Author Archive

Posted on March 11, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Just Say No to Nanoparticles!

Q: When is ‘skin deep’ not deep enough?

A: When technology worms its way into your personal care products!

Nanoparticles are a hot new technology and all the rage in the beauty industry. But beyond the hype, the picture isn’t so pretty.

One of our skin’s key jobs is to keep harmful substances out;  but it has met its match with nanoparticles.  These ultra fine particles act as ‘penetration enhancers’ that deliver ingredients past the skin to a deep, cellular level – with unintended health consequences.

Nanoparticles enter the bloodstream almost immediately, carrying chemicals to organs. According to the Environmental Working Group, nanoparticles slide up the optic nerve to the brain or burrow inside red blood cells.

Nano No No

Although nanoparticles are found in more than one-third of all products, from sunscreen to moisturizers to foundation – they aren’t easy to spot on ingredient lists!

The following is a list of known nanoparticles to look for on labels – and avoid:

• Nano Zinc Oxide
• Fullersomes
• Nanosomes
• Fullerene (C60 Hydroxide)
• Microspheres
• Ingredients containing the words ‘nano’ or ‘micronized’

Peruse this list of 256 products with nano-scale ingredients from the Environmental Working Group, and read their full report to the FDA on the topic for a more in-depth look.

Natural Know-How

Take control of your beauty and bath routine. Remember…

• Less is More: the more natural the product, the fewer ingredients it’s likely to have
• Herbal Essence: Look for products high in herbal content like lavender and aloe vera
• Plant It: Natural, plant-based options – like pure essential oils – are your best option, especially since we absorb 60% of anything we put on our skin.

Stick to the all-natural basics, and feed your body all the nourishment it needs – and leave the nanoparticles for NASA.

Posted on March 9, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Read Your Palm Responsibly

From soaps, candles and bath and beauty products to ice cream and bread…palm oil is used in products we consume every day.

But the back story of palm oil tells an ugly environmental tale.  Life-giving tropical rainforests are being burned and cleared for expanding palm plantations. Just one more reason why it’s super important to know where the ingredients in the products you buy actually come from.

We turned to the World Wildlife Foundation, one of the fiercest advocates for sustainable palm oil, to learn more about large scale palm oil production:

• The world’s most biodiverse tropical rainforests are found in Malaysia and Indonesia, where the land is being devastated every day to create oil palm plantations.
• Clearing these forests creates inhospitable habitats for the region’s wildlife, including tigers, rhinoceros, elephants, and orangutans, the most threatened animals.
• Oil plantations erode the land and use fertilizers and pesticides that pollute the air, soil and water.

Buyer Beware

Don’t let irresponsibly grown palm oil ooze into your green beauty care routine.  You can do two things when it comes to taking a stand against it:

1. Avoid personal care brands that include palm oil in their products and opt for responsibly sourced products from full disclosure beauty and bath companies like Napa Valley Bath.

2. Write to your favorite retailers and manufacturers (with online access, it’s easy) and ask them to use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) in their products.

Scroll down this list to see brands and products that source palm oil responsibly including The Body Shop and LUSH soaps. Kudos to these types of caring companies who join Napa Valley Bath and St. Helena Olive Oil Co. in sustainable, responsible, and earth-friendly agricultural practices!

Posted on March 3, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

3 Easy Tips to Try Aromatherapy At Home

We’ve touched on what aromatherapy can do for your body.  So let’s look at what amazing aromatherapy can do for your home.

Aromatherapy is the use of pure essential oils to enhance our physical and mental well-being. Essential oils are highly concentrated distilled essences of plants that smell truly delightful. They are diluted either by water or with a ‘carrier oil,’ depending on the intended use of the essential oil.

Organic lavender essential oil – our personal fave – has the ability to evoke and increase the release of serotonin, thus producing a calming effect.¹

Try these simple at-home tips and bring the soothing power of aromatherapy to your abode!

1. Create a Simmering Scent

To freshen air inside your home, drip some of our favorite scent into a pot of water and simmer mixture on the stove top for several hours.

2. Try Tug-Worthy Toilet Paper

To ensure there’s always a fresh scent in the bathroom, add a few drops of essential oil onto the cardboard roll that holds the toilet paper. The fragrance will release with each pull. Remember to repeat with each new roll you hang.

3. Reinvent the Room Deodorizer

Conventional so-called room deodorizers are just chemical-filled band-aids used to mask odors. Make your own with ease: add 25 drops of your favorite essential oil to 16 ounces of water, put in a spray bottle, and voila – fresh, pure, natural smelling indoor air!

