seed oil can have amazing overall benefits for your health, using black seed oil can also have huge benefits for your skin. Black seed oil promotes overall health, so obviously the skin will get some benefits as well. But for specific skin problems black seed oil could be the right herbal remedy for you. The oil can be used in a product or directly applied onto the skin. Here just a few of the benefits black seed oil has for your skin.
Using Black Seed Oil as a Moisturizer
Essential fatty acids maintain skin nourishment and hydration. Black seed oil can certainly help in this department. The body cannot recreate these fatty acids; they have to be replenished from an outside source. Oils help maintain the lipid barrier that protects the skin from day-to-day oxidation as well as harsher elements such as acne, scarring and overall aging. Black seed oil contains both amino and fatty acids that help shield the skin.
Antioxidants to Prevent Aging
Antioxidants are the number one way to fight aging. Oxidation degrades the skin’s cellular structure which gives the appearance of lines, wrinkles and discoloration. Black seed oil’s major component is thymoquinone, which is filled with antioxidants to prevent this kind of break down. Using the oil on your skin regularly can prevent the long term effects of aging, but can also immediately add a healthy glow to your face.
Other Vitamins and Benefits
The benefits of black seed oil don’t stop there. Black seed oil contains Vitamin A, which is known to reduce wrinkles and also shadows under the eyes. Vitamin A can also make skin sensitive to sunlight, so best to use it in the evenings before bed. Black seed oil also has antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. This stops certain skin infections as well as the spreading of acne. The anti-inflammation reduces overall puffiness in the face and skin.
Neem – In India, the tree is variously known as “Divine Tree”, “Heal All”, “Nature’s Drugstore”, “Village Pharmacy” and “Panacea for all diseases”. It is considered a major component in Ayurvedic medicine and is particularly prescribed for skin disease. Neem oil is used for skin care such as acne, and keeping skin elasticity. Neem has many skin healing properties and acts as a broad-spectrum insect repellent.
Neem oil is used for preparing cosmetics (soap, hair products, body hygiene creams, hand creams) and in Ayurvedic, Unani and folklore traditional medicine, in the treatment of a wide range of afflictions. The most frequently reported indications in ancient Ayurvedic writings are skin diseases, inflammations and fevers, and more recently rheumatic disorders, insect repellent and insecticide effects.
Traditional Ayurvedic uses of neem include the treatment of acne, fever, leprosy, malaria, ophthalmia and tuberculosis. Various folk remedies for neem include use as ananthelmintic, antifeedant, antiseptic, diuretic, emmenagogue, contraceptive, febrifuge, parasiticide, pediculocide and insecticide. It has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of tetanus, urticaria, eczema, scrofula and erysipelas. Traditional routes of administration of neem extracts included oral, vaginal and topical use. Neem oil has an extensive history of human use in India and surrounding regions for a variety of therapeutic purposes. Puri (1999) has given an account of traditional uses and therapeutic indications and pharmacological studies of this oil, in his book on neem.
Neem oil is a vegetable oil pressed from the fruits and seeds of the neem (Azadirachta indica), an evergreen tree which is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and has been introduced to many other areas in the tropics. It is the most important of the commercially available products of neem for organic farming and medicines.
Neem oil varies in color; it can be golden yellow, yellowish brown, reddish brown, dark brown, greenish brown, or bright red. It has a rather strong odor that is said to combine the odours of peanut and garlic. It is composed mainly of triglycerides and contains manytriterpenoid compounds, which are responsible for the bitter taste. It is hydrophobic in nature; in order to emulsify it in water for application purposes, it must be formulated with appropriate surfactants.
Azadirachtin is the most well known and studied triterpenoid in neem oil. The azadirachtin content of neem oil varies from 300ppm to over 2500ppm depending on the extraction technology and quality of the neem seeds crushed. Neem oil also contains steroids(campesterol, beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol).
Average composition of neem oil fatty acids
Common Name
Acid Name
Composition range
Omega-6
Linoleic acid
6-16%
Omega-9
Oleic acid
25-54%
Palmitic acid
Hexadecanoic acid
16-33%
Stearic acid
Octadecanoic acid
9-24%
Omega-3
Alpha-linolenic acid
?%
Palmitoleic acid
9-Hexadecenoic acid
?%
Karanja – Karanja oil is popular in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of biliousness, eye ailments, leucoderma, worms, wounds, sores, scabies, eczema, psoriasis. itches, herpes viral infection, ulcers, and other skin diseases as well as for skin protection, as it is believed to enhance the UV absorbing properties of conventional sunscreens.
Karanja oil, like Neem oil, has been widely tested for its insecticidal, nematicidal, antiseptic, bactericidal, and cleansing properties. The oil has a high content of triglycerides.
According to Hartwell (1967–1971), the fruits and sprouts are used in folk remedies for abdominal tumors in India, the seeds for keloid tumors in Sri Lanka, and a powder derived from the plant for tumors in Vietnam. In sanskritic India, seeds were used for skin ailments. Today the oil is used as a liniment for rheumatism. Leaves are active against Micrococcus; their juice is used for colds, coughs, diarrhea, dyspepsia, flatulence, gonorrhea, and leprosy. Roots are used for cleaning gums, teeth, and ulcers. Bark is used internally for bleeding piles. Juices from the plant, as well as the oil, are antiseptic. It is said to be an excellent remedy for itch, herpes, and pityriasis versicolor. Powdered seeds are valued as a febrifuge, tonic and in bronchitis and whooping cough. Flowers are used for diabetes. Bark has been used for beriberi. Juice of the root is used for cleansing foul ulcers and closing fistulous sores. Young shoots have been recommended for rheumatism. Ayurvedic medicine described the root and bark as alexipharmic, anthelmintic, and useful in abdominal enlargement, ascites, biliousness, diseases of the eye, skin, and vagina, itch, piles, splenomegaly, tumors, ulcers, and wounds; the sprouts, considered alexeteric, anthelmintic, apertif, and stomachic, for inflammation, piles and skin diseases; the leaves, anthelmintic, digestive, and laxative, for inflammations, piles and wounds; the flowers for biliousness and diabetes; the fruit and seed for keratitis, piles, urinary discharges, and diseases of the brain, eye, head, and skin, the oil for biliousness, eye ailments, itch, leucoderma, rheumatism, skin diseases, worms, and wounds. Yunani use the ash to strengthen the teeth, the seed, carminative and depurative, for chest complaints, chronic fevers, earache, hydrocele, and lumbago; the oil, styptic and vermifuge, for fever, hepatalgia, leprosy, lumbago, piles, scabies, and ulcers.
Chemistry
Reported to contain alkaloids demethoxy-kanugin, gamatay, glabrin, glabrosaponin, kaempferol, kanjone, kanugin, karangin, neoglabrin, pinnatin, pongamol, pongapin, quercitin, saponin, -sitosterol, and tannin. Air-dry kernels have 19.0% moisture, 27.5% fatty oil, 17.4% protein, 6.6% starch, 7.3% crude fiber, and 2.4% ash. Fatty acid composition: palmitic, 3.7–7.9%, stearic 2.4–8.9, arachidic 2.2–4.7, behenic 4.2–5.3, lignoceric 1.1–3.5, oleic, 44.5–71.3, linoleic 10.8–18.3, and eicosenoic 9.5–12.4%. Destructive distillation of the wood yields, on a dry weight basis: charcoal 31.0%, pyroligneous acid 36.69, acid 4.3%, ester 3.4%, acetone 1.9%, methanol 1.1%, tar 9.0%, pitch and losses 4.4%, and gas 0.12 cu m/kg. Manurial values of leaves and twigs are respectively: nitrogen 1.16, 0.71; phosphorus (P2O5), 0.14, 0.11; potash (K2O), 0.49, 0.62; and lime (CaO), 1.54, 1.58%. Such manure reduces the incidence of Meloidogyne javanica.
Keys products are always 180º from ordinary. They are extraordinary. Our products always have more then one purpose and are always focused on solving problems and making our customers feel good. Yes, Avo Jel is a vegan alternative to petroleum jelly, but it is much much more.
When we recently introduced our Alternative Naturals™ brand, it was clear what each product does and what you can expect. Because of a number of questions we have received about Avo Jel I think we guessed wrong. Avo Jel is a jelly similar to petroleum jelly, but the similarity ends there. Much more. It is ‘On Purpose!’ and functional in every sense.
Because we use pharmaceutical grade avocado oil to make Avo Jel, you can expect all the benefits of any other Keys product that uses avocado oil. We have published the features, benefits and advantages of our oils and extracts before in an article titled, Keys Prime Ingredients and Actions, but here is the information about avocado oil again.
Avocado oil – valued for its skin regenerative and moisturizing properties.
Avocado contains oils which are similar to human skin oils – sebum. Avocado offers the skin moisture. Avocado oil has both Vitamin A and a natural form of Retinol. The Vitamin A component helps promote a healthy skin microbiome to reduce skin blemishes (acne). The retinol component is whole and not esthered like synthetic Vitamin A. It provides natural skin lightening, uniformity of texture and color as well as acting as a natural exfoliant without the use of abrasives or salts. Avocado oil is also helpful in treating dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, acne and dry skin conditions. Keys uses both a virgin expeller pressed avocado oil and a filtered pharmaceutical grade in therapeutic proportions.
