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Marisa Belger, Todayshow.com’s Greenday correspondent did a fun, info filled interview with our founder, Spirit Demerson. Click Here to check it out!
Secret Ingredient: Marsh Mallow
Not the fun campfire stuff, this Marsh Mallow or Althea officinalis is a plant that contains a high percentage of natural mucilage; giving extracts of a marshmallow root a thick, syrup-like consistency. It is this humectant quality that gives marshmallow its intensive hydrating and softening properties that rebalance dryness on the skin. Biodynamiclly grown Marsh Mallow extract is found in many Jurlique products.
Secret Ingredient: Argan Oil
I wasn’t surprised when Ila’s Face Oil won Marie Claire magazines prestigious Prix D’Excellence de la Beauté award. Its main ingredient, pure, wild grown argan oil is exceptionally rich in natural antioxidant tocopherols (vitamin E), in intensely hydrating squalene, carotenes, & in skin balancing essential fatty acids. Dry skin loooves it and acne, eczema & psoriasis sufferers have been known to get great relief from it too. It’s benefits in skin care are incredible and now hairdressers too are just catching on to it’s frizz taming, silicone-free shine boosting capabilities. The New York Times did a fantastic article on the argan oil trade in Morocco and Ila uses the precious oil in almost all of their products.
Why You’re Gonna to Love This: Nvey Eco Creme Deluxe Foundation
My relationship with makeup is love/hate. Love the way it looks, hate the way it feels. Love painting it on, hate washing it off! I don’t wear makeup every day so I try to keep my skin looking as good as possible naturally with great skin care, sun protection, lots of water, and lots of sleep. Well, that’s not always enough and it’s not always possible. When I do wear makeup, I’m usually going for a very natural look, sometimes with a touch of glam. My skin tone is uneven and it seems despite my best efforts I do have a few fine lines around the eyes that I don’t want my makeup falling into. Even though I’m looking for coverage, I usually end up using sheer tinted moisturizers to avoid the mask look. Enter Nvey Eco Organic Creme Deluxe Foundation. Never before have I seen such complete coverage with such a natural finish! My freckles, “beauty marks” and fine lines are even and smooth with a photoshop finish but it looks like my natural skin - not clay, not cake, not chalk. The best part is considering the amount of coverage, I feel like I have nothing on and if I happened to “forget” to wash it off, the organic jojoba, safflower and castor oil will probably do your skin more good than harm!
By the way, we know how hard it is to shop for color cosmetics online. That’s why we offer no-hassle returns even for items you have tried and live, real person, customer service. Our representatives can help you choose a color today!
Can You Afford Organic Skin Care? Why Organic Beauty Costs So Much
You are already used to paying a little more for organic food. You know that it’s more nutritious and isn’t exposed to any mystery pesticides or hormones we don’t want in our bodies. You may have also heard that 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed into the bloodstream. Some of us may just like the IDEA of a rosemary oil running through our veins better than the idea of a toxic paraben and for some of us it just seems like they are constantly finding new links between these commonly used chemicals and cancer, alzheimers, autism, birth defects & other illnesses and want to just avoid them all together. Whatever your reason for going “green”, you have probably noticed that in general, organic skin care doesn’t cost a little more than conventional, it costs a lot more.
Do you get what you pay for?
I did learn a bit about cosmetic chemistry in cosmetology school but it wasn’t until I started making my own body lotion that I truly understood what a delicate balancing act it is. It all started when a favorite lotion of mine was discontinued. I looked up the ingredients and started to wonder if I could recreate it myself using organic ingredients with the same properties as the ingredients in the original formula. Well, over the course of a few months experimentation I finally ended up with a pretty good formula. Friends suggested I sell it. The only problem - it cost me about $30 a bottle in raw materials to make. That wasn’t including my time or equipment. Surely a skin care manufacturer could get some of those costs down but ultimately the retail price for an 8oz. bottle of lotion like the rich, organic, skin nurturing formula I made, would be at least $40. In comparison, an 18 oz bottle of St. Ives body lotion is around $5.00.
Some of the cost has to do with demand. We’ve seen the price of organic produce come way down over the last couple years and with our growing interest in organic personal care, an organic skin care or cosmetics company is born everyday. Over time, this will drive raw material prices down. But a lot of it has to do with the scarcity and quality of the delicate natural ingredients. It takes hundreds of pounds of roses, evening primrose, or borage seed to make one ounce of deeply skin hydrating oil. St. Ives and thousands of other brands use cheap, hormone disrupting preservatives and skin clogging mineral oil, petrolatum and silicone; ingredients that ultimately leave your skin even worse off. As a buyer, I want to be able to offer something for every budget, especially for those of you just starting out, taking steps in a more natural direction. Prices shouldn’t be prohibitive but quality and beauty should not be lacking either. I buy for a store that specifically represents luxury lines which means highest quality ingredients with less fillers that work better, faster and longer than anything else. With that in mind, a $5.00 body lotion just isn’t possible.
