You may have heard the hype about going gluten free, and how a gluten free diet can lead to weight loss, greater energy, and many more health benefits (as well as a few risks.) But did you know that gluten can also be found in your commercial body lotion and makeup? You probably didn’t because, despite all the publicity gluten free diets have received in recent times, the potential problems arising from gluten in cosmetics, and the rise of gluten free bath products have received relatively little attention.

So what exactly is gluten and why is it in my spa and bath products?

Gluten, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a protein found in wheat, wheat derivatives, and some meats. Gluten is also used in the formulation of many commercial spa products as an emulsifier (a substance used to blend other ingredients together.) Some household cleaners also incorporate gluten into their formulations for this purpose.

Like lactose in milk, gluten is something to which some people have a genetic intolerance or sensitivity. The allergic reactions people with gluten sensitivities experience can range from mild indigestion to severe symptoms depending on the severity of the person’s intolerance. Some people have a particularly severe gluten intolerance known as celiac disease, and must avoid all sources of gluten entirely.

Do I really need gluten free bath products? If so, where can I find them?

Science estimates that your skin absorbs as much as 60% of whatever you rub into it, so, if you have a gluten sensitivity, it is probably a good idea to avoid gluten-based products when possible. This can be difficult to do, however, as cosmetics companies that produce the synthetic products you see in retail stores are not required to disclose all their ingredients on their labels. Even those that do disclose ingredients may disguise their true sources by using scientific-sounding chemical names. The only sure way to find gluten free bath products and spa products is to look for products that say “gluten free.”

Castle Baths offers spa and bath products that are vegan, handmade with organic ingredients, and 100% gluten free. Our products are also free of parabens, preservatives, and other nasty chemicals that can be found in most synthetic, commercial equivalents.  Take a look at how our Hand and Body Lotion compares with Bath and Body Works’ popular Cherry Blossom Body Lotion.

Even if you don’t have a gluten sensitivity, there is no harm in switching to gluten free bath products and spa products, and doing so can still benefit your overall well-being.

If you’ve been looking for a unique and unconventional Father’s Day gift, have you considered a spa gift basket from Castle Baths? You probably haven’t, and, like a lot of people, consider spa gift baskets to be firmly in the realm of feminine gifts, but you may be surprised to learn that Castle Baths attracts a fair number of male customers too!

Spa products and spa gift baskets for men are a growing trend in the natural bath and body industry, as more and more men come to realize the value of a good moisturizing and skin care routine. To meet this growing demand, Castle Baths has singled out numerous products likely to appeal to men, and particularly so, to dads. You can view them all on our gifts for dad page. (Be sure to check out our Bay Rum Soap, which has been very popular among men who remember it as the scent of classic downtown barber shops.)

We’re also offering two special deals available until Father’s Day (June 16.) Our Dead Sea Anti-Aging Spa Gift Basket is on sale at 30% off our regular price, and we’re offering FREE guest-size bars of our Dead Sea Salt Soap with all purchases over $25.

We at Castle Baths wish you a very happy Father’s Day, and encourage you to treat dad to something special this year.

You don’t have to imagine it because it’s already happening, right here at Castle Baths! A few days ago, Castle Baths created and launched a new Tre’Yours face cream that combines four of the six “superfoods for skin” in one luxuriously soft and creamy moisturizer. Our Avocado Hemp Regenerative Cream is made with organic Avocado Oil, Hemp Seed Oil,  Shea Butter, and Green Tea Extract to deliver high concentrations of vitamins, essential fatty acids, and moisture to help regenerate and beautify your skin.

This cream is especially useful for post-op skin care following cosmetic surgery, for people with sensitive skin, and/or as a nighttime face cream. It’s high vitamin and nutrient content will work wonders on your skin while you sleep, helping to lighten scars, increase collagen, and act as an antiseptic ointment to help damaged skin resist infections.

