Thursday, June 16, 2016

Beauty Secrets from the Garden with "Mama Jeanne"

As many of our friends & family know, we are celebrating Grandma Jeanne Laudun's Legacy to Cosmetiques LaudunTM this entire month, in an ongoing tribute to her, as her birthday happens to fall in March. We are pleased to give you this short "Memoire," from our Founder/CEO, Anna Laudun Beauboeuf, about her lovely days spent in the garden learning all about different plants & flowers, with her dearest, "Mama Jeanne."

"My grandmother was a lovely lady, always so elegant and
beautiful, and she loved us, my sister, Mitsy, and I. She sewed many clothes for us, beautiful embroidered dresses, skirts of vibrant colors, she took care of and styled our hair, and taught us how to make little gifts- she was a grandmother of your dreams!



My best memories are of the days I spent with her in her huge garden- filled with flowers, plants, a beautiful vine LOADED with big black and green grapes, giant mangos & avocados. My sister & I loved to climb all the trees ... it was truly a paradise.


Very early on Saturday mornings, I would accompany my Mama Jeanne, my little wicker basket in hand, to "la ceuillette," or picking & gathering of plants that later she would use to create creams for the care of our skin, or shampoos for our hair, and body lotions richly perfumed with herbals. 
Throughout our plant-gathering time, she educated me about all of these plants, their medicinal values & qualities, and had me touch, feel, smell and even taste them. My grandmother was, how the French say, a very"coquettish," or elegant & beautiful woman, and taking good care of her skin was a very important part of her daily beauty routine.
.
In her room, there was a small, carved table, high enough to keep prying children's hands from reaching the bottles kept inside, with a cabinet door in the front and a glass top. This table contained a precious range or collection of small jars of essential plant oils of all types, scented with herbs, or containing a few pieces of ginger, sandalwood, clove etc. 

After our morning "ceuillette," my Grandmother would have me sit on a straw chair near
her, and would teach me how to make her make her natural beauty mixtures in a large blue porcelain bowl.
-"A few drops of ginger oil for the face cream, a few drops of aloe juice, lemon to hydrate the face," etc. -she showed me how all these plants and more were utilized. At the end of the day, we were allowed a small pot of body cream, freshly made, deliciously perfumed with jasmine flowers & citrus, or rose water- a small jar of creme that lasted just a few hours."

*****
We will feature more in future posts, about the history (or "Herstory") of our delightful Founder/CEO, Anna Laudun Beauboeuf, and her beautiful grandmother, "Mama Jeanne."

The Allure & Mystique of Organic, Natural Skin Care

Believe it or not, I have been drawn to Natural/ Organic Skin Care products for over 30 years now! Back in my 20's, I was really drawn to natural body care and skin care products- I loved learning about about all the different herbs, plants and flowers that went into making healing, natural products that are so good for your skin. I actually became a part-time distributor of natural, healing skin & body care products for a well-known, world-wide Swiss company, back in the early 1990's!

As the years went by, my attention was taken away from this love by having to keep a good job in the corporate world to support myself. Needless to say, over 20 years of that life was enough for me! So, in 2011, I again turned my interest to developing a business where I could distribute organic & natural skin & beauty products that were actually good for people. I started my own distribution & Blogging website-  www.getwholesomebeauty.com.

I was constantly on the look-out for GREAT products- an in particular, those made with 80% or more Organic plant ingredients. Believe me, they are not easy to find! One day, I came in contact with a company through my Twitter account that looked really good- I checked their website, www.TheLaudun.com, and I was amazed to see so many lovely, gorgeously-packaged products that touted they were made with "organic & natural plant ingredients, straight from the earth." I was intrigued, and even more so, when I read their tagline: "Organic Elegance for Your Skin." YES!











So, then I contacted Anna Laudun Beaubouef, Founder/CEO, and she actually agreed to allow me to distribute her products via my website- I was so happy! I started writing many blog posts about all the different lovely plant ingredients used in Cosmetiques LaudunTM products, and loving distributing and selling all the lovely products- not to mention using them myself! I remember when I got my first whiff of "Rose Milk Frost," Ultra Hydrating Body Lotion, I almost fell over, because the scent of the Damask Rose in it was so delicious! I felt the same about the intoxicating Jasmine scent of "Sweet Feet," and the "Sea Goddess," Natural Seaweed Extract body soap. Wow! 

In the process of learning about all the beautiful Cosmetiques LaudunTM products and how they were created, Anna and I got to know each other very well, and today I think of her as my very close sister/friend. Anna has bestowed much of her knowledge upon me about how her dear, "Mama Jeanne," her Grandmother, would gather all the ingredients necessary from her garden, every morning, so later she could make her "beauty creme, foot creme, scrub and soaps." Needless to say the pictures evoked in my mind of Anna's story of going out into the garden with her Grandma each morning to "freshly pick different flowers, herbs and plants that later she would show me how to use to make her different beauty cremes, soaps and concoctions," left a very strong, beautiful impression on my mind. I felt that I already knew Mama Jeanne well, even though I did not ever have the pleasure of meeting her.