Proteins and Fatty Acids. Avocado oil contains a high amount of proteins and unsaturated fats, both of which are strong skin agents. Avocado oil contains omega-3 fatty acids like those found in fish oil
Sterolin. Avocado oil is high in a substance called sterolin, which case studies have shown softening of the skin and reduce the incidence of age spots
Antioxidants. Avocado oil is rich in antioxidants, making it useful for healing sun or chemical damaged skin. Antioxidants like vitamins A, D and E in avocado cause the skin to be suppler, and are thus particularly good for dry or aged skin.
Lecithin and Potassium. Avocado oil contains lecithin and potassium, which are all highly beneficial for the skin as well as the hair.
So when you think about Avo Jel, think beyond the fact that it is a vegan replacement for petroleum jelly. You can expect all the value of the avocado oil in a jelly as well.
Only time will tell all the uses people find for Avo Jel. Even this early since its introduction, we have a real sense that it will be a Keys Super-Star.
Click Here to see Avo Jel on the Keys Online Store.
The Alternative Naturals™ challenge began over 6 years ago. When Keys founder Bob Root learned of significant skin disorders afflicting the astronauts on the US International Space Station, he thought there must be a way. Lotions and liquids just do not work well in zero-gravity. The challenge was to create a jelly, but not from petroleum. Starting with organic pure avocado oil, Bob began experimenting. The end result was a proprietary production process where the oil is altered to form a jelly similar in consistency to petrolatum, but with none of the impurities or petroleum. This is a mechanical and not chemical process where the properties are altered to a higher viscosity and the jelly-like properties of petrolatum. The next challenge was to use the same process to develop jellies from other oils and to be able to add natural ingredients that would make more functional natural vegan products for daily use.
Today marks the point where Keys is pleased to introduce 8 new products into a new functional line called Alternative Naturals™. The line consists of 6 avocado oil based “Jels” and 2 spray botanical products.
These products using a process that jellies oil have No Petroleum, No Petrolatum, No Wax, No preservatives and No Water. Like all Keys products, they are free of man-made chemicals, gluten-free and vegan. The ingredients are the highest quality available and are in full strength proportions. The line is designed to offer individuals wanting to be chemical-free an alternative to household brands using petrolatum. The two spray based products are based on a Keys exclusively designed and extracted botanical extract with essential and special oils added to offer functionality to people.
Take a look!
You can click on the product you are interested in and it will take you to it on the Keys Store
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Our two spray products were developed from a extract we call Botanica™ and are designed to solve problems experienced by people and dogs. The first is a skin aid product designed to mimic store brands using chemicals. The second is a insect repellent that is designed to repel both flying and crawling insect for people and dogs that has many of the same ingredients as our RediCare, but with a botanical extract base that also softens the skin.
We get a lot of questions on our Keys Customer Service system. Among the top questions are about dealing with the symptoms of menopause. Recently, we have had a very large number of women reaching out to us and asking about using our Tortuga lotion for vaginal dryness and using Tortuga as a personal lubricant.
This is a touchy subject, but not for the reasons you might expect.
First, we have many women that use Tortuga and Luminos for vaginal dryness. Our customers tell us that not only do they reduce dryness, but that pain during intercourse is virtually eliminated. I will get into the details in a bit, but it is important to understand that we do not use preservatives and my recommendation is if you use either Tortuga or Luminos for vaginal dryness, that you refrigerate it to maintain the integrity of the product for this use. Of course warming is recommended before use.
Menopausal Dryness
Vaginal dryness is a symptom of menopause. It is also a common disorder among women of all ages and can make every day life and sexual connection difficult. Stress, diet & chemicals in products can also be a mitigating cause of the dryness, so it is important to try to search for the cause of the dryness. As remarkable as it may seem, laundry detergent that uses sulfates, vaginal products that contain glycols (PEG’s), parabens (bactericide preservatives) and dimethicone (silicone lubricants) are probably exacerbating the problem. It is important to gather all of the products that you use in or near the vagina and determine what is in them to assure that they are as natural as possible. The rules here are as follows:
If there are no ingredients on the product label, do not use it.
If you cannot pronounce the ingredient, research it to find out what it is before using it.
Make sure that you trust the company to list all the ingredients and that they do not have constituent ingredients added secretly. Hard to do I know, but those hidden chemicals could be the problem
It gets more complicated and therefore adopting a “simpler is better” philosophy is better. Meaning, you might want to DIY anything that you use in your private areas. You would be amazed at how many women have found relief by eliminating commercial products alone.
Hormonal disruption is another thing to consider. By no means am I a hormonal disruption expert. I am a strong studier of the subject and many organizations like the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Safe Cosmetics and many holistic health organizations attribute sexual disfunction to many chemicals like phthalates in products used in an on the body. Yes, these chemicals that are used in perfumes and fragrance are linked to premature menopause and symptoms like vaginal dryness. Please, do not take my word for this. Google and research!
So, there is a link to chemicals and vaginal dryness. Equally, chemicals like propylene glycol (PEG’s) are also known to promote a need to reapply frequently causing more drying effects while trying to stop the problem. So imagine that the more you apply of a product containing glycols (PEG’s) that the dryer you get and the more you need to reapply. Not a good cycle to get into. Those of you that have used products containing glycols either know what I am talking about or now understand why they feel the way they do. No good!
Tortuga As A Personal Lubricant?
Click To Visit Tortuga Lotion Page
I have a close girlfriend who has struggled with vaginal dryness since her thirties. It became worse when she started to lose her hormones and began menopause. This myth that life is better after menopause is debatable and different for every woman. It certainly was not better for her. Tortuga for her was a very good solution because I knew what is in it. So, when I asked her to try Tortuga versus the synthetic personal lubricant she was using, she agreed. The marketing hype of some personal lubricants caused her to read the labels, so it was an easy sell. The lure of enhanced pleasure and increased sexuality was quickly dispelled after reading these labels. Admittedly, most had no ingredients listed which caused me to worry for her. I know what naive manufacturers use in skin care and I know that most of the ingredients would be the same in the personal lubricant category. When I did find a company that listed their ingredients I was horror struck that they really expected anyone to use that stuff inside.
Again, many of our customers use Tortuga as a personal lubricant and find it sensational. I do recommend, because there are no preservatives, that you refrigerate it and if you have any reaction at all, stop. Use something else that is natural avoiding some ingredients like coconut oil or EVOO (olive oil) as they can be harsh and aggressive.
Okay, here I get to preach a bit and alert you that there are alternatives to post menopausal problems. Yes, diet is important and using chemical-free products are of equal importance, but lets just get real. There is one major thing that you can do that I did a few years ago. Go BHRT!
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)
Dear Suzanne Somers, Thank you, thank you, thank you for introducing me to Dr. Jonathan Wright! Dr. Wright you know I think you walk on water and talk to the gods! Thank you for all my friends that you have helped with your knowledge and expertise! Wendy
In a number of Suzanne Somers books, she talks about the benefits of BHRT for both men and women as they age. Dr. Wright says that we should start to pay attention to our hormone levels as early as our mid-thirties. Simple testing sets the levels and the most youth preserving thing we can do is to maintain our hormone levels. I got wise in my early 50’s I was tired of experiencing brain fog, tiredness and feeling cold. Yes, using Tortuga Lotion combats the dryness, but as good as Tortuga is, it cannot take care of all the other symptoms of post menopause.
• • • • • Click to Visit • • • • •
Suzanne’s suggestion to visit Jonathan Wright was more about wellness than dealing with problems. I had read all his work on thyroid and nutritional anti-aging, but my interest was in taking charge of my well-being. When I learned about Dr. Jonathan Wright’s work with BHRT, I was at his Tahoma Clinic in a flash. Okay, I am a Cancerian and all Cancerian’s know that we experiment with everything from diet to what goes on our bodies. Before my appointment, I read everything that Jonathan Wright wrote about BHRT and I was convinced before starting out on BHRT that it was the right thing for me. Just let me say that it was the best investment I made on myself in my entire life. I am feeling pre-40 again! My husband says I look 40 again! Enough said?
The cause of any problem is always what we should hunt for and not just solutions to symptoms. My friend who has always struggled with vaginal dryness went on BHRT as well. The combination of BHRT and Tortuga as a personal lubricant is now a part of my friends life as it is with the others that I have recommended visiting Dr. Wrights Tahoma Clinic near Seattle.
Yes, this is a very personal subject, but don’t you owe it to yourself to find relief? Dr. Maya Angelou said it best when she said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
Yes, Tortuga is wonderful and a pure product. Realizing that we have choices in taking charge of our own personal wellness and health is a revelation. As we always say at Keys; It is Time to Get Wise!
Today, Wendy Steele, Keys CEO announced that the Keys brand of skin care products is planning to expand into the OTC (over the counter) segment with a line of natural remedies. She also announced an expansion of Keys brand sales efforts to strengthen the move into OTC by tapping an industry veteran as their new Director of North American Sales.