We’re also offering an Avocado Face Cream, in a long-lasting, convenient air pump. If you love the moisturizing abilities of our Avocado Eye Cream, but always find yourself running out of it, this is a great way to get a longer-lasting supply of avocado oil for your skin. Plus, the aerosol pump will infuse our Avocado Face Cream with air bubbles for an even softer, smoother feel. It also works great for spot treatment, and is easy to take with you on the go.

Can’t decide which one to try first? Get them both delivered to you on a silver platter, literally! When you purchase our Avocado Face Cream and Hemp Regenerative Cream Combo, you’ll receive the decorative silver tray pictured absolutely FREE!

Our Avocado Face Cream and Avocado Hemp Regenerative Cream give you some of the highest concentrations of these “superfoods for skin” you’re likely to find outside of a doctor’s office. In fact, we intend to market these two new products to dermatologists and plastic surgeons to recommend to their patients following facial procedures. We expect these to become extremely popular very quickly!

Also keep in mind that Avocado Oil intensifies the effectiveness of other skin care ingredients too, so when you use either of these creams, you’re not just getting a blend of some of the best natural skin care ingredients in the world, you’re getting visible results far superior to what any individual skin care ingredient could accomplish alone!

If you want to learn more about our Avocado Oil face creams, we will be offering a FREE report you can download from our website soon.

Avocado Oil for Best Eye Cream Care

Avocado oil is extremely soothing, especially to sensitive skin, which is one of the many reasons we use it as our key ingredient in our Avocado Eyes Eye Cream. It is a known bactericide, and helps mobilize and increase collagen production in your connective tissue. Collagen, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is one of the primary substances responsible for keeping your skin firm and youthful. Avocado Oil is also a natural sunscreen with one of the highest rankings in the Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, and possesses high concentrations of the vitamins A, D, and E. It has one of the highest penetration ratios (meaning it can reach into the deep layers of your skin easily) and helps intensify the effectiveness of other skin care ingredients and nutrients when used as a carrier oil.

Hazelnut Oil for Firming Skin

Hazelnut oil is beneficial as a moisturizer to all skin types, but especially so for dry skin or sensitive skin. It is also the key ingredient in our Hazelnut Cream. Like Avocado Oil, Hazelnut Oil also works as a natural sunscreen and is even superior to Avocado in the UV protection it offers. It also possesses super-astringent properties, meaning it firms and tightens skin for a more youthful appearance, but does so without clogging pores. Hazelnut Oil is also fast absorbing and antiseptic.

Green Tea Extract for Anti Aging Skin Care

Green Tea Extract possesses antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and stimulant properties, making it a wonderful key ingredient for our Daily Renewal Face Cream. It goes beyond penetration of the skin to be absorbed at the cellular level, thereby protecting cells from the damage associated with free radicals (which accumulate via sun overexposure, pollution, etc.)  This makes Green Tea excellent for anti-aging purposes, as cellular degradation due to free radicals is one of the leading causes of premature aging. Green Tea can also help reduce skin swelling and extend the SPF of other skin care ingredients, making them better natural sunscreens.

Shea Butter for Improving Skin Appearance

Shea Butter is another natural sunscreen, and also protects skin from dehydration. It can improve the appearance of irritated, dry skin and help lighten stretch marks or scarring. Try pure shea body butter or our shea-butter-based hand and body lotions.

Coffee for Tightening Fine Lines

Coffee is a vasodilator, meaning it constricts blood cells to reduce redness. This has the effect of tightening and firming the surface of your skin, and is also why we use it in our  cellu coffee soap to help reduce the appearance of cellulite. Additionally, coffee dehydrates fatty cells to give your skin a smoother glow, tightens fine lines, and smoothes puffy surfaces. Like Green Tea, coffee is also possesses an extremely high concentration of antioxidants, making it ideal for anti-aging purposes and adding to your overall flawless appearance.

Hemp Seed Oil for Repairing Damaged Skin

Hemp contains high amounts of essential fatty acids, to include Omega 3, 6, and 9. It also increases collagen production, thereby reducing the aging process. Hemp Seed Oil penetrates even deeper into your skin than other oils listed here, giving it outstanding regenerative properties and making it an excellent carrier oil to deliver other nutrients and skin care ingredients.

