The Kind Life

These are my absolute favorite go-to shampoos and conditioners.  What are yours?

SHAMPOO

-Giovanni Golden Wheat Shampoo, 50:50 Balanced Shampoo, and Root 66 Max Volume Shampoo: I love these!



-Kiss My Face Big Body: Love this one

-Kiss My Face Miss Treated: This one is great too


CONDITIONER

-Desert Essence Italian Red Grape: I love this product.  It smells SOOOO good, and feels so nice on your hair.

-Giovanni Smooth As Silk Conditioner, Root 66 Max Volume Conditioner, and 50:50 Balanced Conditioner:  I love them all

-John Masters Organics Lavender and Avocado Intensive Conditioner

-Naturally Pure Conditioner


My makeup blog is still coming, I'm just adding more products to it!  So stay tuned...



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For any of the Canadians on this site or people who travel to Canada, I've recently switched to a line of hair care products called Live Clean. They have an entire line of skin care, body and hair products. Here is the run down of the products and what they stand for:

http://www.live-clean.com/content/content.aspx?title=all%20the%20good%20without%20the%20bad
I just started using the Giovanni product line and I LOVE it ~ thanks for these great posts. As a veggie consumer it is hard to find the right natural products that truly work. Everyone's feedback really helps. :-)
I  luv  pureology  &  wen products.  wil  try  giovanni .
For us guys on the site... Do you think you can share the products that your husband uses? I stumbled apon this site just searching on google: http://www.bewellstaywell.com/skincare_for_men.htm
I'd be interested to see what he uses
  • Tigs
  • Mar 19, 2010
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Hi Ian--I got my bf Alba Cream Shave Unscented (possibly from the lady's hair removal section in the drugstore?!), and he absolutely loves it!  Not for shaving his legs--he's quite proud of his leg hair, but his facial and neck hair.  It's super moisturizing, vegan standards, paraben free, and cruelty free.  He says it's the best thing he's ever used and won't go back to the proctor and gamble crap ever.  Hope you can find it!
I really love the Desert Essence Organics line...the lemon is my favorite, but the grape is a close second.  They all smell delicious and work really, really well.
I will have to pick up some Giovanni products the next time I'm at the store.
I have tried the Giovanni products but really struggle to get the conditioner out of the bottle.  Any advice?  Otherwise, I really love the Alba products in the Hawaiian scents (plumeria, gardenia, etc.).
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my winter wardrobe
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Mar 8, 2010

I'm doing great in the New York weather.  Here's kind of a sampling of what I've been wearing lately:

I wear leggings under my jeans and they keep me pretty darn warm. My favorite leggings are organic cotton ones from Birch Clothing that I just got in black. Another favorite pair are by EcoSkin.

 And another fun pair are by Wildfox.  They are white and have the word LOVE going down the side of the leg.  So funky and groovy.  However, they are not organic or eco... Just for fun. They are old ones that I have.



I also love to wear comfy, eco friendly tanks under everything.  Lululemon has some good eco tanks, for yoga and for layering.  Lots of their clothing is made of regular fabric, but they also make many of their products out of fabrics made from seaweed, wood pulp, and organic cotton.  All of these fabrics are low impact. So cool! If you go to one of their stores, just ask them to show you all of their eco clothing.

I also have this grey Topo Ranch tank (pictured above) that I love, that is also eco. 

And socks... I really like these black eco socks that I have. They are from the Naturals Collection from Hot Sox.  Hot Sox has super comfy socks. The socks are made out of rayon (i know this is not eco but I believe it's a small part of a very eco product), tactel, bamboo, soy, flax and organic cotton yarns. These are the warmest, comfiest socks ever.  They are my favorite right now, but if anyone has any good suggestions let me know. Also, I always like the socks I get from Maggie’s Organics.  They are not super winter socks... But they work just fine for 35 degree and above weather.  They are super soft and comfy! I also just got some super cute striped socks from Acorn. They aren’t eco, but are just super cute and very very warm and comfy.