Wendy Steele offered, “Keys celebrates its 10 year anniversary by innovating new products and augmenting our sales efforts. This is a back to the future moment for the Keys brand. Keys products have always been functional. Our products have solved skin problems for our customers and made them feel good since we began the Keys brand. The natural products industry has become a strong part of everyone’s lives in the nutrition and supplements area. It is time for natural skin care to become a part of this OTC market segment. As industry innovators, we are taking the first major steps instigating a needed change.”
In the next few months, Keys will introduce new products that are designed to replace many familiar conventional brands with naturally derived extract based products. These natural OTC innovations are designed to mimic the mainstream products with functional natural solutions. Steele added, “We have ten “Back-Country Medicine” products in the pipeline based on our own natural extracts developed in cooperation with Applied Alchemy, Inc. Each product combines extracts that we have developed in our laboratories with natural whole essential oil combinations to solve skin problems. Examples are a chemical-free broad spectrum natural insect repellent and skin conditioner that will compete with Avon’s Skin So Soft and a first-aid spray that will be a natural alternative to Bactine.”
New Keys Sales Leadership
Wendy Steele also announced today that supplements industry sales veteran, Anne Otis will join the Keys brand as its new Director of North American Sales. Otis is a 13 year sales professional joining Keys from the natural health industry. Steele added, “We are thrilled to have Anne join us because she is both a practitioner and sales expert in the business of building a solution oriented sales channel. Over the last ten years, I have watched the natural health industry grow and mature while the skin care portion has become a scent focused daily discounter commodity industry. We want to grow and support retailers who are trusted advisors to their community and who compete with green washing big box and luxury natural market stores.”
Anne Otis is a 13 year sales veteran who has her masters degree in nutrition. Anne offered, “There are natural markets, co-ops and natural practitioners that have stayed the course of offering their customers resources, knowledge, information and trusted personal advice. Keys has always been a brand offering natural remedies and solutions. As we innovate new products, it is my charter to innovate the sales channels.”
Wendy added, “Anne’s charter is to grow our sales systemically by focusing our resellers on the features, benefits and advantages of the Keys brand and the new OTC products coming soon. We want to support resellers who are trusted advisors in their communities with products that the big box and glamour retailers cannot get.”
Orion Learning International Inc. was established in 1999 as a marketing and consulting firm focused primarily on the pharmaceutical and technology industries. Clients include companies like Pfizer, Qualcomm and other advanced thinkers. The Keys brand was a spinoff based on Wendy Steele’s successful defeat of Melanoma skin cancer. The company has been innovating solution based functional natural skin care products since 2005 and is credited with numerous “firsts” in the industry.
Below is a blurb from the Natural Products Association released this morning about the use of Glucosamine HCL as a pain reliever.
We have known for quite a while that our customers using our KODA Proflexoil for their dogs have noted a reduction in pain and symptoms for joint problems. Below are the results of a NIH study that confirms in trials that using this natural combination appears to be as effective as NSAID’s like Celebrex. We have been against Vet’s prescribing NSAID’s, but have not had the research trials to be able to offer factual results. Even though this study is for humans, the biological systems of dogs and humans are very similar because of their millennial symbiosis. We are happy to read this study as it confirms our own observations.
Chondroitin sulfate plus glucosamine works just as well to ease the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis as anti-inflammatory drugs, according to study results published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the Western world, and the knee is the joint that gets hit with it most frequently. Osteoarthritis is expected to become the fourth leading cause of disability by 2020, write the study’s authors.
Because the non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) often used for arthritis can themselves cause serious gastrointestinal and cardiovascular effects, scientists have been hunting for alternatives for years.
The recently completed trial, called the MOVES trial (Multicentre Osteoarthritis InterVEntion trial with Sysadoa) was conducted in Europe among a group of 606 patients with primary knee osteoarthritis and moderate to severe pain who were recruited from 42 centers in Spain, Germany, France and Poland. A multidisciplinary team of investigators including rheumatologists, orthopaedists and primary care physicians participated. In the double-blind, randomized, multicenter, parallel group trial, patients were given pharmaceutical grade chondroitin sulfate (1200 mg/day) and glucosamine hydrochloride (1500 mg/ day) or 200 mg of celecoxib (an anti-inflammatory drug) daily for six months.
Keys was an early supporter of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. As a Champion Company for the Campaign, we have promoted the Dirty Dozen and later, Dirty 30 chemicals that you should avoid in your skin care and hair care products. Safe Cosmetics has recently done a great job of updating their website and social media efforts. What we are especially pleased with is that they have come up with a great visual reference of what chemicals to avoid based on product function. These icons are easy to read and quickly give an idea of what to watch out for. Below are the icons that you can click to enlarge.
As a natural products company we are not allowed to make claims unless we follow a clinical trial process. We are able to report what our customers tell us.
It was not to far after we began that we started to receive comments and testimonials about how our Island Rx promoted hair growth in both men and women. For the longest time we believed that it was the process of our customers getting off of conventional shampoo and switching to a natural alternative. Made sense to us, but for years, mostly men, claim that their hair grows more using Island Rx Liquid soap as a shampoo. We decided to dig into the formulation and also make some theories of why it works for our customers.
So, here is what we know reading as many papers and studies that I could get my hands on.
Island Rx Liquid Soap
To over simplify, conventional shampoos have a large amount of Sodium Laureth (Lauryl) Sulfate or Ammonium Laureth Sulfate. These are commonly referred to as SLS or ALS. A number of studies I have read track back these chemicals to causing inflammation of the scalp pores. Hair is a protein extruded through a pore. The theory is that when hair pores become inflamed, the size of the pore is reduced and the hair gets thinner. This made sense to me because hair near a balding spot seems thinner. As the pores close down, the air stops growing
Balding is a form of alopecia. So when you think this way, many of the suggestions of how to treat the disorder also makes sense. It is worth Googling and also reading a article here on Clean Green Cafe titled Kyle to Keys! My Hair is Growing!
So, just about everywhere you read, the articles recommend switching from a sulfate based shampoo. That seems to slow and even stop hair loss for many. But why are our customers claiming hair regrowth.
Under The Hood
I decided to try to break down our Island Rx formulation to see why it might be working to stop and in some cases reverse hair growth. In Kyle’s story above, he used MetaClean and yet, most of our customer testimonials refer to Island Rx. In truth, the base soap we developed for Island Rx is the same as MetaClean. I started my analysis by looking at our base soap recipe.
A true Castile soap is Olive oil saponified using a alkaline substance. Castile soaps came from the Castile region of Spain 500 years ago. They would mix olive oil and the ash from a wood fire to make a soap that cleans. The problem with these soaps and ones made like it today is that they are very alkaline to a point where some are harsh. The quest for soap makers is to use up as much of the alkaline substance to keep the alkalinity lower.
When we started, I experimented with hundreds of recipes, I started to replace the olive oil with other “softer” oils. Eventually I got to the recipe we use today which has olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil and Jojoba oil. Typically the alkalinity is as high as 11.5 pH for Castile soaps and mine is about 8.5pH. Thinking about why this might be important, I realized that it was probably more the type of oils I was using, but I did read that a mild alkaline rinse on the head is recommended for alopecia and therefore for balding. I also read a number of articles exclaiming that the properties of coconut oil do help hair growth.
I also found some articles talking about raw avocado oil containing a natural retinol which aids hair growth. I have known and promoted Island Rx to slow fade sun/age spots because of the retinol in avocado oil, but I really did not know about retinol effecting hair pores. Yes, our Island Rx contains raw avocado oil that is put into the recipe after the soap making process. I originally did this as a conditioner humectant for the hair because Castile like soaps do make hair feel waxy. This is why our Silkin is so popular because it is not a Castile soap and it more resembles conventional sulfate shampoos but without the SLS or ALS. So, that raw avocado oil is an add to the equation.
As I read more, I zeroed in on each component as if it was the only ingredient. Clary sage has tons of articles written about how it is used for hair growth. Blood orange essential oil also has a number of purifying and clarifying articles written about it. Both are listed in ancient Chinese medicine journals as having cleansing and antibacterial properties.
My Conclusion
All of the above! It really appears to me that the reason that Island Rx liquid soap has so many fans is that it just works for them. Each ingredient I looked at has some properties for hair growth. My guess is that by combining them to make our first soap, the recipe just works. Sorry, I hope to be able to figure out why so maybe i could make something even more powerful for hair growth. Nothing stood out, but I am working on a amped version of Island Rx to see if I can speed up the process.
Stop Read!
Slowing, stopping balding and hair regrowth takes time using Island Rx. Customer reports range from noticing less hair on the pillow in a couple of weeks to hair regrowth in a couple of months. It is very important to not use any other products on your hair unless it is natural…completely natural. If you use a pomade, change to raw natural coconut oil as a conditioner and styler. Our Mangrove conditioner works well and will also facilitate regrowth because of the avocado oil. Do not use conditioners or products contain silicone (dimethicone) Go clean! No Junk Please!
Why More Men?
This one eluded me until my wife and boss, Wendy Steele, pointed out the obvious. “Women have log hair as a rule and Castile soaps and Castile-like soaps (Island Rx) are very hard to manage after washing. Men typically have shorter hair and are not bothered with Island Rx. In fact, most men use Island Rx Liquid soap head-to-toe.” A small amount of research bore out the theory as men with long hair do not like Island Rx as a shampoo and women with short hair are not bothered by it either. So, using Island Rx for short balding hair seems to work according to our customers.
