The Green Beauty Guide

I recommend the following effective at-home spa treatment that deals with clogged pores, flakiness, and sensitivities/dryness. You can vary the ingredients according to your skin’s condition. I prefer not to label woman’s skin based on her age. Women in their 30s can have parched, fragile skin with hyperpigmentation and hormonal breakouts while women in their 50s can have wonderfully plump skin that could use some blotting paper!  So here is a basic routine that can be easily customized according to your skin’s needs.

Step 1. Steam. If your skin is oily and dense, you can use a steam bath with dried chamomile, calendula (marigold), or sage. If your skin is fragile and dry, you will greatly benefit from a few drops of rose oil or even some dried roses in the bath, which doesn’t have to be too hot. If your skin is sensitive, you can  prep your skin with a warm hand towel saturated in lukewarm green tea and placed on your face while you relax on the sofa.

Step 2. Exfoliate. If your skin is oily and dense but you have no acne breakouts, you will love a simple scrub made with 2 tbsp Dead sea salt and 1 tbsp organic olive oil. But if you have inflamed acne lesions or other irritations, avoid abrasive scrubs. Instead, apply a layer of plain Greek-style yogurt all over your face including eye area. Sensitive and dry skin will benefit from finely cut oatmeal soaked in warm filtered water, perhaps blended with a dollop of honey. Simply apply the paste it all over your face and massage using circular motions. Don’t be afraid to get it around eyes, since delicate skin can also use mild exfoliation.

Step 3. Target. If your skin is oily, clay mask is your best bet. Mix some blue clay or even crushed charcoal with green tea or aloe vera juice and apply all over your face avoiding eye area. To deeply nourish, nothing beats sour cream
or cottage cheese (for drier skins) whipped with whole range egg. This works double duty by nourishing and lifting. To lighten dark spots, grate some raw potato and apply the puree all over the troublesome areas. A strawberry mashed all over the face is an excellent AHA peel that delivers mild fruit acids and vitamin C.

Grapefruit seed extract is a powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial agent rich in flavonoids, vitamins C and E, citric acid, and various minerals. As a substance, it is clear and nearly odorless. I found that it blends well with most creams, lotions, and foaming cleansers for face and body.

I frequently use grapefruit seed extract in my skincare, because as a preservative it works well with vitamins A, C and E to produce a stable antioxidant quartet that may extend shelf life of your products up to 12 months.

Make sure that you purchase a pure grapefruit seed extract that has not been adulterated with synthetic chemical benzethonium chloride. Also please keep in mind that grapefruit may interact with certain prescription medications.

In summer time, it’s best to leave our nails go au naturel, without any nail polish so that they would benefit from air and moderate sun exposure. The best way to keep our nails groomed and healthy is cuticle oil.

Cuticles stretch with the natural growth of your nails. If your skin or cuticle does not receive nutrients and hydration, it stretches and tears. This can open your skin up to painful cracks, dryness, and infection. And of course, peeling, visible cuticles can spoil the look of any manicure!

The best way to keep your cuticles and nails are healthy is to moisturize them daily with a special blend of oils that promote healthy circulation, nourish the nail bed, and keep the skin pliable and soft so that it does not form a dry edge known as a dry cuticle.

Organic Cuticle Serum by Petite Marie Organics is a quickly absorbed serum that leaves nails healthy with a naturally glowing appearance. You can use this product as often as needed to give your nails a just-out-of-salon appearance.

Gorgeous floral all-natural fragrance adds a luxury touch to a daily cuticle grooming. And of course, as always with Petite Marie Organics, there are no added scents, petrochemicals, or artificial ingredients.

Here are some lovely ingredients packed in our traditional amber glass bottle:

• Rice bran and sweet orange penetrate dry cracked nails and skin to strengthen, protect, and nourish your nails and cuticles.
• Neem oil, the most potent natural anti-bacterial and fungal ingredient, helps prevent infections and heal.
• Geranium and rose help rejuvenate circulation in nail bed and cuticle area
• Mustard seed and mandarin keep the area free from bacteria and fungi, acting as natural germ barrier.

   

  Organic Cuticle Serum retails for $15 plus s/h. It is entirely handmade in small batches in England.

   

  Enjoy a summertime of gorgeous nails - without visiting a salon!

Musk, a popular perfume fixative since ancient times, was traditionally obtained from the gland of the male musk deer, Moschus moschiferus. The animal was usually killed in the process.

