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Do you have a desire to find new and interesting organic and natural beauty products but have no idea where to start? Or do you like keep up to the minute with the latest, hottest, best arrivals on the scene?

Organic Beauty Products Are A-Plenty: How Do You Pick and Choose?

There was a time, not so long ago when looking for organic beauty products was a fairly easy exercise because they few and far between. Until fairly recently it was the norm to create products with chemical preservatives and artificial additives a plenty, the odd organic beauty product was typically high profile making it easy to identify. Today things have changed: practically every beauty product on the market contains some organic ingredients. How do you even begin to pick and choose where to go? Read the rest of this entry »

Named this works because that’s what testers constantly said of the products, this line is described as ‘a survival kit for those suffering modern malaises’. Conceived and created by Kathy Phillips, formerly Health & Beauty Director for Vogue and now International Beauty Director for Conde Nast Asia (think W Magazine, Vogue, Allure etc..), this award winning line has some of the coolest packaging I’ve seen in the beauty industry for a while, not to mention cutting-edge formulation. What really gets me excited though are the all natural formulations developed around aromatherapy principles, their environmentally responsible business practices, knowing that the products are mostly organic using certified and fair trade essential oils, and that the products contain no suspect ingredients.

I’m constantly on a quest to find the most spectacular organic and natural beauty brands at the cutting-edge and forefront of this industry, and I think I just discovered my latest obsession. This rocks!! Yep, This Works.

Photo credit: This Works website - www.thisworks.com

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Punk, graphic, dynamic, assured, bright and striking … definitely not mellow. A color usually reserved for the hot Summer months, yellow is the new breakout color for fall. We’re seeing everything from gorgeous, long satin charteuse evening dresses at Donna Karan, to vibrant, eclectic and feminine at Marni, to futuristic, modern and slick at Balenciaga.

Traditionally not an easy color to wear vis-a-vis a neutral brown for example, there are nonetheless some gorgeous organic and natural makeup shades to wear with what is sure to be your new favorite color come Fall: Read the rest of this entry »

When my nails are freshly manicured, it somehow makes me feel more, well, polished. I hate walking out of poorly ventilated shops with a headache though. We all know that the ingredients in traditional polish is not good to inhale on a regular basis, but we slather it on anyway - guilty! I am totally guilty…

Until recently when I discovered the SpaRitual line at a little body shop, called Mountain Body, in Park City, Utah. With flavors like, Strawberry Fields Forever and Paradigm Shift (which I am currently admiring as I type!), you not only feel good about wearing the nail lacquer but empowered.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not everyday that something significant happens in the fashion & beauty industry, and among a used-to- seeing-everything crowd it’s particularly difficult to garner attention. However Italian Vogue have done just that with their newly released all-black issue, titled: The Diversity Issue.

The issue has already been written about by Cathryn Horyn for The New York Times with interviews featuring photographer Steven Meisel, and Franca Sozzani, Editor-In-Chief of Italian Vogue. Asked about the inspiration for such an unprecedented issue, Sozzani says that she was moved as much by seeing black girls on the streets of New York as by Barack Obama’s stunning rise and visibility. Needless to say fashion media and blogs are headed toward a fever pitched frenzy over the whole thing.

With the issue already sold out around the country and with newsstands and magazine retailers barely able to keep up (not to mention some waiting lists of up to 400 people), you’ll be lucky to get your hands on one. If you are one of the fortunate (or being the fashionista you are you have a subscription to Italian Vogue so you don’t need to join the ranks of us that need to madly scramble to get a copy), let’s hope it’s a memento of the genesis of a new era in the beauty & fashion industries that is inclusive of all races.

Photo credit: Tyra Banks photographed by Steven Meisel, for Italian Vogue

For more articles:

• The New York Times: http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/beauty-and-soul/
• MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25570118/

We often explore ways to boost health and find wellness practices to integrate into our daily routines. One such healing philosophy is Ayurvedic medicine, used by millions in India and around the world. The term “Ayurveda” is a blend of words which mean “knowledge of a long life” or “the Science of Life“, and experts teach healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony. Reenita Malhotra Hora is a master of the subject and is also a wonderful author here on Feelgood Style! Ayurveda is increasingly gaining popularity in the west, with ayurvedic based spa treatments, especially with the healing arts and roots lovingly intertwined with yoga exercise. Actually, very recently I was reading that “Ayurvedic Yoga” is applying Ayurveda to the practice of Yoga which emphasizes the healing aspects of Yoga. Curious about the subject? Well I am, so here is a little interview we recently did on the topic of healing with Ayurveda:

• Vata (comprised of air/space) - highly energetic, quick thinking, creative individuals who are physically lighter and fleet of foot.
• Pitta (comprised of fire/water) - intense, passionate and highly intelligent individuals of a medium structure and athletic build.
• Kapha (comprised of water/earth) - calm, grounded, ‘long term oriented’ individuals with a dense bone structure and more solid physique.

2. For this season what are a few simple Ayurvedic treatments for heat stoke or sunburn this summer?

Read the rest of this entry »

The issue of lead in lipsticks hit the headlines last year after the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics (CSC) published research claiming that many popular lipsticks contain unacceptably high levels of the poisonous metal. Responding to these concerns, Democratic politician Carole Migden introducted a bill requiring lipstick producers in California to prove that their products had been tested and only naturally occuring, unavoidable traces had been found.

The bill has been shot down by Attorney General, Edmund Brown, who concluded that concentrations would have to reach 5ppm (parts per million) to be considered dangerous, and the maximum traces found in the CSC testing were 0.65ppm. The bill that Senator Migden brought forward suggested the minimum allowable should be 0.002ppm (which is far below the traces found in all the lipsticks tested by CSC). So where does that leave us? Nowhere.

Read the rest of this entry »

The ‘Goodbye Girl’ says a hearty hello to biodyamic herb farming and creates some wonderful, healing organic skincare and wellness products.

Marsha Mason’s publicist reached out to us last year and we rated an excellent sampling of some of the products made on her New Mexico herb farm, Resting in the River Organic Farm.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was truly impressed with the quality of all the products we got to play with, which included:

Healing Body Butter
Healing Body Lotion
Intens-Salve
The Family Herbal Wellness Kit- which includes a variety of wonderful herbal sprays that were surprisingly useful
Healing Hydration Mist

I had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Mason in her Manhattan apartment last year, and was fascinated to learn about her ’spiritual agriculture’ practices and how she got from being an award-winning actress to her farm in New Mexico.

Read the Interview
Read the rest of this entry »

1. Hats! Try this hip California Rising ‘We Are One’ Hat (shown here) which features breathable hemp, soft brushed organic cotton jersey, canvas with locally grown, milled and knitted organic cotton all dyed with low impact dyes. California Rising is a member of 1% For the Planet. I also like this visor from the Sierra Club, simply white and all organic. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s face it: American’s have an obsession with white teeth, and what better way to get those pearly whites clean than with the ultra-comfortable wide head Radius toothbrushes. I initially spied them in my local Whole Foods and was curious about their HUGE heads.

When I finally decided to test them, they turned out to be comfy, comprehensive and eco-sensitive. Not a bad combination. The Original lasts 3x longer than a regular toothbrush; the handle is also made from renewable materials (and have been for 20 years). Their Source toothbrush not only has a handle made from renewable material but also has a replaceable head which uses up to 1/5 the material of a regular brush.

Both brushes have extremely comfortably shaped heads to reach all those nooks and crannies between your teeth and ergonimically designed grips. The Original comes in fun colors, like berry and lime, while the Source has an earthier feel. They range in price from about $7 for a single to $38 for a 6 pack and accomodate righties and lefties.