Green Options

The Sea Spa at Santa Monica’s Casa Del Mar encourages a regimen of wellness for the everyday traveler.

These hoteliers have given it some considerable thought and arrived at their  modern philosophy that, even though you’re a traveler, even though you’re away from home, you needn’t sacrifice your sense of well being nor suffer a disruption in your wellness regime.

“The owners of the hotel have me here as a liaison to help people remember how to take care of themselves,” Amber McMahon, Casa Del Mar’s Wellness Director, informs me.  She adds that the Sea Spa fully integrates the mind, body, spirit approach to wellness and services catering to all of these wellness needs are offered in their spa menu.

Are you looking for wonderful green gifts for your eco-mama? Here are some little eco-luxuries that will make great green gifts for the woman on your Mother’s Day list this year.

Green Candlelight

Many women adore candles yet most traditional candles are made with petroleum by products, toxic fragrances and lead laden wicks.

Good news! There are now many eco-candles available so you can feed her candle addiction with candles made from soy wax, beeswax or even vegetable based paraffins, those are all green options. So give your green mama an eco candle this year.

Terri Bly, president of The Nature of Beauty, LTD, offers tips on using natural treatment oils to get glossy, healthy hair.

After 4yrs of exploring, critiquing and lauding the modern world of green, Treehugger decided it was high time to put their heads together to nominate, debate and select what they believe to be the best-of-the-best when it comes to today’s environmentalism - dubbed the ‘First Annual Best Of Green Awards. Once the many hours of discussion amongst the massive brainpower of a group of roughly 50 writers from 5 continents concluded, it was declared that in the Fashion & Beauty Category, Futurenatural is the ‘Best Online Beauty Shop’!! Treehugger has always been at the forefront of helping to bring sustainability to the masses and promoting green as mainstream. For Futurenatural to be recognized as the Best Online Beauty Shop by TH & their global team is a HUGE honor.

Terri Bly, president of The Nature of Beauty, discusses the results of a follow-up study conducted by the Organic Consumers Association to test for contamination of 1,4 Dioxane in popular natural beauty products.

We all know it makes a delicious dip, but this tropical fruit is beneficial to skin and hair, too.    Rich in potassium and vitamins B, E, and K, avocados, and the oil they provide, are regenerative and moisturizing.  The oil is pressed from the pulp that surrounds the avocado pit and is very emollient.

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. 

Hot off NY Fashion Week came the Oscars and in this recession, I’m happy to report, not for a moment did they disappoint. As an Organic Glamazon, who loves to watch the stunning parade of gorgeous, glamorous and uber chic gowns, hair and makeup, it was a night of decadent, unapologetic, head-turning, fashion glory that saw couture from Galliano, Yves Saint Laurent, Balmain, Versace, Dior and on it went - in [...]

Rodarte started making an eco-splash about 4 years ago, having partnered with Aveda in various ways for their shows. Known for their groundbreaking, artisan & artistic approach to their work, the girls have become more and more environmentally savvy over the years. “They are unique,” said Kirsten Dunst of Kate and Laura Mulleavy, front-row at their show today. “They didn’t just study fashion. You can see that. [...]

We all know that too much fat, sugar and salt are not good for us.  Staying up late and being sedentary are also counterproductive to our wellbeing.  As long as you are getting a good night’s sleep, sticking to a healthy diet and exercise program and using nontoxic skincare and cosmetic products you are doing what is right.  Right?

Believe it or not you can get too much of a good thing and we may be overdoing it without even realizing it.  Most of us use too many beauty products. Not only that, but we tend to use too much of each product at one time.

Only a handful of safe and effective items are really needed in our beauty arsenal to keep our skin happy and healthy.  A nontoxic cleanser, a toner for those with oily or acne prone skin, one good moisturizer for the season, an eye cream you can use in the morning and at night, a treatment and a product for exfoliating your skin.  Pair these items up with mineral makeup and blush, nontoxic mascara and your favorite lip color and you are good to go most days.

Far from being my ‘crowning glory’ my hair is actually my worst nightmare! I have hair that happily resides in ‘neither here nor there’ land when it comes to attributes and seems to have a mind of its own: oily & flat at the roots but some days I get amazing root lift; dry ends that are fragile no matter how many 6wk hair cuts I maintain; easily straightened but immediately ruined by humidity; some days does exactly what I want and others not… I curse that I was not one of the fortunate (and rare?) people who has ‘normal’ hair! However, I was recently sent a sample of the new Aveda Smooth Infusion Style Prep Smoother and not only am I loving it, so is my hair.