Feelgood Style

I like to think I’m not the only woman who kept an eye and ear on constant alert for the various Bonus Time events at the cosmetic department of Macy’s (and Nordstrom’s, Bloomingdale’s, you get the idea). Like a July mosquito to the bug zapper, I was drawn in each and every time to the big sign displaying the funky little cosmetic bag next to little tubes of lipstick and other novelties. It didn’t matter that I already had 42 bags containing half-used eye makeup remover from previous Bonus Time affairs; if it was happening, I immediately felt compelled to participate.

So it’s really no surprise that I created one for The Nature of Beauty. As they say, once an addict….But I wanted to make this one a bit more meaningful, to give me and you a legitimate excuse to get excited about this particular Bonus Time. Read the rest of this entry »

While the debate rages on as to whether or not you can get the same “performance” from organic and natural makeup as you can from synthetics, the jury has rendered their verdict when it comes to hair care: Long gone are the days when natural shampoos left hair feeling stringy, and their conditioning counterparts produced dry, heavy locks. Top brands are using organic ingredients that nourish and heal the hair, rather than relying on silicones to coat strands and create false shine. In other words, when using the best natural and organic hair care products, your hair not only looks healthier, it actually is healthier.

Our panelists received a long list of natural serums, shampoos, and conditioners to choose from. Most are composed primarily of organic ingredients, and all are absent of harsh detergenets, synthetic fragrance, parabens, silicones, and petrochemicals. Although it was clear many hair care brands have won the hearts of our green beauty experts, a few managed to rise to the top.

Behold, the Emerald Awards for best natural hair treatment, shampoo, and conditioner: Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I wrote about Sephora’s questionable marketing practices when it comes to their “Naturally Gorgeous” standard, and gave Cargo’s PlantLove Lipsticks, which were listed as containing parabens even though the product page said they were free of them. I am pleased and actually quite relieved to say that Cargo has contacted me with an updated list of their ingredients, and they are apparently working with Sephora to change that information on the website. So here is the new ingredients list. Now if ALL of the other brands bearing the Naturally Gorgeous seal would reveal that they, too, are free of the nasty chemicals listed in their products, too…..

Anyway, thank you, Cargo, for the clarification! Read the rest of this entry »

Before presenting the Emeral Awards for Best Natural Shampoo, Conditioner, and Hair Treatment tomorrow, I would like to deliver a brief public service announcement.

As you may have noticed, few of the products mentioned in the Emerald Awards series have also won best of green awards in the major newsstand magazines. Those products are primarily sold at Sephora and carry this retailer’s own “natural seal.” Go to the website, and they will acknowledge that no universal standard exists, leading them to create their own seal because “we felt we had to take the initiative to define what natural means in terms of our environment. What is natural beauty? We have defined the term as it relates to Sephora, and products must live up to that definition to be considered natural.”

This definition of natural is, at best, a broad one. In fact, it earned Sephora the honor of being named one of the four “biggest ‘green marketing’ scams” by TerraChoice, the group behind sinsofgreenwashing.org. Beyond that, however, I found much greater concerns than their lax standards. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the third installment of Feelgood Style’s own best of green beauty awards. As always, I’m your host, Terri Bly, and today we will be presenting the awards for Best Natural Lipstick and Best Natural Lipgloss. A quick reminder for those of you just tuning in: The products considered for these awards are the the safest and most natural on the market. Unlike many other green beauty awards, every product you’ll find here is completely free of petroleum-based chemicals, parabens, and other potentially harmful chemicals, are are at least 98% (and often 99-100%) natural. Our panelists are beauty experts who use mostly or only natural beauty products.

And now, on with the show.

As you get ready for a summer weekend filled with fun, I want to leave you with our expert panel’s picks for Best Natural Lipstick and Best Natural Lipgloss. If you are hesitant to go green with your makeup, or don’t know where to start, taking the chemicals out of your lip products is a great first step; not only because you eat your lipstick (over 4 lbs in a lifetime), but because lipstick and lipgloss contain some of the worst chemicals on the market. Why risk eating lead and plastic when there are literally hundreds of amazing choices that are safe, natural, moisturizing AND beautiful?

Our beauty experts had no difficulty whatsoever sending in their votes, but no single brand floated to the top. Which is great news for you, because each category will consequently have several winners, giving you a number of brilliant lippies to choose from when you’re out (or online) shopping! Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back to The Emerald Awards! I’m your host, Terri Bly, presenting you with the top truly natural beauty products as voted on by our panel of green beauty experts. Today’s category: Best Natural Foundation. 