I really need a great pair of walking shoes that you can walk 30 blocks or more in and feel comfortable in, but are also weather proof.  I love my vegan Adidas shoes because they are super comfy, but they aren't really appropriate for extreme cold and rain.  They are really great, and I might get another pair... The only problem is that they have these tiny little air holes in them, so when it’s cold my feet can feel it! So I'm on the shoe hunt and I will report back on what I find.  But if anyone has solved the great shoe mystery let me know! I recently solved part of this mystery with my grey vegan Rubber Duck boots.

But if anyone knows of any other great cold weather shoes, let me know!  I’d love to know if you’ve found shoes that are vegan, eco, super comfy walking shoes?  I sometimes walk 45 minutes at a time, so I need something super comfy.

I also love long-john undershirts. I don't have any new eco-friendly ones, but I just went to some used clothing stores and bought a bunch there (plus the ones I've had for 10 years).  Does anyone know of any other eco-friendly brands that make a great long sleeve shirt?  

I have really been loving these J.Crew long sleeve shirts that I have... My friend had to force me to buy them, as they aren’t eco, aren’t used, and I was being stubborn.  But they are truly going to be in my closet for the rest of my life.  Things that I love, like these shirts, will be worn until they are covered in holes!

I also found more long sleeve shirts from Rawganique, which are best as pajamas.

This is a picture of Christopher wearing the Rawganique PJ pants.  He has the whole outfit, and looks so cute when he wears it!  And they are definitely eco.

Sweaters - I'm wearing all used, thrift store finds. Right now I'm wearing a cotton hoodie layered and that's working out just fine but I need some more.   I want to buy vegan, preferably eco-friendly ones that are cute.  Any ideas?  I always go for used ones but I'd like the community to see some great new eco options too.

I also have my beloved PI Organic black cardigan that I just adore.  It’s so chic... And VERY warm!! It’s my favorite. You can check out their website HERE.

I'm loving my Patagonia coat (pictured below) which I've had for many, many years now.

Patagonia is a cool company because they have a ‘Freedom to Roam’ initiative, that is dedicated to establishing migration wildways for animals between protected areas.  You can learn more about this great program HERE. Patagonia also has a program called “Common Threads Garment Recycling Program”, where they let customers return their old coats for recycling. They’ve since been able to expand the list of recyclable garments to include worn out Patagonia® fleece, Polartec® fleece clothing (from any maker), Patagonia cotton T-shirts, and now some additional polyester and nylon 6 products that come with a Common Threads tag. Patagonia says, “Through Common Threads we can transform your unusable garments into new clothing, which gets us closer to a long-standing company goal of taking full responsibility for every product we make”, which is amazing! They also use lower impact dyes and organic cotton in a lot of their clothing. I really love my Patagonia coat! It’s very warm and pretty darn cool looking... but isn’t completely Sex And The City (although, I don’t know if there are any good coats for snow and rain that would be Sex And The City!).  Definitely open to finding  a cool, sexy coat!  Anyone have any thoughts there?  Must be very warm, possibly eco-friendly... or at least a vegan coat made for super freezing, snowy conditions.  I also have two old vintage coats that I wear, and love! I’m really happy with the coats that I have been using, but am always happy to learn about more great companies and great styles to share with this community.

Also, if you like the anti-fur pin that I'm wearing on my Patagonia coat, you can get one HERE.

I also just invested in a really fancy rain coat that is going to be with me for at least 10 years... If not more!  It’s so nice, and I’ve been wearing it all the time.  It’s super fancy pants... I wore it on Oprah, and am kind of shy to say that it’s Burberry.  Totally not eco, but so good looking, and will last me forever.  Trust me, I put a lot of thought into this coat before buying it! I went back to the store 3 times before taking it home with me!

I have this great pink bamboo scarf by Naturally Knotty that is actually really warm.  it's definitely toasty for very, very cold weather.  And I have a black, organic scarf by Maggie’s Organics that is very good, but too thin for snow and super cold temps.  It's great style for the West coast cold that I'm used to... and perhaps for an above average New York winter.  And last but not least, I have a cool vintage linen scarf which is very good for the cold. What do you guys use? 

