Why Pumpkin Seed Oil for Skin Care??

Antioxidant properties

It appears that the biggest skin benefits of pumpkin seed oil are that it possesses very high levels of the natural antioxidants and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Pumpkin seed oil is especially high in the gamma-tocopherol form of Vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant.

Antioxidants protect cell structure and health by neutralizing “free radicals”, which are unstable molecules generated from sources like radiation, air pollution, and peroxides. Left unchecked, free radicals can attack the skin’s structure, leaving it vulnerable to wrinkling, infection, and other damage.

Vitamin E works by stabilizing the free radical- Vitamin E gives up one of its electrons to complete the unstable molecule. This, in essence, renders the free radical harmless, and helps the skin retain its normal structure.

Vitamin E has been shown to have a wide range of skin benefits. Vitamin E has been shown to reduce the amount of scarring from wounds, and has been shown to diminish the appearance of stretch marks on the skin. Also, it has been shown to decrease the effects of psoriasis, and to diminish the redness associated with erythema, which is one symptom of rosacea.

Fatty Acids

Aside from the high levels of Vitamin E found in pumpkin, there is also a high level of oil content (as high as 50%). The four fatty acids which comprise 98% of pumpkin seed oil are palmitic, stearic, linoleic, and oleic acids.

Palmitic acid works to promote natural oil regeneration. Oil is an important component for the skin to retain its protective barrier. With too little oil, the skin will crack and bleed; opening it to a greater risk of infection and disease.

Stearic acid acts primarily as a lubricant. It allows the skin to retain the proper moisture balance vital for good health (and good looks).

Linoleic acid is an essential fatty acid, which means our bodies don’t manufacture it, and so we must ingest it in our diets. Linoleic acid is one step for the manufacture of prostaglandins, which decrease inflamation in the body. Linoleic acid helps maintain smooth skin, and will help repair flaky, itchy, or rough skin.

Oleic acid is the final fatty acid found in pumpkin seed oil. It works to replenish and maintain skin’s moisture and lubrication. It is an Omega 9 acid and has similar health benefits.

(both general and to the skin) as the more well-known Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids.

Benefits of Pumpkin Seed Oil

Taken together, it’s clear that pumpkin seed oil has significant benefits for skin health and skin care. With powerful antioxidants, and essential fatty acids, it appears that adding pumpkin seed oil to your skin care regimen will help you retain moisture, maintain normal cell structure, and keep your skin looking and feeling healthy.

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• New Products Coming to Cibaria Soap Supply!

1st Prize:

Congratulations to Carrie Holtz, you’ve won our grand prize! A Free Consultation w/ a Veteran Web Designer and Internet Marketer on how to spice up your website (or start one), track your website visitors, and how to market your brand online!  Get Ideas, suggestions, and build a powerful brand!

2nd Prize

goes to Annette Rudolph, you’ve won 35 Lbs of Pomace Olive Oil for all of your handmade Soap Making needs!

3rd Prize

goes to Michelle Latham, you’ve won a $5 off of any Cibaria Soap Supply.com order!

We will be contacting the winners via email.

Again, thank you to everyone who participated, and to our amazing customers!

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• Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild Conference Growing Closer!
• Summer 2010 Contest – Win Big!!!
• Sustainable Soap Making Oil – Show Your Support
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As we previously mentioned, new products are finally arriving. However, they were back ordered and we were waiting a while longer than we thought we would.

GOOD NEWS!

They’ll be here on July 27th!

So what exactly will be here??

Here’s the List of New Soap Making Oils and Butters will be Available to Order as of July 27th, 2010:

• Cocoa Butter, Natural 7lbs, 17.5lbs, and 25kilo
• Cocoa Butter, Deodorized 7lbs, 17.5lbs, and 25kilo
• Organic Mango Butter 7lbs, 17.5 lbs
• Natural Vitamin E Oil 1lb ,  7 lbs

I will also send out an email to those of you who put in a request for a product a while back and were told you’d be placed on an email list for when the product came in.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us – we’re always glad to hear from you!

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Soap Making brings together three worlds:

• Cosmetics
• Science
• Crafting

So how exactly do science and soap making come together in a peaceful and harmonious manner? The secret’s in a special and sometimes tough-to-pronounce word called “Saponification”.

Saponification is the hydrolysis of an ester under basic conditions to form an alcohol and the salt of a carboxylic acid (carboxylates). Saponification is commonly used to refer to the reaction of a metallic alkali (base) with a fat or oil to form soap. Saponifiable substances are those that can be converted into soap.

Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is a caustic base. If NaOH is used a hard soap is formed, whereas when potassium hydroxide (KOH) is used, a soft soap is formed. Vegetable oils and animal fats are fatty esters in the form of triglycerides. The alkali breaks the ester bond and releases the fatty acid salt and glycerol. If necessary, soaps may be precipitated by salting it out with saturated sodium chloride. The saponification value is the amount of base required to saponify a fat sample.

In a classic laboratory procedure the triglyceride trimyristin is obtained by extracting nutmeg with diethyl ether.^[1] Saponification to the sodium salt of myristic acid takes place with NaOH in water. The acid itself can be obtained by adding dilute hydrochloric acid.

In Other Words…

It’s literally how you make soap, and it’s the science of soap making. The name Saponification literally means “Soap Making”. The root word is “sapo” which is latin for soap. Each carrier oil or base oil is chosen based on which characteristics it imparts on it’s final product of soap.

Saponification Table and Characteristics of Carrier Oils / Base Oils In Soap Making

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(as seen on soap-making-resource.com)

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Jamaica Hands Glow Handmade Soap. By VistahSoap

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Organic Palm Oil,Coconut Oil,  Distilled Water, Sodium Hydroxide,  Sunflower oil, Canola Oil, Castor Oil, Fragrance Oil, Mineral Oxide,  Blueberry seeds, Strawberry seeds, Kiwi seeds, Tussah Noil Silk.

Summer Melon Berries Shea Butter and Olive Oil Soap By: Kimberquinn

Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein,Shea butter,Olive oil

Cute Creamsicles! By Annakatesoaps

Salty Watermelon Soaps – Limited Edition Glycerine Soaps By: Soothing Suds

Summer Sherbet Soap Splendor By: Ajsweetsoap

Blueberry Smooth Hand-crafted Soap By: Tallulah’s Soaps

Ingredients: vegetable glycerin, palm oil, coconut oil, purified water, fragrance, herbs, botanicals, mica powders, pigment oxides, love

Jubilee Handmade Soap, Green Apple and French Lavender By: Alchemic Muse

Ingredients: Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Distilled Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Lavandula Officinalis (French Lavender) Oil, Fragrance, Chromium Oxide Green, Ultramarines

Coconut Isle Cold Process Soap Bar By: Lippincott Soap Co

Ingredients: water, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, canola oil, lye, *fragrance, shea butter, castor oil, coloring

Hula Girl Cold Process Soap Bar By: Lippincott Soap Co.

Ingredients: water, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, canola oil, lye, *fragrance, shea butter, castor oil, coloring

Heirloom Tomato Soap By: SunBasilGarden

Slice of Summer – Home Made Cold Process Soap Tropical Island and Raspberry with Strawberry Seeds By:MoonShineSoaps

Ingredients: olive oil, coconut oil, essential oils, lard, tallow, distilled water, rain water, sodium hydroxide, botanicals

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Cibaria Soap Supply Summer Contest

WIN SOAP MAKING OIL, COUPONS, and the Opportunity to GROW YOUR BUSINESS!!!

First Prize: Free Consultation w/ a Veteran Web Designer and Internet Marketer on how to spice up your website (or start one), track your website visitors, and how to market your brand online!  Get Ideas, suggestions, and build a powerful brand!

Second Prize: 35 Lbs of high quality Pomace Olive Oil

Third Prize: $5.00 OFF Of your next Order at Cibaria Soap Supply!

HOW TO WIN

The More You Participate, The More Chances You Have of Winning!

For every one point you earn, you will receive one entry into the contest. There are no limits to how many actions you can perform and points you can earn.  You can perform each action only one time. At the end, names will be drawn, and you could be the lucky winner of one of 3 great prizes!

How to Earn Points and Win Big!

2 Points Show Your Support for natural, sustainable soap making products by placing the “Sustainable Soap Making Oils” badge on your website using the code from our site. Click here for more information and to grab the badge code to paste onto your site.

2 Points: Blog About Our Contest on your blog or website. Outline the contest prizes and include a link to our website and our contest blog post – (this blog post).

1 Point: Make a Twitter post saying “I Just Entered Cibaria Soap Supply’s Summer Contest to win Free Prizes at  http://bit.ly/9zM3ck”

1 Point: Post a Facebook Status about our contest, with the link to our contest blog post.

1 Point: Email us a short Review of a product of ours that you’ve tried on our website.

Be sure to alert us to your contest entries via email or twitter so we can count all of your points!

A drawing will occur on July 30th – and your name COULD BE PICKED!!!

Good luck!

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The palm oils that are now featured on our website are 100% sustainable oils, and our suppliers are members of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil. (RSPO).

You can View this Page Here.

To support this cause, and show that YOU use Sustainable Oils in your Soap Making, you can copy and paste the badge code and add it anywhere on your website by going to this page and copying the text in the box near the bottom of the page.

