Yoga and Natural Beauty: A Match Made in Heaven

For those wanting to live a holistic lifestyle, practicing yoga and using organic beauty products are almost no-brainers; after all, both are good for your body and the planet. But yoga and organic beauty have more in common than you might think—so if your daily mat habit is leaving your skin ultra sensitive, adding gentle but effective organic products into your daily routine can help perfect your complexion while helping you maintain your holistic lifestyle. Here’s how.

Aging. Yoga’s ability to stimulate the body’s detoxification process can go a long way to delay aging; there’s even some anecdotal evidence that some yoga poses, particularly inversions, can stimulate blood flow to hair follicles and even revert gray hairs back to their natural color! Likewise, organic beauty products incorporate natural anti-aging ingredients like antioxidants and vitamins to give your skin a more youthful appearance. Try Juice Beauty Green Apple Antioxidant Moisturizer or Logona Age Protection Wrinkle Therapy.

Relaxation and stress relief. Practicing any kind of yoga is almost guaranteed to have a near-immediate impact on stress levels, relaxation, and help you sleep. Likewise, using organic products in the bath or shower, particularly those with relaxing scents like lavender and rosemary, can have an added impact. Try Dr. Hauschka Lavender Bath or John Masters Lavender Rosemary Shampoo.

Happiness/mood. By creating a strong mind-body connection (and a healthier, stronger body), yoga practice improves overall well-being and mood. Essential oils used in many organic products also have mood-enhancing properties, and the purer formulas in natural products mean they often have a more powerful effect. Try Farfalla Gemstone Oils or Rain Africa Essential Oil Uplift.

Allergies. Deep yoga breathing can help clear nasal passages, while practicing yoga in a heated room often can clear sinuses and make allergy symptoms more mild. Organic products are often more friendly to sensitive or allergy-prone skin, since they’re not packed full of synthetic chemicals and fragrances. Try Dr. Hauschka Eye Solace or Logona Free Body Lotion.

Beautorium recently partnered with CocoaOm.com and LovePeaceYoga.com to offer yogis a chance to test out some organic goodies at a discount—check them out for details and see how incorporating organic products into your routine can enhance your yoga practice.

-Aleigh Acerni

Summer Foods Make For Gorgeous Summer Skin

Summertime is the best time of year for the farmers market—locally grown fresh tomatoes, berries, peppers, herbs, and veggies are in season, plentiful, and delicious. Those fresh fruits and vegetables don’t just taste great, though; they’re loaded with antioxidants and vitamins that work from the inside out to keep you looking (and feeling) healthy. And—surprise!—those yummy, fresh foods you love in the summertime are also good for you when they go on your body instead of just in it.

Summer Raspberries

Berries. Sweet, juicy berries are nature’s superfoods. Chock-full of antioxidants, some berries have even been proven to elevate mood, enhance memory and cognition, and improve balance and coordination. Try: Juice Beauty Cleansing Milk, with red raspberry and white grape juices or Trilogy Age Proof Nutrient Plus Firming Serum with mulberry extracts to help even skin tone.

Cucumber. Use it for more than just slicing and placing on your eyelids—cucumber’s cooling effects make it a great skin soother. To try: Trilogy Balancing Gel Cleanser or Exuberance Optimism’s Periwinkle and Aloe Uplifting Eye Gel.

Citrus. Orange, lemon, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits are great for skin; they fight wrinkles, improve texture, and even clear your pores. Try: Dr. Hauschka Lemon Bath with pure lemon essential oils or Pangea’s Egyptian Fennel with Grapefruit and Sweet Orange Lip Balm.

Herbs. Herbs keep your skin looking and feeling healthy—use them to combat acne or soothe irritated skin. Try: Pangea Organics Egyptian Basil & Mint Hand & Body Lotion (basil is restorative, mint softens and cools the skin) or Argentinean Tangerine and Thyme Facial Toner (tangerine smoothes skin, thyme fights infection).

Carrots

Carrot. Carrots aren’t just good for eyesight; they have natural anti-inflammatory properties and revitalize and tone the skin. Try: Sophyto Mega Omegas Day Moisturizer or Dr. Hauschka Eye Contour Day Balm.

-Aleigh Acerni

Don’t Get Burned: Chemical-free Sun Protection

These days, it’s a commonly known fact that sunburns and over-exposure to the sun can put you at risk for skin cancer—but for the eco-conscious, the chemical-based preservatives and sun blockers in common sunscreens are just as much of a concern. After all, any ingredient that could potentially be harmful to humans could also be harmful to wildlife and ecosystems in our lakes, oceans and rivers. And according to the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, there are a lot of common sunscreen ingredients to be concerned about.

