The EWG annual Sunscreen Guide is out. These guys go out of there way each year to rate sunscreens on all kinds of things, including UV protection, stability, health concerns, even cost. And the list of safe sunscreens, according to EWG, is looooong. 184 products in Beach & Sport alone.

I’ve said it before and will say it again – EWG Skin Deep is a great resource for finding information on cosmetic products and ingredients. BUT. You still need to do your own research.

For instance, not every sunscreen on their list is completely free from harmful ingredients. Be sure to read ingredients listings and compare them to your Cosmetic Ingredient Cheat Sheet if you need help ID’ing harmful ingredients.

Take this sunscreen as an example: Coppertone Faces Sensitive Skin Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50 made EWG’s list of safe sunscreens for Beach & Sport. It contains zinc, the best mineral sunscreen protection, and received a “Good” rating on UVA protection and UVA/UVB Balance. The overall score for this product is a 2, 0 being safest and 10 being most harmful. Here’s my problem with this rating – this product contains chemical sunscreens (one of which scores a 6 at EWG) plus other toxic ingredients, like propylene glycol, dimethicone, parabens and formaldehyde. Throwing in products like this one from Coppertone is getting pretty fast and loose with “safe” sunscreens, if you ask me.

So, while there are lots of truly safe and very effective sunscreens on the list, please don’t forget to read your labels.

My picks from the EWG Sunscreen Guide 2013 in each category are:

Beach & Sport – True Natural Broad Spectrum Sunscreen Caribbean Coconut SPF 30. These guys have put a lot of research and know-how into creating their sunscreens. They are also a completely nontoxic brand, so you can trust that any of their products are safe. The reason it received a 2 rating rather than a 0 from EWG is because of how they rank mineral sunscreens, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Still, mineral sunscreens are totally the way to go, much safer and more effective than chemical sunscreens. I like this one because it doesn’t leave a white or greasy film on skin and smells great.

Moisturizer with SPF – Ava Anderson Non Toxic Daily Moisturizer SPF 15. I wrote about this line last year, and still believe in their products. The very low 1 ranking is due to, again, EWG’s zinc rating and aloe vera received a 1 rank. Go figure.

Lip Balm with SPF – Again, Ava Anderson Non Toxic Lip Balm SPF 15. My whole family loves this stuff.

Makeup with SPF – I don’t know a thing about any of the makeups with sunscreen listed in the guide. I would, however, recommend you try GO!screen Brush-on Powder SPF30 Susncreen. Not a makeup, but give your face a swipe or this cool powder after applying your makeup. Good to go.

Have questions on sunscreens? Ask away…

[Image by Hacklock at Flickr.com, Creative commons]

Household cleaners

Comet Disinfectant Cleaner Power: I personally use this product often to scrub out stain from living room floor and tiles in restrooms in my apartment, and this works great. However, many people including myself do not consider of its health effect when they use it. I even use even more powder to make it work better. According to Environmental Working Group (pdf), this product emits 146 different chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform and toluene which could cause cancer, asthma and reproductive disorders.  Those chemicals mentioned above are not also listed on label so people have no idea what kinds of health impacts they are exposed to.

Simple Green Concentrated All-Purpose Cleaner: I believe most of households have at least one this type of spray cleaner. The ingredients of this product include colors, 2-butoxyethanol, tetra potassium pyrophosphate, fragrance, alcohol ethoxylates and etc. These chemicals have high concern of general systemic/organ effects, cancer, damage to DNA and skin.

How could they use the word ‘Green’ on this health hazardous product? In addition, the company does not fully disclose ingredient information and use the word ‘Green’ even though this product is not green certified. Instead, we can find words, ‘non-toxic’ and ‘biodegradable’ on its label. I believe this should be considered as green washing. More importantly, the company website instructs that users should dilute it before use the product while products manufactured in a spray bottle! Talk about purposeful ignorance of the “use” phase of a product. A cynic could very easily conclude that they’re basically just putting a warning on the label because they have to, but doing everything in their power to keep you buying more of their toxic stuff.

Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)

: VOCs are chemicals that are emitted

Volatile Organic Compounds are prevalent in the house and come from many sources.

into the air from many different types of solid and liquid products that we use daily basis such as carpets, adhesives, paints, solvents, air fresheners, cosmetics, and even newspapers and cooking. These VOCs are released from the products when people use it and they are stored as well. For example, keeping leftover paint can in your garage could be releasing the VOCs all the time. One important fact to note is that people do not feel that they are being exposed to VOCs and health problems are not developed quickly.  Common short-term symptoms include eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness and worsening of asthma symptoms. Long-term effects, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, include cancer and damage to liver and kidney which can lead people death. Thus, people with asthma and elderly should avoid from being exposed to these chemicals. One way to reduce the levels of VOCs in your house is minimizing the use of VOC-contained products and looking for zero-VOC products that do the same job. When you have to use products that contain VOCs, purchase the amount that you are going to use only to minimize the amount of VOCs stored in your house.

Teflon is made from some pretty toxic stuff, and when it scratches, ends up in your food.

Teflon

: When people choose a frying pan, they take a good look if surface of the pan is coated because they do not want their food stuck on the pans. Teflon is often used for this coating process. If foods are stuck on the pans when you cook, you might think that it is about the time you need to replace the pan. However, this means there is no more Teflon on your pan because you used them all with your foods. This Teflon is toxic and can definitely cost you a lot of money and health during your life. According to a study done by American Cancer Society, Teflon is not direct cause of cancer but increases the risks of having tumors of the liver and helping cancer grow.  There is an infamous case of DuPont. DuPont had made huge money by selling frying pans that coated with Teflon for years, but ended up paying $10.25 million for fine and $6.25 million for environmental projects. Their allegations were that the company did not disclose the dangers of Teflon which they used to manufacture frying pans. One alternative of using Teflon coated frying pans could be using healthier, more eco-friendly cookware made from cast iron, ceramic, stainless steel or glass.

So, you want to buy ethical fashion. You’re ready – search page open, wallet in hand, priorities and convictions in line.

And, you can’t find where to start – where are the designers? Where do you shop? Where does one even find ethical, reliable, wearable brands?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone.

Below are four resources to begin finding the ethical and independent fashion brands that best suit your tastes.

1. The SOURCE directories

The SOURCE Directories are the only annual, printed global guides to sustainable fashion, and can be accessed through the Ethical Fashion Forum.

2. Modavanti

Up until now, there has been no recognized destination for socially conscious shoppers to find stylish, sustainable fashion that fits their values without sacrificing on style. Enter Modavanti – an online store and community built around ethical values without sacrificing on style.

3. Wear This, Not That

Fashioning Change has created a brand alternative that allows you to input the brands and styles you love, and instantly get recommendations for ethical alternatives.

4. The Sustainable Fashion Initiative

SFI promotes a socially and environmentally responsible understanding of fashion, provides a discovery platform for sustainable lifestyle options, and investigates practices that will enhance sustainability in the fashion industry as a whole.

Happy ethical shopping!

Image via Revolution Apparel. Used with Permission.

Image courtesy of National Geographic

I just turned 40. OK, to be honest, I didn’t so much turn 40 as get dragged there completely against my will kicking and screaming. But you get the idea. In any case, fending off signs of aging before they’re inevitable has recently taken on a new level of importance for me when selecting skin care products. If you can relate, then Part II of my series on facial oils is for you.

To say we have a lot of choices when it comes to “anti-aging” products is the understatement of the millennium. Whether or not they all work (they don’t) is another matter altogether. To get the low-down on what makes for a top-quality, effective elixir of youth, I turned to Valerie Grandury, founder of Odacité, an L.A-based anti-aging skin care line. Grandury is also French. And let’s be honest: if you’re looking for advice on how to look as great as possible, for as long as possible, asking a Frenchwoman  just seems like a smart thing to do, n’est-ce pas?

I also turned to Blissoma founder Julie Longyear, and her invaluable, best-$10-you’ll-ever-spend online booklet, Natural Anti-Aging Ingredients You Should Know, available for purchase and download at Iriestar.com. If you really want to know everything there is to know about what Nature has to offer in the way of anti-aging, in an easy-to-read format, I cannot recommend this booklet highly enough.