Wait! The good news is, in my experience, ounce for ounce, organic products outlast conventional ones. You may actually go through a 16 oz. bottle of St Ives in the same amount of time you would go through an 8 oz. bottle of Jurlique lotion. You would notice you were used to slathering stuff on that is formulated to evaporate and coat the skin when you first use something that was formulated to truly heal and hydrate the skin. The same goes for a soap, lip balm, eye cream, you name it. Organic counterparts are more likely to contain more effective ingredients, be easier to apply, are less likely to cause skin dependency, are less likely to exaporate, and you will notice that creams and lotions especially are lower volume because they are not pumped up with fillers that do nothing for your skin. I can moisturize my entire 5′10″ body with about a pump and a half of Jurlique body lotion whereas it takes me about 5 pumps of a conventional brand and I don’t have to worry about how much of the stuff-I-can’t-pronounce is getting into my bloodstream. So remember, sometimes organic costs more cash but the real cost of cheaper conventional products may be hidden.
Etsy Love: Jewelry for Jewelry
It was love at first sight with these vintage jewel adorned push pins from sfvictoriangirl. I used them to hang my jewelry in a shadowbox frame. They’re also great on a fancy paper covered framed cork board like so…
Mixed Feelings: 3 Free Nail Polish
Although I am excited to see that there is an increased demand, it is a little frustrating to see so many “non-toxic” 3-free nail polish companies come out and declare their righteousness. “3-Free” means free of Toluene, formerly used to make polish flow easily, Formaldehyde, sometimes used in nail hardeners, and Dibutyl Phtalate, a plasticizer formerly used to make polish more flexible. While I think Zoya, Sparitual and others are fabulous companies doing great things, in some sense I feel…what’s the big deal? Did you know that most drugstore AND salon AND department store brands are also 3 free? OPI, Revlon, Chanel, Nars, even Wet n Wild are all 3 Free! The only one that isn’t that comes to mind is Essie. I think what I find a little frustrating about it is that I know some of us are willing to pay a premium for a more earth-friendly and safe product but the difference between a wet n wild and another brand may just be marketing. Certainly there will never be any such thing as organic nail polish but I am more a little more impressed with Acquarella and Suncoat water based formulas. I chose Acquarella for Spirit Beauty Lounge because it really lasts long, comes in great colors, actually leaves your nails hydrated and doesn’t even contain propylene glycol. The ingredients are simple: Acrylic polymer emulsion, Water, and non-toxic colorants (No FD&C). To me, that stands out amongst the rest. Even with 3 Free polish, the fumes will hit you when you open the bottle. If I can avoid that, I would rather. How about you?
$$$ What’s Your Beauty Budget?
In hard financial times, I have always taken comfort in life’s little luxuries. My go-to is a nice, long bath soak with a stack of magazines and a glass of wine. It costs a fraction of what a spa visit does but can be equally de-stressing and pampering. I may have to skip the $85 Brazilian waxes when I have to save some cash but I will always have the tub. Some of us would never give up a weekly manicure, others wont leave the house without mascara. The Presidential candidates were asked what part of their spending they would give up in light of this economic crisis and it seems like they both had a hard time answering! Is there one product or treatment that you will not be cutting out no matter what? What will be the first cut in your beauty budget?? Salon Blowouts? high end moisturizers? I look forward to hearing your answers!
Skin Care Q & A: Can I combine skin care from different lines & ranges?
People ask all of the time if it’s ok to use a cleanser from one line and a moisturizer from another. My answer is: I don’t recommend it. Skin care companies develop product lines to work together and the performance of one product can be affected by another. While this may sound like an unfounded excuse to get you to be brand loyal, there is some truth to it. I recently tried using my old toner after washing my face with my new cleanser, which I usually use with my new toner. I noticed that because the new cleanser is more astringent, their toner is more hydrating while the reverse was true for the old line. Both lines when used exclusively, performed very well but in combination, left my skin too dry. Your skin may also be getting overdosed on certain ingredients when you use products that are not designed to balance each other. Some ranges use more oils in their cleansers than others. If you are getting too much oil between one cleanser and another moisturizer, your skin may become congested. The same is true for some drying or peeling ingredients.
So what do you do if you want to try using a new product without going all out and buying the whole line? In a perfect world you might consider giving your skin a 24-48 hour break in between switching to another line and then at that time, trying samples of the whole range. When that is not possible, I suggest trying the product independently first. If you are trying a cleanser, skip the toner and the moisturizer for a day to get a feel for the balance. Then incorporate what you feel your skin needs. Keep an eye on stronger ingredients, making sure not to “OD” on them. Remember that it takes skin about two weeks to fully adapt to the pH of new skin care products and regimens. An initial breakout or inflammation is sometimes normal. Two weeks is a long time to get through but sometimes it is necessary and all the more reason to use products that don’t counteract each other.
Check Out Our Guide to Organic Face Serums and Get 10% Off Any Serum!
Face Serum. You’ve been hearing about them everywhere but you’re probably still wondering; Do I really need an extra step in my skin care routine? How are they different from moisturuzers? How do I know which one is right for my skin? We’ve compiled a guide to everything you need to know about our pure, organic face serums! Click Here to check it out now! Find out which one is right for you and get 10% off at spiritbeautylounge.com with the coupon code: SERUM10. Offer Valid until 10/29/08.
