Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Suds Up With These Healthy Soaps!

I’ve romanticized the idea of making my own all-natural soaps for a while now, even giving them out as gifts, but the problem is that I can’t seem to find the time to do it! Making our own cleansing products after work probably isn’t going to happen for most of us.

But you can’t just grab just any old soap off the shelf either. The majority of the soaps and body washes you see perusing the personal care isles don’t seem to give a hoot about your health. They’re laced with synthetic lathering agents, artificial colors, and harsh chemicals which bioaccumlate in our bodies. The chemicals get stored in our fat, and when there is enough accumulations of toxins in the body, illness can occur.

Our skin is the largest organ of the body, and it’s both porous and absorbent. What we’re sudsing ourselves up with every day matters.  What we put on our body, is as import as what we put in it.

When I was little girl, my Mother would encourage me to wash up while having fun in the bathtub by telling me to make myself into a soapy snowman. I know, it sounds strange but, it’s a fond memory. Now you can lather up and have some fun, even make yourself into a soapy snowgirl if you wish, with these healthy soaps that will leave you feeling so fresh and so clean.

Wembe’s Cleansing Blend for body, face and hands. My favorite is the mango (above), but you can choose from several different blends.

 

 

I wash my face with Dr. Bronner’s Tea Tree Liquid Soap. (Just three drops will do the trick!)

 

 

Wembe’s Loofah Acai exfoliating bar is a dream come true for your skin. The loofah comes from a plant that looks similar to a zucchini, and this bar will help remove dead skin cells and stimulate blood circulation.

 

 

 

 

Right now I have Ecover’s hand soap next to my kitchen and bathroom sinks!

 

I use this cute L’Occitane’s soap dish in my bathroom to hold my favorite soaps!

Love Natural Scents? Anjolie Ayurveda Soothes Body and Spirit with Homegrown Herbs

Being a scent-addict with a penchant for organic, natural products is not always easy to indulge. These days, however, as companies jump on the anti-synthetics bandwagon, we are seeing more body products that are sustainably crafted. One of the lines I have come to love is Anjolie Ayurveda. Founded by the mother-daughter team, Meryl and Cary Gabeler, Anjolie truly uses all-natural ingredients. A lot of pseudo-natural brands are claiming to be holistic but are using synthetics for fragrance. Ethically sourced plant-based scents are harder to come by but Anjolie proudly protects our bodies and the environment in their cultivation of ecologically sound botanical ingredients that infuse their line of soaps and body oils.

The Gabelers applied a life-long passion for Ayurveda to their formulas when they decided to create their line of body products. Having suffered with eczema, allergies, and skin sensitivities as a child, Meryl applied her mother, Carey’s knowledge of Ayurveda and traditional healing modalities to create skin remedies for sensitive skin. Combining therapeutic herbs with cold-pressed essential oils provides healing body products that leaves skin feeling nourished.

Anjolie has a ten-acre garden and nursery in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains (yes, please!) where they are growing roses, herbs, and tropical plants for use in their products. They support local farmers in India, sourcing raw materials directly from them in order to increase the direct income for their suppliers. Anjolie provides education for their employees and their employee’s families as well as supporting female work initiatives and grants for women entrepreneurs. Anjolie was recently awarded the Eileen Fisher Women’s Business Grant for small businesses in 2011.

We were very honored and excited to win! We are actually selling the soaps in Green Eileen, a new Eileen Fisher concept store, selling recycled clothing, with 100% of the proceeds going to Eileen Fisher’s Community Foundation.

Our efforts bring a positive contribution by empowering local people, educating their children and giving them an instrument of income that imparts a feeling of self-respect, dignity, and purpose in their lives.

These folks are doing it right! Highly recommended – try the spice soap for a warm, musky winter treat. Also, the Saffron Body Oil is absolutely amazing, especially this time of year. A warm but light sandalwood fragrance penetrates, leaving you feeling soft and hydrated. It is one of my go-to body oils during these dry months.

Five Easy D.I.Y. Natural Hair-Care Tips

Guest Post by Melanie Kozlan, Four Green Steps

Hair-care products are often full of empty promises- ever since we were kids and fooled by those ‘No more tears’ shampoos, everyone is always buying into the various claims listed on the bottles, hopeful to eliminate dandruff, frizz and add shine and silkiness.

Unfortunately labels lie- especially since the FDA has loose regulations in regard to cosmetics and doesn’t require they even list all of the ingredients on their products- including ones linked to cancer (Watch the Story of Cosmetics for more information).

Next time you are in a hair-care aisle remember that cosmetic companies have free reign to write anything they want on the bottle and try some of these natural DIY tips instead:

1.Try washing you hair with baking soda instead of shampoo. Shampoo acts as a detergent and dries out your scalps natural oils. Baking soda can also be used to naturally whiten teeth.
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Ani Phyo’s Healthfully Decadent Raw Coconut Kream Recipe

Dessert has always been my favorite part of any meal (though I do love apps!) and while I’ve managed to tame my sweet tooth in the last few years, I’ve by no means eliminated it. (By tame I mean I can get my sweet-happys from maple syrup, honey, and desserts made with fruit and less sugar.) Frankly, I’d rather carry around an extra five pounds than skip desserts, in all their toothsome glory. But I try to concoct or uncover desserts that are healthy as well as tasty. Just because it’s dessert doesn’t mean that it has to be a nutrition wasteland!

So stumbling upon Ani Phyo’s wonderful raw dessert cookbook (with 85 recipes!) was a coup. As you may already know, raw foods retain all sorts of wonderful enzymes, vitamins and minerals, plus are less ‘predigested’ (I know it’s a bit gross, but that’s basically what cooking is; partial digestion of food before you eat it). That means your body has to work a bit harder to digest, which makes you feel full longer and is actually really good for your gut. All of which means you get more nutrition and eat less when you go raw. While I’m not a raw foodist by any means, I’m going on my 19th year of vegetarianism and love the way whole foods that are minimally processed taste and make me feel. And the more I’ve read about the benefits of raw, the more I try to incorporate it into my diet.
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Emma Watson’s Sustainable Style Collection for People Tree

The newest installment of Harry Potter (Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1) came out this past weekend and the world could not wait to see their favorite actors battle with the evil wizards that aim to take down the good (for good!). If you are a fan of the series, you’ve seen Emma Watson’s Hermoine mature from a timid, supersmart wizard-in-training to one of the most powerful Muggles on-screen.

Actress Emma Watson, who plays Hermoine, has also grown up, from cute girl to fashion icon, with her latest modelling contract for Burberry. But Watson’s more than just a poster girl, she’s an ethical fashionista too, having recently collaborated with the UK’s super-sustainable line People Tree.

Emma’s line is called “Love from Emma” and though it’s technically for girls, there are some really cute pieces ladies of any age could rock. To ensure the sustainable characteristics are met, People Tree works with 50 Fair Trade groups in 15 countries. That means more work for more artisans. In other words more work means better conditions which leads to the alleviation of poverty (now that is cool.)
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