June 28, 2011

Alba Botanica Terra Tints Review


Your lips are some of the most delicate skin on your face, which means you especially need UV protection. One of the biggest difficulties in finding a mineral sunscreen is the white cast it gives your skin, which is the same problem with a mineral SPF lip balm. Except white lips are even worse. This is why I love Alba's Terra Tints! They have an SPF of 8 (provided by zinc) and have a range of 6 different shades, which hide the white cast and simultaneously give you a little dash of color. Your color choices are: blaze, bloom, dawn, garnet, sienna and sunset.

June 23, 2011

"Organic" Brands Sued

Personal care products are far less regulated than you would think. You may have heard that on June 16th the Center for Environmental Health filed a lawsuit against more than 30 cosmetic brands. The suit claims that these companies falsely labeled their products as organic for marketing purposes. This is a perfect example of greenwashing.

June 22, 2011

True Naturals Sunscreen Review


I read recently that True Naturals boasts that their sunscreen goes on 100% clear. Given that it has 17.5% zinc oxide and it is non-nanoparticle, I wasn't sure that was even possible! So I decided to give it a try myself.

June 16, 2011

Ingredient Spotlight: Parabens

Recently, parabens have been pushed into the public spotlight. Whether or not you have heard the murmurings yet, these are an ingredient that you want to know about. Parabens are often added to personal care products and pharmaceuticals as synthetic preservatives. They are esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid, from which their name is derived. Parabens are relatively ubiquitous. Check your shampoo, lotion and makeup and you are likely to see one of the following paraben permutations:  methylparaben, butylparaben, ethylparaben, benzylparaben, isobutylparaben, and  propylparaben.

June 12, 2011

Wish List

Through the grapevine I've heard some amazing stories about various products that go above and beyond. As a result of the cheers of adoration, I've decided there are few of them that I'm dying to try. So I've compiled a little list of my five current daydreams to share with you. Maybe you'll fall in love too.

June 8, 2011

Ingredient Spotlight: Triclosan

Ok, I'm just going to lead off with the niddy-gritty. Did you know that triclosan is a component of the gas chloroform? Yes, that's what's in the handkerchief Bad Guys hold over their victim's mouth to make them pass out in old time movies. And did you know that it might be in your toothpaste? Triclosan is used as an antibacterial in soaps, toothpastes, mouthwashes and many other products. Recently, researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute found that when products containing triclosan are mixed with water, a chemical reaction between chlorine and triclosan occurs, creating chloroform. That's not really the best gas to be inhaling while you're brushing your teeth. Just sayin.

Triclosan is in Colgate 2 in 1 toothpaste, Colgate Toothpaste Clean Mint, Colgate Total Plus Whitening Toothpaste, Colgate Total Gel Mint Stripe Toothpaste, Colgate Total Advanced Fresh Anticavity Fluoride & Antigingivitis toothpaste and thirty other toothpastes, a list of which you can find on the Cosmetics Database. If you want a recommendation of what to replace your old tube with, see my post on Jasons toothpastes. Triclosan is also in mouthwashes, so check the Cosmetics Database for a full list.

In other words, check the label of your toothpaste! And maybe chuck it in the waste basket, slam dunk.

June 7, 2011

Win Marie Veroniques Sunscreen!

So exciting! One of the sunscreens I recommended in my last post, the Ultimate Sunscreen Guide, is up for grabs over on the blog dempeaux.com! She is celebrating 100 followers, so join in the revelry. You can win a bottle just for writing a comment on her blog; see her directions in this post. Just make sure to do it before June 15th! She loves the quality and ingredients of this sunscreen, and gives it rave reviews. I've decided that the reason it makes my skin so luminous is the pearl powder they include in the ingredients list. Yes, you heard me right. Pearl Powder. Swanky, I know.

Dempeaux.com also has a code you can use at Marie Veronique Organics to get a free 1/4oz bottle of Marie Veronique Anti-Aging oil if you buy a Moisturizing Face Screen SPF 30+ or Anti-Aging Day Serum. So what are you doing still reading this post? Get going! Skedaddle!

June 4, 2011

The Ultimate Sunscreen Guide

The San Francisco Chronicle just posted a report on how Sunscreens need to protect skin from UVA rays. The article states that over half the sunscreens on the market do not provide adequate UVA protection. This is exactly what I covered in my post Protection: Chemical vs. Mineral Sunscreens! To help out those of you who want to buy safe sunscreen with wide spectrum protection, I have put together this outline of what to look for when you're on the hunt for a new sunscreen.

June 3, 2011

Is Your Breakout Prone Skin Caused by Cosmetics?

Have you ever switched to a new facial cleanser and then suddenly broke out? Well, that happened to me recently. I decided it was time to determine which ingredients were actually bothering my skin, so that I could avoid them in future purchases. Turns out that there are like a gazillion ingredients that can cause breakouts! And even "acne" products contain them! Isopropyl palmitate is in a lot of moisturizers, and it can tend to be very comedogenic (likely to produce cosmetic acne). And sodium chloride is in many shampoos, which can get on your face in the shower.