Feelgood Style

We all get a little run-down from time to time. And we all need to take care of ourselves.  Here in Hollywood there are truly devoted experts who have fine-tuned natural techniques to keep our engines humming. 

Timothy Martin, founder of the Izo Cleanze an all-natural juice cleanse, walked me through a 5-day juice cleanse or “fast” and offered some coaching along the way, which is documented here in our Moveable Juice Feast conversation.  Another option is Charisma Cuisine whose Victoria Wieszkowiak offers a 3-day juice fast which includes daily doses of fresh coconut juice, full of electrolytes.  Anyone who loves organic fruits and vegetables needs to stay up on two bills floating through Congress right now: H.R. 875 and especially H.R. 759.  Read up on them HERE.

For Springtime Regeneration and Renewal, nothing tops Raw Juice! Read the rest of this entry »

Moments after sitting down in Rose Marie Swift’s very hip Manhattan loft, she surveyed my face, declared my blush was in need of an update, deftly pulled out one of her new lip2cheek stains, and within seconds I was sporting a healthy, rosy glow that looked natural and, if I do say so myself, quite lovely. By the time I left 60 delightful minutes later, Ms. Swift had given my eyes and lips similar transformations, and I strutted through Union Square looking and feeling like I had just received a makeover by one of America’s top makeup artists.

When the products arrived at my shop in St. Paul, however, I stared at them a bit helplessly and wondered just how I, a mere clinical-pschologist-turned-business-owner, could possibly recreate that same look with these cream-based blushes and shadows that were so different from the pressed powder variety I had used my whole life.

So I called Jessa Blades, a Manhattan-based makeup artist who worked alongside Rose Marie during Fashion Week and uses only natural cosmetics on her clientele (you can read all about Jessa here). She graciously offered some invaluable tips for getting the most out of rms beauty’s truly stunning color collection. Read the rest of this entry »

The Sea Spa at Santa Monica’s Casa Del Mar encourages a regimen of wellness for the everyday traveler.

These hoteliers have given it some considerable thought and arrived at their  modern philosophy that, even though you’re a traveler, even though you’re away from home, you needn’t sacrifice your sense of well being nor suffer a disruption in your wellness regime.

“The owners of the hotel have me here as a liaison to help people remember how to take care of themselves,” Amber McMahon, Casa Del Mar’s Wellness Director, informs me.  She adds that the Sea Spa fully integrates the mind, body, spirit approach to wellness and services catering to all of these wellness needs are offered in their spa menu. Read the rest of this entry »

“The simple truth is that many beauty products are advertised as natural or organic when their ingredients are far from it. Many companies produce these “so-called” natural or organic  products by adding a few herbal extracts to a synthetic soup of polymers (plastics), silicones, petroleum (and its derivatives), artificial fragrances and colors, and other potentially harmful substances. They then market the product by focusing on the few clean ingredients, while disregarding the rest, hoping the consumer will do the same. The public is becoming more aware of this unethical marketing strategy (often called “greenwashing”), but unfortunately the practice is still widespread.” – Kirsten Binder, Saffronrouge.com

Last week, while in New York City, I purchased Josie Maran’s Earth Day Essentials kit. I had heard so much about her line from various friends and makeup artists – not to mention numerous beauty magazine and blogs – that I wanted to experience what everyone was raving about.

While sitting in the subway train, I glanced over the ingredients of the lip gloss, intending to give that one a whirl right away. But what to my wondering eyes should appear, but POLYBUTENE as the first ingredient on the list. I’m certainly no chemist; I don’t even make my own skin care products at home (yet). Nonetheless, I had read enough to be nearly certain that polybutene was a member of the petrochemical family. I put the gloss back in my bag until I could do a little more research. To put it mildly, what I found was much worse than I anticipated.  Read the rest of this entry »

TerraCycle has done it again . . . Tom Szaky and his talented wife, Soyeon Lee have managed to make used Frito Lay bags into CD covers for Soyeon’s latest release, Reinvented.  

Soyeon is a classical concert pianist, with an impressive Julliard, Carnegie Hall performance history who may be the first to bring the eco-cause into the world of classical music. In her effort to bring classical music and environmental awareness together, she turned to husband and garbage-to-gold entrepreneur Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle to help design the new CD cover for Reinvented. As it turns out, he had just come home with a sample of new composite board made from – yup, you guessed it – tossed out Frito Lay bags!