See for yourself how these superfoods for skin can work synergistically to improve your complexion when you try Castle Baths’ Tre’Yours Anti Aging Eye and Face Creams. Once you’ve experienced the silky softness of these natural superfoods for skin, chances are, you’ll never want to go back to synthetic cosmetics ever again!

Want to know which of our spa gift baskets make the best birthday gifts? Find the answer by going to our homepage and clicking the “gift guide” link near the top, and then select the “birthday” icon on our gift guide page. It will take you directly to where you can learn more about our birthday spa gift baskets, at which point you will see that we offer several spa gift baskets featuring our popular chocolate cake slice soap (which really does look and smell just like a slice of real chocolate cake – don’t try eating it, though, as it is really soap.) Some of our recommended birthday spa gift baskets even include a small candle to provide you with the experience of blowing out a candle with your cake, or to set a quiet, secluded mood to your bathroom or kitchen.

In addition to our new birthday category, another new category you will find in our gift guide is our inspirational spa gift baskets.  Our inspirational spa gift baskets category features nearly all of our gift baskets that include one or more Prayer scented spa products, our Easter spa baskets, and baskets that include Castle Baths Founder Laura Thomas’ autobiographical spiritual book How to Have Purr-fect Faith.

Additionally, though you will find no shortage of natural pet grooming products throughout our site, you may wish to know if we offer any pet-related products for people. To answer this question, simply visit our gift guide and go to the “pet lovers” category. You’ll find our Anna Designer Pet Gift Baskets, plus our specialty Fat Cat and Fat Dog soaps, which can be used as functioning  natural soap bars, or as decorations (or both!)

If you find yourself scrolling through our gift guide and still not finding the holiday or occasion for which you are hoping to purchase and send a spa gift basket, you may wish to check out our “other occasions” category, where you will find information on our friendship gift baskets, “miss you” gift baskets, and all other spa gift baskets that don’t fit neatly into any of our other categories. For example, say you were looking for a spa gift basket to send to your niece who just graduated from college. After visiting our “other” category, you’ll see we offer a special gift basket targeted specifically to 20-somethings called our Slice of Life Gift Basket (which also happens to be one of our baskets to feature a collection of chocolate spa products.)

As always, if you still have any questions or concerns about our gift guide, products, or spa gift baskets, you can always call or e-mail us. We are more than happy to help you anyway we can!

Our two new Mother’s Day gift baskets aren’t just random collections of natural spa products either. The spa products and aromatherapy scents we have chosen for each of our Mother’s Day gift baskets are the result of our extensive research into which products and scents different demographics of mothers actually prefer and use. For example, our new Sweet Escape Gift Basket contains a collection of our Sweet Dreams spa products, which have been proven to appeal to young (Gen. Y) mothers. Our Enchanted Evening Gift Basket, on the other hand, contains a collection of our Bathsheba products, which have proven extremely popular with mothers of adult children.

The idea behind our Sweet Escape Mother’s Day gift basket is that its recipient, as a young mother, is likely to have children aged 2 through school age. As such, the only peace and quiet she may find throughout the day may be in the confines of her bathroom. So, we thought we’d help turn that bathroom into a luxurious spa retreat where she can relax and remember, “I exist!” Sweet Dreams, as our relaxing and soothing aromatherapy blend, in addition to being our most preferred scent among young mothers, accomplishes this goal quite nicely.

Our Enchanted Evening Mother’s Day gift basket is intended for moms who are trying to avoid the dreaded “empty nest” feeling. After caring for children for 18 years with little to no time to consider her own needs, she probably needs help remembering how to pamper herself, and how to feel sexy and beautiful. Bathsheba, our mature romantic aromatherapy scent, seemed the most appropriate choice to accomplish this task, especially given that it is also the most preferred scent among mature mothers.

Don’t worry, we haven’t neglected expecting mothers! Our New Mom Gift Basket is filled with natural spa products from our Passion aromatherapy line to help expecting mothers and mothers of newborns feel sexy again.

