Category - Reviews

Tucson-based Rosie Crocker owns an Am-AZing natural skincare brand that is derived and inspired by the beautiful Sonoran Desert. The brand also just recently launched August 2017. I was fortunate to meet with her briefly on my last trip to Tucson, and also purchased a few of her products, which I 100% love and stand behind. She harvests the ingredients straight from the desert, and creates such goodness as: Prickly Pear Lip Balm, Creosote + Rosemary Cream, Revitalizing Creosote Face Toner, and more! Creosote (or chaparral) is literally one of my favorite plants, which, as it turns out, is actually good for the skin. I love being in the desert after a good rain, as the smell the creosote lies heavily in the air. So it’s only natural that I’m borderline obsessing over a small brand that specializes in skincare that’s formulated with desert plants. Plus, since I’m temporarily back in Houston, every time I use the cream and toner, I can carry the scent of home around with me for a bit, so to speak.

Rosie grew up in a large family with limited means, which is one of the reasons why she is so passionately driven in the realm of nature and organics. “I love all things nature, animals and believe it is our duty as humans to care for nature and animals. When living my daily life, I always pause before I make a decision and ask myself, ‘How does this decision affect my spirit, body, and the world around me?’ I am constantly learning and growing spiritually and intellectually.”

She goes on to explain, “I have always been a DIY type of person. I have always been all about living an all natural, organic, sustainable life that includes food, health, beauty etc. I started learning more about desert plants just out of curiosity for the world around me. I started with learning about edible desert plants, and that naturally progressed into learning about medicinal desert plants. I had always been disappointed in a lot of all-natural beauty products because, in my opinion, a lot of them are weak acting, smelling, very few of them utilized desert plants and they always came in a lot of plastic packaging. So I started experimenting just using the resources around me. As I became happy with what I was doing, I also let the people around me try them, and they all really liked them. I started being approached to purchase my potions, and it kept growing from there. I have Tucson and Instagram to thank for how fast my business has grown in such a short time. People enjoy watching my process and learning about the Sonoran Desert through my Instagram. Tucson is very community-oriented and supportive. People in Tucson love to support local businesses, and they appreciate the desert; so they love the ingredients I am using. It has been super exciting. I am so grateful and am looking forward to the future!”

LAFS: What inspired you to create desert-themed products?

Rosie: Like I said before, I just recognized that there are so many awesome herbal desert plants that are great for skincare, and not many people are utilizing. I love the desert, and my main products include creosote (chaparral), which is a plant that is so unique to this desert region, and so great for your skin. It has such a unique scent as well, and brings up so many strong memories for us desert dwellers, that I wanted to capture that scent, and give it to people to carry with them. My passion for where I live, combined with some awesome products, made it so fun to come up with new ideas and names for all of them. It all came so fast too. It seems like the universe aligned just right, and everything fell into place. I make all my products with love and care. I feel it is important to focus on positivity, especially while creating anything. Energy transfer is real. When I put love into what I do, that is felt when people use my products. During the spring here in the Sonoran Desert, there are so many wildflowers. Everything blooms, and it is the best time to live here as a nature lover. I don’t believe in buying flowers that where grown by some giant corporation, and shipped here on ice and sold at big box grocery stores. Since I am always out in the desert, and in my neighborhood, I saw that there are so many resources for locally foraged bouquets, smudge wands and wreaths. So I started making those to order for people who have the same desert love that I have!

LAFS: What would you say your favorite product(s) are?

Rosie: It is so hard for me to pick a favorite, because each one is so unique and special. But I can tell you which ones are the most popular, sales-wise. The Desert Rain Fragrance is so dreamy and loved by so many people. It has creosote, sage and sandalwood. It is refreshing, fun, and brings you right to that moment after it rains here in the Sonoran Desert. The Prickly Pear Cactus Lip Balm is another very unique product. It contains real prickly pear fruit juice and prickly pear seed oil in it. It is unlike other lip balms and glosses because it actually moisturizes and heals your dry chapped lips, making you need it less. While other balms and glosses just sit on the top of your lips as decoration- making it so you need to use them more often. It also looks and smells so nice.

LAFS NOTE: I agree about the lip balm. I usually apply it once in the morning, and I’m good to go for the entire day.

LAFS: Do you have a favorite go-to skincare regimen?

