Green Options

I’m a believer in voting with our dollars to send companies a message about what we, as consumers, want and that message is ringing through loud and clear. Consumer demand guides retail decisions - plain and simple.  With organic beauty brands popping up at what seems to be lightning fast speeds these days, its evident consumers are speaking and companies are listening.  It’s undoubtedly exciting there are more organic options popping up on the scene at a steady pace, but it can also be very confusing and overwhelming for consumers to distinguish a truly organic brand from one that isn’t when labels and price points can be similar.

It’s all about ingredients.  But how can we decide when we can’t locate the ingredients and when we finally do, are they really organic? 

Founder of Blades Natural Beauty, Jessa Blades is a natural makeup artist who works on photo shoots and fashion shows, helps brides looks their best on their big day and provides natural beauty consultation to a variety of clientele in New York City.  Last month she worked with celebrity makeup artist, Rose-Marie Swift at Fashion Week and is featured this month in Glamour magazine’s 70th anniversary issue along with 69 other female eco-achievers.  She also works with Teens Turning Green and Project Green Prom. 
She believes we don’t have to sacrifice health for beauty and is intimately in-the-know about products that perform, yet won’t pollute our bodies.  “People are outraged when it comes to animal testing for cosmetics and I’m against it, but what about human testing?  Companies have been testing their products on women for years!!” 

Just because a celeb deems it great, doesn’t make it so. Afterall, they are paid big bucks to toute product they don’t really use. However in this case, I totally agree with her and doubt she is getting a dime to sing this product’s praises.  Dr. Alkaitis is a celebrity favorite and for good reason.  When I had the great pleasure of speaking with him last October, I asked him about celebrities using his products:

With planning and prep a buzz for North America’s largest natural products showcase Expo West next week, the Organic Consumer Association just announced that on Friday, March 6th, they’ll announce follow-up test results to the dioxane 1,4 results they released last year.  This study raised many questions about whether some products labeled “organic” and/or “natural” really are and brought to light what the OCA called “deceptive organic branding” and accused some big name brands of containing carcinogenic ingredients. 

Looking to pass a little love along to your best friend, sister or co-worker this Valentine’s Day?  Alima has a perfect plan – send a collection of certified natural Alima Pure samples to a friend (for free)! For the next week when you place your order, just leave a note in the comments box with your friend’s name and address. They’ll send her three free samples of Alima colors chosen just for the occasion, along with a gorgeous card wishing her a Happy Valentine’s Day. If you like, let them know whether she’d prefer their light collection, or deep collection (both are quite wearable, so you can’t go wrong).

 
Its safe to say most of us are cluching our wallets tighter these days and for those of us who refuse to compromise quality and purity in our beauty products despite these economic times, there is hope!  Follow one or all of these tips below to avoid falling victim to cheap and toxic beauty buys in the name of saving a buck.  
 
1). Open Your Cupboard
 
Keep it simple and affordable by getting back to the basics.  Know exactly what you’re putting on your skin and you’ll save some dough in the process:

The concept that we must cleanse both inside and out resonates loudly with me. As one who has experienced the benefits of seasonal detoxing and who believes we should be mindful of what we put on our bodies and what we put into them, I was excited to recently discover SoCal Cleanse, a company who advocates the importance of both.

My passion for organics began with food. Not long after becoming more aware of what I consume, I began to wonder why I would be feed my skin with anything else. It simply made no sense to be conscientious about one and not the other.

The time has come.  The wait is over.  The brand-new, highly anticipated, hottest beauty glossy to hit newsstands is green and it’s gorgeous!

Natural and organic beauty is no longer a niche industry. It has and continues to flood conventional markets as consumers ask more questions than ever about product safety and purity. The rapid increase in organic beauty sales is due, in part, to consumer awareness of hazards in their synthetic and toxic counterparts. Higher standards have become prevalent even for the average consumer thanks to mainstream media spotlights on lead in lipstick, estrogen-mimicking parabens and BPA in plastics.

Though it may not seem like an ideal time to launch anything in our current economic state, there may not be a more perfect time than now for Organic Beauty.

Many of you visit to find the latest, best and most effective natural and organic beauty brands amongst other things. Organic beauty is one of my favorite topics and one I’m passionate about.  And I don’t know about you, but I value honest recommendations from fellow consumers much more than I do when it comes from an owner or employee of a business.  And I know I’m not alone, otherwise Googling “review of X product” would not be the common pastime that it is.  So with that in mind, I’m bringing you the real deal about NatureOfBeauty.com. I’ll clue you in on which products I’m loving right now, the scoop on two hot brands they just launched, share my Christmas gift ideas and divulge how to get free shipping and 15% off your order.

It seems Germany has always been ahead of us in terms of placing value on the natural and the pure. Its not a fad, phase or new concept for them its simply their way of life. So it comes as no surprise that some of the great organic skin care geniuses have come from Germany and I’m genuinely excited to introduce you to yet another.

Amala (ah-mah-la) translates to “most pure” in Sanskrit, “revered mother” in Tibetan and “love her” in Spanish. This exclusive collection is for those seeking an intersection of luxury and purity. Ute Leube, creator and founder behind this pampering brand knows her ingredients, inside and out, backwards, forwards, up and down and has strong convictions about what is “responsible skin care”. She and business partner, Kurt L. Nübling are some of the world’s experts in the cultivation of organic botanicals and have been for the past 20+ years. Up until now, they’ve been known for their extensive and popular organic essential oil line (and anti-aging skin care), Primavera Life; which can be found throughout Europe in most drugstores and health food markets and scarcely available online in the U.S. This past May, Amala made its world debut in Singapore with great success and is currently only available in America in select upscale spas and online.