Like completely natural and organic products blended lovingly by hand? Then keep reading!

Lisa Rodgers is an inspiration. She left the financial security of a Fortune 500 job to make soap. Nine years later, her company Cactus & Ivy bubbles up the best organic bath and spa products in the indie beauty market. Her hand-blended (yes, hand blended!) goodies are cruelty free, Vegan and are tested on humans, not animals. Cactus & Ivy also formulates exclusive products for upscale spas, using indigenous ingredients based on their location, which is really cool.

BeautyOlogy recently did an email Q&A with Lisa about the inspiration behind Cactus & Ivy, her products and being a stand-out leader in the indie beauty brand community.

Want to recreate a spa experience at home with her incredible creations?  She’s offering BeautyOlogy readers an exclusive 15% discount, on top of her already insanely reasonable prices. Visit Cactus & Ivy online and use code BEAUTY10 at checkout. Speed on over there–the offer expires on March 31.

• What sparked you to create Cactus and Ivy?

I got started in natural spa products after I left a micro manged job to persue something on my own but what that was, I didn’t have a clue.  I was interested in natural products and curious as to how they were made.  I started selling/making natural soaps for a company in Seattle that was in need of independent reps. Later, the owner was no longer interested in the business so I decided to create Cactus & Ivy.  Now, here I am, 9 years later. I am still learning and taking it all in.  Going into business for myself was the best move I’ve ever made.  Well, second to my marriage.  I wouldn’t be in this business had it not been for the love and support of my husband.

• I have this fantastic mental image of you in a kitchen elbow deep in ingredients! Did you formulate on your own? How did you learn about the process?

After I was given the formulation and instructions on how to make soap for the Seattle company, I began researching other products online and in bath and body books. Trial and error of ‘this’ ingredient mixed with ‘that’ ingredient yielded a lot of fabulous products and some that needed to go back to the drawing board.

• Do you personally hand blend your products?

I personally make all of our products by hand, with the exception of our lotions and body wash.  I have not mastered the art of either product and until I do, I will not offer my customers an inferior product.  Our lotions and body wash products are some of the best on the market and we have received great reviews! Creating the other products in our line is a way for me to remain close to my creations.  A lot of love, care and pride go into every product created and nothing makes me happier than to receive feedback from a customer saying they love Cactus & Ivy!

• Were organic beauty products important to you before you created Cactus & Ivy, or did you begin to pay attention to it during your research?

I’ve always been conscious of what I put on my skin, however, I wasn’t as knowledgeable then about ingredients as I am now.  From the beginning, I knew I wanted to offer products free from harsh chemicals, artificial flavors, colors and fragrance.  I’m a lover of feedback and when customers last year indicated they would like to see products scented with fragrance oils, I obliged.  After all, the customer is your market and there are those who use products scented with fragrance oils.  We only use phalathate free fragrance oils.

• Do you find a difference in consumer’s knowledge about and interest in organic, chemical free products from when you started until now?

Customers are definitely more savvy in their ingredient knowledge than they were 10 years ago.  Natural and Organic are becoming the mainstream in the beauty industry.  As a manufacturer, I believe in complete transparency.  I can’t assume that every customer can read an ingredient label and understand it.  All of our products include a complete, easy to read, ingredient listing on the labels and website, as required by the labeling guidelines of the FDA.  We have also registered our products with the VCRP (Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program) with the FDA.  Cactus & Ivy has absolutely nothing to hide.

• As an indie manufacturer, what makes Cactus & Ivy stand out from the large scale cosmetics companies who are all going “natural”? Why is it  important to support independent product makers? What do they bring to  the table that the large company’s do not?

Since 60% of what is applied to skin is absorbed, we want our products to be as natural as we can make them while offering a longer shelf life.  When creating a product, we look at the benefits of each ingredient used and how it will compliment the products application/use.  I take pride in providing products with a purpose!

Supporting the indie manufacturer is very important not only to our economy but I firmly believe we know and understand the beauty/cosmetic customer.  We care how our products will be received and don’t see the customer as just a number.  If Cactus & Ivy became the #1 small business in the beauty industry tomorrow, I would not change my interaction with my customers.  My door is open to all forms of feedback – good, bad or indifferent.  It’s the only way I know if I am hitting the nail on the head or I need to go back to the drawing board.

Indie manufacturers bring real life to the table.  We listen to our customers and create products with a purpose and not just because it may be a fad.  Every product we create is created with the customer in mind.

• What are you most proud of in building Cactus and Ivy?

I am most proud of creating a company that is completely transparent in every aspect.  I believe good customer service is the backbone of any company and we stand tall.  I stand behind our products 100% and I would not offer a product to the consumer that I wouldn’t offer to my mother!

• Where can people find the Cactus and Ivy brand?

Cactus & Ivy products can be purchase from our website (http://www.cactusandivy.com).  We are in several specialty shops and spas.  I am working hard at gaining more shops, resort/destination/day spas as well as a distributorship in the Czech Republic.

• Do you have a particularly favorite ingredient?

Oooo, that’s a hard one.  I would have to say sweet almond oil.  I have Fibromyalgia and weekly massages are a must to keep my knots at bay.  Sweet almond oil is a great emollient for softening and conditioning the skin and hair.  It is rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins, has fabulous slip, a non-greasy feel, is highly moisturizing and penetrates the skin extremely well.  You can find sweet almond oil in many of Cactus & Ivy creations!

• What’s your all time favorite product in the Cactus & Ivy line?

