Kabana's Ingredients Information

Eldorado Springs Artesian Spring Water

Eldorado Springs Artesian Spring Water is used in Kabana’s formula because it is one of the purest natural water sources in the world. Kabana doesn’t use deionized or distilled water like most skin care companies because we recognize the importance of maintaining an ionic balance similar to the fluids of your body. Water from the Eldorado Springs source begins as rain and snow and percolates through the Rocky Mountains just east of the continental divide into an aquifer 8,000 feet below the source. Its geological isolation leads to unsurpassed purity and ionic balance, and the bottling process undertakes no chemical adulteration in any form.

Additional information about the Spring Water used in Kabana Products:
Source: Eldorado Springs
Spring Water Chemical Analysis
Spring Water Chemical Analysis (pdf)

Lanolin

Lanolin – Humans have known about the skin healing effects of Lanolin for millennia, however this knowledge was originally primarily limited to shepherds who regularly handled sheep and wool. As wool textiles became an industry, Lanolin became a by-product of wool production. It serves sheep as a natural water-proofing and strengthens their hair. Since it’s produced by a sheep’s hair follicles, it’s a major component of raw wool. People found that by heating the wool, the lanolin could be removed, which makes the wool easier to manipulate and more appealing to people who want to wear wool clothing. No one wants to smell like a sheep while wearing a wool sweater!

The medical community has long recognized Lanolin as an excellent emollient. Emollients are compounds that have the capacity to seal moisture in the skin, which makes it soft and youthful. Lanolin is a particularly special emollient since it allows the skin to breath, unlike many of the synthetic petroleum-derived moisturizers on the market. Lanolin also has the capacity to molecularly bind to water, which further increases its emollient properties when applied to skin. In fact, anhydrous Lanolin can associate with twice its weight of water, making it an excellent emulsifying agent and providing stability to oil/water mixtures, otherwise called lotions and creams.

Since Lanolin is a thick waxy substance at room temperature and has a mild but characteristic odor, it’s not a particularly pleasant material to use in its pure form. As a result, all consumer products cut it with various other materials, normally from petroleum oil, like petrolatum. Kabana was originally conceived by appreciation of a particular Lanolin formula – Vitamin A & D Ointment, which contains petrolatum and Lanolin, and has been regularly recommended by doctors for treatment of babies’ diaper rash as well as mothers' sore nipples. The original Kabana formula, Unguent E, used tropical butters to replace the petrolatum, making it an entirely botanical product, and even more effective. Unguent E may be resurrected in the future as a product line, though the addition of zinc oxide to Kabana Crème™ is an even more effective diaper rash treatment, since zinc oxide also acts against fungus and is also a skin protectant.

In the past, Lanolin has received some bad press because it was believed to cause allergic reactions in some people. This problem was found to be caused not so much by the Lanolin itself, but instead the fact that low quality Lanolin is often contaminated by other fat soluble toxic chemicals used in agriculture, such as pesticides and fertilizers, which can be quite allergy inducing when applied to skin. Compounding the contamination problem were pesticides that are no longer legal to use in the United States. The Lanolin used in Kabana products and distributed by our supplier Fanncor is the finest, highest quality Lanolin available and the only one still produced in the United States – it is called Superfine Anhydrous Lanolin USP, and is approved by the most stringent ingredient regulatory agency, the United States Pharmacopoiea.

Additional information about the Lanolin used in Kabana Products:
Lanolin Supplier
Lanolin USP Certificate of Analysis (pdf)
Lanolin USP Technical Specifications (pdf)
Lanolin USP Material Safety Data Sheet (pdf)

External sites with information on Lanolin:
1. Natural oils in personal care products
2. Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia – Lanolin
3. Lanolin – Demythologized – Dr. Steve Orr

Interesting Abstracts
1. The myth of lanolin allergy

Shea Butter

All Shea Butter is inherently wild crafted organic because as yet the Karité tree, from which the shea nut is produced, cannot be cultivated. Unlike synthetic skin care chemicals that have been used on people only for decades and compose the majority of all mass marketed skin care products, Shea Butter has been used by humans to protect their skin and in their diets for thousands of years. It is very rich in Omega-6 linoleic and Omega-9 oleic Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) which comprise over 50% of Shea Butter by weight. It also contains large, naturally occurring concentrations of retinol, which has been clinically shown to reduce wrinkles, as well as various highly beneficial naturally-occurring UV absorbers, antioxidants and Omega-3 EFAs.

