How to Prime an Airless Container
The Strange Story of Australia’s Camels
Some Camel History for Word Camel Day
With World Camel Day approaching, perhaps it’s time to reflect on how Australia came to have the world’s largest population of feral camels. Perhaps we should consider the huge contribution of camels and cameleers made to opening up Australia. And maybe we should contemplate how we might humanely solve the problems they bring.
Drive the Stuart Highway and you will surely come across camels. No, you won’t be hallucinating; camels may be about as Australian as polar bears, but there are perhaps upwards of a million feral camels wandering outback Australia. The government-supported program that monitors invasive feral species Feral Scan estimates the current feral camel population to be between one and 1.2 million, with this amount reportedly doubling within ten years. The Federal Government places the number nearer 450,000, but the truth is nobody really knows; there are an awful lot of feral camels out there. So why do we have so many non-native animals here?
Camels, Cameleers and Pioneers
To find the answer, you have to investigate the pioneering days of characters like Stuart. As early as 1822, the geographer Conrad Malte-Brun suggested bringing camels to Australia to explore beyond the coastal fringe. The first camel arrived from the Canary Islands in 1840, but it wasn’t until the Burke and Wills expedition of 1860 that camels really took off.
The impact made by camels and their handlers was considerable. In her co-authored book Australia’s Muslim Cameleers: Pioneers of the Inland, 1860s-1930s, Anna Kenny recognises the significant cultural and economic contributions that cameleers and their camels made to Australian society. “The cameleers opened lines of supply, transport and communication between isolated settlements, making the economic development of arid Australia possible. They also enriched the cultural landscape.”
To get an idea of the scale of the camel business, between 1870 and 1920, as many as 20,000 camels were imported into Australia from the Arabian Peninsula, India and Afghanistan. Alongside them came at least 2,000 handlers, or cameleers, from the same regions. Camel studs were established to grow a domestic herd; by some estimates put the working camel population at 150,000 in 1920.
The camels were mainly dromedaries; single hump camels perfectly adapted to living in low and arid conditions. They were ideally suited to the climate of the Australian interior: they could go weeks without water, and they had the stamina and strength to carry their loads and riders across what were often highly exposed, fiercely hot landscapes.
For half a century, camels were a fixture of outback life carrying wool, water, telegraph poles and railway sleepers, tea and tobacco. Aboriginals embraced the camel and incorporate camel hair into their artefacts. But progress brought better stock routes, railways and trucks arrived and the camels became less and less necessary as pack animals. The working camel’s last hurrah was maintaining the Rabbit Proof Fence on the Western Australian border. As the became redundant, thousands of camels were simply released into the bush. Of course, they thrived.
Today, little is left to remind us of the cameleers role in opening up The Outback. Broken Hill has its Afghan mosque, The Ghan is named in honour of the Afghan cameleers, who came to be known as ‘Ghans’. Check out this video from Broken Hill Museum to find out more of the life of cameleers.
The Camel Problem
All is not well; Australia has a serious feral camel problem that it has yet to solve. Grazing camels have a profound bearing on indigenous wildlife, stripping vegetation and destroying water holes. They do immense damage to outback communities, wrecking water storage tanks and pipelines. Simon Reeve, the TV explored describes Australian camels as “almost uniquely brilliant at surviving the conditions in the outback. Introducing them was short-term genius and long-term disaster.”
The Federal Government has attempted to manage the camel population. From 2009-13, some 160,000 camels were culled, mostly shot from a helicopter and left to die. This blunt and brutal approach was rightly heavily criticised, but the answers aren’t simple. A passionate vegan posted on our Facebook page that she would like to see a program of de-sexing male camels, a totally impractical idea given the distances and terrain involved. This Northern Territory Government film explains more.
Here at CameLife, we believe that there are ways to manage Australia’s camel population. Dairying is undoubtedly one, but so too is a camel meat industry. The health benefits of camel milk are proven and, if camel milk is to be the next superfood, Australia really should be the centre of a global camel dairying industry. This will take more than the efforts of a few isolated camel dairying entrepreneurs; it needs big investment into the logistics to get the retail price to a competitive level.
