Archive for the ‘Bath and Body...Natural Facts’ Category

Posted on September 2, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Toxicity Fight Club: Boys & Girls Edition

If ingredients linked to allergies, cancer and other ailments deserve a one-two punch in grown-up products, they deserve an extra whammy when it comes to kids’ lotions and potions. After all, the wee ones count on us to make smart, grown-up decisions (even if they do scream over washing their hair or a smart slathering of sunscreen).

Here are some highlights of what to avoid when it comes to chemical-free kiddie care…

Shampoo & Conditioner:

Avoid these ingredients…

• DMDM Hydantoin: This allergen and irritant can form cancer-causing contaminants
• Fragrance:  As we’ve pointed out before, ‘fragrance’ is code for all kinds of funky allergens that may contain neurotoxic or hormone-disrupting chemicals
• Ceteareth & PEG Compounds: These harmful petrochemicals that may contain cancer-causing impurities are far from kid-friendly.

Body Wash & Liquid Soap

Avoid these ingredients…

• Triclosan: Like we said, try, try, try for no triclosan! It’s a potential hormone disruptor which can effect the endocrine system which regulates growth and development.
• DMDM Hydantoin: See above, and keep in mind that in Japan, DMDM Hydantoin is prohibited for use in some types of cosmetics!
• Fragrance: See above and always opt for ‘fragrance-free’

Play Make-up

Kids love to play dress-up. But when it comes to trying on mom’s make-up, keep in mind that…

• Your lipstick may contain harmful impurities that your child might swallow in trace amounts
• Most nail polish contains dibutyl phthalate and toluene, both of which are linked to hormone disruption and cancer
• Cosmetics in powder form might damage lungs when inhaled

Buy organic, keep toxins at bay for your tot, print the guide to learn more and don’t forget the ultimate in full-disclosure personal care for you and the kids – Do It Yourself (DIY!).

Posted on August 31, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Snarky but Sensible: Umbra’s Shared Outrage

I’m a big fan of Grist, the green news website renowned for its catchy, Onion-esque headlines. The site’s writers churn out quippy green copy faster than Letterman and Leno non-green writers on a good day. Some recent instant Grist classics include…

• How will you celebrate global warming’s 35th birthday?
• Insulate, baby, insulate
• Paris hopes to expand car-sharing, limit car-burning

That’s why when their self-described ‘green advice maven,’ the snarky and fabulous Umbra Fisk, delivers green news that’s on the same page as my posts, I’m tickled pink.

Umbra’s Outrage

Umbra’s lastest reader reply letter covered the stinky truth about conventional, chemical-fueled perfumes, much like Napa Valley Bath did a couple of weeks ago.  Highlights from her post include:

• Clinique’s ironically entitled “Happy” perfume includes chemicals linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergies, skin, eye, and lung irritation, and more
• An enlightening quote from one of the authors of No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics, which sounds like a must-buy for our personal care green library! Alexandra Spunt is quoted as saying:
  • “There’s no way for consumers to verify what’s in [perfume or cologne],” said Alexandra. “Thanks to business-friendly trade secret laws, the fragrance industry is not required to reveal ingredients.”
• Chemical-filled fragrances contribute to indoor air pollution; their additives are often composed of Volatile Organic Compounds leaving free radicals and ozone to run amuck in enclosed spaces.
• “Chanel was never meant to spice shellfish” – this is Umbra’s way of saying that the chemicals in conventional perfumes get into our water streams and pollute the environment too.
• She encourages Umbra-philes to watch The Story of Cosmetics, which yours truly also did…
• Because she’s a ‘take action’ kind of girl, Umbra ends her post by directing readers to send, read and share the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010.

Read the entire post here, and check out Umbra’s lively video clips, also available on Grist. I hope you enjoy Umbra’s singular, sarcastic style as much as I do!

Read more on NVB:

Eau de Daddy-O

Take the Ingredient Test

Posted on August 28, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

6 All Natural Ingredients to Know About

We’ve told you what you don’t want in your truly natural and healthy personal care products (formaldehyde, triclosan, etc.)  Now it’s time to focus on the “dos!”

