The Organic Beauty Expert

REUSE - REGAIN - RECYCLE :: Fashion Fights Poverty Fashion Swap July 18th in D.C.

from release

Fashion Fights Poverty (FFP) will host DC's first ever "fashion swap" on Saturday, July 18, 2009 from 12pm to 5pm at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.

The event will allow guests to consign former favorites, refresh your wardrobe with “new to you” items by “swapping” with fellow guests, or donate items to Covenant House Washington, an organization that provides shelter and protection, food, clothing, counseling and job training to Washington, DC youth. Local DC consignment shop Current Boutique will be onsite to consign quality items that can be resold. Guests will also enjoy hair styling demonstrations by PR at Partners and hair treatments by Phyto hair care. 

FFP is calling on all environmentally conscious fashionistas to join our efforts to reDuce, reUse, and reCycle. The fashion swap will serve as an outlet for the DC community to share quality items that may no longer represent them but may benefit others.  "Each one of us has the ability to help those less fortunate than ourselves, regardless of how big or small that contribution,” said FFP President, Chris Belisle. “This is who Fashion Fights Poverty is, and we hope those who participate in this particular activity will know it can be fun, too!"

How does “Fashion Swap” work? The swap begins with attendees leaving their unwanted articles of clothing, shoes, and accessories on tables based on clothing size range or accessory type. Guests will choose whether to offer their garments for consignment, trade, or donate them.  Attendees will then dive in and find their next "new to them" items from the pile.

• If offering items for consignment, garments will be entrusted to Current Boutique. You may choose to donate your consignment proceeds to Fashion Fights Poverty.
• If trading, guests may interact and make trades with other guests.
• FFP encourages all guests to donate items to Covenant House Washington. At the end of the event, clothing not consigned or swapped will go to the Covenant House.

For entry into this event, all guests must bring an item (clothing, accessories, or shoes) big or small. Please RSVP to rsvp@fashionfightspoverty.org.

Eco bamboo caddy for your bathtub pleasure @ Delight.com

When I saw this bamboo bath caddy, I immediately thought of my man. Bath time for him is not a chore, it's an experience to be indulged. He fills the water just inches from the lip of the tub so that the overflow spout is working over time. He prepares his Coke Zero and rum and brings in the Mac notebook and settles down for an hour or more of intense hydrotherapy.

If he's lucky, he's got some bath bombs or bubbles (which make him as happy as a child) otherwise, he just sits there lost in his tunes and the heat of the water. Very sexy!

High points for the caddy :: made from bamboo (sustainable), expands to fit most tubs, water-resistant, so it will stay lovely for a while and includes wine glass holder, magazine/book stand, soap dish, and places to hang a razor and/or loofah. All under $50 bucks! Can't beat it with a stick!

Recession Proof Beauty :: Seed Supply Co. at Walmart

NOT A SPONSORED POST.
Please don't harp about the labor conditions at Wal-Mart. I have enough friends who do that and frankly, I go where the bargains take me. In this instance, it took me to my local Wal-Mart and Seed Supply Co. organic clothes.

Having rid my whole house of all chemicals this past weekend, I am truly on my green journey, so how stoked was I to find these sweet deals at Wal-Mart a few months ago. Seed Supply Co. offers some super cute organic cotton clothing for the green queen on a budget, or just the gal whow doesn't want to pay too much for comfortable clothes.

As I sit here writing this post, actually, I am wearing the tank top and asymmetrical skirt. I have three skirts, two tank tops, one V-neck shirt and one dress from Seed Supply Co. Obviously, I dig paying $10 bucks or less for organic clothes.

The dresses come in a variety of colors. Mine is brown. Retails for $10. I did notice that mine shrunk a bit in the wash, but I bought a medium and I think it was a little small in the back anyway. Now I just wear leggings underneath as the fit across the bust is fine.

Lots of colors. I have orange and red. Retail for $5. Super soft and quite form-fitting. If you want a loose fit, I don't think this is the right option for you, even if you go a size bigger.

I have two black skirts and one fuschia. Awesome. The shortest part of the skirt reaches my knees, but I bought and 8/10 (yay!) This seems like it's just the style of the skirt, but I love it and works well during my massage sessions. Retails for $10.

Fair Trade... Get your Fair Trade products over here!