Between thirty and fifty deer would die to provide two pounds of musk grains. Due to the high demand of musk and indiscriminate hunting, populations of musk deers were severely depleted. Musk deer is now protected by law in China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. International trade of musk from Moschus moschiferus is prohibited.

For legal and ethical reasons, many perfume companies use synthetic musk: aromatic nitro musks, polycyclic musk compounds, and macrocyclic musk compounds. Synthetic musk compounds have been found in human fat, breast milk, and in lakes and rivers. Scientists from State University of New York at Albany found synthetic musks in most breast milk samples collected in Massachusetts in 2007 in concentration of “five times greater than the concentrations reported 10 years ago for breast milk samples collected in Germany and Denmark.” (Reiner, Wong, Arcaro, Kannan 2007).

Synthetic musks, along with bisphenol-A, phthalates, fire retardants, aluminium, and paraben preservatives, are classified as xeno-estrogens, synthetic compounds that mimic the action of the hormone beta-estradiol and activating the estrogen receptors (Singleton, Feng et al, 2004). Xeno-estrogens are linked to reproductive and fertility problems, as well as breast and uterine cancer in women (Donovan, Tiwary 2007) and testicular cancer in men (Irvin 2000).

Today the use of some nitromusks in cosmetics and personal care products is banned in European Union. In the United States, all musk chemicals are unregulated, and safe levels of exposure have not yet been set.

Some plants, such as garden angelica (Angelica archangelica) and ambrette seeds (Abelmoschus moschatus), produce musky- smelling aromatic compounds that are widely used in natural perfumery as substitutes for natural musk. Other plant sources of musk include musk flower (Mimulus moschatus) and the muskwood (Olearia argophylla) of the Guianas and West Indies.

So if you are very partial to musk, choose a botanical musk fragrance from a reputable green fragrance brand.

For a quick lip exfoliation, use ripe, juicy papaya. You can use leftovers from a fruit salad or dessert. Mash the papaya flesh into a juicy paste so that you get at least a tablespoon of puree.

Apply a generous amount of papaya pulp to the lips and skin around the lips. Leave on for ten to fifteen minutes. Rinse off with warm water and enjoy smooth, flake-free lips.

For an even quicker exfoliation, rub the inside of papaya skin against your lips for a few minutes.

Organic full-fat milk is the ultimate gentle facial cleanser. Just pour some milk on a cotton wool ball and wipe off the eye makeup and refresh the skin. There is no need to wash the milk off. Top it off with your regular moisturizer or leave it as it is and enjoy a mild exfoliation as milk sours and gives your skin a natural glow.

Plain Greek-style yogurt also brings excellent results, especially when left on skin for a few minutes and then rinsed off with tepid water. Lactic acid in yogurt, especially when joined by the antibacterial properties of honey, makes an excellent antibacterial cleanser. Simply blend two great natural foods with a fork or stick blender.

Dried milk powder (or a baby formula) and finely ground almond meal, mixed in equal proportions, make a great natural scrub. You can also use soy milk powder for added antiaging skin firming benefits.

I am extremely proud to confirm that a long-awaited sequel to THE GREEN BEAUTY GUIDE is coming soon, well, relatively soon. In November, actually. It’s going to be a practical, easy to use book containing 200+ recipes (more than any similar book on the green market!) and precious tips and lessons I have learned while working on Petite Marie Organics line.

Some of you who use my products know that all of them have been formulated from scratch by me, supervised by knowledgeable experts in esthetics and dermatology. And we still make all our products by hand in small batches, so I know all about proper stirring, whisking, homogenizing, sterilizing, pouring, cleaning, and then some more!

Here’s some information from the back page:

The insider secrets, tips, and step-by-step techniques to making your own organic and natural cleansers, toners, moisturizers, shampoos, body lotions and oils, deodorants, sun care, and baby products.

The founder of organic skincare line and author of THE GREEN BEAUTY GUIDE, Julie Gabriel spills the beans and reveals the secrets of cosmetic industry as she teaches you exactly how to create your own beauty products without chemicals using only natural ingredients.

Save up to 90 percent off the retail price by duplicating your favorite conventional beauty products without the use of parabens, phthalates, and other toxic chemicals.

Learn how to formulate cosmetic products to minimize the risk of irritation and achieve maximum benefits for your skin condition.

Find out how to professionally blend, package, label, and store your unique beauty creations that you can make for yourself, your family, friends, or clients.

Discover the most beneficial natural ingredients for your beauty dilemmas and learn how to combine them for amazing results.

