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!

Eco Chick Giveaway: Target Earth Day Giftbag

In honor of Earth Month, THREE lucky Eco-Chick readers will win and Eco-Starter Kit from Target. Making small changes, even during typical daily routines such as brushing your teeth and washing your hair can have a positive impact on the Earth.

The Target Eco-Starter Kit includes the following items (for more ideas visit the new eco-boutique):

Target Eco-Starter Kit:

* Home Organic Towels
* Dr. Bronner’s Organic Fair Trade Shikakai Soap
* Burt’s Bees Shampoo and Conditioner Value Pack
* Conair ECO Ionic 1400-watt Dryer
* Radius Source Toothbrush 3-pk
* H2O Eco Bottle (stainless steel)
* Reusable Tote Bag GiftCard
* Standard Reusable Shopping Bag
* Organic Archer Farms Fruit Bars

To win, leave a comment below telling us which product you’d most love to try and why. When you fill in the comment field, it will ask for you email address. This is the address I will use to contact the winner, so use a real email. There are three winners for this one!

Deets and Promises: Eco Chick does not sell, lease or lend any email addresses we collect. Giveaway ends Friday, April 23rd 2010. Good luck!

“Per FTC guidelines I am disclosing that Target is providing the product which will be given to the three readers.”

Shower for a Good Cause

One With Nature has teamed up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure for Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October). For every Rose Petal Soap sold from their Dead Sea Mineral Soap collection, 10% of the sales will be donated to the cause. Wrapped in biodegradable artisinanally designed packaging, this 100% vegetable based, mild exfoliating bar is infused with skin-nourishing Dead Sea Minerals.

The soap is a triple-milled, contains 21 minerals, moisture-rich shea butter and contains no artificial fragrances, colors nor animal ingredients.  There are several other varieties in the Dead Sea Mineral Soap collection such as Lavender, Vanilla Oatmeal, Hemp, and Lemon Verbena.

One with Nature helps to fund research efforts and create public awareness with the non-profit environmental organization, FoEME (Friends of the Earth Middle East). It is the mission of this partnership to help preserve the Dead Sea.

Pointless Packaging Winner: Neutrogena Wave Power Cleanser

You know, there was a time, when I was a teenager, that I used to love Neutrogena products. I had the idea that they were cleaner, purer and better for my skin and hair than other drugstore brands. I definitely fell for their shampoo that was supposed to clean all the other shampoos from your hair (I’m not sure if it worked but I always bought it!).

Though I know Neutrogena hasn’t really gone the natural and organic route, the impression of them being at least somewhat more ecofriendly has always stayed with me. Not anymore! They are now selling motorized hunks of plastic that will inevitably be just another piece of junk that will end up in a landfill. Do we really need a battery-powered face scrubber in the world?

These days I use an all natural soap (LOVE handmade Copa Soaps which have just a recycled paper ribbon for packaging) to wash my face and it’s never been better. Shame on you Neutrogena! There’s a climate crisis going on and you’re manufacturing more plastic, plastic-coated packaging, making batteries, and shipping it all over the world for what? Not to mentions I’m sure the ‘cleanser’ is full of chemicals.

AND IT GETS WORSE!! The Wave Power Cleanser uses disposable pads! So you have to buy more overpackaged, disposable pads if you want to keep using the damn thing.

Not to be mean, but I hope this is a giant fail for Neutrogena: Ladies, Don’t Buy It! I’m thinking of starting a letter-writing campaign to Neutrogena because I’m so pissed off.

Watch: Water Bottles

Few things boil my blood like the disposable plastic water bottle. This thing stinks–literally! Go on, smell that oil-derived polyethylene.

There are many reasons to despise the disposable plastic water bottle. For one, it is straight up terrible for the environment, it’s over-priced and the water’s not even better than tap water–in many cases it simply is tap water. Ridiculous!

With all my water rage, I’ve come dangerously close to a postal outburst. Luckily, however, the fury hath been quelled. I’ve recently found a healthy and safe place to vent my environmental frustrations: yes, ABC’s Good Morning America Now.

Please enjoy the following clip of my first segment: “Bring Your Own Bottled Water,” with hunky host and soap-opera heart throb Cameron Mathison.

Disclaimer: some have accused us of flirting on camera. I say erroneous. I was simply smitten by Cameron’s enthusiasm for the subject and was even more excited when I duped him in a bottled water taste test challenge. Touché!