Nature is chock full of wonderful ingredients that can moisturize skin and hair with nary a chemical in site. In addition to our all-time favorite, organic lavender, consider these inspiring ingredients:

1. Aloe vera: In addition to her love for lavender, Cleopatra used aloe as a skin rejuvenator. It is rich in polysaccharides, galactose, plant steroids, enzymes, amino acids, minerals and even natural antibiotics.

2. Avocado: Containing more fatty alcohols than any other fruit, avocados are rich in potassium and vitamins B, E, and K. Avocado is also a highly effective emollient.

3. Beeswax: Rich in fatty acid esters, beeswax (a colorless liquid secreted by female worker bees) is an emollient, thickener and emulsifier. It locks in moisture, fosters cells and protects skin from dangerous environmental factors.

4. Cornflower: Tired and puffy eyes? No problem. Cornflower (or the more romantic bluebottle or bachelor’s button!) is known to soothe skin and reduce dark circles.  Try this easy face steam and feel your face lift: use a hot tea made from cornflower, marigold, lavender and wild chamomile; steam for 10-15 minutes.

5. Candelilla wax: This vegetable wax is the vegan’s alternative to beeswax; it can be found in lip balms or body lotions and is lauded for its anti-inflammatory properties.

6. Cocoa butter: It’s made from the vegetable fat of the cocoa bean – how can it not be awesome!  With its incredibly high volume of Vitamin E, cocoa butter provides extreme renewal and repair properties. In addition to moisturizing, cocoa butter is famous for reducing scars.

What are your favorite all-natural ingredients? Let us know!

Read More:

Travel Beyond the Surface of Skincare

5 Wrinkle Reducers

Posted on August 26, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Breathe, Be and Believe: Empower Yourself with Essential Oils

Essential oils positively purify three critical areas of your physical well-being: lungs, body and mind.

The Aromatherapy Bible, by Gill Farrer-Halls, cites the following benefits in his info-packed, go-to guide for all things aromatherapeutic:

• Lungs: The cleansing breaths you take at your favorite spa put you instantly at ease: that’s essential oils at work. Essential oils replace waste products like carbon dioxide with oxygen and essential oil particles, truly clarifying every breath you take.

• Body:  Once soaked into skin, essential oil circulates around the bloodstream, traveling to different organs and body systems. Extra bonus: different essential oils have a therapeutic affinity for certain organs. Rose essential oil, for example, is known to have a regulating effect on the uterus.  Lavender, when taken internally as a tea, has been known to help upset stomach, gallbladder and liver problems

• Mind: Essential oils have powerful mental, emotional and psychological effects. Lavender alleviates anxiety, depression and nervousness – no chemicals, nothing synthetic. Try this holistic approach and watch your mood lift and your frazzled nerves unwind.

Put the power of essential oils to work for you – whether it’s organic lavender (as always, our vote!) or something else and add a true scent-sation to your personal care routine!

Posted on August 24, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Rough patch? The ‘Why’ Behind Dry

Your skin is more complicated than it looks. The average square inch of your skin holds:

• 650 sweat glands
• 20 blood vessels
• 60,000 melanocytes (pigment skin cells)
• 1,000+ nerve endings

All three main layers (epidermis, stratum corneum and dermis) work in harmony with one another. If any of the following are a part of your daily life, dry skin may disrupt your natural ability to moisturize:

• Exposure to excessive sun
• Excessive bathing
• Use of conventional, detergent-based soaps
• Low humidity
• Central air and heating

It’s time to get rid of pesky dry patches one and for all!

Moisturizing Madness to the Rescue!

Napa Valley Bath’s Moisturizing Madness gift set includes 3 steps to moister, smoother skin:

1. 8oz. Lavender Lotion – Certified organic herbal extracts, the highest-quality natural food-grade safflower vegetable oil, nourishing seaweed (algae) and healing aloe vera blend with four lavenders selected from around the world. Decadent, delightful…and mortal enemy of dry skin.
2. 4 oz. Body Butter - Combines the highest quality shea butter from Uganda, healing herbs, health-food-grade fresh vegetable oils, natural vegetable waxes, and soothing aromatic lavender water from the Aromatic Plant Project. A must-have for cracked, callused and parched skin.
3. Hoof Cream – This tin of rich balm revitalizes your hands and feet with a blend of olive oil, coconut oil, beeswax, tocoperol, orange essential oil, lavender essential oil and peppermint essential oil

…given the prices of typical department store brands (which are chock full of synthetic ingredients, toxic fragrance and may even be tested on animals) the Napa Valley Bath Moisturizing Madness package is a steal at $58 – order yours here!