Shea Butter comes from the nuts of the Karité tree, which grows wild along the rivers and within rain forests and savanna of sub-Saharan and West Africa. It is prized by local communities as both a skin treatment and an edible commodity. The Shea Butter used in Kabana’s products comes from Ghana, and is produced by the Naasakle fair trade cooperative. Naasakle'’s fair trade development policies promote a standard of living otherwise unachievable by other indigenous economic activities.

For more information on the history of shea butter, free trade and sustainability, please see Kabana’s shea butter supplier’s website, Naasakle.

Additional information about the Shea Butter used in Kabana Products:
Shea Butter Supplier
Shea Butter Certificate of Analysis (pdf)
Shea Butter Technical Specifications (pdf)
Shea Butter Material Safety Data Sheet (pdf)

External sites with information on Shea Butter:
1. American Shea Butter Institute
2. Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia – Shea Butter

Interesting Abstracts
1. Regional variation in shea butter lipid and triterpene content in four African countries
2. Influence of climate on the tocopherol content of shea butter
3. Phenolic constituents of shea kernels

Cocoa Butter

Cocoa Butter is similar in fatty acid content to Shea butter, which can be used in place of cocoa butter for manufacturing chocolate when cocoa butter prices are high. Also like Shea butter, Cocoa butter is a solid at room temperature that melts on contact with skin. It’s an excellent emollient that actively moisturizes skin by sealing and protecting it. It contains various vitamins, essential fatty acids and antioxidants that further protect the skin, particularly when exposed to sunlight, which is one of the reasons it is often found in sun care products. The cocoa butter used in Kabana products is qualified as prime press and also smells exquisitely chocolaty. It’s the same type of cocoa butter used to make chocolate!

Cocoa butter is produced from a nut that grows in long pods on the cocoa tree, called Theobroma cacao. You’re probably primarily familiar with it in chocolate, as it is a key component along with sugar, lecithin and the other cocoa nut extract, cocoa powder. The tree grows in tropical climates 20 degrees north and south of the equator. Ghana is one of the largest exporters of cocoa commodities, where it is raised as a cash crop, often grown utilizing sustainable organic agriculture processes without damaging rainforest ecosystems, because the cocoa tree will grow in the shade below the rainforest canopy. There are 30 to 40 beans per cocoa pod, which must be harvested by hand, broken apart to release the bean, dried, lightly fermented, roasted, crushed and pressed to recover the cocoa butter – quite a process! All cocoa butter used in Kabana products is the prime pressed variety, which has absolutely no additives and is as pure and natural as cocoa butter can be.

Additional information about the Cocoa Butter used in Kabana Products:
Cocoa Butter Supplier
Cocoa Butter Certificate of Analysis (pdf)
Cocoa Butter Technical Specifications (pdf)
Cocoa Butter Material Safety Data Sheet (pdf)

External sites with information on Cocoa Butter:
1. Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia – Cocoa Butter
2. Purdue Horticulture New Crop Database – Cocoa
3. Purdue Horticulture New Crop Lecture 18 - Cocoa
4. Food reference website
5. Natural Health Products Technology Cluster – Coco and Chocolate as Functional Foods

Interesting Abstracts
1. Cocoa and chocolate flavonoids,: implications for cardiovascular health
2. Chemopreventative effects of cocoa polyphenols on chronic diseases
3. Regular consumption of flavanol-rich chocolate can improve oxidant stress in young soccer players

Mango Butter

Mango butter is yet another tropical butter that has a similar composition to Shea and Cocoa, however the fatty acid content profile is slightly different and enhances the spectrum of natural EFAs, antioxidants and vitamins that Kabana products offer. It smells sweet and nutty in its pure form, generally has a warm creamy color and is solid at room temperature. It also melts at body temperature or upon contact with skin and disperses smoothly, providing a protective, emollient layer.

Mangos are another tropical plant that can be cultivated in union with the rainforest, providing a viable livelihood for both humans and ecosystems. The mango butter used in Kabana products is sourced from organic farms. Its production method uses no solvents or other chemicals which can remain in the finished product and result in unnecessary consumer exposure.

The Mango Butter used in Kabana products is refined by a physical filtration process, which removes undesirable components such as nutshell particulates, and filtration through activated charcoal, which removes other undesirable and unpleasant odors to yield the purified oils. It is sourced from a company that specializes in tropical butters and oils, Biochemica.

