We are excited to announce the first annual Ecosalon Beauty Awards, coming November 18th—23rd! We’ll be asking you, our beloved readers, to vote when we go live, but to narrow down the bounty of natural beauty goodness out there, we had to turn to our friends, some seriously accomplished women. 

To get you as excited as we are, meet our truly knowledgeable and esteemed panel of judges, who are the cream of the crop when it comes to the the green beauty world. 

Kristen Arnett, Makeup Artist, Editor, and Beauty Educator

Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, aka Mommy Greenest

Better known as Mommy Greenest, Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff is the former founder of EcoStiletto, CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World and was editor of Children magazine—before she had three of her own. Want less judgmental, more sustainable parenting advice? Follow her: @RachelLSarnoff, Facebook.com/MommyGreenest and Pinterest.com/RachelSarnoff. Because you shouldn’t have to be a scientist to raise healthy kids!

Brandie Gilliam, Founder of Organic Beauty Talk

Starre Vartan, Editor Fashion and Beauty, Travel & Shelter at Ecosalon

Starre Vartan is the editor of Fashion & Beauty, Travel, and Shelter at Ecosalon, and founder and editor-in-chief of Eco Chick and its sister site, Eco Chick Escapes, all about ethical travel and style. She’s the author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life (St. Martin’s Press), and a problogger and oft-quoted green living expert who has been featured in the New York Times, Elle, Glamour and Self magazines. She has style-edited for magazines, styled (and reported on) eco fashion shows at New York Fashion Week, and currently contributes her writing on design to Metropolis magazine, lifestyle for MNN.com, and ethical destinations to LuxuryTravel.About.com. Starre has also consulted for American Express, Mavea, Neutrogena Naturals, and, currently, eBay Green.

Aysia Wright, Founder of Goodebox 

From non-profit work to retail; environmental law to public relations and marketing; Aysia’s eclectic career path has always been guided by a passion to  advocate for more sustainable living. While these endeavors were rewarding and served as a sort of “trial by fire” PhD in applied sustainability, she soon learned the efficacy of stepping off the soapbox and into the marketplace to get the message across and help effect change. Goodebox is her latest effort, helping conscious consumers find the best clean, responsible products that work for them. It’s a helping hand in navigating the confusing and overwhelming market of beauty products with the ultimate goal of helping consumers make the switch to better beauty and growing the market share of responsible brands.

The post Announcing The First Annual Ecosalon Beauty Awards (Meet Our Judges!) appeared first on EcoSalon.

In 2009 alone, 4.2 million Americans turned 30. And while some of the latest additions to the fourth decade of living may not be happy to be there, others are diving into their 30s with optimism. When I turned 30, I threw a party at a bar that no longer exists on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. Was I any wiser the next morning? No, but almost a decade later I can look back as a serene auntie. Okay, not really, but check out what some of our comrades had to say about why it’s great to turn 30.

“Everyone wants to be 30.” Journalist Gail Sheehy calls 30 “The Golden Age.” As CBS reports, Sheehy asserts “Everybody wants to be 30. 50-year-olds say 50 is the new 30. 40-year-olds are saying 40 is the new 30. And interestingly when I interview people in the mid-40s, in their 50s and ask, how do you feel inside? They almost always say 30.”

Your 20s are over. In your 20s, you’re young, you’re healthy, and you’ve got a skin tone that can’t be beat. But it’s also a time for actions that may have you smacking your forehead with a “what was I thinking?” for years. Which is why turning 30 can be a great time to put that all behind you (under lock and key, buried under a moonless night) and look forward to a decade of smarter choices.

I asked Marshall Herskovitz, cultural god of the thirtysomething decade, his opinion on turning 30. Marshall is co-creator and executive producer of the iconic TV series Thirtysomething. As Marshall told me, “Turning 30 serves one good function only, and that’s getting you out of your crappy twenties, a decade in which you didn’t get nearly the respect, success, sex, or money you thought you were supposed to…”

Been there, done that. Fashion changes for some in their 30s. No, we’re not saying skip the latest looks because you’re too aged to pull off jeggings. But some feel that fashion in your 30s is more about knowing who you are and what you want. As 39-year-old Chicago banker Amy Hoffman told me, “I thought one of the liberating things about turning 30 was you no longer felt the need to follow every fashion trend. There’s more I think I’ll sit this one out or better yet, I already did that in the 80s.”

It’s a reality check. Aysia Wright, co-founder Project Green Search and aged 36, found herself asking at 30: “What am I doing with my life? Am I being true to myself?” Because so many people hold up the age as a marker, it’s a positive time when people can take a moment to check in and get oriented in the right direction.