We’re even offering you the opportunity to win one of our Mother’s Day Gift Baskets for FREE! Our Sweet Escape Gift Basket is our featured gift basket for our Mother’s Day Giveaway! Just follow the instruction on our giveaways page for how to enter (it’s free to sign up) and learn how you can increase your chances of winning by engaging with Castle Baths via social media.

Castle Baths is pleased to be able to offer you these exclusive Mother’s Day Gift Baskets for all stages of motherhood. Order yours today and have it well in time for Mother’s Day!

In fact, many essential oils serve as the active ingredient (under a different name) in many over-the-counter and prescription medications. For example, the essential oil of peppermint is used in the prescription digestive aid Colperin, and many other drugs intended to treat indigestion (ever wonder why Peptol Bismol tastes minty?)

Though industry regulation prohibits anyone from claiming that essential oils can cure, prevent, or treat any injury or illness completely, there are many oils in addition to peppermint oil that have been shown to have beneficial effects on the human mind and body when applied topically or through steam inhalation. If you are interested in experimenting with essential oils for folk remedies, this chart of common essential oils for folk medicine should help you decide which ones you may wish to try.

One of the many reasons so many essential oils have been shown to be beneficial to health is that nearly all of them have disinfectant properties. So the next time you want to eliminate a foul-smelling odor from your home, instead of reaching for that aerosol can of chemical-based air freshener, you may wish to try making your own natural spray with one or more of these disinfecting essential oils.

Essential oils also make great natural skin care solutions. When used topically, they can help normalize troubled skin, help reduce the appearance of cellulite or wrinkles, and give your skin a golden glow unmatched by any synthetic body moisturizer. Additionally, essential oils will not linger in your skin’s deep layers and/or clog your pores as synthetic cosmetics so often do  (and if they do remain in your system to some degree after accomplishing their aromatherapy purpose, there’s no harm to you, as they are infusing your body with natural vitamins and moisture – not chemicals.)

If you are interested in learning more about the healing powers of essential oils, consider scheduling an aromatherapy massage with a local aromatherapist. Not only will it feel great, but it will give you the opportunity to discuss your aromatherapy goals with a professional and discover which oils you should try using at home. Who knows? He or she may even recommend you purchase your essential oils from Castle Baths!

The concept of Earth Day, as you may or may not be aware, was created by former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in September 1969 and came to fruition less than one year later. Nelson , inspired by the anti-war campus activism of the day, intended Earth Day to be a grass-roots anti-pollution activism movement. He believed the best solution to generating awareness and concern over the depletion of our planet’s natural resources was for ordinary citizens to teach others about environmental issues and how  each person could contribute to environmental sustainability in his or her own unique way.

If you’ve been looking for a unique way in which you can show your concern for the environment this Earth Day – something more than just throwing plastic bottles and aluminum cans into your recycling bin, we have a few suggestions for you:

1. Educate yourself and your friends and family about the issue of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and learn why Castle Baths has had to discontinue using Canola Oil and Soy-based ingredients in order to ensure the safety and eco-friendliness of our products.
2. Check the ingredients in your body lotion and other cosmetics against the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database, and find out what you’re really rubbing into your skin. Then go throw half of them away once you’ve recovered from your shock.
3. Switch out one or more of your synthetic bath and spa products  for one of our natural equivalents and experience the difference in your skin’s softness, as well as your overall health and mood. Even something as simple as using natural soap instead of commercial bar soap will make a difference!

If you have a blog or website related to environmental sustainability issues, you may also wish to consider becoming an affiliate of Castle Baths, and sharing the health and environmental benefits of our natural spa products with your readers.

Of course, you can try any or all of the staple Earth Day activities too if you wish. Plant a tree, make crafts out of recycled household materials, or simply spend time outdoors enjoying nature – but if you do, be sure to bring along some shea butter to help protect your skin while outside! Happy Earth Day!

