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Spring and summer are always a great time to reflect upon your skincare regimen. As the warmer seasons edge their way in, we tend to have a little more skin on show.

We need to provide ourselves with protection from the harmful rays of the sun which can be highly damaging to our skin and we should always be on the lookout for ways to enhance our skincare regimen so we look and feel at our best.

Having ill-prepared, damaged skin or an existing skin condition can affect self-esteem and the way we “show up” to the world each day. It’s never too late to enhance and improve your existing skincare regimen, or create a whole new one!



Here are a few simple ways to better your skin.

1. Go all-in for topical: topical treatments offer a right on target and direct effect.

Topical ointments are point-specific as they are applied directly to the affected area. This is in contrast to an oral ‘fix’ that becomes diffused throughout the entire body.  Many conditions, especially those in the hands or feet, or located on the skin surface, are immediately responsive to a topical ointment. Think of it as a fast-track way to improving the condition of your skin, or easing an apparent or dormant skin complaint. Ideally, you should use a combination of oral vitamins alongside topical treatments for maximum benefits.

2. Get into vitamins! There is no denying that your skin needs to be fed and nourished.

Your skin is the largest organ of your body, as the skin renews/regenerates itself approximately every 28 days, there are no excuses to not start now! Improving the cell regeneration rate of your body can ultimately be a game-changer for skincare. So how do you improve the cell function of your body? There are many ways, but these include: vitamins and mineral supplements, natural, topical ointments/treatments that can have a direct effect, adequate hydration, daily exercise, eating well, and ensuring that you are well rested (sleep time is when your body regenerates!)

3. Keeping it Simple. A simple skincare regimen is not only easier to accommodate daily, but it is also helpful for your skin to not over-complicate things. Less can in fact be more.

The simple success of many natural, topical treatments dates back for centuries. Since ancient times, people were accustomed to making the most of nature and its amazing plant-based remedies. In modern times, the rise of chemical-based treatments has made it all too tempting to find a quick-fix approach. However, natural treatments can be just as swift in offering you great results. A herbal encyclopedia could be of great benefit because the herbal and plant-remedy world is so vast and not fully explored. To a large extent, we are finding out more and more about the simplicity and effectiveness of plant remedies- and it is about time!



Catskills Comfrey knows all about this: the wonder of nature and herbal, plant remedies to soothe, strengthen and protect you.

Catskills Comfrey is a small medicinal farm, growing comfrey, arnica, calendula, CBD-dominant hemp, yarrow, goldenrod, mullein, lavender - and several new varieties are planned this year, such as St John’s wort, cleavers, and red clover. Catskills Comfrey is almost five years old and specializes in creating comfrey-based topical ointments. They are located in the Catskills region of upstate NY.

All of their ointments contain the same concentration of comfrey as their Original ointment - in essence, all ointments are the Original plus, optionally, any additional herbs required for a specific formulation.

Catskills Comfrey is Clean & Green

They use no essential oils or fragrances in their products; their ointments are created via the centuries-old technique of infusion.

“Brewing loose tea (in a tea bag) is the same process; rather, we use oil (MCT and Greek olive oils) to infuse our herbs vs a tea that is infused into hot water”- Catskills Comfrey

The Entourage Effect Lives Here

The infusion process ensures a full-spectrum extraction of the organic material, providing the entire array of medicinal benefits; in contrast, essential oils may limit the benefits to a reduced selection of the plant’s benefits. Think of it as the “entourage effect”.

“Although it is common to infer that the Entourage Effect only applies to CBD-based products, in actuality, the Entourage Effect applies to all our medicinal offerings. The infusion process ensures we can say, without restriction, the Entourage Effect lives here!”
 

Here’s a peek at two products from Catskills Comfrey, Original Comfrey, and Arnica and Calendula Blend
 

The ComfreyBase - dba Original

Comfrey is the kale of medicinals: a powerful, but unappreciated, medicinal. Its primary claim to fame is that it contains the active ingredient allantoin. Allantoin is a cell-proliferant encouraging and assisting the body to create new skin cells. This is important because myriad skin conditions need new cells as part of their ‘return to normal’ process. Comfrey is an anti-inflammatory and so it can be a great treatment to help with sore muscles, arthritis, and joint pain.

