This week’s Link Love is so warm and cozy it should keep your mind off the Polar Vortex for a little while. xo

Start warming up with this super lux DIY recipe for a “Winter Wonder Hand Cream” from esthetician and beauty expert Jessica Bartley. [via Well + Good NYC]

Has the Digital Age robbed us of our ability to have good conversations anymore? An MIT psychologist tries to slow us down and revert us back to the dying art of dialogue. [via The Atlantic]

What a way to spend a day…a café that charges you by the minute, not by the menu item. How quaint and new-world at the same time. [via Grist]

Oh, there’s nothing like spending a cold winter’s day contemplating the ambiguity of our diet options, Neal Pollack style. [via Dark Rye]

They’re back…Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David are teaming up again for something, er, rather, I think that’s nothing. [via A.V. Club]

Related on EcoSalon

Link Love: Green Jobs in 2014 + We Need to Talk about TED + How to Love a Woman

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Link Love: Evangeline Lilly’s Butt, the Anti-Antibiotic + The Other McCartney Loves Bears

image via A.V. Club

The post Link Love: DIY Wintery Lotion + A Pay-By-The-Minute Café + Seinfeld’s Return appeared first on EcoSalon.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, we give you seven ingredients to self-police out of your life year-round.

We’ve already established that breast cancer awareness month perhaps may be a wee bit commercialized with tainted pink product. And by “wee bit,” we really mean as commercialized as a Kardashian wedding set in Vegas directed by Michael Bay. And that this over-commercialization, in fact, takes away from the message that being aware of breast cancer is a good and noble thing.

What’s more, as a writer who covers green beauty, nothing steams my kale more than the giant beauty companies getting in on the “pinkwashing” game. Yes, I’m talking about the companies who promote breast cancer awareness via area run/walks and plaster their product with pink ribbons while doing very little to actually take cancer-causing ingredients out of their lipsticks, mascaras and more.

Green beauty expert Stacy Malkan addresses this in her call-to-arms “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.” Calling out Revlon, Estee Lauder, and Avon, she writes, “When new knowledge comes to you that your product contains problematic ingredients, if you were authentic in your support for breast cancer, you would be vigilant in addressing that.” She further points out that the “pink-ribbon companies” defend their use of bad ingredients and actively work to keep their industry unregulated and self-policed.

Where does this leave us? The easiest way to ensure you are purchasing a safe product is to become a vigilant reader of labels. How best to do it without the chemistry degree it seems to require deciphering such labels? Here are seven ingredients to avoid that will be plainly listed on your product.

Fragrance
Of all the ingredients, fragrance is perhaps the sneakiest. The beauty industry has enacted so-called “trade-secret laws” allowing manufacturers to create synthetic chemical mixtures to contain as many as five hundred chemicals at a time. And what do they call these chemicals? Fragrance. In other words, you’re not just getting a delightful whiff of pleasant smell; you’re also likely getting a ton of masked, potentially-dangerous chemicals. And these chemicals may expose you to allergens, neurotoxins, hormone disruptors and more.

Listed as fragrance, perfume or parfume, they are in (yes) perfume, makeup, deodorant, body lotions, shampoo, soap and basically any beauty product that has a scent. Fragrance can also stand in for natural essential oils, which can be irritating to the skin. Basically, you just don’t know what you’re getting unless it is from a reputable brand or you run it through the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database. (More on that later.)

Nanoparticles
These tiny particles are 80 times thinner than a human hair. Nonetheless, they are big in the beauty industry just now because they can deliver a product’s benefits in an effective manner. Unfortunately, this means that they can also deliver the product’s dangerous chemicals straight through protective layers of your body, such as the ones surrounding your brain and your womb. This could potentially cause cell damage.

Until there are more studies done on nanoparticles, sideline them from your makeup and sunscreens.

Phthalates
Phthalates as perhaps one of the best known criminals on the ingredients label, if only because no one seems to know how to properly pronounce them. (Some speculate that it is thall-lates.) Popular in just about everything, including makeup, hair spray, perfume, nail polish and more, they are suspected carcinogens and known hormone disruptors.

Parabens
Like their phthalate cousins, parabens are also extremely common in beauty ingredients. These are the preservatives that keep your makeup, conditioner, shampoos, and lotions “fresh” on the shelves. Known hormone disruptors, they also may be a carcinogenic. They can prematurely age your skin. One study shows that they can contribute to a higher rate of wrinkling and sun spots on skin when exposed to the sun.

