The Simple Sugars Blog

Labels:Don’t believe everything you read on the front and don’t dismiss anything you read on the back!

January 22nd, 2012

We’re about to get on our scrubbox here… First of all, we’re not about trashing other people’s products. But we are ALL about the truth when it comes to natural skincare.

Recently we were given samples of a new line of products that are supposedly all-natural and “especially for sensitive skin”. GUESS WHAT?! They’re not all-natural nor good for sensitive skin or really any skin. Read on, friends. Here are the ingredients listed on the cleansing facial wipes that we were given to try:

INGREDIENTS:

Water (Aqua, Eau), Cetearyl Isononanoate, Panthenol, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Ceteareth-12, Sodium Citrate, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben

 

The only two natural ingredients on the list are Water, Panthenol (also referred to pro-vitamin B5) and ok, we’ll give ‘em  Glycerin and Sodium Citrate too. Here’s a breakdown on the rest of what’s in this stuff:

Cetearyl Isononanoate is a synthetic emollient. It’s only in there to make the vitamins dissolve better in the water. It’s a chemical that doesn’t do one good thing for your skin.

Glyceryl Stearate is used to stabilize a product, decrease water evaporation, make the product freeze-resistant, and keep it from forming surface crusts. Glyceryl Stearate reduces the greasiness of oils used in certain cosmetics and personal care products. Again, not natural and does nothing for your skin.

Cetearyl Alcohol and other fatty alcohols keep an emulsion from separating into its oil and liquid components. These ingredients are also used to alter the thickness of liquid products and to increase foaming capacity or to stabilize foams. NOT NATURAL AND DOES NOTHING FOR YOUR SKIN! (Are you seeing a pattern develop here…?)

Ceteareth-20 and 12 are chemicals used to help ingredients dissolve (Solubilizing Agents). They are also classified as cleansing agents. They are also known as PEG-20 and PEG-12.  But people are on to PEGs – so they’re calling them their “other” less recognizable name. Skin deep gives these ingredients a 4-7 risk rating (moderate to high hazard).  According to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database, these synthetic chemicals are frequently contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, which the U.S. government considers a probable human carcinogen which readily penetrates the skin. Not only are they not good for sensitive skin, THEY ARE NOT GOOD FOR ANYONE’S SKIN!! And guess what? NOT NATURAL at all AND potentially harmful!

2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1  is a preservative, and no, not a natural one. This agent, also known as bronopol, carries an EWG hazard rating of 8-10, which indicates a high hazard.  It is a “known human immune system toxicant” and there is “strong evidence that it is a human skin toxicant”.

Phenoxyethanol is another preservative. It is also an ingredient in artificial fragrance. The EWG gives it a 4, for moderate risk. Numerous studies have shown it to be a skin irritant and it is considered to cause organ system toxicity (non-reproductive).  EWG notes that it should not be used “around the mouth or on lips”.

And last but certainly not least you have your parabens. By now you should all be quite sick of us telling you about the bad agents that are parabens.

So, basically this product from the “sensitive skin experts” is little more than water with a vitamin added and a bunch of chemicals to keep the vitamin from separating out of solution and stay free from contamination (as we know, water is a natural harbor for bacteria!)

So the manufacturer’s claim that the product “ has no dyes, artificial perfumes or harsh irritants that can upset your skin. Instead, just our purest possible skin loving ingredients with added vitamins, for natural healthy-looking skin”, seems more than a little sketchy.  Well, at least the part about “no dyes” is true.

Bottom Line? Read the labels people, the ingredients part, not the part in the big print on the front that makes all the claims. And take our advice, if you couldn’t or wouldn’t eat it if you had to, you really shouldn’t be putting it on your skin.

Stay smooth and stay smart!

 

Posted in Evil Ingredients, Ingredient Information, Skin care tips | No Comments »

Website operation on Cyber Monday not necessarily smooth! Deals extended through Tuesday.

November 28th, 2011

We are sorry to say that very unfortunately the shopping cart section of our website has been experiencing difficulties today! Of all days.