There you have it. It Just Works!
I you are interested in trying Island Rx, Click Here to go to the Island Rx Liquid soap page. At checkout there is a box to add a code for a discount. Use RX15 in the box to get a 15% discount as incentive to try it. The Code entry box is just below the Cart Totals on the first page of the checkout. Oh, make sure you hit the little arrow button to apply the discount code or the discount won’t work.
As a Keys follower, you know that we are always on a constant quest to make our products more effective, more functional and feel better. This quest is a constant look at ingredients and processes. Keys Solar Rx is the latest upgrade in a process that makes it smoother, silkier and feeling better.
We have not changed any ingredients in Solar Rx. It is the same efficacious moisturizer with sunscreen as before. What we have done is to make it feel better by modifying one of our processes.
Our patentable use of sound to homogenize Solar Rx was originally to keep air/oxygen out of the recipe. Some new breakthroughs in our process have improved the performance of our use of ‘infrasonic’ sound waves to make Solar Rx even smoother than before. These sound waves agitate the molecules of Solar Rx in such a way that makes the recipe more consistent and blended by a significant factor. Those that tested the process change before changing the production process were amazed. Our super acid test, Wendy Steele – Keys CEO, was a hit with her and she has been using her prototypes ever since she received them.
Solar Rx was developed for Wendy after her bout with Melanoma and it has undergone a few changes since it won the Consumer Reports Top Pick. Wendy said, “I could never imagine Solar Rx getting better than it was. When I tried the latest process change for Solar, it was significant. So significant a change that I requested that the next production run be updated to the new process even before our beta testing team had a chance to comment.”
You can Click Here to go to the Solar Rx page on our store.
For our customers that use Solar Rx for rosacea, eczema, psoriasis or for diaper rash, Solar Rx will perform the same way as it always has, only smoother and silkier.
Note: Our retail stores will take a while before they receive the new production process for Solar Rx. The turnover on dealer shelves is very fast for Solar Rx, so they will be current very soon. Our current inventory online is all the new process. Again, there is no change in the efficacy of Solar Rx. Only the feel.
A Unique Keys DIY Way To Show How Your Childs Handprint Can Lead To Good Hygiene!
This is actually a great science project for kids to learn about bacteria in their environment.
Tasha Sturm at Cabrillo College posted this image on MicrobeWorld and I happened to see it.
Basically, Tasha took a sterile dinner plate and poured TSA (Tryptic Soy Agar) into it. She then took her eight year old childs hand and pressed in onto the TSA. She then let it culture. I do not know for sure why she did this, but it impressed me that it was a great lesson for all of us why hand hygiene is so important.
Okay, here is the adult lesson we should learn from this. The reason we do not use a bactericide like triclosan or parabens in our products is because this good bacteria keeps in check the bad bacteria like staph, MRSA etc. If you kill off the good bacteria, science has shown that the bad comes back first. Because the good returns fairly quickly, we often see redness and inflammation after people use hand sanitizes in stores and ones that they personally carry. The redness disappears in a few days after the good bacteria has reclaimed its territory. So, if you ever wondered why you should not use bactericide based hand sanitizers, here is the reason.
Keys Galleyon Antibacterial Soap
Our Galleyon uses a Castile base with Lakota Sioux spearmint essential oil to reduce overall bacteria levels without killing it. Equally reducing bacteria levels also permits the good bacteria to ward off some viruses where totally eliminating bacteria offers a easy to invade environment.
We have about 10 times more bacteria on our skin than we have skin cells. This friendly bacteria helps to protect our largest organ, the skin.
International agencies recognize that there are two forms of antibacterial properties. A bactericide kills all bacteria indiscriminately and washing with soaps reduces bacteria significantly without killing it. In other words, washing maintains the balance of good bacteria leading to proper hygiene. Triclosan (antibacterial hand soap chemical) is like a nuclear weapon to both good and bad bacteria. It is not a good thing.
This is really a big deal. In my book, Chemical Free Skin Health®, the original draft had a paragraph about Triclosan. By the time it was finished, I dedicated an entire chapter to how destructive Triclosan is to the skin.
So the moral of the story is, it is good to be clean, but not too clean.
You can Click Here to read an article I wrote a couple of years ago in association with our alliance to the Human Microbiome Project at the National Institutes of Health. It is a not so nice story of a boy who was so void of bacteria that his skin, head-to-toe was in total disarray. His pain was a wakeup call for many.
So, thanks to Tasha for such an interesting experiment to teach her child and us about bacteria in our environment.
So, as a Keys DIY, you can try this at home. It is a great lesson to sound and old.
Bob
Note: Chemical-Free Skin Health is available on our store or on Amazon in either paperback or Kindle formats
We wanted to give a big Keys shout-out to Ele Keats who is staring in the movie Insidious 3 premiered in Hollywood this weekend. Ele has a prominent part of the movie and we are so happy for her success.
Ele has been a fan, mentor, avid beta tester and dear friend of Keys and Bob & Wendy almost from the very beginning of our company. She has been instrumental in guiding us into making a natural skin care product that could compete with conventional Hollywood makeup brands. She has introduced Keys to so many people in Hollywood which has immeasurably helped us in our growth and success.
Ele, was the lead actress in the Indie film Snowflake and appears in numerous television commercials. She is a true chameleon in that she can change her look and demeanor in a split second making her a very directable actor from one movie to the next. We predict that you will see and hear a lot more from Ele.
Thank you Ele for all that you have done for us and we join everyone in wishing you even more success. Enjoy the moment!
Click Here to read the article about Ele from a few years ago.
Ele has opened a store for her jewelry, so when in LA go visit. Her is her information.
Contact
Ele Keats Jewelry
13028 San Vicente Blvd. Ste. 103
Brentwood, CA 90049 view google map »
Keys tag line, “Ancient Remedies with Modern Technology” not only applies to our products. It also applies to our business systems. We strive constantly improve our delivery of content designed to help our customers make decisions about the products that they use. The one thing that drives us most is creating shortcuts to get information to you easier and faster. We are careful not to misuse your time by too many newsletters or redundant communications.
We need your help to make the next big jump in our communication technology. Because of some new innovations at Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, we can send you snippets that will inform you without filling your email inbox with newsletters.
By liking or following us on Twitter and Facebook, you will receive short real-time notices of new articles, sales and other important communications. Pinning us and following us on Pinterest will also provide avenues to information.
Over time, this will help Keys reduce the number of Newsletters from Keys.
So, please take a moment and Like and Follow Us…. Also, please tell your friends about us as well.
Trying to find the safest, most effective sunscreen used to be a real hassle. Sky-high SPFs might give you a false sense of security, and newer aerosol sprays could deliver harmful chemicals directly into your lungs. Luckily, Environmental Working Group (EWG) has taken the guesswork out of finding the best sunscreen, and today released its 2015 Guide to Sunscreens. We’ve listed some of the sunscreens rated best on the market in terms of both safety andeffectiveness below.
EWG’s sunscreen report also ID’d what it’s calling the “Hall of Shame,” sunscreen products that are not only a waste of money, but also are potentially harmful. The organization recommends avoiding these sunscreens because they may contain oxybenzone, a chemical that can create abnormal changes in hormones. Some also contain retinyl palmitate, which could trigger damage and possibly cancer.
Others tout a superhigh SPF, which is basically a rip-off, since EWG says SPF protection tops out at 30 to 50. And still others contain harmful aerosols.
This is a simple Keys DIY to cleanse, remove makeup and moisturize in one-step. My friend the Broadway actor told me that she uses Keys Tortuga Lotion as a makeup remover for her heavy stage makeup. So, I figure that this will work for everyone else wanting to remove makeup on a daily basis.
Tortuga will not only remove even waterproof makeup, it cleanses the skin and moisturizes before bedtime.
This is fast and easy.
Keys DIY – Makeup Remover
Recipe Type: Cleanser Remover
Cuisine: Natural Skin Care
Author: Bob Root
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1tsp
Use Tortuga to remove makeup, cleanse the skin and to deep moisturize
Ingredients
1 tsp Keys Tortuga Lotion
Instructions
Pump Tortuga lotion into the palm of one hand
spread evenly all over the face, lips and around the eyes.
Let stand 1 to 2 minutes
Wipe off with a soft tissue
Rinse with cool water
Let air dry or pat dry
Notes
You may have to use more Tortuga on eyelashes where a encapsulating mascara has been used. This includes mascara like Kiss-Me. For these, you can apply the Tortuga, let sit and then pull the tubes off of the lashes using very light pinch and pull technique.[br][br]You can reapply Tortuga to the lips after cleansing to help with chapped or chemically dried lips.
Keys KODA LifeTrace, Proflexoil and Omega life supplement joint and ACL issues in small young dogs. Add a Paleo diet and long walks extends their lives.
There has been a lot of chatter recently about young small dogs needing ACL and knee replacement surgery. Around the age of 10, our Bichon Disney had to have a knee replacement after chasing is cat sister. The vet suggested both knees and I thought that I would like to let him rest between replacement, so we had the worst knee replaced. Then I started him on a human type regimen to strengthen the ailing knee. To my surprise, after 6 months, he was no longer favoring the hurt knee. After 10 months, he no longer needed the knee replacement. Until he passed a few years ago at 17, he never had a knee problem again.