The rest of my scarves are from thrift stores and I love them.

I just bought an amazing pair of gloves... They are so warm, I love them, because they are made of recycled fleece, and are totally eco.  I got mine at REI.

What are you wearing while it's chilly outside?




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alex's visit to nyc!
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Mar 4, 2010

I'm sooo happy because one of my closest friends, Alex Keeling, came to stay with me in New York the other day.  She arrived while I was at a meeting, but when I was done we went to Cafe Gitane.  My part-time roommate, a beautiful model named Lonneke, who is also very much into organic food and a healthier life and planet, told me to go there.  We had the Toast with Avocado on it with some oil and chili flakes.  It was delicious!  I usually make my own version of this at home and it's soooo good.  We also had a great Arugula Salad with Beets and Olive Tapenade. If you go, just make sure to ask for this salad without the cheese.




After lunch we went to Babycakes and shared a Lemon Agave Cupcake and a brownie.  So good! The boys working there were so cool and groovy.  This place is awesome and they have lots of gluten-free stuff for all you gluten free people.

Later, we walked into a great vintage store called Ina for clothes and stuff.  It’s quite pricey, but they had some very nice things.  Last week when I was there I got a new shirt and scarf that I've been wearing non-stop and love!  But we just walked in for a quick peek and then we went over to a cute wine shop on Elizabeth Street and bought a specific bottle I was looking for.  I haven't opened it yet but I had tried this wine at a great West Village Italian place and loved it.  It's called Savuto Odoardi.  It's not organic but it was so good I just had to track down a bottle! Although I so rarely drink at home, who knows when this bottle will get opened!  It might make it back to LA with me. 



After our stroll we went back to the apartment to rest a little bit.  I checked emails and such and then we went to get Dosas from this guy in Washington Park.  He was so cute and friendly! He seemed like such a good man! And the Dosas were yummy.  His story is so great...he went vegan because so many college students would talk to him about it while they visited his cart.  I just love that!  Let's all try and ask him to stop using styrofoam containers...they're just so bad for the environment. 

I had another meeting later that day and then after that I met Alex at Pure Food and Wine. They have my favorite cocktail in town, the Master Cleanse Martini... it's sooooo freakin' good!  We also had the King Oyster Mushroom Scallops with Hijiki Seaweed as an appetizer, soooooo good.

After that we headed over to Del Posto for some dinner (which is where I took all of these pictures).  They have an entire vegan menu and it was so good! We shared the tasting menu. 


It's a very pricey restaurant but such a special treat. But if you don't drink the bill might not be so bad.  We shared two glasses of wine between us and it was yum. 

You must go there for a fancy tasting.  Just ask for the vegan menu... you can also order a la carte too.  The desserts were crazy!!!  I grew up on English Crunch bars...chocolate covered honeycomb and they made that, just without real honey! It was crunchy, just like English Crunch bars!




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rubber duck boots
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Feb 25, 2010

I'd been looking for a really great pair of boots to wear in the snow and rain and I found them!  I got some boots made by Rubber Duck Brand and I am putting them to good use in NYC! They're perfect for this weather. I've been wearing the grey lace up ones (pictured below), and they are 100% vegan.  The whole Rubber Duck line is not vegan, just this shoe and few other, but I like this one the best out of all of their vegan options.

 

Let's all bug Rubber Duck about using more eco-friendly materials, like recycled plastics, in their boots next year and move away from using animal ingredients in some of their shoes... they might listen! 


UPDATE: I want to let all of you know that I would never in a million years buy anything made with sheepskin, or made with animal skins.  It was made clear to me that this company was vegan... and we are looking into this at the moment and will report back ASAP.  Please know that I truly did check this before I posted this blog. I am sad and horrified that this happened. I do know that the grey shoes that I have are 100% vegan.  I'm very sorry for this happening, and I have altered the blog above accordingly.

Also, I do like buying vegan stuff from non-vegan companies.  It helps those companys grow their vegan roots.  If we support vegan products from non-vegan companies, then those companies will get positive feedback from the vegan products, and will create more.