Rosie: I don’t want to sound like a walking advertisement for my products, but the reason I made my products in the first place, was for myself to be able to use effective, all natural hair and skin care. I have struggled with oily, acne-prone skin all of my life. One main thing I realized by doing some research, was that I was over-washing my face, and that was causing more oil production; therefore causing my acne. So my daily skin care routine looks like this: ( I wear natural mineral makeup) In the evening I wash my face with Yes To Grapefruit scrub to remove all my makeup and give me a nice smooth surface. Then I spray my Revitalizing Creosote Face Toner all over my face and neck, let it dry, and then I apply evening primrose oil all over my face and neck (every other day). I alternate the evening primrose oil with my Creosote + Rosemary Cream every other day. So one day I will use the cream, and the next day, the oil. I leave the cream/ oil on over night and in the morning I splash my face with warm water ( I do not wash my face with soap in the morning). I then apply a light sunscreen, or all natural BB cream with sunscreen in it. I then apply my makeup, and it starts all over again. Ever since I have been toning, moisturizing and washing less, my face has been less oily. I barely ever have acne, and I am so happy with the way my skin looks.

LAFS: Where can we find your products?

Rosie: The best place to find my products is to go to my Etsy. I give a small discount to Tucson locals, so if you are local, I suggest looking on the Etsy site to see which products you like, and then message me via Instagram. I also sell products at Pop Cycle on 4th Ave, The Museum of Contemporary Art gift shop, Faun Salon, Studio 110, The Ninth House, and Avenue Boutique (all located in Tucson). The products vary at each shop- some carry my full line, some carry only a few different products.

Rosie offers us a last piece of advice. “Support small businesses! I do my best to source my ingredients locally because I know my dollar counts. For every $100 spent on small businesses, $45 of that goes back into that community; whereas for every $100 spent at chain (corporate) stores, only $14 goes into the community. I hope you recognize your value and understand that life is one big circle- you get what you put out. Changing the world starts with your daily decisions. We all matter.”

I do food delivery, where I’m constantly using my phone. I don’t carry a regular handbag for personal safety concerns, so I either use a fanny pack or My Phone Pouch. I specifically used the handy pouch while I was delivering for a local chain restaurant. It conveniently held my phone, license, a couple credit cards, sunglasses, and my car keys. Mind you, it was a tad bulky, but at least I didn’t have to worry about leaving my purse in the manager’s office or somewhere where it’s likely to be stolen or something.

Georgia-based Allison Santini- a busy wife, mother, pet owner, and now, business owner, is constantly on-the-go. She often found herself setting her phone down, often missing calls, or forgetting where she put it. Plus, a lot of her outfits didn’t have pockets, so she was either stuffing it in her shirt or bra, or left the phone behind. She also found that the “phone holsters” that were currently in stores are geared more towards men. Allison goes on to explain (via her press release), “[the other store holsters] are clunky, rigid and often require the user to affix it onto a belt or involve some sort of strap around your waist or across your body. (There are even some odd contraptions for men with straps like a harness around the back.) Women don’t wear belts as often (particularly at home) and clunky, rigid or odd holsters just don’t cut it. My design was originally targeted towards women and girls because far too often our garments don’t have pockets but many men are finding it to be a great solution too. Moreover, it’s superior to pockets because no more taking your phone out of your pocket every time you sit down and no more risk of accidentally sitting on and breaking your phone.”

She became so frustrated, that that led her to create the pouch. Since she is an avid sewer, who loved working with stretchy, snug-fitting clothing, she decided to cut up some leggings and developed a few prototypes. She officially launched her brand in 2017. “I use MyPhonePouch every day and I swear by it. I don’t carry my phone around without it. This simple, clever accessory is incredibly useful and can honestly improve the quality of your daily life. It allows you to keep your phone readily accessible to dramatically reduce the wasted time and stress of looking for your phone.  You can be more efficient in your daily chores or your work because you know where your phone is, on your hip – not in your hand, not buried in your purse and not left behind,” she said (via the press release).

The pouches are made in the U.S.A…in Atlanta, to be exact. They come in a variety of colors and sizes. The brand also believes in an eco-conscious business model, which you can read more about HERE.

I got my pouch in black and a large size, so I can carry my iPhone 8 Plus. I only thing that is inconvenient is that I’m unable to use my cactus phone case. I either need to get a regular, no-frills case, or just bare-bones it. It has two sides, both sides having three pockets each. One side is weighted down, so it can easily stay put on the waist when I wear skirts, leggings, or anything without a pocket. I also like to use it even when I have a pocket, because sometimes, pockets are too loose, which allows phones to easily slip out. The weight is loose, so you can place it in any of the pockets (and make sure to take it out before washing). Overall, I feel that it’s a very useful product. I love that it was made in the U.S.A. by a woman who cares to keep her business eco-friendly, and who’s product’s target market are women (although I’m sure men can find it useful, too).

If you too, are in the delivery business (or any business for that matter), this pouch is so helpful. I highly suggest checking the website for further details. Be sure to also follow the brand on Facebook and Instagram.