Green Options

This is a guest post by Kelly Dunleavy, a writer living in Northern California.

While we may not be using arsenic as a cosmetic anymore, the make-up we put on (almost) every day can still have punishing and dangerous chemicals. Of course, there are organic and safer versions. But, why not demand an overhaul of the industry?

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is working to get rid of dangerous chemicals in the cosmetics we use.

Some would be content with just one successful career. Others (myself included) let the type “A” part our brain rule. Enter Ashley Peldon - actor, director, producer, entrepreneur - and all before she turns thirty. Some “stars” use their celebrity strictly for monetary purposes and ethics and commitment be damned.

Not so for Ashley Peldon and her sister Courtney. Started in 2006, Starring…! Fragrances is a cosmetics company with a difference. It combines “the allure of Hollywood glamor with their commitment to health and wellness.” Starring…! products are hand crafted and are a collection of natural, organic, environmentally friendly and paraben free perfumes, body scrubs and 100% soy wax melts. Their lineup includes everything from “playful, dessert-inspired scents to sexy, attention-grabbing florals.”

I often think about how ‘feel good’ a one-stop shop online would be if it could really answer my call for Style. Just imagine, eco-friendly cosmetics, jewellery, clothing, all the things every girl looks for, under a single cyber roof. Folks, I have good news: Eco Zen Boutique, a socially conscious, Arizona based green fashion boutique owned and operated by eco-preneur Tandy Stepp, has recently opened a new online store at ecozenboutique.com.

It could be that I’ve just returned from a holiday in the tropics but I LOVE these organic & natural Spray Lotion Mists from Ola Hawaii. The sweet, zingy, fresh smell of pineapple + lime is super delish but there are all kinds of scents to choose from if citrus isn’t your thing.

Keep it stashed in your bag during Summer heat to spritz

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My fingers are like dried up sausages wrapped in sand paper and the skin on my hands is so rough, dry and cracked I look like I’d be more at home on the beach amongst the barnacles. If its true that you can tell a person’s age from their hands I must be about due for retirement.

I love my job but sewing and handling fabric all day long can be really tough on your skin so I think it might be time to try my hand at something a little more rejuvenating.

Beauty in all forms has been a lifelong passion for me. With an appreciation for killer aesthetic combined with substance, it doesn’t matter to me if I’m looking at something vast and humbling as the ocean; the way someone’s face lights up when they smile; the solid, magnificent way in which a great tree anchors itself to the ground and stoically provides enough oxygen for two humans for a lifetime; or it could be the incredible lines of wear and character on the face of an old Tibetan woman, totally ravaged and laid bare as a proud road map of her lifetime and how she’s lived in it.

There isn’t an ideal or perfect beauty. We are all so completely and utterly different. You can have someone drop dead gorgeous who is shallow and mean and she’ll seem like the most unattractive person on the planet. Conversely, you might meet someone not so physically attractive but with a beautiful personality and radiance that can take your breath away. Beauty can’t be separated from the personality no matter how much spritzing, spraying, waxing and killing yourself on the treadmill you think will make you beautiful.

Now your smile can be shared with others as the first Trans Fair
certified cosmetic line have arrived in the US. Queen Helene Naturals,
which has
produced natural cosmetics since 1940, has developed a line of
four organic skin care products made from Fair Trade cocoa butter.
While natural and organic cosmetics have been appearing on more
and more shelves, including giants such as WalMart and Target, this is
the first line that
has ethcially sourced its ingredient and

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Now your smile can be shared with others as the first Trans Fair
certified cosmetic line have arrived in the US. Queen Helene Naturals,
which has
produced natural cosmetics since 1940,  has developed a line of
four organic skin care products made from Fair Trade cocoa butter.
While natural and organic cosmetics have been appearing on more
and more shelves, including giants such as WalMart and Target, this is

At last week’s Sustainable Business Council event here in LA, the topic was health and wellness. As a cool bonus at the event, the organization brought in Green Bliss, a mobile eco-spa, to provide free treatments. It was then that I realized just how much is going on in this industry.

Of course, the signs have been around for awhile. It seems that I’m constantly meeting people who are starting new organic soap or

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Natural Soap?Myth: Beauty products sold as “natural” and “organic” at health food stores and coops are truly natural and organic.

Facts: Some natural, organic beauty products are exactly what they claim to be; however, many of the trusted brands featured in health food stores and coops contain harmful ingredients and/or are not 100% natural. Anyone can claim their product is natural and/or organic, as there are no

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Editor's note: In the newest edition of Red, Green and Blue, writers Shirley Siluk Gregory and Jimmy Hogan take a look at the "smaller" concerns of environmentalists, and whether it's worth worrying about such issues when there are much greater and more pressing matters affecting our lives and health.

Shirley: When the Environmental Working Group last week announced its release of an updated and expanded "Skin Deep," its online database of chemicals

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