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Why I Switched To a Menstrual Cup and You Should Too

Why I Switched To A Menstrual Cup | The Organic Beauty Blog

I’ll be the first to admit, I was super slow and reticent to get on the menstrual cup bandwagon. After an ill-fated attempt at using one in college, I was convinced that my flow was just too heavy and my anatomy just wasn’t suited for this miraculous tool.

But alas, I was so wrong!

After years of cramps, leaks, landfill guilt, and more unsavory side effects, I was ready to give the menstrual cup another try.  And I am happy to say I am NEVER going back.

The benefits of using a menstrual cup are many and varied, but these 5 are the biggies to make the switch.

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Luxe Anti-Aging & Skin Perfecting Magic + Giveaway!

Beautycounter Countertime Collection | The Organic Beauty Blog

Let’s face it, the world of natural, non-toxic anti-aging skincare still has a ways to go.  In lieu of using the typical plumping, filling, anti-aging chemicals, most green beauty lines opt for the power of oils, essential and otherwise.  Don’t get me wrong, no one loves and believes in the power of oils more than me, but sometimes, a girl needs a bit more.  So you could go ahead and color me excited when a rep from Beautycounter reached out to me.

Beautycounter, based in my own beautiful Santa Monica, is a relatively new beauty company, dedicated to creating luxe and effective skincare that is totally safe.  They have a “Never List” of banned ingredients that go way beyond the parabens, phthalates, and mineral oils that most of us make a point of avoiding.  But the coolest thing is that these safe, luxurious products are jam-packed with super potent and effective ingredients that actually work.

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What to Pack for Your Natural Birth

As I learned from my somewhat unexpected birth experience (which you can read all about here), the key to a more pleasant and confident birth experience is to be prepared for what may come. We were planning on a birth center birth, and were adamantly against the hospital. As it turned out, we had a bit of both.. What both experiences had in common was our desire for a natural birth, and in retrospect, I am so grateful that we thought to pack the tools necessary for the birth we wanted, both at a birth center, and at the hospital.  I did plenty of research to make sure everything I brough with me was as natural, healthy, and safe as possible, both for myself and for my new baby! Here are your must-have’s for your natural birth, wherever it may be*:

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Mineral Beauty That’s EPIC

Epic Mineral Beauty

Finding high quality, effective, and natural makeup can definitely be a challenge.  We have our few favorite brands that we resort to, and we’re always thrilled to discover a new product line to add to our mix, especially since the availability of high quality, natural products pretty much dictates what we do and do not use in our beauty routines!

Because of this, we had all but given up on using mineral makeup over the last year or two. Discovering safe mineral products that were free of skin irritants and toxic ingredients like mica, talc, and titanium dioxide had proven to be all but impossible! So you can imagine how pumped we were to discover Epic Mineral Beauty, a beautiful line of mineral makeup products that is free of literally every questionable ingredient on our list!

To boot, the mineral foundations, blushes and bronzers come in a variety of lovely hues to perfectly match your skintone, and the eyeshadows come in some luscious must-have basic tones. We found that our skin looked beautiful, natural, and clean, with buildable coverage that lasted.  Plus, no irritation, clogged pores, breakouts or skin drama whatsoever!

To find your perfect hues, order the sample sizes.


 

Enter our Epic Mineral Beauty Giveaway!

You’ll get one full-size foundation and one full-size mineral veil — an almost $60 value!

TO ENTER:

  1. Click here to sign up for our email list (don’t worry, we’ll never hound you with lots of emails!)
  2. Leave a comment below letting us know you signed up!

And our winner is: Aimee!!

Raise Your Baby in Royal Style

By Callie McBride

Newsflash! Princess Kate had her baby! We know, we know, how have you not heard about it before?

We kid. The media is having quite the field day following just about every second in the brand new life of His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge. From the entire history of his name to his luxurious nursery in the works, this little guy has already made it big. What we are most anticipating, though, is how Princess Kate plans on raising her firstborn. She is known to be health-conscious and focuses on healthy eating and exercise in order to maintain the, ahem, proper lifestyle. Can the same be said for little prince George? We think yes. The same can be said for you and your expanding family as well, with some help from companies like The Honest Company and Earth’s Best!

The Honest Company

Honest-Company-Jessica

Actress and organic beauty Jessica Alba, along with co-founder Christopher Gavigan, have succeeded in their goal to redefine the “family brand” and turn it into one that focuses on safety, style, convenience, and even the environment with their Honest products. Geared toward babies and a healthy and happy home, the full range of products offered include eco-friendly diapers, non-toxic personal care, organic home cleaning products, and health and wellness goodies.

Alba and Gavigan have put their heads together and thought of everything that they have always struggled to find on the market-wholesome, eco-friendly, sustainable, stylish, affordable-and have wrapped it up with a bow to give to you. For instance, the Baby Arrival Collection features all natural shampoo and body wash, healing balm, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, and a jumbo pack of diapers. It gets better: the Diaper Cakes Collection, perfect for a baby shower gift, actually could not come any cuter.