At the end of the day, it's about finding the best choice under any given circumstance.  If these are the cutest vegan boots that I can find then I want to celebrate them! 

I really appreciate all of the feedback in the comments, and would like to know your thoughts on buying vegan products from companies that are not exclusively vegan.




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warm winter coats...AND they're vegan!
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Feb 24, 2010

 

It's pretty chilly here in New York! 

I recently found these coats by Vaute Couture which are so groovy!  I love the styles, but I love even more is what the company stands for.  They are dedicated to making products that are cruelty free, eco-conscious and high functioning... as well as great style.  It's so cool... they use deadstock and vintage metal buttons.  And I love things with a vintage touch!  Check them out and let me know what you think. 

You can find the coats here.  I know they're pretty pricey, but if you're in the market to splurge on a coat, this is a great way to go.  All the proceeds from every jacket sale goes to Farm Sanctuary to help animals in need!  So cool. So you aren’t just getting a coat that you can wear for the next 15 years or so… you are donating to Farm Sanctuary too!

I recently met Leanne from Vaute Couture, and she is so sweet!  She cares so much.  I love that some of the coats are made completely with recycled materials, and that ALL the profits go to Farm Sanctuary, which is such a great charity.

And the best part... all of these coats are on sale, starting today!  Leanne let me know that all of the coats are 35-70% off (depending on style and color) and start at $130 for this end of season special! There are promo codes listed for each style on their website that can be used at checkout.  You can also grab a girlfriend, because you can get ANY two coats for 50% off each! Amazing sale, amazing coats AND for charity!

What are your favorite cruelty free clothing companies?  I’d love to hear about them.




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natural hair styling products
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Feb 18, 2010

Good hair products are always hard to come by... and once you find ones that you love it's very comforting. Scott, a hairdresser that has worked with me a lot in the past, has recommended some great products.  He was also kind enough to answer some other questions for me, which are at the end of this blog.



I just love Scott! He is such a great hair artist, and I feel so safe with him knowing that he only uses the best, kind products.  He also has amazing hair… and he's vegan! Take a look at what Scott recommends:

Giovanni was started by Arthur Giovanni, a Beverly Hills salon owner.  Giovanni makes a full line of cruelty-free, organic and vegan products, and you can find them at Whole Foods.  Everything from shampoos and conditioners, to styling and finisher products you can find HERE. I've been using a couple Giovanni products since I started my play, and they are great.  One of the products, Vitapro Fusion, protects my ends from hairdryer heat, and the other is Shine of the Times Finishing Mist for calming down frizz, and smoothing funny fly-aways.



MOP (Modern Organic Products) makes Scott's favorites, the C-System.  All organic and food-based ingredients, these products can be found in tons of salons and beauty supply stores.  Use their locator to find a store near you.

Aveda makes tons and tons of products for every type of hair and hair need, it just depends on what you need.  Their products aren't always vegan, but Aveda avoids chemicals when they can, and most of their products are derived from natural ingredients.  My favorite Aveda product for my hair is the Volumizing Tonic.  After I shower at night, I sleep on my damp, washed hair that I wrap into a loose bun.  Then, in the morning, I spray a little of this on my hair if I'm going somewhere spunky, and my hair gets that tosselled and textured look.



Scott recommends some other products in this little interview that I did with him, and also talks about why he decided to go vegan:

What products do you use and why?  What are your considerations when choosing products?

I use a variety of products depending upon my clients' needs, however I always try to use the conscientious choice as there is really no reason not to. Many of the larger companies have come a long way and adhere to cruelty-free practices and, in many cases, vegan or vegetarian ingredients. It just takes a little diligence to read the packaging and make the smart decision.

Bumble & Bumble makes a full line of cruelty-free products which are fantastic and with a few exceptions, mostly beeswax, they are vegan as well. The same goes for Aveda, but I have to admit that the fragrances are a little overwhelming sometimes. Giovanni and Jason, both carried at Whole Foods, are also terrific, but as with Aveda and other "natural" products, these have a more limited shelf life and last longer if refrigerated.

