I am steadily making my way towards a lifestyle that can be maintained with the use of fewer chemicals on my skin and in my household. There has been so much chatter lately on the chemicals in cosmetics and how they are potentially harmful to humans and/or the environment (check out this article on chemicals in beauty products), that I’ve been making conscious efforts to read labels and make safer decisions on the products I purchase.

It can be difficult, though, because it seems like choosing “natural” or “organic” products would be the safest route to go, but a lot of that is marketing hype. I did find a great article about the definitions and regulations in organic beauty product labels. Looks like this summer there is finally going to be a regulating body for products labelled “natural” so not just anyone using coconut oil as a single ingredient can tout “natural” in their product labelling unless they meet other strict requirements.

However, I’ve discovered a unique new beauty product that doesn’t actually have any chemical ingredients, so I know it’s safe for my skin and the environment. It’s the Jane Iredale Magic Mitt.

My grandmother got this for me on Mother’s Day, and I was truly intrigued. It’s a soft wash mitt that you use with only warm water to wash your face – no soap or cleanser needed. It’s supposed to be better for your skin because their are no chemicals to affect the pH balance of your skin. This is important because a normal skin pH balance is what helps block harmful bacteria from entering your pores and causing blemishes and infection.

Thanks for reading the BeautySchool.com blog!

So, does it work? I thought since I wear mineral makeup it might have a better chance of working than if I used a liquid foundation, but I was skeptical that warm water and a fancy wash rag could remove my eye makeup. But, I’ve used it for four days now, and ALL my makeup has been coming off easily (and visibly on the mitt!). It has a nice gentle exfoliating effect too. My skin feels just as clean as if I used my cleanser, but I don’t get that tight, itchy, almost-too-clean feeling either. The verdict? I will continue using the Magic Mitt.

This change means I’ve successfully cut out another 35 mostly-unpronouncable chemicals from my daily beauty routine! Since I’ve already recently switched to Avalon Organics Vitamin C Toner, my next challenge is to find a new, more natural moisturizer!

“I don’t own a single pair of Manolos. Can’t afford an ounce of Creme de la Mer.”
Sound familiar?

Champagne Taste … On a Beer Budget is a beauty blog that I’ve been loving recently.

The author describes herself as a “full time student, former esthetician and makeup artist living on a skinny salary …” And who can’t relate to that?

If you’re still in school or just starting your cosmetology career at a beauty school, you want to look fashionable yet still be able to pay rent for the month. Champagne Taste On a Beer Budget posts entries on makeup, clothes, skincare, hair and random musings that most young cosmetologists can relate to.

If you’re on a budget and looking for a fun place to spend time on the internet, check out Champagne Taste … On a Beer Budget .

The new Eco-MedSpa in San Francisco is the whole package – the whole green package!

This eco-friendly spa is green from the ground up and the inside out. The owners teamed up with several eco-conscious experts in design, architecture, and engineering to design a space that was built in line with the strict requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council and the “Cradle to Cradle” standards developed by the firm MBDC. “Cradle to Cradle” is defined by MBDC as a method “in which products and services are designed based on patterns found in nature, eliminating the concept of waste entirely and creating an abundance that is healthy and sustaining.” The eco-materials used in the construction include eco-paints, numerous recycled items like flooring and fabrics, energy efficient lighting and water filters to decrease bottled water usage.

The “brick-and-mortar” of this spa isn’t the only part that will be eco-friendly. The spa will also be using non-toxic facial treatments and is partnering with Juice Beauty to develop the first medical-grade line of organic beauty products!

This is exciting news for the beauty industry and us at BeautySchool.com, where the challenge to be more eco-conscious is weighing heavily on beauty companies. Read more about how the beauty industry is going green.

I was cleaning out a purse from last winter and found a sample-size bottle of OPI AvoJuice Skin Quencher lotion in Gingerbread Juicie that my hairstylist had given me around Christmas time. I had forgotten all about it since I switched purses, and boy, I am so glad I found it again! I had forgotten how delicious the scent is (even if it’s holiday-themed), and it has that silky smooth moisturizing quality to it, so it doesn’t leave my hands greasy or sticky feeling.

