Happy Earth Day: Some of My Favorite Eco Beauty Products
Today is Earth Day. It’s a day to celebrate our planet and appreciate and preserve all the beauty and wonderfulness around us. This eco-movement has really caught on like wildfire and more and more companies are developing healthier, better for you, greener, less chemically derived products. This is a trend that really excites me because many of these greener alternatives are really good and I am using them in place of more traditional processed products. Following is a list of better for you products that have recently caught my eye. Enjoy and take a moment today to do something that honors our planet.
Skin 2 Skin Care White Tea Anti-Aging Face Wash: This is one of my absolute favorite skin care lines because it is a natural, certified organic anti-aging results driven line that really works! I am loving the newly reformulated White Tea Anti-Aging Face Wash because it smells fresh and yummy, gently cleans and removes make-up, has fab ingredients like pomegranate, white & green tea and ginseng and it is biodegradable and sulfate-free.
Pure & True Organic Beauty Passion Fruit and Hibiscus Masque and Microdermabrasion Scrub: This is a fabulous organic line made in Hawaii. This yummy scrub contains passion fruit, papaya, hibiscus, micronized walnut shells, and five-percent AHA. It gently yet thoroughly exfoliates the skin, and I love the fresh tropical smell and how rejuvenated and smooth my skin feels after I use it.
Eminence Organic Skin Care Mandarin & Rooibos Antioxidant Masque: Eminence is a cult favorite organic line among estheticians because of the all natural, colorful, yummy smelling, effective ingredients. The Mandarin & Rooibos Masque is no exception because it is contains an antioxidant cocktail of Vitamins A, Ester C, E, Coenzyme Q10, and Alpha Lipoic Acid that powerfully combat free radicals. I love the fresh citrus smell and the way it makes my skin glow.
Pangea Organics Japanese Matcha Tea Facial Mask with Acai & Goji Berry: This is another fabulous eco friendly line that is dedicated to making beauty products that are good for you and for our planet. Pangea products are organic and never contain petroleum-based ingredients, sulfates, synthetic preservatives, artificial colors or fragrances, and GMOs. This AMAZING one stop shop mask contains clay, sea vegetables, sugarcane, acai and goji berries that all work together to detoxify, exfoliate, tone, hydrate, stimulate, regenerate, nourish and balance your skin. It is a magical mask IMO! And the box is 100% recyclable and can be planted because it is embedded with the medicinal herbs used in Pangea products–Eco cool!
Derma e Natural Bodycare Tropical Solutions Facial Moisturizer SPF 15: This is one of the products from Derma e’s wonderful new tropically inspired line. It smells like pineapple and papaya (yum!) and contains Tamanu Oil, Green Tea, Pomegranate, Papaya, Acai and vitamins A, C and E. Tamanu Oil is a hot new ingredient in the skincare world because it is a very powerful antioxidant that heals and protects your skin from the harmful toxins in the environment. I love this lightweight, deelish moisturizer because it smells yummy, offers SPF protection and it’s eco friendly.
Herban Body Care Shae All Over Moisturizer: I adore this local LA artisanal beauty line that makes beautiful handmade products that are organic and paraben free. This wonderfully hydrating little Shae (perfect size to throw in your purse) butter has been my go-to product for a while whenever I am feeling dry and flaky around my nose, lips and hands and feet. My favorite scents are Grapefruit Sage (Citrus and Earthy), Sweet Ginger (Fresh and Spicy) and Mandarin Green (Tropical and Green).
Organic Fiji Pineapple Coconut Sugar Polish This is an incredible scrub made out of certified organic coconut oil and certified organic Fijian island cane sugar. It gently exfoliates without stinging or scratching the skin and it smells like a tropical island treat. I try a lot of scrubs and this one stands out because it’s not greasy, smells yummy and it delivers wonderfully smooth hydrating results.
Josie Maran Argan Oil: Josie Maran is a maven of eco friendly beauty products that totally measure up to her chemical competitors. Her Argan Oil is simply fab because it’s 100% organic, absorbs instantly, gently treats the skin, and it’s one of my go to calming products when my skin wigs out. Argan oil comes from Morocco, is lightweight, and is rich in vitamin E and essential fatty acids. It is a multi-purpose healing product that treats all of your skin’s woes and it’s currently one of the hottest beauty ingredients out there. Josie Maran got her Argan Oil just right!
COOLA Organic Suncare: A Luxurious, Eco-Conscious Line & a Giveaway too!
It is a gorgeous perfectly sunny day in LA, and I am in a happy good mood. Sunny days do that for me, how about you? Anyhoo, with the sun shining brightly I am focusing my next couple of posts on some wonderful new SPF products I have recently discovered. Today I would like to introduce you to Coola Organic Suncare (I just love the name!)
COOLA is a line of suncare products made from the certified organic, natural and advanced active ingredients. COOLA’s products contain natural phyto-protectors, certified organic extracts, and age-defying antioxidants and vitamins that protect and treat the skin. And all of their products are free of paba, paraben, petroleum and phthalate and are 100% made in the USA.