It’s a good time for mommies. Andrea Schmieg is 38-year-old physician in Virginia and a mother of three. When I asked her the best reason to turn 30, she shared simply: “kids.” We sure don’t advocate panicking over a biological clock because you’re three decades in. But it is nice to note that since you’re often self-assured in your 30s, it makes parenthood all the more powerful.

Milestones, schmilestones. By the age of 30, you see for the first time how hard life can be for people who feel they aren’t hitting their milestones. It doesn’t matter if you’re settling down or not, having babies or not, or hitting your career goals or not. It just matters that you are on the right path. The right destination really is all about how you get there. I know I sound like I’m in a serene, meditation pose while writing this, but it is true. (I wish I could be that limber.)

Your most common way to die is by accident. You’re as healthy as you’re ever going to be at age 30. So drink (moderately) to good health!

Your career goals may be firmly set. Via 11points.com, “the average person has had 7.5 jobs by 30, and you’ll have 2.4 more by age 35.” Okay, so that’s a lot of jobs. I had two jobs by the time I was 30. Both of them involved a variation of what I am now — a full-time writer. By the age of 30, you are most likely going to have a good idea of what you want in terms of a career. And odds are that you are heading in the right direction.

Getting carded becomes fun. Age isn’t supposed to matter, right? And we’re not supposed to care about fine lines, wrinkles, and the odd ache and pain creeping up, right? Well, some of us do. So if our day is just a little brighter because someone refused to sell us a bottle of supermarket red wine, then so be it. Let the cardings continue!

It really does keep getting better. Sometimes, it seems that we can get hit with one huge emotional life event after another. And for many, this can happen right around 30. Grandparents pass away, childhood homes are sold, and relationships can end in spectacularly bad ways. (As may be the problems when you are healthy and operate of your own free will.) But then you settle into life with a little more experience under your belt and a boatload of perspective. And what does that mean? A smoother road into your 40s and beyond.

Photos: Sleepishly, titlap, a4gpa

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With Project Green Search, season two now underway, group co-founder Aysia Wright has her green cap on and is ready to tackle the big job of finding the next fresh face to represent social and environmental ethics in the green realm.

I caught up with her this week to ask some questions about just what project Green Search is all about. Here’s what she had to say.

Tell us what Rachel Avalon accomplished over her year?

She attended events such as the Global Green Oscars, the Millenium Awards, Fred Segal red carpet events, among others, as well as being featured in several articles online, in print, video and radio, including Treehugger, Peppermint Magazine, Organic Spa Magazine, Coco Eco Magazine, EcoStiletto, The Daily Green, and more. Given her interest in non-toxic beauty, she ultimately agreed to become an Ambassador for the Campaign for Safe cosmetics. She will be producing webinars on clean beauty to allow those seeking more information to obtain it in an easily digestible format vs. wading through reams of data and articles. Ultimately, PGS is a support network that will work to provide the winner with much exposure and open as many doors as we can. It should not be looked at as a golden ticket, it’s an opportunity for recognition, support, exposure that will help a dedicated woman on her way. What she does with it is up to her. The prize package doesn’t hurt either.

I think a lot of people assume this contest is just for a fresh face for modeling but we read on your site that it’s to create a sort of warrior woman for a “Green Revolution.” Enlighten us on what it’s really for.

It’s two fold: Hopefully Project Green Search serves as a point of inspiration for people at large to realize they can align their careers with their social and environmental ethics. Something flashy and sexy like modeling, or hosting, is a fun and visible way to make that point. I also want PGS to serve as an awareness platform for people to realize they don’t have to tow the party line – they can stand up to companies with questionable environmental and social practices and demand them to make changes. Whether that means choosing only to work with triple bottom line, LOHAS based businesses and organizations, or working from within entities to foster positive change is up to them.

Does it help if she does have a fresh face?

I’d say she has to have something esthetically special – fresh, striking, radiant, classical beauty, poise – something that sets her apart. Let’s face it, attractive women have a unique power to draw attention, which benefits the product, service, organization or event they are representing. But these women need to be more than just a pretty face and beauty in this context is much more. These women have depth, authenticity, a passion for change making. It shows when a person believes in what they are representing, and strengthens the brand they represent. More and more we are seeing companies feature women with a story – seek more than just looks for their models and spokespeople and there is real opportunity here.

Is the contest age specific?

No, the contest is not age specific. Women of all ages are welcome to enter. There’s a pretty broad demographic of people out there age wise seeking eco friendly products and services, and they respond to people who they can relate to. This might be a 22-year-old woman or it might be a 55-year-old woman.

What are some new challenges you’ll do for this year’s contest?

We’ve got a pretty fun line up of challenges this year, most of which are centered around developing a career in this space, but we do have one new component that’s all about having a kick ass time and bringing out the competitive nature of the finalists – the Eco Scavenger Race – in which the finalists will pair up for a mad dash, following clever clues to suss out certain sustainable goodies.

