Jojoba, say it with me ho Ho ba

Often mispronounced and sometimes misunderstood. This is one of my favorite skin care oils for the winter time. Why is my winter time "go to" oil? We can get to that.

Jojoba fruit

But first, lets learn a bit about the Simmondsia chinenis plant. 
When I was a child, we would go on nature walks. I will never forget the little set of books my Grandmother had at the cottage. In it were these fantastic illustrations and facts about the plant from the Latin name to the plants medicinal properties. This practice has stayed with me even now. I like to understand more than the surface information about the plants I use in products. I believe that the more we understand then the better equipped we are to make the right choices or ourselves. 
So, about that Jojoba plant. A native to the desert areas of Arizona and Southern California, the determined little shrub can grow about 15 feet high but the roots dig deep into the crust to find any source of water. It's woody boughs hold greyish leathery leaves all year long and the life span of one plant can go back hundreds of years, well one to two hundred at least. 

Jojoba flowers

The species is dioecious, meaning that one plant supplies the pollen and the other the flowers for seeds. Or, as Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock would explain, "It takes two to make a thing go right, It takes two to make it out of site."  Since the flowers that bloom are odorless, no insect would polinate so the Jojoba needs to rely on the wind and luck that a male plant is near by and releasing pollen. An interesting side note, in the wild the plants maintain a harmonious balance of 50:50 so for every flowering shrub, there is a polinator. Talk about balanced harmony! Polination happens in March and the harvesting of the seeds happens in October. With Jojoba, you don't pick the beans/seeds, you wait until they drop to the ground then you gather them up. The seeds are then pressed or crushed to extract the oils.Half of the weight of the seed is oil, not a bad yield. So how many does it take to make one gallon of oil? about 1700 seeds in a pound and 17 pounds to one gallon of oil so 28,900 give a seed or two. 



The oil that is pressed from the seed is very interesting indeed. Unlike other plant oils, Jojoba yields a liquid that is really a polyunsaturated liquid wax very similiar to Sperm Whale oil. Because of the unique cheical composition of this liquid it is virtually timeless. It wont go rancid, wont oxidize, and wont break down under extreme temperatures. And here is why it took off like wild fire in the cosmetic and skin care industry, from perfumes to shampoo to cleansers and creams, Jojoba is like liquid gold. 

Jojoba begining to ripen. 

So why is this my favorite winter oil? Because of the thick waxy oil and its ability to lay down a mousturizing barier to the harsh dry air of winter. Think about what this seed went through and the adaptive nature of.... well... nature. It is not surprising that the oil extracted would have such tremendous qualities. The harshness of the desert heat and the scarcity of life giving water has tempered the fruit to bare an oil that has a tremendously long life and that protects against scarcity. 

The People of the First Nation knew all of the amazing gifts the Jojoba had to offer and made great use of the seeds such as salves for wounds, conditioning balms for skin, emolient for softening animal hides, a beverage from boiling the beans, and when needed, they would chew on the nuts to help stave off hunger. 

You can find Organic Jojoba oil in all of our Whipped Body Butters, all of our Bath Fizzy bombs, our Pulse Point Aromatics and even a couple of our Organic soaps.  You can also find Tres Spa prodyucts on Amazon

Life Lessons from the back of a Camel (part 2)

We actually stayed in Phoenix and all the signs pointed to a very lovely time ahead. Complete with being greeted by a half dozen of these lovely little bunnies hopping among the foliage. 

Desert Rabbit Phoenix Arizona, photo by Janice Summers

We never plan too much ahead of time. We have a general idea of what we would like to do but no hard and fast plans. We spend too much of our life running on the treadmill of all the things we must get done the rest of the year. This is the one time of year we get to put the breaks on and simply go with what fancies us in the moment. In this particular situation, on this particular trip, one of us (not me) was determined to hike the Camel Back. Seems she had done it once before and thought it would be great fun for us to do. I was willing to go along but not thrilled at the prospect. I have a huge fear of heights and I was aware of some harrowing bits on the climb to the top. Needless to say, I was only to happy to enjoy the view of the Camel back from the balcony at the spa.

