Personal Story | Devera Naturals

The Artist’s Heart

I wasn’t an artist. My sister was an amazing painter. Not me.

But I became an artist of sorts after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had to wait for six weeks before surgery. I thought I would go crazy. I was angry that cancer was interfering with my life.

A few days later I was cutting back a bush in the backyard. I looked around and thought ‘this is a really ugly area’. I began to transform the yard. Everyday I brought home new plants and every day my husband remarked how nice the yard was looking. I began to think I needed Gardener’s Anonymous! Soon I was painting the area using flower colors in much the way my sister painted!

This became my space for meditation and inspiration. The beauty and scents of the flowers spoke to my heart. It was in this garden when I realized not just the beauty of the flowers but also the potential benefits of plants.

And it was here where I was inspired to create Devera Naturals.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to update my readers on the status of my personal journey. Cancer has impacted my entire family. How we have dealt with it is another story.

My sister’s breast cancer diagnosis was shocking. There was no history of breast cancer in our family. After running the gamut of emotions, she decided that she would have “Optimal Health”. Meditation and positive visualization were her best allies. As she went through a lumpectomy and radiation, Cindy was an inspiration to me.

Eight months later I was diagnosed, however in my case the cancer was more extensive and required both breasts being removed. After the initial period of shock and fear, I decided that the surgeons were going to get all of the cancer and that was that. I was quite well endowed for a petite frame and had always wanted breast reduction surgery – wow, be careful what you wish for!

Cindy and I, in our own ways, wanted to help other women fighting the breast cancer battle. My mother introduced us to skin care products at an early age and I had used high end products ever since. When I went through surgery and chemo I looked into the ingredients in the products I had been using. That was a real eye opener! Finding toxic ingredients and known carcinogens in most skin care products was shocking; after all, what we put on our bodies and put in our bodies have the same effects. And why after being treated for cancer would you ever put those products on your skin?

And so I created Devera Naturals. I wanted safe products with all the bells and whistles of the expensive brands. I was the customer and they had to work on me. Cancer hospital stores and boutiques around the country embraced the products. People unaffected by cancer were also buying my products. And we proudly support the National Breast Cancer Foundation. NBCF provides women Help for Today…Hope for Tomorrow® through its National Mammography Program, Beyond The Shock®, Early Detection Plan, MyNBCF online support community, and breast cancer research programs.

My sister, Cindy Paine, is an author, life-coach, speaker and workshop and retreat leader. She has been a cancer survivor for 13 years. When she was diagnosed, there was medical support for treating the cancer, but there was not much available in the way of mental and emotional support. She was inspired to use her life’s work of coaching and developed her Clear-Connect-Create Method and apply it to her own emotional healing. By using her own tools, techniques and visualizations, she was able to achieve her goal of Optimal Well-Being in the Face of Cancer. Cindy feels her life’s mission was to bring forth a new program to transform the mental and emotional experience of going through cancer and bring that support to everyone. She created the Optimal Well-Being in the Face of Cancer Program. She has been speaking to cancer survivor groups around the country.

Her dream is that every person going through this journey can achieve Optimal Well-Being! For the month of October, Cindy is offering one 30 minute coaching session. Her link is: www.optimalcancerjourney.com

Contact via email: Cindy@cindypaine.com

My Mother, Devera Rose: A Modern Woman

Devera Rose My mother was a woman ahead of her time. She was beautiful and fashionable, but she was also smart and empowered. She was a woman who spoke her mind. She played golf and took up tennis in her 60’s. She and my father loved ballroom dancing. She was also funny and fun-loving. Her age never entered her mind!

She taught my sisters and me to stand up for ourselves. She taught us to be smart independent women. She taught us to keep a sense of humor. Had the time been right, she would have made an amazing businesswoman. All three of us girls embraced these qualities and we all have an uncanny entrepreneurial spirit.

Mom was so fashion-forward, that my sisters and I loved shopping at “My Mother’s Closet”. When I took her shopping when she was in her 80’s, she would look at some of the clothes and say, “Those are too old lady for me.” She loved seeing us at our very best and guided us in making important lifelong choices.

She introduced us to beauty products when we were 18. My grandmother had a flawless complexion and my mother learned from her. And we all had a great time trying various beauty products and playing with makeup. This is what inspired me to create Devera Naturals. I know my mother is watching and she would have loved to be a part of it!

Incidentally, my mother was an outstanding shopper. She loved to shop at Loehmann’s (with a coupon, of course)! So in honor of Devera Rose, we are offering BOGOHO. Choose any product and the second one is 50% off! Mom would have loved that!!!

* For a limited time, use coupon code to claim offer: LOVEMOM

CEO Uses Healing Oils In Devera Naturals Skincare Line | The Ask-A-Salon Network™

Linda Joffe CEO

Organic options for green and eco-friendly salons continue to be a point of discussion with our pro group of salons and spas here at the Ask-A-Salon Network. With that in mind, we interviewed CEO Linda Joffe about her superior organic skincare line. What she told us about her natural ingredients made us think twice about using chemicals ever again:

When you started Devera Naturals, what inspired you to bring it to the professional salon industry?

