my breast cancer walk experience

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I never thought I would ever walk/run a marathon and to boot a marathon and a half! About 6 months ago a friend asked me to join her on the Avon Breast Cancer walk-  I said sure and I thought it would be great to walk in honor of my father and the many friends I have that have either had breast cancer or cancer has touched their lives in some way.  We started by doing practice walks which were great but I had no idea what I was in for. The walk was in Santa Barbra over 2 days.
The first day was a full marathon 26.2  miles. It was one of  the most inspiration and rewarding journeys I have taken. I have never been surrounded by so many incredible men an women all affected by some sort of cancer. Everyone sharing their stores and supporting each other. Plus the community cheering us on with every step. The second day was just as inspiring- a mere 13.3 that day- (ha ha). It hurt a bit more but again all of us encouraging each other kept us smiling. The high you feel is wonderful and to know that the money you have raised is going for a cure makes you unstoppable!
Despite the blisters and sore muscles it was well worth every step I took. The women I met were wonderful and I would for sure do it again. To know that I raised enough money to help many women with their treatments is one of the best feelings.  They have the walk in many cities and I am thinking about doing it in the Rockies next year just to mix it up.
I highly recommend joining one of the walks!

Samara

5% of all hellomellow balance products are donated to the Boarding 4 Breast Cancer Survivorship Fund. take great care of your body and help a great cause... women's health!

tips from a pro!

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We are so excited to announce that we have added and will continue to add guest bloggers to our blog!

Here is our first from Celebrity Makeup Artist Elaine Offers…

To all you beautiful ladies out there……take care of your skin!  That means some kind of sunscreen during the day, and a hat if you’ll be outside for a few hours.  Your skin will thank you with years of gorgeousness!  If your years of unabated sun tanning have shown up in the form of sun spots and fine lines..(nothing wrong with a few),  it’s never too late to adopt a skin care plan to improve it’s look and texture.  Always cleanse super well at night……If I’m wearing makeup during the day, I start my removal process with a water soluble oil remover (Boscia’s Makeup Break-up) is awesome!  Use a wringed out hot towel to wipe it all off…..You’ll also be gently exfoliating in this step.    You can use a gentle foaming cleanser to get extra clean if you want. ( Sircuit’s X- trap Gentle Daily Face Wash) is amazing, and it’s also a great feminine wash for our Southern regions……just one squirt is all you need.  I recommend a retinol at night……it’ll build collagen, firm and refine your skin’s texture.  I like Sircuit’s Dreamweaver, which in addition to retinol, is loaded with amazing cutting edge ingredients.  I also like Skin Medica’s Tri Retinol ES…..it’s the strongest retinol treatment you can buy without a prescription.  This product is one you should work up to…..not for first timers.  There’s always a bit of peeling that you will experience with these products…..that means it’s working.  Use every other night at first until your skin gets accustomed to it.  I don’t cleanse in the morning, but I do use another wringed out washcloth to wake myself up, and get the sleepy crust out of my eyes………then slap on that sunscreen, whether it’s a lotion, mineral, or spf makeup base.  I’m also amazed at how much better my skin looks when I sleep enough, and don’t eat too much junk… If you can get to Venice, California, try to get a facial with Nacole Raphalian at Citizen Skin……located on Westminster, right off of Abbott Kinney.  She is amazing, and sells really clean and natural skin products.

Find out more about Elaine here.

breast cancer awareness month

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As October winds down and breast cancer month comes to an end, we want to make sure that the sentiment of the month stays on your radar.

Breast Cancer is one of the main reasons I started hellomellow. As a body mind healer, I work on clients undergoing all sorts of health challenges including cancer. Knowing that the skin is our body’s largest organ, and what goes on your body goes in your body started me on a quest to find products that would nourish my clients skin without giving their bodies any chemicals or toxins that their bodies would have to work to remove.

As I researched more about these unpronounceable names on the ingredients lists of the products I was using, I began to learn about parabens and the research that linked them to breast cancer. This was years back and whether or not the research was as shocking as it is today, it was enough information for me to think… if these toxic ingredients are repeatedly found in the breast tissue of breast cancer patients, why would we be putting this in our bodies?

Why not care about what goes on our bodies as much as what goes in our bodies? (Since it seems to me the research backs up this idea!) And this started me on the quest to use only food grade, nourishing ingredients on my skin and the skin of my clients. When I couldn’t find any… I made some.

It was amazing to me to see the effect my products had on my clients and then their friends and then their kids and so on. After years of hearing the stories of my products healing miscellaneous skin rashes and bumps and eczemas and you name it, I decided if they were helping so many people feel better I should create a way to get it to as many people as I could… and hellomellow was born.

I am so honored to use hellomellow as a way to work with other companies with similar visions and to support my beliefs in ways to heal the world. I am so flattered to  have hellomellow chosen as Boarding 4 Breast Cancer’s affiliate body products line. Every purchase of our Balance line of products donates 5% to B4BC’s Survivorship program. Check out pictures from their first ever Ocean ReTreat Yourself and read about this amazing weekend here. It is a weekend focused on wellness, meditation, and being active and healthy through yoga, surf, clean organic eating and life skills workshops on achieving balance and staying grounded in our lives.

Learn more about what they do here. And while you are at it, sign up for their monthly reminder to do your breast self examination when signing up for their newsletter here!

have a mellow one,