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Ekoh is a new eco-friendly beauty store with a bunch of amazing brands.

You can find my personal faves like Korres, Nvey and SIGG in addition to a lot of other brands I haven’t seen stocked elsewhere.

I’d definitely check it out, since I was able to snag a discount for 20% off for the next month.

Use code: Allthatanda

Hurry!

Go shopping at Ekoh

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I was pretty excited when I found and was offered a review copy of “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.”

The book is a intense look at the safety concerns that many beauty and skincare items, from the point of view of one of the co-founders of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Stacy Malkan.

Bringing Out Concerns

I’ve swing between wanting effective products and wanting the greenest possible products. As I’ve tried to green my life I’ve gone through tons of “green” and “safe” face products. Lots of them were mislabeled. Many of them didn’t’ work. Some of them were fantastic.

I found a big list of ingredients that I wanted to stay away from because of health concerns. It was slightly disturbing to learn that some of the brands who sport a pink ribbon for breast cancer also have products that contain pthalates and other concern causing ingredients that have been linked to cancer.

Let’s take a step back here. I will agree with the notion that some natural and green brands will use this type of information to fear-monger. In reality, a lot of natural-based ingredients can make people with sensitive skin freak out. Just because it is natural doesn’t mean that you can’t have an allergic reaction to it.

So on one hand, I was throwing out freaky old nail polish, but I took all of the book with a grain of salt. Thankfully, the author does point out that a lot of the ingredients that she talks about may not have a huge affect in the small quantities that you see in cosmetics. However, there is the idea that there is no reason to expose yourself to that to begin with, no matter the risk.

Like anything, the ideas in this book are something to weigh in your mind. Yeah, I threw out some nail polish and I will continue to avoid SLS (sodium laurel sulfate) and similar ingredients because I am person that would rather not take the risk.

But, and it’s a big but, I will not get rid of products like my Avene Retrinal, which works perfectly well and is so effective that it is worth the risk to me.

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

One slight thing to keep in mind. Malkan, like I said above, is a co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. A good portion of this book is spent on the story of the CFSC, which really is an intriguing story. You are not really signing up for a book like The Skin Type Solution, which gives you specific things to go out and buy.

You’re getting the story of a worthy cause and why they are working for it. I am glad I read it, because I’m a big fan of researching your purchases and I do use the database set up by the CFSC.

Overall

A great quick read at just over 150 pages, if you’re concerned at all about what you put on your face every day, I would get the book. Prefer to stick with what you know and not get alarmed by all the things that could cause you cancer? Keep walking.

Bonus!

Want to read the book after listening to my rambling? Like a true greenie, I’m going to pass on my copy. It’s got some dog-ears, but totally readable. Just tell me your favorite beauty product (green or not) in the comments and why you’ll use it regardless. I’ll randomly pick someone on July 18 and you’ll get this lovely copy.

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This is a good read, especially since I plan to have a review of a book about green beauty up later this week.

See what the Beauty Brains have to say about organic, natural and green.

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My good friend Teri has put together a great list of must-haves for summer according to a bunch of great beauty bloggers.

Find out what you’re missing for summer.

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I made a promise that I’ll be buying as green as possible for the next year or so, and that extends into my makeup as well. Origins is a great green-ish company (they could do better).

No matter what you think of their green efforts, the Friends and Family sale is totally worth checking out. It ends tomorrow. Get 25% off and free shipping with code “0508FF.” It ends tomorrow, so scurry!

Go shopping at Origins

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I’m going to try to do more tip and trick things from now on.

I am not a millionaire, and I am supposedly on a pretty strict budget, which rarely gets followed. So when I shop, I shop for stuff that is of value. If I’m spending money, I try to make sure it’s worth it.

So here’s a list of 5 things I splurge on. Maybe I’ll do anotehr 5 soon.

photo credit: The Shopping Sherpa

1. My tailor.

A good tailor is like a great hairstylist. They make you look good, no matter what it is that you bring it. I’ve taken in vintage suits, jeans bought on super-clearance and pants I gave up on ages ago and my tailor makes them like new.

She’s also a sweet little old Hungarian lady who loves her toy dog, who hangs out in her shop with her. And yes, I drive 30 minutes to get my stuff tailored by her. I tried someone else and it just wasn’t the same. it was like cheating on my best friend.

2.  A killer fragrance

I have a lot of smell-good fragrances (including the two I bought on sale at sephora yesterday — more on that in a bit), but I always fall back to Armani Elle. It is my sexy date fragrance, something to wear when I want to feel fantastic, and people definitely notice it when they’re close enough.

You know when you smell someone wearing something totally offensive and gross? Well, it works both ways.

3. A good sunscreen

So the rule of skincare goes that you should spend the most on what stays on your skin the longest. So cleanser? Get whatever is cheap and works well. Moisturizer and sunscreen are splurges because they’re on your face for hours.

Sunscreen like my current favorite La Roche-Posay Anthelios SX is crucial at any age. I wish I had known to wear sunscreen everyday even in the winter when I was younger, although my skin is doing well despite it. I’ve worn sunscreen every day for the past two years. It will be my savior.

photo credit: SMercury98

 4. Good butter

This sounds silly, but I swear good butter makes a world of difference when you’re cooking. Butter is your base. All your other flavors start with the sweet creaminess of the butter, whether you’re baking or sauteeing.

I am a huge fan of the Plugra butter at Trader Joe’s, although I’ll use other varieties if I have to. I jsut try to make sure it’s unsalted, quality, and hopefully made without hormones.

5. The perfect jeans

Good jeans will last you years, not months. Good jeans will be made with attention to detail and the fabric will not stretch. If it does stretch a little, it will stretch evenly.

Jeans may not have been a staple 50 years ago, but it is now. Jeans are every day. I wear mine most of the week, since I can be pretty casual at work. My good jeans (either Serfontaines or Joe’s Jeans) combined with my trusty tailor, make my butt look fantastic and my legs miles long.

So, what do you splurge on? 

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It has been so ridiculously icky this winter that everywhere on my body is cracking and flaking. I’m not much for following beauty doctrines or anything, but you really should have a different body lotion for winter than summer. I tend to be OK with just aloe or something else light during the summer, but I need serious hydration during the winter. This is what I turn to:

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Get a full tube of Cosmedicine eye cream worth $48 when you enter code BEAUTYSLEEP next time you buy any skincare online at  Sephora.

Get it at Sephora.

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