I also tend toward a natural alternative whenever possible. Pure shea butter makes a spectacular pomade. I use it for piece-y looks and to smooth frizziness. A little goes a long way. Pure aloe vera gel makes a great hair gel and when mixed with rosewater makes a great spray-on blow dry product. Adds thickness and shine with no alcohol! Also, glycerine and rosewater can take the place of serums to calm naturally curly hair and reduce frizz.

Why did you decide to go vegan?

 I was raised in a very meat-friendly household, with more than one choice of meat for every meal. As soon as I left home as a teenager I became vegetarian, and have just naturally evolved into a vegan lifestyle from there. I was never a fan of my many meat options and have always been a lover of all animals, so it just seemed like the right trajectory for me. It certainly was a philosophical decision first and a health benefit by coincidence. I have now been vegetarian/vegan for over 40 years and have certainly reaped the long-term benefits in my health, weight control, skin, etc...I try not to be preach-y about it and always felt that did more harm than good. I try only to live by example and work to educate my friends, co-workers and clients gently and with love.

Hope this was helpful to you guys!  I'd love to know what hair products you use.  And if you try any of the products that Scott recommended, let me know how you like them!



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eco stores in LA & NYC
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Feb 10, 2010

Eco-friendly stores are popping up everywhere now... it's so exciting!  A couple years ago it was hard to track down so many eco-friendly products, but now everything is readily available to us.  I've been compiling a list of eco-friendly stores in Los Angeles and New York, and wanted to share some of the ones that I know of with you.  If you have any others to add to the list write them in the comments below.  Happy eco-shopping!

LOS ANGELES

Sparrow - a great place to shop for the eco-baby in your life!

Boom - modern design company using trees from sustainable forests and aluminum that is 100% recycled


The Little Seed - founded by Soleil Moon Frye, and carries a wide variety of organic and eco-friendly baby products


Kelly Green - very cool home design store started by a production designer with a passion for sustainable practices. Shop online too!

 
Undesigned by Carol Young - eco-friendly clothing and accessories


Visionary Boutique - eclectic eco-boutique carrying a wide variety of fashion accessories with an eco-chic flair


Soolip - papers and hand-made soaps

 
Living Green - locations in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and most recently, Montecito, California.  Carrying everything under the sun with an online shop too!


All Shades of Green Living - a green living store with a huge selection of products and online shop

Natural High - men's and woman's clothing, as well as home accessories

 
Whole Foods Lifestyle Store - eco goods for men, woman, children and home


EpOxyGreen - eco building supplies


Green Cradle - organic mattresses and bedding for everyone

 
Green And Greener - green general store for low-impact living

 
Organic Rush - offering high quality, organic, natural and eco-friendly products

Vie - sells stylish, environmentally friendly clothing, products and books


Avita Co-Op - eco-friendly apparel


NEW YORK

Build It Green - low cost salvage materials

 
3R Living - reuse, reduce, recycle and fair-trade!

Vivavi - furniture and design

Giggle - socially/environmentally conscious baby goods

Teich - eco-friendly handbags, shop online


What are the eco stores in your area? I would love to hear about them!



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cute purse from etsy.com
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Jan 25, 2010

Etsy seller Mehran sent me a pretty cute vegan purse from her shop.  You can check it out here.

You can look at more of her designs by going to www.sisoi.com.  Just make sure they are vegan!!!!!

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a great handbag & some eco shopping bags
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Dec 16, 2009

I have to mention my new favorite purse.  It’s the all-vegan Picnic bag in Cream by Amber Pollard.

Amber Pollard is a handbag designer, and just made each of her bags available in vegan materials!  It’s made of hemp, and it’s so chic.  I imagine Kate Moss wearing it.

This would make a great, super nice gift either from a very loved one to you....or as  very generous gift from you to a loved one.

You can check out Amber’s great bags HERE.

I also wanted to let you all know about these bags I found that you can use for grocery shopping, weekend trips, or pretty much anything.  They are called the Eco-Weekender Bags by Gecko, and are groovy in so many ways. 