So how to protect your skin—and the earth—at the same time? A good option is to seek out sunscreens that contain zinc and titanium dixoxide. Both are naturally-occurring minerals that reflect light.

Here are some suggestions:

Juice Beauty Green Apple SPF 15 Moisturizer. This is a good option for every day use—it contains titanium dioxide paired with organic white grape and pomegranate juices, antioxidants, and other nutrients for happy skin.

Dr. Hauschka Sunscreen Spray SPF 15. This formula is gentle enough for the face, but can be used all over, and it’s a convenient spray. It contains titanium dioxide plus ice plant, rose hip, and quince seed extracts to moisturize, avocado, sunflower and sesame oils, and rose seed extract.

Suki Liquid Concealer. This vitamin-rich, non-greasy formula packs powerful anti-inflammatory and antibacterial ingredients plus pure crushed minerals to balance oil production, fight redness, brighten under eye circles, treat blemishes (and protect against sun exposure).

Afterglow Organic Mineral Foundation. This foundation comes in a variety of shades and contains a natural sunscreen—plus it’s ideal for even the most sensitive skin.

Weleda Children’s Sunscreen SPF 18. Weleda grows over 300 certified organic ingredients in its own biodynamic gardens, and worked with Burt’s Bees to pioneer the new Natural Products Association USA standard. This sunscreen has both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, to keep you (and your little ones) sunburn-free.

With such great natural sunscreens on the market, you have no reason to fear the sun—get out there and enjoy it!

-Aleigh Acerni

Beautorium sighting at the Change the World Awards

Beautorium.com was thrilled to partner with the Hollywood NOTE Foundation on May 31 for the first annual Change the World Humanitarian Awards, an awards show and gala recognizing people in the Hollywood community who make a difference in the philanthropic world.

The star-studded event was hosted by Scott Baio and his wife Renee, and honored a long list of Hollywood favorites, including Ed Begley, Jr., Nancy Cartwright, Jeremy Sumpter, and Kevin Sorbo, and also recognized the Stand Up to Cancer Broadcast, Save the Ta-Tas, and the 11th Hour documentary (which was narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio).

Our natural, fair-trade Beautorium bags made a splash at the event, too! (Yes, that’s Friday Night Lights star Aimee Teegarden posing with our bag. She was honored for her work with Grid Iron Heroes, an organization that provides support for young football players who have been injured on the field. We hope she uses it the next time she makes a grocery run!)

-Aleigh Acerni

Six Natural and Organic Summer Beauty Buys Under $20

Whether you live on the coast or in the mountains, your skincare routine probably varies from season to season, as your skin’s needs change. But pampering your skin doesn’t have to come at a high price. We’ve rounded up some great products to help you get that glowing summertime look—without breaking the bank.

Skin: Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil, $20. This product is endorsed by dermatologists worldwide, and is ideal for normal, dry, mature, sun-damaged, scarred and sensitive skin—basically, everyone. It restores the skin’s moisture balance, and is clinically proven to improve skin smoothness, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and improve moisture.

Hair: John Masters Lavender Hydrating Mist for Skin & Hair, $16. If you’re a summertime sun worshiper, this hydrating mist is the perfect way to keep your hair and skin looking vibrant instead of parched. Lavender is renowned for its therapeutic and rejuvenating properties—a little spritz on the face, neck, and hair throughout the day (even over makeup or styling products) is a great pick-me-up.

Complexion: Cattier White Clay Facial Scrub, $14. This gentle exfoliant is great for all skin types, with jojoba oil to moisturize and protect your skin, and peppermint essential oil to stimulate, cleanse, and detox your skin.

Body: Pangea Organics Indian Green Tea with Mint and Rose Petals Soap, $7. Containing green tea, an antioxidant, mint to soften and cool the skin, and calming rose petals, Pangea’s organic soap is perfect for overexposed summer skin.

Body: Weleda Sea Buckthorn Body Oil, $20. After a day at the beach or pool, use Weleda’s Sea Buckthorn Body Oil to soothe moisture-zapped skin. You’ll smell delicious, too—it smells of orange and grapefruit.

Lips: Juice Beauty Lip Trio SPF8 Lip Moisturizers, $15. Juice Beauty organic lip moisturizers combine mineral sun protection with certified organic emollient plant oils, mango and passionfruit essences, nutrient-rich vitamins and honey. Includes a naturally clear and two luscious mineral tints.