The drug stores and synthetic cosmetics companies will tell you to simply prepare yourself before sunbathing by using lots of sunscreen, conveniently omitting that you should always check to see what chemicals have been included in it. Are there any natural alternatives to help prevent sunburns or for sunburn treatment?

Actually there are. Using natural topical creams made with Unrefined Shea Butter or Hazelnut Oil have been shown to have numerous benefits to skin concerning sun exposure. They aren’t “cures” and won’t make your sunburns go away (only time and your body’s natural healing abilities will do this), but they can provide soothing relief, as well as help protect against incurring any permanent damage as a result of overexposure to UV rays.

If you do get a sunburn, the first concern on your mind will likely be cooling, soothing relief. Using a rich, creamy, Shea-Butter-based Body Butter is a great natural way to help your skin feel relief from the burning sensations of mild to moderate sunburn. Aloe Body Butter, Lavender Body Butter, and Green Tea Body Butter are all excellent choices for delivering cooling sensations and sunburn-fighting vitamins, such as Vitamins A, E, and F to your sunburned skin.

If you have sunburns on your face or a particularly severe sunburn on your body, A Hazelnut-oil-based cream such as Hazelnut Neck & Chest Cream is in order. Hazelnut oil not only helps provide soothing relief, but also works on the deep layers of your skin to address the issue of free radicals generated by UV rays. Free radicals, if left to run their course, can accumulate over many years, eventually building to the point where they can cause lasting damage such as premature wrinkles.

You can learn more about Castle Baths’ natural skin care solutions for sunburns at our sunburn treatment page. We hope you enjoy this beautiful weather and the chance to show off your beautiful skin!

Most likely, you haven’t stopped to ask these questions, and the manufacturers of synthetic, chemical-based bath and body products want to keep it that way. They’re doing an excellent job of keeping the general public blissfully ignorant too – cleverly disguising known toxins such as heavy metals, carcinogenic chemicals, and even poisons with unpronounceable, scientific-sounding names such as butylphenyl methylpropional and benzyl salicylate. After all, how would anyone go about researching these chemical ingredients to find out if they’re harmful?

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) makes it easy for the general public to educate themselves on the safety of their cosmetics’ ingredients, and begin to fight back against the ambiguity and disinformation many of these companies promote. The EWG has researched and tested hundreds of ingredients commonly used in cosmetics products from almost every cosmetics company you can think of – from the million dollar corporations like Bath & Body Works to small, handmade cosmetics companies like Castle Baths.

The EWG evaluates a product based upon five criteria: its potential to cause cancer, its potential to cause reproductive issues or birth defects, its potential to cause allergic reactions or compromise the immune system, the number of demographics for which the product is NOT recommended, and its overall hazard. Each category is ranked on a scale of zero to ten, with zero being the least dangerous, and ten being the most dangerous. The average of these rankings for all five categories determines the product’s overall safety rating.

Concerned customers like you can view and compare the EWG’s test results for your favorite (or potentially soon-to-be least favorite) bath and body products by visiting EWG’s Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database.

For example, if you were to compare Castle Baths’ Bathsheba Hand and Body Lotion to Bath & Body Works’ Japanese Cherry Blossom Body Lotion (one of Bath & Body Works’ top sellers), you will find that Castle Baths’ Bathsheba Hand and Body Lotion received an overall safety rating of two, putting it firmly into the green safe zone. Bath & Body Works’ Japanese Cherry Blossom Body Lotion, on the other hand, received an eight, putting it firmly in the red hazardous zone. The infograph below shows some of the EWG’s top reasons for each product’s rating:

Scary, isn’t it? The abundance of chemicals used in synthetic cosmetics is also what keeps them so cheap. When you buy natural bath and body products, you may pay a little extra, but remember, you are getting real, quality skin care ingredients as opposed to toxic soup. You probably want to go and check the ingredients of your other cosmetics now, so we’ll conclude our little tirade for now. But here’s one last piece of advice: look up the chemical “coumarin” as well as its main ingredient “warafin.” If you are unfamiliar with either term, your research results will absolutely shock you (because it’s probably in your body lotion!)