As a cosmetics manufacturer, we are a tiny user of camel milk. But producing high added value products from camel milk gives us space to promote the wider benefits of camel milk without the pressures of primary production. As World Camel Day, we really should be focussing on the Australian camel problem and how to solve it humanely and sustainably.
With thanks to Ben Lerwill & BBC Travel
More About Eye Creams
CameLife Founder Dr Jane Rose Explains Eye Creams
Not necessarily, says CameLife founder, Dr Jane Rose. “CameLife Restorative Eye Cream is formulated specifically for the delicate skin around your eye. It is thicker than our facial moisturiser and serum, containing active natural ingredients aimed at problems we see around the eyes. At the centre of our formulation is the camel milk itself”.
The skin around your eyes is thinner, more fragile and more prone to dryness than elsewhere on our face, so it appears to age quicker. Constant eye movement and squinting hastens the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, while fluids collect under the eyes, causing puffiness and dark circles particularly when your are tired.
Fine lines and wrinkles come from both sun damage and natural ageing; your skin makes less collagen and elastin as you age. Collagen helps to keep your skin firm, whilst elastin helps it to rebound. Without them, your skin will sag and soften. Dark circles under our eyes often indicate a build-up of de-oxygenated blood. The causes can be genetic, sun damage, age or simply fatigue.
Most eye creams contain sodium ascorbate to provide Vitamin C, which, can, over time, thicken the skin and help to conceal dark circles. Provided, of course, that the cream is fine enough to be absorbed and does not simply stay on the surface. The camel milk in CameLife Restorative Eye Cream contains natural Vitamin C, which is easily absorbed because of the milk’s unique microscopic hydrolysed fat structure. Niacinamide, or Vitamin B3 can also help to lighten dark circles and camel milk is rich in Vitamin B3.
Retinol is routinely added to eye creams, touted as a magic ingredient and is one of the most used synthetic Vitamin As in skincare products. Retinol can, however, be harsh on some skin types, particularly on the delicate skin around your eye. We do not add Retinol to our Restorative Eye Cream; instead we use natural oils that contain the pro-Vitamin Beta Carotene which your skin will cover to Retinoid Acid. There is enough natural Vitamin A in camel milk to gently regulate cell production and enhance epidermal growth.
One of the main causes of deterioration of our collagen is Oxidative Stress. The secondary active ingredient of our Restorative Eye Cream is Sweet Almond Oil, which contains Vitamin E, one of the most powerful anti-oxidants known. The oil is rich in essential proteins, which can provide the amino acids necessary to build collagen. Sweet Almond Oil has many benefits, but it is often recommended as a natural treatment for dry eyes by applying to the eye lids. Unlike most eye creams our Restorative Eye Cream can be applied directly to the eye lids and, because it is so easily absorbed, it won’t run into the eyes and blur vision.
But the best bit comes last; camel milk is known to stimulate the micro-circulation of blood to the skin. Users of CameLife Restorative Eye Cream often report a slight, pleasant tingling of their skin when they apply the cream. Black bags disappear quickly, leaving the eyes feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Restorative Eye Cream is isn’t just a beauty product; it is perfect to use to relieve tired and aching eyes during the day.
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The Six Big Skin Health Saboteurs
The Big Six Saboteurs of Skin Health
From UV light to pollution and stress, there are a number of factors that can harm the health of your skin every day. We all know the risks of sun exposure, but what else in your lifestyle is affecting your skin? It isn’t only beach lovers; living in our busy capital cities can cause premature skin ageing.
Nor is it just external aggressors. An unhealthy lifestyle with a demanding, stressful job and inadequate sleep can also accelerate the appearance of fine lines and a dull complexion. Underlying these is a breakdown of collagen and elastin, the key building blocks for healthy, young looking skin.
CameLife founder Dr Jane Rose believes that most of the signs of skin ageing are due to environmental aggressors. So if you want to look younger for longer and, more importantly, to maintain skin health throughout your life, focus on the six saboteurs of healthy skin.
All six generate free radicals in your skin which damage and destroy those vital structural element sot healthy skin, collagen and elastin. And that is why it is so important to incorporate products with antioxidants into our skincare regimes to fight against these free radicals. Here, then, are the top six skin saboteurs to watch out for…
The sun
Here in Australia, we all know that we have to apply a high SPF product to our faces every day, not just to minimise the harmful and visible effects of photo-ageing, but also to minimise the risk of skin cancers. Finding a product that you like enough to add to your daily skincare regime is another matter entirely.
