​How many times has this happened to you? You go to grab a bottle of lotion off the shelf at our local store. You turn the bottle around to read the ingredients and you see….
 
DO NOT INGEST
 
Understandably, most of us would not even attempt to ingest such products. But what if what you put on your skin actually was ingested? Directly through your skin. What we do know is that our skin is our largest organ. In fact, we have roughly 22 square feet of it! We also know through studies that approximately 65% of what goes on our skin actually enters our blood stream. 
 
Now, think about all the products that we come I contact with. Everything from the make-up we put on our faces every day, the soap we use to wash dishes, soap we use to wash our clothes (most detergents leave a residue that comes in contact with our skin all day every day), lotions, perfumes. 
 
So many. Every day.
 
Have you ever thought about how a pain patch works? What about birth control patches? The medicine is placed externally and absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream. These manufacturers understand this concept of what goes on our skin, goes into our bodies. They wouldn’t continue to sell products like this if they didn’t work.
 
It is always a good idea to read the ingredients that go ON your body. Opt for things that you wouldn’t mind putting IN your body. Simple, clean, organic ingredients. 
 
You are worth it! You shouldn’t have to deal with toxic chemicals running through your body especially when you are unaware that they are even there. 
 
There are so many other environmental toxins that are completely out of our control. Chemicals that are coming from the materials in our homes, the air we breathe. 
 
BUT….
 
There are things that ARE in our control and those are the things we purchase and put on our bodies. 
 
Now that you know that 65% of what you put on your skin actually enters your blood stream, would you think twice about the products you choose? I know I do. 
 
That was one of the biggest reasons why SUNRAYS Naturals was born.

Its fire ant season over here at our house again. I have tried so hard over the years to get rid of them from our property but every year they seem to keep coming back. Ugh!!!
 
For a lot of people, red ants are not a big deal. However, over here at our house, I have a few kids that have a real hard time remembering to put on their shoes before they run all over the yard. 
 
Inevitably, I will hear one of kids crying as they run towards to the house looking for relief from a fire ant bite, which I know from experience is extremely painful. 
 
Usually by the sound of the cry, I instinctively know what has just happened. I will run and grab a few things that I know are going to make them feel better before they come through the door. 
 
The first thing I use is straight lavender directly on the affected area. Lavender is one of those essential oils that are just fine to use straight out of the bottle. Most oils you cannot do this with but lavender is one that you can. It has soothing properties and also pain-relieving properties which is why it’s the first oil I think of when I have a crying child in pain sitting in front of me. 
 
After that I grab our green salve which is loaded with healing herbs and essential oils that helps with the pain. In fact, it’s the one thing my kids specifically ask me to grab when they are hurt or get a scrape. “Get the green salve” is a common phrase in our house.
 
The last thing I grab is a homeopathic medicine designed specifically for bug bites and stings that I can give orally to help with pain. In fact, in writing this I had to reorder since I didn’t have any this morning when little Rachel got bit by the first red ant of the season. 
 
Something else you can do is get a cold compress and place where the bite was. I feel like this helps to distract and quiet the burning for the other things to start working. 
 
If all that doesn’t work you can also try apple cider vinegar as the acid composition counteracts the venom.
 
Summer season if full of outdoor fun but around here it is also filled with fire ants. As long as I am prepared with all the items above (and maybe if my kids can remember to wear shoes) we are going to have a great summer!