“As much as 60% of the topical skin-care products that people use now a days are absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream,” says Dr. Nancy Lonsdrof, M.D. “They should be consumed with the same prudence that we use to choose our breakfast cereal.” There are many toxic chemicals in cosmetic products that have been clinically proven to cause cancer, tumors, irritation and many different skin disorders.
So there’s our problem….now how do we solve it? *By using skin/hair/body care lines that are free of these chemicals and toxins.
Are those kind of lines out there-do they exist?*Yes!!
Are they affordable?*Yes! Yay!!
Beyond that from a personal experience I can share with you how much my skin improved once I started using these pure skin care lines. It’s obviously not the only contributor to my skin improving as I also changed my diet and many other things that you can read about in my other blog posts and vids BUT this was a huge component of the changes in my skin and hair. One example is that I used to get blackheads on a regular basis and thought it was normal to have them all the time. Now I almost never have them anymore unless I eat like a whole pie of pizza in one night which might or might not have occurred once or twice or ten times or so….but anyway, you get my drift. Another important point: there are many places like whole foods that sell skin care lines, shampoos ect. that claim they are all organic, natural ect. which compared to the below recommended products are not worthy of your beautiful skin or your money. I for one know that I get nothing out of sharing this with you except the shear joy of knowing that you might start using products that are healing for your body, mind and spirit. Espavo!
So where can we buy them?
*Online. Here they are by Order of Personal Preference:
Living LibationsIf there was a skin care line that people use in heaven…this would be it! Every one of their products that I’ve used so far has been one of pure bliss! They have everything under the sun when it comes to hair, skin & body care including face creams, makeup, shampoos and even dental care! There is also a surprising and delightful poetic description about each product which shows the immense amount of energy and passion that is transmitted into this goodness. Obsessed am I? Totally! I especially love their dental care products, Underarm Charm deodorants, MaidenFern Blushing Balm, Ruby Juice Lover Lips, Everybody Loves the Sunshine sun screen, RoseGlow face creme, Maverick face creme, Seabuckthorn shampoo, Shine On Hair conditioner, and Lavender Essential Oil which I put in my bath, smoothie and raw chocolate treats!
Live-Live is a small store in the east village that carries the latest and purest organic products out there. The owners sell their own amazing natural skin care products. I highly recommend the “Bee Yummy Skin Food” face & body cream and the “Herbal Shampoo” which I also use as a face & body wash.
Ascended Health Their products are amazing. They also include spiritual blessings from various traditions like kabbalah and native american. I love their dental products and their sufi bliss oil.
Morrocco MethodThey have great soaps, natural hair dye, natural eye liner ect.
TerressentialsTheir lines are 100% organic & natural and you can purchase samples of pretty much everything they sell. Their products are relatively affordable and you don’t have to worry about what you’re putting on your skin! I especially love their “Flower Therapy” toner, “Seductive Spice” body oil and “Lovin Lavender” hand soap!
ISUN SkincareWhat I like about this line is that some of the products contain gemstones.
100 Percent Pure has a great and affordable make up line. I especially love their eyeliners and mascara where they use black tea and other all natural products in their ingredients.
FuturenaturalThey have a large selection of natural and organic beauty products. I especially love their Alaska Glacial Mud. I remember how special the mud at the glaciers in Alaska was when I put some on my hand.
**If you use natural organic hair & skin care products that you think are worthy to add to this list I would love to hear from you-so shoot me an email!
There are many places where we can choose to buy our clothes now a days but do we ever think about where they came from, what the process of making them is all about, and how they affect our health? Even when we buy “organic” clothes does it mean that they are really all natural or do they just grow the cotton organically and then add the chemicals in afterwards?
The unfortunate truth is that most of the “organic” clothing out there are still full of chemicals that are bad for our health and our earth. Fact is that after the organic cotton is picked it is put through a scouring process where they use some kind of chemical for washing it and then they go ahead and dye the “organic” cotton with a variety of synthetic dyes which are packed with chemicals. The so called “eco-friendly” dyes are made from less harsh chemicals but chemicals nonetheless that our bodies absorb through our pores and lungs. At the end of the day marketing this type of garment as “organic” or “eco-friendly” is a complete hoax geared towards making money.
The only way for a garment to be completely organic, natural and earth friendly is by not putting any chemicals into it and by only using plant based dyes and soaps. Designers have too much freedom with the word “organic” and “eco-friendly” when it comes to marketing their products. As mentioned earlier if the cotton was grown organically no matter how many chemicals have been added to it after it’s picked it can still be marketed as organic! A few “eco” clothing designers and companies have told me that they hesitate to use natural dyes because they are afraid that the colors won’t stay. I can now say first hand that that is not true. I own naturally dyed organic clothing which I washed a few times already and the colors are as vibrant as they were when I first bought them.
Naturally dyed organic clothing introduce a whole new world of what wearing clothes is all about. It’s actually an ancient practice so this “new world” isn’t so new after all. Each herb and plant that is used as a clothing dye has its own healing properties! It’s like killing two birds with one stone or should I say healing two birds with one stone!