They thus created the first garbage-inspired, Frito-Lay CD cover. I have one and you can even see the name Frito on one of the tiny shreds!

The music is beautiful, but the real inspiration is the marriage (pun intended) of eco-clever re-use of garbage and musical artistry.

If there were a contest for eco-power-couple of the next generation, I would vote for these two.

One year ago, after watching her father lose his battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease and her 35-year-old friend receive a diagnosis of breast cancer for the third time, Christy decided it was time to make a change. Since early on in her career, she suspected the chemicals in the high-end makeup she used on her clients were potentially harmful; she had stopped wearing the stuff years ago. So she emptied her makeup kit and started over, this time filling it with nothing but natural cosmetics. If she was going to remain in the only career she had ever known or wanted, she could no longer use products containing the chemicals she suspected may have killed her father, or possibly contributed to the cancer haunting her friend. Read the rest of this entry »

After my Bono and his eyeliner post last week, a member of a U2 fan club wrote in and mentioned Bono’s use of and hand in creating  Nude Skincare line (he and wife Ali Hewson are investors and she suggested the name to creator Bryan Meehan). Curiosity piqued, I contacted Nude directly to check it all out.

I do just love trying a new (to me, I realize Nude has been around for a while) line of nontoxic skin care and the customer service at Nude was speedy and courteous.  My samples were sent out right away and I had them in my hot little hands no more than a few days after my initial contact.

Three products arrived for review; Miracle Mask, Age Defence Moisturiser and Replenishing Night Oil.  The Miracle Mask warned those of us with sensitive skin that it was not suitable for our type.  Being the skin care guinea pig that I so willingly am, and after a quick inspection of the ingredients label for any common triggers, I gave it a whirl anyway but avoided the five minute leave-on directions and went for a mere one minute, maybe.  Designed to brighten and smooth skin, the mask contains natural AHAs and I noticed the scent of fruit acids right away.  My skin did look rosy afterward, as if I had exfoliated with a mild scrub. Read the rest of this entry »

As if Lavere anti-aging skin care line were not already terrific enough, they went and added more products to their anti-aging skin care line-up.  Created by Lavera, the BDIH certified natural cosmetics maker with a large celebrity following, Lavere is their answer to department store quality anti-aging skin care.

With several different products to choose from, including those for body and Classic Lavere, you are sure to find the perfect items to satisfy your particular skin care needs.  All Lavere anti-aging products are designed to soothe and strengthen the skin and contain cell stimulating and collagen production increasing ingredients, like chicory root extract, algae, and biodynes.

The products I tried are from the Intensive skin care line for dry and sensitive skin types.  I will say that Lavere products have always been a favorite and these are no exception.

Read the rest of this entry »

Founder of Blades Natural Beauty, Jessa Blades is a natural makeup artist who works on photo shoots and fashion shows, helps brides looks their best on their big day and provides natural beauty consultation to a variety of clientele in New York City.  Last month she worked with celebrity makeup artist, Rose-Marie Swift at Fashion Week and is featured this month in Glamour magazine’s 70^th anniversary issue along with 69 other female eco-achievers.  She also works with Teens Turning Green and Project Green Prom. 

She believes we don’t have to sacrifice health for beauty and is intimately in-the-know about products that perform, yet won’t pollute our bodies.  “People are outraged when it comes to animal testing for cosmetics and I’m against it, but what about human testing?  Companies have been testing their products on women for years!!” 

Read the rest of this entry »

We all know of Bono’s work on issues of the environment, poverty and AIDS.  With a hand in creating campaigns like ONE Campaign, DATA, (RED) and EDUN it is safe to say that the U2 frontman spends his fair share of time and effort on the greater good.

But does the rocker know about the importance of safety in cosmetics?  He has been spotted of late wearing a healthy dose of the black stuff on the covers of Rolling Stone, SPIN, Q Magazine and at the Grammys and the Brits. 

Well, Bono, if you have yet to discover the health benefits of using nontoxic makeup and skin care, let me point you in the right direction.

Read the rest of this entry »