According to our service provider there was “an attack” of some kind. We’re not sure what that means exactly, but it was definitely scary and frustrating and now appears to be fixed. So to make up for the interruption in service we are going to extend the Cyber Monday deals on the Holiday Sampler and the Smooth 4 Men Gift packages through Tuesday. We are so sorry if this problem affected  you and apologize very sincerely for any inconvenience you might have had while trying to shop on our site. Darn hackers!

Stay Smooth!

 

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SHOP SMALL TODAY!! Support small businesses on Small Business Saturday.

November 26th, 2011

Today, November 26th, is Small Business Saturday. It’s a very important day, because it makes people aware of how important it is to support the small businesses like us. Here’s why you should spend your hard earned dollars with us and other small businesses like us instead of at the mall.

The more you buy from us, the more supplies we need to order and since many of our suppliers are also small businesses, the money you spend on Simple Sugars helps other small businesses grow and create more jobs. The more we sell, the more people we need to make, pack and ship the all those awesome all-natural scrubs. And that means more jobs too.

And you’re likely to get much better customer service from a small business because we’re so darn happy to have you as a customer!

Go to https://www.facebook.com/americanexpress to register your AMEX card and you’ll get a $25 statement credit when you charge your purchase at a small business on your card. Sadly, web shopping doesn’t count (which isn’t fair at all, American Express!) But if you purchase a Simple Sugars scrub at Soergel’s or So Me and use your AMEX, you can get an 8 oz body scrub or a facial scrub on AMEX! You get to support not one but two local businesses AND you get a freebie! Not a bad deal at all.

So please think about where you’re choosing to spend your hard earned money this holiday season. Shop Small and feel good about it!

Stay Smooth~

Lani

 

 

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Even smoother? We think so!

November 17th, 2011

Since the very beginning we’ve realized that the one thing that would make the Simple Sugars experience smoother is a more convenient way to open the jars when you’re in the shower.

But solving that problem wasn’t was easy as you might think. After much searching and evaluation, we think we have a solution to the problem…kind of.

Pictured here are the flip-top lids. They have a nice wide opening so you can get your hand in there to stir up the scrub and you really can just flip up the top with your thumb! SO easy.

But because nothing is ever really easy – it’s not quite as simple as just switching out the old lids for these new ones.

For one thing, the flip-top lids don’t seal well, so we can’t ship them. For another thing they’re significantly more expensive than the regular lids. Including two lids per jar is just not green enough or cost-effective enough, so here’s the compromise we’ve decided on:

When you order scrubs (without a discount code) we will include one flip-top lid per order at no charge. We specifically looked for a lid that was dishwasher safe. So our hope is that you’ll save the lid when your jar is empty, run it through the dishwasher and then put it on your next jar. Green and cost-effective! Viola.

We will also offer the flip-top lids on the website for you to purchase at our cost if you’d like more.

We think that, all things considered, this is the best solution to this problem at this point. Of course, we welcome your feedback on this – or anything else- so feel free to let us kow what you think.

Stay Smooth :)

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The Smoothest Road Trip Ever = THE MOST AWESOME EXPERIENCE EVER!!

November 2nd, 2011

We returned from “the road” last Monday. After darn near 10,000 miles, 30 states and stops in 26 cities it was good to get home. Kind of. The trip was, in a word (which just so happens to be my favorite word): awesome.

I met young girls who wanted to give me a hug and said that I inspired them. I met college girls and women who said the same thing. I got to meet customers and bloggers and editors who now seem more like friends. I had so many great experiences and met so many awesome(there it is again! I can’t help it, I really can’t!) people that it would be impossible to mention them all.

But I thought I would share some of my random impressions about the SRTE:

M.A.(Most Awesome) Hotel: Hollywood W (scored at our budget price!) due to the very friendly and funny bell boys and the world’s most awesome comforter!

(runner-up: Kimpton Hotel Vintage Hotel in Seattle, they treated us like stars!)

M.A. Donuts: Voodoo Donuts in Oregon. Hands down. And yes, I think we tried them all!

M.A. Scenery in a City: Denver. It is absolutely beautiful there.

