Sunday, April 26, 2009

Aveda Color and Cargo Plantlove Lipcolor Update

I want to introduce you today to a great alternative to your favorite brand of hair coloring. If you have never tried it, try Aveda Color for your hair. Aveda-a pioneer in the green products movement who have been making products from mainly naturally derived and organically grown ingredients since 1978- has a wonderful line of hair color that is 93% naturally derived. It contains

only trace amounts of oxidative dyes (7%) such as phenylenediamine and are lead-, toluene-, and coal tar-free.

[USA Weekend article, " Natural Beauty: care for yourself and Earth." and Julie Gabriel author of The Green Beauty Guide.]

I've personally had the Aveda Color service done at the salon on more than one occasion and the color is vibrant with exceptional fade resistance comparable if not better than competitors, especially if you take good care of it by using color retentive hair care.

>>UPDATE: I mentioned Cargo brand's 100% Natural Origin Lipstick line called Plantlove and intended to update as soon as I tried it. When I purchased it, I was excited and pleasantly suprised. The lipstick's plastic case and cardboard packaging are biodegradable. The lipstick case is made of corn plastic (a renewable resource) while the box is embedded with plant seeds that you are encouraged to plant by moistening and burying. A portion of sales ($2 USD from each, a minimum of $50,000 USD total) from the product will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The product itself has good pigmentation and a nice smooth feel. The generous amount of botanical waxes give it good weight so that the color is durable and longer lasting. Some natural lip colors that contain only essential oils tend to wear away quickly, so the addition of waxes is very wearable.

I currently wear Aveda Color in Twilight and Cargo in Joshua Tree.

sincerely yours,

rOsE


Sunday, April 12, 2009

Today, I want to introduce you to some new products I've tried by Aveda. I've recently been rediscovering Aveda products, which I first found several years ago. Aveda is a great company that has a great mission of trying to be as green as possible with most products over 90% naturally derived. (Most are over 95% but since the products range, 90% is a nice safe range to state.) Started in the late 70's, they aim to use lots of PCP (Post Consumer Plastic) and encourage vendors to install recycling programs, encourage sustainable farming, and use organic ingredients whenever possible.

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Their Smoothing Fluid which is a part of their Light Elements line of hair care products is wonderful as a heat styling protectant and for calming frizz and unruly hair. I have slightly wavy hair -which is especially drier after I've washed it and unrulier if I haven't blown it dry- and when I use some frizz serums, my hair doesn't show any immediate difference. The first time I tried Smoothing Fluid, it was immediately calmer and sleeker and the waves were no longer pointing in different directions, and I hadn't even turned my dryer on yet. Pleasant herbal scent, more fluid than most serums so don't overdue it, a little can go a long way. Use a little at a time.

Secondly, I have tried their Firming Face Creme from their Green Science line. I have to say I'm not in love with the product. It is rather thick and doesnt feel very emollient. I feel like I have to use large amounts because it doesnt smooth on very easily. Whether or not it works well for its purported firming properties I wouldn't know because for me if the feel of a product isn't appealing, I probably won't continue to use it. It does have a pleasant herbal scent though. So if feel of a moisturizer isn't important to you, give it a try. Aveda's good for you and good for the earth ingredients sure make me want to try all their products and I think if you feel as I do, you would too.

sincerely yours,


rOsE