Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater was recently host to the Toxies, a red carpet event honoring the year’s worst chemicals and toxic compounds found in everyday cosmetic and household products.
The annual event was organized by Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy (CHANGE), a coalition of environmental health, policy, labor, environmental justice, interfaith, and other organizations who are working to create a system for regulating toxic chemicals in California.
The initiative was remarkably creative, engaging, and such a unique way to raise awareness. Congratulations to CHANGE and everyone involved for putting it together! Be sure to follow CHANGE on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook.
Check out the winners and a video of the event below.
Worst Breakthrough Performance and Viewer’s Choice Award for Worst Chemical of 2009: Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen impersonator found in polycarbonate plastics used in baby bottles, reusable food and water containers and canned food liners. Linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer and infertility.
Lifetime Achievement in Harm: Lead, used in everything from paint and lunchboxes to candy and children’s toys, can interfere with children’s intellectual and behavioral development.
Worst Viral Media Performance: Triclosan, a pesticide used in hand sanitizer, antiperspirants, household cleaners, and toothpaste that can produce other toxic compounds.
Worst Costume: Perchlorethylene, commonly used in dry cleaning but can cause dizziness, nausea and organ damage.
Worst Stripper Performance: N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP), an industrial solvent used in chemical processing, paint stripper and graffiti remover.
Worst Special Effects: Perchlorate, an oxidizer used in fireworks, airbags, explosives and rocket fuel that can contaminate drinking water.
Fashion Week is a semiannual event held in New York City which brings together the best in new fashion and glamor. Helena, from mySkin.com, is out in Bryant Park talking to some of the models and collecting their beauty questions.
How do you keep skin healthy under heavy makeup?
Most important thing is to cleanse your skin twice a day with a gel cleanser to remove makeup and oil. Use hot water to open pores and splash your face with cold water afterward to close them. Also splash your face with cold water before applying makeup to keep it from clogging your pores.
Try using a mist or toner that contains Lavender, it’s very soothing to the skin and reduces irritation and inflammation which can be common with heavy makeup. After cleansing and toning use an appropriate moisturizer and let your skin breath.
Lastly, keep your hair clean and out of your face, and try not to touch your face too often. Both your hair and hands carry oils and bacteria which can break you out.
How do you keep skin moisturized without it feeling too greasy?
If you’re moisturizing and your skin feels greasy then you’re probably not exfoliating. Exfoliation removes accumulation of dead skin cells which will help your moisturizer to penetrate and hydrate your skin. Be sure to exfoliate your skin once to twice a week.
What are your favorite products not tested on animals?
I’m a huge animal lover and I always recommend buying only products that are “not tested on animals” or “cruelty free”. My favourite product line that is animal friendly is 100% Pure – they have a full range of skin care, hair care and cosmetic products with are also natural and organic.
Go green this Valentine’s Day and give yourself a homemade facial and hair treatment.
What You’ll Need
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp organic yogurt
1-2 tbsp honey
Hot Oil Hair Treatment
This treatment will give your hair lots of shine and hydration, and help reduce any split ends. To begin, wet your hair and microwave 2 tbsp of olive oil for 20 seconds. Massage the oil into your hair from scalp to the ends and then tie it back. While this treatment is working let’s start the facial.
Hydrating Facial (Scrub & Mask)
The facial consist of a scrub and a mask that will rehydrate your skin a give it a beautiful glow.
For the scrub, mix 2 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tsp of salt together. Apply this to your face in gentle circular motions concentrating on your cheeks, forehead and chin. After about 1 minute, rinse off the scrub with warm water – this will open our pores and help the mask to fully penetrate.
For the mask, mix 2tbsp of yogurt and 1-2 tbsp of honey, apply to your face and leave on 15 minutes.
The honey acts as a humectant that draws moisture from the air and locks it into your skin. Honey also helps to soothe, repair, and heal skin. The yogurt will even out and brighten your complexion.
After wards, hop in the shower and rinse your hair and face. If you have any olive oil and salt left over, you can scrub any part of your body that feels dry such as your elbows or knees.
Once your done in the shower – you’ll have an instant healthy glow and shine for Valentine’s Day.
