As we’ve been re-vamping our offices over the last couple of months, we thought we’d share with you some of the chic little desk things we love. If you’ve found chic office essentials or accessories you love, we’d love for you to share them with us!
1.Non-disposable drinkware: I’m Not A Paper Cup, Starbucks Ceramic Tumbler, Ikea Slom Bottle, Customizable Love Bottle, Berd & Bee Monogram Mug.

2. Power-saving made simple and sleek: Belkin Conserve with Remote Switch

3. Naked soup cans make surprisingly glam pencil holders.

4.Invest in the last pair of scissors you’ll ever need with a lifetime guarantee:  Gingher G-8 Shears

5. Classic design gone green: Michael Roger Cherry Blossom Decomposition Book, made with 100% Post Consumer Waste Recycled Paper and  Bio Gas derived energy.

6. Elegant & sexy:  refillable Parker Jotter Pens &  Pencils.

While everyone is talking about (as they should) what ingredients to watch out for in beauty products and BPA’s, phtalates and lead in lipstick are finally making national headlines, it occurrs to me that there are still so many of us out there who not only don’t have the information we need to make informed decisions about what we put in our bodies. Getting the word out is something we each do in our own way; whether it’s by walking into a room and telling everyone who compliments your glowing skin and fabulous makeup, proudly, that you only use natural beauty products, or writing a blog, or just influencing your family and loved ones by example. I never mean to demonize “Big Beauty”. It is after all, a monster of our own creation and a lifetime passion of yours truly. Still I find that despite huge waves of change in the way we all think about what we eat and absorb, there are 4 groups of people who really get the short end when it comes to the availability of knowledge and of products Big Beauty will afford them…

1. Persons with Acne..
I can’t argue with scientific data that supports the efficacy claims of the top two non prescription acne treatment ingredients: benzoyl peroxide (known highly toxic / possibly carcinogenic) and salicidic acid (petrochem), but I will say that in my nearly lifelong experience with my own and others’ acne issues, I have never seen either of them cure this condition. What I have seen is skin that has become highly sensitized and arguably the worst result of using OTC acne products: REBOUND ACNE! Yep, what I see more oft than not is that conventional OTC acne treatments cause more acne and with the increased sensitization, more scars. That’s because most of Big Beauty’s acne solutions are meant only to dry out and strip the skin, believing that over-production of sebum is the culprit causing the acne. The reality is that over drying oily skin only causes the skin to produce more oil and not all acne prone skin is even oily which makes treating it harshly even worse. The real cure for acne if there is one, aside from diet and hormonal balance, is oil. Believe it or not, what may seem so wrong is one of the most effective treatments I’ve seen. Both astringent (tea tree, neem) and fatty (argan, babassu) oils, properly formulated, are 100 times more effective than any conventional chemical concoction. Try Organic Apoteke Active Face Hydrating Gel (pictured left) with anti-bacterial neem leaf oil and antioxidant lemon oil.

2. Black Women.
It’s not the chemical hair relaxers that concern me about black beauty products. Sure, they are some pretty strong and scary chemicals but they don’t come into contact with the skin and they aren’t typically used more than once every 1-6 months. My problem with Big Beauty’s products targeted at black women is that threefold. Go to your local drugstore or beauty supply store and walk down the “ethnic” aisle. You’ll see a garden of “carrot oil”, “shea butter”, “silk”, “coconut” and “olive oil”, all, of course, claiming to stop breakage and magically grow long hair with “stimulating botanicals”. Now grab any one of those jars, turn it around and I’ll tell you what you’re looking at; a vat of vaseline. Petrochemicals are more widely used in ethnic products than they are in any other personal care sector and yet over the last 5 years, they are twice as likely to be marketed as natural. And it’s not just that they are used that is troubling, it’s why. Many women with coarse hair are misled to believe that their hair is dry and that heavy duty “moisture” is the best way to restore hydration. In fact, petroleum products will do nothing to restore hydration to hair. They only make it feel smoother by coating it. Black women are also often misled to believe that washing their hair too often will lead to their hair becoming even drier and less manageable. What that ends up meaning is that they are sitting with petroleum (and most likely parabens) on their scalps for several days at a time, which not only prolongs exposure the the toxins themselves, increasing their hazard, but it also STOPS and stunts hair growth, by clogging the hair follicles. Petroleum is not water soluble! All this when the reality is, just like not all acne-prone skin is oily, not all coarse hair is dry. In fact, I have found that many black women have oily scalps but in treating their perceived dry hair, they are worsening their scalp conditions. Years of this type of mistreatment almost always leads to alopecia. Some coarse hair is actually better softened by being cleaned and conditioned frequently. If the hair is truly dry from heat styling or chemical processing, wearable, natural, light, non-petroleum oils are the best solution. Try Amazon Beauty Rahua Leave-In Conditioner to soften coarse hair and lightly hydrate dry hair.