And don’t forget about hydrosol - it’s less concentrated than essential oil, but equally aromatherapeutic!

Our sense of smell impacts our daily perceptions and our reactions to what’s going on around us – physically, emotionally and mentally. Infusing your home with healing scents is a great way to boost your mood and keep you centered.  Now take one big beautiful breath, and enjoy!

1Perscription for or Nutritional Healing, Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Posted on March 1, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

A Sea of Bodily Love: Sponges & Loofahs

We hope by now you’re treating yourself to at least one relaxing, aromatherapeutic bath a week that’s:

• Good for the earth: the non-toxic ingredients in organic bath and beauty products don’t wind up in our water streams.
• Great for your body: by making smart choices about the products you put on your skin, you’re investing your health.

Now it’s time to think about transporting all the nutrient-rich soaps, sea salts, scrubs and more available from Napa Valley Bath in the most eco-conscious way…

Sea and Be Seen

Opt for sea sponges versus synthetic sponges, which are typically made from petrochemicals.

For thousands of years, people have been cleansing themselves with multi-celled sea sponges. Sea sponges live in almost every aquatic environment, filtering nutrients from the water through their pores.

Real sea sponges:

• Are a non-endangered species, so they are greener alternative to synthetic sponges
• Regenerate, so there’s no worries about over-harvesting
• Hold a greater amount of water
• Biodegrade, so there’s no waste

So ditch that pink, plasticized pouf hanging in your shower – your green bath is truly sea sponge-worthy!

Love Your Loofah

Did you know that a loofah is a dried plant related to the squash family?  Loofah sponges can be used every day to:

• Give a boost to your circulatory system
• Cleanse and exfoliate your skin
• Help prevent cellulite build-up

Make sure that any loofah you buy is organically-grown and unbleached. In a DIY mood? Harvest your own!

Posted on February 20, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Teens and Personal Care: A Cautionary Tale

The average woman uses 12 personal care products a day…and the ever-enthusiastic teenage girl? More like 17.

As we’ve shared with you, many conventional personal care products carry a heavy chemical load for all of us.  But teenagers are especially at risk: they’re at a period of accelerated development, physically, that makes them particularly vulnerable.

A 2008 Environmental Research Group study backed up these concerns.

The study took samples from 20 teen girls, age 14-19. Harrowing highlights include:

• They found 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks – in blood and urine samples in the 20 girls tested.

• Studies link these chemicals to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption.

• These tests feature first-ever exposure data for parabens, a common cosmetic preservative.  It indicated that young women are widely exposed to parabens, with 2 parabens – methylparaben and propylparaben – detected in every single girl tested.

Purchasing non-toxic personal care products is step one to a lower chemical count for teens. Turning teens on to what their peers are doing to make healthier, greener choices is another step.  Check out Teens Turning Green, a national program of engaged kids working towards a more non-toxic world, from personal care to school to lobbying Washington.  Yucky pink hand soap loaded with suspected carcinogen Cocamide DEA, a suspected carcinogen? Not in a Teens Turning Green School!

You can also turn your teen on to Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group’s amazing database of thousands of personal care products, and help them take control of the buying choices they make as they grow.

Last but not least, why not surprise them with a treat from Napa Valley Bath: all of our products are non-toxic, all-natural, pure and mostly organic.

Posted on February 18, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Groom Your NVI (Napa Valley Intelligentsia)

Napa Valley conjures fields of lavender, sweeping vineyards and abundant olive trees.  But how much do you really know about Napa?

It’s time to ramp up on your Napa Valley dinner party parlance…

• Napa Valley is 30 miles long; its regions include American Canyon, Napa, Lake Berryessa, Yountville, Oakville/Rutherford, St. Helena, and Calistoga.

• In addition to its famous grapes, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables thrive in Napa including oranges, prunes, apples, olives and more.

• The Napa Valley is a name derived from the language of the area’s native Wappo Indians and has come to mean “land of plenty.”

• The Wappo Indians had no written language. They shared their ideas, stories, and feelings by speaking only. Stories and customs were passes down by parents to their children.

• 1823 marks the first written description of Napa. Word spread of the region’s abundance, and by the late 1840s, quicksilver mines and lumber mills had set up shop.

• Steamships ferried people from San Francisco, and the railroad carried tourists seeking the healing waters of Calistoga.

• Tough times did darken Napa’s sunny days:  Napa’s famous Silverado mine dried up in 1875, a grapevine disease in 1893 killed off most of the vines, and prohibition shut down most wineries altogether in 1920.