First of all, they are all handmade by disabled and disadvantaged women in Cambodia.  By selling these bags in the US, these women are guaranteed work. They are made from recycled feed and rice bags, and lined with super soft, 100% organic cotton.  And so reasonable!  They range from $25.00-$36.00.  Not only are you getting a super cute bag that you can use for just about anything, but you’re also helping out these Cambodian women.

I like the Eco-Weekender Two Pocket Tote, the Eco-Weekender Recycled Koren bag, and the Eco-Weekender Recycled Market bag.  Bags that are kind to the planet, help out women in Cambodia, and cute!

What are your favorite shopping/travel bags?

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gift giving & my ecotools line!
Posted by Alicia Silverstone on Nov 26, 2009

With the holidays approaching, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite gift ideas.  Here is a little list of things I like to give.  I'd love to hear your ideas and what you are gifting this holiday season. 

Remember: reduce, reuse, recycle...yahoo! It's green to re-gift!

Books
Books that you know someone will love are great in general.  Try for used copies on Amazon.com or half.com, or even Craigslist.  I like to give The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell as a gift to some folks, and Food Revolution by John Robbins and Mad Cowboy by Howard Lyman.   I also love the Real Food Daily Cookbook.  It all depends on the person. Any cookbook by Christina Pirello is perfect.... the Love, Eric desserts cookbook is so pretty. Love, Eric and Sanae is a nice cookbook too (by Eric Lechasseur and Sanae Suzuki).  And hey, The Kind Diet would be a great gift too!

Sweets and Treats
For my local gift-giving, I like to pick-up baked goods and truffles and make little goody baskets with them.... like the truffles, nutty bars, and cookies from M Cafe, or the shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate from Mani's Bakery on Fairfax.  And my friend Tevia, the most amazing spin-instructor in the world, has a vegan baking company called The 'Lil Vegan Baker That Could. Her peppermint cookies and peanut butter balls are a must for the holidays and year round. 
 
From Whole Foods, Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies make perfect gifts as well.  I find that the favorite is usually the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, but I love the Molasses too.  They are all good. 
 
Allison's Gourmet- I love to give her brownies, brittle, and peanut butter cups!  Absolutely amazing. 

I like to make my Crispy Rice Treats with Chocolate Chips, cut them into squares and wrap them in parchment paper to give as gifts. The Oatmeal, Walnut, and Dried Plum cookies from the book would be great too.

Then there are specialty chocolates.  Some of these have sugar in them, but I just have to overlook that this time of year and cheat a little because they are so good and make such pretty gifts.  My favorite brands are Vosges and Dagoba chocolates.  You can't go wrong with the Red Fire Bar from Vosges.... and most Whole Foods carry almost their whole line now, which is exciting.  Check for the dark chocolate ones without dairy.  We used to have to order them all online.  And I recently learned about this new vegan truffle company, Nicobella (more on them in an upcoming blog), but they are yummy and you can order them here. The yummiest truffle flavor from Nicobella is the Walnut Flaxseed Crunch...but they are allllllll delicious. 
 
Cleaning supplies
This may seem a little odd, but I do like to give Earth-friendly cleaning supplies that people may never even know exist in the world.  I know they will get used!  And my hope is that if the recipients like them, they will continue to buy them.  My favorites for gifts are Bon Ami (it's like an eco version of Ajax or Comet), the Citrasolv concentrate that can be mixed with water to make loads of solution, and even things like recycled paper towels.  You can get creative with this, especially since there are so many cute enviro cleaning supply brands out there now. 

Sneaky Kitchen Staples
I have been giving Earth Balance Butter and Vegenaise to people for years.  I just put it in a little bag with tissue paper like a regular gift.  You need to make sure they get in the fridge quickly though after giving these.  After that, people start to buy it on their own, which is the best as far as I'm concerned.  Depending on who you are giving to, Umeboshi Vinegar and Shoyu can be good too.... also a good quality salt, a great knife or a nice bamboo cutting board.