According to the Fairtrade Foundation, fair trade "is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world." So if these things are important to your shopping list, be aware that you can now buy certified Fairtrade beauty products.

These products include lip balms, face masks, body butters and shower gels from five companies :: Boots, Bubble & Balm, Essential Care, LUSH and Neal’s Yard. Each beauty product contains one or more Fairtrade certified ingredient such as cocoa butter, shea nut butter, sugar or brazil nut oil, benefitting disadvantaged producers from countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  To date, 57 beauty products have been licensed by the Fairtrade Foundation and it is expected that many more will follow.

Read more...

And thanks to Karen of Anti-Body...  FAIR TRADE THE WHITE HOUSE ::

Fair trade is an alternative way of doing trade where the people producing a product are treated fairly, paid fairly, and are being fair to the environment. Fair Trade the White House is a coalition of fair trade vendors and organizations that are inviting the First Lady to join the fair trade movement and make the White House a "Fair Trade Home." The purpose of the outreach is to raise greater awareness of fair trade to the American consumer so each person will choose to "Join the Fair Party," and integrate more fair trade purchases into their regular buying habits so that poverty is reduced in America and around the world. 

Green America, TransFair, Fair Trade Federation, Fair Trade Resource Network are all involved as are 52 other fair trade vendors so far. Our invitation to the First Lady went live May 29th, and we are gearing up for a great campaign which is projected to run through May, 2010.

Fall 2009 :: Spirit Beauty Lounge to launch 1st ever carbon-neutral luxury organic beauty catalog & a whole lot more

from release

This fall, Spirit Beauty Lounge will launch the first ever 100% carbon-neutral luxury organic beauty catalog. Printed on 100% recycled stock with vegetable inks, the catalog will feature hundreds of the best luxury organic beauty and lifestyle brands available for purchase online or by phone.

Spirit Beauty Lounge also introduces instructional makeup vlogs with green celebrity and fashion makeup artists Jessica Blades and Karim Orange. Blades, who was named one of Glamour Magazine’s “Eco-Heroes,” and Emmy-nominated Orange will be giving eco makeup tips like how to apply bronzer or how to create a smoky eye – all using organic makeup.

At Spirit Beauty Lounge, the product selection process involves countless hours of research and testing based on their “3P” scoring system:

• Performance: a product should do what it promises and do it well, period.
• Potency/purity: Spirit Beauty Lounge demands the highest possible percentage of organic or biodynamic, active ingredients.
• Presentation: packaging must be beautiful as well as biodegradable or recyclable.

Spiritbeautylounge.com rivals the big box beauty stores by offering services like a live personal shopper and live chat customer service, free shipping offers, and free samples with every order. Spirit Beauty Lounge’s shipping and office facilities are powered by 100% Green-e certified renewable wind and hydro energy, and the Web site is hosted with 100% solar energy.

The company ships and gift wraps using only biodegradable or recycled materials, and offers carbon offsetting for the shipping footprint of every purchase at checkout. Spirit Beauty Lounge also makes efforts to reduce its own carbon footprint. As a member of 1% for the Planet, the company donates 1% of sales to a network of 1,458 environmental organizations worldwide, and its annual donation to Carbonfund.org  supports carbon-reducing projects like renewable energy, energy efficiency, and reforestation projects.

Natural sunscreen formulators may suffer under new European UVA regulation

reposted from CosmeticsDesign.com

New European regulations on sunscreens may make it harder for natural formulators to provide high SPF protection products, according to natural brand Lavera.

The changes to the regulations, which come into force in 2010, state that the UVA and UVB protection have to be provided in a 1 to 3 ratio.

In practice this means that an SPF 30 product has to provide the equivalent of SPF 10 in UVA protection.

For natural formulators, which rely on mineral filters zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, this can be challenging.

“We had no end of problems trying to reformulate to fit these requirements, but as a market leader we felt it was necessary,” said Graham Hume from Lavera UK.

“Lavera had to reintroduce zinc oxide into its formulations as it provides good UVA protection, but it is a much more expensive ingredient when compared to titanium dioxide,” he added.

SPF 20 not 40

The reformulations are also complicated to explain to consumers, he said, who are used to being able to purchase SPF 40 Lavera products and who can now only get hold of SPF 20.

However, the company has tried to explain to its consumers that the difference in protection in terms of UVB absorption between SPF 20 and 30 is actually only a few percent.