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For the home, Honest offers everyday essentials such as laundry detergent, bug spray and sunscreen, aromatic soy candles, toilet and floor cleaners, as well as surface cleaners and dish soap-all of which are 100% non-toxic and biodegradable.

If you’re not quite convinced, you have the option of signing up for a free trial of supplies to test out yourself (paying just $5.95 shipping and handling). Um, thanks Jessica!

Earth’s Best

eb_logoSo your little one is decked out in adorable diapers and being pampered with organic goods; now for food! Earth’s Best is an all organic brand of baby food that focuses on one-ingredient products for the ultimate nutrients and ease for your child.

The cute jars of food are completely GMO-free and hormone-free. Their line of foods start with “1st Foods”, such as “1st Apples”, “1st Bananas”, and “1st Carrots” to introduce babies to single ingredient foods. 2nd Food jars combine foods for more flavor, and then 3rd Foods include texture and more ingredients. This the most basic and natural you can get, making the task of raising your child in a holistic way ridiculously easy!

As we wait with bated breath for each move that little Prince George makes over in England, add these brands to your list of holistic goods for children, and be prepared to fall in love with their message.

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Potent, Non-Toxic Skincare from Own

own_assorted_productsAll you devoted followers of trends in organic beauty know that the search for non-toxic products that are just as effective as their potentially carcinogenic counterparts can be a grueling one.  For the last few months, I’ve been testing the entire line of Own Skincare Products, and have to say I am super happy with the results!  The line isn’t organic, but it is free of harsh chemicals, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and all the other bad guys we Organic Beauties are bent on banishing.  Best of all, it is super affordable!

The San Francisco-based product line features the super potent skincare ingredient, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), which is known for reversing and preventing the signs of aging and improving skin texture and firmness.  The Firming Silk Concentrate serum feels fantastic after my morning jojoba oil face wash.  It really does leave my skin silky smooth and absorbs super fast.  I use the Lifting Eye Cream twice a day, and I definitely attribute my total lack of lines to the potent combination of CLA, safflower oil, shea butter, and soybean germ extract!  Before bed, I end my skincare routine with luxurious Refining Moisture Night Cream, which goes on super smooth, absorbs super fast, and gives me the smoothest, brightest skin when I wake up in the morning.   In the last few months, I’ve noticed that my skin is softer, smoother, and despite my recent (ahem) landmark birthday, I’m happy to say my skin doesn’t look a day older than it did at 18!

The other great thing about the Own brand is their commitment to holistic beauty. Over on their blog, they regularly feature all kinds of super helpful lifestyle tips that guarantee young healthy skin for life! Check out their 10 Winter Beauty Tips! Because, as we Organic Beauties know, beautiful skin is more than just the products you use…

Get a Squeaky Clean, Organic Smile!

A Little Back Story:  Every winter, I get this annoying dry, red skin around my mouth and nose.  It started in college, when I first discovered tinted moisturizers (bad move!), and has resurfaced literally every winter since.  I saw a dermatologist, who told me it was perioral dermatitis, and promptly prescribed oral antibiotics (what else is new??) and an antibiotic cream.  Not only did this whole plan screw up my belly (antibiotics wreak havoc on your intestinal flora), but it also only helped for a hot second before the whole unsightly mess reared it’s ugly head again.  So this year, I started researching natural remedies for this issue… And what did I discover as one of the primary causes/irritants of the problem??  Fluoridated toothpastes full of sodium lauryl sulfates (check out Step 1: Read Your Ingredients if you’ve forgotten why they’re evil)!!  And thus began my quest for the perfect toothpaste.

Toothpastes are a great example of where reading ingredients is so crucial.  For as long as I can remember, Tom’s of Maine was always the go-to for healthy, natural toothpaste made from sustainable resources… right?  Apparently, wrong.  I had been using it for so long, that I hadn’t even looked at the ingredients in years.  But after my getting schooled on the above connection, I took a peek.. and what did I find?  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, right there, clear as day.  Imagine my surprise!  I had been so busy eradicating parabens and SLSs from my moisturizers, hair products, and makeup, that I didn’t even realize I was exposing myself to the culprit twice a day, 7 days a week.  Now, to Tom’s credit, they have since released an SLS free toothpaste, but it still contains fluoride (which has been shown to suppress the immune system, inhibit the production of essential enzymes, and break down collagen, among other things), so I’m afraid they are out of the runnings…

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Make your own DIY natural cleaning products!

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We’ve gone over some of the more natural and non-toxic cleaning products to use instead of the silent killers (extreme?  I think not…) currently hanging out in our broom closets, but there is actually one further step hardcore Organic Beauties can take in naturalizing their homes… Make your own cleaning solutions, that are so safe you could eat them (well, maybe not ALL of them…)!  Naturally!  From ingredients you probably already have in your home!  This is some super exciting stuff….

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