Posted on August 21, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Holistic Mom Power!

Bringing a new face into the world makes it a whole lot brighter…but a lot more worrisome too.

What’s in that bubble bath? Is that burger grass fed? Is that car seat in correctly? Is he/she eating/drinking/sleeping/smiling enough?

Mamma mia is right!

Holistic Moms to the Rescue!

Holistic Moms Network is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization connecting parents who are interested in holistic health and green living. (Dads are welcome too by the way!).

For $45 a year, you gain access to a Holistic Moms Network chapter meeting near you. This network of like-minded people beats at the heart of your membership. Membership includes a slew of benefits, but I particularly like the FREE digital subscriptions to Mothering and Organic Spa Magazines in addition to the Wise-E Mom E-Magazine that HMN publishes. The HealthE Mama News is free to all.

What is Holistic?

Here’s how HMN puts it:

Holistic living is the art of living in balance with ourselves and our environment. Understanding and respecting that all things are interconnected is at the heart of a holistic lifestyle.

Holistic living is about taking responsibility for our actions and choices in the knowledge that these choices have consequences for all living things on the planet.

If that sounds good to you, consider the Holistic Moms Network. And as always, we welcome your ideas and comments on living life naturally, organically and happily right here!

Read More: Baby Love: Keeping Toxins at Bay

Posted on August 19, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Expert Voice: The Organic Trade Association

We connected with Jennifer Rose, New Media Manager and Staff Writer for the Organic Trade Association, who shared why organic products are important to both people and planet.

1. The Organic Trade Association launched a campaign called “Organic: It’s Worth It” recently. What was the impetus behind this name?

Organic producers and handlers must meet strict standards to achieve and maintain organic certification. We wanted a message that communicated to consumers that the benefits of organic make these efforts worth it. It’s worth it to spend the extra dollar for organic produce. It’s worth it to keep synthetic pesticides and fertililzers out of the earth, etc. OTA’s “Organic. It’s Worth It” campaign and its consumer website, www.organicitsworthit.org, provide a platform for communicating to consumers these and other reasons WHY organic is worth it.

2. Most people apply ‘organic’ to food. Are people applying organic to their personal care more? What trends are you seeing?

People are seeking out organic personal care products for many of the same reasons that they seek out organic food: they enable you to avoid exposure to harmful synthetic pesticides. At the same time, because they are produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers, organic personal care products help prevent against damage to valuable water resources, protect species diversity, and combat climate change.

3. What does the Organic Trade Association do to fight greenwashing when it comes to organic labeling?

OTA encourages organic companies to use the USDA Organic seal whenever possible, and explains to consumers what the seal and organic practices stand for.

Read more: 

Coming Clean

Keep Truly Clean with 100% Organic

Posted on August 17, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Buy Green This Back-to-School Season!

We’ve cited several of the Environmental Working Group’s pivotal personal care campaigns including:

• EWG 2010 Sunscreen Guide
• EWG Healthy Home Checklist
• EWG’s Guide to Triclosan
• EWG’s report on adolescents and cosmetics

As a note of thanks to this important non-profit organization, we want you to know about a great green back-to-school promotion EWG has set up with online retailer Amazon.com.

This no brainer back-to-school buying campaign is simple:

Buy alternative, greener school supplies on Amazon.com = EWG gets a kick-back

Why Green Your Back-to-School Buying?

Once again, the EWG has some startling reasons why conventional products pale when it comes to their green counterparts. For example:

• Peeved by PVC: PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, is everywhere including note books, binders, art supplies (particularly polymer clay), lunch boxes and backpacks. There are healthier, non-toxic, great-looking alternatives out there: discover them!
• Precious Water: Start the school year right by banning plastic water bottles. Hook your kid up with a reusable water bottle…BPA-free of course.
• A Better Crayon: Soy and beeswax crayons eliminate the use of parrafin wax, which originates from crude oil.
• Paper Positive: Buying post-consumer waste paper is a tip of the hat to our environment. If you can make the extra investment, it’s a great way to contribute.
• Cell Phone, Smart Phone: If your little one is of cell phone age – and if you use one (and who doesn’t) – check out EWG’s Cell Phone Database for those that offer lower radiation levels, known as the cell phone’s ‘SAR value’.

