The first report was yet another study on Bisphenol A, or BPA.  Several states, including California have tried to ban this proven hormone disruptor from baby bottles and children’s feeding products.  This is an issue I’m particularly passionate about, as there are now hundreds of studies showing that even very low levels of BPA are associated with a wide range of health conditions, particularly for infants and children.

The newly released study may help support the much-needed ban, as research found that BPA (often used in can lining) leaches into in most canned foods – 92 percent of products tested!  While we wait (and fight for!) federal policy reform, check out the Environmental Working Group’s tips to lower your BPA exposure:

Source: Flickr user Chiot's Run

1. Buy your tomato sauce in glass jars. Canned tomato sauce and pasta is more likely to have higher levels of BPA because the high acidity of the tomatoes causes more of the chemical to leak from the lining of the can.

2. Consume frozen or fresh fruits and vegetables instead of canned.

3. Purchase beverages in plastic or glass bottles.

4. Use powdered infant formula instead of ready-to-serve liquid. Studies have found that liquid formulas contain more BPA than powdered brands.

5. Think in terms of moderation. Instead of avoiding all canned foods, eat less of those that are high in BPA.

It’s definitely time to clean out the pantry!

As a mom, I know attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is on the rise and that there is not a clear reason why.  I was really intrigued by a suggestive new study that found a link between the increasing rate of ADHD and the pesticides in (non-organic) produce.

Researchers looked at urine samples from 1,139 kids age 8 to 15. The 119 who were diagnosed with ADHD also tended to have the highest concentrations of malathion (a commonly used pesticide) in their urine.  Children may be especially prone to the health risks of pesticides (and many other toxic chemicals) because they’re still growing and may consume more pesticide residue than adults relative to their body weight.

While the study is not conclusive, it should certainly raise a red flag to parents about chemical exposure in household items!  To lower you and your child’s risk, buy organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible and get rid of bug spray and other pesticides in your house and those you use on your lawn and garden.   If organic produce is not readily available or cost prohibitive, download the EWG’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 list of fruits and veggies that you should always buy organic (including celery, strawberries, and apples) and those that traditionally have less pesticide use and residue (onions, avocado, mangos)  Also, remember to always wash produce under running water before eating it.

Source: Flickr User Blackout14design

The third report, conducted by the EWG and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, tested 17 well-known fragrances, including those represented by Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, Halle Berry and Britney Spears.  The study found 38 chemicals not listed on the ingredient labels but linked to adverse health effects (like reproductive damage, hormone disruption and allergic reactions), with the average fragrance containing 14 of these ‘secret’ chemicals.

Sadly, the FDA has not assessed the majority of these unlisted or ‘secret’ fragrance chemicals for safety and most have not even been evaluated by the safety review panel of the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) or any other publicly accountable institution.

The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act passed by congress in 1973 requires companies to list cosmetic ingredients on product labels but exempts fragrances.  So as consumers, we have no idea what or how many ingredients are used to create the ‘fragrance’ we see listed on the packaging.  I’ve avoided products with fragrance for the last several years, and I would encourage you to do the same!

When it comes to personal care, stick with natural products that are fragrance free or that utilize essential oils. Raw Natural Skincare Ambiaty Concentrated Serum features an amazing blend of ginger, tangerine, geranium and sage essential oils to give it a light, fresh scent, while the Ambiaty Daily Revitalizing Cream and Eye Treatment are absolutely yummy with anise, lime, vanilla, sweet orange and coconut. Event better scents than synthetic fragrances and all natural!

Reading these reports makes me both frustrated that our regulations are so still lax but also optimistic that the widespread media coverage will result in positive change.  In the meantime, be extra cautious about what you put in and on your body. Stay tuned for new updates!

“Rise Up” and Keep it Green with Cypress Hill at Jimmy Kimmel

Where: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hollywood
Who: DJ Muggs, B-Real, Sen Dog, Tom Morello and Jimmy Kimmel
Products: Vegan, 100% Natural, Cruelty-Free: Friars Hand Sanitizer

Paraben-Free, 100% Natural: Nvey Eco Eyeshadow Palette

Tweeting has it perks! I was lucky enough to score tickets to Cypress Hill on Jimmy Kimmel Live. So in honor of the show and a few friends I made during, I kept my look green and natural with a pop of color for my eyes. Using Nvey Eco’s palette of semi-shimmery shades in silver and mint green helped me be camera-ready while I rocked to the beats of Insane in the Brain and Rise Up. Check out the clips here.