Below is a list of clothing designers who leave out all of the harmful chemicals from their fabrics and use all natural dyes instead of synthetic ones.
Naturally Dyed Organic (Chemical-Free) Clothing:
1.The designer fromAdo Clothingfollowed her roots by using fabrics dyed with Ayurvedic Indian herbs. Anjelika shared with me that she used to work for a clothing company where she experienced first hand not only the amount of chemcials they put into the fabrics but the unethical harmful environment that many of the employees had to work in on a daily basis. This encouraged her to go out and start a clothing line that is beneficial and healing to all who are associated with it. After buying some of her clothes I never want to take them off because they feel so nurturing. Her fabrics have a level of silkiness and softness to them that I haven’t experienced before in other cotton fabrics. Another cool fact is that the left over water from the natural dyes is also good for the earth! Plus, all of the roots, plants and herbs that the mill in India uses to dye the fabrics with are wild! Anjelika’s website is:http://adoclothing.com/and you can also purchase her clothes at:http://www.nimli.com/items_2240.html
2.Go Indigo Jeanssells jeans that are organic, ethical, and naturally dyed using the indigo plant. You can see how they make their jeans in the video below. You can also purchase their jeans at: http://www.goindigojeans.com/
4.Gaia Conceptions uses organic cotton, hemp and wool fabrics with the the option of using all natural dyes when placing your order. There are MANY styles to choose from and the designer also allows you to customize some of the pieces to your liking. Andrea, the designer, also designs the clothing according to your specific measurements: http://www.etsy.com/shop/gaiaconceptions
6.Kelgwouses local wool that comes in many different natural colors. They also use local roots and plants to dye their wool: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kelgwo
Recently, I had the privilege of training with raw chef Dan from Quintessence: http://www.raw-q.com in NYC. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I thought I would learn a good number of recipes from one of the top raw food chefs out there and that would be an experience in itself but to my pleasant surprise the training offered a lot more than that…
I first heard about the training from raw chef Dan’s website: http://rawchefdan.com/ and throughout my incredibly schedule packed year of being a therapist intern and a grad student I kept it in the back of my mind. Then one day I went to a raw food event and ran into a friend who told me about the graduation dinners that Dan and his students host at the end of his raw chef certification training. She said she couldn’t believe how amazingly delish all of the dishes that the students prepared were. I took that as a sign and used that as the extra push that I needed to further look into this training program. This was also around the same time that Dan stopped using agave as the main sweetener at Quintessence and decided to use Xylitol instead which I was super excited about!
I decided to do an interview with Dan about his raw chef mastery certification program which you can watch in the video below which is what ended up inspiring me to finally register especially with the early registration discount. I was so impressed with how organized and well thought out Dan’s training program was. On the first day Dan gave me an overview of the digestive system and its relationship to food combinations, unhealthy vs healthy food, and detoxification. Dan prepared his lessons and recipes based on their level of technique and he really encouraged me to do things on my own so I could gain the skills that I needed to be a raw food chef.
I still can’t believe how much we accomplished and how many recipes I learned in just five days! It was definitely a no-nonsense training compared to the other ones that I’ve had. The fun part was that I got to take home most of the leftovers of whatever we were making that day including from the graduation dinner. The highlight of my training experience was the graduation dinner that we had for our guests using all of the skills and techniques that Dan taught me. According to Dan, preparing and organizing this dinner offered me a taste of what it would be like to run a raw food restaurant for a day including planning the menu, buying the ingredients, uncooking it up and interacting with my guests who were all blown away with the dishes.
The coolest part of the training was realizing how simple and easy all of the raw food dishes, even the sophisticated ones, are to make OR maybe chef Dan secretly imbedded the skills and techniques into my DNA code and now it just comes totally naturally to me…maybe that part will remain a mystery…but at least now I know why it’s called the Raw Chef “Mastery“ Program. It makes me feel like I’ve mastered the techniques of raw food uncooking.
At the end of the day it feels like quite an accomplishment…but I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:-) Below are pictures of the raw food dishes from the Greek menu that I put together with chef Dan including herb cheese balls with fruits and apricot sauce, a Greek tomato salad, a cheese crepe with caviar, tomato soup with garlic tahini sauce, butternut squash pasta with a side of tzaziki, and last but definitely not least………drumroll…..flan with caramel sauce, a chocolate ball, and lavender/honey/vanilla ice cream-YUM!
My Interview with Raw Chef Dan from Quintessence about his Raw Chef Mastery Certification Program
Pictures of my Raw Food Creations from the Raw Chef Mastery Certification Training
Dr. Aris Latham is known as the “father of gourmet ethical raw foods cuisine in America” according to the encyclopedia. He owned several raw food restaurants in places like NYC, Washington, and California and was the Master Chef at the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. He has served as an Executive Food Service Consultant to the Island Outpost Strawberry Hill Resort in Irish Town, and catered to the Kingston Hilton Hotel in Jamaica. I partook in Dr. Aris Latham’s Raw Food Certification Training Program in Panama a few weeks ago.
