Dear Readers,

I LOVE and APPRECIATE you.

And to prove it…

I have a giveaway in honor of St. Valentine!

It is my pleasure to introduce to you…

Hurraw!

My darling friend, Jenna…

did the introductions for me…

and it is a match made in heaven!

The boys think so, too.

I dialed Neil at the Hurraw! office…

and explained what I wanted to do.

They were as personable to speak with…

as they were on my invoice.

I love that they won’t compromise…

their values…

their product…

or their service!

Please read on.

They give a lot of food for thought.

My personal ones are in pink.

Hope you win!

About Hurraw!
Hurraw! Balm lives in Whitefish, Montana;  a tiny ski town nestled among the amazing peaks of Glacier National Park.  We started out of pure intent; a personal obsession to create the perfect balm: all natural, vegan, made from premium raw, organic and fair trade ingredients…complete with a bunch of natural and fun flavor options!  It also had to meet some tough criteria…

Criteria:

Super smooth, not draggy, not sticky, not sweet, not too glossy, not too smelly, never grainy, long lasting;  plus, it had to hold up to being in a back jeans pocket all day without melting! It took us several obsessed years to formulate Hurraw! Balm and put it through all the rigors.  We love it, use it, and hope you do too!

Why Hurraw! is unique:

We hand mix and individually pour each tube of Hurraw! Balm.  We truly care about the quality and integrity of our product and feel Hurraw! is the finest all natural, vegan, raw balm available…a great product to be used by everyone regardless of lifestyle or eating habits!
Sourcing honest, fair trade, organic, vegan and raw ingredients from reputable suppliers was difficult at best.  We finally did it and we are thrilled to share the labors of our hard work with other balm lovin’ individuals.  Your purchase supports legit fair trade, organic farmers and suppliers here in the States and around the World. Thank you!

Vegan:
Hurraw! Balm is a Certified Vegan product!  ‘Vegan’ means no animal products (ie: beeswax) are included in our product.  We are proud to also be CCIC approved.  The CCIC provides the leaping bunny logo which assures our cruelty free standards  (no animals are used/harmed/tested on in any stage of the manufacture of our product, including our suppliers).

Raw:
Hurraw! Balm contains certified organic, raw, cold pressed and centrifuged extracted, nut/seed oils and butters that have been processed below 118F degrees and are still chocked full of their essential nutrients and enzymes.  Although more expensive, the quality of raw oils and butters is superb and you’ll feel the difference!
We gently warm our oils and butters seperate from our candelilla wax (which melts at 155F).   We combine them at a high speed which keeps the overall temperature low and also why you might get a lucky tube with a few tiny air bubbles on top!  We hand pour them into our custom made tube cooling trays (yeah, we are a lil’ obsessed … your lips will be stoked! This isn’t hype, but rather, gospel truth.

Organic:
Hurraw! Balm contains certified organic ingredients, if you would like our supplier certificates, please contact us.  We choose not to use the USDA Organic Seal on our product until:
1.) The USDA and FDA can define and legitimate the National Organic Program guidelines for the cosmetic industry and make it a viable option for small companies.
2.) The USDA must designate and enforce humane and sanitary methods of treatment for animals raised for food (factory farms), leather, and other commercial practices.
It’s hard for us to support and promote the seal of an agency that doesn’t make this a priority and we look forward to the day when it does.

Gluten Free, No GMO’s, Kosher:
Hurraw! balm is Gluten Free.  Our ingredients contain no GMO’s and all are certified Kosher Parve.

Non toxic:
No petroleum, preservatives, artificial flavors or colors.  Did you know the shine in many lipsticks and glosses come from petroleum jelly (a bi-product of oil drilling linked to many health problems including cancer).  A recent statistic showed that over the course of a decade regular users of lip products containing petroleum, can end up ingesting seven pounds of the stuff…essentially it’s like drinking gasoline. Ugh.  (source: www.doctoroz.com) Scary.

