sevi v-log 2 : how to use liquid soap as shampoo, tips + tricks from sevi : eco vegan bodycare.

water content in formulations and DIY spray leave in conditioner from sevi : eco vegan bodycare.

this is me on the topic “water is a filler”, hopefully it will allow the open ended conversation to find its momentum.

keep asking your questions and we promise to add our honest thoughts in the brew.

start a #conversation + keep it going!
sevi

4Mundo . intro from Eco Sevi on Vimeo.

Having my 4 year old with me 18×7, I am able to get a glimpse of what things look + feel like through her eyes more and more and I feel so lucky! They say having kids make you younger, perhaps there is some truth in that saying. Anti-aging at its best.

I never thought I’d forget how to play and yet somehow I have. Looking at Ayla the other day, I realized that my daughter is my Neverland.

Eyes gleaming she ran across my studio and giggled as potato starch peanuts “chased” her. Then she saw me and with that adorable voice she asked me to play “family” with her, as she has done a million times before. This time instead of saying later, I said yes. I walked away from the printer that kept on spitting out orders and turned away from the loads of e-mails piling up in a blink of an eye.

We sat down amongst the boxes, peanuts and played. Then made some paper bats out of old invoices + painted them w/ herbal teas. Made faces on paper Speesees clothing tags + hung them. Then laid on the ground and watched them spin above us. “They are like fairies”, said Ayla. “Yup”, I agreed. “And we are the flowers, laying low”, I added. We giggled.

Did I feel younger when I stood up?

You bet!

Enjoy today, unplug often, play w/ your kids as much as you can.

xo
sevi

Noticing that we ran out of some of our regular “super” foods (organic chai a total must here!) at the workshop, we headed to the market. After filling our bags w/ extremely delicious snacks for our workshop, we headed to my car.

On the way, a noticed a man with a pitbull (ish dog) and as he took a few steps towards me, he was mumbling something.

I went on autopilot, looked away and said, “no thank you!”.

As we loaded our bags, I watched him stand there and try to speak to anyone who passed by or pull in.

Everyone went on autopilot.

No eye contact, hand gestures that said “don’t bother me”. And then I watched him hang his head down and step back. His dog followed.

I felt ashamed. Not because I did not offer to help, but that I had refused to listen.

I left my bags in the cart and walked towards him. Then I asked him to repeat himself. He was surprised. Unsure of himself, he spoke with a low voice.

He was hungry, his dog was hungry, he was homeless, he was not from around here, needed money for food.

I listened.

It felt good to listen, yet painful to hear + see (humanity at this level).

Food is all I can offer, I replied. Still a tad on autopilot and keeping my distance.

He was happy with that, so in to the market we went. While grabbing some food for both we ran into the store manager. Customers had been complaining about a homeless man on the lot and he was looking for him. After explaining to the store manager that this man was hungry and that we had just gotten him and his dog some food, he actually stopped moving around. He listened.

I pretty much told him what I am telling you now, however suddenly I noticed that everyone around us had stopped moving, texting, looking away and were listening.

That very moment, we all heard each other. We listened. We all had eye contact. It was a good moment.

The store manager agreed to allow them to sit and eat on the premise. Another good moment.

Out we went and they were waiting for us.

We handed their food, spoke with him a bit (going over the shelter info etc.) and wished him the best.

When we drove off, I honked and waved at him.

In the blink of an eye, I noticed that he waved back at me with a thankful look.

And that he was feeding his dog first and had not even touched his food.

And that a lot was stirred in me.

Realizing (once again) how much I have to be thankful for, I felt a jolt of enormous joy. Seeing how I had behaved, how everyone in the parking lot behaved, I felt a deep sadness. Practicing listening, I witnessed the result.

Five senses, one perfectly good lesson for me to remember.

Practice listening. I just found out that it may get rusty without practice.

It will remain in my practice list from here on.

xoxo.
sevi

peace + flowers

Truly green packaging is no obstacle when you have tons of cash. Bluntly put and blatantly true — especially for an indie.

Using stock packaging in itself can be somewhat eco-friendly, it eliminates creating/transporting something just for one user, but when you need a biodegradable packaging for your equally eco-friendly product, you find yourself hitting a brick steel wall. Hard!

Making a product green is hardly a trick for a willing and determined indie, but filling + labeling + packaging is.

I have been making products for over a decade now and to this day my favorite material is glass. However if the packaging hinders the product from functioning, then it is fairly difficult to promote and sell the product.

That brings me to lip balm packaging. I’d love to use glass pots, so easy to clean, recycle or even reuse! However after getting some feedback, I know many (myself included) do not like to use fingers to apply products to lips. That leaves us with plastic tubes and the waste (about 250 million tubes a year) alone has stopped me from using them. That and the fact that creating a petroleum free product and selling it in a petroleum derived (plastic) container sounds a bit like…and oxymoron no?

So I put the balms on the back burner and have not been able to find affordable and truly green packaging for our balms for several years now.

This morning I got a gentle reminder from an old customer (from 2001) — she was still waiting for me to bring the balms back!

I decided to devote my morning for thorough search and to my surprise discovered several possible options. Who would have thunk it, I ran into something that was not available 2 years ago.

Hello cloud, I see your silver lining.

This industry, like all others, is fueled by demand. If there is enough demand for eco-friendly options, then the manufacturers will make them and make them for all to purchase.

Demand better, ask for innovation and support companies, especially indies, that are trying to spearheading what seems impossible.

Taking some of my own medication, I shot an e-mail to an indie company this morning, asking them if they would think of creating a lip balm tube made of paper. I got a reply back fairly fast. I’d love to tell you, but I rather hear what you think. Care to guess?

Sunshine + love,
Sevi

please note that this sale is for retail customers only, stockists, please contact wholesale (at) ecosevi (dot) com

be well + <3

Scrumptious Cupuacu Butter folded into Organic Argan Oil comes your way in a pomade form, Cupuacu Argan Moisture Pomade. We love this to lock moisture + seal the cuticle. Yay!

You have asked for a leave in conditioner and here we go! Argan Babassu Hair Lotion to the rescue.

We had requests from our Blue Yarrow Styling Gel lovers that some of you needed more oil in your hair care regiment. Many of you tested this formula for us and we thank you all for making it uber amazing. Meet our Argan Babassu Styling Serum, perfect oil combo (Argan, Babassu and Broccoli Seed) that will allow you to style, define and moisturize at the same time. Look ma, I love my Broccoli (Tee hee!)

From our workshop with love…