In the meantime, I have – with Grandury’s and Longyear’s invaluable assistance –  honed in on a few important types of ingredients to look for when purchasing your next age-fighting elixir:

Antioxidants
Unless you just emerged from a 50-year coma, you’ve no doubt heard about free radicals and the damage they can do, both internally and externally. These invisible, highly malicious little molecules break down healthy tissue, and are generated by everything from the sun to pollution to that doughnut you ate this morning. In other words: They’re everywhere, and our diets, stressful lifestyles, and polluted environments are exactly what they need to thrive, multiply, and wreak havoc on your face.

Antioxidants, on the other hand, are ultra-powerful free radical fighters. Antioxidants – which include beta carotene (Vitamin A), and vitamins C and E – interrupt the chain reaction that occurs when free radicals encounter healthy tissue. In other words, they prevent free radicals from doing their damage. Problem is, as we age, our body does not produce anti-oxidants as effectively as it did in our youth, making it critically important that we introduce these miraculous little crime-fighters into our system through diet and skin care if we want to ward off free radical damage. Thankfully, antioxidants are readily available in a wide variety of plants, making it fairly easy to do both.

When it comes to selecting the best topical sources of antioxidants, some of Grandury’s favorite include carrot seed, for its high beta carotene content, as well as blueberry seed oil, both of which are featured in her intoxicatingly luxurious and impressively effective new facial serum, A Summer in Hossegor. “What I love about Blueberry Seed Oil,” she explains, “is that it contains a wide range of vitamin E isomers, both tocopoherols and tocotrienols, which move faster in cell membranes, and result in higher antioxidant and radical scavenging activity.” A Summer in Hossegor also features Green Tea extract, one of the top sources of antioxidants in the world.

Other excellent antioxidant-packed oils (and again, there are many) include Acai Berry, Rooibos, Pomegranate, and Rosehip Seed Oil, a key ingredient in the lightweight yet potent facial oil from rms beauty.

You can also find an abundance of antioxidants in Intelligent Nutrients’ Intellimune Complex, a concentrated mega-dose of antioxidants upon which the entire brand is based, including their Anti-Aging Serum, an ultra-rich, ultra-effective blend of oils and extracts that deliver results with impressive speed.

Essential Fatty Acids

Another challenge we face as we age (get it? face as we age?) is gradually thinning skin and its decreasing ability to retain water. This is where Essential Fatty Acids (EF’s) enter the picture. “When applied topically,” Grandury explains, “EFAs dramatically improve the texture and quality of skin, helping repair the skin barrier, thus allowing for the skin cell to hold onto water. This leads to plumper, more hydrated skin, helping to prevent and diminish wrinkles. Some research also shows that EFA’s decrease skin damage from UV and contribute to wound healing because of anti-inflammatory properties.”

In other words, EFAs moisturize dry skin, calm irritated skin, while also nourishing and conditioning aging skin to revive the complexion and plump up fine lines. No wonder they are essential components to all the best anti-aging serums on the market!

Grandury’s A Summer in Hossegar serum features Buriti fruit oil, which contains an impressive 79.2% oleic acid (omega 9). Grandury also frequently turns to Baobab seed oil, an excellent source both EFAs and phytosterols, which help increase skin elasticity and stave off wrinkles.

Other EFA-rich oils your face will love include Chia Seed (a key ingredient in One Love Organics serum collection), Barbary Fig Seed oil (also rich in antioxidants, and featured in La Bella Figura Renewal Serum), and Evening Primrose, a particularly moisture-rich oil that forms the base for Blissoma’s Restore Deep Healing Serum. “When I wake up the morning,” says Longyear, “I have often noticed what a lovely plumping effect Restore has on fine lines, especially when used at night and around the eye area.”

Tune in next week when I address facial serums for oily, combination, and acneic skin (sneak preview: plant-based oils do not cause acne!).

Designer Reet Aus uses fabric scraps from other garment producers to create her line of mass-produced upcycled clothing.

There is a crazy amount of waste associated with mass clothing production. If you’ve ever done a sewing project, you can probably understand how that happens, right? You cut out your pattern pieces, and you’re left with odd-shaped scraps. As a crafter you may horde those scraps to use in other projects, but if you’re a garment manufacturer, you don’t really have the storage or time to save the massive amount of scraps from stocking store shelves world-wide with your clothing.