Our Core Ingredients:
almond oil:  Our 100% natural almond oil is pressed in California at a family-run mill from raw almond kernels.  It comes direct to us right after pressing, allowing it to be super fresh and exceptionally rich in nourishing fatty acids. Great for your lips; almond oil moisturizes, softens, soothes, and re-conditions them superbly.

coconut oil:  We use a raw, organic, fair trade coconut oil direct from Mexico (less travel=less pollution) that has been extracted using a centrifuged method. This method gently separates fresh coconuts and allows a pure raw oil to be obtained. The result is amazing. Coconut oil is a fabulous moisturizer, a great free radical buster and super soothing for chronic lip inflammation.

cacao butter: Our natural sourced, equitable trade cacao butter is pressed from the organic raw seeds of the cacao tree. Our rich, certified raw butter comes direct to us from small farmer owned lands in Bali.  It will nourish, soften, soothe and moisturize your lips. Cacao butter not only improves skin elasticity but smells oh so divine.

jojoba oil: Our organic jojoba oil is obtained farmer direct after being cold pressed in Arizona from simmondsia chinensis beans and is actually a “liquid wax.”  Jojoba oil’s properties are very similar to our skin’s own, allowing it to be a deeply absorbed, wonderful moisturizer for the lips.

olive oil: Cold pressed from a fruit and used for over 5000 years…no doubt olive oil is amazing!  Our Californian grown olive oil is rich in antioxidants, vitamins A & E; natural squalene properties moisturize, repair and protect your lips.

castor oil:  A natural emollient from India, our organic, cold pressed, hexane free castor oil makes an excellent protective barrier against harsh conditions. Anti-inflammatory, healing, very soothing and deeply absorbed, it will help your lips stay soft and supple.

candelilla wax:  We use a very high quality candelilla wax that is sustainably wildcrafted from candelilla plants in Mexico. We combine this fabulous wax with our raw / cold pressed oils and butters to provide an excellent long lasting protective shield for your lips.
flavors:  All of the flavors we use in our balms are derived from 100% natural sources.  Most come from pure essential oils, the others (Rootbeer, Chai Spice, Chocolate, Green Tea, Black Cherry) are made for us from 100% natural, organically derived flavor compounds through various processes of distillation and extraction. The smells are simply divine!

Infuse:

We make Hurraw! Balm in small, fresh, handcrafted batches. This allows us to infuse our balms with raw seeds, pods, fruit zests, barks and roots for flavor and natural color! It’s not a quick process but we think it makes a better balm!  Oh, and those little black specks in the vanilla balm are real vanilla bean seeds. Yum!

Oval Tube:

Hurraw! Balm comes in an oval tube for one main reason: so it doesn’t escape from the back jeans pocket like our round tubes used to…we also really love applying Hurraw! “ovally!” People comment on the oval, while my boys think they’re cool for carrying it!

Recyclable?

Being an environmentally conscious company is important to us.  Our office uses 100% recycled paper to print on.  Our wholesale packs are made from 100% post-consumer paperboard and we ship in recycled and recyclable corrugated packaging.
Our oval tubes are recyclable #5 plastic.  We realize #5 is a tough one at times to recycle locally.  Please check with your local recycling center about recycling #5 plastics and if they don’t recycle #5, encourage them to do so!
Did you know that almost all screw on plastic bottle caps and prescription bottles are #5 plastic?  There is a huge amount of #5 circulating and a big need for its recycling.  Preserve’s “Gimme 5″ program is awesome and they are making it easier then ever to recycle #5.  Check out this link for a location near you!  http://www.preserveproducts.com/recycling/gimme5locations.html

SPF balm?

Yes! We just launched the Sun & Moon Balms.  Over-the-moon about it, and shortly, “Here Comes the Sun!”

These are our brand new treatment balms and they are packed with tons of great ingredients for your lips!

Shelf Life:

Cold pressed (raw) oils and butters are room temperature stable but do have a shorter shelf life than oils that are exposed to high heat when processed. Our balms are made without any artificial preservatives and in small fresh batches.  We recommend using your tube of Hurraw! Balm within a year of purchase and storing it between 40-80F (4-27C).

Gift?
First of all, thank you for wanting to gift Hurraw! Balms.  We send our balms wrapped in a cotton tea bag and cute brown paper with gift messages at no extra charge (and there is no limit to gifting   In the notes section of your order, just let us know what you would like us to say to the lucky receiver.

And if they have something encouraging to say to you…they’ll write it on your invoice! Love it!

Tea Bag?

That little pouch your balm came in (if purchased direct from our site) is a reusable, unbleached cotton tea bag made here in the States from US grown cotton. Fill ‘er up with herbs and steep some goodness!
p.s. The dye we use to stamp our tea bags is food safe and permanent. If you look at my invoice closely, and realize that they come packaged in groups of 3, you will also realize that it’s time for tea over here! Woo-HOO!

Leave a comment (or three) and Friday, one lucky reader will “feel the love” with a 3 pack from Hurraw!

Flavors? Mint, Cherry and Chocolate.

Very Valentine-esque!

XOXO,