Find our Soap at the Serenita Spa

Find our soap at the Serenita Spa: An exquisite lakefront surrounded by lush forest provide the backdrop for a unique spa experience: Serenita. The talented and thoughtful staff take great care in marrying years of bodywork expertise with a love of gourmet cooking to create a spa pampering to remember! Enjoy outdoor activities, indulge in soothing bodywork, amuse your palate and nourish your body with delicious meals. Reawaken your senses and restore your body, your mind, your soul. Serenita is located in St-Alexis-des-Monts, in the enchanting Mauricie region of Quebec.

What Is PRECYCLING ?

Precycling is a term that refers to the consideration of the use and disposal of all components of the item you are purchasing, including the packaging. It means buying products that use less material, create less solid waste, and conserve valuable landfill space. This is different from recycling, which is focused on items after they become waste. In both cases the end result is the same: reducing the drain on natural resources.

How do you precycle?
Its as simple as carrying your own shopping bags to the store. Other ideas are:
* get your name off mailing lists to reduce your junk mail.
* Use baking soda and water as a good tile and tub cleaner and a natural acid, such as vinegar, to remove lime scale.
* Use cloth dish towels, instead of a paper ones.
* Buy refurbished toner cartridges or refill them yourself if possible.
* Think "litter-less lunches" for work or any meals away from home. Avoid store-bought single servings and instead place sandwiches, snacks and drinks in reusable containers rather than plastic bags.
* Shave with brushed-on cream rather than canned foam.
* Drink your coffee or other beverage in a reusable mug
* Instead of juice boxes, buy juice concentrate and fill a small reusable thermos for your child's lunch. (check out http://www.complementaryhealth.ca/klean_kanteens.htm)
* Buying items made from recycled materials or from unused or refurbished packaging components.

All these ideas save you money too, always a good idea. What ideas do you have?

What's in your skin?

In the 21st century, there's more to think about than the difference between bar soap or liquid soap. But there are ingredients in most shower gels that take 800 years to disappear from our waters. We may carefully choose what we put in our bodies such as eating organic vegetables and free-range meat, but what do we know of our body cleansers?

Covering up to 20 square feet of your body, is skin is our largest organ. It's our first line of defense against toxins, bacteria and other foreign invaders. Not only does our skin secrete waste, but it also absorbs every product you put on it. How do you find products that work and are good for you? Look at the ingredients. There are both bar and bottled soaps that contain only natural ingredients and a lot of them feel and smell wonderful.

How do these products effects our environment? The average North American could toss out over 200 bottles of liquid soap in their life time. Is your chosen product recyclable? Is there excess packaging that will go to waste in a landfill? Most all-natural bar soap comes with a cardboard or paper packaging that can easily be tossed into your recycle bin.

Are you a Locavore?

Wiki says:
A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles. The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to produce their own food, with the argument that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Locally grown food is often a more environmentally friendly means of obtaining food, since supermarkets that import their food use more fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.

Produce isn't the only item in the local market scenario. If the item isn't locally grown - what about buying locally produced? Many regions have locally produced jams, jellies and breads as well as locally created confections. While these businesses may not always use strictly local ingredients in their products, by purchasing them you are supporting the local economy.

As attractive as supporting local economy sounds, there is more to consider when pressured to endorse simplistic formulas such as a 100-mile diet or an in-state/province diet. Getting to know your local farmers co-op will help you decide where your dollars are best spent according to your conscience. For example: A farm that is owned by an extra-local corporation, may employ migrant workers who live outside the community thereby does not benefit its community economically or culturally as much as it should. The very produce that is grown may be the same greens grown in greenhouses across the country and sold in every farmers market is more likely from a seed company than it is a local or regional food. It may be produced within 100 km from your home, but its seeds are bought from afar every year.

Investing in both native and naturalized foods reinforce cultural links with the region, thus sustaining place-based foods that are threatened by globalization. Supporting them and their traditional stewards helps to strengthen our futures.

Triclosan, phthalates and paraben studies in 2008

Triclosan, phthalates and parabens in 2008
Safety of a number of cosmetic ingredients such as phthalates, parabens and triclosan has come into question. More research into, and tighter regulations for these ingredients have come from pressure groups, environmental charities and most recently from the National Research Council.

