Tuesday, May 29, 2007

more on makeup

A day after I blogged about makeup, one of favourite podcasts, Lip Gloss and Laptops, released an episode on Holistic Beauty. This episode is full of excellent tips and products. I highly recommend that you check it out.

another laundry soap

I finally got around to trying the Nature Clean All Natural Laundry Liquid sample that I received at the Green Living Show. The label reads...

"Our All Natural vegetable based formula is made without dyes, perfumes, petroleum, formaldehyde preservatives, optical brighteners or enzymes, all of which we believe endanger us and our world,"

Impressive! In the ingredients list they not only give the ingredients, but they tell you where they come from. For example, the Fatty Polyglycoside used is derived from corn starch and palm kernel oil. When have you ever seen a label give that sort of info? This product claims to be hypoallergenic, unscented, safe for infants clothing, safe for high efficiency washers, phosphate, dye & perfume free, not tested on animals and septic and grey water safe. So here's my question. If this company can do all this, why can't all the others?

It's also made in Canada, which is a huge plus for me as a Canadian trying to support the local and national economy.

So how does it work? Fantastic. My clothes came out just as clean as with the Arm & Hammer and my old, non-environmentally friendly brand. The only noticeable difference was the lack of a scent. This stuff is truly unscented. Although I have grown accustomed to a lovely scent on my clothes I think I can live without it as long as they are clean and I'm not wondering about what chemicals went into the scent. And I should also mention that the consistency was a bit thinner than the average liquid laundry detergent. I'm not sure why that it, but since the stuff works I'm not going to question it.

This company also has some other great products that I look forward to trying. And their parent company Frank T. Ross & Sons also produce other non-toxic products.

The verdict? I will definitely purchase this brand the next time I need laundry detergent.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

more coming...

Hey blogfriends. Thanks to all of you who have been reading and commenting. Sorry that it's been so long. Life has gotten in the way. I have several posts brewing. More to come this weekend.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

how safe is your makeup?

My awesome friend Elizabeth told me about the website, Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. This group is working hard to get the cosmetics industry to stop using toxic and unsafe chemicals in their products. It's a great site with a ton of information, including recipes for homemade products. (I promise to test some out and blog about them soon).

One of the links from this site is to the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep. This site offers comprehensive data on the safety of health and beauty products currently available to consumers. Products are given a score between 0-5, 0 being the safest and 5 of highest concern. They rate everything from makeup to hair products to skin products to perfumes to dental products. Basically anything that falls into the health & beauty category.

I don't wear a lot of makeup but I thought I would check out my current staples, the stuff I use every day. Here are the results.

MAC Select Sheer Pressed Powder
Score 4.2

It turns out that my powder of choice ranks 172 out of the 175 powders tested. I have been dusting my face daily with carcinogens and immune system toxicants. Nice!

Bonne Bell Eye Definer Eye Liner
not on the list

Unfortunately this product is not included on the list. However, other Bonne Bell eye products are rated around the 1.5 mark. Hopefully this is a good sign for my favorite eye liner.

Cover Girl Volume Exact Mascara
not on the list

Again, this one is not on the list but it is a fairly new product. Unfortunately, the Cover Girl mascaras that are listed are not great. Of the 8 types tested the scores range from 2.5 - 3.7. Each of the 8 contain ingredients that are considered toxic. Not a good sign.

Blistex Complete Moisture Lip Balm
Score 3.7

This one is particularly painful for me as I am addicted to this stuff! My lips are dry all the time. In my youth, my lips would chap so badly that it would extend halfway up my upper lip towards my nose. Not a pretty picture. This is one of the few lip balms that has kept my lips moist. But it actually contains chemicals that are toxic to the liver and kidneys, not to mention the carcinogens. Suddenly, it doesn't seem worth it.

This eyeopening segment was brought to you by the letter "S" for this SUCKS.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

green Apples

Steve Jobs posted this on the Apple website today. Very encouraging news!

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Green Living Show

I attended the Green Living Show this past Sunday with Elizabeth and Erica. I was really impressed by the exhibits and the amount of companies promoting environmentally friendly products. I picked up a number of samples and will review them on the blog as I try them. I also found it incredibly overwhelming, as I realize just how many areas of my life require a "green overhaul." I'm not even sure where to begin. So over the next few days I will make a list of the green, organic and healthy improvements I plan to make. Once I have that figured out, I will post that list on the blog. I get the feeling that it will be a very long list...