Monday, June 20, 2011

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics : Get Involved

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics picture
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Except for italics portions the following text is repeated verbatim from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Will you commit to telling 5 friends, family members or colleagues about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics this week? Check out the "Get Involved" page by clicking on the link (either above or below).  You can print out a fact sheet, forward an email action, or link to Story of Cosmetics. Thanks for spreading the word and encouraging others to join the Campaign!

 

 

  

Ask Congress to support safe cosmetics legislation

What are all those chemicals in your lipstick? Your aftershave? Your child's shampoo? Some of them are linked to cancer, birth defects, infertility and other health problems. We need your help to convince Congress that the beauty industry needs a safety makeover!

The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 gave consumers, parents and environmental health advocates a real chance at national legislation that would eliminate harmful chemicals from the products women, men and children put on their bodies every day.



Now the 111th Congress has come to a close. The bill will need to be
reintroduced in the new 112th 
Congress.                                                              Campaign for Safe Cosmetics picture


Your Representative needs to know that you expect his or her support on the bill when that time comes!


Please use the links below to make sure you are heard and your opinion counts!


Ask Congress to Support Safe Cosmetics Legislation
Your Representative needs to know that cosmetic safety is important to you!


Action Alerts
Tell cosmetics companies, the FDA and others in charge of cosmetics that safe products are important to you. We post a new action every month.


Send an e-Card
Spread the word about cosmetics safety with our super-easy e-mail postcards.


Change in your Community
Grassroots activism is an important part of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Look here for ways you can get your community -- your town, your school, friends, groups you belong to -- involved and informed.


Write a Letter to the Editor
Love to write? Let more people know about cosmetics safety by writing a letter to your local paper or favorite magazine.


Legislator Lookup

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics : Get Involved

Friday, June 17, 2011

Sunscreen Review of Hara Sport spf 30 (re-post)

I was informed by several people there were problems viewing this when it originally posted. I've made some minor changes and am re-posting. The content is almost exactly the same. Sorry for any frustration caused by the first post. Please let me know if I haven't solved the problems.

picture hara bodycare
                                                           
hara sport spf 30 was included in Skin Deep's 2010 "best of" sunscreens and scored a one (1) for risk in their database. That's ONE...as in very low risk. With only seven ingredients: zinc oxide, olive oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, cocoa butter, shea butter and vitamin E and priced at $6.99 for 3 oz. it sounded like hara was worth a try.

Skin Deep directed me to Amazon.com for purchase. It was early spring at the time and I procrastinated as usual. A few months later when I went back to refresh my memory I started at hara's website. I'm so glad I did. The website described a company called "sailfit" and said they took care of Hawaii and all international orders. Something intrigued me about sailfit. Maybe the name, sailing is such a part of life here in the mid-Atlantic.

Sailfit is run by an active, creative couple, Meka and Kurt Taulbee out of Clearwater, Florida. They did indeed have an intriguing story to tell. Committed to their children, community, health, wellness and sailing, sailfit's positive outlook and personalized service made me feel really good about purchasing from them.

Of course the real pay off for any product must be in the performance. The most pressing issue, safety was already covered. But that was just the beginning. I'm pleased to report that hara sport delivers. After coming in from a day of sun I have only a slight golden glow.

Hara sport is creamy white from the micronized 20.3 % zinc oxide. The smallest particle size is 0.3559 microns and the average size is 1.76597 microns. This particle size becomes bigger when added into the formula.

The product needs to be administered with a bit more rubbing than I've had to do in the past. It also takes more time to absorbed than I've experienced in the past. I like that. It makes it very easy to see where I've just applied and what's left for me to do. But I don't look like a kabuki doll once I'm done.

Although hara is unscented there is the very slightest delicious aroma of cocoa butter to remind me of my favorite food, chocolate. Another plus. Unfortunately once applied the aroma doesn't stick around too long. Just like chocolate again!

I loved all the moisturizers. Of the seven ingredients, five moisturize and help resist product break down in water. Moisturizing my skin while also protecting it from harmful rays and the drying effect of garden soil or Atlantic salt water! What a bargain. My skin always feels and looks so good at the end of the day, warm from the sun, moisturized from the sunscreen.
 
I read in a review somewhere about separation occurring, but I didn't experience any. Realizing I had specifically bought hara sport because it was a safe product without toxic ingredients to keep everything in suspension, I kept my sunscreen in the cooler's top shelf when going for day-long adventures. Potential problem averted! Another plus with this solution is a nice cool sensation when it's time to re-apply.

The only negative I can cough up is that it's only available in a few stores in California and Hawaii so there are shipping costs involved. But now that I know how good it is I'm buying several tubes on the next go round.

Check out sailfit to be completely inspired by what the Taulbee's, parents of two young boys are accomplishing in Florida. Energetic does not even begin to paint the complete picture! If you decide to order from them you should know that if you have trouble ordering through the company's store just email Meka directly.  She's most helpful and you'd never guess how very busy she is from her relaxed, patient demeanor.

If you'd like to learn more about the role of zinc oxide and safety in sunscreen products click here. But please remember, as with any sun protection you have to re-apply after extended sweating, swimming or body surfing. Or every two hours... whichever comes first.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Herban Lifestyle Orange Ginger Beer Shampoo Bar Review

OK. I love this stuff.
                                                          Herban Lifestyle picture
First off it meets my basic standard- any body care product I use has to get a Skin Deep's rating of no to low hazard (zero to two).

Second, it works. As in delivers the goods. Does what it says it's going to do.

Orange Ginger Beer Shampoo Bar does meet- and surpass my standards. In fact it raises the bar for other shampoos... Yes, I said it.