Harmful rays that break through and damage the skin’s protective barrier, creating free radicals that stop normal cell function; those cell functions responsible for producing hydrating lipids and skin-plumping collagen. So, if you’re a sun worshipper or regularly forget to apply broad-spectrum sun protection, you may find that your skin is more prone to sun spots, pigmentation, deep lines and wrinkles.
“It’s vitally important to apply sun protection daily” warns Dr Jane, “The cumulative effect of incidental exposure compounded over a lifetime is significant.” Despite all of the over sun exposure, there are still misconceptions. “People tend to think that if it’s not sunny, or they’re not actively trying to tan, then they’re protected. This is quite wrong. You only have to look at people who occupationally sit by a window, such as professional drivers, to see the accelerated ageing that occurs on one side of their face from exposure to ultraviolet radiation.”
SPF Moisturisers
But we get lazy; too many of us look for skincare products that also have SPF. We want our daily moisturiser to also be our sun protection. But is realistic to expect a cream we apply in our morning routine to work all day?
“We’re often asked if our Day Cream has an SPF” says Jane, “the answer is no; combining a daily moisturiser and a sun block is not a good idea; relying on a an SPF moisturiser that you applied before breakfast is not the answer to protecting ourselves from the sun” .
Sun screens should be applied immediately before sun exposure and topped up during exposure. Recent US Food and Drugs Administration research has found that active chemicals in sun screens can be absorbed into the blood at concentrations far higher than are safe. So do you really want to wear sunscreen all day?
The CameLife approach; if you’re going to be out in the sun, use a quality high SPF cream and apply it regularly in accordance with the manufacture’s guidelines. But cleanse it off when you come back inside. In other words, wear sunscreen only when you need it and don't look for combination products that make life easier but don't work efficiently either as a sunscreen or moisturiser.
After Sun Care
Ultraviolet rays are present all year round, even on cloudy, grey days when sunshine feels like a distant memory. The reality is that, however much you protect your skin by, following Cancer Council guidelines, it’s hard to avoid. Even if your skin doesn't feel burned, a build up of solar generated free radicals is inevitable.
There are plenty of good after-sun products out there to soothe sunburn, but few of them have the anti-inflammatory activity of camel milk. CameLife's Original Camel Balm rapidly soothes sunburn, reducing the risk of pealing and discomfort.
But even of you aren't feeling obviously sunburned, you really do need to consider dealing with those free radicals. Adding a powerful anti-oxidant serum like CameLife’s Restorative Serum to your daily routine.
Pollution
So you are protecting yourself from the damaging effects of the sun, but did what about the other environmental culprit that your skin needs protecting from too?
Pollution from toxic chemicals in vehicle exhaust fumes and smoke creates plenty of free radicals which attack the skin every day, making it the most harmful environmental aggressors after sun exposure. Studies show the need to shield the skin from air pollutant called ambient particulate matter (PM).
Ambient PM generates excess free radicals that damage skin. This harmful pollution is directly correlated to a rise in dark spots, fine lines and wrinkles. So, how best to protect your skin if you live in a city or highly populated area? “You should protect your skin from pollution using antioxidants,” says Dr Jane, “formulations like CameLife’s Restorative Serum are packed with natural anti-oxidants that help to lessen potential pollution-induced skin damage.”
Effective cleansing is also critical for removing ambient PM residue from your skin. Cleanse throughly and regularly using a properly designed cleanser. Avoid using soaps and shower gels which contain alcohols that dry your skin and do not rely just on water. CameLife’s Facial Cleansing Bar has been specially formulated to use the gentle lactic acid in the milk to peel away dead, contaminated skin cells whilst drawing moisture into the new cells below.
Stress
Perhaps you have noticed that your skin suffers during a particularly stressful period, resulting in break out or increased sensitivity. This happens because when we are stressed, our 
bodies release cortisol, a hormone that helps the body respond appropriately. So listen to your body and make time for rest and relaxation; take an early night with a good book or take ten minutes out for a mindfulness routine.
Sleep
If you’ve had a few late nights and missed out on your beauty sleep, you’ll probably find that your skin is affected. So why does this happen and how important is it to overall skin health?