What I did for Disney was to get his diet changed to more of a Paleo style with no gluten. I supplemented his filtered water with a product called ConcenTrace that added back in the minerals stripped out filtering his water. Then I supplemented his food with Glucosamine HCL (not sulfate) and Collagen using a human product called Glucose One. Walking him a few miles a day not only strengthened his knees, but I believe lengthened his life by a few years.
Much of the reason we created our KODA line adding functional supplements to skin care was inspired by Disney. So we continue to pay homage to Disney by helping other dogs with similar issues.
Please keep in mind that dogs have had a symbiotic relation with humans for thousands of years and their system have evolved to mirror humans. So, generally speaking, what works for human works for dogs.
When we developed our KODA line, we polled Nationwide Insurance Pet Group to find the top ten reasons for vet visits. Shin was a high percentage of the issues, but joint issues we masked in the report because most people believe that ACL and arthritis are age related. They are, but people feeding gluten and watering their dogs with purified and RO water are contributors.
lifetrace ionic Minerals for Dogs
Studies have shown that gluten/grains in a dogs diet have similar reactions as in humans. Gluten in humans causes calluses and joint issues by creating inflammation. Dogs are the same.
Purified and RO water robs the water of minerals which in-turn leach out minerals in the dogs body after drinking purified water. The absence of minerals in the water creates a ionic neutrality that seeks out minerals to be whole.
So, the thing to do which will also help weight loss are the following:
Put your dog on more of a Paleo style diet. The lack of grain will aid in wait loss and reduce joint inflammation
Supplement purified and RO water with a mineral additive similar to our KODA LifeTrace. It adds back in 76 needed minerals without sodium
Supplement with Glucosamine HCL and Collagen from even a young age. Don’t wait until they are 10+ years old to use Glucosamine. Make sure it is HCL and not sulfate, because the HCL also has Cox-2 properties. We make a supplement called KODA Proflexoil that used daily will keep joint collagen levels at the max through all age groups.
Finally as a shameless plug, KODA OmegaLife is a fish oil replacement avoiding the high Vitamin A toxicity levels associated with real fish oil primarily seen in small dogs
Finally, our Bichon, Jasper had a serious bout of Blepharitis when he was a few months old. It took some serious doses of Doxycycline and Prednisone to knock it down. This course attacked his joints and we switched Japser to the regimen above and his knees have strengthend. At the age of 5 (this August) he runs and chases his cat sister without issues that we saw when he was 1 year old. So, it works. Jasper also gets a minimum of 3 miles a day and often exceeds 5 miles a day when we are near a beach
Many years ago a Broadway actor taught me a trick using our Tortuga. In those early days I did not know that most actors prefer not to use abrasive facial scrubs. She told me that she uses our Tortuga lotion to exfoliate her skin by slowly massaging the lotion into her skin, letting it sit for 30 minutes and then lightly rinsing it off with cool water.
Try this recipe to remove the outer layer of dead skin on your face by emulsifying it with Tortuga Lotion and a simple massage with your fingers. It really works and your skin will look radiant.
Keys DIY – Non Abrasive Facial Exfolient
Recipe Type: Facial Emulsifier
Author: Bob Root
This is a simple recipe to liquify surface dead skin and deep moisturize your skin.
Ingredients
2, pumps Tortuga Lotion
Instructions
Wet you face
Pump Keys Tortuga Lotion twice into the palm of your hand.
Apply to your entire face using a circular massaging motion of your fingers.
Massage the entire face spending extra time on dry areas.
Keep massaging until you feel a buildup on your fingers. This is the dead skin emulsifying.
Let sit on the skin for 30 minutes.
Rinse with cool water.
Air or pat dry.
Done!
No need to moisturize.
Notes
You may need more Tortuga if your face is extremely dry or you are in dry weather. You will start to feel the dead skin pill up under your fingers after a few minute of massaging.[br][br]Spread lightly around the eyes and avoid any deep massaging around sensitive delicate eye tissue.
If there is one product that is the most asked for, it is an exfoliant scrub. So, before I describe this DIY project, I first want to say that I do not like using abrasive scrubs on the skin. To me, scratching off that dead layer of skin can be done easier and better using something like our Tortuga lotion which emulsifies the dead skin layer. I will describe the non-abrasive version in another DIY snipet.
The trick of this moisturizing collagen scrub is to mix and use the product quickly. The blend of the gelatin (aka collagen) abates the dead skin The Luminos acts as a moisturizer and will emulsify the collagen to allow it to sink deep into the skin tissue. The trick is to use the mixture quickly to get the exfoliating action and then let the mixture set for 30 minutes to an hour to super moisturize the skin.
Below is a simple recipe that has the greatest benefits and the least amount of damage. I must admit that if you follow the instructions below, your skin will radiate and glow for three or four days until another layer of dead skin builds up.
Try this early in the morning on a Monday and see if people don’t ask you what you did over the weekend to look so refreshed.
Keys DIY – Facial Collagen Scrub Exfolient
Recipe Type: Facial Scrub
Author: Bob Root
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 TBS
Using dry gelatin creates a mild abrasive scrub that exfoliates the skin and deep moisturizes.
Ingredients
2, pumps of Keys Luminos
1/2 tsp of Great Lakes Unflavored Gelatin
Instructions
Pump the Luminos into your palm.
Pour the Great Lakes Gelatin over the Luminos.
Quickly blend the gelatin into the Luminos.
Immediately begin working the mixture into your facial skin using a circular motion.
Make sure your face is evenly covered and then lightly massage your entire face for a few minutes.
Let stay on the face for 30 minute to an hour.
Rince off with cool water.
air or pat dry.
Go! You are done!
No need to remoisturize.
Notes
Use this mixture around the eyes lightly and at the end of the application process. The collagen will be less abrasive and you will gain some tightening around the eyes making your eyes look refreshed.[br][br]As a trick, you can try to use this mixture on the inside of your elbow if you tend to have sensitive or allergic skin. Luminos and the gelatin are very mild, but it is always a good trick to test the skin inside the elbow anytime you are trying a new product.
It is Time To Get Wise! by Wendy Steele, Keys CEO and Melanoma Survivor
Those of you that know me, know that it is my fault for the creation of Keys. Well the truth is, it was a diagnosis of my Melanoma and a reaction of prescription products and over the counter chemical laden products that created the need and our inspiration. That is not why I write today. It is the fact that May is Melanoma awareness month here at Keys and throughout the world. It is the beginning of sun season and that is why May is the month to celebrate and to inspire. It is a time to celebrate all the lives that have been save and time to become aware through education so that we can save many more lives.
It is now over 20 years since Bob discovered the Melanoma on my left ankle. My legs are long and it was impossible to see it myself. He asked what the waxy stuff was on my ankle. Holding a mirror up for me to see, it looked like a drop of hot wax was dropped on my ankle. A few weeks later, it turned bright red and through a friend, we got an appointment with the top Mohs surgeon at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. Hugh Greenway took a look and said, “This is not good.” After a biopsy, he had me clear my schedule for Mohs surgery. It was Melanoma. This was the beginning of my advocacy for 365 days a year Melanoma awareness, skin cancer education and ways to prevent skin Cancer.
I wrote an article in 2007 called Solar Flare Please read it. In 2011, some suspect “ugly duckling” moles sent me to the Mayo Clinic where I realized how out of touch even the top clinics are when it comes to the dignity of people and skin cancer. Read “Hold The Mayo” as well. Please!
Now that you have done that, start to realize how delicate your body is and that the skin being our largest organ is bombarded daily by UV, pollutants and all sorts of allergens. Our skin takes care of us, if we take care of it.
So lets start here with this image of a card we produce that will help you identify strange and unusual moles. Remember mine was clear and about the size of a pencil eraser. So please look at this image and check out any unusual moles you have on your body. Click on the image and save it to your smartphone to use as a comparative tool. Better yet, have a friend check you over. It can be fun if you let it be, but it is serious business.
I have literally hundreds of moles on my body. I am fair, Germanic/Hungarian and very prone to skin cancer. If you can count more than 50 moles on your body, you are a candidate for very close examination. Don’t wait for the dermatologist visit. Become your own sleuth and be aware. It just might save your life.
20 years later, I have had numerous basil cell cancers removed and I have found them all myself and Bob’s vigilant eyes. Know yourself and know your skin.
An interesting thing to really let sink in is that your body talks to you. In my case, five years before discovering my Melanoma, I was on a vacation with Bob in Eleuthera. I became sort of ill without a good description of what was wrong. We got back to the mainland and I went to an internist who discovered a small red dot on my ankle. For a while, he thought it was a tick bite and I had symptoms of inflammation in my blood test. They suspect rheumatoid arthritis. I knew it could not be a tick bite, but I always wondered what it was. Five years later, it was exactly the same are that we discovered my Melanoma. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Finally, lets say you find something. Don’t play around. Get to either a dermatologist or Mohs surgeon. Insist on a biopsy. Do not take no for an answer. If you can, find the youngest most technically savvy doctor you can. Tell them what it is you discovered and that Wendy Steele said to not fool around scraping, burning or freezing. If they refuse, find another doctor!