What I am loving about COOLA is the cool hip turquoise blue packaging, the fact the products are delicate and versatile enough to use everyday, they smell yummy and then they are organic to boot! Here are my two favorite products in the line:
COOLA Face SPF 30 in CucumberThis has been my daily ‘go to’ face moisturizer for the past couple of weeks because it is silky, lightweight yet hydrating, absorbs instantly, smells like fresh cucumbers and it has SPF 30. I like how it moisturizers my skin while at the same time it is not greasy and has more of a matte finish. This is everything I want in my daily moisturizer, but it is durable enough to wear during my extended days in the sun too. I likie!
This is a vitamin and antioxidant rich moisturizer that is formulated with twelve certified organic extracts including Cucumber, Rose Hips, and Comfrey that help tighten skin and stimulate healthy tissue growth. It’s moisture replenishing, won’t clog your pores, offers free radical protection, has natural photo protectors, and it’s ultra water and sweat resistant.
COOLA Liplux SPF 30 Original Formula
This is another new fav SPF product of mine, I throw it in my purse and use it all the time because it’s moist, super hydrating, smells like cherries/berries (its also comes in a peppermint vanilla scent with an SPF of 15 BTW) and it has an SPF of 30 (which is rare, most lip products have SPF 15).
Liplux is made of a vitamin and antioxidant rich formula which contains a proprietary blend of organic extracts and fruit butters like organic raspberry and avocado that really hydrate and nourish your lips. Add to that broad spectrum UV protection and natural photo protectors and you have a wonderful combination of moisturizing, treatment and protection. I love it!
COOLA also makes other wonderful products including Total Body with SPF 30 and Sport with SPF 45, as well as yummy smelling hand and body lotion bars.
And because I am so excited about this great new product line, I am also offering a fabulous GIVEAWAY: A Set of 4 products from the COOLA Organic Suncare line valued at over $100 dollars to one lucky Romy Raves reader! This amazing set of four products will include one COOLA Liplux, Face, Total Body and Sport suncare products.
All that you need to do for your chance to win this set is become an email subscriber of Romy Raves OR a Fan of the Romy Raves Facebook Page AND post a comment on this blog post telling me if you subscribed or became a fan and also tell me about your favorite SPF product and why you love it. That’s all you need to do. I LOVE comments and want to encourage my readers to regularly post comments and share your thoughts. This contest will end at midnight PST on Friday, April 16th, 2010. The winner will be selected using Random.org. You must have a U.S. shipping address in order to enter and only one entry per person. Good Luck!
Sunday Set-Up: A Simple Way to Make Sure You Eat Healthy
This Fall I was invited to a wonderful event for lifestyle bloggers–an afternoon of learning about healthy eating strategies from celebrity lifestyle and fitness guru Kathy Kaehler. Kathy created this wonderfully simple concept called Sunday Set-Up where you buy and prepare all of your healthy meal ingredients on Sunday and have them ready to go during the week when you are crazed, busy, tired and likely to make the wrong food choices. I love this uber simple lifestyle concept and have been using it since the Fall, and now I would like to share it with you.
Kathy created Sunday Set-Up to help busy moms (and other uber busy peeps) make daily meal prep easier, healthier and more practical. Instead of stressing about how you are going to pull together healthy and tasty meals night after night, this program is your plan-ahead solution. The idea is that every Sunday you “set-up” your meals for the week by shopping for your ingredients over the weekend and selecting, then prepping foods that can be made into a week’s worth of recipe ingredients.
According to Kathy, “Sunday Set-Up is a great way for me to be organized. I get all of my food at the farmers market or grocery store on the weekend, wash it all, cut it up, and put it into containers. It just became a habit for me, and then I started sharing my strategy with clients and moms that I know. I eventually turned it into a program.”
Kathy feels that, “Families today rely too much on take-out and ordering-in. Our children are not learning how to prepare healthy meals. By implementing Sunday Set-Up into your routine, you will save money, eat better, eat healthier, feel more energized, gather as a family more often, and you may even lose some weight.”
Sunday Set-Up is as easy as 1-2-3:
1. On Saturday or Sunday afternoon, take your kids and go shopping at your local farmers market or grocery store, picking up the freshest ingredients possible. Try to be as ‘green’ as possible by making a point of buying seasonal, local, and organic ingredients (they tend to be the most vibrant and taste the best too!) Also, bringing the kids gets them excited and invested in the healthy eating process. Click HERE to see Kathy’s Sunday Set-Up Shopping List.
2. On Sunday, chop and cook the ingredients necessary for a week’s worth of meals and snacks. This includes vegetables, rice, pasta, beans and chicken/protein. And to add a little yummy inspiration to the mix, here are two of my favorite, super easy and delicious recipes that Kathy made with us at this event: Kathy’s Kale (ridiculously addictive) and Salsa Rice and Black Beans
3. After the preparing and cooking, store the fixings in clear glass containers (Kathy introduced me to Snapware Glass Lock Containers and I absolutely LOVE them–durable, leak proof, easy to see your food and aesthetically pleasing) and place them at the front of your refrigerator. That way, you will be excited about all of the mix and match possibilities for meals and healthy snack options.
That’s It! Simple, Easy, Inspired, Yummy and Healthy! Thank You Kathy for conceptualizing such a brilliant modern day program that can really impact lives in such a positive way. So, what are your healthy lifestyle choices? Any quick and easy tips for eating healthier? Please post and share your tips and ideas.