So here are the ingredients as listed on the company's website:
Olea europaea (Olive) Oil*, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil**, Ricinus communis (Castor) Oil*, Irish Stout from Mad Fox Brewing Company, Sodium Hydroxide, Essential Oils of Orange and Ginger*, Rosemary Extract / *USDA Certified Organic
**Fair Trade and organic

Here's the hazard score it received after all those ingredients were plugged into Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database:

Score
Data: Limited
Health ConcernLOW
Product Typeshampoo
Made byHerban Lifestyle
Data last updatedMay 2011
how to read the score
The bar has a lovely, slightly spicy orange aroma. A very natural smell, fresh and sweet. And I couldn't detect even a trace scent of the beer (from Mad Fox Brewery a Falls Church, Virginia company local to Herban Lifestyle.


Made from pure organic vegetable oils, it's reported to nourish, not strip the natural oils from your hair. The company claims the oils also preclude the need for conditioner.


And just as claimed my hair felt soft and was bouncy and smooth. Encouraged by this success I tried for the first time in my adult life to forgo conditioner. But that part just didn't work for me. More from my thick, dry, wild and crazy hair than any fault of the shampoo I'm sure. I've always needed something extra to keep my dry waves from boing-ing into the stratosphere. On the positive side once dry my hair was definitely shinier than usual, so I attribute that to the shampoo.

Did I mention I love this stuff?

Just a word about using a shampoo bar...

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Soapwalla Kitchen Deodorant Cream Review

Awakened early by the siren song of the garden I shot out of bed, slammed through my morning toilette and a quick breakfast then blissfully dug, lugged, turned, sifted, planted, watered and weeded until I was completely exhausted.

I usually get lost in a kind of meditative state when gardening and today was no exception. As usual I was unaware I was over fatigued until so completely spent I had to stagger to the kitchen door. 

 

At this point in any gardening orgy, as I recuperate and my focus suddenly shifts, if there's no breeze to whisk away the olfactory proof of my labors... this is when I notice just how badly my deodorant has performed. My own personal smell set into high relief after hours of the sweet smell of earth, fresh air, roots and plants.

 

But today was different. I was amazed and grateful to find that despite hours of toil in the hot sun working up several good sweats- I didn't stink. I re-checked...nope... nothing to interfere with the glorious aroma of sun baked soil and clean air.

 

And I have Rachel Winard, the Soapwalla chef to thank.

 

Yesterday I got her elegant blue glass pot of Deodorant Cream in the mail. Today it was seriously put to the test and passed beautifully. 

 

I've been reading about Soapwalla Kitchen for about a year. Every time I Google "safe deodorant" I get at least a full page of sites that have reviewed her deodorant. And every review has been very good. It really wasn't much of a risk trying out this product. I'm not sure what took me so long.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

hara sport spf 30 Sunscreen Reviewed

picture hara body care
                                                                 
hara sport spf 30 was included in Skin Deep's 2010 "best of" sunscreens and scored a one (1) for risk in their database. That's ONE...as in very low risk. With only seven ingredients: zinc oxide, olive oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, cocoa butter, shea butter and vitamin E and priced at $6.99 for 3 oz. it sounded like hara was worth a try.

Skin Deep directed me to Amazon.com for purchase. It was early spring at the time and I procrastinated as usual. A few months later when I went back to refresh my memory I started at hara's website. I'm so glad I did. The website described a company called "sailfit" and said they took care of Hawaii and all international orders. Something intrigued me about sailfit. Maybe the name, sailing is such a part of life here in the mid-Atlantic.

Sailfit is run by an active, creative couple, Meka and Kurt Taulbee out of Clearwater, Florida. They did indeed have an intriguing story to tell. Committed to their children, community, health, wellness and sailing, sailfit's positive outlook and personalized service made me feel really good about purchasing from them.

Of course the real pay off for any product must be in the performance. The most pressing issue, safety was already covered. But that was just the beginning. I'm pleased to report that hara sport delivers. After coming in from a day of sun I have only a slight golden glow.

Hara sport is creamy white from the zinc oxide (20.3%) and goes on smoothly with a bit of rubbing. I definitely like that. It's very easy to see where I've just applied and what's left for me to do, but I don't look like a kabuki doll.

Although hara is unscented there is the very slightest delicious aroma of cocoa butter to remind me of my favorite food, chocolate. Another plus. Unfortunately once applied the aroma doesn't stick around too long. Just like chocolate again!

I loved all the moisturizers. Of the seven ingredients, five moisturize and help resist product break down in water. Moisturizing my skin while also protecting it from harmful rays and the drying effect of garden soil or Atlantic salt water! What a bargain. My skin always feels and looks so good at the end of the day, warm from the sun, moisturized from the sunscreen.
 
I read in a review somewhere about separation occurring, but I didn't experience any. Realizing I had specifically bought hara sport because it was a safe product without toxic ingredients to keep everything in suspension, I kept my sunscreen in the cooler's top shelf when going for day-long adventures. Potential problem averted! Another plus with this solution is a nice cool sensation when it's time to re-apply.

The only negative I can cough up is that it's only available in a few stores in California and Hawaii so there are shipping costs involved. But now that I know how good it is I'm buying several tubes on the next go round.

Check out sailfit to be completely inspired by what the Taulbee's, parents of two young boys are accomplishing in Florida. Energetic does not even begin to paint the complete picture! If you decide to order from them you should know that if you have trouble ordering through the company's store just email Meka directly.  She's most helpful and you'd never guess how very busy she is from her relaxed, patient demeanor.

If you'd like to learn more about the role of zinc oxide and safety in sunscreen products click here. But please remember, as with any sun protection you have to re-apply after extended sweating, swimming or body surfing. Or every two hours... whichever comes first.