Wading through the sheer amount of information out there about organic beauty products can be a challenge for even the most dedicated. We’ve managed to cut through the hype to examine three big myths about eco-friendly, organic beauty.

Myth #1: Organic products don’t come in rich, bright colors, and there isn’t much to choose from. Thankfully, this myth is just simply untrue. The demand for natural and organic beauty products is on the rise, and as a result, there are more great products out there for you to test (and fall in love with). We love Dr. Hauschka’s lipsticks, which come in eight shades, and Logona has a great selection of eyeliner pencils, including green and turquoise, and they’re 100% vegetarian.

Myth #2: Natural or organic products aren’t as effective as synthetic products. This is a biggie. Even when it comes to anti-aging (and ridding your face of those dreaded wrinkles brought on by the sunburns of your irresponsible youth), organic and natural products often have the same or similar active ingredients as synthetic products. Look for ingredients like caffeine (antioxidant and great at tightening skin and reducing puffiness), peptides (to stimulate the production of collagen and tighter, firmer skin), hyaluronic acid (nature’s “moisture magnet”) and phytoactive ingredients (for reducing wrinkles). To try: Juice Beauty’s Antioxidant Serum, Trilogy’s Age Proof Replenishing Night Cream, and the Exuberance Optimism Periwinkle and Aloe Uplifting Eye Gel.

Myth #3: Organic products always cost a fortune. We can debunk this one, too. Just like with synthetic beauty products, there’s a range in the prices of natural, organic beauty items. If you’re just starting to incorporate organic products into your daily routine, it’s a good idea to try out some samples before you commit—and gradually replace your stash bit by bit when you run out of your non-organic mascara, blush, or moisturizer. Some budget-friendly buys to take for a whirl: Logona mascara, $14.50, Pangea Organics Egyptian Basil and Mint Hand and Body Lotion, $16, John Masters Sea Mist Salt Spray with Lavender.

-Aleigh Acerni

Green-minded gals carefully consider their purchases, big (Prius or Vespa?) and small (stir fry or salad greens?). But living greenly and healthfully is more than just eating well and keeping a manageable carbon footprint. Here are five reasons why you should put just as much thought into what goes on your body as you do what goes in it, whether your mission is to help keep yourself—or the Earth—healthy.

1. Safety. Your skin is your body’s biggest organ, with over a billion pores. More than 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your body, and the beauty industry is not regulated. (No joke.) There’s a glut of products on the market containing ingredients like parabens, which has been found in elevated amounts in breast tumors, and propylene glycol, a preservative commonly used in antifreeze and brake fluid, which according to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, may be linked to birth defects and infertility.

2. Environmental impact. Natural and organic products make for a less toxic Earth; they avoid chemical preservatives and synthetic colors and fragrances in favor of natural ingredients, which are better for the environment when they’re rinsed off your face, down your drain, and into your wastewater.

3. Effectiveness. Organic products have higher levels of natural nutrients and antioxidants than non-organic ones, making them just as effective, if not more so. And, as an added benefit, natural ingredients have fewer irritants for sensitive or allergy-prone skin.

4. Energy-conscious. Not only does it take less energy to produce natural or organic beauty products, they are frequently sold in recycled, minimal packaging, which makes for less waste all around.

5. Enjoyment. Going organic stimulates a mind/body/nature connection you just can’t get otherwise. Plus, the essential oils and natural scents included in organic and natural beauty products make you feel good and smell good.

Making sure your makeup isn’t harmful is top of mind for many these days—you can get even more insight from Beautorium.com’s own British bloke, Barry, who was recently interviewed on the subject, or find out more about what it means to call a product “organic,” here.

-Aleigh Acerni

Last week, in a star-studded celebration of Earth Day, the 2009 Heart of Green Awards honored people, organizations, and companies that work to make green products mainstream. (Our own Ann Francke was even there to witness it firsthand!)

The event recognized nominees in six main awards categories—Food, Politics, Media, Parenting, Consumer, and Celebrity—as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and a Local Hero. Honorees included Alicia Silverstone, whose work as an advocate for veganism earned her the Eco-Original award; model and author Summer Rayne Oaks; Deidre Imus, author of the Green This! series; Hollywood Green host Maria Menounos, and Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Find out more about the nominees here.

It’s wonderful to see our green-minded peers (and supporters) get the recognition they so deserve, especially since eco-friendliness is a cause that Beautorium strongly supports. Not only are our products natural or organic, proven to be effective, cruelty-free and not tested on animals—they’re also backed by compelling, personable brands that practice fair trade, and they’re beautifully (and minimally) packaged.

Well done to Alicia Silverstone, Summer Rayne Oakes, and all of the award winners who work hard to preserve the message of Earth Day on the other 364 days of the year.