Phthalates
The use of a number of members of this family as plasticizers and perfume fixatives has attracted criticism this year. Researchers at the University of Washington suggested there was a link between the presence of the phthalates MEP, MMP and MiBP in the urine of infants and the use of baby care products, as well as the effect of phthalates on the environment.

The ingredients are found in a wide range of products, from cosmetics to building materials, the NRC has advised the EPA to look into the effects of widespread exposure. The Environmental Protection Agency announced it would be expanding its fish tissues pilot study in order to determine the effects of both personal care and pharmaceutical products on the waterways.

Parabens
Parabens are used as preservatives, and are heavily criticized in Europe. A campaign from a French health association focusing on baby cosmetics led to calls from the health minister for further research and labelling certain products as unsafe for pregnant women and young children.

Triclosan
Lobby groups claimed scientific studies have linked this antimicrobial ingredient in cosmetics and personal care products to endocrine system disruption, and cancer in addition to noting its ability to persist in aquatic environments.

Industry supporters claim there is no conclusive evidence to suggest it is harmful to humans, stressing its value in protecting against potentially pathogenic organisms.

How sweet is it!

More uses for honey

Have you tried our honey and brown sugar scrub bar? If not, you can try some of these all natural preparations at home:

For a soothing facial: Blend 2 tablespoons of honey with 1/2 cup of ground oatmeal. Add a few teaspoons of water to thin the consistency to your preference. Apply evenly to your clean face. After 30 minutes, remove with a soft, damp washcloth. Admire your glowing skin!

Enjoy a milk and honey bath: Add around 1/3 cup of honey to 2 1/4 cups of milk. Mix thoroughly. You can even add a few drops of essential oil (not too much!!) to give your honey milk bath additional scent. Place into your bath water and enjoy.

Make a soothing honey body moisturizer. Mix 1/2 cup of honey with 1 cup of cold water and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Mix thoroughly and apply to your entire body after your shower.

Relieve sore throat pain and stop coughs - Mix honey with a little lemon juice and take several teaspoons a day when you have a sore throat. This has wonderful soothing properties for a sore throat.

Mix honey with olive oil and apply to the end of your hair to combat dryness and reduce frizz. Leave in your hair for 20 minutes with a hot towel wrapped around it. Rinse and use a mild shampoo.

Cinnamon Health

I can still smell my mother's fresh apple crisp. Made with chunky slices of apples, oatmeal, brown sugar and a liberal dose of cinnamon. I never would have guessed the health benefits I was absorbing at the time. Making its journey to my plate from a small tree that indigenous to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and India, studies have shown 1 gram of cinnamon per day can help control blood glucose levels while it reducing trigylcerides and cholesterol.

In other studies, cinnamon has shown an amazing ability to stop medication-resistant yeast infections. In a study published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells. It also has an anti-clotting effect on the blood.

In a study at Copenhagen University, patients given half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder combined with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast had significant relief in arthritis pain after one week and could walk without pain within one month.

Cinnamon in its common form can be added to a variety of foods you may eat regularly, such as fruit dishes, breads, pancakes, muffins, pies, and cookies. When added to food, it inhibits bacterial growth and food spoilage, making it a natural food preservative.

What medical practitioners are discovering about the spice is that 1 teaspoon of cinnamon contains 1 mg of iron, 1 mg of fiber, 28 mg of calcium, vitamin C, manganese and vitamin K.

Cinnamon can also improve digestive health and relieve common stomach discomforts. Many women use a daily dose of cinnamon to relieve discomforts associated with their menstrual cycle. If you have nasal or sinus congestion, cinnamon may help relieve these conditions. Cinnamon may also help kill and prevent the growth of harmful bacteria, which makes this spice useful for preventing urinary tract infections, tooth decay, gum disease, and other bacterial problems.

One study found that smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive function and memory. Perhaps this is why our Cinnamon swirl soap evokes vivid memories of Apple Crisp whenever I use it? I find it comforting and uplifting at the same time. What has cinnamon done for you lately?