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Avocado oil has qualities that are good for the reduction of dryness and itchy skin from psoriasis, eczema, while being rich in  vitamins A, C, D, and E. This oil would be well used in soap for the reduction of  age spots, healing scars, and healing the top layers of the skin. Castor oil is best used in the production of a good hard bar of soap, where it will create a protective barrier once applied upon the skin. For soaps producing high levels of lather that give the hair and scalp a brilliant shine, use coconut oil, which is also very soothing and nourishing on dry skin. Grapeseed oil is valued for its use in hyperallergenic products because of its lack of triggers in the highly allergic. Additionally, grapeseed oil is non greasy and works wonders around the eyes and neck areas. Jojoba oil is an amazing substance, resembing the chemical composition of whale oil, and the natural coating that covers the human skin to keep it supple. The jojoba oil is perfect for any skin type, and due to its low fragrence level it is a good use as a perfume base, and has been proven to increase skin softness by 37% , with a decrease of 25% in skin wrinkles and is hypoallergenic.

Olive oil is highly nutritive and stable. Contains protein, minerals and vitamins, superior penetrating power, and has acidic and antioxidant values. Olive oil is high in unsaponifiables, which is a large group of compounds called plant steroids or sterolins. They soften and moisturize the skin, have superior moisturizing effect on the upper layer of the skin and reduces scars. Peanut oil creates a soft conditioning bar soap with a long lasting lather. It is highly unsaturated though, so it is prone to going rancid. Make sure you don’t use more than 20% of peanut oil in a batch of soap. Peanut oil is also regarded as a non-drying, conditioning oil, similar to olive and castor oil. It has a good amount of vitamin E. Some people are allergic to peanut oil, so please mark you labels accordingly.  Shea butter is often used as a base  oil in many soaps, because it is  an excellent ointment base releasing medications faster than other well known bases. Shea Butter is used in many different applications such as lip care, hand cream,sun care, soaps, body lotions, baby care products and others, and has very valuable qualities.  The oil from soybeans if prized for its high levels of vitamin C, A, E, and K. Soybean oil is a versatile carrier which is suitable for general massage and is increasingly popular among massage therapists as an alternative to sweet almond oil. Use it on its own or blend it with other carrier oils.

The fragrance choice is one of the most distinguishing factors about homemade soaps, and there are many decisions to make when doing so. First of all, the decision for either essential scents, or fragrance oils can determine what the finished product will represent to the consumer. If you are wanting to create a full organic soap, then it is suggested to use essential scents in line with organic oils due to their lack of chemical additives, and natural flavor. Fragrance oils are better to be used when creating non naturally-occuring scents, such as hybrids (ie; almond biscotti).

We here at Cibaria  Soap Supply hope that this has been helpful for you, and encourage you to get creative and think about what new kinds of soap you can make! Have a great day soapers! =)

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It’s been a fun-filled year at Cibaria Soap Supply. Can you believe that it’s half way over already? We are celebrating the 1 year launch of our newly designed Soap Supply site, as of last month!

Happy Birthday to Cibaria Soap Supply!

As a special gift to celebrate not only our first year as a spiffy e-commerce operation, but also the Handcrafted Soap Maker’s Guild Conference, we decided to give away a very special gift to our friends and customers at HSMG. If you were there, you may remember even signing up for this incredible gift at the Cibaria Soap Supply booth at HSMG.

We wanted our giveaway to be something that not only was free, but something that empowered our Soap Maker clientele with the knowledge that they needed to get some amazing things done in 2010. We wanted this gift to arm YOU, The Soap Maker, with the ability to launch a POWERFUL Internet marketing campaign on a budget.

The gift is an amazing eBook called:

“The Soap Maker’s Guide to Building a Strong Brand and a Rock Solid Internet Marketing Plan”.

This knowledge-packed informational book was written by an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant and site designer, who happens to work with us. She has over 11 years of experience in all aspects of internet marketing, design, branding, and the newly minted social media marketing tactics that produce amazing results.

This eBook stresses the importance of a brand, and the power of building a community around that brand and it’s cause.

We’ve gotten great feedback so far, but we’d love to YOUR thoughts!

If you received this eBook, we want to know what you thought about it, and if you have implemented any of the concepts from it. If so, how did they work?

Do you have any questions?

We want to hear from you!

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Ingredients:

• 35 oz Coconut 76 Degrees Oil
• 20 oz Pomace Olive Oil
• 16 oz Palm Oil
• 15 oz Olive Butter
• 32 oz Distilled Water
• 12.5 oz Sodium Hydroxide

Create this soap, as you would a cold process soap.  Coloring can be added before trace, if desired.
Recipe makes 8 lbs.

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