As an added bonus, I had my Frais Hand Sanitizer ready (thanks, Beautyfix). In a tight crowd where pushing and shoving equals moshing, you know this little gem came in handy for my late night bite after the show.

LA Beer Festival

Where: Sony Pictures Lot

Who: Drink Eat Play event

Product: Paraben-Free: Colorescience Sunforgettable Brush SPF 30 – All Clear

Certified Organic, Cruelty-Free, 100% Natural: Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist

The challenge for this Drink Eat Play event was to stay as hydrated and sunburn-free as possible. Luckily for me, I had two of my natural and organic products ready: Colorescience Sunforgettable Brush SPF 30 in All Clear and Juice Beauty’s Hydrating Mist. This Eco-perfect combo helped me to have peace of mind while sipping on my mini-beers and listening to Sublime cover band, 40oz of Freedom. Here are my quick tips on how to use these products right:

First, apply Colorescience Sunforgettable Brush SPF 30 in All Clear before heading out into the sun.

Later, when you are feeling the effects of your first brew (or whatever number you are on) spritz your skin with Juice Beauty’s hydrating mist. This certified organic product is packed with antioxidants, like white and red grape juices, aloe vera and grapeseed oil, perfect for battling any free radicals lurking around. After using this quick drying mist, reapply your Colorescience Sunforgettable. Oh, and don’t worry about going through this product too quickly. Colorescience thought ahead and made refillables for their powder. Making sure you use less packaging the second time around.

Happy Earth day!

Source: Flickr User Kevin Krejci

After last week’s frightening discovery of the “great Atlantic garbage patch” (yikes!) I wanted to remind us why it is so important to use natural, reusable products and share a few simple tips that can have a big impact.

We have to remember that every time we make a purchase, we are in essence, voting.  Do we want more disposable products, processed food, petrochemical-filled shampoos, etc?  Or do we want to have better choices for our bodies and the planet, like more organic options, natural cosmetics and reusable products?  When we take away demand for the products that can be harmful, the market will shift accordingly.

After we address what goes on our bodies and what goes in our bodies, we need to focus on greening our everyday lifestyle choices.  One area I wanted to improve this year was my use of “disposable” items, and I’m excited to share with you some of my new favorite reusable products.  PeopleTowels offer stylish, reusable towels made of 100% organic, fair trade cotton and silk screened with eco-friendly dyes.  I have stocked the kitchen and use them in my daughter’s lunch box instead of napkins. A small change like this can truly have a big impact: every day, over 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is produced in the U.S. alone!  By switching to PeopleTowels for just 1 year, you personally save 1/4 of a tree, reduce landfill waste by 23 lbs. and conserve 250 gallons of water! Can you imagine what that means over a lifetime?  To make this switch even easier, they are offering free shipping on all orders placed between April 12 and May 12, 2010.  Put this on your ‘to do’ list of earth day activities!

Source: Flickr user Wagman 30

I was shocked to learn that each year Americans consume over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps, contributing to the toxic contamination of waterways and the death of thousands of animals that mistake the bag pieces for food.  So if you’re like me and you can’t leave home without an emergency snack, here’s a great alternative to plastic ziplock bags

-Reusable snack baggies!  For dry snacks, check out Plum Creek Mercantile’s organic snack bags in green swirl and grey poppies.

Another option is Fresh Snack Pack’s PVC-free reusable plastic bags made with EVA, a type of plastic that is BPA and phthalate-free (the mono polymer construction allows for easy recycling where available). These are available in a sandwich size for $5.50 and a snack size for $4.50.

A few other quick reminders for Earth Day (and all year long!):

-Eat Less Meat.  While I am far from a vegetarian, I try to be conscious of how much meat I’m eating.  In the book, Eating Animals, the author points out that if you eat meat only one day less a week, it’s the equivalent of taking five million cars off the road.  What a great excuse to eat more pasta!

