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

My Dream (Hobbit?) House

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by Starre Vartan · 11/20/07

My friend Chris Baskind says this house is for “upwardly mobile, fashion forward hobbits.” I THINK that describes me….

OK, I’m having a severe case of house lust. Have you ever seen a cuter little abode? Check the website for more pictures, as well as plans and details of the sustainable aspects of the this “Low Impact Woodland Home”, which include:

* Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
* Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
* Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
* Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
* Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
* Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
* Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
* Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
* Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring…)
* Woodburner for heating – renewable and locally plentiful
* Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
* Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
* Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
* Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
* Water by gravity from nearby spring
* Compost toilet
* Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Not only is it so cozy and inviting, it is gorgeous inside too!

And in case you were feeling like a productive member of society, to top it off, this couple built the house for around $6,000 with a baby and a toddler to distract them! (I guess now I’d feel bad about kicking them out and moving in, since it would just be me and my cats and dog. But not that bad, ha ha!)

Baby, eating, Energy, farm, Fashion, garden, Home, Lighting, local, Music, oil, pictures, plastic, skin, spa, spring, sustainable, water, wood

Mask It Up!

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by Starre Vartan · 11/04/07

Let’s just say my skin’s been in better shape. Partying (or is it networking?) too many nights, crashing on couches and in random (hey, not THAT random) beds and being a full-time student, blogger and freelance writer (not to mention getting pancaked for TV appearances) means I’m dealing with more blemishes than I ever did as a reclusive woods-tramping teen. PLUS I turned 30 this year and the wrinkles are arriving on schedule despite my family’s excellent genes in that department.

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE a good facemask, which besides detox teas and lots of leafy greens seem to be my only saving grace. There’s something transforming about them, the way they tingle and harden on the face, their delicious aromatherapy while you wait, and the fact that (does this defeat the purpose? I say no….) you can get some work done while you’re also helping your skin look a little less like…you work so much! NO JOKE- I have one on as I type this! Here are my top three picks for the best all-natural masks out there.

This is me with LUSH’s Sacred Truth mask on. So cute, no?

LUSH

OK, not everything from the UK-based-but-available-worldwide LUSH store is totally natural; they use some artificial colors in some of their products. I’m over it. BUT their face masks are totally natural, so much so that they need to be kept in the fridge, and even then only last so long (a bit longer than they advise in the store, FYI). And you can’t buy them online- you need to go to one of their stores to get the fresh stuff. I like the Sacred Truth mask for regular weeks, and the Brazened Honey, which smells so divine I want to dive into a vat of it, is for hardcore skin repair, but ask in the store what’s best for your skin type.

I’m a total whore for their soaps too, which are cut off huge blocks and are wrapped in paper- in fact all their stuff is very minimally packaged and they ALWAYS ask if you really need a bag, since you probably don’t. This seems to be company-wide policy, as I regularly visit the LUSH stores on the Upper West Side in NYC and Greenwich CT. When I was recently in London, they asked there too. If you’re a nice, polite human being (and maybe make the salespeople laugh a bit), they’ll give you all sorts of free samples, so you can figure out what you like.

Origins

I’ve used Origins makeup for years; they make the least pore-cloggins stuff I’ve found anywhere, and it all smells fan-freaking-tastic. When I need a pick-me-up I use their anti-blemish Out of Trouble mask, which has camphor for a wake-me-up-right-now! scent, oil-abosorbing zinc oxide and sulphur (don’t worry, you can’t smell it) and salicylic acid.
Oh, and they have a new organic skin care line that looks yummy- I haven’t tried it yet though.

Neal’s Yard

Another UK import, Neal’s Yard is the ne plus ultra of organic beauty products, with great partner organisations and a commitment to organic products wherever they can make it work in their products. I like the Organic rose antioxidant mask for a mellow, feel-good, smell-better mask that reminds me to take it easy.

And if you’re looking for natural wrinkle-erasers, check out this piece on The Daily Green about my favorite eye creams/serums.

Want to make your own HAIR-revitalizing mask out of fresh, organic ingredients? Try this one!