It reminded me how much I love my hairstylist. I have been going to her for about 17 years! She knows my hair and my personality, and can usually guess what I want done as soon as I walk in the door. She may not be the most edgy, creative stylist that’s recommending the latest in hair trends, but she can make my hair match any photo that I show her. She’s become that kind of great family friend that I invited to my wedding and baby shower. She always supports any of my fundraising events, and we can always talk “Chiefs” together when it’s football season.

This kind of relationship is something every stylist should work to achieve. Creating a list of lifelong clients is the key to a successful business in the service industry. Thankfully, beauty schools have realized that just teaching hair technique is not the only part of good beauty training. Cosmetology schools like the ones on BeautySchool.com are now offering business classes as part of their beauty training programs. The more successful, business-savvy and well-rounded students they can graduate, the more their school will be sought after as a quality beauty training program! I’m not sure where my stylist went to beauty school, but I know that I have to book my appointments with her 6 weeks in advance if I want to get in on time. That says something!

I must apologize because I’m about four days overdue for my review of the homemade sugar scrub. To be completely honest, I haven’t had time to try it yet! We’ve been busy at home preparing for a shindig this weekend, so my focus has been on improving the quality of our yard for an outdoor party, rather than the quality of my skin! And since that party is this weekend, there’s a good chance I won’t be able to make the sugar scrub until next week. Forgive me, please!

In the meantime, for this Friday post, I found an incredibly interesting article about feet. It’s long, so I thought today was a great day to share it so you could take your time this weekend to read it and soak it all up. There are some theories that I’m not sure I agree with – mainly – “shoes are bad for our feet.” Maybe in a world where all floors are made of powdery white sand or clover, but I can’t imagine how getting a nail stuck in your bare sole would be “healthier” than wearing the average shoe?

Going barefoot is just not a solution for this day and age. But problems with our feet are not going to change either way. So what can we do? Buy good shoes, give your feet appropriate rest, get pedicures and foot massages, and of course, see a doctor if your feet are especially ailing you. Or, become a person that can help alleviate the problem by going to massage school or learn to be a nail technician where you can give pedicures! And we have all of those at BeautySchool.com!!

We at beautyschool.com are so excited about Earth Day today! It seems this year is one of the first years that so many individuals and businesses are really taking the state of the environment seriously. To celebrate, we’d like to give a shout-out to some of the companies in the beauty industry that are making great strides toward a better Earth.

Aveda – Aveda has been well-known for its organic and eco-friendly products for years, and they keep finding new ways to help the planet.  Buy one of their organic Bulgarian lavender candles at Aveda.com, and know that 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Global Greengrants Fund for global clean water projects. Aveda is also making strides in their beauty schools, using eco-friendly education practices and teaching green philosophies to their students.

Cargo – Check out their PlantLove lipstick. This is the whole green package – literally! The lipstick tube is made of corn. The outer package is made of flower paper with real seeds embedded – you can actually plant them and grow flowers! And the lipstick itself is made without mineral oils or petroleums, so it’s environmentally safe.

Sephora.com  – They have an entire section of their online beauty product website devoted to organic and natural beauty brands. Check it out for easy online ordering.

When choosing eco-friendly beauty products, you may want to educate yourself on some of the terminology, because not all eco-statements are created equal. Here is some of the labeling used and what it actually means:

“100% Organic” – products made with entirely certified organic ingredients and methods. May also display USDA organic seal.

“Organic” – products with at least 95% organic ingredients can use this word in labeling. May also display USDA organic seal.

“Made with Organic Ingredients” – products with at least 70% organic ingredients. Cannot display USDA organic seal.

***In 2004, the USDA no longer monitored “organic” labelling on non-agricultural products, which includes cosmetics and hygienic products.

In my more recent efforts to start “greenifying” my life, I decided to replace my usual generic brand value bodywash with Pure & Natural’s Moisturizing Almond Oil & Cherry Blossom body wash. Pure & Natural’s products are 98% all natural ingredients, and they use all recycled materials for their packaging, and of course do not test on animals. I thought it might be a bit pricey at nearly $6 for a 12 ounce bottle at Wal-mart, but it was also a “feel good” purchase since I was making a small but “green” choice.