As a breast cancer survivor, I developed Devera Naturals as a naturally safer but luxurious line of skin care. We have been selling to post-mastectomy boutiques and cancer hospitals around the country. Not only are the patients buying our products, but so are the employees. Women unaffected by cancer are also going to these stores to buy Devera Naturals. We feel it is time to bring the line to salons and spas.

Can you tell us a little bit about the technology & ingredients behind the product?

I have been told that I am an ingredient geek! I am fascinated by the capabilities of natural ingredients. For example, we use edelweiss plant stem cells in two of our products. Technology has allowed scientists to sustainably harvest these stem cells.

Studies of women using a cream with edelweiss plant stem cells twice daily have shown a 15% reduction of wrinkles in 22 days.

Other skin care benefits of Plant Stem Cells:

Protect longevity of skin stem cell
Delay biological aging of essential cells
Preserve the youthful look and vitality of the skin
Promote skin’s ability to regenerate

Not all oils are created equal. Higher-priced oils are definitely less refined, less processed, and purer. Less-expensive oils can have additives, byproducts of refining and bleaching processes. So less-processed means better quality and higher price. With oils you get what you pay for. We use kukui and macadamia oils in almost every product. I found a study done at the University of Hawaii that showed the use of these two oils helped eliminate the erythmia caused by radiation burns. These oils also proved to be very effective in treating eczema, psoriasis, and sun and wind burns. It seemed logical to me to use these healing oils in my facial products.

We also use Goji Berry Extract in the face and eye creams for immediate plumping and firming. Lemon Peel Bioferment Extract lightens sun spots and evens skin tone.

Devera Naturals Facial

What are the unique factors that would make this a “go-to” product line for estheticians in a salon setting?

Our Garden to Face products offer a selection of multitasking products to meet the requirements of the customer’s skin care needs. We provide an easy to understand regimen.

What have been some of your challenges and, likewise, successes with creating your own brand?

After a year and a half of formulating my products in my kitchen, we found it very difficult to find a manufacturer who would work with a start up. We knew we had great products from all of the reorders and “Love Letters”. After visiting manufacturers around the country we were fortunate to finally find a wonderful small manufacturer.

The branding was not as difficult. When I began formulating, I already knew who the customer was: women like myself who bought department store and beauty store premium brands, but who now wanted natural products with all the bells and whistles.

Are you nationwide and where can stylists find the product to order?

We sell nationwide to cancer hospitals and post-mastectomy boutiques. Selling to salons and spas is the next step. Stylists can find my products at: www.deveranaturals.com

By the second or third week of August we will be launching an Indiegogo campaign and will be offering special product packages with lots of bonuses to salons and spas. Preorders will begin the first week of August.

What advice do you have for salon or spa owners, and estheticians as well, wanting to make their own product line?

It takes a lot of determination and hard work, but if you really have something special don’t give up.

How long have you been in the beauty industry? What kind of education do you offer on your products?

I have been in the beauty industry since 2006. Prior to that I was in the fashion industry and the promotions business. Complimentary training is offered for an unlimited number of employees via a webinar. I also make myself available to talk about my products and ingredients.

What do you love most about Devera Naturals and what is your favorite natural skin care product?

What I love most about Devera Naturals is all of the amazing people who have come into my life because of the line and what it has done for them. Whether it is customers, buyers, or employees, I feel very blessed to have met so many wonderful people. The second part of this question is very difficult to answer. I developed every product and I love them all!

The Wonder Woman Sisterhood

Wonder Woman Card — The card Cindy sent to me continues to be an inspiration to this day.

Chemo was another time of fear. Before my first session I went to the ladies’ room and decided to lock myself in. Just one problem with that – there was no lock on the door! So I gritted my teeth and decided to just do it. With the help of a doctor who also was also an alternative practitioner I got through chemo pretty well. Often during a chemo session, I wondered what I was doing there – in my mind I wasn’t sick!

There were problems associated with the surgery all the way through, but I just knew in my heart that I was cancer free. A sense of humor made all the difference. When the ER doc asked if the emergency room was being renamed for me, I immediately said NO, but there is some artwork in the lobby that I want!

Cindy and I forged ahead with our lives. Cindy is a spiritual coach. She wrote a course, “Optimal Well Being in the Face of Cancer”, which she began teaching in hospitals and to cancer support groups. I developed Devera Naturals, a line of 100% natural skin care products for women going through treatment.

Today, Cindy’s first book, Clear Connect Create, is being published and my products are being sold in hospitals and boutiques nationally. A percentage of all sales of Devera Naturals is donated to breast cancer research and to a fund for disadvantaged women with breast cancer. My goal is to see cancer wiped out in my lifetime.

I am grateful that my products have touched the hearts of my entire Devera Naturals team and that they have been inspired to spread my message. Some of the women who work with me are survivors. Each is awesome and an inspiration to me. We are all members of the Wonder Woman Sisterhood. Cancer cannot defeat us – we have so much more to accomplish.