Reet Aus is diverting that fabric from the landfill and conserving resources at the same time! Her upcycled clothing line uses 70% less water and 64% less energy per garment to make and creates at least 40% less production waste. Not too shabby!

Upcycled clothing tends to be a one-of-a-kind situation, but by sourcing scraps from these huge manufacturers, Aus is able to mass-produce her designs while still using reclaimed materials. The great part about mass production is that it allows her to take advantage of economies of scale, and that means lower prices for consumers. So much eco clothing is priced out of reach, and while Aus isn’t going to be competing with H&M anytime soon, these heirloom clothing pieces are affordable if you let go of the idea of fast fashion.

Aus is currently looking for retailers to carry her line, but you can check out her collection and purchase pieces at Trash to Trend.

h/t: Earth 911; photos via Trash to Trend

Chopard & Green Carpet Challenge Courtesy eco-age.com

Sustainable fashion favourite, Eco-age.com re-launched their website this week and Firth announced her new Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) partnership with luxury jeweller Chopard, in Cannes. Chopard has worked with the Cannes International Film Festival for 15 years. Partnering with the Alliance for Responsible Mining, Chopard and Eco-Age have produced an exquisite set of jewellery called “The Journey” using certified, fair trade gold from small-scale miners in Columbia and Ecuador. The collection is delicate and ornate and includes a cuff bracelet and matching earrings. Chopard uses certified conflict-free diamonds and is now working with ARM and Eco-Age to increase transparency in its gold supply chain through the GCC.

Eco-age.com quotes Lina Villa, executive director of ARM: “Chopard is the first luxury jeweller to develop a partnership of this kind with us and we are looking forward to truly making a difference in the lives of these mining communities.”

To read more about this new collaboration and Chopard’s sustainability policies, please click here.

Vegan? Looking for cosmetics to go with your lifestyle?

Vegan cosmetics are those made completely with plant materials. No animal-derived ingredients are used, including dairy, eggs, honey, animal gelatin, beeswax and animal by-products.

If you are interested in vegan cosmetics you will love the Veganista box from True Beauty Box. Receive new to you vegan beauty products each month. A great way to test out some nontoxic skin care and makeup that are perfect for you.

True Beauty Box sent me one this month to try. The Veganista for this month includes:

• True Natural Lip Plump
• True Natural Broad Spectrum SPF 15 Unscented for Face
• True Natural Citrus Self Tanner
• Lavera Volume Mascara

All full-sized products. All vegan.

True Natural Citrus Tanner

Let’s talk self tanner. If you have yet to try an all natural self tanning lotion, or think that all tanning lotions are the same (orange, streaky and artificial) you really need to try True Natural Citrus Self Tanner. Easy to apply and fast acting (your skin tans within 3 hours!). I promise, this stuff will change the way you think about tanning lotion.

True Natural Citrus Self Tanner is made with natural plant sugars that react with the skin’s own amino acids to create a super natural-looking tan. And this nontoxic tanning lotion has a yummy citrus scent. Use in place of your body lotion every few days to maintain your glow.

Lavera Volume Mascara

Have to plug the mascara here before I go. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Lavera Volume Mascara is one of my favorites. Thick enough to create some smokin’ fringe, but goes on super smooth. None of that dry clumpy gunk. This mascara was also the Good Housekeeping Best of Natural 2012 winner, so looks like other people like it too.

There you go. Hot vegan picks for summer. Take the beauty profile quiz at True Beauty Box and start getting new vegan beauty finds each month. You won’t be sorry you did.

This post supported by Love True Natural.

“I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”
~Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie doesn’t just play a badass in the movies…

Yes, she is mother to 6 children.  Sure, she is a hardworking humanitarian and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.  So, she can also keep somebody like Brad Pitt satisfied.

But this latest move took some serious courage.

Between the months of February and April of this year the actress underwent a double mastectomy in order to reduce her chances of contracting breast cancer.  The disease took her mother’s life at the young age of 56.

Some women, especially those whose mother has contracted breast cancer at a younger age, may be carriers of a mutated BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene.  This faulty gene is linked to hereditary cancers and can significantly increase the likelihood of developing certain cancers, like breast and ovarian.