For more budget-friendly beauty that proves you don’t have to splurge every season to keep your skin looking fresh, check out Beautorium.com’s organic beauty products.

-Aleigh Acerni

Myth-Busting Green Beauty

Wading through the sheer amount of information out there about organic beauty products can be a challenge for even the most dedicated. We’ve managed to cut through the hype to examine three big myths about eco-friendly, organic beauty.

Myth #1: Organic products don’t come in rich, bright colors, and there isn’t much to choose from. Thankfully, this myth is just simply untrue. The demand for natural and organic beauty products is on the rise, and as a result, there are more great products out there for you to test (and fall in love with). We love Dr. Hauschka’s lipsticks, which come in eight shades, and Logona has a great selection of eyeliner pencils, including green and turquoise, and they’re 100% vegetarian.

Myth #2: Natural or organic products aren’t as effective as synthetic products. This is a biggie. Even when it comes to anti-aging (and ridding your face of those dreaded wrinkles brought on by the sunburns of your irresponsible youth), organic and natural products often have the same or similar active ingredients as synthetic products. Look for ingredients like caffeine (antioxidant and great at tightening skin and reducing puffiness), peptides (to stimulate the production of collagen and tighter, firmer skin), hyaluronic acid (nature’s “moisture magnet”) and phytoactive ingredients (for reducing wrinkles). To try: Juice Beauty’s Antioxidant Serum, Trilogy’s Age Proof Replenishing Night Cream, and the Exuberance Optimism Periwinkle and Aloe Uplifting Eye Gel.

Myth #3: Organic products always cost a fortune. We can debunk this one, too. Just like with synthetic beauty products, there’s a range in the prices of natural, organic beauty items. If you’re just starting to incorporate organic products into your daily routine, it’s a good idea to try out some samples before you commit—and gradually replace your stash bit by bit when you run out of your non-organic mascara, blush, or moisturizer. Some budget-friendly buys to take for a whirl: Logona mascara, $14.50, Pangea Organics Egyptian Basil and Mint Hand and Body Lotion, $16, John Masters Sea Mist Salt Spray with Lavender.

-Aleigh Acerni

How green is green?

Greenwash: The act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

Green is truly the new black. There are trendy, eco-friendly ways to update our homes, our travel, our meals, our clothing—and our beauty products. But how do consumers know how “green” a product really is? And how can you keep from being duped into buying something that only appears to be eco-friendly?

Helping consumers wade through the plethora of retailers claiming to be environmentally-conscious was a topic up for discussion last week at the Natural Beauty Summit—Beautorium.com co-founder Ann Francke was on hand to discuss what it means to be an ethical retailer when it comes to natural, organic beauty products. The last thing a green-minded gal wants to do is spend money on a product or service she believes is doing right by environment, only to find out the product’s packaging or advertising was misleading.

In the beauty category, decoding a product or company’s claims of “natural” or “organic” can get a little challenging: “Natural” doesn’t mean “organic,” and vice-versa. Plus, there are plenty of products that claim to be green, organic, or natural, but whose claims either can’t be easily confirmed or are too vague to be useful to a consumer. Beautorium.com, for example, offers a carefully handpicked selection of natural and organic beauty products according to five criteria, many of which have been certified by reputable international organizations (find a list here). Francke also suggests consumers look for authentic seals, like those from the Natural Products Association (NPA) or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which are getting to be more widespread.

Francke also mentioned some great resources on the web. The Greenwashing Index offers a three-step guide to spotting greenwashing. Greenopia.com offers Green Ratings Guides, ranking levels of “greenness” according to five specific criteria when it comes to automobiles, mass retailers, fast food, and more. There’s even a site produced by TerraChoice, which lists the “Seven Sins of Greenwashing.”

More good news, according to Scot Case, vice president of TerraChoice, is that eco-labeling is on the rise. “Legitimate eco-labeling is nearly twice as common as it was in our 2007 survey, increasing from 13.7% to 23.4% on all ‘green’ products,” he says. “The 2009 Seven Sins of Greenwashing report demonstrates that consumers do have greener choices in products but that they need to recognize the legitimate labels and ask questions of unfamiliar ones.”

Bottom line? Consumers need to be aware and thoughtful about the beauty products they buy and where they buy them. But every day, retailers are taking steps to make it easier for you to feel good about using the products that make you feel good!

-Aleigh Acerni

Beauty Isn’t Just Skin Deep: 5 Reasons to Green Your Beauty Routine

Green-minded gals carefully consider their purchases, big (Prius or Vespa?) and small (stir fry or salad greens?). But living greenly and healthfully is more than just eating well and keeping a manageable carbon footprint. Here are five reasons why you should put just as much thought into what goes on your body as you do what goes in it, whether your mission is to help keep yourself—or the Earth—healthy.

