I can feel it already. As soon as the air turns a tiny bit chilly, my skin starts telling me it needs a little more attention. So this is the time of year that I make sure I use hand cream throughout the day. I have a jar at my desk, a little 1 oz. bottle in my handbag, and the 8 oz. pumps at the bathroom and kitchen sinks.

Hand it to You is one of our top-selling fall/winter products. The cream is wonderfully rich and emollient with shea, aloe and jojoba so it deeply moisturizes but without that greasy or sticky feeling because it is free of petrolatum and mineral oil. Plus it’s jam packed with plant extracts and antioxidants to protect against free radical damage. But my favorite part is the scent – it’s just plain addictive. It’s a unique blend of lemon, lime and bergamot. It’s clean and fresh (and unisex!). And of course, it’s phthalate-free and paraben-free as well!

So if you haven’t figured it out – this week’s offer is all about Hand it to You. This one is a fun one – here’s the scoop:

If you spend under $60, you get a FREE PURSE-SIZED Hand it to You

If you spend $60-$100 you get a FREE 4 oz. JAR of Hand it to You

If you spend more than $100 you get a FREE 8 oz. BOTTLE of Hand it to You

All you need to do place your order at:

http://www.gardengirlskincare.com/

then in the comments section, simply write FREE HAND CREAM PLEASE!

That’s it! Easy. And your hands will thank you!!
Have a great week.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. This was the first weekend of full “back to fall” schedule in our house. Soccer, golf and BBQ’s. Fun!

For this week’s One Day Sale, we’re going back to basics, with a little twist. The twist, is that you can choose your deal:

$5 off ANY order (no strings)

OR

$10 off an order of $75 or more

Use it to replenish what you’re running low on – or try something new! And the best part, is that you know any product you choose will be free of parabens, sulfates/SLS, petroleum products (petrolatum, petroleum jelly, mineral oil etc) and phthalates.

Questions about products? Want to know ingredients? How to use something? What works for your skin types etc. ? Never hesitate to ask. Just email info@gardengirlskincare.com and you’ll get an answer.

Ready to order? Simply go to:

www.gardengirlskincare.com

and use one of the following coupon codes:

5OFF (for $5 off any size order)

or

10OFF (for $10 off an order of $75 or more)

Enjoy and have a great week! Don’t forget to read some of the past postings on this blog (aside from the one day sale ones) – and feel free to leave your comments!!

It happens to us all – whether its our high-pressure job, our children not listening to us (not that this happens at OUR house…), traffic jams, or whatever – stress happens and it has been proven that not only is it no fun, but if you don’t handle it well – it can actually do harm to your body.

According to a recent article in OnHealth magazine, a study by German researchers showed that taking a sporting event too seriously can hurt your heart. Who knew? They “found that the number of emergency-romm visits for heart problems more than doubled during and soon after a stressful sporting event.”

Not only can it hurt your heart, stress has been linked to type 2 diabetes, impared immunity, as well as worsening acne, asthma, depression and a whole host of other things.

So there are some great alternatives to screaming, cursing, yelling, horn beeping etc. Some ideas, according to the article:

• Sip a soothing cup of tea
• Tell it all to a friend
• Take a quick 5 minute walk to “cool off”
• Breathe slowly and deeply – focusing on the tension in your body
• Tense and relax each muscle
• Sing a soothing song
• Stretch
• Visualize a relaxing, peaceful scene
• (this one could be the hardest!) Turn off your cellphone and ignore email

Try it and make your heart happy!!

A long, dragged out weekend ending in the boys being just plain filthy and icky has inspired this Monday’s special offer.

Our One Day Sale this week features a sort of BOGO offer:

Buy any body lotion (or even Little Lamb baby lotion) and get the matching body wash FREE!

Yep – that’s right. Just plain free. The only “hitch” is that you have to spend $35 or more on your order.

So now you can cover yourself in a rich lather that is SLS/Sulfate-free, paraben-free and phthalate-free. Our shower gels have YUMMY fragrances that can wake you up or calm your senses. There’s Chill Out [mandarin grapefruit], Mellow [lavender, rose geranium], Jump Start [lemon, lime, jasmine] or Alive [peppermint, basil, rosemary]. They make a great bubble bath too!