Congratulations to MommytoMonster and excellentgerwa for winning the Maggie handbags giveaway!
Thanks to everyone for participating, I really appreciated all your responses on what you doing to make our environment green. I promise more giveaways and more prizes soon!! xx
It may surprise you that the average adult is exposed to over 168 synthetic chemicals each day from cosmetic products. Many of these chemicals are known to be toxic and can cause serious health problems like cancer, infertility, birth defects, and skin conditions like acne, eczema, and rosacea.
Stephanie Bellomo, an independent designer from Queens NY, creates fabulous handbags and accessories hand sewn from reclaimed leather. Her handbags are made from recycled leather, biodegradable faux-leather, and organic cotton.
All handbags and accessories are unique and original designs – a perfect companion to your everyday wardrobe to provide a pop of color, a deluxe adornment for your special night, or an eclectic addition to your style.
You can view all her entire eco-handbag collection in her Etsy store The Bungaloe Market.
Enter to win 1 of 2 recycled handbags from Maggie Bags! 2 winners will be chosen at random. Good luck! xo
Contest Ends: Jan 31, 2010
Contest Prizes:
1 Tote (pink)
1 Backpack (2-tone)
To enter:
Tell me what you are doing to be green, ex: do you recycle? have you switched your beauty product over to organic? Leave a comment on Facebook or YouTube:
The global demand for cars has left behind an abundance of surplus man-made materials. Each year millions of yards of seat belt webbing are rejected for the slightest defect, making the strap useless to the auto maker. The straps end up in our landfills and waste dumps.
Maggie bags has given new life to the unwanted fabric destined for a landfill – by creating a line of sophisticated and trendy handbags. The handbags are made from woven polyester strips and having been originally designed as the life saving seatbelt in your car, the material is of the highest quality and made to last.
The handbags styles range from Totes, Messenger, Hobo, Laptop Bag, Backpack, Diaper Bag, Carry-On, and come in a variety of colors and 2-tones.
I really love these handbags and even more so that they are made from recycled materials. I would like to see more green technology like this being applied to the fashion industry and divert unusable products from our landfills and create sensational products.
There are few things more frustrating than trying to find the right products that work for your skin. There is simply too many options available and too much misleading and inaccurate product advertising. But fret not, your quest for the perfect skin care routine just got a little easier.
mySkin.com is a beauty database which gathers product reviews and ratings from real people with similar skin concerns. The website allows you to discover products that work well for your skin type. You start by entering information about your skin’s unique profile and then you are presented with a list of recommended products. There’s also a great user forum where you can ask skin care questions and discuss product experiences.
In addition to recommendations, you also get a personalized skin assessment report which outlines detailed information about your specific skin type, what sorts of ingredients to avoid and other useful bits of information.
What I would really like to see added to mySkin is a method to exclude products based on hazardous ingredients like parabens or fragrance and a method to sort by characteristics such as eco-friendly packaging or vegan.
I liked that in addition to conventional beauty products, the database also contains organic and natural products from some of my favorite companies like 100% Pure and Eminence Organics.
mySkin is invite-only at the moment but you can register with the special code “glamology“.
Products labeled as “green” are everywhere these days. As much as we might want to be healthier – advertisers will do whatever they can to get us to buy their product; going as far as promoting it as organic, natural, green or environmentally friendly, when it really isn’t.
The EcoLuxeLife was founded by three women on a personal quest who understand how misleading and confusing purchasing natural products can be. In an effort to impart what they’ve learned; they created an open platform for others to share what they know.
The EcoLuxeLife is an online store of green beauty, fashion, baby, pet, home, and food products. Their goal is to bring awareness and help you find and evaluate new products and services to decide what is right for you. Most people want to make efforts to use healthier products, reduce the use of chemicals and be kind to the planet, and The EcoLuxeLife makes that a much easier.
Do you like samples?
If your new to green products or just like to try new things out, you can purchase a membership with The EcoLuxeLife and you’ll receive a package four times per year stuffed with a range of fabulous eco-friendly products. Each package is season appropriate and they also pack in some extra surprises too!
Sydne, from The EcoLuxeLife, was kind enough to extend a 20% discount off their membership fee to my readers, just use the coupon code “Glamology”.