1. Safety. Your skin is your body’s biggest organ, with over a billion pores. More than 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your body, and the beauty industry is not regulated. (No joke.) There’s a glut of products on the market containing ingredients like parabens, which has been found in elevated amounts in breast tumors, and propylene glycol, a preservative commonly used in antifreeze and brake fluid, which according to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, may be linked to birth defects and infertility.

2. Environmental impact. Natural and organic products make for a less toxic Earth; they avoid chemical preservatives and synthetic colors and fragrances in favor of natural ingredients, which are better for the environment when they’re rinsed off your face, down your drain, and into your wastewater.

3. Effectiveness. Organic products have higher levels of natural nutrients and antioxidants than non-organic ones, making them just as effective, if not more so. And, as an added benefit, natural ingredients have fewer irritants for sensitive or allergy-prone skin.

4. Energy-conscious. Not only does it take less energy to produce natural or organic beauty products, they are frequently sold in recycled, minimal packaging, which makes for less waste all around.

5. Enjoyment. Going organic stimulates a mind/body/nature connection you just can’t get otherwise. Plus, the essential oils and natural scents included in organic and natural beauty products make you feel good and smell good.

Making sure your makeup isn’t harmful is top of mind for many these days—you can get even more insight from Beautorium.com’s own British bloke, Barry, who was recently interviewed on the subject, or find out more about what it means to call a product “organic,” here.

-Aleigh Acerni

‘Green’ is mainstream

Last week, in a star-studded celebration of Earth Day, the 2009 Heart of Green Awards honored people, organizations, and companies that work to make green products mainstream. (Our own Ann Francke was even there to witness it firsthand!)

The event recognized nominees in six main awards categories—Food, Politics, Media, Parenting, Consumer, and Celebrity—as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and a Local Hero. Honorees included Alicia Silverstone, whose work as an advocate for veganism earned her the Eco-Original award; model and author Summer Rayne Oaks; Deidre Imus, author of the Green This! series; Hollywood Green host Maria Menounos, and Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Find out more about the nominees here.

It’s wonderful to see our green-minded peers (and supporters) get the recognition they so deserve, especially since eco-friendliness is a cause that Beautorium strongly supports. Not only are our products natural or organic, proven to be effective, cruelty-free and not tested on animals—they’re also backed by compelling, personable brands that practice fair trade, and they’re beautifully (and minimally) packaged.

Well done to Alicia Silverstone, Summer Rayne Oakes, and all of the award winners who work hard to preserve the message of Earth Day on the other 364 days of the year.

-Aleigh Acerni

Leaden Lips: Go Organic for a Healthy Pout

Over a year ago, The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics discovered and reported that many popular brands of lipstick contain lead. Then, within the past few weeks, the Canadian government announced it had found lead in children’s face paint. So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not released the results of its own testing of lead in lipstick—the organization doesn’t conduct routine safety testing of personal care products.

The FDA has also not set any limits to the amount of lead allowed in lipstick, even though lipstick is probably the most often directly-ingested beauty product you put on your body.

Lead in any amount—in health or beauty products or elsewhere—is a legitimate health concern, and builds up in the body over time. Forget worrying about ingredients like carmine, FD&C/Lake dyes or other chemicals that may be harmful to your body; lead is bad for you! According to the Mayo Health Clinic, “even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems,” including pain, muscular weakness, headache, abdominal pain, memory loss, mood disorders, reduced sperm count for men, and miscarriage or premature birth in pregnant women (not to mention possible slowed growth and learning disabilities for children who are exposed to lead while in the womb or as young children). Just think about how often you re-apply your favorite lipstick every day!

Beautorium has some lovely shades of natural, organic lipstick to keep your lips perfectly pouty—and your body healthy. Here are some of our favorites—proof that you don’t have to sacrifice your favorite shades when you go organic.

Afterglow Organic Lip Love in Divine is a great pearly-pink coral shade, not too bright. Coral is big for spring, and this lipstick would make for a great evening look.

But we also love it in Wink–it’s a little pinker, and universally flattering.

If you’re drawn to more classic shades, check out these options from Logona. They are certified natural by the BDIH of Germany, are 100% vegetarian–and they’re only $15 each!

(And PS: Help us celebrate Earth Week and our first b(earth)day! Get 50% off 5 of our favorite products, one product per day, from now until Friday.)

-Aleigh Acerni