I was recently introduced to a line of nutritional and skin care products that are not only certified vegan, but also unique and effective… Meet Kaeng Raeng.

I was fortunate enough to be able to try all the Kaeng Raeng products and was impressed by everything! The body care line, which was actually developed as a supplement to the nutritional line, is now part of my every day routine. Every product is part of a total body detoxing system. The idea is that we need to detox from the inside out. This is a philosophy I believe in, and realize that the convenience of making a shake can make this cleanse do-able for even the busiest people. Plus, with the cleanse, the directions mention that you can eat all the raw veggies and fruits you want, which means keeping up with your workouts and not being hungry (and grumpy) for the entire span of the cleanse. I think this is a huge bonus.

The other fact that attracted me to the company is that Kaeng Raeng’s nutritional and body care products are all 100% vegan and cruelty free, gluten free, non-gmo, caffeine free, soy free, peanut free, and contain NO artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives. They are also hand made in small batches right here in the USA with only locally sourced ingredients. They are even certified vegan by Vegan.org. This is not something that many companies can claim, and if you are like me, I want to support ecologically sound, cruelty free, local companies as often as possible.

Here is information on each individual product…

The Kaeng Raeng Cleanse:

Kaeng Raeng Cleanse is a nutritional meal replacement cleanse program that delivers you results without sacrificing taste, convenience, quality, or your sanity.

A short-term cleanse is a great way to reset your health, jumpstart weight loss, bolster immunity, improve digestion, and enhance skin and hair quality. Flush toxins and impurities and start feeling incredible!

Choose your timeline – either 3 or 6 day. The 6-Day program is ideal for those trying to lose weight. You’ll receive 3 packets per day (9 or 18 total) of the detox program you choose. The program is simple and straight forward: just drink one pouch per meal time (3 times per day). You can also eat as many raw fruits and veggies as you want! There’s no fasting, no starving yourself.

How to drink Kaeng Raeng Cleanses:

For the Health Novice:
Mix Kaeng Raeng into your favorite smoothie adding at least 24oz of water plus juice, non-dairy milk, and raw fruits and veggies.

For the Health Conscious:
Mix Kaeng Raeng with at least 18oz of water plus 4-8oz of juice.

For the Health Nut:
Mix Kaeng Raeng with just water.

Cleanse Ingredients:

Daily Green Energy:

Kaeng Raeng Daily Green Energy is an all natural, organic green superfood + protein powder drink mix with probiotics and energizing B vitamins. The Daily Green Energy is a great way to ease in or out of a Kaeng Raeng Cleanse and is safe for daily use. With caffeine free energy, 12 real fruits and vegetables, stomach-settling ginger, organic pea protein, and vegan probiotic cultures, the Daily Green Energy is a great way to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle. Use it for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or before or after your daily workout. Safe for use during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

How to drink Kaeng Raeng Daily Green Energy:

For the Health Novice:
Mix one pouch with your favorite smoothie adding at least 12oz of water plus juice, non-dairy milk, and raw fruits and veggies.

For the Health Conscious:
Mix one pouch with 6oz of water plus 2-6oz of juice.

For the Health Nut:
Mix with 8-12oz of water only.

Daily Green Energy is certified organic, certified vegan, and certified gluten free and made with only non-gmo ingredients.

Daily Green Energy Ingredients:

Kaeng Raeng’s Body Line

Cleansing Clay (Activated Charcoal Face Mask):

Our amazing, best-selling mask has been reformulated and made even better with a longer shelf life and smoother finish!

Draw out impurities and revitalize your skin with KR Cleansing Clay: your facial in a jar! Life & Style Weekly calls our clay a “Miracle in a Jar”! KR Cleansing Clay is a unique formulation of two highly absorptive clays and activated charcoal, an absorptive carbon that can attract and hold 200 times its volume in impurities, making it the perfect ingredient to help draw out toxins. High end spas charge several hundred dollars for these specialty masks, but now Kaeng Raeng has brought the spa to your home! KR Cleansing Clay contains powerful botanical healing properties, mineral rich exfoliation, and luxurious essential oils which help to improve circulation and calm irritated skin.