My own experience is that universities like Stanford and Johns Hopkins are on top of their game. If you are in the EU, you are luckier than we are in the US because awareness and prevention are paramount. One of my tricks is that when I am traveling and want something checked, I ask the doctors office is they have a Dermascope® that they use. If yes, this tells me they are on their game and my trust level goes up significantly.
I cannot say it enough that if you have moles, you must become your own best expert. Follow your intuition based on a lifetime of study. Early prevention can and will save your life.
Click on the video below to see the features benefits and advantages of the ten KODA products for dogs. This presentation was developed for Veterinarians to give them a better understand of the natural functional benefits of KODA products.
Click on the image below and when the video appears, click the start button. Click on the screen once to stop and freeze the video and click again to restart
Keys DIY or “Do It Yourself” for younger clearer looking skin
Many people have asked why we do not make a facial mask. The simple answer is that the best mask for the skin has to be made fresh to have the greatest benefit. As much as we try, there are somethings that you cannot bottle and are best when you make them yourself.
This recipe is great for the face, neck and hands. The mixture reduces fine lines, fades skin spots, softens the skin and super hydrates to create a natural glow.
So here is a simple recipe using Keys Tortuga lotion and some fresh ingredients.
Omega Protein Facial Mask
Recipe Type: Facial Mask
Cuisine: Face, Neck and Hands
Author: Keys Geeks
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Mix all the ingredients together and use immediatley
Ingredients
2 pumps Keys Tortuga Lotion
1 egg (white only)
1/8 avocado ripe
Instructions
Place all the ingredients together in a small glass bowl.
Muddle or mash them until the mixture is smooth and even color.
Apply immediately.
Let stay on for at least 30 minutes.
Rinse with cool clear water.
Let air dry
Notes
This recipe is great for the neck and backs of the hands to smooth and reduce spots. Adjust the recipe as needed to create an even smooth mask.[br][br]This recipe super hydrates the skin, shrinks pores and the Tortuga/Avocado will help to slowly fade skin age spots caused by the sun because of the natural form of retinol they contain.
Keys Supports Efforts of the EWG Sun Safety Campaign with New Book and Website Banners
Keys is a proud supporter of the EWG Sun Safety Campaign. For over ten years, Keys CEO, Wendy Steele, has pounded on the industry to create a campaign to educate end users about the effects of UVA and UVB radiation. She was one of the first to help identify that the UVB or burning rays should not be the focus. Moreover, UVA or the aging rays should be the primary focus of education and protection. Steele pronounce over ten years ago that sunscreens were a minor solution with the emphasis needing to be on wearing a hat, UPF protective clothing and sunglasses with UV filtering.
This new logo will begin appearing on various websites and you are one of the first to see it in use. The Sun Safety Campaign will also feature Keys and these new banners on their website. All coming soon.
Wendy Steele and Bob Root are in the process of writing a new book with the working title of “Its Your Skin” where they outline important actions people need to take to minimizing skin aging. First on the list is avoiding the sun. This further supports the EWG Sun Safety basic tenants to stay out of the sun. Click on either Keys EWG banner to go to the EWG Sun Safety site.
We love it when we find greatness. It is especially wonderful when greatness has something to do with our furry friends. We discovered Liz and Jack because they are KODA users and the images and stories in this book are wonderful to say the least.
Miracle Dogs is an unforgettable collection of stories celebrating the meaningful and often miraculous lives of rescue dogs given a second chance. Readers cannot fail to be moved by stories like that of Wyatt, an assistance dog who helped a young boy with autism communicate with the outside world, and Fiona, who was found blind and starving in an alley and is now safe with her loving family. Stavrinides’ portraits are filled with emotion, love, and empathy, making this heartwarming collection a loving and poignant tribute to man’s best friend.
Celebrity pet owners like Hoda Kotb, Chevy Chase, Lance Bass, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Amanda Hearst, Peter Marshall, and others share their stories of adopting dogs in need, while organizations like The Gentle Barn, Operation Heroes and Hounds, Friends of Finn, and Assistance Dogs of The West share uplifting stories of rescued animals who have gone on to help their humans live fuller and more independent lives.
Each story features close-up and lifestyle portraits of the dog and their new family, followed by a concise, compelling narrative detailing the dog’s journey and new environment.
As a professional photographer, Liz Stavrinides spends much of her time on projects related to animal rescue. Miracle Dogs was born out of her desire to collect and share the stories of the dogs she’s met over the years, showcasing the incredible bravery and compassion of both canines and owners. Her portraits showcase beloved companions that were cast aside until they found owners who recognized their true worth, giving them a second chance to make a profound difference in the lives of others.
Keys products have always had many uses. These uses are Cross-Functional hence the name of this new category called Keys Cross.
Over our ten years, our customers have told us at seminars, book signings and online of how they use our products. Every product we make may seem simple based on the ingredients, yet each are active products that have a purpose and multiple uses. Our ingredients all fall into a class known to the natural remedies and Ayurvedic Medicine practitioners as functional ingredients. Simply, they do something and have cross-functional uses. Combined, they become a very big tool for alternative medicine remedies and alternate uses.
Entire books have been written on the multi-functional uses of simple ingredients like baking soda and vinegar to name just two. Keys products also have multiple purposes and uses to solve problems an make people feel good. Often these uses crossover into other areas and are good for dogs, horses etc. These crossover products start to expand the applications in both broader and deeper scenarios making it difficult to capture and to publish.
Keys Cross RediCare Natural Healing Spray
RediCare Therapeutic Spray
Primary Purpose: RediCare is a all-natural insect repellant that wards off over 200 different insects. It is a sprayable lotion that adds essential oils, extracts and botanicals to be efficacious and a lotion base similar to our Tortuga lotion to provide a moisturizing action that soothes and softens the skin instantly. Because it is sprayable and has the vast array of botanicals, it has many many uses
Keys products have always had many uses. These uses are Cross-Functional hence the name of this new category called Keys Cross.
Over our ten years, our customers have told us at seminars, book signings and online of how they use our products. Every product we make may seem simple based on the ingredients, yet each are active products that have a purpose and multiple uses. Our ingredients all fall into a class known to the natural remedies and Ayurvedic Medicine practitioners as functional ingredients. Simply, they do something and have cross-functional uses. Combined, they become a very big tool for alternative medicine remedies and alternate uses.
Entire books have been written on the multi-functional uses of simple ingredients like baking soda and vinegar to name just two. Keys products also have multiple purposes and uses to solve problems an make people feel good. Often these uses crossover into other areas and are good for dogs, horses etc. These crossover products start to expand the applications in both broader and deeper scenarios making it difficult to capture and to publish.
Solar Rx Moisturizer with SPF
Primary Purpose: The main use of Solar Rx Moisturizer with Sun Protection to to protect the skin from damaging UVA and UVB radiation from the sun while providing a daytime moisturizer. Solar Rx uses uncoated zinc oxide to provide broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection. UVA are the aging rays while UVB are the burning rays.
Keys products have always had many uses. These uses are Cross-Functional hence the name of this new category called Keys Cross.
Over our ten years, our customers have told us at seminars, book signings and online of how they use our products. Every product we make may seem simple based on the ingredients, yet each are active products that have a purpose and multiple uses. Our ingredients all fall into a class known to the natural remedies and Ayurvedic Medicine practitioners as functional ingredients. Simply, they do something and have cross-functional uses. Combined, they become a very big tool for alternative medicine remedies and alternate uses.
Entire books have been written on the multi-functional uses of simple ingredients like baking soda and vinegar to name just two. Keys products also have multiple purposes and uses to solve problems and make people feel good. Often these uses crossover into other areas and are good for dogs, horses etc. These crossover products start to expand the applications in both broader and deeper scenarios making it difficult to capture and to publish.
We have long wanted to write these down, but lacked the forum and the technology to make it easy for customers to contribute ideas and easy for us to publish their thoughts. So, this will become a place that we can update your uses for each of our products in a simple easy to read format.
The idea is to create a tabular chart that will show the products Primary purpose and secondary cross-functional uses that our customers have discovered that works for them. The charts will look something like the tabular below. We also hope to capture real customer inputs and list them as quotes.
Solar Rx Moisturizer with SPF
Primary Purpose: The main use of Solar Rx Moisturizer with Sun Protection to to protect the skin from damaging UVA and UVB radiation from the sun while providing a daytime moisturizer. Solar Rx uses uncoated zinc oxide to provide broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection. UVA are the aging rays while UVB are the burning rays.
I have had a few people ask me for traveler product sizes for some of the daily regime type products. We are working on bringing back some of our travel sizes and we are having difficulty sourcing some of the containers for our soaps. Hopefully this will resolve itself in the near future.
Eye Butter Eye Cream
Bob Root, Keys formulator and founder has the distinction of having a lifetime American Airline Black Platinum card with 3 million miles emblazoned on it. Traveling with him is a real education. I shared that I have heard that people want to have smaller versions of our products and also find that the sachets do not work for them. He affirmed that we have tested all the lotions in our 15ml airless and that we are still looking for a 50ml mini-foamer that will work with our essential oil based soaps. He did offer a trick or two for our travelers that he does when he travels.
