Going Green: Beauty

Over the past 6 months, I've read lots and lots about green beauty. Things like parabens and PABAs many other potentially harmful ingredients are common in most beauty products - even those that claim to be "natural." As I've learned about the ingredients that go into the products I use everyday, I've explored other more natural options. I have eczema, sensitive fair skin, and graduate student budget. This makes things challenging, to say the least.

I read several books as references. I started with Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano, followed by her excellent Do it Gorgeously. Uliano gives practical suggestions and recipes for making your own beauty products The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel and Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me by Paula Begoun were also chock full of green beauty information. The Environmental Working Group has a thorough cosmetics database where you can review products and ingredients.

I have found some conflicting information. For example, when I was looking for a face lotion with spf at Whole Foods, I found some ingredients on the products that were deemed safe in certain low quantities. Most green advocates tend to be purists. I'd suggest not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Daily facial and body lotions are probably the most critical products since they absorb into your skin. Focus on those two items and a gentle cleanser and you will be well on your way.

This is what I learned in a nutshell, and some products I'd recommend:

The more natural a product is, the better it is for your skin and the environment. Just like with food, you want to be able to recognize what the ingredients are. Some of the brands I like are Burts Bees (try Radiance), Aubrey's Organics, and Alba.

You don't need lots of beauty products. Your skincare regiment only needs a good cleanser, toner, lotion with spf, and body lotion. I have been using Aubrey travel kits as testers. I also like Dr. Bronner Lavendar or Rose soap for cleanser, Rosewater and Witchhazel as toner, and Earth Science Lotion or Grapeseed Oil as lotions.

You can make your own skincare products as well. It's expensive to get started with the essential oils, but can be worth it in the long run. You can check out some recipes here on the Gorgeously Green blog. Also, Mountain Rose Herbs has fantastic ingredients for making your own concoctions. You can find recipes here in the newsletter archives. See below for a recipe to get you started.

Even making a few simple changes can be good for your skin and your budget. You don't need all those expensive products. Nature has an abundance of ingredients to soothe, moisturize, and tone your skin. Find a few items you love and enjoy them.

Coming up soon: Green Makeup

Accepting Orders until December 20

Roses are Red Necklace - red pearls and garnet
Sassy Senorita Necklace - carnelian and brass chain

Holidays Sparkle Necklace - crystal, peridot, garnet

There is still time - holiday orders are accepted until December 20th! Find something original and one-of-a-kind for someone special.

Design School Art - Anni Albers inspired jewelry

A sample of Anni's work from their website.

Courage Takes Wing necklace

For my first design school exercise, I had to make a piece out of non-traditional materials. We were inspired by the work of Anni Albers, who did some fabulous jewelry and textile art. Her jewelry is simple and full of contrast, and a combination of unique materials like washers and ribbon and bobby pins. Check out their website to for textile and jewelry inspirations.

I made a piece called "Courage Takes Wing", with locknuts symbolizing the small and large courage that takes openness and strength, and the strips of fabric symbolizing the wings and beauty of living a courage - filled life.

"A longing for excitement can be satisfied without external means, within oneself; for creating is the most intense excitement one can know."

- Anni Albers

Entryway

It's been a long time! I just started graduate school in Urban Design, so I'm pretty busy these days.

Here is a little project with a big impact. The entryway is a lost art. Entryways are an important part of the home. Dressing the front door prepares us for the transition home, from work to our comfortable place.

I did a simple presentation for our entryway. It's simple and makes a pleasant improvement.

2 Sky Pencils (Ilex crenata) - low maitenance and ideal shape for height by a door

2 planters from Ross

Welcome Mat from Home Depot

Grapevine Wreath from Michaels

News Flash - Sale on Necklace Sets

Check out new necklace sets with sale priced earrings - a $15 value!

Coming Soon... Bright and Beautiful Gemstone Necklaces

I got a bead order today... can't wait to string these and have some great new necklaces to offer!!!

Rose quartz, pearls, crystal quartz, amethyst, turquoise, carnelian... oh my! Keep checking my site for the latest...

