Recently Written
- Magick Botanicals Hairspray
- Yes To Carrots Shampoo and Conditioner
- Alima Pure Summer Stargazing Collection (Giveaway)
- Badger Certified Organic Lip Balms
- Dear GBG: Jane Iredale Products
Search
Advertise Here
Link to Us!
Author Archive
It’s no secret that teenage girls have different skin that the rest of us. But they still deal with the same issues we face like breakouts and redness. I don’t even want to think about what I put on my face when I was young… let;s not even go there. Now, girls have better options and there is more information out there to help them learn about. There’s even an organization geared toward helping them green their life: Teens Turn Green has a whole campaign called Teens for Safe Cosmetics! Also, typical teenagers body burden of hormone altering chemicals is astronomical these days considering the volume of products they use.
So when I found a new company called Good For You Girls, I had to share it with our readers in case anyone has a teenager who needs some safer skin care. Good For You Girls has no parabens, synthetic chemicals, no petrochemicals and no dyes or irritants. And they even have a great list of ingredients to avoid so your girls can start early on being able to read labels and avoid things that could be harmful later in life. The sooner they are familiar with this stuff the better.
Good For You Girls comes with a complete set of skin care including a Gel Cleanser, a Refreshing Toner, and an Oil-Free Moisturizer. All of the products have little to no scent reminiscent of a touch of aloe. These are so gentle that I was able to use them on my rosacea prone skin with no problems.
Get it: Purchase a 3 piece kit on their website GoodForYouGirls.com
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Face Wash, Good For You Girls, Moisturizer, Skin Care, Toner
So we covered the bedroom and now we need to get to the serious stuff. Candy. There’s nothing like a good box of chocolate on Valentine’s Day right? Now there are companies creating fair trade and organic chocolate for our sweethearts. Not to mention the antioxidants in chocolate make it a better choice than other candy… it can have a higher content of antioxidants than black tea and red wine.
Organic Chocolate
Fair Trade Heart Basket: Give your sweetie, or your mom, this basket of gourmet organic heart shaped chocolates in a bamboo basket. Both the basket and the chocolates are fair trade and these special treat baskets contain a luxurious combination of foil wrapped solid dark chocolate hearts and dark chocolate cherry truffle hearts. Yum.
Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate: These delectable bars of organic chocolate, elegantly wrapped, are available almost everywhere. I know truffles are traditional but I think a stack of chocolate bars tied with a red ribbon is just as sweet. They have a dozen variety’s…my favorites being Maya Gold or the the Caramel. Find them at the grocery store, target or health food stores in your area.
Intemperantia Organic Chocolates: Need those truffles that look like actual truffles? Here you go. Cocoa trees are some of the most pesticide sprayed trees and are usually grown near and around forests. The pesticides damage the forests around them and the cocoa plant holds pesticides more than any other fruit. Yick! So organic chocolate is the way to go! And don’t they look fancy??
Rapunzel Lady Truffles: These cute lady bug organic chocolates are perfect for the kids or anyone you love. Toss a bag into your partners laptop bag with a love note or put a couple in your kids lunch box as a special treat. Doesn’t everyone love a milk chocolate covered hazelnut truffle crème shaped like a lady bug?
Sustainable Gift Giving
A box of chocolates not enough for your sweetie? Flowers are a big source of pesticides due to the mass growth of them for occasions such as this. What is a better alternative? We thought you’d never ask…
Organic Bouquets: All their blooms are sustainably grown and certified Organic (VeriFlora or FlorVerde) and grown with the least environmental impact. All flowers will be wrapped in eco-friendly packaging too. They make sure all their flowers and growers adhere to fair labor and sustainable crop production to bring you the best in organic cut flowers.
Lucky Bamboo: Another gift idea, which I know I’d love, is a bundle of lucky bamboo stalks for your home. Lucky bamboo is one of the best plants to have in your house. Why? They are super low maintenance and they clean the air in your home better than most other plants. Plus they’re a calming addition to any desk. Ahhh…
We hope everyone enjoys Valentine’s Day with the ones you love. And for the anti-Valentine’s Day people – remember that your Valentine can be your mom or your best friend. They need a little extra love these days too!
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Gifts
Valentine’s Extravaganza Week continues with massage oils! Granted, there isn’t a whole lot of massaging going on around my house considering I’m pregnant. However, making a point to put each other first is important in any relationship! Typically, massage oils are made with mineral oils that use up valuable resources that are taxing on the environment. Plus, wouldn’t you rather put a natural unprocessed oil on your body rather than some refined petroleum? Me too.
There are a few store bought brands that use natural ingredients if you’re looking for a nicer gift… or you can stick to the tried and true at-home ingredients that are both affordable, multipurpose and make your skin feel great.
