If you recently moved to natural/organic shower products, whether it be shampoo, conditioner, cleanser, or moisturizer, you might be wondering if it's okay to leave the products in the shower for convenience. Because there are so many products out in the market, I can only give a general answer but with sound reasoning. If you are wondering for a specific product, I would email the support for that specific brand.

Overall, yes you can leave natural products in the shower. However make sure to close the lid completely and tightly after every use. Also, keep the bathroom ventilated so that it can dry completely between showers/use. A couple of ways to do this would be to keep the shower curtain open, open windows if you have them, and keep the bathroom door open after using it. Any type of dampness is perfect breeding ground for some type of bacteria or microbe. This is especially true if the product does not have preservatives, which is characteristic of most natural products and one of the reasons you probably switched to natural. If you follow these steps the products should be good for about 5-8 weeks.

If you have a product that comes in a large batch, a good idea might be to invest in a smaller container or jar that you can keep in the bathroom. This way you can keep the original in a dry, cool place and have a small portion of it in the shower. This is why ClearLee sends their Mineral Water Mud Mask/Cleanser in 4 packs for their Clear Skin Set so that you can always have one in the shower and not worry about contaminating the rest. I hope this answered a question that was on your mind and that you learned something new. If you have any questions or comments about this article or want to ask a question for me to answer in a future post, please post them down below and I’ll be sure to read and respond to them. Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you next time!

Let’s say you’re on vacation with your friends or live with many people in one household. It might not make sense to have a separate tweezer, nail clipper, or even ear picker for each and every person. But, when you go to borrow or use the same instrument that someone else was using, something about it might seem uneasy, dirty, or infectious. You don’t know if it’s from elementary education or a science class, but something about germs or uncleanliness catches your mind when you are attempting to use someone else’s hygienic tools.

So is it OK to borrow or share the same tweezers, nail clippers, and ear pickers? The answer is YES, but of course it comes with a few precautions. You always want to disinfect before using the same tools that someone else just used. There are a couple way to do this.

• The best way to disinfect the tools is washing them with soap and water and then putting them in boiling water for a couple minutes. This method will make the tools as good as brand new in terms of cleanliness. But we all know how much of a hassle it would be to boil the tools after every use.
• Another way that is almost as good as boiling is using rubbing alcohol or ethanol to disinfect. Just spray or dip the tool in the alcohol and let it dry. If you want to go an extra step, there is a sterilization technique in the biological research world where you dip the tool in ethanol and then hold it over a flame to kill all the bacteria. For example, if you were using a tweezer, you can dip the tips into alcohol and the hold it over a flame for 2 seconds to sterilize. This is best for metal tools but it can even be done for plastics. Make sure you cool it for a minute or two if you use the flame and be careful!
• Just wash with soap and water. This is not a bad method but I would definitely say it is not the best either. I would use this as a last resort method because it is very hard or near impossible to reach and wash every corner of something as small as a nail clipper. Chances of you washing it completely and correctly is unlikely. But, if there is no other option, you can do this. Just make sure to dry the tools completely to avoid bacteria growth.

Is it okay to share with a person that as an infection if I disinfect? The answer is yes, but I would definitely advise against it. Let’s say your friend or family gets an ear infection but you two share the same ear picker. There would be no problem with you using the same ear picker if it is disinfected and sterilized completely. In fact, many hospitals recycle surgery tools (those really heavy, metal ones you might see in a TV show or movie) but they have a whole department, staff, and machinery dedicated to sterilizing equipment. Why I advise against you using the same tools as an infected person, even after disinfecting, is simply because you most likely do not have a machine like an autoclave to completely disinfect and sterilize. So why even risk it? I say it’s better to invest $5-10 and completely avoid the risk than to risk it and maybe end up paying a hospital bill.

Hope this answered a question you were thinking of. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for a future post, please post them down below and I’ll be sure to read them. Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you next time!

If you’ve ever bought products that come in a jar or circular container, like our Mineral Water Mud Mask/Cleanser, you might have noticed a sealing disc (usually white) on top of the opening of the jar. If you’re like me, then starts the ultimate dilemma of whether you should throw it away or if you should keep it. Many of you might decide, “I’ll keep it,” because it makes the product look nice but the moment you get a smear on it, you end up throwing it out because it looks ugly or dirty. So the question is, “Should I keep the sealing disc on my products?”

Simply speaking from a scientific point, YES. If we ditch the aesthetics and forget about smears and “ugliness,” we should always keep the inner lid. The plastic provides an extra layer of protection for your products against air and light. Why is this important? Exposure to both air and light can break down many active ingredients in a product. For example, if you ever bought essential oils, you might notice that almost all of them come in a brown or green tinted glass jar. This is because many essential oils have active ingredients like vitamin C and retinol, which break down when it comes into direct contact with light.