A mastectomy is no small deal for those who have breast cancer and have few options.  But to voluntarily remove your breasts in the name of staying healthy would be a difficult decision, to say the least.

Why such an extreme measure?  The actress says she underwent the major surgery and reconstruction so that she could be around for her children and to empower other women to get checked for the gene.

“I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy,” she writes. “But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

My own Mom had breast cancer 7 years ago, and last year underwent treatment for lung cancer.  I get regular mammograms and have had several “extra” procedures, due in part to our family history.  I did consider at one point doing the BRCA gene testing, but figured with all of the mammograms I get (many years I receive two) cancer would be caught early if I were to get it.  I am now considering doing the testing.  Lowering your risk by 82%, in Jolie’s case, is huge.

In her op-ed for the New York Times, Jolie goes on to cite the high incidence of breast cancer fatalities each year, especially in lower and middle income countries.  She’d like to see women everywhere have the ability to receive testing and preventive treatment if they choose.  But with BRCA testing costing around $3000 in the US, this is not feasible for many women.

Would you do the BRCA testing?  If your risk of developing breast cancer was great would you undergo a preventive mastectomy?

Angelina may be a beautiful and glamorous actress, but her actions are total badass.  Helping children around the world, opening her home and heart to many, writing a non-fluff movie, and now becoming a role model for those considering preventive surgery.

This is the kind of Hollywood role model we women need.

[Image by rocor's photostream at Flickr.com, Creative Commons]

…and they don’t make clothes for plus sized women, either.

Furious? So am I!

As if making their clothing in sweatshops wasn’t enough, Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries publicly stated that the company doesn’t want plus sized women shopping in his stores. After reading some of his remarks, I don’t think any women should shop there.

Elite Daily highlighted an article about Jeffries on Business Insider, where they reveal that his company doesn’t produce sizes XL or XXL or pant sizes above a 10, because he doesn’t want “fat chicks” shopping in his stores. He says he wants “the cool kids” at his store, and this is also the reason that they only hire good-looking people.  In Jeffries’s mind, you can’t be cool unless you are thin and conventionally attractive. Here’s a quote from a 2006 interview that I think sums up how gross this guy is:

That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.

Doesn’t that hiring policy sound just a smidge illegal, to boot?

What’s really interesting is that Abercrombie’s website has a whole page about how they embrace diversity. How do they square that message with their choice to discriminate based on size and physical appearance both in their production and hiring practices?

As someone who has struggled with body image issues in the past, I know how remarks like the ones Jeffries made can sting, even if you’re not plus size. Those comments are mean, and they’re also so damaging for young girls who are just figuring out what makes them valuable. I hate that companies like Abercrombie make women feel like we aren’t worth anything if we’re not a size 6.

As consumers, though, we have the power to send a strong message to Mike Jeffries by hitting his company where it hurts: the wallet.

Ditch the Fitch!

The best way to tell Abercrombie to quit the fat-shaming is by refusing to spend your money there.

Luckily, there are lots of clothing companies out there that embrace women of all shapes and sizes. H&M has a plus line that includes XL, XXL, and pants sizes up to a 24. And unlike Abercrombie, H&M is making some big progress on the sustainable fashion front.

You can also skip the new clothes all together! Big box clothing has more problems than how these companies’ marketing tactics affect young women. There’s a cycle of waste associated with fast fashion, and for an ethical fashionista, buying heirloom pieces or shopping vintage are much better options.

What do you think about Jeffries’s remarks? Did you shop at Abercrombie & Fitch before? Would you continue to shop there after learning about these company policies?

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by laverrue

We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again…This week we are asking you, our lovely readers, to write the post.

Please add your comment and fill us in on what you’d like to read more of here on FGS in the next month or two.

Summer skincare? You know you need to change up your routine for summer, but have no idea where to start. Get to know which products suit your skin for summer.

Warm weather style trends? Need some new summer staples to add to your wardrobe? Find out what’s hot for the season and where to get your hands on it.

Healthy vacation tips? Travel can throw a curve ball into your normally healthy routine. We have some eco-vaca tips to help you get through summer clean and green.

And anything else on your pretty minds. We write for YOU and would love to answer any questions you have on eco beauty. So go ahead and let us have it. We are all ears!

[Image by b4b2 at Flickr.com, Creative Commons]