A common name for comfrey is ‘knitbone’, referring to its ability to hasten the repair of broken bones. This goes back to the allantoin. When a bone breaks, you need a large number of new cells to fuse the bone back together. This is what allantoin does.

In terms of its effect on skin regeneration, we can use Sunburn as an obvious example. The skin cells are burned, damaged - and need to be replaced. Comfrey does just that.

• Catskills Comfrey is particularly known for reducing discomfort associated with atopic dermatitis (eczema, psoriasis, rosacea), and although we recommend the Arnica & Calendula blend (Calendula is soothing to rash and skin irritations.), it’s the comfrey that does the heavy lifting.

• Typically, under normal conditions, a cell is replaced every four weeks in our bodies but with atopic dermatitis, this ‘turnover’ rate of the affected area is increased to every seven days! This is a huge demand on the body for new cells but this is what comfrey does: encourages new cell growth.

• To ensure all their ointments have the same concentration of comfrey, they first infuse comfrey into their menstruum of MCT and Greek olive oils. With nearly 400 comfrey plants in the ground, they put a LOT of comfrey into their infusions!

“Once this infusion, the ‘comfreyBase’, is completed, the resultant (filtered) oil is the Original without wax. [We do offer a Waxless version of our ointments; the ‘comfreyBase’is what is sent when a Waxless Original ointment is ordered.] To create any other formulation, for instance, the Arnica & Calendula ointment, we simply infuse dried calendula and arnica flowers into this ‘comfreyBase’. Or in the case of our Chili Pepper ointment, we infuse dried Carolina Reaper chili pepper pods into the ‘comfreyBase’”.

Arnica & Calendula

Comfrey, arnica, calendula, CBD-dominant hemp, these plants thrive in the Catskill’s sun, soil and water.

Arnica is notoriously difficult to establish and though Catskills Comfrey’s first effort failed, they now have a virile, healthy growth of arnica which is exceedingly easy to transplant from its roots. Calendula, on the other hand, is easy: throw it on the prepared soil, rake it slightly and it will germinate!

• Calendula is prolific and important medicinally, as is arnica. Calendula is a pleasure to harvest, offering the most beautiful, intense colors of orange and yellow. During harvest season, July-September, it’s an every-other-day Zen experience to walk the beds, picking the large blooms. And the more that is picked, the more calendula is encouraged to grow.

• Calendula is soothing to irritated skin. It’s both an anti-bacterial and an anti-inflammatory. It helps calm inflamed skin.

• Arnica is often recommended by surgeons for post-surgical healing (See Arnicare at your local drugstore.). It’s commonly applied to reduce bruising, for instance, in limbs where a broken bone has occurred. As an anti-inflammatory, it aids in reducing discomfort from sore muscles, joint pain, and arthritis.

• The Arnica & Calendula ointment is particularly well-suited for healing new tattoos, given that the ointment is completely ‘clean & green’ with no fragrances or synthetic ingredients.

“A customer with a non-vaginal yeast infection called to thank Catskills Comfrey for the completely positive response she had to apply the Arnica & Calendula blend to her yeast infection. The discomfort was down and it was healing. She had been using prescription drugs to no benefit”- Catskills Comfrey

Catskills Comfrey likes to get under your skin!

“These two ointments, the Original and the Arnica & Calendula blend, easily comprise 80% of our current sales. A large percentage of these sales are re-orders, attesting to their efficacy. We offer simple, natural solutions that depend on nature’s own products”.

At a time when a drug commercial spends half its time listing the ‘disbenefits’ associated with usage, it’s understandable that people are seeking reliable, responsibly produced, ‘clean & green’ topical ointments that offer results (without dire warnings!). Catskills Comfrey’s website has an extensive (and growing) resource of responsible reports and articles from the NIH, medical resources, and herbalists that lend credence to their success.

* In partnership with our friends at CATSKILLS COMFREY * Photo courtesy of CATSKILLS COMFREY
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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