-Aleigh Acerni

Beautorium’s own Barry , the British bloke, was recently chosen to proffer up the male point of view for none other than the O.B.E., a.k.a. Andrea Kane, the  Organic Beauty Expert– one of the first and best green bloggers around.  By the way, does Andrea know that O.B.E. also stands for “Order of the British Empire?” It’s just shy of a knighthood. So I guess we’ll start calling her Dame Andrea. Anyway, herewith Barry’s debut post, published earlier this week in O.B.E. Enjoy!: 

If you have a male undercover product junkie in your life, join the crowd! New posts from “A Man’s View”

courtesy ocean resort key west

It’s Valentine’s Day and why not have some good clean fun! Here’s a simple way to spend time together, getting green and clean.

The Get Green and Clean Together Kit

1.      Sharing a bath is both greener and sexier. Set the mood by lighting a redflower italian blood orange candle to get things glowing and lightly scented

 2.      Farfalla Gemstones Oils :The Feel Good Set – Cleopatra used gemstones to build her beauty aura.  This kit contains seven different 100% certified natural, biodynamic oils to suit every possible mood – each features its own semi-precious stone and essential oils combo to banish stress and negative thoughts and bring balance and harmony. Each can be used as bath or massage oil. Start your soak with a couple of drops of  “Positive Flow” oil ( with Cleopatra’s favorite peridot gem)  to keep things moving in the right direction….  

3.      Pangea Japanese Matcha Tea with Acai and Goji Berry Mask : This mask is green in every sense of the word!  Have fun applying the gooey green mask to each other’s faces and laughing as you remind yourselves what fun it is to finger paint. The best surprise of all comes once you rinse off to reveal fabulous, glowing, nourished skin- visibly smoother and sexier. 

4.      More massage, this time with another of the Feel-Good Gemstone Oils.  Get close safely  by choosing “Security”….

 5.      Lip Therapy- make sure yours are ready for kissing with Juice Beauty’s SPF8 Lip Trio, made with USDA certified organic ingredients. With a rosy tint or plain.

  6.      The Morning After: have all you need to get spruced up and squeaky clean for work with the convenient  Dr. Hauschka  Daily Body Care Kit- contains travel-sized body washes and body creams for both of you. Choose rose body cream to bask in your last nights rosy glow! 

An Inclusive Victory

Like many Americans I am thrilled with the historic outcome of this election. Obama has become a national President, capable of unifying Americans across the geographic, gender, generational and racial divides. This is a victory for new America. A testimony to Americans’ capacity for growth and change. As a former expat who lived for 21 years in Europe, I know it will also enable a big boost in America’s international reputation, and an affirmation of the principles upon which the country was founded.

These themes were all echoed in Obama’s acceptance speech – a speech marked by a willingness to be humble in victory, and to reach out and embrace those disgruntled by defeat. His inclusiveness will help people move forward together, tackle tough issues, and get things done in the months ahead.

Inclusiveness is infectious. John McCain, in his concession speech, immediately became a practitioner. Gone was the bitterness, negativity and name-calling of the past few months. In its place was a heartfelt respect, as McCain reclaimed his dignity by asserting his intention to do all he can to help Obama in the days ahead. So much nicer than finger pointing !

And the point is? This inclusiveness, the leadership of change by understanding, inspiring and harnessing hope, by uniting people to work together for a better future, is very effective. It can be applied across many issues we face, both large and small.

Certification: A “Clean” Campaign?

I would love to see it applied to the area of natural and organic beauty care certification. Instead of unity, there seems protectionism and partisanship, according to this recent report from cosmetics design. There’s a new seal and standard every week, it seems, with slightly different criteria, both here and abroad. The still small but growing industry seems caught up in a “my seal is better than your seal” competition, complete with name-calling and lawsuits.

Inspiring? Or Tiring?

When I ask natural and organic beauty companies why they aren’t certified, they often reply that they feel many of today’s seals are “self-serving”, focused more on protecting and perpetuating their own interests than on educating consumers with reliable and truthful information about alternatives to conventional products. Others feel they have to appease multiple seal owners and collect them all like badges of victory. Still others feel unfairly excluded– because although they are making progress, they aren’t perfect yet. They feel eschewed for their imperfections rather than encouraged for their good intentions. If we are not careful, this sentiment could soon spill over to consumers. Confusion, cynicism, and ultimately, apathy could be the result.

“Do an Obama”

Why waste time, energy and money infighting about what is essentially good for everyone. I encourage the leaders of the natural and organic beauty industry to “do an Obama” and embrace the power of inclusive change in the campaign for safe and certified cosmetics. By enabling all “candidates” to work together to establish an achievable and measurable global standard of natural and organic beauty certification, even one with multiple levels, everyone stands to gain.