My all time favorite product is our Peppermint Tree Foot Balm. The tingling and cooling sensations coupled with the moisturizing ingredients is a must have to keep your feet in tip top shape and feeling refreshed.  Peppermint Tree Foot Balm can be used daily to revive tired, dry feet or as an intense overnight treatment for really worn out tootsies. The oils of apricot kernel and sweet almond penetrate the skin easily, emollient and great for dry, inflamed or irritated skin. Menthol gives it the fantastic tingling and cooling kick! Antifungal properties of tea tree oil and the pick me up relief from peppermint oil, round out this fabulous product.

Follow Cactus & Ivy on Twitter or visit them on Facebook. And remember, shop at the website and use code BEAUTY10 for 15% your order, exclusive to BeautyOlogy readers! The discount is good until March 31!

I am so getting the Peppermint Tree Foot Balm. What are you going to try?

Did you hear the news? (Of course you did, it was the media equivalent of shock and awe.) On Friday, Oprah announced that her final show would be Sept. 2011, after 25 years on the air. So while the speculation about her reasons run rampant, now seems like the perfect time to talk about Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk.

Robyn Okrant spent a year doing absolutely everything Oprah recommended–purchasing Oprah endorsed fashion, cooking Oprah approved meals, reading Oprah endorsed books, finding Oprah approved spirituality. She chronicled her Oprah experiment on her blog, where readers can see what a monumental task this undertaking became. Between Oprah’s TV show, her magazine and her website, Robyn spent a whole lot of money and even more time to live an Oprah-approved “best life.”

I don’t really watch Oprah or read her magazine anymore. Personally, I find her out of touch. Larry King just had her BFF Gale on his show, asking Gale how Oprah “engaged with the everyday lady.” To which Gale responded that Oprah was “just like you.” Sorry, Gale, no she’s not.

Oprah is worth billions. She can’t walk down the street, take mass transit, or fly commercial without getting mobbed. She can find the absolute best pair of pants, no matter what the cost, and buy ten of them. She can work out with expensive trainers and consult with nutritionists. Oprah employs a lifestyle army. It’s much easier to live your best life when money is no object.

But is Oprah really living her best life? From what I have read, her work schedule is insane. She has no work-life balance. Her yo-yo dieting is another tip-off that there may be something gnawing away at her. So is the commercialism that surrounds this best life really just a band-aid for happiness? Can it really be found in the best pair of pants, the best ergonomic gardening set, or the best rolfing?

The book comes out on January 3, and I am going to try track Robyn down for a quick interview for this ol’ blog! I am in AWE of the discipline it must have taken to live this “best life.” And I have a lot of questions too. Did Robyn find her best life by Living Oprah? Does Robyn think Oprah is really living her best life? Is the Best Life found in those perfect pants, or did she somehow transcend these messages and find a spiritual epiphany?

So it looks like this has been up on YouTube for a few years, but I am just now paying attention. And you should too!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U]

This is part of Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, and shows everything that goes into making a model perfect, right down to Photoshop.

Manly man husband is an expert retoucher, and he does it for a living. Years ago he did piles of celeb and model retouches. When I was younger and gave a shit, I used to ask him to doctor pictures of me as well. He did a fantastic job. I looked not quite myself, but the not quite myself always looked a lot better than my real self did.

I am not a fan of Dove products (too drying) but I am pretty impressed with what they are doing with their campaign. I don’t want to be skeptical of their motives, as I usually am with corporate entities who decide to jump into one cause or another, as large corporation motives are usual driven solely by monetary gain. But since Dove started this campaign, I do have a warm fuzzy feeling associated with the brand. That doesn’t mean that I will buy their crap products, but I will support their push to educate the public about how these images are crafted.

Twice this week I have read about non-new agey yoga. This month’s Yoga Journal is all about doing it to music, and today’s NYTimes profiles LA yoga guru Vinnie Marino, who was lead to teaching yoga by Grace Slick and kicks off his class with Led Zeppelin (maybe they are so old, they now qualify as new age?).

Vinnie trains the requisite celebrities and devotee Heather Graham is quoted, “Yoga people on the whole are super cool…I don’t find any creepy people in this class!” 

So this reminds me of my friend Jaene, who turned me on to NamasteMoFo, which is just filled with t-shirt awesome-ness! Their mission: “We at NamasteMofo believe that human beings are complex and can honestly embrace holistic ideals and still be totally punk rock.”

Check out the Yoga Bitches t-shirt designed by Jaene, in honor of her play of the same name.  Ladies, I sun salute you!

I came across an inspired post on the personal growth blog
The Bridgemaker about 10 Things You Wish You Had Never Learned.  I immediately applied it to all the
beauty boo-boos made over my lifetime, due to peer pressure (see number 4),
misinformation (number 5) or simply following ill-conceived trends (number 1).

According to The Bridgemaker, in order to live a fulfilling life, you must recognize the negative beliefs that you carry with you in order
to release them.  While I think I
have released a few of my 10 (see number 1), there are a number of them that
are still completely hard-wired and I have to make a conscience effort to
correct (such as number 6).

10 things about beauty I wish I never learned:

1. I wish
   I had never learned that perms were trendy.
2. I wish
   I had never learned that blue eyeshadow was tacky.
3. I wish
   I had never learned that tanned skin equals healthy.
4. I wish
   I had never learned that popping cystic acne would not cause scarring.
5. I wish
   I had never learned that fad/crash diets were the best way to lose weight.
6. I wish
   I had never learned that only neutral makeup was flattering.
7. I wish
   I had never learned that it was important to wash your face at least twice
   a day.
8. I wish
   I had never learned that hair should be washed daily.
9. I wish
   I had never learned that shaving was better than waxing.
10. I wish
    I had never learned that super-skinny women were healthier, happier and more successful.

Feel free to share your own lists. I would love to hear
from others on as we travel on the path towards beauty zen.