Get the latest information on vegetable oils, active botanicals, vitamins, minerals, and natural preservatives to use in your beauty products.

GREEN BEAUTY RECIPES book will be followed by even more interesting title, VEGAN BEAUTY RECIPES. If you do not put animal products in your body, why putting them on your skin? More about this title in the next post. Publication date - December 2010. Happy Green XMas!

This blend is a heavy-duty skin soother that is indispensable after facials, chemical peels, sunburns, or really bad cases of dermatitis. Any distressed skin with flakiness, peeling, dryness will benefit from this formula. Peppermint when used as an infusion is much gentler than peppermint essential oil, while cucumber soothes and feeds the skin with silica.

INGREDIENTS:

½ fresh medium cucumber

5 oz / 150 ml filtered tap/mineral water

1 packet peppermint tea

2 oz / 60 ml aloe vera juice

2 drops vitamin E

Optional: 30 ml carrot juice.

METHOD: Puree the cucumber using a stick blender. Prepare the peppermint tea using filtered water and allow it to steep for 3 minutes. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and shake well.

APPLICATION: splash directly on the areas of concern; use in compresses; add to the bath water.

STORAGE: 3 days in a refrigerator. May be frozen and used as ice cubes to rub gently as a quick skin reviving treatment.

Apple cider vinegar helps restore glow in flaky, impure skin. It also helps maintain skin’s natural acid mantle which protects from skin infections. Honey is another time-tested skin purifier, while glycerin soothes and moisturizes. Due to the acidic nature of this preparation, I recommend wearing sunscreen daily to prevent uneven pigmentation.

INGREDIENTS:

5 oz / 150 ml filtered water or chamomile tea

1 oz / 30 ml apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon vitamin C powder

1 teaspoon glycerin

METHOD:

Add vinegar, honey, and vitamin C powder to the tea. Stir well to disperse vitamin C crystals. Add glycerin and stir well.

USE: every night, wipe your skin with a cotton ball soaked in this toner.

STORAGE: 2 months in a cold dark place.

This recipe is extracted from GREEN BEAUTY RECIPES: Easy Homemade Recipes to Make your Own Organic and Natural Skincare, Hair Care, and Body Care Products (Petite Marie Books, June 2010).

I am bombarded by the demands to review a new “green” skincare line. Sometimes (quite rarely) these lines are truly spectacular and really green, and I rave and urge you to give them a try.

Sometimes these lines are overpriced and often contain hazardous ingredients that you must beware of.

One of such lines is Luvalla (L’Uvalla? I am not quite sure. They aren’t either). It was suggested to me by a “product scout” for Whole Foods.

There were a few issues that triggered my suspicion. First of all, Luvalla claims to be organic - certified by whom? Eco Cert? This is not an organic certifying body. And which ingredients are organic? No answer.

And speaking of ingredients…

Ingredients seem to be OK until you read really closely. Among one of the ingredients that seemed to be a bit “off” was potassium sulfate (potassium sulphate), a common agricultural fertilizer and a pesticide used in Luvalla beauty products as a preservative.

Potassium sulfate has also been used in fireworks, explosives, and an animal food preservative.

Potassium sulfate has never been estimated safe for human health and the environment. It has never been approved for use in skincare and of course not as a preservative. It is a fertilizer, for my skin’s sake!

What organic chemistry textbook says: “Sulfuric acid dipotassium salt; high grade potassium contents fertilizer, essential for tobacco, citrus, grape, fruits, vegetables, and flowers.”

What the emergency skin contact recommends: “Wash exposed area with water and soap.”

What Luvalla claims: “An excellent skin remedy for itchy skin.”

Yeah, right. It will dissolve your itchiness right at its source. Along with your skin.

Yet L’Uvalla creators (Uval and Alla - herbalists? Estheticians? Dermatologists? Nutritionists? Anyone at least remotely related to human health? You wish…) claim their ingredients are safe for use in “one-of-a-kind, superior-quality line of luxury skin care, certified organic and sustainably-produced to the most stringent criteria in the world.”

What’s really strange, the creators used this “preservative” in quite high concentration; even higher than of many inexpensive and yet beneficial ingredients.

And a word to organic beauty junkies: do not trust Eco Cert certification. This brand, Luvalla, was certified by Eco Cert as natural. Eco Cert permits the use of synthetic fragrances and preservatives in beauty products. This is hardly the standard of green and organic skincare you should be looking for.