3. Mature Women.
We all know that Big Beauty makes it’s real money, capitalizing on every woman’s desire to find the fountain of youth. Some of the worst beauty “innovations” (nanoparticles, Botox…) of the last decade have been in the anti-aging skin care field. But the real reason we end up victims as our skin matures is because we have spent a lifetime being told what Big Beauty wanted us to think: that simple ingredients don’t work and that if you really want to turn back the hands of time, you’re going to need super hi-tech lab inventions that you can’t pronounce. It is very hard for some of us to accept that a.) most anti-aging claims are unfounded and unproven anyway, and that b.) the real secret to youthful skin has been under our noses all along – in healthy living, sun protection, and pure, natural skincare. While they are more rare and expensive for the manufacturer, from what I’ve seen, the best anti-aging natural ingredients like argan oil, carrot oil and acai can match the results of any expensive department store cream without a.) being hazardous to your health and b.) causing skin to actually age more rapidly over the long term. Now just try convincing your moms of that! Simply Amazing: Ila’s six ingredient miracle, Ila Face Oil.

4. Men. Yes, Men.
While men may be at lower risk of exposure to toxic chemicals in beauty products simply due to less frequent use than women, the personal care products they do use; deodorant, shaving cream, shower gel, etc., should be just as green as ours. The reason men are victims of Big Beauty is because in their desire for what they think are simple, affordable, easy to use products, they are usually unknowingly getting something that is not so simple at all. Men aren’t driving or inspiring manufacturers to clean up their ingredients because they aren’t educated about the risks and because frankly, for a man, making demands for any specificity in his personal care products may make him feel less masculine. We need to reach out to all of the men in our lives and offer them the same information about ingredients that we have and advocate for them, even facilitate in finding products for them so that they’re not left out. My significant other’s favorite natural guy product: Intelligent Nutrients Styling Gel.

When Jasmin Malik Chua of the hot, new Eco Fashion and Beauty blog, Ecouterre asked us about our favorite NYFW inspired lip looks, we were all too axcited to divulge. Read the brilliant tips offered by makeup artist Jessa Blades and others HERE and find the rest of ours HERE!

We love that lips are back for Spring 2010 and we are ready for these looks now!– whether they’re soft and barely-there pink or Grace Jones black. We were getting very bored with the nude lip!

Jason Wu wowed with these perfect, painted-on, goth, plum colored cartoon lips that we think could translate beautifully into real world beauty with defined, lustrous, rich, dark lip colors for Fall. Instead of almost-black, sheer but dark burgundy colors like RMS Beauty’s Illusive, can work on all skin tones. The key to this look is perfect application. Use a lip brush to get it just right and avoid looking like a zombie.

Marc by Marc Jacobs celebrated with super bright, optimistic, retro red lips which we think anyone can wear. The key to bright lips is to go really low-key with the rest of the face palette and to even out the skin with a matte mineral powder foundation so that the lips really pop. Alima Pure Satin Matte Foundation and Nvey Eco’s Lead-Free moisturizing lipstick in 369 are perfect for this Mad Men look.

Finally, our friends at Tuleh created this pretty 1950’s shimmery soft pink. Beauty can be sort of counter-intuitive in that dark and bright lips are actually best for day and soft, sultry, light pink lips are actually best for a kittenish evening look. To get this look, start with RMS Beauty in Muse or Smile for a sexy, opaque base then layer Nvey Eco’s Lip Lustre in Amour Rose or Barely There over the top for the pink shimmer. The secret to this look is the base. You don’t want bubble-gum pink and pink lip gloss can look too immature without the base.

While our blog is on hiatus pending a redesign and relaunch this fall, I thought I’d at least share with you one of my beauty secrets that makes being green a little easier.  Some of you have already gotten used to – and I’ve heard – may even like the fact that sulfate-free shampoo does NOT lather.  But for those of us who have thick, coarse or curly hair, getting the shampoo to span  scalp to ends, without the aid of foam, can mean we end up using way too much product, which can lead to hair that ends up a  straw-like, dull mess.  Well, I’ve secretly been using a DIY solution for years and I am pleased to reveal to you:

THE MUSTARD BOTTLE

…or an old hair dye squeeze bottle would do.  I’m not sure if I understand exactly why it works but it does – and now  I can’t wash my hair without one.  What you do is add a couple squeezes or pumps of shampoo to the empty bottle.  Fill the rest up with warm water from the shower.  Shake it up pretty good and voila!  You’ve got foam!  This isn’t going to rival the old Johnson & Johnson type of lather that a small child could float on but it will allow you to use the nozzle to evenly dispense the product throughout long or thick hair, and directly onto the scalp without going through half a bottle.

Ok so it’s not rocket science but I bet you hadn’t thought of it yet, had you?!