Featured Etsy Artisan: CaitlinSainio

I found Caitlin Sainio's fab shop after she kindly included one of my pieces in her treasury. Caitlin "draws pictures with thread" and makes amazing things like bracelets and hoop framed fiber art. I'm totally coveting this white crochet daisy bracelet and this rose bush wall hanging.

Enjoy meeting Caitlin below, and be sure to check out her shop for some eye candy loveliness.

• Tell us a little about yourself – your name, where you live, your work.
My name is Caitlin, and I live west of Boston, Massachusetts. I'm a stay-at-home mom to two boys, aged 2 and 5.

• Tell us about your Etsy shop and products.
I initially started my Etsy shop as an excuse to crochet Christmas ornaments. I love to crochet snowflakes and other ornaments, but our Christmas tree was running out of room for them, as were the trees of our friends and family. I opened the shop in January, 2009, with a small selection of bracelets, suncatchers, and doilies, and then added Christmas ornaments as the holidays approached. I've recently expanded into using crochet for other kinds of art: I stitch crocheted elements to fabric to create wall hangings, and use them to create paint imprints on notecards. I've really been enjoying the new focus (it gives me opportunities to use more different colors, and to crochet designs that are too complicated and unpredictable to easily work into a doily or a bracelet), so I'd like to continue in that direction for my non-holiday offerings.

• How did you get into your creating? Do you have a favorite item you’ve made? Tell us the story.
I first learned to crochet in elementary school, when the school had a craft fair as a fundraiser, and somebody taught me to crochet shell stitch strips so that I could help make an afghan. I taught myself more stitches with the help of an old "learn to crochet" book that my mom had hanging around, and later discovered tiny hooks and thread, which I love even better than yarn.

My favorite items change with my mood and the seasons. Right now, I'm completely in love with trees like the ones on this wall hanging and in these cards. I live in a neighborhood filled with huge, leafy trees, every one of which could pass for a tree of life. I was curious to see if I could achieve that strength and lushness in thread, and I'm thoroughly delighted with the results.

• What advice would you give a creative entrepreneur on starting a small artistic business?
First of all, know what your goal is. Do you want your business to be your sole support? Do you want it to provide supplemental income? Or do you simply want to make your hobby pay for itself? How you approach the business depends a lot on the answer to that question. (Those goals can change over time. I started out just wanting my crocheting to be self-supporting, and now that it does that with room to spare, I'm hoping to expand it so that it provides more supplemental income.)

After that (especially if your goal is for your business to be a significant income source), I think it's useful to do a quick back-of-the envelope calculation: how many of your products can you make in a week, how will you price them, and how much will they cost you to make? Will the resulting profit be enough to meet the goal you've chosen? (If not, it'll be necessary to make changes to your products, your pricing, or your goals. I think it's good to know that earlier, rather than later - it's incredibly discouraging to pour all of your time and energy into a business, only to realize later that it's not structured to provide the income that it needs to.)

• Do you have a person that inspires you (living or historical)? Tell us about her or him!
I've found that most people are inspiring, one way or another. I've been blessed to know and work with a lot of incredible people, over the years, and the ones I most try to emulate are those who know when to stop talking and listen, who can see other people's points of view, and who can tell when to keep trying and when to stop and ask for help. These aren't things that come naturally to me, so it's always amazing to me when I see people who seem so effortless in their grace and good judgment.

• Do you have a book or movie that makes you feel creative? Tell us about it!
I'm not a big movie watcher, but almost any book with pictures will put me in a creative mood - anything from a science textbook to a National Geographic magazine to some of the beautifully illustrated children's books that my kindergartener brings home from the library. I'll see mixes of colors or shapes or textures, and want to go make something or draw something.

• What is your favorite handmade treasure?
I come from a family that can't seem to stop making things, so my house is so well populated with handmade treasures that it's hard to pick a favorite. If I had to choose, though, my favorite would be a collection of decorative pots that my uncle made. I have probably a dozen or so, in various sizes, shapes, and colors, and I never get tired of looking at them. They're all currently squirrelled away on high shelves and in cabinets, to protect them from being loved too much by my kids, so that increases the "treasure" aspect: I love them, but almost never see most of them.

Thanks, Caitlin! You can check out the rest of the Featured Artisans here.