• In 1968, California’s first Agricultural Preserve was created. This zoning ordinance established agriculture and open space as the “best use” for the land within Napa County. Known as the “Ag Preserve,” it’s an agricultural model followed by many others today.

Now uncork one of Napa Valley’s hundreds of wines, start simmering the sauce, and over artisan bread dipped in the local extra virgin olive oil, enjoy a northern California-style dinner peppered with Napa Valley love and lore.

Posted on January 14, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Shop ‘til You Drop, Green and Guilt-Free!

The ever-inspiring Green America has just issued their annual must-have catalog. This amazing shopping guide lets you juice up your shopping with a hardy dose of eco-consciousness. From clothing to housewares to green gifts and much more, the Green America National Green Pages is a great resource that covers every aspect of your life.

Before I go any further, you should know that you can get a copy of the amazing Green America National Green Pages – FREE – at your local Whole Foods. I saw it in a Whole Foods in Paramus, NJ: if you don’t see it in your local Whole Foods, ask a manager!

Another way you can get it is to simply join Green America with membership options as low as $20. As a member, you’ll get resources for green living, purchasing, and investing AND become part of the growing movement for a just and sustainable future.

Right there, you’ve got a good deal going.

Vote with Your Dollars

Just a taste of the type of discounts you’ll get in the Green America National Green Pages:

• 15% off sweatshop-free, bamboo-fiber baby clothing
• 10% off at a green bed and breakfast
• 10% off Fair Trade chocolate
• 5% off a solar water heater
• 15% off recycled paper stationery, invitations, and holiday cards

You can also take advantage of these type of green deals and many more – for free – online.

As a Napa Valley Bath and St. Helena Olive Oil Co. customer, you love the health benefits of organic, truly all-natural bath and beauty products.  With the Green America National Green Pages, you can extend that goodness to all areas of your life.  Enjoy!

Posted on December 8, 2009 - by Leslie Billera

Holiday Gift Giving: 2 DIY Perfume Recipes

I saw a White Diamonds perfume commercial on TV the other day – featuring a 1992 air-brushed Liz Taylor – and I thought I’d been sucked into a time travel vortex.

In addition to the post-collegiate flashback (in which ‘I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt’ topped the charts), the dated perfume commercial reflects the sea change I’ve undergone when it comes to the simple term ‘fragrance.’

A typical perfume contains a mixture of between 50 and 100 fragrance chemicals including, but not limited to:

• Coal tar distillates
• Petroleum distillates
• Benzene derivatives
• Aldehydes
• Phenols
• Phthalates (banned in cosmetics in the European Union since 2003 – see more in the ‘jargon alert,’ below )

Today, science makes it possible to dissect any natural scent and recreate it using synthetic fragrances.  Smelling machines, or ‘electronic noses’ use chemical sensors to produce a fingerprint of any scent. ¹

Doesn’t your special someone deserve something a bit more personal this holiday?

Try your hand at either one of these all-natural elixirs, and let us know how they turn out!

DIY Perfume

by Heidi Hill via www.MNN.com

Basic supplies for making perfume:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped flowers (we recommend lavender of course!)
• Cheesecloth
• Medium-size bowl with lid
• 2 cups distilled water
• Small saucepan
• Washed and sterilized vanilla extract bottle, or another small colored bottle with a lid or an airtight stopper

Instructions for making perfume:

1. Wash the flower petals. Gently clean off any dirt and sediment with water.

2. Soak the flowers. Put cheesecloth inside a bowl with edges overlapping the bowl. Put the flowers into the cheesecloth-lined bowl and pour the water over them, covering the flowers. Cover the bowl with the lid and let the flowers soak overnight.

3. Heat the flower-scented water. The next day, remove the lid from the bowl and gently bring the four corners of the cheesecloth together, lifting the flower pouch out of the water. Squeeze the pouch over a small saucepan, extracting the flower-scented water. Simmer over low heat until you have about a teaspoon of liquid.

4. Bottle the perfume. Pour the cooled water into the bottle and cap it. The perfume will last for up to a month if stored in a cool, dark place.

Green Eau de Toilette

by Julie Gabriel, The Green Beauty Guide

Basic Eau de Toilette Supplies

• 1 ounce vodka
• 4-10 drops essential oil of your choice
• 2 tablespoons distilled water

Instructions for making Eau de Toilette:

1. Pour the vodka into a small glass measuring cup (that has a spout) and add the essential oil, stirring slowly until the oil is fully mixed in. Pour mixture into a small, dark, lidded bottle and leave in a dark place (such as a closet) for two days so that the oil can fully blend with the vodka.

