Mindful Momma

Win a 3 Month Subscription to Conscious Box!

I'm in the mood for a giveaway. How about you?

Conscious Box, one of my favorite monthly product subscription services, has just relauched their website, making it easy for users to rate and purchase the green & health focused products they find in their boxes. To celebrate, they are allowing me to do a giveaway of a 3 month Conscious Box subscription!

Conscious Box is different every month, but you can be sure it is filled with really high quality products. Here is one I received awhile back. I was thrilled to get a new glass straw and another handy PeopleTowel. The Dr. Singha's Mustard Bath packet was perfect when I was sick with the flu. Plus I got to try some new snacks and lotions!

Secret Scents: What is Hiding in Your Scented Products?

Artificial Fragrances Contain Allergens

You've been buying them forever - the lotion, the deodorant, your favorite shampoo. These products may be serving a purpose in your life but they've got a secret that you might not be happy about. Most conventional personal care, cleaning and perfume products contain artificial fragrance. You may have even seen the word "fragrance" on the label of a product you have at home. What you probably don't know is that fragrances can be made up of over 100 different "top secret" chemicals. And many of these chemicals trigger allergic reactions as well as other harmful effects in sensitive people.

Top Natural Skin Care Products

Taking good care of my skin has ranked high on my priority list for most of my adult life. I had the good fortune to learn a lot about safer, natural and organic ingredients when I worked as a buyer for a local bath and body care company years ago. My luck continued when I started this blog and skin care companies started pitching me to review their brands. Yes, I'm a bit spoiled and my skin is very happy about it!

Out of a slew of products I've either purchased myself of been sent for review, here are a few that rose to the top: 

1. Facial Cleanser

AnnMarie Gianni Aloe Herb Facial Cleanser - Having heard good things about the AnnMarie Gianni line of skin care products, I took a chance and purchased this cleanser and I have not been disappointed. The creamy formula is good for my dry skin and I love that it contains antioxidants to prevent and repair free radical damage. $24 for 50 ml

Brownie Points - Love that this line is packaged in glass instead of plastic.

Dolphin Organics Gift Sets {+ a Giveaway!}

About Dolphin Organics

Dolphin Organics is one of my preferred brands for kids personal care products so I was thrilled when they decided to become an advertising sponsor of Mindful Momma! If you are not familiar with the brand, read what I had to say in a past blog post about Dolphin Organics. In a nutshell they are a safe and effective brand from a neat little parent-run business that you can totally trust!

Gift Sets

Dolphin Organics has put together some really cute gift sets for the holiday season. The set shown at the top of the post includes full sized bottles of the tear-free Baby Shampoo & Body Wash, Conditioner, Bubble Bath, Hypoallergenic Lotion and the SPF32 mineral sunscreen. Get it in the Simply Citrus fragrance or in Fragrance Free if you prefer. The set also comes in the Norfolk Lavendar scent without the conditioner.

Dolphin Organics also has a new line aimed at teens called Do Naturals. Choose from the basic Do Naturals gift set with 5 products including the Just Berry Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, Moisturizer and Detangler.

Or go all out with the Do Naturals Diva Set that also includes a reusable drink tumbler and tote bag. An awesome gift for a teen girl, don't you think?

 

A Giveaway and a Coupon Code!

Dolphin Organics is offering a $50 gift card to one lucky Mindful Momma reader! Just use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. The giveaway will run through midnight on Thursday, December 20th, 2012. Good luck!

Want to place an order? Use code MMFIVE for $5 off your order of any size.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Disclosure: Dolphin Organics is a paid advertiser on Mindful Momma.)

Get Your Zen On with Yuzen Box {Giveaway!}

As we rush along with our busy schedules, it can be hard to find time to slow down and connect with ourselves and feel gratitude for our lives. The founders of Yuzen, Jen and Ted Ning hope to help us do just that with their monthly subscription service specializing in earth friendly, natural and organic products that deliver a little bit of zen into our lives.

Ted is the executive director of LOHAS, an organization whose mission is create a community of consumers and companies interested in health, environment, social justice and sustainable living. I met Ted at a local LOHAS networking event and was totally impressed with his dedication to creating a conscious consumer marketplace. Yuzen is one more way to do that.

What makes Yuzen Box unique?