Dr. Aris used to run an eco-resort in Jamaica where he offered retreats and raw food trainings and about a month ago he moved to panama which is where he grew up. Dr. Aris showed me his new eco-organic resort in Panama on a beautiful beach with a coconut farm as well as many other fruit trees-you can see the pictures of it in the video below!
In the videos below Dr. Aris explains how to achieve optimal health on the raw food diet and sheds light on the truths of the raw food industry including not getting caught in some of their marketing schemes. Dr. Aris also teaches you what a typical day would look like on his diet. Overall, Dr. Aris has a different approach than most of the raw foodists that I trained with and learned from-one that is more affordable and more in harmony with nature and the rest of the universe. In the videos below you will also learn about what you can eat and drink to optimize your health, how you can drink alkaline water without having to pay for those expensive machines and/or filtration systems and why colonics are not necessary when you follow his daily regimen. Dr. Aris taught me how to make some delicious and completely guilt free raw food dishes like sprouted aramanth crackers, his famous paradise pie, and coconut cream cheese-YUM!
Throughout the training I also decided to detox on fruit juices and my favorite fruit to juice is called the “rose apple” which can be found in places like Jamaica and Panama. If you can get your hands on this fruit I would highly recommend juicing it because it has this beautiful pink color to it and tastes absolutely refreshing and delicious and it is super healthy for you especially when it comes to your digestive system. The most important thing that I learned from training with Dr. Aris is to drink liquids and eat moisture rich foods throughout the day. This is the key to making sure that your body is continually flushing out your toxins and is full of life flowing energy that will prevent stagnation. Dr. Aris highly encourages you to drink a lot of coconut water which is a natural laxative that has the power to stimulate bowel movement and flush out the toxins from your body among many other health benefits that it offers.
Enjoy the Vids and make sure to post down below if you feel inspired or even if you feel strongly about something. Feel free to also leave a comment on my youtube channel-either way I would love to hear from you! Bye for Now!
Last night I attended Christie’s Green Auction called ‘A Bid to Save the Earth’ in honor of Earth Day in NYC which ended up raising $1,387,000 to benefit four environmental organizations: Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Central Park Conservancy and Conservation International. Celebrities such as Chevy Chase, who hosted the event, Ted Danson, Jim Cramer from ‘Mad Money’, Salma Hayek, and several members from the Rockefeller family were also there. Before the auction took place I spoke with Miss Universe and Miss USA about what inspired them to attend the event. Miss Universe was so graceful and inviting to talk to and Miss USA had an incredible amount of charisma to share about living green. It was such a pleasure to interview both of them-and a lot of fun! Watch the Vids below for their interviews!
We all know Ted Danson from shows like Cheers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bored to Death, and Damages but how many of us know him for the tremendous amount of impact he’s made in helping to save our planet? For many years now Ted has invested a vast amount of energy in helping to preserve our oceans. During the auction at Christie’s I happened to be sitting right behind Ted and his family. I could tell how passionate Ted was about the event and its cause so after the auction I asked him if he would be interested in talking about what inspired him to attend. He generously said yes considering how busy he was and how many people were there to talk to him and take pictures with him.
Ted had a gentle, authentic and funny nature to him which made it that much more enjoyable during the interview. Most importantly Ted’s passion for saving the Earth and especially for protecting our ocean life became quite apparent throughout the course of the event. In my interview with him Ted talks about his organization called “Oceana” which helps protect the world’s oceans. Oceana works to stop ocean pollution, promote responsible fishing, protect marine wildlife, preserve special nature places, and advocates for cleaner energy on the oceans. Oceana, founded in 2001, is the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation. Oceana’s scientists work closely with a team of economists, lawyers and advocates to achieve tangible results for the oceans.
You can watch Ted’s Video about Oceana at:http://na.oceana.org/en/about-us/what-we-do. Oceana does an incredible amount of work that is so inspiring and really makes a difference for our planet. Thank you Ted for caring so much and doing your part in helping to save our Earth!!
Recently I had the privaledge of spending time with Amanda Young at Atmananda Yoga in Soho, NYC. Amanda taught me how to make her delicious raw chocolate truffles called urban goddess chocolate. At the end of our private session I left with a whole box full of them and ended up giving them away to random people on the street feeling that they are the best kept secret out there as far as chocolate goes! The eyes of the people who tasted them lit up and they immediately asked me where they could get more of them. The best part about Amanda’s chocolates is that they are totally guilt free with cashew butter, agave and cacao powder as the main ingredients. What I love about them is their soft and creamy texture on the inside and each flavor has something so unique and special like the “isolt flavor” which includes ingredients like dried cherries, strawberries and rose water! You can order them from her website: www.urbangoddesschocolate.com or if you live in the NYC area www.organicavenue.comon 116 Suffolk Street carries them. When I have enough time and energy I love making them on my own at home and to make them more candida friendly I use yacon syrup instead of agave for the sweetener and it still tastes so delicious! Watch Amanda make them in the video below while she talks about the inspirational workshops that she leads in NY and Costa Rica!