-Switch to Fluorescent Bulbs. The process of generating electricity is the single largest source of industrial carbon dioxide emissions (the primary greenhouse gas) in the US.  If every household in the US replaced incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs in just one room, the nation would save 800 billion kilowatts of energy and keep one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air.

-Get your air vents cleaned! This inexpensive procedure helps to save money on energy bills and dramatically increases the quality of air you breathe in your home.

-When you buy paper products – buy recycled.  The pulp and paper mill industry is one of the worst pollutants of air, water and land.  Producing recycled paper causes 74 percent less air pollution, 35 percent less water pollution, and creates 5 times the number of jobs than producing paper from trees. It saves old-growth trees, forest eco-systems, native habitat and biodiversity.

Think of today as the day to start habits that will last all year long!

Source: Flickr User Avriette

Last week’s introduction of the Safe Chemicals Act (which has been in the works for 10+ years!) aims to reform our toxics law and force companies to show that their chemicals are kid-safe before they are put on the market.  In an earlier post I wrote about the EWG finding close to 300 chemicals in umbilical cord blood, including BPA, perchlorate, fire retardants, lead, mercury, and PCBs.  With this new legislation, these unacceptable findings will be a thing of the past! This new law would empower the EPA to regulate these chemicals, and it also establishes new research programs to help us better understand the risk toxic industrial chemicals pose to children. Finally, putting our health and safety first!!!

Even with this giant step forward, real change is still years away.  We need to remember the power we have as consumers – by choosing natural products, we are helping to push the big beauty players to switch to natural ingredients.  Consider the impact – in California alone, more than 220 tons of personal care products are sold daily in the state – including 52 tons of hair spray, 24 tons of styling gel and 12 tons of fragrance!  So if you haven’t tried out a natural cosmetics brand yet, now is the time!

During the week of 4/19 – 4/25 glow.com and dermstore.com will be donating 5% of sales from natural and organic brands to earthday.org, with a minimum donation of $1000.  If you’ve never used mineral makeup, I have to encourage you to give Raw Natural Minerals a try.  It’s the only mineral makeup formulated with active botanicals that produce real anti-aging benefits!  Try it with a natural skincare product like Raw Skincare Ambiaty Daily Revitalizing Cream. My skin loves this combo and for the week of Earth week you can enter in the promo code RAWEARTH at checkout on glow.com for a 20% discount!  Happy Shopping!!

Source: Flickr user massdistraction

Let’s start at the basics, you take a shower in the morning and the first thing you put on is probably a lotion or moisturizer because your skin may be a little dry from the hot water. You want to start the day off in the best mood possible and a natural body lotion can help contribute. My recommendation for a natural body lotion is Pangea Organics Hand and Body Lotion. This lotion has top grade essential oils in each formulation that deliver aromatherapy and aid in skin health improvement. It comes in 5 different variations that are all very therapeutic and nourishing to your skin. My two favorites are the French Chammomile with Sweet Orange and Lavender and Indian Lemongrass with Rosemary. Each of the scents has different therapeutic benefits so you may customize to your aromatic needs. If I’ll be out in the sun it’s extremely important to add sun care. I absolutely love Decleor’s Aromessence Solaire Body for its natural protection booster. For the alternative price, Coola suncare also offers a yummy smelling sun block that is waterproof and helps moisturize.

The next step in my regimen is incorporating a natural moisturizer. My sensitive skin is very touchy with chemicals, so switching to a natural moisturizer was easy and I noticed the difference almost immediately. Juice Beauty’s Green Apple Antioxidant Moisturizer is amazing because it comes with a blend of firming peptides and vitamin C that help nourish and replenish the skin’s moisture level at the same time helping to build collagen. This moisturizer is made of 100% organic ingredients and Juice Beauty is dedicated to providing eco-conscious skincare. An easy way to bypass foundation in your beauty routine is to use a tinted moisturizer, but a lot of them have harmful ingredients. (One I happen to be completely allergic to) Suki Skin Care’s Tinted Active Moisturizer is an amazing multi-functioning product that helps firm, reduce inflammation and prevent premature aging. By using this in the morning you won’t have to go through the motions of a moisturizer and foundation/powder.