Yet another reason to consider buying local instead of paying for "organic"

Since my very recent "healthy eating awakening", I have chosen to buy local fruits and vegetables instead of paying more money for the organic label at the store. Why? Well, I'm obviously cynical and don't quite trust the government to construct a system that actually protects what I eat. So this article is not shocking but should certainly make you think a bit more before you shell out the extra bucks.

The Washington Post recently reported findings of shortcomings in the USDA’s Organics program—meaning that consumers, who at times must pay twice as much for organic products, are not always getting what they expect: foods without pesticides and other chemicals, produced in a way that is gentle to the environment.

Relaxation of the federal standards, and an explosion of consumer demand, have helped push the organics market into a $23 billion-a-year business, the fastest growing segment of the food industry. Half of the country's adults say they buy organic food often or sometimes, according to a survey last year by the Harvard School of Public Health.

Oakley offers first ever eco-friendly recyclable sunglasses :: Bob Burnquist Signature Recycled Gascan®

Oakley skateboarder Bob Burnquist has long championed “green” initiatives and environmental protection. To show support, Oakley is pleased to present this special edition Gascan® eyewear. The frame is made from excess materials produced from the manufacture of other eyewear and the eco conscious design utilizes 100% certified organic bamboo for the icon accents and the included storage bag. Packaging is constructed from recycled materials and printed with eco-friendly inks.

“We are proud of this new sunglass, the first of what we hope to be numerous innovations created with Green initiatives in mind,” stated Pat McIlvain, Oakley Vice President, Sports Marketing. "Bob has long been a source of inspiration to Oakley, and he brings a wealth of knowledge to the design table. It's very exciting to see Oakley take this approach with our environment in mind."

“I am very excited to be part of the creation of this special eyewear piece,” said Bob Burnquist. “The way Oakley has bridged the gap between technical innovation and a more green route is quite an achievement.”

A portion of the proceeds from sales of the Bob Burnquist Gascan® will go to the Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC), an organization co-founded by Bob in 2001. With the help of athletes and companies, the organization takes a proactive approach to educate others about environmental responsibility and the importance of preserving the Earth's valuable resources for future generations.
Price:  $100.0.

ecoStore USA cleaning products review

After a disappointing venture into natural cleaning with Method laundry detergent and Seventh Generation dishwashing powder, it was nice to find this decently priced line from ecostore USA. My biggest gripe is that they are not yet readily available in local stores, so you have to buy online, which never seems to happen. On the plus side, they are now available in all 185 Meijer supercenters in five states.

Products reviewed ::
Citrus Spray Cleaner, $9
Ingredients :: D-Limonene (from citrus), Palm and coconut based non-ionic and anionic surfactants, Fatty acid derivative, Ethanol, Filtered water
Dish Wash Liquid, $8.50
Ingredients :: Palm and Coconut based non-ionic and anionic surfactants, Mineral hydroxide, natural citrus oil
Laundry Liquid, $11
Ingredients :: Palm and Coconut based non-ionic and anionic surfactants, Fatty acid derivative, Mineral hydroxide, Certified organic Eucalyptus oil
Number of times used :: 40+
Overall :: Let's state the obvious -- these products cost more than your usual cleaning products. And I'll be honest, I still use the "other" laundry detergent, simply because it's more convenient to go to Costco and buy it bulk. However, once this bottle of "other" is gone, I am going solely natural from here on out.

The laundry liquid is very effective and I love the fresh eucalyptus smell. I tested it by using it to wash my massage sheets, which are usually heavily laden with lotion and /or oil. The scent didn't linger in the sheets, they were clean, crisp and white and honestly, that bottle lasted about three months. Considering I wash sheets three to four times a week, that's pretty efficient.

Additionally, not suggesting that you do this, but I also used the dish wash liquid to clean my fruits and vegatables and for the first time, I didn't hesitate, wondering what else I was putting into my body. There's no heavy scent and the product does what it's meant to do, which is clean the grease and grime from my dishes.

Looking for a natural hair dye? Research teams say it's just around the corner

Hair dyes made with only natural ingredients could be on the market within two years, according a research team at the University of Leeds.

Read the full article.

Now, Advanced Cosmetics offers a 100% plant-based permanent hair color system. I haven't used it personally so can't state for sure about the ingredients, but might be worth looking into until the fully all-natural option comes around.