After Glow Facial Serum:

When you’ve finished your cleanse, you know your skin looks incredible. Keep up your new glow with After Glow, a daily nighttime moisturizing serum.

KR After Glow is a special, 4-way blend of antioxidant rich organic oils, handpicked for their abilities to brighten and renew skin. These luxury oils make our blend exceptionally rich in essential fatty acids, tocopherols (vitamin E) and phenols, carotenes, and squalene. These are all vital elements that defend against free radicals damage, brighten skin, and minimize fine lines for deeply hydrated, glowing skin. This must-have lightweight serum smooths on and absorbs quickly and deeply to make even the driest skin feel amazing. Lavender, Frankincense and Neroli Essential oils provide anti-bacterial properties to treat and prevent breakouts as well as powerful healing properties to help regenerate skin, fighting age spots and acne scars. Best for normal to dry skin.

How to Use: Apply a dime-sized amount to clean, dry skin daily at nighttime. One 1oz bottle lasts approximately 30 days.

Ingredients: Organic Grapeseed Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Rosehip Oil, Organic Argan Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Neroli Essential Oil, Frankincense Essential Oil, Rosemary Antioxidant (Extract)

Detoxfoliant Scrub:

Our new luxurious body scrub, the first in our natural body care line, exfoliates impurities and replenishes your skin, leaving a silky smooth finish you’ll have to feel to believe. Use it during a cleanse to extend detoxifying benefits, or enjoy daily. Don’t forget: what goes on your body goes in your body, so we kept it all natural and chemical free.

How to Use: In the shower or bath, stir contents of jar with stirring stick or finger then apply to wet skin. Massage gently, exfoliating dead skin cells. Rinse well and pat dry.

Ingredients: Himalayan Pink Salt, Dead Sea Salt, Organic Virgin Shea Butter, Organic Apricot Kernel Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Vanilla Absolute Essential Oil

So there you have it! You can buy products individually or choose one of their many different packages based on what you need (such as the “Beauty Package,” “Super Cleanse Package,” and “Bridal Party Package.” Give Kaeng Raeng a try and let me know how you like it!

14 Oct 2015

Ella Magers, MSW

Going Vegan Tips, Vegan Fashion, Vegan Product Reviews

Tags: cruelty free products, vegan lifestyle, vegan tattoo, vegan tattoo ink

Vegan-Friendly Tattoos

I have been itching for a new tattoo lately, but I want to do it right and make sure it’s vegan-friendly (and share my research with you of course)!

I would say I have two and an eighth tattoos now. Yes, an eighth lol… I had 3 that I got done between the ages of 17 and 20. The first was a tribal design on my lower back which would in later years be labeled a “tramp stamp” (I have come to embrace my tramp stamp over the years)! The second some Chinese characters on my ankle meaning “peace, light, and secure.” And last a female symbol with tribal art right below my bikini line. Well, I don’t know if the guy was nervous or what but he royally screwed that one up and I ended up getting 6 laser sessions to remove it. It’s almost gone, but I can still see the remnants so I consider it still an eighth there. I will finish the removal process eventually!

In the mean time, 10+ years have gone by (if I want to totally date myself), and I’ve been craving a new tattoo, one that truly represents who I am and what I stand for. I’m playing around with tons of ideas and as soon as I decide on the right one I will be ready to get it done. That’s why I want to go ahead and get the research done to make sure I end up with a truly vegan tattoo. Especially since the tattoo itself will have the word “VEGAN” in the design and I want it to spark vegan-related conversations with anyone and everyone I come across.

