The Birth of Sugar and Oats, Vegan Skincare

Hello my lovely soap lovers!

I wanted to share my amazing journey with all of you and speak about the birth of my natural and vegan skincare company. If you didn’t already know my name is Nina, and I’m the owner and founder of Sugar and Oats, LLC. It all started 4 years ago when I got pregnant with my second son.

Hear we go!

In the beginning, my first pregnancy I had a horrible birth experience with my first born son. I was young and didn’t know better, Long story short,
I trusted my doctor and my pregnancy ended up being a huge medical intervention during childbirth. Meaning, my labor was induced and I had Cesarean section (C – section). Oh yes, I forgot to mention my doctor went on vacation shortly after being admitted the hospital…… 4 years later I was blessed with my 2nd son and I knew for sure I had to go through child labor again, it was inevitable. But the great thing about it this time was I was in control, It was me that was pregnant and it was also MY DECISION on how I was going to have my baby. I started researching and my girlfriend Kellye was pregnant at the time and opened my eyes to a completely natural at home childbirth! When we first spoke I thought she was crazy because I thought in my head, “People still do this?”. I started to do my research read plenty of books, watched the movie ‘The business of being born” and was very intrigued with the whole holistic approach, hippy crunchy mama way. I had spoken to 2 lovely midwifes that came to my home and spoke with my husband and I. I was happy to say I fell in love with my amazing midwifes, Gelena Hinkley, LM, CPM and Christa West, LM from Peaceful Pregnancy Pathways, www,P3birth.com.

Let me tell you, as a woman….. having your child at home with absolutely no fear because I trusted in my midwifes and of course God, that my body was made to do this and I did!!!!! I’ve never felt so empowered as a woman to fight the good fight and have my baby right in my arms. A healthy little boy born on July 6, 2012. That was the greatest feeling and could not explain the joy and happiness I had in my heart to see my little blessing and finally meet him!

Shortly after having my little man, he started breaking out with skin allergies and was so sensitive to certain things I would eat because I was nursing. I started the elimination diet, cutting out gluten and dairy out of his diet. That still wasn’t working!!!!! Ok, soooo…. mama bear started to freak out a bit because I honestly, didn’t know what was going on with my son. Until one day, I was washing my little bundle of love and saw all the ingredients and garbage that I was rubbing on my son, using what everyone got me for my baby shower, Johnson and Johnson body wash!!!!!! Oh my goodness! I came to find out I have been rubbing chemicals like Quaternium 15 (formalhyde) and 1,4 dioxane on my sons skin. At first I was so mad because of course you want to do whats best for your children and then I had the most amazing idea!

A light went off in my head ! I started researching and learning different ways to create and formulate all of my own recipes for my children!!!! Yey, I was so happy to come up with this amazing idea! It took me over 2 years to formulate my recipe using natural and 100% plant based ingredients that are always vegan!

At Sugar and Oats, our promise is to stay away from harsh chemicals, Parabens, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Phthalates, gluten and Palm oils because we love our rain forests and the animals that live in them. All of our skincare products are verified and registered with PETA, Cruelty-free and Eco – Friendly. I carefully handcraft all my artisan products in small batches using plant based oils, organic certified Shea and cocoa butters. I love using natural occurring colorants, minerals and infusing our oils with organic ingredients like detoxing / purifying clay’s, charcoal, organic flowers, natural exfoliating seeds, teas like (Kombucha), herbs and completely all natural skin loving ingredients. I would love to continue to share my passion with the same like minded people that appreciate what I do. Thank you for visiting my blog spot! Till next time !

Peace, Love and Happiness ! Xoxo

Nina Maldonado