Source: flickr user aussiegall

Earth day is a day that everyone should take notice and it’s fun to get involved. It’s not just doing good for our mother earth but for yourself and your future. For more information on earth day and natural beauty products you can check out the rest of the fun natural cosmetics glow has in the natural and organic section. Make sure to take the steps to be beautiful and make sure that you’re helping our gorgeous earth at the same time. The best part about shopping online, is it’s the green way to shop. Beautiful earth, beautiful you.

Since I’m talking about giving back, I have to mention Aveda, the natural beauty company who I think sets the standard when it comes to sourcing ingredients, responsible packaging, and renewable energy.  A few of their giving campaigns include donating 100% of the proceeds from the sale of their Light the Way™ Candle to Global Greengrants Fund’s water-related projects, and their annual Earth Month, which has raised over $14 million dollars for environmentally-focused nonprofit groups since its start in 1990.

I think one of the most creative initiatives was the rerecording of “We Are the World” that took place almost 25 years to the day since the 1985 hit for African famine relief was recorded.  I can’t make it through the video without getting teary-eyed – it’s so powerful!  The original “We Are the World,” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie raised more than $30 million for African hunger relief and I think this new version will be just as successful!

If you want to help donate, you can buy both the new version of “We Are the World” ($1.29) and the accompanying video ($1.99) on iTunes Proceeds from each download go to the newly formed We Are The World Foundation, a not-for-profit made up of board members Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, Wyclef Jean, Paul Haggis, Randy Phillips and Ambassador Louis Moreno of the Inter-American Development Bank. All 80+ celebrity artists agreed to forego payment and  iTunes has waived its share of the proceeds for downloads during the first month of the campaign.  Talk about a team effort!

Interested in doing more?  CNN has a roundup list of well regarded organizations and how they will utilize your donations.  I’m going to wrap up with this interesting quote from Albert Einstein, “More and more I come to value charity and love of one’s fellow being above everything else…”

What are you doing to give back?

Probably the ingredient that has received the most press is Moroccan Argan Oil, used in our Raw Color Lush Lash Pure Botanical Mascara and Raw Skincare.  We purchase argan oil harvested by an all-women’s cooperative in Morocco’s Berber region, founded by a very inspiring women, Professor Zoubida Charouf, who is a natural beauty herself.

Flickr user: Mayu ;p

The Argan forest plays a critical role in the region as it supports over three million people (out of a total Moroccan population of just over 30 million), but it is in decline as a result of over-exploitation, soil erosion and desertification. Through this cooperative, a literacy program as well as a reforestation program has been put into place. This has resulted in dramatic improvements to the lives of the Moroccan women, who now have access to education programs and the responsibilities of operating a business.  At the same time, the cooperative’s reforestation program has made a very positive impact on the socio-economics of the region, as it helps ensure that the Argan trees will be around to benefit the future.

Flicker User: Jeremy Couture

I think it’s interesting that the cooperative is 100% women operated.  I saw the most inspiring documentary on microlending (loaning small amounts of money to the very poor to enable them to start their own business without the pressure of having to immediately pay the money back) and it was found that loaning money to women proved more successful. Not only were women generally more reliable when it came to paying back the loan, but they tended to use the profits from their business to send their children to school, promoting sustainable, socio-economic development through education and eliminating illiteracy. Girl Power!

Another unique sustainable ingredient we feature is the ultra-emollient Andiroba Oil, found in our Raw Skincare Andiroba Botanical Face Primer. Andiroba comes from the Marajo Island in the Amazon, which is totally surrounded by fresh water. The 200,000 people who live there are blessed with abundant fish during the ‘dry season’. But during the other half of the year, when the fish migrate elsewhere, the population suffers. This same ‘rainy season’ is also the cue for the Andiroba tree to deposit its water-born seeds. Large numbers of these seeds are carried downriver every year and deposited on the beaches. The Brazilian company Brasmazon saw an opportunity to turn them into an alternative income source and helped to establish a cooperative to collect the seeds and extract their oil for sale to the cosmetic industry.  This cooperative was a finalist in 2007’s World Challenge, a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have made real difference through enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level.