“Cellular repair in the skin occurs at night, so your skin is really missing out if you minimise the time it has to do this,” says Dr Jane. “When we don’t have enough sleep we feel more stressed and our cortisol levels go up. This can wreak havoc on our skin because of the inflammatory reaction. Accelerated skin ageing then occurs and your skin won’t look as radiant as it should.”
Choosing the right night cream can help with skin repair as your sleep. CameLife's Restorative Night Cream is specially formulated with a proprietary copper-soy peptide protein to help stimulate collagen repair as you sleep.
Heating and Air Conditioning
As the winter approaches, it’s worth considering how heating and air conditioning can affect your skin. Whether you exist in an air-conditioned bubble or like to have the windows flung wide open, the air you breathe indoors does impact on skin and health.
“We know that there’s a drop in humidity, from both outside exposure and indoors, by about 10 per cent from the summer months to winter,” says Dr Jane. “This is why people tend to feel that their skin is drier in the winter. There’s a measurable change in the environment, which dehydrates the skin”.
So if you can do things to elevate your environmental humidity levels, this will actually benefit the skin. Get a little humidifier and keep it in their bedroom to help their skin to be less dry and more moisturised. And use skincare products that contain humectants to draw moisture into your skin; the lactic acid in camel milk is a great humectant. If your skin is feeling dry now that the office air-conditioning is heating the room, carry CameLife's Restorative Day Cream in your bag and apply a little throughout the day.
Smoking
Cigarette smoke contains over 6,000 chemicals that generate free radicals in your skin. Those free radicals attack the collagen and elastin matrix that supports your skin, causing premature signs of ageing including deep wrinkles and folds. Smoking also compromises the skin’s protective barrier, affecting hydration and leaving the skin dry and leathery.
As CameLife’s Dr Jane says “It’s really simple; if you want healthy skin, don’t smoke. But if you do smoke, the importance of adopting an effective anti ageing regime is magnified; smokers should use skincare products packed with anti-oxidants to minimise free radical damage. Also, look for products which stimulate collage production. I generally recommend CameLife’s Restorative Night Cream to our older customers, but smokers will notice benefits from its collagen-stimulating peptides at a much younger age”.
The Ideal Solution
CameLife’s Restorative skincare range has been created using the powerful natural antioxidants. The milk is packed with Vitamin C, a powerful water-soluble electron donor anti-oxidant. Next, we add powerful plant based anti oxidants, including Spirulina. Spirulina’s main active anti-oxidant is called phycocyanin, which gives it a unique blue-green colour. Phycocyanin can fight free radicals and inhibit production of inflammatory signalling molecules, providing impressive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects
Adding Dunaliella Salina extract further enhances the ant-oxidant effect of CameLife’s Restorative creams. Together, these powerful ingredients can help to target premature ageing signs by neutralising free radicals and helping to support the skin’s natural repair process.
CameLife’s secret is the Magic of Camel Milk; the finely homogenised and absorbent fat structure of the milk means that anti-oxidants go where they are needed; deep in to your skin, not down the sink. Consider CameLife’s Restorative range as an investment in your ideal complexion as it is specifically designed to address the visible signs of sun-damaged skin while helping to protect it for the future.
The Magic of Pink Algae!
Do You Suffer From Facial Eczema?
Over Botox? Looking for an Alternative?
Are You Considering Botox?
Australians and Injectables
We Australians are hardcore consumers of cosmetic procedures. We spend over $350 million a year on anti-wrinkle injections and we now have more cosmetic surgery operations per capita than Americans. Our per-capita spend on cosmetic treatments is amongst the highest globally, thanks, in part, to our wrinkle-inducing harsh climate
Every day, we are bombarded with retouched photographs in magazines and adverts. Our social media feeds are packed with filtered selfies. Seeing a continuous stream of supernaturally flawless skin has created a new set of image ideals, and with it, a dramatic increase in cosmetic procedures.
Recent research from Mintel revealed that more than 50 per cent of Australian women and 39 per cent of men aged 18 to 34 would consider a cosmetic procedure. And Botox isn't cheap; procedures often cost $300 or more.