After a couple days of use, I’m thinking it’s actually quite a good value. The bodywash is extremely concentrated, so it takes very little on the loofah to get a great lather going. Probably half as much as I used of my previous bodywash that was half the price, so you do the math. And the smell – YUM! It’s just soft and sweet and oh, so…well – natural! I’m looking forward to trying more of their products as I run out of my other basics. I’m also hoping they expand their product line, because it does seem a bit limited at this point.

So when you run out of your current bodywash, give Pure & Natural a try. It’s great value, great smell, and great for the environment!

Until next week on the BeautySchool.com blog!

Now, I know what you’re thinking – no, this is not a blog about the NBC TV series, Lipstick Jungle. This blog is about what to do when you are scraping out the bottom of your favorite lipstick tube. You might as well know that when it comes to lipstick, it is my FAVORITE! And I don’t believe in chucking my fave shade when it gets down to the bottom of the barrel – do you? Now, that is what I call wasteful!

To save on money and from buying tubes before you have used the last of the last – there are certain steps to take to save the bottom of the tube. You might notice that there is not that much left when you get down the base, but there is more shade in your future! This is what you do – first scrape out any leftovers with a cotton swab and mix it with Vaseline or lip gloss – and presto, you have more of your favorite shade.

You can also put the last little drops of your shade in a plastic cup and microwave it until it is soft and use that as a lip gloss. For more tips on lipstick you can check out this website that I found – 16 lipstick tricks and tips. I found it most helpful since I love lipstick!

Home remedies fascinate me, especially when it comes to beauty products! There’s something reassuring about using food on my skin, as opposed to a product with several chemical ingredients that I can’t pronounce. And, with all the emphasis on “going green” these days, it feels good to know the natural ingredients I’m slathering on are safe for the environment!

So in honor of this month’s “Earth Day,” I’m going to find one homemade beauty recipe per week to try, and blog about! There are several great websites with lots of recipes (try Homemade Beauty Recipes and MakeYourCosmetics.com), but I’ve found that many of them require ingredients that I don’t have on hand in my pantry or fridge. Who’s got beeswax or Tincture of Benzoin lying around the house? As a working mother, I need something easy I can make out of typical grocery items.

So, this week’s experiment: Brown Sugar Body Scrub from MakeYourCosmetics.com.

Recipe: 1 ½ cups brown sugar
½ cup olive oil (or canola)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pack brown sugar tightly in bowl, mix in olive oil to form paste. Add vanilla extract last for scent. Massage the scrub gently from shoulders to feet and rinse.

Check back next week for the BeautySchool.com official review!

My make-up drawer looks more like the junk drawer in most people’s kitchens. What can I say? I like to try new things! The crummy part is I have lots of bottles and compacts of beauty products that I barely used because I was unimpressed.

Luckily, I discovered a new trick – ordering beauty product samples online! It’s easy and best of all, free! The only setback is you have to beware of spam and giving out your personal information to the wrong people. After several attempts, I learned some valuable lessons. So, here they are – my tips for getting great free beauty samples without exposing yourself to inbox abuse.

1) Before submitting your name, address, and email to any website, your safest bet is to only use the actual manufacturer’s website, or an established well-known retailer. For example, Walmart.com is always offering product samples for new items. Another great source for manufacturer samples is About.com. Well-known brands typically want to maintain a quality and trustworthy reputation, so they will likely abide with anti-spam laws.

2) Read the Terms of Service/Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy to make sure you are okay with the deal. I’ve found many supposedly “free” samples can only be received once I’ve completed several other “offers.” This is a big red flag of spam! Plus, your sample may not really be free if you are required to purchase something else you didn’t really want in the first place.

3) Setup a separate email account with a free service like Yahoo! or Gmail. Many manufacturers will still send a product newsletter or coupons to the email address you provide. So, even by using reputable websites, you may end up with a flooded inbox. Having a separate email account for ordering online will help keep your shopping adventures organized and separate from your other personal or business email accounts.

4) Finally, if the free offer seems too good to be true, it probably is! I’ve seen countless ads offering a free $100 gift certificate to a certain retailer/manufacturer. But after completing numerous other “offers”, I never completed enough to qualify for the prize. And, I ended up with more spam in my inbox than the state of Hawaii consumes in a year!

Now that you are armed with spam defense, go out and find great new beauty products! Please leave us at the BeautySchool.com blog a comment about cool free samples you find (and where to get them!), and we’ll do the same!