Ecouterre » Eco-Friendly Beauty

Brazilian Blowout Agrees to Warn Consumers About Cancer Risks

Lori Zimmer — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:00:06 +0000

The maker of Brazilian Blowout, a popular line of “professional-only” hair-straightening products, has agreed to warn consumers that two of its formulations emit formaldehyde gas—a known carcinogen—according to California’s attorney general on Monday. As the first law enforcement action under California’s Safe Cosmetics Act, the settlement agreement, which includes $600,000 in penalties and fines, has been a long time coming. In August, after investigating inquiries from consumers and salon professionals about the safety of the products, the U.S. Food and Health Administration slapped Brazilian Blowout with a notice of safety and labeling violations. Following that, the Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration issued a notice to salon owners and workers about potential formaldehyde exposure from working with the products, which are reportedly popular with celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, and Nicole Richie.

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New Hampshire Considers Perfume Ban for State Employees

Brit Liggett — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:00:07 +0000

New Hampshire, whose state motto is “live free or die,” has a new champion in state representative Michele Peckham, who thinks that her constituents should live free of the consequences of other people’s poor decisions. The politican is the primary sponsor of House Bill 1444, a piece of legislation that would ban state employees from wearing perfume or scented products on the job, particularly if they deal with the public. “It may seem silly, but it’s a health issue,” Peckham tells the New Hampshire Union Leader. “Many people have violent reactions to strong scents.”

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Lina Hanson’s Global Face Serum Uses All Natural, Organic Ingredients

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:00:27 +0000

If there’s one person we’d trust unreservedly with our punim, it’s Lina Hanson, green makeup artist to the stars and Ecouterre’s resident beauty guru. It’s not a question of nepotism, either. Her clientele, which includes actresses Morena Baccarin and Ellen Page, speaks for itself. (Have you seen the glows on those complexions?) So you can bet your sweet cheeks we were sold on her face serum even before she made the pitch. Crafted using organic, vegan, and fair-trade ingredients such as camellia, pumpkin seed, and baobab, her 100 percent natural oil targets dry skin, soothes redness and inflammation (even rosacea), and softens the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles—all without petrochemicals, parabens, or suspicious synthetics. Needless to say, nothing is tested on animals. Hanson, like the rest of us, likes to keep it clean.

+ Global Face Serum $85
+ Lina Hanson

Can You Trust That “Cruelty-Free” Label on Your Cosmetics?

Brit Liggett — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:00:37 +0000

In a world saturated by marketing jargon, the labels on products aren’t always easy to decipher. While the term “organic” is regulated—to an extent, anyway—phrases like “all-natural,” “hypoallergenic,” and “cruelty-free” are not. One Hollywood actress, however, has mounted a crusade against companies that don’t mean what they say on their labels, particularly when it comes to our critter pals. As a spokeswoman for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit health organization that opposes testing cosmetics on animals, Kristin Bauer (Pam the vampire in HBO’s True Blood) wants to expose brands that exploit semantic loopholes for their own purposes.

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Serenity Now! 6 Eco-Friendly Remedies For Stressed-Out Holiday Skin

Lina Hanson — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:00:47 +0000

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Hundreds of Cosmetics Companies Fulfill Compact for Safe Cosmetics

Nicole Abene — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Finally, some good news to report! The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics announced Wednesday that 321 personal-care companies, from mom-and-pop operations to some of the largest names in the industry, have met the goals of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a voluntary pledge to not only eliminate chemicals banned by health agencies outside the United States but also fully disclose the ingredients in their products. “These companies have truly broken the mold,” says Janet Nudelman, program director of the Breast Cancer Fund, a founding member of the campaign. “They are leading the cosmetics industry toward safety, showing it’s possible to make products with full transparency and without using hazardous chemicals.”

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6 Eco-Friendly Grooming Tips for Men

Lina Hanson — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:00:50 +0000

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6 Eco-Friendly Cosmetics That Are Worth Splurging On

Lina Hanson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:00:56 +0000

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Industry-Funded Watchdog Group Says Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetics Are Good for You

Nicole Abene — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:00:03 +0000

Think that toxic chemicals are bad for you? It’s all part of a smear campaign, according to a new report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based conservative think tank with documented ties to oil companies like Exxon and Texaco. The chief sources of misinformation, according to the nonprofit, are the Environmental Working Group and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, two “environmental extremist groups”—per CEI—that are inciting fear through “outrageous and bogus claims” about chemical-laden cosmetics and personal-care products.