But my favorite sustainable ingredient in the Raw Natural Beauty line is Ambiaty.  This ingredient really is the best of both worlds – delivering unmatched skincare benefits (stimulating collagen production up to 230%!) while also helping to support the local communities in Madagascar.  Ambiaty is harvested by only one supplier in Madagascar, and at only one time of year.  Not only that, the collection of Ambiaty helps provide a regular income to families and villages who participate and contributes to the sustainable development of these communities through increased schooling of children, through the purchase of school supplies and the construction of new school rooms. While increasing anti-aging benefits, it’s also helping the community.

Flickr User: IFRC

In light of the horrific earthquake in Haiti, I want to say that I am so proud of my uncle who last week was part of a team of 79 doctors and nurse practitioners who brought 30,000 pounds of drugs and surgical equipment to Port-Au-Prince.  He’s there for over two weeks, treating upwards of 100 patients a day.  Sadly, local doctors have been unnecessarily amputating limbs, leaving thousands without the ability to work or support themselves for the rest of their lives.  For the last 10 years my uncle has been actively trying to promote sustainable development in Haiti.  As founder of the nonprofit organization Mission for Haiti’s Children, his team is committed to improving health care, education, and economic development.   As part of the Mission’s work, a clinic was built in La Croix that now treats 25,000 patients a year. The organization has also built a maternity center, a school, and a grain mill, and helped to establish a fish farm, a rabbit farm, and a well-drilling program to help encourage self-sufficiency and end poverty.

This is obviously an example of someone making a really big impact, much like Professor Zoubida Charrouf in Morocco, but I love that we can all contribute to this type of positive change when we seek out products that use sustainable ingredients!

At that time my husband and I were ready to start a family, and since I’m that girl who uses about 30 beauty products a day, I wanted to find a better, safer alternative to traditional personal care – one that was both good for our bodies and good for the planet to produce.  Having worked in prestige beauty for 10 years, I also had a high standard for the product’s performance, something that was still an obstacle for most natural brands.  That was the start of Raw Natural Beauty – all natural cosmetics, mineral makeup and skincare.

So back to our body burden. Sandra Schubert, director of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group has made the point that the rise in chronic diseases in the U.S. has many factors, but chemicals are clearly playing a role. “We have found almost 200 industrial chemicals in umbilical cord blood (in other studies)…We are being exposed to these chemicals and there’s increasing data on their toxicity.”

The umbilical cord blood study she references is an especially powerful one for mothers and mothers-to-be.  In a nutshell, the Environmental Working Group conducted a study with the Red Cross where the Red Cross collected samples of umbilical cord blood from 10 babies at the moment of birth and found 287 chemicals present.  These chemicals included 28 waste by-products and 47 consumer product chemicals like Teflon, scotch guard and stain master. Also found were 212 industrial chemicals and pesticides that have been banned over 30 years, like Polychloride Biphenyl (PCB), a probable human carcinogen and toxic environmental pollutant still found in meat poultry.  Another zinger was DBT, which was used on old cotton fields and still remains in the soil. These pollutants persist in our environment and build up in the food chain, and then in our bodies

So what can we do to reduce our chemical expose? Buy organic food, buy cleaning products from brands like seventh generation, Filter tap water, use cast iron instead of non-stick cookware, eat low mercury fish.  But there is only so much we can do to ‘shop’ our way out of exposures. We need to push for the development of green chemistry (the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or creation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies across the life cycle, including the design, manufacture, and use of a chemical product). We need chemicals that DON’T build up in our bodies. Women’s Health, Planetary Health, Children’s Heath need to be our concern moving forward, a shift to greener, safer, alternatives. BUT the government also needs to help by requiring better testing of our products.  Shockingly, the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has never been updated (it’s the only major environmental and public health statue that hasn’t been modified). This Act doesn’t require health and safety studies for new chemicals.  Under this Act, 62,000 chemicals were grandfathered in and the EPA reviewed the safety of just 200 of them!  For new chemicals, 80% are approved within 3 weeks, with or without safety studies – the EPA uses a computer model to estimate toxicity (boo).    We need to wake congress up and let them know that children should be born into this world free of chemicals!