United we stand, divided we fall. A tired cliche?

Let last night be a lesson.

Last weekend I went to Boston to catch the last couple of days of Natural Expo East, the East coast leg of the world’s largest organic trade fair. (Natural Expo West, in LA, is the West coast version and BioFach, Germany, is the International one.)

What strikes you is how mainstream green is becoming when you meander among the 2,100 exhibitor booths and ponder the relative merits of everything from organic morning-sickness tea to disposable dinner plates (from pressed palm leaves), to waterless car care, 100-calorie organic muffins and even organic fro-yo for dogs (no, I didn’t make that up. It’s called Yoeghund……)

Busy Green Street Scene

The green scene is still relatively recession proof, as well as sometimes achingly innovative (see above.) According to the organizers, New Hope Natural Media, Expo East attendance was up this year vs. last to 26,000 vs. 25,000. However, it was the first year the show was held in Boston, not Baltimore, and no offense to Hairspray but Beantown is a more popular tourist destination. But the American natural market continues to grow. The organizers cite 2007 figures putting the natural market at a total of $62 billion, an increase of 9.8% over 2006. Still, it’s less than 10% of the bailout plan for banks, so there’s a lot of runway left before it becomes the true fabric of society. 

As I strolled along the aisles, I also noticed how polished and professional these companies are becoming, rather than homespun and hit-or-miss. Beautiful booths, powerful branding, polished packaging, sophisticated marketing techniques and claims. The stuff even looks and tastes tastes good! Has chic style, contemporary color!! Why, it might even deliver against its performance promises!!! As one very successful  green entrepreneur and spokesperson put it – if all else is equal, why would you NOT go green?

On that happy call to action, let me share with you my top four personal stand outs from across the categories excluding beauty care (yes, there were several interesting beauty & personal care brands present – and we are following up with a few – but more on that later! Maybe we’ll ask you to cast your votes on election day!) Meanwhile:

Everyday Houshold Item: NEW LEAF PAPER

New Leaf's New Metric

I loved the positioning, product design and people at NEW LEAF PAPER. Pretty notebooks, cards, dividers and post-its made from 38-100% post-consumer recycled waste. Their real edge is their brand positioning and product communication. The sustainability metric and graphic is simple, relevant and compelling. It creates a meaningful, tangible, trackable perspective about what it means to go green. Making the ordinary extraordinary is a true art . Brilliant! (As the Brits would say).

Clothing: UNDER THE CANOPY

Elegant EcoWear

Intriguing name, elegant style. Pared down, sophisticated collection of “just enough’. Tees that exhort you to vote. Three piece lounging and travel sets, relaxed yet perfectly tailored in this season’s aubergine. Simple, soft robes, beautifully presented. Truly useful spa accessories. And account execs to die for, as they engagingly and effectively interpreted who you were and what you were interested in and edited their pitch accordingly. Thanks, Porscha!  And ah, the booth, a wonderfully tactile ”at home” set  with bed and boudoir decor – like Jo Malone, but real! Founder Marci Zaroff is an original practitioner of the ”if all else is equal, why NOT go green?” philosophy. She’s made that choice easy!  

Food & Energy Drinks: GOOD BELLY

From the endless procession of  food, drink and pro-biotics, GOODBELLY. Funny name, already conceived campaign slogan (“have you had your goodbelly today?”) which the sampling staff all knew, so good training. Packs in a 100% daily requirement of 9 vitamins, bolsters immunity and gives women everything they want: bloat-free regularity, no Wheat or Dairy, 50 calories. 21-day money back guarantee. (Boy, did that work for Danone!!). Oi, all this and did I mention? It’s DELICIOUS!! So stomach that!

Green Clean: SEVENTH GENERATION:

As one of the first and most successful green brands, Seventh Generation could be getting it badly wrong by now. Instead, they stand out as a beacon of authenticity in an increasingly crowded and cynical world. It’s the cleaning equivalent of comfort food. Their booth was simple, smack in the center, a landmark. It actually welcomed you in! (Sometimes going professional and scaling up really dials down the homespun and inviting – but not here!) Made everyone feel like stopping by and turned the brand into a lively meeting place. And meet they did: I met my Dr. Hauschka partner here and chatted with a couple of very switched on company staffers who weren’t the least bit bothered that I wasn’t going to place a big supermarket order, or even order at all. For 360 degree branding brought alive through every touch point, it was hard to beat. And by the way - I don’t even use the products! But I will NOW!!!

So, across the board a few observations. Authenticity. Flair. Efficacy. Accessible Information. Branding Brought Alive. And Walking in the Customer’s Shoes. That’s what each of these companies did well. And it’s what we aspire to deliver as we build beautorium. Walking among these “green giants” served as an inspiring reminder.