Hair & Body
Jason Seafresh toothpaste...I like to give this.  It's my favorite toothpaste.  Dessert Essence makes my favorite lip balm...the one in the pink-ish tube.  It's called Dessert Essence Lip Rescue with Shea Butter.  Pharmacopia makes the most delicious lavender body lotion and for shampoo and conditioner, I like to give the Kiss My Face shampoos and conditioners in Big Body or Miss Treated.  I also adore Dessert Essence conditioner in Red Grape, so I give that one too. 
 
Journals
I love journals and notebooks and love them as gifts. Papergeist makes journals and planners and things out of recycled paper and makes the covers out of old record labels.  I have a cute one with a man and woman kissing on the front.  And Ecosystem makes these groovy and sophisticated looking planners and journals that I’m using right now.  You can personalize your notebook on both of these sites. 
 
Animal Adoptions (Kinda)
Don’t forget, you can always get someone a sponsored animal for the holidays!  This is what I did when I was on Miss Match, you can read more about it here.
 
Flowers
Flowers always make such beautiful gifts.  I give organic flowers and try to give whatever is in season.  Organic flowers are grown locally (not shipped from overseas!  Nearly 70% of flowers are shipped from overseas!), and they are better for the environment.  Flowers take lots of pesticides to make them perfect, and organic growers practice sustainable farming practices.  California Organic Flowers and Organic Bouquet are great sites. 
 
And a note about gift-wrapping:
I have not bought any wrapping paper, ribbon, or boxes in I can't remember how long. Maybe 13 years! I save all salvageable wrapping materials and store them in a big container in the closet.  Anytime I need to wrap a gift, I just use something from my stash.  If you don't have a stash, you can use old newspapers, paper grocery bags, whatever you have laying around.  I don't mind if it doesn't look gorgeous, but the recycled gift-wrapping usually ends up looking super cute.  And now, there are lots of 100% recycled gift-wrap paper options out there.  I also like to deliver gifts in canvas bags.  The canvas bag is a little gift on it's own.

I also wanted to let you guys know about my line of makeup brushes that I did with ecoTOOLS. 



I'm sooo freakin' excited to share my ecoTOOLS products with you.  They are so beautiful, super high-functioning, green, cruelty free, and inexpensive.  And I'm so proud of them!  I'm not telling you to run out and buy these, because I don't encourage anyone to get more "stuff" if you don't need to, but if you really do need new makeup brushes or bags these are the best! Beautiful and green! This was such a fun collaboration for me and the collection is so cool because it's made from all eco-friendly materials like bamboo, recycled plastic, recycled aluminum, soybean oil and crushed walnuts.  How cool is that?  They are available at Target and Amazon.com right now if you are looking for them, but they officially launch on December 1st.  Just in time if you need to get some beautiful and smart holiday gifts!
 
5 Piece Brush Set and Bag - These brushes feel sooo amazing on your skin and are so soft and scrumptious!  All of these brushes were designed specifically to achieve the kind of look I want with my make up; the natural and glowy look.  This set includes a blush brush, feathery finishing brush, eye shadow brush (perfect for a smokey eye!), and lash & brow groomer brush.
 

Overnight Bag - This is the bag I use when I travel.  It's so beautiful and I love it because it's made with hemp and all of the ink is plant based!  This was designed with removable and separate compartments in case you spill soy sauce on them like I did!  It's so easy to take the linings out and wipe them clean.  And the linings are made out of recycled plastic bottles!
 
Train Case - I like to imagine this is what Marilyn Monroe would have carried with her!  I use this one to keep all of my makeup in at home and for traveling!
 
Cosmetic Bag - I love this bag because it's so small and cute.  It's great if you just need to grab a couple things and throw it in your purse.
 
Cosmetic Brush Bag - Most brilliant bag of them all!  This is the bag I take with me whenever I have a meeting.  I put my lip stuff and powder on one side and the brushes on the other side. Usually my brushes get all dirty and yucky from throwing everything in together but this is so smart because it keeps everything separate.

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