Regarding cosmetics, the average woman applies 12 products a day, which equals over 168 different chemicals (and most of us beauty junkies are far from average!), and many of these products/chemicals remain on her body all day and even all night.  When you consider that the skin can absorb those chemicals, you can understand why it’s so important to use natural cosmetics.  Of course, I’m partial to using Raw Natural Beauty’s Raw Color, Raw Skincare and Raw Minerals.  But I would recommend any brand that avoids parabens, petrochemicals, fragrance and FD&C and D&C colors (I’ll speak in more detail about ingredients to avoid in a future post).  I personally think Suki Color and Jane Iredale have some great products and I love Aroma Bella cleansers.  You can always feel safe choosing a brand that wears the Natural Products Association Seal or skincare that has an Organic certification (but don’t be fooled into thinking a product is organic just because it uses the term on the packaging – it must also have an actual certification seal, but I’ll explain more about that later).  Before you start feeling overwhelmed, I think just being aware of what we purchase and what we are putting on our bodies is an important first step.  Happy Shopping!

flickr user: seanmcgrath

Deciphering “green” skin care ingredients can be as difficult as taking a Molecular Biology exam. Let’s be honest – who wants to do either?  I certainly don’t!  However, since your skin is your body’s largest organ, protecting it from environmental pollutants and pathogens does make sense.  Here are 3 easy to identify ingredients/preservatives that should be avoided.

Parabens:  ”Parabens are a group of chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. They can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, cleansing gels and personal lubricants. Parabens have been found to cause skin irritation, contact dermatitis, or allergic skin reactions,” according to Wikipedia.  When possible I try to buy paraben free products. Currently, I’m in love with Verdure Botanoceuticals.  All Verdure products are made without parabens, propylene glycol, or triethanolamne.

Phalates:  Phthalates, which are often found in artificial fragrances, are a class of hormone disruptor known to cause birth defects, sperm damage, infertility, and the feminization of baby boys.  Scary- huh? Luckily, phalate free products are becoming more widely available. Pharmaceutical Specialties’ products are free of perfumes, dyes, fragrance, parabens, formaldehyde and lanoline.  I especially like their RoBathol Bath Oil for winter time use. It leaves your skin extra soft and well moisturized.

Perfumes/ Fragrance:  Opt for aromatherapy products that derive fragrance from natural plant essential oils instead of synthetic chemicals. Or, buy fragrance free products to avoid possible irritants all together.  California Baby products are gentle enough to use on a new born baby and thankfully, don’t come with an age limit. The whole line is organic and vegetarian. Yeah Baby!

What are your favorite “green” skin care products? Please share.

Paul & Joe Cosmetic Pouch

My vintage Paul & Joe Pouch is the perfect bag for securing my color cosmetics, makeup brushes and skin care products. It has 2 zipper pockets, individual slots for brushes and wipes clean easily. The best part about Paul & Joe cosmetic pouches is the pattern changes every season to match their Fashion collection. It’s a must have for any fashion conscious diva.

La Roche Posey Effaclar K

This product is my favorite for treating breakouts. I’m constantly showing this product off in the ladies locker room as my secret weapon for flawless skin.

Tarte Brush – Lash & Mascara Comb

I have the craziest brows next to Brooke Shields. This tool keeps them tame and perfect. Insider tip: Spritz a tad of Jonathan Product Hair Spray on the mascara comb and brush brows to keep them perfect all day long.

La Bella Donna Compressed Mineral Foundation

I love mineral makeup but I needed something that wasn’t messy  (I’m prone to making a mess wherever I go) so this pressed compact fits perfectly in my life. It helps me put my best face forward while keeping my bag spotless.

Cargo The Big Bronzer

I’m obsessed with bronzers. I usually end up going through them pretty fast but with this BIG bronzer I don’t have to sweat running out of a sun-kissed glow.

Paul & Joe Beaute – Eye Color

I have to admit I fell in love with the packaging on this eye shadow BUT fell even harder for the color – so many shades and such great texture.

Feeling the need to share what’s in your bag? Take a picture and upload it to our Facebook page. Remember – sharing is caring.