So, here is what Bob does for lotions and butters. He carries a single airless tube of Keys Eye Butter and does the following:
Use Eye Butter directly on the eyes and lips
Dilute Eye Butter by applying a small drop to wet hands and wet face as a moisturizer
Mix Eye Butter with water in the palm of the hand to make a lotion consistency to use as a dry skin lotion
Put a pea size drop into wet hair as a conditioner. (note, Bob has short hair)
Bob also reinforced that he does carry the sachets and some of those square “owl” paper clips to reseal them after they are open. He noted that once open, you can fold over the top and those squareish paper clips made of plastic or metal do a good job in a small ziplock.
So, I tried the above and it works great. I still carry my Solar Rx, but I was able to get through my days with a lot less product.
Still, we are working on the travel sizes, but this is a good interim solution.
Finally, a natural shampoo that will clean and shine as well as conventional and salon brands, but without the junk.
Seven years in development, Silkin is the answer. We originally designed it for those with thick, long and big hair. The great news is that is is even better for people with short, silky, straight and thin hair. Men especially noted that they love the quick lather and ended up using it as a shave soap as well. Color and perm safe, it is truly a revolution in hair care.
Do not take our word for it. Click Here to order a $0.49 sachet good for a couple of washings or next time you order, you will get a sample of Silkin free automatically.
Silkin is an extension of our KPRO line. 6 months of testing has received many accalades from hair stylists, designers and everyday users looking for a natural alternative to conventional shampoos.
Silkin contains the same OptiFX particles that are in KPRO tinted products. Silkin opens the hair cuticle to clean and the OtiFX particles cling to the cuticle to offer a color enhancer, special shine and shimmer.
Silkin comes in a 16 ounce (472ml) pump bottle and retails for $24.95. It is a very concentrated shampoo that last much longer than expected. Click Here to buy Silkin
Silkin is 100% All-Natural Moisturizing Professional Shampoo for All Hair Types and Treated Hair. This KPRO Shampoo is designed to replace conventional shampoos and conditioners with professional results.
Wendy’s interview with Rhonda-youthful looking, vibrant & active 45-year old. Fan of KEYS RediCare Healing Therapy Spray.
by Wendy Steele, Keys CEO
Last October, Rhonda started experiencing periodic trouble swallowing. There were sporadic times when she was gasping for air for no apparent reason. For several years she has lived at over 6,000 feet elevation and has been acclimated to high altitude living. While she did not have pain-she knew she did not feel normal.
Her first thought was to visit her chiropractor for a full alignment. After her chiropractic visits she realized the feeling in her neck had not improved. In February, Rhonda visited her regular doctor who theorized that she could be experiencing a side effect of her celiac condition or acid reflux. As a precaution, her doctor referred her to a thyroid specialist. Her thyroid doctor could physically feel lumps around her trachea. Ultra-sound revealed lots of little nodules and 3 substantially larger nodules.
Rhonda agreed to follow up with her thyroid doctor for needle biopsies to determine if the 3 larger nodules were cancerous or benign. The needle biopsies were deemed “inconclusive”. However, she was advised that there was a possibility that they could be cancerous. Her doctor recommended surgery to remove both sides of the thyroid to be sure. Rhonda scheduled her surgery for a Monday and stayed overnight in the hospital for routine observation of her vital signs.
Post surgery, Rhonda learned that the pathology report indicated there was a small cancerous area that had been completely removed. Her doctor indicated that she would need to follow up, by taking a radiation iodine pill, but only after her TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels were deemed adequate to begin that treatment.
In the meantime, post surgery, Rhonda wanted to immediately concentrate on assuring the best possible healing of the incision on her neck. She decided to use KEYS RediCare Spray Healing Therapy because she could simply spray on the lotion and she did not need to touch it to rub it in. This was critically important, as the incision was very tender and sore to touch. While still in the hospital Rhonda decided to take a selfie of her same day surgery-neck incision. Thereafter, every Monday, Rhonda took selfies for the next eight weeks. She thought that the results were remarkable and was very pleased with the scar healing she experienced while using RediCare. She contacted KEYS to let us know how happy she was with her healing experience with RediCare.
Click on the video below to see the nine-weeks animation of Rhonda’s healing process while using RediCare Healing Therapy Spray.
For quite a while, we have professed the connection of skin cancer and UV radiation. The surgeon general’s report yesterday and the passing of the innovative sunscreen act through the US House of Representatives has sparked renewed interest in the story. Our message is still the same and I have been saying it for ten years for Keys and for twenty years after being cured of Melanoma. Protect your skin from the sun and you will slow visible aging and prevent skin cancer
Our Solar Rx is ranked among the safest and most efficacious moisturizers with sunscreen based on the EWG 2014 Sunscreen Report. We always want to remind everyone that Solar Rx is a daily use sunscreen and is not designed for sports or activity as well as going to the beach applications.
We are receiving reports that Solar Rx is selling off the shelves which is a good thing because people are now even more aware of the need. Still, less than 15% of Americans use sun precautions.
Below is a verbatim reprint of the CNN article. Please Google for other articles to inform yourself of how to be sun safe.
Here is the link to Solar Rx on our store. Please also search in Clean Green Cafe for more articles.
The US Patent and Trademark Office has recognized and certified OptiFX® particle. OptiFX particles are used in our KPRO line of super-cosmetics. These particles defract and refract light and also transmit adjacent texture and tone across the skin. Originally designed for ultra high definition digital motion picture cameras (UHDT), OptiFX particles offer a real illusionary effect on the skin that resembles a soft focus filter on the skin surface. One unique features is that the OptiFX particle also transmits tone and texture from one particle to another. This sub-feature hides fine lines without the use of fillers by reducing the shadow effects created by lines and wrinkled in the skin. People with large pores also benefit from the illusionary effects.
KPRO products using OptiFX particles play nicely with all forms of makeup. Custom blending of these moisturizing foundations and powders helps individuals to customize and tailor their “look” by blending techniques. Continue reading US Patent & Trademark Office Awards Keys OptiFX®
Soft feet will last you for a lifetime preserving your nerve sensitivity, stability and balance as you go older. Calluses, on the other hand, will decrease you ability to feel as you walk, your inability to stand for longer periods and walk not balanced. Not too mention how those calluses scratch and tear up those ebed sheets.
Take off your shoes and socks. Look at your feet. Calluses? Probably gluten in your diet.
We have known for a long time that many common typical disorders have probable links to gluten. Dark circles under the eyes, gum and periodontal issues and, yes, calluses have been linked to all that bread, pasta and wheat based products some intake. In fact, Wendy, my wife and partner, had all three. Going on a Paleo diet (gluten-free) reversed all of these maladies for her and she lost twenty pounds in the first three weeks as a bonus. Wendy’s mom was a baker at home. The kids came home from school to fresh baked cakes, cookies and all sorts of gluten intensive goodies. Maybe not so good, her mom had foot callus problems all her life. Could it have been the gluten? Again, to repeat, Wendy’s dark circles, gum problems and her calluses started to disappear in two weeks and were gone in almost 30 days when she went gluten-free. Continue reading Foot Calluses? Go Gluten-Free!
This article has nothing to do with Keys or our products. I am a scientist first and when I see something that revolutionizes the world, I have to say something.
Can you imagine the change this will make in the lives of people with disabilities. I have been seeing patents and prototypes of this and other devices almost ten years ago. These devices were born as a means of use by the military to provide lifting capabilities for soldiers. Obviously the exo technologies had huge implications for disabled people. This technology will replace wheelchairs, walkers and other old technology.
Below is a reprint from Popular Science that is worth reading.
Bob
First Exoskeleton Gets FDA Approval For U.S. Sales
The ReWalk exoskeleton helps people with spinal-cord injuries sit, stand, and walk.
Keys Customer Service forwarded an urgent email to me last week. It made reference to a note included on an order from a Keys customer named Kyle. The note on his order read as following:
“I LOVE THESE PRODUCTS! I have had Alopecia for 10 years and these products are growing my hair back! Whoever is reading this PLEASE, I urge you to relay this information to the company founders and owners and whoever oversees product development. I highly recommend that these products be marketed toward people like myself who have Alopecia of any kind. I have full body hair loss and the fantastic products at Keys Soap aren’t just growing little amounts of hair..It’s coming back over my entire body. The NAAF needs to be made aware of my results and shown by example how NATURAL skincare and lifestyle overall are the superb choice over pharmaceutical drugs. THANK YOU KEYS, God Bless! :)”
I am raising a red flag when it comes to our pets and the environment. In my book, Chemical-Free Skin Health® I pointed out that about 50 years ago just about everything we put on our skin or came in contact with was naturally derived. Now nearly 95% is synthetic. There are now tens of thousands of chemicals that are in use that have never been tested for safety. Worse, our pets are exposed in direct contact to hundreds of more chemicals for the shear reason that they typically where no shoes, clothing and dogs tend to lead with their noses. This reality is played out in the article from the Environmental Working Group showing industrial chemical toxins at alarming high rates compare to humans.
In 2007, I was a founding member of Pets for the Environment which was a spin-off of the EWG. It was just coming into vogue when the Melamine was discovered in food additives being made in China. The timing was good, but because of budget cuts and Congressional naivete, the project did not last. Now, we are trying to bring it back into public eye because of the results below and the continued exposure of our pets to toxic chemicals.