M.A. Food Discovery: Praline Bacon at Elizabeth’s in New Orleans

M.A. purchase: This is a tough one and would have to be a tie between the killer cowboys boots I got (on sale!) in Albuquerque and the furry kitten hat (it’s PINK! and has ears!!) in Dallas.

M.A. Nightlife: Austin, TX (Ok I may be too young to get in, but I still know a happenin’ place when I see it.)

Most Surprisingly Cool City: Madison, WI, lots of excellent restaurants, cool shopping and CHEESE! What’s not to love?

Most Fun Serendipitous Event: Seeing the Penguins play in Minnesota. We got killer seats and they had the best arena food ever(mini donuts and fried cheese curds)plus really nice fans.

M.A. Place to get your muffler fixed:The Boise Muffler Shop. So incredibly nice and honest. They totally could have ripped us off, but they didn’t! We love them :)

Worst Highways to drive on: Houston!

Craziest City Driving: tie between DC and SanFrancisco.

Biggest Disappointment(besides the whole Ellen thing…): No place in New Orleans serves bananas foster past 10 PM! Whaaaattt?!

Thanks to everyone who sponsored us or helped us or followed us.

Stay Smooth!

xo

Lani

P.S. Be sure to check out our tumblr to see the pics!

 

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So here’s the itinerary…

August 8th, 2011

We’ll be in these cities on these dates (barring unforeseen and sure to occur circumstances:) If we’re coming to your city, make sure you’re following us on twitter and Facebook so we can meet you when we come through! It’s getting close and we’re getting more excited (and a little more nervous) every day.  Pretty cool list of cities though, right?

Washington, DC – Sept 15-16

Charlotte, NC – Sept 16-17

Atlanta, GA – Sept 17-19

New Orleans, LA – Sept 19-21

Houston, TX – Sept 21-22

Austin, TX – Sept 22-24

Dallas, TX – Sept 24-25

Oklahoma City, OK – Sept 25-26

Albuquerque, NM – Sept 26-27

Phoenix, AZ – Sept 27-29

Las Vegas, NV – Sept 29-Oct 1

Los Angeles, CA – Oct 1-5

San Francisco, CA – Oct 5-7

Portland, OR – Oct 8-9

Seattle, WA – Oct 9-11

Boise, ID – Oct 11-12

Denver, CO – Oct 13-15

Lincoln, NE – Oct 15-16

Des Moines, IA – Oct. 16-17

Minneapolis, MN – Oct 17 – 19

Madison, WI – Oct 19-20

Chicago, IL – Oct 20-22

Detroit, MI – Oct 22-23

Back to Pittsburgh – Oct.24th

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We’re about to make your Simple Sugars experience even smoother…

July 28th, 2011

We gets lots of great feedback on our products. And it’s very important to us! So please keep those posts,tweets and emails coming. Over the years the feedback has been pretty consistent. Our soon-to-be-famous all-natural scrubs are pretty much loved by all! (Yay!! – we’re very proud of this)  Our hard-to-open-and-handle-in-the-shower lids? Not so much.

We know, we know, those darn lids are hard to open! Especially in the shower when you add wet and slippery to the equation.  People ask us all the time, “Why can’t you put your awesome scrubs in a tube or a squeeze bottle so they can be squeezed out like shower gel?”

There’s actually one really good reason why we can’t, actually, make that won’t, put our all-natural scrubs in a tube or squeeze bottle: CHEMICALS! (Namely stabilizers and/or emulsifiers like 1,4 dioxane, a potential carcinogen btw)

Ok, it’s time for a quickie chemistry lesson here (yes, we make you not only smoother but smarter too!) Our scrubs are a heterogeneous mixture of oils, sugar and botanicals.  Technically, they are classified as colloids or heterogeneous mixtures of two substances of different phases. Still with me? So in simpler terms – scrubs are not a liquid nor a solid and the particles (sugar and botanicals, like say pomegranate extract) are in suspension. Ok- that’s enough chem-talk. Who would know I skipped school this year – right?! :)

So all that means, that if you leave your scrub sitting on a shelf for a period of time, you know that it separates a bit. That’s why it’s really important that you mix it up well before you use it each time. There’s no other way to make sure the heterogeneous mixture stays mixed. Unless you put chemicals in there to keep the mixture together,which is not an option. So here’s what would happen if we put our scrub in a squeeze bottle: you’d squeeze all the oil out first, then you’d probably get a little sugar sludge, and most of the sugar would be stuck inside the bottle. It’s the same reason the relish in the squeeze bottle is a major fail. ( I like relish – so sue me!) Not a good solution. ( No pun intended!)