Buy your supplies to benefit EWG by clicking here.

And when you finally get those sons and daughters back to school, plan a day of self-pampering using all of your favorite organic lavender-based Napa Valley Bath products…after the long summer, you’ll surely deserve it!

Posted on August 14, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Seek Out Essential Green Clean!

In our 3-part lifestyle series, we’ve covered clothing (organic cotton, bamboo, hemp and more!) and bedding (those marvelous organic mattresses). Less fabulous – but equally fundamental – is green cleaning.

Whether you scrub up at home yourself – or hire someone to do it – you should know that when it comes to clean, you could be living the ultimate irony: spreading dirty chemicals around in the name of clean. One example: antibacterial cleaning products are actually registered with the EPA as pesticides. Does that sound like healthy clean to you?

Western cultures spend up to 90% of our time indoors, so clean indoor air really counts. A clean green home is free of dirt and germs – but also free of toxic pollution. You can use the following ingredients – many of which you may already have in your cabinets – to create powerful DIY cleaning products (great cleaning recipes are easily found using a simple google search):

• White distilled vinegar: Use white distilled vinegar with 55% acetic acid; vinegar disinfects, deodorizes, loosens dirt, removes mineral deposits and more…
• Baking soda: Look for baking soda that is “pure” or 100% sodium bicarbonate. Baking soda is abrasive enough to scrub off dirt and stains; deodorizes carpets, drains and fridges; and softens fabric in the wash cycle.
• Borax and washing soda: These alkaline minerals are stronger than baking soda so wear gloves. They brighten your wash, can be used to scrub stubborn stains from counters or bathtubs, kill mold and make toilet bowls sparkle.
• Soap and water: Experts agree that soap and water are less harmful than antibacterial products – many of which include triclosan – and are just as effective. Good old soap and water can clean everything from counter top to carpet to fabric stains. Don’t forget the basics when it comes to building your green cleaning arsenal!
• Vinegar: Kills 99% of bacteria and is not registered as a pesticide (afterall, you can cook with it too!). Use it in laundry, household filters, cutting boards…pretty much anything, safely and easily!
• Lavender Oil: Self-promotion aside, lavender is truly one of your critical green cleaning ingredients. Add it to all-purpose or glass cleaner or dilute with water to make a lovely antibacterial spray and spread aromatherapeutic love all over your home. 100% essential oil comes in dark glass containers; be sure to avoid the synthetic versions!

Let us know what all-natural, toxin free cleaner you use at home, right here!

Read More: 

Get Your Healthy Home Checklist Here

Three Ways to Avoid Toxic Air Fresheners

Posted on August 12, 2010 - by Leslie Billera

Get Your Green ZZZs!

As we’ve discussed, lavender is an all-natural sleep aid. Organic lavender? That much sweeter the dreams.

In part 2 on our series of organic lifestyle love (clothing, bedding cleaning), let’s delve a little deeper into sustainable slumber!

To the Mattresses!

Pesticides, polyurethane, petroleum-based polyester, and chemical flame retardants…sounds more like a nightmare than care-free reverie. Yet these are typical ingredients found in your standard, ‘conventional’ mattress.

Green mattresses, on the other hand, are mostly chemical-free and naturally hypoallergenic. Look for:

• All natural latex, which is made from rubber tree sap: note that Dunlop and Talalay are processes by which natural latex is produced and both are of equally high quality.
• Organic cotton, organic wool components: chemicals and synthetics used in conventional bedding – inhaled or absorbed through your skin while you sleep – can cause allergies or chemical sensitivities in some people.
• Biodegradability: about 40 million used mattresses fill landfills every year; invest in a biodegradable one and rest easy knowing that at the end of its life you won’t be contributing to the mattress morgue!
• One-of-a-kind…most organic mattresses are ‘custom ordered’ – yes, they are more expensive, but my research has shown when it comes to organic mattresses, a commitment to your comfort and satisfaction is a major perk.

Read more on my Planet Green post, including recaps on green brand names like Essentia, Lifekind, Savvy Rest and others.

An Organic Snooze? You Simply Can’t Lose!

Make an organic lavender sleep pillow for yourself or a loved one. It’s super easy – and totally dreamy!