Additional Information about the Mango Butter used in Kabana Products:
Mango Butter Supplier
Mango Butter Certificate of Analysis (pdf)
Mango Butter Technical Specifications (pdf)
Mango Butter Material Safety Data Sheet (pdf)

External sites with information on Mango Butter
1. Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia – Mango Butter
2. Purdue Horticulture New Crop Database – Mango

Interesting Abstracts
1. Mango seed uses: thermal behavior of mango seed almond fat and its mixtures with cocoa butter
2. Preventing hepatocyte oxidative stress cytotoxicity with Magnifera indica L. extract (Vimang)
3. Accumulation of all-trans-beta-carotene and its 9-cis and 13-cis stereoisomers during postharvest ripening of nine Thai mango cultivars.

Zinc Oxide

Zinc Oxide is the safest broad spectrum and effective mineral sunscreen active ingredient on Earth. Although approved by FDA for use in sunscreens to only 25%, the Sinc Oxide is approved for use in diaper rash creams to 50%, which illustrates its safety, since inflamed babies' bottoms are perhaps the most sensitive human skin on the planet. It is the most common ore for the production of zinc metal, and is extracted directly from the Earth. A common misconception by the popular media and physicians including dermatologists is that Zinc Oxide functions by reflecting and scattering UV light. This logical in that the compound is white and reflects in the visible spectrum, but is simply not the case in the UV spectrum - it absorbs UV light via band gap absorption. Zinc Oxide is a refractory mineral, or, in other words, classified as a ceramic. As such is it extremely non-reactive, which is a very good thing since a significant amount of energy is associated with the absorbance of UV radiation. In fact, most other carbon-based chemicals, like methoxycinnamate, oxybenzone, benzophenone, etc., which are commonly encountered hydrocarbon-chemical sunscreens, absorb UV but become reactive due to this energy absorbance and can subsequently damage your DNA and cells. Repeated hits to your DNA and skin cells due to UV exposure eventually result in various forms of skin cancer, which is why avoiding repeated sunburn is so important. Unlike the hydrocarbon or petrochemical sunscreens that are used in all the mass marketed sunscreen products, Zinc Oxide converts the UV energy it absorbs into harmless heat, which is the best possible place for this energy to go.

The carbon-based sunscreens are problematic in other ways too, as many do not biodegrade and often mimic normal human hormones (see references below). This is the primarly reason most tropical aquatic parks in Mexico and other vacation destinations have outlawed their use. In Humans, excess exposure to these compounds can disrupt our endocrine system and normal bodily functioning, potentially leading to diseases such as breast and cervical cancer, allergies, and have been associated with early puberty in young girls. Avobenzone (also known under the trade name of Parsol 1789), which is one of the most common synthetic sunscreen chemicals, has been found to accumulate on the sea floor off California and feminizes male fish, disrupting normal reproductive capacities. Oxybenzone, which is one of the more potent xenoestrogenic sunscreens, was recently measured in the blood of 97% of American test subjects in this study done by the Center for Disease Control. Given what is commonly understood about these chemicals, why take the added risks when safe alternatives like Green Screen exist?

Zinc Oxide also has other beneficial properties for skin. It has been used as the active ingredient in baby powder and diaper rash creams for decades to eliminate fungal infections associated with diaper rash. The fact that FDA has approved the use of zinc oxide in diaper rash preparations to the level of 50% further illustrates its safety, indeed the inflamed and sore skin of a baby's bottom is probably the most sensitive skin on the planet! Zinc Oxide has been demonstrated by medical researchers to be effective against more pathogenic organisms than only fungus and mold, including Staph, which is one of the most common infectious bacteria that our skin comes into contact. Staph in turn, has been found to be present in various skin problems at levels undetectable by traditional culture methods and that have been difficult to treat by conventional medicine. The fact that Kabana Crème™ contains Zinc Oxide that is effective in killing Staph bacteria could be one of the reasons many of Kabana’s customers have found Kabana Crème™ extremely useful in helping to heal their skin problems. Kabana's Naturally Effective Deodorant keeps you smelling fresh because it controls bacterial populations that cause to body odor.

The Zinc Oxide used in Kabana products is not a nanoparticle form. We originally used nanoparticle Zinc Oxide but decided that it would be a good idea to eliminate it from our ingredients given the negative information on nanoparticles that has been published in the media. (Lots of this hype in the media is weakly scientifically supported - prior to nanotechnology these particles were called "dust" and "smoke" - but why take any more chances? Kabana products are designed to minimize health risk!) Kabana is now the sole manufacturer of rigorously natural mineral based sunscreen that does not use nanoparticles! This particle size has been questioned by various environmentalists as lacking sufficient safety information. The Zinc Oxide we use is not processed directly from zinc ore; rather, it is made from ultra-pure zinc metal, which enables it to be free of other commonly occurring metals present in the environment, such as heavy metals that should be avoided. The company that manufactures this Zinc Oxide is US Zinc, which is now a subsidiary of Aleris. This Zinc Oxide is produced via a gas-phase (as in oxygen and zinc gas) process that results in no waste water or other liquid pollutants. US Zinc has ongoing dedication to producing its products in ways that are environmentally sustainable.