It’s a complex problem for a couple of reasons: 1) we need the jars to be well-sealed so that they don’t leak during shipment 2) the jar has to have a wide enough opening so that one can easily get their hand, or stirring implement of choice, all the way into the jar to make sure the scrub is well mixed before each use and 3) the lid should be easy to open and handle in the shower and last but of course not least, CHEMICALS ARE NOT AN OPTION!  I’m tellin’ ya this is not an easy problem to solve.

But if there’s one thing being a teenage CEO has taught me, it’s that NOTHING and I mean NOTHING is easy! Hard doesn’t scare me. So after much debate and discussion around the ole pink mini-fridge (ok- so we don’t have a water cooler just yet…) we think we have the answer!! DRUM ROLL PLEASE…..Introducing the Simple Sugars flip-top cap:

We’ve all been testing these new lids – and we think they’re awesome! But of course we want to know what you think. So if you place an order in the next two weeks – you will get one of these in your package to use and test and give us feedback on. We’re not sure how well these lids will seal – so that’s the big question, but we can tell you, it makes for a much smoother Simple Sugars shower experience!

Oh and the moral of this story? WE LISTEN! So if you have an idea or a suggestion please let us know.

Yours in Smoothness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8300 miles…oh my!

July 21st, 2011

Well I’ve been diligently working on the itinerary for The Smoothest Road Trip ever and with the help of mapquest and the 100 pound box of maps and triptiks that AAA sent me,  it’s finally done.  And it’s kinda scary, and really long and I’m freaking out just a tiny bit…ok well maybe, more than a tiny bit. On the other hand, I can’t help thinking about what a super cool experience the whole thing is going to be.

8300 miles. 26 cities. A little over 5 weeks on the road (god willing). 99 tanks of gas. Thousands of tweets. And I can’t even begin to estimate how many cupcakes may be consumed!

So now that the route is as close to final as it can be it’s time to get some sponsors on board and get the events set up in each city.  It’s really starting to come together. SO, if you go to a college in one of the cities we’ll be visiting and you’d like to help us set up an event at your school shoot us an email. If you’d like to share in the experience and be a sponsor or you can hook us up with a potential sponsor we will love you forever!

We’re scheduled to leave Pittsburgh for our first stop in D.C. on Sept. 15th. I really hope that if you live in one of the cities we’re visiting, you’ll come out and see us! Check out the map.

 

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Simple Sugars Announces “The Smoothest Road Trip Ever”

May 27th, 2011

Simple Sugars’ Smoothest Road Trip Ever: Ellen or Bust!

The Mission

Why did the Super Smooth Mobile cross the country? To get on Ellen, to promote entrepreneurship to young women, to campaign for safe cosmetics, and to spread smoothness, of course!

What is Simple Sugars?

Simple Sugars is a company that manufactures a full line of all-natural, handmade facial, body, and foot sugar scrubs. Created in 2005 by, then 11 year old, entrepreneur and sensitive skin sufferer Lani Lazzari (LAY nee La ZAR ee). Simple Sugars’ scrubs combine pure sugar with a proprietary blend of all-natural oils, anti-oxidant rich botanicals and essential oils to provide an all-natural, spa-like experience that leaves you with super soft, glowing skin. Simple Sugars scrubs are especially formulated for sensitive skin, contain no artificial or chemical ingredients and are never tested on animals.

Simple Sugars products are sold online (www.simplesugarsscrub.com) and in select retailers in Pittsburgh and across the country. Simple Sugars has a loyal and passionate customer base nationally and has garnered impressive press coverage all over the world.