Looking forward, what do you hope to  to accomplish with PGS?

Ideally, I’d like to see it develop into a mechanism for sharing the stories of people who opt to fight the good fight, make tough decisions along the way, work to make change.

The post Project Green Search Launches Its Second Season appeared first on EcoSalon.

Rachel Avalon, 2009 Project Green Search winner

Have you followed the progress of Project Green Search? It’s a recent contest that closed recently with winner, Rachel Avalon, being “crowned.”

Aysia Wright of Greenloop and Remy Chevalier of Lu Magazine, who co-hosted the event, say Greenloop’s education, outreach and fund raising arm naturally evolved into Project Green Search, a platform aimed at inspiring people to start thinking about how to align their careers with their environmental ethics.

Wright saw this inspiration as opportunity to reshape a particular  economic landscape, to support progressive, triple bottom line business models, media projects and non-profit organizations seeking to move forward in the realm of sustainable living.

In the case of Avalon, Wright admits she’s beautiful, but much more than just a fresh face.

“People relate to other people, especially people who tell a good story, who are accessible and authentic,” says Wright. “For many companies, non-profits, and media projects, telling their story in a compelling manner is a huge challenge. With the right person, this monumental task is so much easier.  It’s usually pretty clear when a cause is only skin deep to the person relating it, which affects its ability to take root and grow. When the right person tells the story though, a person who lives and breathes the story themselves, you can see it and feel it, and it resonates. ”

Wright says that is her goal with Project Green Search: to educate, inspire, make the connections and serve as the platform where all of this can take place.

Chevalier agrees, but has his own spin.

“Models and actors in ads or commercials need to believe in what they’re selling, so they’re not just doing it for the paycheck, prostituting their image to pay the rent,” Chevalier says. “We want to create an environment where that can happen, grow and expand, so as to transform the entire industry, which has always been led by where the next ‘it’ girl wanted to be.”

Based on Chevalier’s remark about transforming the idea of what a model is or represents for a brand or even for our culture is massive, especially when you’re standing out for the eco-world. There’s a lot more to be hold accountable for.

Avalon has a lot of weight on her shoulders now, and I’m not talking about the Swarovski crystal-embedded crown. What makes her the green girl to stand tall?

I  asked all the Project Green Search judges one question: Was your choice to crown Rachel Avalon as the next green “it” girl based more on her being a fresh face or for her ease in being an advocate for all that is green and good?

Here’s what they had to say.

Darren Moore, Alter Eco Co- host on Discovery’s  Planet Green and Ecovations Founder:

“The reason Rachel Avalon was chosen as the next green girl was because all the judges considered her to be in the top two of their list. For me, Rachel represented the qualities we agreed were most important as judges:

1. History of work in the field
2. Relateable to the masses (look included)
3. Knowledge of green priorities (what’s most important)

This was a challenge to choose because each of the contestants had strong points with unique talents, skills and looks that were difficult to place in comparison with each other. This being the first competition, we had to devise our own criteria and all of us judges had a opinions on who they thought was the best public figure. We were essentially deciding on who we felt would be the choice of the people.”

Deborah Lindquist, Eco-fashion designer combining environmental responsibility with cutting-edge aesthetics:

“I suppose a bit of both. We needed to pick a girl who was commercially viable as a model but who also could speak well and was knowledgeable about the green lifestyle.”

Anna Griffin, Editor-in-Chief of CocoEco Magazine:

“My main criteria in choosing the Project Green ‘It’ Girl was to find a fresh face that was accessible to both big brands and the general public, who could also walk her talk in our green space, was passionate and had super integrity. In order to make green a mainstream conversation, it is imperative we start considering what is commercially viable, and build bridges between our industry, large brands and the general public.  Rachel has the ability to transcend each area, and has all the qualities needed to be that spokesperson.”

Starre Vartan, author of The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to Be Fabulously Green and publisher of Eco Chick:

“I chose Rachel Avalon for three particular reasons: she has an amazing face that telegraphs natural beauty, she is graceful, well-spoken and easy on camera, and most of all, her passion for a greener planet is contagious and genuine. After interviewing Rachel, and speaking with her both formally and informally, her love for the planet was palpable, like something that spread from her and infected everyone around her. That is the quality I was hoping to find and several of our contestants were incredibly dedicated to various environmental causes, but Rachel Avalon’s love for the Earth is like a living thing and as we all know, Mother Nature needs representatives who can communicate both the challenges and the joys of going green.”

Josie Maran, Professional model and founder of Josie Maran Cosmetics:

“Rachel is our ‘It’ girl because she is fresh faced and a great advocate and spokesperson for all that’s good. She’s beautiful inside and out!”

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