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6 DIY Pumpkin-Skincare Products You Can Make at Home (Plus 1 to Buy)

Lina Hanson — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:00:42 +0000

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10 Ridiculous “Pinkwashed” Products That May Actually Cause Breast Cancer

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:00:06 +0000

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Swallowable Parfum’s “Edible Perfume” Releases Fragrance Through Your Pores

Bridgette Meinhold — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:00:57 +0000

Ever eaten too much garlic, then smelled it wafting through your pores hours later? Imagine then, imbibing a concoction that produces the scent of aromatic flowers, herbs, or spices, much like perfume does. A new company out of Amsterdam is developing a “digestible scented capsule” that turns your epidermis into an atomizer. Swallowable Parfum, according to founders Lucy McRae and Sheref Mansy, uses the body’s natural processes to excrete fragrance molecules through the skin through perspiration, leaving tiny droplets of scent that are unique to the individual’s physical and emotional state. Although still in its salad days—and pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, of course—the technology could revolutionize the fragrance industry by personalizing scents based on your body chemistry.

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6 Affordable Eco-Friendly Cosmetics You Can Find at the Drugstore

Lina Hanson — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:00:48 +0000

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Get Soused in the Shower With Beer Soap by Brooklyn Brewery

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:00:26 +0000

Luxuriate in your favorite lager with soap from NYC’s own Brooklyn Brewery. Lovingly crafted on the brewery’s wind-powered premises, each two-ounce puck comprises a different variety of tipple (brown ale and black chocolate stout, included) and a host of sudsy ingredients guaranteed to give you flashbacks of every drunken bender you’ve ever had. Not that you’ll actually get sloshed, of course; the alcohol evaporates during saponification. Consume—and shower—responsibly.

+ Beer Soap $10
+ Brooklyn Brewery

7 Affordable Eco-Friendly Skincare Lines You Can Find at the Drugstore

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:00:06 +0000

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Sunscreen in a Pill? Coral-Reef Secret Could Make It Available in Five Years

Bridgette Meinhold — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:00:23 +0000

Never mind the goopy, streaky mess that sunblock leaves in its wake; a pill that prevents sunburn could be available in as little as five years, according to British scientists. The secret lies in coral, which produces natural sunscreen compounds to shield itself from harmful ultraviolet rays. By analyzing samples from the Great Barrier Reef, researchers at King’s College in London are beginning to identify the genetic and biochemical processes behind the sunscreen-manufacturing mechanism. The next step? Synthesizing them in digestible tablet form to protect human skin and eyes.

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6 Bad Beauty Habits You Need to Break Now

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:00:44 +0000

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Get Actress Frieda Pinto’s Red Carpet Look, Naturally

Lina Hanson — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:00:13 +0000

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Is Snail Slime the Latest “Miracle” Ingredient in Anti-Aging Skincare?

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:00:07 +0000

From bird-poop facials to human-placenta hair serums, the astonishing lengths people will go to thwart the aging process knows no bounds. The latest miracle ingredient being touted? Snail slime. And we’re not talking about scarfing down the occasional escargot. Slathered on in cream or gel form, mollusk mucus is said to cure a variety of ills, including acne, scars and burns, and of course, wrinkles.

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6 Toxic Ingredients You Should Avoid in Cosmetics

Lina Hanson — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:00:36 +0000

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BirdProject’s Bird-Shaped Soaps Remind Us Gulf Spill Cleanup Isn’t Over

Maria Matis — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:00:52 +0000

When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened over a year ago, Brooklyn resident Tippy Tippens was confronted with horrifying images of the animals caught in its wake. Her background in industrial design couldn’t be further from ocean ecology, but Tippens was determined to help. A trip to New Orleans soon birthed BirdProject, a line of soap molded to resemble the worst victims of the disaster. The soap is more than a visual reminder; 50 percent of all profits goes to the Gulf Restoration Network and International Bird Rescue.

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Dr. Alkaitis’s “Organic Skin Food” is Skincare That You Can Eat

Yuka Yoneda — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:00:21 +0000

We’re not exaggerating when we say that Dr. Alkaitis is good enough to eat. The skincare company concocts its certified-organic cleansers, toners, crèmes, and face masks out of mouthwatering ingredients like wild fennel, sweet potato, grapes, strawberries, and olives. Only biologically active ingredients are used, which means you won’t find any synthetic chemicals, genetically modified organisms, or even so-called plant-derived constituents. We had the good fortune of meeting founder Saulius Alkaitis’s granddaughter and in-house rep, Alexandra Conn, at her booth at this year’s Designers & Agents Green Room, and in the interest of science, decided to put the brand’s claims to the (taste) test.

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4 Myths About the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:00:07 +0000

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Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011: What It Means for the Beauty Industry and You

Lina Hanson — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:00:37 +0000

Photo by clarita

The beauty industry is one of the few industries where harmful ingredients such as formaldehyde, heavy metals, and lead are allowed as ingredients. This current trend of consumers educating themselves, however, has finally forced the government to take action. A bill that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 24 may give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to keep our personal-care products free of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, neurological disorders, and other ailments. With the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 (H.R.2359), we may at last witness a shift from a policy that hasn’t been updated since 1938.

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5 DIY Skincare Recipes You Can Make Using Kitchen Ingredients

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:00:43 +0000

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