Today, I am so proud, honored and happy to be a part of this beautiful organization, Cosmetiques LaudunTM (in addition to continuing my original site, GetWholesomeBeauty.com)! Anna asked me to join the company in 2013, and in 2015 my role changed a bit to encompass more responsibility, as Director of Marketing and Sales.  I work hard to bring Grandma Jeanne's legacy of her healing, vintage garden skin care formulations to all of you, and it makes me very happy to do it. Today happens to be "Mama Jeanne's" birthday, March 31st, and so it is no surprise that she is on my mind a great deal, and lead me to write this for all of you!

"May you always enjoy the best of health, the best of everything that Nature has to offer!"
- Nancy Bechtol, Founder/CEO
Wholesome Beauty- Wholesome Life



Anti-Aging Secrets of Organic Damask Rose Water- Part I

Essential oil of Damascene ("Damascus or Damask") Rose is one of nature's most incredibly healing plants.  This rare type of rose is, according to recent fossil evidence, about 35 million years old!  The genus Rosa has about 150 species found all around the world, including in northern Africa.  Garden cultivation of roses began some 5,000 years ago, most likely in China.  Damask Rose, however, originated in Bulgaria, and continues to be extensively cultivated there today for its precious essential oil.

Roses were in very high demand during the 17th century, and the Royal families even considered roses or Rosewater to be legal tender.  The wife of Napoleon, Josephine, was well-known for having an extensive collection of roses at Chateau de Malmaison, an estate about 7 miles west of Paris, in the 1800s.  Interestingly, the rose is often used to represent the Virgin Mary and has been historically considered as sacred to a number of goddesses

As incredible as it sounds, Organic Damascene Rose essential oil has been recently scientifically shown to increase the energy vibration of every cell in the body, restoring balance and harmony to every bodily system! These amazing health benefits can be attained by simply breathing in the lovely fragrance of the flower. It takes approximately 2,000 flowers to produce one gram of the highly-prized essential oil.  So it makes sense that it is usually so expensive to buy, and easier to obtain the oil's benefits as an ingredient in organic Rosewater.

Organic essential Rose oil has been highly sought-after for centuries, due to its many naturally beneficial properties for mind & body, including anti-depressant, antiseptic, anti-spasmodic, bactericidal (kills Strep, Staph, E. Coli, Anthrax, and Diphtheria.)  Organic Damask Rose Oil’s innate healing power comes from its bio-complexity.  It contains more than 300 organic compounds, and so it is definitely one of the most complex organic bio-chemicals on earth.  This is why the essential oil is often referred to as Nature’s "Universal Healer."  There are absolutely no natural limits to its ability to tone, heal and balance the skin.  It is non-toxic, non-irritant, non-sensitizing and well-tolerated by all skin types.  

This highly-energized organic composition of Damask Rose essential oil makes it highly effective in treating aging, dry, and damaged skin.  It also tones the skin to reduce overly-active skin sebum secretion that can cause acne and enlarged pores.   Organic Damask Rose essential oil’s natural toning and astringent properties became well known in the 18th century and was used at that time as the base oil for many healing tonics.  Its unique skin toning abilities can actually produce a healthy and radiant complexion in just a few seconds.  This healing powerhouse also has properties that reduce inflammation and skin redness, repair broken capillaries and is even effective in treating eczema and other common skin disorders.


As part of an organic, holistic healing approach to skin care, it is recommended that we "connect" with positively-charged atoms & energies as much as possible- in our diet, the air we breathe and in what we absorb into our bodies. Taking in as much good energy as possible is vital to maintaining our energy level and health.  It has also been scientifically proven in recent years that the higher the energy vibration level in the body, the healthier the skin and body become.  Incredibly, Organic Damask Rose Oil has been found to emanate the highest energy vibration of all known oils.  - More on this to Come in Part II of this Blog Post!

The Gift of Unconditional Love- It Never Wears Out

Today, many of us are finding ourselves in an age of disposable or "throwaway" washing machines, light bulbs, electronica, high-tech everything, cars, clothing, economics, political ideologies - it appears that all of these have built-in, and most-likely intentional, obsolescence.  We find that so many of these items break down as soon as the "warranty" expires.

Fortunately for those of us seeking a more Spiritual way of life, the gifts of Love, Gratitude, Honesty & Humility are never obsolete nor subject to the "newest version."  These principles have been with us since ancient times, precisely because they are spiritual in nature and have eternal foundations in spiritual principles.  The gifts of Unconditional Love of God / Spirit are immutable and always with us.  Our relationships can heal, prosper & grow when we keep the ideals of Unconditonal Love, Gratitude, Honesty & Humility first and foremost in our minds and hearts.  

These qualities are especially needed in our lives today in our interractions with co-workers, friends and loved ones and always & only work to serve us, and to heal our relationships.  The Gift of Unconditional Love doesn't have a "warranty" and will never need to be "traded up for the newest version."  It is eternal, nurturing and life-supporting.  It is easy to access, too, once we put our minds to using it on a regular basis- in all our relationships.