We went to SallyeAnder Thursday night to discover their new face mask line, and make our own as an activity. The face mask, just like everything else SallyeAnder creates, is made of all good or plant-based ingredients - we could have eaten the version we made, which included banana and olive oil!

Though you would not want to eat the face mask in the box that you would purchase - you would just be normal and apply it to your face two to three times per week to pull out the toxins and dirt, and leave your face feeling fresh. This combo was put together for this show ‘n’ tell event only, to illustrate how natural the ingredients are, and how simple the mask is at its core.

The one we mixed (and by “we,” I mean my daughter, who was in charge of our batch) had smushed banana, but we could have gone with straight-up avocado, or pumpkin.

While in the shop, I checked off my to-do list of converting to a super-natural, minimal-chemical life for deodorant (with cancer scares around me, I’m looking at things I can easily change). SallyeAnder has a Deodorant Stone, where its salt minerals kill bacteria that cause the odor. I also am trying their face balm, Krudd Balm, to replace my morning Oil of Olay moisturizer - I need to trust the ingredients!

SallyeAnder was started by Sallie’s dad, who was a pastry chef. Her brother had eczema, and to soothe his skin, Sallie’s dad devoted himself to making soap, and the brand was born. While Sallie was in law school, the family business began to struggle. “The business was like another sibling to us. We couldn’t just let it go.” So Sallie exited out of law school in order to run the family business. “Back when my dad started in the ‘80s, people were putting anything on. Natural ingredients were a hard sell. Today is much different. People want to know what they are putting on their skin.”

Sallie has been heading up the business ever since. Three children of her own later, she says that she is so glad that Beacon is their home for the business. Having a nationwide soap brand with their flagship store right here on the east end of Beacon - who also manufactures on the west end of town - is pretty handy. And by handy I mean AWESOME.