Beauty, beauty products, car, Eco-Chick, epa, Face Masks, facemask, farm, formula, Hair, London, Lush, makeup, NYC, oil, Organic, organic beauty, paper, party, plates, rum, sales, skin, Skin Care, soap, Tea, tv, wood

Loving, Naturally

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by Ann Benoit · 10/26/07

A few great natural products i’ve recently fallen in love with for my uber sensitive skin:

Sunshine Spa’s Brown Sugar Scrub Mango Ginger: this organic brown sugar scrub is amazing! I have super sensitive skin and this scrub leaves my skin smooth and happy after shaving. Contains lots of great oils and organic sugar. Really tasty too!

Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild Unscented: this uber mild soap with organic coconut, olive, jojoba and hemp oils is also great for sensitive skin and can be used for body, hair, cleaning floors, and pretty much everything else. Bronner’s other soaps are a little too harsh for my skin, but this one is a winner. Great to take camping and great for cleaning the floor!

Earth Science’s Chamomile & Green Tea Eye Makeup Remover: great for removing all sorts of makeup with green tea and chamomile extracts. Scored pretty low (meaning good) in the environmental working group’s cosmetic database. Doesn’t irritate my contacts either.

Baby, cleaning, cosmetics, fall, farm, Hair, hemp, makeup, mom, oil, oils, Organic, skin, soap, spa, sugar, Tea, vitamins

ReJEANeration

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by Courtney Tenz · 10/09/07

Last month, Starre posted about E Magazine‘s Eco Fashion spread (still on shelves and definitely worth the $!), which highlighted some seriously stylish new threads. Reading about all the hot fashion out there gave this hippie some hope … for years, I’ve been squeezing myself into my fashionista sister’s designer hand-me-downs because I could never bring myself to pay for environmental damage firsthand; I considered myself a savior of those throw-away threads (really, it’s a twisted logic that eased this guilty conscience). So much hope, in fact, that I, for the first time in my life, plunked down my hard-earned cash for a pair of wide-legged organic cotton jeans that looked a hundred times better on my hips than the free skinny jeans my sister was offering me (seriously, these make my massive oaks look like birch trees beneath the dark denim).

Afterwards, I felt a little guilty … I mean, I wear my clothes out (patching and sewing and letting out seams, as recommended in The Ecologist’s guide to Slow Fashion), but sometimes, clothes just aren’t worth salvaging anymore. Which is where Del Forte’s got a great idea. Don’t like the style anymore? Too many holes in the knees? Send the jeans back to Del Forte for something called “Project ReJeaneration” and they’ll convert your used threads into something one-of-a-kind and sustainable; they’ll also give you 10% of your next pair of Del Forte’s. So much for throwaway threads…

clothes, cotton, denim, design, designer, Eco-Chick, ecofashion, Fashion, jeans, magazine, Organic, organic cotton, skin, style, sustainable, trees

Beau Soleil: C'est Tres Chic…

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by Starre Vartan · 10/06/07

Beau Soleil is a new line of ecofriendly dresses, and are they gorgeous! Designer Anne Epstein uses bamboo, veggie-dyed organic cottons, vintage fabrics, tencel, and recycled leather trims in her designs. What caused Epstein to go green?

When Anne discovered she was pregnant, she and her husband morphed their “overly excessive” New York City lifestyle into one that is “Simple. Modern. Organic.”. They moved into a green building located in mid-town Manhattan, increased their trips to the green market, and made conscious everyday living decisions to do their part in saving the planet. This new mindset, coupled with Epstein’s career experience at Marc Jacobs and IISLI, opened her eyes to how the manufacturing process impacts the environment. It was imperative for her to be kind to the planet and laborers when bringing her design vision to fruition.

Beau Soleil is available at Shopbop and Intermix online. These dresses look uber-comfy as well as flattering, with great lines and simple color schemes; I can see them looking great dressed down over a pair of skinny jeans with flats or paired with some fun tights in primary colors like ruby, electric blue or orangy-yellow.

bamboo, car, cotton, design, designer, dress, ecofriendly, electric, fabric, fabrics, fall, farm, fruit, jeans, labor, leather, Manhattan, New York City, Organic, organic cotton, recycle, recycled, skin, style, vintage