Cosmetic procedures have a risk too and many would-be users don’t realise how widespread unsafe practices are in Australia. Last year, the NSW Department of Health seized thousands of illegal, non-approved Schedule 4 drugs, including botox and dermal fillers, from cosmetic clinics across the state.
The inevitable result of the boom in cosmetic procedures is that people are shopping for injectables on price and not on the competence of the practitioner, which should be the primary consideration. Still considering botox?
Are there Alternatives?
Perhaps a more important question to ask is: are injectables really necessary? What if you could find an effective, natural skincare range that leaves your skin looking naturally young and healthy. And what if you could find it for an affordable price?
Here at CameLife, we are advocates for natural anti-ageing strategies that protect your collagen, for it is collagen which provides your skin with its structure. We also advocate ways to boost your body's natural collagen production. The fact is that injectables do nothing to protect your collagen or boost its production. So wouldn’t it be better if you could find natural skincare products that actually boosts your skin’s collagen production? Well maybe there is an answer.
CameLife’s Restorative Night Cream is an anti-wrinkle hero, packed with skin-restoring innovation. At its heart is a proprietary ingredient that contains a Methyl Glucoside Phosphate Proline Lysine Copper Complex. That’s a big title, so let’s break it down.
Time for Some Science?
The long name Methyl Glucoside Phosphate Proline Lysine Copper Complex indicates the active ingredients in the complex. There are three groups of ingredients, each of which is necessary to feed and regulate cellular collagen and elastin synthesis.
First, the complex provides Methyl-Glucoside-6-Phosphate (MG6P). MG6P is pre-activated glucose that directly feeds skin cells with energy without causing harmful glycation. Want to know more about glycation? Read our blog post on sugar.
Second, amino acids. Proline is an amino acid and a precursor (along with Vitamin C) of collagen. Proline can break down protein to help create healthy cells and connective tissues, promoting firmer, glowing skin and reducing sagging, wrinkles and ageing of skin due to sun exposure. Lysine is also an amino acid crucial for the production of collagen.Finally, copper interacts with the enzyme involved in the regulation of collagen and elastin production, enhancing its effectiveness.
Together in a skincare ingredient, MG6P, Proline, Lysine and Copper deliver an entourage effect, providing essential elements for the metabolic pathways that provide healthy skin cells. The complex revitalises aged fibroblasts, reactivating collagen and elastin synthesis in a fast and sustainable way.
Fibroblast are cells that synthesise collagen. As we age, so do our fibroblasts. Unless we do something about it, we all reach a point where our collagen is deteriorating faster than our fibroblasts can replace it and our skin starts to show visible ageing.
Camel milk is a great carrier for Methyl Glucoside Phosphate Proline Lysine Copper Complex. The finely homogenised structure of the milk allows it to penetrate deep into the basal layer, ensuring that the complex reaches where it is most needed. Meanwhile the ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), in the milk, acts alongside the amino acids as a precursor to collagen.
With sophisticated anti-wrinkle creams like CameLife's Restorative Night Cream, visible results can happen in only two weeks: your skin will feel firmer, more supple and deep wrinkles will start to disappear.
Still Considering Botox?
Not convinced that a natural skincare product can be a substitute for injectables? The consider the disadvantages of botox.
Temporary results: The effect of botox treatment are temporary in nature, lasting between two and eight months. As a result of this, patients will have to return to receive top-up injections and this leads to mounting costs. As time goes by, a patient may develop a natural immunity to BOTOX and so may have to increase the dosage of the toxin.
Pain: Botox treatment can be painful. The injections are administered with fine needles which can be painful and there will be bruising around the site of the injections. This may be unsightly but will last only a day or two.
Consider too that neither botox not dermal fillers actually treat the underlying cause of wrinkles, which is the breakdown of collagen. Stop using injectables and your skin will rapidly return to its pre-treatment condition. Or worse still, it will have deteriorated further because you have done nothing to protect your existing collagen or stimulate production of more.
So why not try CameLife skincare. The natural alternative that actually protects and restores your skin.
New Year, New Skin?
So Christmas is over, 2019 is here and we’re in the middle of the summer holiday season. Will your skin escape unscathed or will it need restorative treatment?
Here CameLife founder Dr Jane Rose provides some tips on how to look protect and restore your skin this summer.
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