2. Slowly add the distilled water, shaking well. Again, let the mixture sit for two days (or more I you want a more potent mix). Now the perfume is ready. If you like, you can transfer it into a pretty spray bottle.

Homemade scents educate the gift recipient on why we can’t always trust what’s in our bath and beauty products. Plus, they earn serious brownie points for being hand-crafted. And most importantly, homemade scents are the healthiest way to smell great – naturally!

Top either DIY scent with a coupon for a relaxing Lavender Oil Massage, and you’ll win the award for best holiday gift, hands-down.

¹ The Green Beauty Guide, Julie Gabriel

_________________________________

Jargon Alert: Phthalates

Phthalates (pronounced ˈtha-ˌlāt) are found in perfume, soap, shampoo, nail polish, hair spray, mascara and more.  Listed in ingredient labels as dibutylphthalate, DPB, DEHP, DHP. Phthalates are not listed when used in fragrance. May cause developmental and reproductive problems. It is used to make materials more pliable, prevent cracking, and retain scents by ‘fixing’ perfumes to reduce evaporation

Posted on November 13, 2009 - by Leslie Billera

Discover the Duality of Lavender Essential Oil!

Our amazing lavender suppliers, The Kahns, boast 14,800 lavender plants, 2000 olive trees and 1/1/2 acres of petite syrah grapes on their truly spectacular property.

Their luxurious fields of purple splendor reap certified organic lavenders including English Munstead and Hidcote as well as French Grosso and Provence. This bounty of lavender is capable of producing 6-700 gallons of hydrosol and about 40 quarts of essential oil annually.

Essential oil is the very life essence of a plant, an aromatic pure oil extract that provides a deeply positive impact on both mind and body.  Unlike ‘fragrance,’ which is pretty much a dressed up word for the toxic chemical phthalates, an essential oil is a truly natural scent with myriad, often miraculous uses.

Lavender is one of the most popular essential oils. With its soothing scent, it relaxes and calms. And with its analgesic, antiviral, antiseptic and antibacterial properties, it’s good to go for practical uses like cleaning and wound-care.

Here’s just a whiff of its range:

Lovely Lavender Liquid Body Wash

Materials Needed:

• One bottle of unscented shampoo
• 1 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
• 15 drops of lavender essential oil
• 5 drops of peppermint essential oil
• 5 drops of rosemary essential oil
• 5 drops of tea tree oil

How To:

1. Take a large, glass mixing bowl and pour in one and a half cups of shampoo. It doesn’t need to be expensive, it just needs to be unscented.
2. If you’re someone who likes your body wash to be extra thick, add in a thickening ingredient such as Xanthan gum and mix well.
3. Next, add in all 30 drops of essential oils to the bowl and blend well. Feel free to choose whatever oils you like best. This combination works because the lavender is calming, the tea tree oil works as an antibacterial (and it smells great), and the peppermint and rosemary are invigorating.

Source: Bella Sugar

DIY Lavender Dishwashing Liquid

Materials Needed:

• One recycled 25 oz. plastic dishwashing liquid bottle
• Liquid organic castile soap
• 3 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar
• 15 drops of organic lavender essential oil
• 5 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
• 4 drops of lemon essential oil

How To:

Fill plastic dishwashing liquid bottle with castile soap. Add essential oils and vinegar and shake to blend. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid to water and wash dishes as usual. Shake bottle before each use.

Source: Laura Klein’s Green Club

Posted on November 6, 2009 - by Leslie Billera

Let’s Hear It For The Soy!

I’m a candle junkie. When I go away with my husband, I always pack a couple of soy votives to ‘set the mood,’ in addition to a nice bottle of organic wine.

Any candle not made from soy, beewax or another specially-marked blend of wax is most likely paraffin-based. And the bad news about these popular candles is that paraffin fumes include toxic substances like:

• Toluene (recognized by the EPA as a probable human carcinogen)
• Benzene  (recognized by the EPA as a probable human carcinogen)
• Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)
• Naphthalene

These contaminants are found in paint, lacquer and varnish removers are in stark contrast to the emotions that scented candles promise to evoke!

The American Lung Association backs it all up, advising that we “refrain from burning scented or slow burning candles that have additives.”

Soy to the Rescue: Healthier and Longer-Lasting

Soy candles burn naturally and emit little to no residue into the air.

On the practical side, soy candles last 30 to 50 percent longer then traditional candles. Plus, they clean up with soap and water – no more ruined table clothes or table runners.

Napa Valley Bath takes all the green goodness of the soy candle and transforms it into a sexy treat that does double duty – half candle, half all-natural massage oil.  Now that’s a two-for-one you can’t pass up!