Foundation. Just the word speaks volumes. Before we enhance our skin’s natural glow with bronzer or brighten it up with some blush, most of us choose to even out our skin tone with a base, be it liquid, cream, or powder. Unless your foundation looks good, and by that I mean whatever you choose to do or not do to your skin, everything else you put on it won’t look great, either. When it comes to natural and organic formulas, there are numerous high-performing and long-lasting options to choose from. For that reason, I divided the category of Best Natural Foundation into three subcategories: Liquid/Cream, Tinted Moisturizer, and Loose/Pressed.

And the Emerald Award for Best Natural Liquid Foundation goes to: Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t enjoy summer & warmth, but while we’re soaking up the sunshine and relaxing there are some extra preventative measures that need to be taken to ensure our skin, hair & bodies are given the right TLC during these lazy, hazy days. Whether you’re at the beach or pool, UV Rays, salt, sun & chlorine all wreak havoc on skin & hair, but while most of us understand the need for sunscreen & moisturizers, almost all of us forget to take care of our tresses! Aveda have just launched a new hair care collection called the 16hr UV Defense & Recovery System that protects & restores for, well… up to 16hrs. Read the rest of this entry »

Greening Hollywood: Guild by Guild panelists: L-R Nikoletta Skarlatos, Make Up Artist, Pirates of The Caribbean; Robert Hallowell, Hair Stylist, Dancing With The Stars; Christina Marcaccini, founder, Raw Natural Beauty; Rachelle Carson Begley, Co-Star, Living With Ed; Lisa Archer, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics; Paige Donner, Founder, Greening Hollywood.

There’s more to bringing the beauty industry and green scientists together, all at one table, then might first meet the eye. By the time I presented our panel of beauty experts, moderated by Rachelle Carson Begley, last weekend in my Greening Hollywood: Guild by Guild seminar and workshop, I had learned a lot. I had learned more than just that Tarte has come out with a game-changing mascara called Lights, Camera, Lashes! and that O.P.I. had removed all three of the most harmful chemicals in their nail polish, and that Suki Pure has re-defined how to be profitable and committed to pure ingredients in the cosmetic industry. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer is here and it’s time to treat your body, face and hair to a sun-kissed Australian beach holiday with the Lucy B Frangipani Bronzing Shimmer Oil! Made with organic coconut, jojoba & sunflower oils for ultra skin hydration and infused with signature Australian Bush Flower Essences, this shimmer oil is great for achieving a gorgeous, subtle glow all over your body, on décolletage, scrunched into hair – anywhere you want to add moisture and shine. Rather than create a full-on bronze goddess look, it’s beautifully light in finish to give your skin a soft sheen. Ancient healing lore & plant wisdom fuse with modern technology, organic ingredients and hip, slightly old-world packaging to produce a product that’s like no other. All the color & shimmer comes from mica & minerals to give your skin a beautiful, healthy radiance. The scent, consisting of franjipani & coconut, transports me sweetly & deliciously to a tropical island, without being overwhelming… YUM! Lucy b Franjipani Bronzing Shimmer Oil is a must-have for summer…

You’ve been working on creating the perfect cache of hair products, makeup, body lotions, and perfumes since you were 12, right? Now you are hearing about the potential hazards lurking in your beloved collection, and wondering if you should be tossing your phthalate-packed but highly praised lipstick (and shampoo, night cream, mascara, the list goes on and on) and replacing it with some brand you’ve never heard of.  It can be overwhelming, enough to make you want to throw in the towel and forget you ever read anything about parabens or petrochemicals. But don’t lose heart; going green can be fun, exciting, and even affordable. I thought I might draw on my former life as a clinical psychologist (true story) and offer up 6 tips for making the transition to natural and organic beauty products without sacrificing your sanity!  

1. Stay informed. The more you know about why you are switching over to eco-friendly products, the easier it will be to stay motivated when you lose some of that initial enthusiasm. Feelgood Style is a great place to start, and there are several fantastic books to check out as well, including Not Just a Pretty Face by Stacey Malkan, one of the creators of the Skin Deep database, or The Green Beauty Guide, by Julie Gabriel. When you are feeling discouraged, go back and read through the articles or chapters that motivated you to make the switch in the first place. Read the rest of this entry »