Did your mother every say to you, “Don’t make those faces, it may just freeze that way forever!” It’s true! This could be the greatest anti-aging advise of all time!
Our body language and facial expression do more than communicate our mood and intensity. The way we appear to others can be a lasting reminder on our face of our attitude toward things, our environment and people. Simply, if you frown all the time you might just end up with “Perma-Frown.” Those deep ruts in your forehead age your visual appearance. Perma-Frown makes you look older than you are by the very nature of the shadows those deep furrows create. Remember it is the shadows that our wrinkles create that makes them look older.
Laughter is an age old beauty secret because it raises our Oxytocin hormone levels which washes us with a feeling of wellbeing. This cuddle hormone is also created with a warm hug or even just being out with that someone special. The skin glows and a more youthful appearance accompanies the warm feeling. This can all be negated if our natural core state is negative. Could your cellphone be a contributing factor to your aging?
Today’s social society is way overloaded with smartphone interaction which maybe fun and warm, but generally does not release oxytocin. Worse, peering all day at your cellphone has two potentially negative results. The first is if you are reading bad news all day, aka CNN, that frown may probably become perma-frown. Secondly, if you are walking and reading and getting a little older, that squint could become perma-squint. Be careful watching too much CNN can also create the dreaded permanent aging look called perma-scowl.
There is no question that drinking lots of water, regulating hormones as we age and using natural skin care will be your best anti-aging secret for the skin. Those wrinkles, ruts and furrows are probably an indication of how happy you are or how much CNN you are exposed to.
So next time you are reading CNN, Fox News or one of the other negative press sources, take a quick selfie to check out how you are responding…Then try to laugh it off. Yoga has taught me to see a different way of life and create an internal smile. Being CNN-Free for the last ten years is priceless.
iWellness or iHealth – There is a difference. Can Apple change healthcare forever? Yes! Will they?
by Bob Root, Keys Founder and Technologist
The rumors are pretty strong that Apple will introduce Healthkit technology in it next IOS 8 operating system for iPhones and iPad’s..and maybe iWatch this October. It will enable software, apps and hardware creations that will monitor your health. …and hopefully affect your wellness.
If you have been following, through our friend Gabriela Castillo, we have all been nursing a little abused black wolf back to health. Her leg was shattered from a fall at an abusive vet. Malnutrition was also a factor to be dealt with. So, sometimes just a picture is worth one thousand words.
Gabi wolf just out of surgery…Then
Gabi today with a new life! Now!
From Gabriela. Note about Gabi Wolf, July 31, 2014
Gabi Wolf’s adoptive guardian messaged me from their home in the mountains. They let me know that last night at dusk a deer came out of the woods near their home and came nose to nose with puppy Gabi wolf. The two just stared at each other and seemed just peaceful and wondrous. It was too dark to get a photo as Gabi Wolf is almost black. I was overjoyed at the moment that was shared. It was been raining there and been around 70 degrees. Gabi LOVES the weather. Coming from horrific desert heat then the concrete of Los Angeles (obviously two places NO wolf belongs) to mountain meadows etc is just fantastic and brings such happiness to those of us who do rescue. There have been some BIG thunderstorms and her guardian reports she has NO fear of them. She actually likes to watch the storm go by and enjoys the weather. I feel so blessed and gifted to have taken part in being of service to her.
AGAIN! Thank you to everyone who helped. Thank you to everyone who networked. Thank you to everyone who donated.
Gabi’s leg is healing nicely. It bends now and she uses it more every day. Her guardian has done some amazing therapy with her to bring her to the best health possible.
The photo is of Joy and me when we were at the hospital getting Gabi her surgery.
The last photo is of Gabi present day. Enjoying a little nap outside her home after a three hour hike in the mountain and meadows.
Last year in a need to get a renewed supply of airless containers we were presented with the option of going all opaque white or having no containers. Almost immediately our loyal customers raised up in unison that they wanted the clear translucent containers back so that they could see how much remained. At the time, we had no options and immediately we polled our supplier to give us the option to return to a clear translucent base tube. They listened and now all Keys airless products have a white pump with a clear base.
We have been shipping the clear base airless containers for the last month, but not all products were converted over. Now, we are happy to say that all the airless products are shipping in the clear base container.
RediCare is not just for small pets and people! It’s amazing for horses! I discovered this product for horses when I rescued an abused mustang. His name is Arrow. I had some of the RediCare at home for my dog Baldr/us and needed something to help Arrow with some wounds immediately and discovered right away what an amazing find for horses this really is!
As a part of the EWG annual sunscreen report they offer tips about sunscreens. Below is a unedited direct reprint of what they are saying in the 2014 sunscreen report. Keys Solar Rx was rated as excellent for safety and efficacy in this years report in the moisturizer with SPF category. Keys Solar Rx is an everyday sunscreen designed as a moisturizer with sun protection. It is not a go to beach or sports product because our moisturizer is water soluble for maximum hydration. It is cosmetically clear and can be used under makeup or by itself. Click Here to read the EWG report on Solar Rx
The 2014 EWG Sunscreen report was released and Keys Solar Rx was given a Excellent rating and was chosen as a Top Product in the moisturizer with sun protection category. Click Here to jump to the EWG listing for Solar Rx.
The EWG ranking system is based on safety with most of the top brands rating a 2 on a scale of 0 to 10 (o = safest) Keys Solar Rx was given a ranking of 1.
Solar Rx is cosmetically transparent and yet provides a UVA and UVB equivalent to conventional sunscreen rated at SPF 30+. Solar Rx is not a go to beach or sport sunscreen because the lotion is a functional therapy water soluble medium designed to act as a moisturizer for everyday use.
Wendy Steele, Keys CEO, said, “Since the day we introduced Keys Solar Rx, it has received the highest ranking from the EWG and Consumer Reports magazine. Safety and efficacy are the important facets about these two rating systems. We applaud the EWG for their efforts and for the details as well as ease of use of the 2014 report.”
I awoke to some good news from Gabriela Castillo this morning. Gabi Wolf’s surgery went well although x-rays discovered a much more damage to her leg than expected. The good doctor took our personal guarantee that we would keep raising funds to pay for nursing Gabi back to help and did the surgery yesterday.
This has prompted us to offer that Keys will donate 10% of all KODA online store sales for the rest of May 2014 and all of June 2014 to Gabi’s cause. Notice: this is not some weasel worded statement of percentage of profits. It is 10% of all KODA online store sales for the next 45 days. Continue reading Keys to Donate 10% of KODA Sales to Gabi Wolf Recovery!
We have modified the software serving our Clean Green Café Blog and News Forum to detect smartphones and tablet users and switch to an easier to read format. When you access Clean Green Café from your Android or iPhone, the software detects the type of device and changes to a simplified easy to read format. Now you can read articles with larger type and formatted for your smartphone. Tablet and iPad users can see the new mobile format or the standard Clean Green Café formats. Nothing to do and you can switch back and forth if you like.
We have installed a new store that permit our mobile smartphone and tablets customers easy access to our online store. The new software detects the type of device you are using and switches to a different store template. Android and iPhone Smartphone users will see a simplified version with large type and more succinct information with buy buttons that automatically become a checkout button. The transaction engine is from Authorize.net through Wells Fargo with daily inspection by Trustwave. Tablet users will have the option of looking at either a mobile store or our regular desktop store for more detailed information.
Nothing to do, just easier to use for mobile customers.
We accelerated the development of our new One-Page checkout to make checking out of our store easier, faster and more secure. Last years, new banking regulations required all online merchants to comply with something called DSS. Basically it was a multi-trip software authentication that forced us to have a secondary credit card entry page that worked most of the time, but failed some times because people were using out of date browsers or ha too high a level of firewall security. We accelerated development and worked with Authorize.net and Wells Fargo to create a new way of authenticating transactions more securely and in one pass. This makes our new One Page checkout faster, easier and more secure. In initial test by customers they had no failures and the process was about three times faster. Very Cool! Thanks to our developers and partners. Still with the new system we do not keep your credit card numbers on file which means it is always safe with you.
Everything is on one page and if your register with us, you need only enter your user name and password along with your credit card information to complete a sale. Fast and secure, we are also working on a system to remember who you are and automatically log you in when you use a device that we recognize.
The predecessor to Tortuga lotion was born in my grandmothers kitchen 100 years ago. I grew up with this ancient remedy as a cure-all that saved me from cuts, bruises, dog bites, scrapes and even being jilted by a girlfriend or two.
My grandmother was an herbalist, naturopath and alchemist before Adele Davis was born. I remember her picking weeds (herbs) and making potions, concoctions, soups, salves and rubs. She was always experimenting with something that she would try on herself and us kids.
I am writing this article to explain the origin of Tortuga. Tortuga has always been one of our most popular products. Recently we have seen a real surge in interest. This has come mainly through social networks of people trying to find solutions to skin disorders that western medicine have not been able to solve. Many people have written to us telling of remarkable turn-arounds in their conditions. For me, the credit goes to my grandmother’s bubbling caldrons. I must pay homage to her for what she taught me.