As Moms we spend an incredible amount of time to ensure health and safety for our children. Are we doing the same thing for ourselves? Afterall, leading by example is the best thing we can do. This has left me in search of new products for home and body. I recently received 15 samples of Alima Pure Cosmetics and I’m in love.
Punk, graphic, dynamic, assured, bright and striking … definitely not mellow. A color usually reserved for the hot Summer months, yellow is the new breakout color for fall. We’re seeing everything from gorgeous, long satin charteuse evening dresses at Donna Karan, to vibrant, eclectic and feminine at Marni, to futuristic, modern and slick at Balenciaga.
Traditionally not an easy color to wear vis-a-vis a neutral brown for example, there are nonetheless some gorgeous organic and natural makeup shades to wear with what is sure to be your new favorite color come Fall:
The organic & natural beauty market is increasingly saturated with new brands and products, and growing confusion about what’s ok for you and what’s not. Now seems like a good a time to provide a basic outline of what you need to know. In the posts to follow I’ll cover these in more depth but here’s a good starting point:
Natural: Widely defined as any substance harvested or derived from nature and then isolated, processed or purified by a variety of environmentally sound techniques including filtration, fermentation, distillation, expressing and other like processes.
Emma Pezzack (a.k.a. the Organic Glamazon), one of our amazing Feelgood Style authors,
is beautifully featured here for a live interview with Current_
Here’s to true natural beauty! Futurenatural offers environmentally sound style products that make you look good on the outside and feel good on the inside. Emma Pezzack, the owner of Futurenatural, offers some insight into her world of high quality skin products that are backed up by a socially and environmentally conscious business. ~ Current Review
An online oasis for natural face and body products, B-cause (or beautywithacause.com) provides healthy and affordable cosmetics for a woman’s beauty regimen while doing its part for beauty in society as well, with 10% of all proceeds going towards breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and scleroderma research. You’ll find mineral makeup, facial cleansers, toners, and moisturizers, as well as hair care, fluoride-free toothpaste, and a few products for men, too. Every product offered on the site meets the self-imposed standards of Beauty With a Cause for safe, natural ingredients, affordability, operating ethics, and animal kindness.
In her own search for truly natural beauty products, owner Julie Ann Price found a way to not just effect change in the world of cosmetics, but to do it with style. “Beauty is a measure of how much women love themselves,” says Price. “B-cause wants to be a trusted resource for women where they can shop for effective skin care and vibrant cosmetics knowing that the owner is as concerned as they are that the products are both beautiful and safe. I use what I sell and I believe in my products.”
Currently the FDA lacks stringent guidelines for natural beauty products. If only 1% of the ingredients used in a product are organic, the product can have an “organic” label. B-cause has an “Ingredients to Avoid” list and it’s a little frightening to see how many of these ingredients appear in products that are probably on most bathroom shelves.
You eat organically and locally and sustainably. You clean your home with vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda. So why are you still using makeup, moisturizer, and shampoo that contains known carcinogenic chemicals?
Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and its critical jobs include keeping moisture in, excreting waste, regulating body temperature, compensating for the harsh UV sun rays, and creating vitamin D. And think of its powerful connection with the mind and body — you blush when shy, perspire when nervous, and inexplicably, those little hairs on the back of your neck stand straight up when you realize you’re not alone in a dark room.
Especially during these harsh summer months, you owe it to your skin to read every label and understand every ingredient of every product you use on it. And now, going organic and natural has never been easier — or more luxurious.
Futurenatural.com is the place for “responsible hedonism.” A new Sephora for the savvy organic and natural consumer, Futurenatural offers the best organic skin and hair care, makeup, fragrances, and body-loving basics. Owner/”natural beauty junkie”/writer (and former Australian farmer girl) Emma Pezzack has searched the world for organic/natural cosmetics and goodies that are as effective as they are lush. They are also fair-trade and environmentally conscious.
“You can get something that works as well as Estee Lauder, for example, but is 100% organic,” states Pezzack. “All the products we sell are sustainably harvested, consider the environment, and contribute not only to the health of the consumer but the health of the planet.” What’s not to love?!
Futurenatural.com has chosen the brands they sell very carefully, and will soon include some exciting new brand additions such as L’Occitane, ThisWorks, Alaska Glacial Mud Co., Bamford, Stella McCartney, Patyka, Shobha, Jurlique and more. They list full ingredients for each of the products they sell. Don’t recognize what a certain ingredient is?
Smart, safe, stylish and in sassy Summer shades!
We all want gorgeous, polished looking nails but at what cost? The average nail polish is basically nothing more than a refined version of automobile paint. Yes they make your nails look gorgeous, but they contain a hefty amount of known, dangerous toxins (dibutyl phthalate, toluene, formaldehyde) that can stay in your system and generate internal toxicity. Not entirely free of chemicals, at least using [...]
It’s actually hard to find a natural, let alone organic foundation that does a beautiful job of covering where you need it, but doesn’t look like you have a mask on. This liquid foundation has a beautiful affinity with skin and it blends well to give you flawless cover, while still allowing your natural beauty to show through. Top it all off with loads of organic botanicals (like chamomile, cucumber & calendula), and you have a base that not only makes you look like you have great skin, but it’s working overtime to make you look radiant.
Great for all skin types but if you tend toward a little oily or combination, just use some natural mineral powder over the top (like Alima), to blot excess oil throughout the day. If you like it lighter, just mix with moisturizer for more sheer coverage. Mineral pigments provide the healthy colors and the entire line is certified organic. Love it.
I want this product by the truckload!! When I first came across this solid Mango Butter Cup from Malie I thought the concept was so unique I just had to try it, and now I’m completely sold.
Perfect for sun recovery or every day body moisture, this contains nothing but the nourishing fat of the Mango Seed, Cocoa Butter and Vitamin E. [...]
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
[...]
The average square inch of skin holds 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels and more than a thousand nerve endings. It eliminates toxins, protects, controls moisture loss, regulates heat, acts as a storage system, is responsible for sensation, and absorbs oxygen, nitrogen & carbon dioxide. It lives and breathes. It’s a constantly shifting playing field according to external & internal influences and under constant siege. Add to this the fluctuating seasons and climate change, and you start to get some idea of how skin alters from one season to the next.
You know how it goes… that moisturizer you love in Autumn/Winter is too heavy for Spring/Summer. What you love in the hotter months is all wrong for the drier, colder seasons. Listen up, your skin is trying to tell you something! The seasons change, so should your beauty routine.
There are several companies that offer light/heavy versions of pretty much the same thing so you don’t have to switch brands to update your skincare. Legendary Dr Hauscka Rose Cream has a lightweight version, Pomega5 just launched Revitalizing Essential Moisture, an option to their phenomenal Healing Cream, Kimberly Sayer have an Ultra Light Daily Moisture SPF25 (great for spring/summer) and Antioxidant Day Cream SPF25 which is a little heavier. Perianne is another line that takes the changing of the seasons seriously. Their entire company & product selection is divided into Fall/Winter, Spring/Summer and they even have a transitional collection for in between.
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