Then you can deeply moisturize with our fabulous body lotions in the matching scent. Our lotions leave your skin hydrated and glowing with the combination of aloe, jojoba, shea butter, and hydrolyzed silk. Plus it is packed with antioxidants from green tea to fight free radical damage to skin cells.

This week there is no coupon code needed – just simply write

FREE BODY WASH PLEASE

in the comments section when you check out. And you’ll be on your way to a happy shower in no time!

And as always – please feel free to leave feedback either here or on our Facebook site:
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Needham-MA/Garden-Girl-Skin-Care/26714478326?ref=share

Have a great week!

Next time you see that commercial for Oil of Olay body wash with “spa exfoliating ribbons” or the Clean and Clear Daily Pore Cleanser or the Dove Gentle Exfoliating Foaming Facial Cleanser (or any of a number of other “big name” products) – think about this: those products use tiny spheres of plastic (polyethelene to be exact) to exfoliate your skin. So by using those products, people are sending those beads down the drain and into our groundwater – eventually making it to oceans and streams. We all know that there is way too much plastic that is ending up polluting our planet – so do we REALLY need to create more products that could be made using alternative, earth-friendly ingredients but instead choose non-biodegradable, pollutive plastic to further clog up our waters and poison our wildlife?

Check out the full article here: http://www.slate.com/id/2193693?nav=wp

Not really convinced that this could be a problem? Consider this – did you know that there are people that study SAND? According to a National Geographic article (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0506_040506_oceanplastic.html):

“U.K. researchers in Plymouth and Southampton, England, found that microscopic fragments of nylon, polyester, and seven other types of plastic are widespread in sediments around British shores.”

The scientists said “We believe that these [fragments] probably represent only a small proportion of the microscopic plastic in the environment.”

According to the article there was “approximately three times more plastic in the water column in the 1990s compared with the 1960s.”

“Estimates for the longevity of plastic range from a hundred to a thousand years,” said the leading scientist “Since we’ve only been [mass producing] plastics for 40 years, we still don’t have a full handle on their longevity.”

Really – can these big brands at least make some ATTEMPT to do the right thing?

I’m a little behind this week – this is the week that always throws me for a loop. It’s the week that school starts for my sons (this year the youngest goes to Kindergarten!) plus my husband, a history/law teacher, also goes back to school. But no one starts at the same time, we have the Monday holiday and we are still in the mindset of it being summer. So with all of that – things are always a little discombobulated.

So my disorganization means a bonus for you! This week, I’m doing a full-week special instead of just one day. And it’s a GREAT offer on one of our most popular products:

50% off Eye Can’t Believe It eye cream! (with a purchase of $50 or more)

Eye Can’t Believe It is a fabulous eye cream that hydrates deeply and takes special care of that sensitive skin around the eyes. This rich cream (in a generous 1 oz. jar) is packed with DMAE – a natural skin-firming ingredient, as well as hyaluronic acid (or sodium hyaluronate). Sodium hyaluronate is the key water maintaining substances in human skin. The effects of aging and the environment can decrease hyalruonic acid (HA) in your skin, which can result in a decrease in skin’s ability to maintain water balance. Consequently, skin can appear dry and wrinkled. When HA is applied on the surface of skin in creams and serums, it can form an air permeable layer and keep the skin moist and smooth. And since the skin around your eyes is the most tender and delicate – and has the lowest levels of natural oils – it can show aging faster than other areas. So it needs special attention.

Eye Can’t Believe It packs in the DMAE and HA, but also contains other natural ingredients like aloe and jojoba that help it to deeply moisturize and rejuevenate skin. Plus it has powerful antioxidants from green tea and vitamins C and E to fight free radical damage. Many customers love it so much they use it for their entire face and neck.

So now is the perfect time to check it out for yourself! And as always, we’d love to know what you think! Feel free to use this blog to provide feedback, or shoot us an email anytime!

So how, you ask, can you take advantage of this unbelievable deal? (Which, don’t forget, is valid until FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th) It’s easy – simply go to:

www.gardengirlskincare.com

Fill your cart with at least $50 of products (before you add the Eye Can’t Believe It) – then add your Eye Can’t Believe It to the cart.

Then, use coupon code:

SEPT1

when checking out – and you will instantly save $16 on your order!!

Happy shopping and have a great week!