Massage Products We Love
Mountain Rose Herbs Massage Oils: These oils contain only blends of natural essential and organic oils like organic olive oil and organic almond oils and vitamin E. They offer a range of scents, scented with rose, chamomile, and lavender and come in 4oz pumps and 1oz sample kits!
Weleda Massage Oil: This is a great massage oil for those of you with active lives… whether you’re chasing kids or a workout king – this oil helps restore tired, aching muscles before and after physical activity. Weleda is one of our favorite lines using only natural and organic ingredients.
AuraCacia Massage Cream in Tangerine Grapefruit: A cream instead of an oil this might be a little less messy. Based with grapeseed oil and scented with oils like tangerine and grapefruit this sweet smelling citrus rub down will refresh and awaken the senses for a fun night out. Rawr!
DIY At Home Massage Treatments
Pure Coconut Oil: Available at your local health food store or aisle, this ingredient is great for your skin. Use it to moisturize after a shower, soften cuticles or massage your muscles. Better yet, you can cook dinner with it too. Add it to a romantic meal with stir fried veggies and shrimp to add a full flavor. Also, we hear it makes a good personal lubricant. *Tee Hee*
Make Your Own: You can make any kind of massage oil concoction that suits you with a few simple ingredients from the health food store. Pick up organic vegetable and nut oils, such as olive (great for skin and hair), sweet almond, jojoba, avocado and some vitamin E to make your own sexy combination’s. Add drops of your favorite essential oils like lavender, orange, or arnica to spice it up.
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: DIY Recipes, Massage Oils, Weleda
As someone with naturally wavy hair, I am subject to frizz. In the past I was committed to my curl creams and sprays to control it and to enhance the waves I had. In searching for safer products, a less chemical curl enhancer was part of my hair mission. Before I used either Aveda Be Curly (which isn’t the worst choice on the planet and works like a charm) and my Dream Curlz by John Freda to tame the heap of curls I own. I’ve finally, after many trials have voted them all off the island for Giovanni’s Direct Leave-In Conditioner. Granted, this isn’t a curl cream, but a nickel sized drop of it adds shine and smoothness to my waves and helps tame the frizzies.
Giovanni’s products are cruelty free and focus mainly on organic or natural ingredients and doesn’t use typical chemical preservatives like parabens. A select few of their products contain small amounts Phenoxyethanol, but in recent months I’ve seen the ingredient disappearing from their labels so I’m comfortable with using the majority of their products. The best part is they are relatively affordable.
Get It: You can pick up Giovanni products just about everywhere these days. I’ve seen them at the grocery store, Target, Rite Aid, and of course on Amazon.com
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Giovanni, Styling Products
Going organic with my beauty and health meant really eliminating so many things I enjoyed. Perfume being one of them. I sadly set aside my array of commercial perfume and went on a hunt for something safer that lacked phthalates and synthetic fragrances. While at the gym reading a magazine I stumbled on an obscure article in a magazine that mentioned an organic perfume called Red Flower perfume oil.
These perfumes are created with a pure flower and herb distillation using USDA Certified Organic oils. I always knew that oil based perfume vs. alcohol based perfumes were more pure and long lasting due to the slower evaporation, but since using Red Flower I do believe they work a whole lot better.
Red Flower organic perfume oils come in 3 beautiful scents: Champa (the one I like) has a floral feminine scent without smelling too much like a big flowery mess. It’s subtle and girly… I get compliments on it often. They also have Ambrette, more of am amber, golden warm scent and Guaiac, which is a little bit earthy, woody but with a pretty feminie side. Really lovely scents.
Get It: Red Flower oils come in a small 1-ish ounce glass roll on with a stainless steel roller ball for $48, or in a larger elegant crystal cut vintage bottle and stoppe, made in france for $186 – all available on their website RedFlower.com. Red Flower also carries hair care, candles and body care items … all that I am dying to try out. They all look like elegant indulgences!
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Perfume & Scents, Red Flower
A friend turned me on to Eminence Organics a while back and I was able to try a few of their products. Their lines all are free of parabens, mineral oils, petroleum and SLS and they have some really divine products. I got a few samples their DiVine collection which included a Mimosa Body Scrub and Mimosa Body Lotion.
Let me tell you, this stuff actually smells like a real mimosa – without making you smell like a drunk. It a light citrus champagne scent and the body cream is really luxurious. My hands are instantly soft when I use it. Pampering is tricky when you’re trying to go as natural as possible and these don’t make you feel like a hippy… they feel like a real spa treat. They have other delicious scents like Cucumber Mint, Pear & Green Apple and a Yam & Pumpkin Enzyme Peel. It’s too bad you can’t order these online or I would – but they are available at select spas!
Get It: Eminence is only available at partner spas and salons – call toll free at 1-888-747-6342 to learn of a spa near you.