Additional Information about Zinc Oxide used in Kabana Products:
Zinc Oxide Supplier
Summary of Antimicrobial Effects in Literature (pdf)
Zinc Oxide Material Safety Data Sheet (pdf)
How FDA calculates SPF - The Minimal Erythemal Dose (MED) Test (pdf)

External sites with information on Zinc Oxide:
1. Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia – Zinc Oxide
2. WholeHealthMD.com – Zinc Oxide

Interesting Abstracts
1. Intact skin – an integrity not to be lost
2. Skin benefits from continuous topical administration of a zinc oxide/petrolatum formulation
3. Sunscreens – Which and What for?
4. Ultraviolet light and Rosacea
5. Sunscreens – the ultimate cosmetic
6. Distribution of sunscreens on skin
7. Microfine zinc oxide is superior sunscreen ingredient compared to microfine titanium dioxide
8. Bioconvertible vitamin antioxidants improve sunscreen photoprotection against UV-induced reactive oxygen species.

Scientific Papers about negative effects of synthetic sunscreen petrochemicals
1. Estrogenic activity and estrogen receptor Beta binding of the UV filter 3-benzylidene camphor - Comparison with 4-methylbenzylidene camphor.
2. Lack of in vitro protection by a common sunscreen ingredient on UV-induced cytotoxicity in keratinocytes
3. Endocrine disrupters: A human risk?
4. Changes in ultraviolet absorbance and hence in protective efficacy against lipid peroxidation of organic sunscreens after UVA irradiation (organic in this case means carbon-based chemical/petrochemical)
5. Determination of the In Vitro SPF and comparison to In Vivo methods
6. An In Vitro Systematic Spectroscopic Examination of the Photostabilities of a Random Set of Commercial Sunscreen Lotions and their chemical UVB/UVA Active Agents
7. Multi-Organic Endocrine Disrupting Activity of the UV Screen Benzophenone-2 (BP2) Ovariectomized Adult Rats After 5 Days Treatment (lack of ovaries prevents production of estrogen and allows measurement of BP2's estrogenic effects)
8. Concentrations of the Sunscreen Agent, Benzophenone-3 (Oxybenzone), in Residents of the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2004. Published March 21 2008 by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Essential Oils

Essential oils impart Kabana Crème™’s delightful fragrances. All the Essential oils used in Kabana products have been extracted from botanical sources by processes that use no petroleum oil or solvents, so as to eliminate the chances of residual contamination. Generally these oils are steam distilled or pressed directly from the leaves and flowers of the plant. Wherever possible, Kabana uses the highest grade of essential oil that is approved for use in foods; so you can be confident that you’re treating your largest organ – skin – with the same high quality nourishment you ingest on a daily basis for maintenance of the rest of your body.

Essential Oil suppliers
www.mountainroseherbs.com
Jujur Mujur Co, Indonesia
www.lebermuth.com
www.royalaromatics.com

Essential Oil Descriptions
A good description list

Jojoba Oil

Jojoba, a Spanish word pronounced “hohoba,” is quite a different emollient compared to the other butters used in Kabana products. Instead of being composed of fatty acids and triglycerides like the tropical butters, jojoba is a liquid wax composed of long chain esters. Its structure is more similar to lanolin. Traditionally, liquid wax used in cosmetics came from the bodily fats of the Sperm Whale, which became internationally protected in the 1970s due to its endangered population status, eliminating it as a source for this material. Jojoba oil proved that is was actually much better than sperm oil as a cosmetic ingredient, which paved the way for agricultural development of this sustainable oil that originally grew wild in the Sonoran Desert of Mexico and the southwest United States. The shrub is an amazing organism; it can live up to 100 years and grow over 10 feet tall; it resists drought, demands little water and tolerates weak salty soils, so it’s a great crop in areas where little else grows well.

As with most of Kabana’s ingredients, local indigenous populations used Jojoba for myriad purposes, including medicinal applications for wound healing and scar reduction, as well as appetite suppression due to its production of Simmondsin, a hunger-reducing compound that accumulates in the bean. Today, the Jojoba plant, Simmondsia chinensis, is grown as an agricultural commodity in dry regions such as Chile and the sonoran deserts of Arizona and Mexico. The waxy compounds it produces to enable its survival in adverse climates are what makes it so beneficial to human skin. These fabulously emollient liquid waxes are primarily found in the leaves and nuts, which are processed with a cold expeller press to extract the substance. The agricultural process Purcell Jojoba supports is free from pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, yielding an unsurpassed raw material for inclusion in Kabana products.