At first glance the Yuzen Box looks similar to other subscription delivery services like Conscious Box, Birch Box or Eco Emi but there are a couple of differences that make it unique:

• Most products are full-sized or premium samples.
• Focus on luxurious, pampering products.
• Each box is valued at $55 or more.
• Packaging is eco-friendly but with an upscale feel.
• Each box comes with a piece of authentic Japanese paper called yuzen (also known as chiyogami).

New Sponsor: Green Leaf Living {+ a Giveaway!}

I'm very excited to have a new sponsor to introduce you to today! It's an Etsy shop called Green Leaf Living that specializes in handmade products for the bath, body and home. Everything they make is handcrafted in small batches using high quality, natural ingredients or sewn at home with love.


Fallon, the owner of Green Leaf Living, sent me a bag of her homemade laundry soap to sample. One whiff of the lemongrass scent was all it took for me to fall in love but the simple and safe ingredient list had me hooked as well. I've been using it for about a week now and I can attest that it gets the job done - even on my dirty boy clothes! The laundry soap comes in a lavender version as well as unscented for those who prefer no scent at all. Rounding out the laundry department of the shop are some wool dryer balls and an ingenious little travel soap stick called Soap on the Run.

Body care products include lotion bars, lip balm, shaving soap, a body butter stick and a moisturizing bath fizz that sounds spa worthy! Fallon also sews her own reusable sandwich and snack bags in cute, kid-friendly fabrics.

Giveaway!

Try your luck at winning an assortment of goodies from Green Leaf Living: a 1# bag of laundry soap, a Soap on the Run stick, a lotion bar, a lip balm and a bath fizz. You pick the scents! Just use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.

Good Luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer Eco-Beauty Bets

Once the summer sun hits my face and my freckles pop out I hardly need any makeup at all to look healthy and presentable to the world. Truth be told, most days I don't wear any makeup at all. But when I do want to spiff up a bit, here are the 3 products I grab:

Irresistible Glow Facial Highlighter - by Alicia Silverstone for Juice Beauty

My favorite new beauty product of the season, this antioxidant-rich, organic-based beauty balm gives my face a healthy, pinkish glow. It adds just a tiny bit of color to highlight cheeks, eyes or anywhere else you need a boost. (As if I needed a reason to love Juice Beauty any more!)

Eco-Plus: 90% post-consumer recycled paper tube! 

Just What I Need: The Go Green Get Fit Challenge!

What does it take to get me to sign up for a fitness challenge? A whole bunch of blogger friends assuming I will participate and signing me up for it!

Erin from Healthy Home Magazine and Kimberly from EcoMom Alliance came up with the idea to get a bunch of green bloggers to take a Go Green Get Fit Challenge and write about it over a 12 week period this summer. It sounded like a great idea and I am dying to get into a better fitness routine but I hesitated to commit because of my busy summer schedule. When I realized that I had been put on the list of participants, I balked at first but finally I gave in. Just because I can't participate every week, doesn't mean I shouldn't participate at all!  Nothing like a little peer pressure to make me commit to getting fit!

My Fitness Goals

Running -I've always considered myself a lazy runner. My typical run is about 2 miles - to the nearest lake and back - just enough to get my heart rate going but not enough to really strain anything. Yesterday, I tried something new. I stopped at one of our city lakes on the way home from dropping the kids at day camp and ran all the way around - 3 miles!! My goal is to run around the lake easily and without stopping to walk along the way at all...and then to push it even farther!

Yoga -I love yoga but haven't taken a class for over a year. My excuse? A shoulder injury called a "frozen shoulder" that caused a lot of pain and kept me from raising my left arm up very high. After many weeks of physical therapy, I am happy to report that my shoulder is almost back to normal. My goal is to go back to my favorite Tuesday morning fitness yoga class.

Strength Training -A couple of years ago I asked my husband for some personal training sessions for my birthday. I worked out diligently for many months but eventually stopped when my father got sick and passed away. Then came the shoulder injury... Now it's time to get back into it! I still have one personal training session left to use. My goal is to make an appointment with my trainer and get back into a strength training routine.

Do you have any summer fitness goals? Join the challenge over on the Go Green Get Fit Facebook page and share them! You can also follow @GoGrnGetFit on Twitter and check out the Go Green Get Fit boards on Pinterest!