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Body Lotion, Body Scrub, Eminence Organics, Uncategorized
It’s no secret around here that John Masters Organics is one of our favorite lines for hair and body care. They take great care to ensure they use safe natural ingredients and avoid preservatives and harmful fragrances. One item they make I have been coveting for some time is their Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender. I have naturally wavy hair and typically, I put a little leave in conditioner or a curl cream and let it air dry. Voila, nice even waves and super easy. However I noticed that my best hair days? Were days when I’ve been swimming in the ocean and it air dries. Something about the salt and the texture it creates makes for very sexy, full body waves. But I don’t have time to swim in the ocean each morning to get that effect.
Enter John Masters. I received this in the mail the other day and wow. This is a great product. There is some skill associated with using it for sure… too much and you’ll feel like a scarecrow complete with straw hair. I let my curls air dry until almost completely dry and the give my hair a few spritz’ from underneath. The sea salt give your hair enough texture to manage and you can even twist it into clips or let it hang free in its curled awesomeness. The lavender helps your hair from drying out from the salt and gives it a nice soothing scent.
I don’t think this product is for every hair type, but if you aren’t into pomades (like me) and are looking for a natural alternative to my old favorite Dream Curlz by John Freda, this might be the product for you. Each bottle is 9 oz and $16.50 but this will likely last me the entire year since I use it sparingly.
Get it: You can pick your Sea Spray up on the John Masters Organics website or on Amazon.com
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: John Masters Organics, Styling Products
I’m seriously turning into Kathy, and quickly. This winter has been very raw and dry for us. Something I don’t quite remember last winter, our first one back after living in California. We’re all feeling the pain of dry skin, and my lips have been no exception. Even my son has been becoming friends with lipbalm. I have at least 17 tubes of it in my handbag and I use every single one.
For Christmas, my husband surprised me with some Alima Pure nourishing lipbalm. What I love is that this lipbalm also comes tinted too.
I really love Alima Pure’s makeup. I ended up with tons of eyeshadow samples for Christmas, which I’ve been loving all of. But this lipbalm, I love, because not only has it been keeping my lips soft, it also adds a bit of color, which actually lasts, thanks to natural pigments. The light colors are great for a hint of color for daytime and the darker colors are great for going out. Use it as a base for your regular lip gloss or lipstick to keep your lips from drying out or just use it by itself. And because they’re just a regular tube of lipbalm, it’s not big and bulky, which means you can fit one, or 20 in your handbag.
Alima Pure has several shades of this product, along with all of their products. One of the many things I love about them.
Get it: You can order any of Alima Pure’s products, directly from their website.
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Alima Pure, Lip Balm
I received an Nvey Eco eye color palette from Statia for my birthday last year during our “make up greening” frenzy and have been using it ever since. Nvey Eco is a certified organic make up company that produces a wide range of cosmetics with high quality in mind. Not to mention their products are free of talc, parabens, preservatives, SLS, propylene glycol, gm’s (genetically modified), petroleum based ingredients and they don’t test on animals or use nano technology. That’s make up I can use without too much worry. But do they work? YES.
I really love the performance of Nvey Eco’s eye shadows… they have a nice range of color palettes and each palette comes with 5 shades that are coordinated to fit your style for day or night. I’ve abused the palette I own but the investment is worth it… it has a lot of miles left on it.
Nvey Eco also creates foundation, powder, blush, and lip colors and treatments. All for a top price but the products stand up to the challenge. I’ll be an Nvey Eco customer for sure. I’ve got my eye n eye shadow palette No. 5…
Get It: Buy their products on the Nvey Website, on Amazon or on SaffronRouge.com
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Eye Shadow, Nvey Eco
I joined Saffron Rouge’s sample club a little while back, figuring that it would be nice to try different products without having to buy them. Given the economy and the price of natural/organic skin care, this is a great option for people who are looking for some new favorites without worrying about wasting money on something that ended up never being used again (something Kathy and I have both done a lot since starting this journey).
One of the samples I received was for a few different Primavera products, which I had been wanting to try out for awhile now. Included were two different facial moisturizers, one was a nourishing face cream and the second was a hydrating face cream. Primavera is a German based company, using the highest quality ingredients. I don’t generally see their products in stores that often, and only in a few places online. Their products are really expensive, given their ingredients and the fact that they’re from Europe
Both of them were nice. They worked well, and didn’t smell offensive, but to be honest I didn’t really notice a difference between the two. If I had to pick a difference, I’d say the hydrating cream was slightly more oily, which is to be expected, but they both soothed my dry flaky face without causing redness or irritation (great for those of us with sensitive skin). Would I buy it for myself? Probably not at $70-80 a jar, but it’s definitely something that I will put on a wish list for birthdays and Christmas. In the meantime, there are other less expensive alternatives out there that work just about as good as Primavera.
Get it: If you’re in the mood to pamper yourself, or you have some extra cash lying around, you can get the full Primavera line at Saffron Rouge.
Posted by admin • add a comment •
Categories: Moisturizer, Primavera