1,4-dioxane
1,4-dioxane is not listed on labels; rather, it refers to a process called ethoxylation which occurs in the body from certain ingredients. These include PEG, polyethylene glycol, polyethylene, and polyoxyethylene, which have been used to reduce the risk of skin irritation for petroleum-based products. 1,4-dioxane is a known carcinogenic. Further, it was found in up to 48% of personal care products tested by the Environmental Working Group in 2008.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate
These are surfactants used in our shampoo, soaps, toothpaste and more to make them suds up. However, they are possible hormone disruptors. And the worst thing? Our old enemy 1,4-dioxane may be found in sodium laureth sulfate. So sacrifice a little suds for a lot a health. Luckily, the conventional beauty industry is starting to catch on with this ingredient as more and more brands are sporting the “SLS-free” label. And that’s a great thing.

Triclosan
This anti-bacterial agent and preservative is popular in body products from deodorant to soap to toothpaste and more. It’s a known skin irritant and does not have a conclusive positive effect on every day use. (Meaning, outside of a hospital where it is tackling a super bug.) Further, it may disrupt hormones and could be helping along a bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. Instead, wash your hands with soap and water, and look for products that contain thyme, a natural and effective anti-bacterial agent.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed? You can always ease into green beauty by just pulling one or two ingredients from your products. Work your way up the list. Plus, there are several fantastic green beauty brands you can trust, as well as excellent purveyors of such product. Here’s one of our vintage pieces listing some great eco-beauty boutiques.

If you want to learn more about green beauty, be sure to consult the EWG’s Skin Deep database. You can run many beauty products and individual ingredients through this database for a safety ranking. For your nightstand reading, check out Stacy Malkan’s “Not Just a Pretty Face” and Siobhan O’Conner and Alexandra Spunt’s “No More Dirty Looks.”

And take heart – the first leap into healthy beauty products may seem daunting, but it gets easier with each positive step forward.

ALSO CHECK OUT

Top 10 Best Organic Beauty Blogs

Best Organic Shampoos

Tips For Buying Natural and Organic Makeup

Images: xshamethestrongx/Flickr  adforce1/Flickr  vikingzippy/Flickr

The post 7 Beauty Ingredients To Avoid appeared first on EcoSalon.

Winter can be rough, and nowhere is it rougher than on your skin.  It’s cold, it’s dry, and you’re more concerned with keeping your legs warm than silky smooth. When you’re rushing out of the warm shower and hurrying to get into your clothes, it can be hard to take that beat to lather up dry skin. And before you know it you wake up, and your body is drier than a Halloween pumpkin in November.

But not to worry! I was lucky enough to test a slew of eco-friendly moisturizers, and I put them through my rigorous list of highly-scientific questions. How well did they moisturize?  How quickly did they moisturize?  And how do you smell, moisturized?  Check out these great, green solutions to keep your skin hydrated.

Open Your Eyes Organic Moisturizing Lotion by Spa Ritual

Of all the products I lathered up with, this is my favorite. 83% organic, vegan, and paraben-free, this moisture is topped off with light eucalyptus essential oils. Spa Ritual has a fantastic smell – you feel like you’re visiting a spa, which I suppose is the point. This moisturizer is thick, hydrating and fresh. And best of all?  It absorbs quickly, so you won’t feel like your outfit is taking in more of your lotion that your body.

Pacifica Body Butter

If you like perfume and deep moisture, this product combines the best of both worlds. These moisturizers are thick, creamy, and definitely leave you with a scented, lasting silkiness.  They are available in florals, fruits, herbs and spices, woods and resins. I sampled the Hawaiian Ruby Guava and trailed around a light, fruity scent for hours after. Pacifica products are free of parabens, propylene glycol, phthalates and lead wicks. The company is working towards carbon neutrality and uses no animal ingredients, including beeswax.

Blood Orange and Vanilla Body Milk by John Masters Organics

This is another highly-scented moisturizer with a light, subtly sweet scent.  It has a great consistency and absorbs very quickly – you don’t have to spend a lot of time airing your skin after application. Made with certified organic ingredients, the blood orange detoxifies and promotes collagen, while milk thistle extracts provide an antioxidant to smooth and nourish your skin.  John Masters Organics are free of sodium lauryl sulfate and parabens. They are cold-pressed and fair-trade.

Kiss My Face Ultra Moisturizer

Kiss My Face has been doing natural longer than most companies, so it’s no surprise they got body moisture right. While I couldn’t find any direct evidence that this product is organic, these moisturizers are paraben-free and contain no animal ingredients, artificial colors or unnecessary chemicals. I sampled the lavender shea moisture, which was light and silky. More importantly, they have an easy scent that is in no way overwhelming. You can apply it and not feel like you’ve jumped in neck-deep to a pool of lavender oils.  On second thought, that sounds kind of appealing. Next article, a look at pools of lavender oils!

Editor’s note: Please welcome Katherine Butler, our new organic beauty product review writer. Katherine will be testing and reporting on everything from the least sticky lip gloss to the best conditioner for unruly hair, so stay tuned for her biweekly column.

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