skin = largest organ

One thing that I did learn in massage school that blew my mind, and has stuck with me ever since, is that our skin is our largest organ. Never knew this before. Did you?

That being said, I knew that the bubble baths, and shampoos & soaps that I was using on my baby twins had to also be clean & healthy (in addition to the food they were eating).

Never once was a Johnson & Johnson product used in our home- although for many (even me), we associate the "no more tears" with something ALL babies should use, right? I mean, why should a product used to bathe our precious little babies sting their eyes?

Guess what people? That "no more tears" garbage, is just that. Garbage. The "thing" that makes it not cause tears is CHEMICALS! In case you weren't aware of the fact that J&J were supposedly going to remove these harmful chemicals in their baby shampoo, you can read about it here . And even scarier, the chemicals were not disclosed on product labels because they're contaminants, not ingredients, and therefore are exempt from labeling laws.

I started using California Baby regularly. The shampoo & body wash was awesome & clean! The sunblock the only one I used on them for many years, and the sun stick too! Then I started thinking about what I put on ME! From make-up (not that I wear it too often), to lotion, to shampoo. Anything we put ON our bodies, ends up IN our bodies. Period.

I recall when Bath & Body Works (don't even want to mention that store, but I have to for the purposes of this post. When I walk past that store, I get an INSTANT headache, and FEAR for the employees long-term health woes, from breathing that junk in day in & out. Literally, breaks my heart.) carried non-B&BW products in the front of the store, one of them being a line called 100% Pure. Smelling the samples of the body lotions was incredible- lotions that truly smell like the name on the label (back then, the packaging was in a bottle with a pump, they are now sold in tubes). I'm a huge citrus fan, so I was immediately hooked on the Blood Orange, but also couldn't get enough of the Vanilla or Coconut. They even had make-up! I had to try a lip gloss, since I'm a huge "lip-gloss-girl". Low and behold, it tasted like FRUIT! You know why??  Because all of 100% Pure's make-up is colored with fruit & vegetable pigments, and flavored with the real deal!! Best of all- they had bubble bath & shampoo/bodywash for the kids in fun & yummy flavors! SCORE!

For reasons still unknown to me, I stopped using 100% Pure for a few years. I think either B&BW stopped carrying it, or I just stopped going to the mall regularly.

Flash forward to 2012. I'm 6 months pregnant, with love child on the way. And my super awesome fellow-massage-therapist friend, Meldi invited me to her home for ... are you ready? A freakin' 100% Pure party (as an alex+von consulant). Wait! What?? STOP IT RIGHT NOW!  You mean the same 100% Pure I know and love and couldn't get enough of???  COUNT ME IN!  I am there.  So, I grab Dylan and take her with me. Perched atop Meldi's table were the yummy scrumptious products I had missed so much. Then, here is the kicker! Not only can I go to my friends house to BUY this stuff, I can sell it too!!!

I have ALWAYS been a person who LOVES LOVES LOVES nothing more than sharing amazing finds with my friends and family. I have been doing it for years and years, and have seemed to become a go-to person of sorts, for all things "natural". Can you say, perfect fit?? I can!

alex+von is simply awesome! They hand pick brands for consultants, like me, to represent. Just a little background and why I love them so!

Our Story
At alex+von we're taking a fresh approach to working from home. We give women the opportunity to earn income selling products from amazing boutique brands. We connect these brands with women sellers who are truly passionate about their products. Women recommend and sell products in-person, via home parties, or online. They can represent one or more brands. We enable each woman to decide what works best for her.
We have a passion for well-crafted products and socially-responsible companies. With every purchase you make, you support a woman in your community and help small businesses in the U.S. succeed. You help us make a difference every day.

Now this one is a biggie:
Our ingredient promise
We guarantee that our products are free of the following ingredients which have been identified as endocrine disruptors, possible causes of cancer and generally harmful to environment*:
1. BHA and BHT
2. Coal tar dyes
3. DEA
4. Dibutyl phthalate
5. Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
6. Parabens
7. Parfum (a.k.a. fragrance)
8. PEG compounds
9. Petrolatum
10. Siloxanes
11. Sodium laureth sulfate
12. Triclosan

If you are interested in reading more, here is the direct link to the website page where this information came from. PROUD to be a part of a company like THIS, when there are so many others that aren't so great & do NOT have full disclosure of their ingredients, or if they do they include ingredients that will HARM & not HELP you & your family.

But wait, there's more!  Yes. 100% Pure was the main reason I joined up with alex+von immediately, if not sooner. HA!  However, since then, there have been 3 others brands I have become a consultant for (meaning, I specialize in these brands & know a little more about them than the others we carry).  And they are... Original Moxie FABULOUS salon-quality haircare, EO Products bath, body, pets, kids, men, & home ALL "scented" with essential oils & Grateful Body Skincare which is WHOLE-istic as it gets!  Super pure & super clean, and a little goes a LONG way. So now I get to host parties at my home, or the homes of others, and SHARE THE LOVE for these truly amazing products (something I have always done anyway), getting people more aware & healthy and wow... I'm so very lucky!  alex+von is so dynamic, it's so smart- they keep bringing on more lines for us to represent & they truly only get better.  

BOTTOM LINE- Just because companies use buzz words, like 'all-natural', doesn't mean that it truly is!  Read those ingredient labels on your products just like you would read ingredients labels on your food.  It's THAT important.


*All I want to do is share. I'm not here to judge or say you are wrong and I am right. That is never my intention. Perhaps by learning something new, I have helped you in some way, shape or form.