We all know how pricey skincare products can be. So if you want to protect your product so that you preserve its quality and effectiveness, you should definitely save the inner lid because it is usually placed there by companies for more than the “because it looks nice” reasoning. Hope this helps solve a simple cosmetic question you may have. If you have any other questions or comments please post them down below and I’ll be sure to respond. Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you next time.

“How do I get rid of my acne?” “What can I do to cover up acne?” “What is the best acne treatment out there?” These are just a few of the common questions about acne that almost everyone asks some time in their journey through life. Then there are the follow up questions. “Why doesn’t this product work for me?” “How come my friend’s acne is getting better but not mine when we have the same skin routine?” “Do I have to go see a dermatologist?”

These are all really good questions! But, what I find surprising when talking with people or reading other blogs and articles (minus the scientific/research papers) is that most people don’t ask the most important and key question. “Why do we get acne?” By understanding even the basics of acne, so many of the questions above can be answered and may even help find the solution to it. So before you go pay an extreme amount of money at the dermatologist, simply study up a little and try out a couple, more affordable things. Here, I will do my best to explain why we get acne without getting too scientific, so that it can serve as a building block in your skin care knowledge.

Acne vulgaris, or more commonly known as acne, is a chronic skin disease that almost everyone in the world suffers from. In general, we can break down the reason of their formation to four factors:

1) Your outer skin cells grow/multiply too fast that they plug up your follicles

2) Your skin creates excess sebum (an oily secretion that your skin creates to lubricate and waterproof the skin and hair) causing clogging 

3) Microbial infection

4) Inflammation

Genetics and stress also play a huge role in acne, which is why your skin might not react the same way to products or environments like your friend’s does. For example, your skin cells multiplying too fast can definitely be due to genes you inherited from your parents (don’t get mad at them!). Or your immune system might be too sensitive and react to every little bacteria and product even if they aren’t harmful! On top of that, how much stress you have and how your body handles it may differ from other people. But don’t worry, there are little tricks around each factor and I’ll do my best to target all of them!

Hopefully by now, you are starting to get a sense of why the same acne treatment or skin care regime doesn’t work for everyone. If not, here is an example. Let’s say the reason you are getting acne is because of your skin cells growing too fast. You decide one day that you are going to treat your acne and start going to the dermatologist to get shots to fight against infection. You can see how this will prove useless and just waste time and money. Of course, I would expect your dermatologist to run exams first to determine the reason(s) for your acne but, it doesn’t hurt to know yourself.

 So here’s a basic guideline you can try at home to try targeting the source of your acne.

1) Try exfoliating. If your skin cells are multiplying too fast (known as follicular epidermal hyperproliferation), exfoliating your skin a couple times a week may help prevent the plugging of the follicles.

2) Don’t wash your face with just water but use soap. Washing your face with just water will only dry out your skin. If your skin is already producing excess sebum, the last thing you want to do is dry out your skin to make your skin think it needs to make even more! Washing your face with soap can also help prevent bacterial infection.

3) Use a mud mask or something that will suck out and absorb excess oils on your skin. This will help your acne by preventing the clogging of pores with excess sebum.

4) Try using a couple of essential oils known for anti-inflammatory or astringent properties. Lavender, Frankincense, Rosemary, Ginger, Carrot Seed, Juniper, and Patchouli are all great examples but there are many more! If you have already oily skin, try putting 1 or 2 drops into an oil free lotion and moisturizing your face with it.

Now, unfortunately the world is not perfectly linear and more than one of the factors can be causing your acne. So to target all the factors, David and I created the Clear Skin Set by ClearLee. The Mineral Water Mud Mask/Cleanser not only exfoliates but also draws out all the unwanted oils of the skin. Factors 1 and 2 down! It even has rosemary and lavender essential oils to help with inflammation. Then the Mineral Water Toner comes into play to rehydrate and condition your skin. It has tea tree oil, which is known for its amazing antiseptic properties. Factor 3 down! Finally, the Mineral Water Moisturizer not only moisturizes your skin, but also has jojoba oil, which mimics your natural sebum. It will tell your skin there is enough sebum and to slow down production, which is awesome if you are producing too much sebum. On the other hand, if your skin naturally does not produce enough sebum, it will act in its place and help the lubricating process. All three products also have essential oils with anti-inflammatory and astringent properties. Factor 4 down!

I’m not against going to the dermatologist. In fact, I encourage it! Dermatologists are experts in the field of skin care and I know how hard each and every one of them worked to get there. However, I also know that it is not feasible for many people today, so hopefully I provided a little knowledge as to how to go about targeting your acne without destroying your bank roll. If you have any questions or comments, please mention them below and I will do my best to answer! I will also be coming out with video segments answering all these questions so stay tuned at our Youtube channel. Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you next time.