Camel Back Mountain in the backdrop of the Joya Spa in Phoenix AZ, photo by Janice Summers

We planned our excursion to climb the Camels Back another day as we nibbled on healthy spa food and sipped our cocktails. Okay the drinks weren't exactly cricket spa fare but a girls gotta live a little bit. We promised to hike the mountain after the spa and after our trip to Sedona. Notice how we kept putting it out further an further? But as I sipped my Mojito, I was weary of just which peak I had to summit on said range in front of me. How on earth did she expect me to climb that?! No need to worry now, we have managed to put it of for a later date.

Well, eventually time caught up with me and the final day of the trip came. I could no longer forestall the inevitable. My friend was determined to hike the Camel Back and since I was the last one still around, guess who had to go hike it with her.

They say hindsight is 20x20 and you know I believe them. Had I known what was in store for me and the insights to life I would get along the journey well I don't think I would have waited so long.

Avocado, the mighty little fruit

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Avocado!

Avocado Fruit

There are an abundant number of great reasons you should be adding this to your regular diet stemming from the 20 different vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and high fiber. Some of my favorites are Vitamin K - most notably for blood clotting and bone health, Health defender Vitamin C - known for cardiovascular support, tissue builder, super antioxidant. Vitamin B5 which helps our bodies properly use carbs and proteins and it also helps support healthy skin. Vitamin B6 critical for key metabolic process's and proper brain functioning. Vitamin E natures best defender fighting free radicals protecting your cells from attacks. Did I mention Potassium? Be still my heart! Did you know that with every beat of your heart, almost 100,000 times a day we should be grateful for potassium as it "pulls the trigger" for your heart pump the blood through. It also supports the rest of your muscles, your nerves, and lends a hand with proper kidney functioning. 

I grew up in the Midwest and when I was younger I would go shopping with my mother every week. It was one o those chores you did. We always visited the produce isle, As I recall we did this every week we went to the store. My Grandparents gardened and grew a good deal of their fresh produce during the warm summer months and they put food by for the winter so I knew what fruits and vegetables looked like but the grocer had things we did not grow. Imagine our amazement when we first saw these little lovelies. They were next to the Kiwi (another fruit I had no idea about).  Of course we had no idea what this crazy little green nut shaped fruit was so we simply moved along. Besides, the price was too dear for us to "experiment" with it.

It wasn't until I turned 20 and moved to California that this little gem would cross my path again. I was lucky to live with my eldest sister for a time so she could orient me to my new surroundings. I will never forget the first time we went to the market together! WOW What an eye opener, the fresh produce section was gigantic and full of weird and wonderful things that I would slowly immerse myself into learning.  My sister made a bee-line for the large green fruit mound of Avocados. Can you imagine?! A giant pile of them and more than one type! As my sister loaded up her cart with giant Avocado's I noticed from the corner of my eye, nestled sweetly on the shelf, the Kiwi fruit my Mom had such a giggle out of years ago. 

So my sister was the first person to teach me how to eat an Avocado. I will admit it though, I have never been a huge an of eating them by the spoonful right out of the shell. But Guacamole...... now there is heaven on a plate!

So why am I talking about the luscious Avocado in a skin care blog? 

Remember all of those rich nutrients we talked about earlier? Those same constituents are what makes Avocado such a fantastic addition to your skin care as well. Fighting free radicals that can make our skin look dull and dingy. The oil is readily absorbed and has a reputation for helping the skin retain moisture, keeping your skin plump and full. 

So how would you add Avocado to your skin care regime? Ever have avocado's that have gotten a bit tired. You don't really want to eat them but they aren't exactly bad. How about mashing them up and using them as the wetting agent for your Tres Spa face mask? If that seems like to much work, well just place the avocado directly on your face. You wont get the added mineral and botanicals from the mask, but at least you get the vitamins. 

But wait, there's more! What about the oil? The oil is made from cold pressing the fruit pulp to extract the fatty oil. It is then refined and sold as a liquid oil. You can certainly cook with it and drizzle it cold on your veggies. We, here at Tres Spa, use Avocado oil in two products that you can enjoy. Sahara face oil, by Tres Spa, is formulated with dry skin in mind thanks to the Avocados reputation for helping the skin moisturize. For an all over body treat, try the Tres Spa apres Soliel body oil. Naturally nourishing thanks to the superb blend of natural plant oils. 

If you would like to learn more about Tres Spa and our products, visit us on-line at www.tresspa.com.