Weleda: Body Care in Harmony

Feeling good about the products I purchase and use is a huge priority for me. But evaluating a product can be a complicated dance - a balance between many factors from ingredients to price to sustainability. Although the quality of the product itself is key, I also try to look beyond the physical product to the company history, policies and values.

Weleda is a company that meets my high standards for product efficacy (meaning it works well), safety (no nasty ingredients) and sustainability (low impact on the environment) but it also ranks high as a company that cares about people and the world at large.

Eco Strengths

Weleda was founded over 90 years ago as a "personal approach to health care using natural ingredients that can holistically work with and support our own body's healing tendencies." The website is loaded with information about the company but here are just a few ways in which Weleda shows its harmonious relationship with the earth and all living things:

• Plants are grown in 135 acres of Biodynamic gardens which nurture the soil and give back to the earth.
• High percentage of raw materials produced organically (over 73% in 2011)
• Products meet a number of certification standards including NaTrue, Demeter and BDIH.
• Company partners with Fair Trade farms and cooperatives around the world, creating ethical economic activity.
• Many products packaged in glass bottles or metal tubes instead of plastic and all packaging is recyclable.
• Product formulations have a holistic effect - targeting the body, mind and soul.
• Strong company values that cultivate beauty in many ways.

Fav Products

My favorite product by a landslide is the Rosemary Hair Oil. God I wish I had discovered this a long time ago! Not only does it smell divine but just a few drops rubbed into my hands and onto my hair leave it frizz-free and with a beautiful shine.

A close second is the Gentle Cleansing Milk. It's the perfect combination of cleansing and moisturizing for my dry skin and I love the sexy & practical blue glass bottle (just right for gripping so it won't drop in the shower).

I have also been enjoying the Pomegranate Firming Facial Care line. Antioxidant-rich organic pomegranate juice and other nourishing ingredients moisturize and help prevent wrinkles. Even better - dermatological tests show positive anti-aging results!

The Citrus Deodorant has a wonderful scent but stings like crazy if I spray after shaving (I learned the hard way). Now I save it for non-shower days.

Second Thoughts?

You pay a premium for Weleda products but for me it's absolutely worth it. As I mentioned before, I want to feel good about the whole purchase - the product, the package and the company. Weleda gets a plus mark on all measures!

Important Note: If you are a fan of the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database, you will notice that Weleda does not score well there. That's because the database sees the word Fragrance on the label of Weleda products and does not seem to know that all their fragrances come from natural essential oils. Weleda products do not contain any synthetic ingredients! Granted, some essential oils are problematic for some people, but it is unfortunate that Weleda is misrepresented on the database.

Buy It!

Weleda products are available in retail stores throughout the United States including many Target stores and Whole Foods. Or order online and get free shipping with a $50 purchase.

Have you ever tried Weleda? What's your favorite product?

 

 

(Disclosure: I received free samples of Weleda products in exchange for my honest opinion.)

Easy Green Summer Living

Summer's here! Are you ready for some fun? My boys finished up school last week and we're just starting to feel that summer vacation vibe kicking into gear. One thing I've noticed is that I don't have my summer routine down yet. We've been caught short without sunscreen a couple times lately and I keep forgetting my water bottle at home. Guess it takes awhile to get into the groove.

Try these 3 easy tips to get your summer off to a greener, healthier start:

Tote a Reusable Bottle

Staying hydrated is key during hot summer days. Your best defense is to carry a reusable water bottle or two with you wherever you go. That way, you'll avoid buying bottled water which saves both money and the planet!

Better Yet: Fill a reusable bottle with ice cubes for cold water later.

Keep Cool on the Cheap

Instead of staying home and cranking the air conditioning, take advantage of local lakes, pools and fountains for an immediate cool down. Keep your house cool by lowering shades on windows in direct sunlight, using cross ventilation to create a breeze and using fans to move air.

Better Yet: Install an ENERGYSTAR rated ceiling fan to circulate air efficiently.

Choose Safer Sunscreen

Before grabbing any old bottle of sunscreen at the drug store, consult Environmental Work Group's Safer Sunscreen Guide for the safest, most effective sunscreens available. You'd be surprised at how many sunscreens contain questionable ingredients or don't provide adequate protection from both UVA and UVB rays.

Better Yet: Consult Safe Mama's 2012 Sunscreen Cheat Sheet for the best of the best!

What are your green summer living tips?

 

 

(Photo credit: vasophoto via flickr)