It’s Simple to be Smooth!

Why is Simple Sugars taking the Smoothest Road Trip Ever?

Simple Sugars is taking the Smoothest Road Trip Ever because we have some pretty important messages to spread. Of course, Simple Sugars and its founder Lani Lazzari (now 17) stand for all-natural, chemical-free skincare that is safe for everyone’s skin. And we want to make more people aware of our brand. That’s a given.

But in addition to that, Simple Sugars stands for some other important things as well:

 

We believe that every girl and woman should know that financial independence is her choice regardless of her socioeconomic or cultural background. Sure it’s hard work. Sure you have to have resilience and guts and strength. But it’s out there if you want it and we want every single girl/young woman in this country to know it.  You don’t need a break. You don’t need luck. You don’t need rich parents. You only need a good idea and a great work ethic and then the opportunities are yours to create. This year only 12 of the Fortune 500 companies have women CEOs.  And in a recent Fortune Magazine article that spotlighted millionaires under 22, all were men. That’s got to change.

We believe in building a company where women don’t have to make a choice between a career they love and a life they love. It means a company full of happy, satisfied, smart people who actually have fun at work and value each other. We believe it can be done. We’re out to prove it.

We believe that we all have to do our part to green-up. We only have one Earth and it’s getting more fragile every day.  So yes, it means washing less chemicals down the drain and paying attention to what you put in and on your body. It means making recycling and repurposing a way of life not just a project for Earth Day. It means doing more with less. It means creating a company that is kind to the Earth and the people that live on it, who also happen to be its customers.

We believe Ellen is THE perfect person to help us spread this message.

 

The details:

The Smoothest Road Trip Ever will begin in Pittsburgh in September 2011.

We will stop in the following cities (tentative itinerary, subject to change):

  • Washington DC
  • Charlotte, NC
  • Atlanta, GA
  • New Orleans, LA
  • Houston, TX
  • Austin, TX
  • Dallas, TX
  • Oklahoma City, OK
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Portland, OR
  • Seattle, WA
  • Boise, ID
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • Denver, CO
  • Lincoln, NE
  • Minneapolis, MN
  • Madison, WI
  • Chicago, IL

 

 

Before hitting the road, we will be taking to the internet.  Local, regional and national bloggers and media will be able to get in on this incredible viral story.  We’re going to be providing them with a media kit and samples so that they can be smooth and ready to spread the word when we get to their city.

 

We will conduct “pop-up” events on college campuses along the way where we will give product demos and spread the messages of the Simple Sugars Smoothest Road Trip Ever.

 

We’re excited to meet people on the road, to educate them and to get new Simple Sugars fans! In each city, we’ll be asking our new fans to “star” in a video campaign telling Ellen why she needs to put Lani on her show and help support her great and truly inspiring messages. These videos will include a hashtag and be posted on Ellen’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.  We’re going to “map” the whole journey and bombard the internet with our content. This is going to be viral. Get on board and be a part of this dream come true.

 

In the end, we hope to inspire, educate and give hope to millions of girls and women of all ages that we wouldn’t have been able to reach without taking this trip and making this appearance on Ellen. We hope, that through Lani’s example, we can raise the consciousness of these girls and women about the importance of safe skin care and inspire them to embrace their strength, value their worth and realize that greatness is inside them.

 

For personal and corporate sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lani Lazzari at 412-576-3091 or lani@simplesugarsscrub.com.

 

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We’re looking for a few good men to become a few smooth men…

April 26th, 2011

We are really excited to announce that we’re hard at work preparing for the launch of our men’s line of all-natural skincare! No longer will men who just want incredible all-natural smooth skin have to hide the girly pink labeled jars. Yes, it is time to “out” the smoothness.

We’re looking for some guys to help us out by giving us feedback and testing products.  If you or someone you know would like to be on our panel of Smooth Dudes, send us an email asap to info@simplesugarsscrub.com.

Because you can never be too smooth! ( The tag line for the men’s line…thoughts??)

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