Organic Jojoba Jojoba oil in Green Screen™ serves multiple purposes. It helps maintain the liquid emulsion that allows Green Screen™ SPF 15 to remain in a lotion state at a warm room temperature, and more importantly, serves as an additional antioxidant that protects your skin from reactive compounds produced when your skin absorbs solar radiation. The more antioxidants that are present to quench these free radicals, the less damage the sun does, which in turn limits cancer risk and the amount of premature aging your skin will experience over time.

Organic Golden Jojoba Oil Supplier
Cold Expeller Press Extraction Process (pdf)
Jojoba Oil Technical Specifications (pdf)

External sites with information on Jojoba Oil
1. Wikipedia – the free encyclopedia – Jojoba Oil
2. Purdue Horticulture New Crop Database – Jojoba
3. Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine – Jojoba oil

Interesting Abstracts
1. Anti-inflammatory effects of jojoba liquid wax in experimental models
2. The satiating effect of a diet containing jojoba meal (Simmondsia chinensis) in dogs.
3. Combined modality treatment of aromatherapy, footsoak, and reflexology relieves fatigue in patients with cancer.

Soy Lecithin

Depending upon the degree of purification and application as an ingredient, Soy Lecitihin is either a tan to brown syrup-like liquid or tan granular material. The Soy Lecithin used in Kabana Creme™ and Green Screen™ is unbleached and unrefined, and looks like deep-brown honey. Lecithin is a complex mixture of phospholipids, triglycerides, EFAs, sterols and glycolipids, all of which are primary biochemical building blocks of cell membranes, and together maintain membrane flexibility and proper physiological functioning. Various compounds in lecithin are also key components of and maintenance material for the nervous system, and the various components of lecithin are prevalent in large amounts in our brains. Some research suggests dietary lecithin is useful for limiting neurodegenerative processes involved in multiple scherosis and senile dimentia as well as reduced cholesterol levels in blood. Choline, another component of lecithin is a precursor for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is involved in memory processes.

Integration of Soy Lecithin into the formula serves numerous purposes. It is primarily effective in enhancing emulsion stability, but it also makes Kabana products creamier, increases spreadability on your skin and acts as an additional antioxidant which is directly beneficial for your skin and also enhances product shelf life. In Green Screen™, Soy Lecithin promotes even dispersion of the zinc oxide, helping to ensure no spots are inadequately protected from harmful UV.

For more in-depth information, please consult The History of Soy Lecithin.

Soy Lecithin Supplier
Soy Lecithin Technical Specifications (pdf)
Soy Lecithin Guide (pdf)

External sites with information on Soy Lecithin
1. Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia - Soy Lecithin
2. The History of Soy Lecithin A fascinating look into how lecithin is produced, how it became a ubiquitous ingredient in foods and cosmetics and the studies undertaken to investigate its medicinal and dietary effects. Complete with numerous references.

Interesting Abstracts
1. Effects of soy lecithin phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylserine complex (PAS) on the endocrine and physiological responses to mental stress.
2. Fat-free foods supplemented with soy stanol-lecithin powder reduce cholesterol absorption and LDL cholesterol.

Natural Vitamin E

A supreme antioxidant, fortification of Kabana products with Vitamin E elevates protection from free radicals and promotes healing of skin ravaged by harsh environments or sunburn. Given its In contrast to synthetic Vitamin E, which is a mixture that contains mostly the biologically inactive forms, natural Vitamin E is composed of the biologically active forms making it more potent and beneficial, though five times as expensive! It is isolated from soy beans and is a thick, viscous liquid that resembles molasses.

Natural Vitamin E Supplier
Natural Vitamin E Technical Specifications (pdf)

External sites with information on Natural Vitamin E
1. Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia - Vitamin E

Interesting Abstracts
1. Changes in ultraviolet absorbance and hence in protective efficacy against lipid peroxidation of organic sunscreens after UVA irradiation. (full text pdf)

Olive Oil

Olive Oil has been an important commodity in many civilizations for millennia, both in the diet and as a cosmetic. The ancient Greeks knew its beneficial properties for skin and its use is described in many of the classics.

One of the reasons olive oil is good for use in and on our bodies is because it is rich in essential fatty acids - which are those unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that our body needs to survive because we can't synthesize them from other fats.