So here’s what I found out…

Finding a vegan tattoo shop would be the best case scenario… There’s one in Portland for example, called Scapegoat Tattoo Company. Then you have nothing to worry about! But since vegan tattoo shops are fairly few and far between, it’s important to at least find a shop where the owners and artists are understanding and helpful dealing with your request to have a fully vegan tattoo experience. In Miami, Gauntlet Tattoo for example, is one shop that uses vegan ink (they even advertise it on their website).

Some tattoo inks are made with animal products like bone char, glycerin from animal fat, gelatin from hooves, or shellac from beetles. So it’s important to ask if the tattoo shops/artists if they use vegan inks or if they can order some for you.

Some vegan brands of ink include:

Eternal
StarBrite
SkinCandy
Stable Color
Electric Ink USA
Dermaglo
Intenze
Fusion Tattoo Ink

It will be smart to take along your own razor, since the ones they have in-house may have a gel strip made from glycerin. Green soap, which is often used, is not vegan, so using a soap like Dr. Bronner’s is safe. Also, petroleum jelly is a vegan alternative to some A&D Ointment which can sometimes contain cod liver oil or lanolin.

And of course, We’ll want the tattoo-care products to be vegan as well.

Some vegan after-care products are:

Merry Hempsters Vegan Hemp Tattoo Balm
Black Cat Vitamin Infusion Serum
Ohana Organics Tattoo Butter
Dr. Bronner’s Body/Tattoo Balm
Jojoba oil
Coconut oil
Shea butter

When it comes to the safety of the ingredients in tattoo ink, we can’t rely on the FDA to help us out. They do not regulate tattoo ink. Beyond the ink, the other ingredient that carries the pigment into the skin is known as the carrier. Non-toxic versions of the carrier include purified water, glycerin (vegetable-based), and ethanol. White and black (iron) are the most toxic colors of conventional tattoo ink, and red pigments cause the most allergic reactions due to the iron oxide (rust), cinnabar, or cadmium red content. Bright and neon pigments often require plastics or chemicals so are best to avoid.

Some non toxic (and Vegan) ink ingredients include:

Black – carbon and logwood
White – titanium dioxide
Yellow – turmeric
Green – monoazo, a carbon-based pigment
Blue – sodium and aluminum (is that really safe?), many that contain copper are safe.
Red – Naphthol which can still cause a reaction
Purple – dioxazine and carbazole

Here is some vegan tattoo inspiration I got from Veganmarks.tumblr.com

I hope this helps… Please let me know if you have more suggestions and share your experiences!

Featured Image Photo Credit: Being Vegetarian on Tumblr

31 Aug 2015

Ella Magers, MSW

Vegan Product Reviews

Tags: cruelty free cosmetics, cruelty free products, vegan beauty, vegan products

Biossance – Plant-Based Skin Revitalizer Review

I was recently asked to participate in the Biossance “Embodied Project” by trying out “THE REVITALIZER” skin hydration drops for 30 days…

I read all about it to make sure it was vegan of course. It is. Squalane is a moisturizer found naturally in both plants and animals. THE REVITALIZER is made from 100% plant-derived squalane so I said, “Sure, why not?!”

My skin tends to be dry, but it also breaks out sometimes with all the working out and sweating I do here in Miami Beach, so finding products that can tackle both issues can be a challenge. I was excited to give it a shot, and it soon arrived in the mail, packaged with elegance.

The directions said to gently apply 2-3 drops onto cleansed face, neck, and body day and night. I decided to use it primarily on my face and neck where my skin is most sensitive. I immediately liked how it felt on my skin… smooth and moisturizing. I was concerned it would be greasy or cause “shine” on my face but it did not. I consistently used it for the next 4 weeks. I found that my skin truly did seem to become softer and healthier looking and feeling. It also did not make me break out as I had feared. I therefore give two thumbs up to this product!

It also says it can be used as a hair serum for shine, softness, and to tame fly-aways, for cuticles, and dry skin patches. I haven’t tried out these different uses yet.

Check out their website. Let me know what you think!

Tag Archives: cruelty free products

Detox From the Inside Out With Kaeng Raeng