>> Los Angeles Bioneers is hosting Shannon Biggs who will talk about her work on passing a “Sustainability Bill of Rights” ordinance in Santa Monica, which would strip personhood rights from corporations and give rights to ecosystems instead. Takes place Tue., Jan 31 at 7 pm at G2 Gallery, 1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice. Cost: free with RSVP to srnichols@mac.com.

>> The LA Bicycle Coalition needs volunteers to help count cars parked in the new Spring St. bike lane to provide LAPD with accurate data during the morning and afternoon commutes this Tue., Jan. 31 to Thu., Feb 2 along Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. Exact times are flexible. Cost: free. Email martin@la-bike.org to volunteer.

>> Do you home-make, home-grow, and/or forage your own food creations? If so, come trade them at the LA Food Swap, next Thu., Feb 9 from 7-9 pm at ReForm School, 3902 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Cost: free with pre-registration. Register now as space is limited.

>> Arcona is hosting a free facial experience with their new mandarin orange brightening peel. Free champagne and brownies from Sweets for the Soul will be served. Enjoy the fun this Sat., Feb. 4 from 12-4 pm at Evolue, 357 1/2 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills. Cost: free with rsvp to info@evoluebeauty.com.

>> The LA County Bicycle Coalition is organizing 3 three different rides for various cycling abilities to the Watts Towers! All rides will reach the Watts Towers, where you’ll get the chance to take a tour if you choose. All rides take place this Sun., Feb. 5. The 49 and 37-mile rides meet at 8 am and ride at 8:30 am, leaving from Dock 52, 13555 Fiji Way, Marina del Rey. The 10-mile ride meets at 10 am and rides at 10:30 am and meets at Jesse Owens Park, 9651 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles. Cost: free.

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Can fashion nurture nature? Late last month I had the opportunity to attend the Gen Art Fresh Faces in Fashion show, which showcased some of Los Angeles’ rising fashion stars. There, a noticeable underlying theme was human connection to nature. 

Some of the clothing designs displayed images of nature (though I am not sure how eco-friendly all the fabric was) and some pieces were sourced directly from nature. One accessory designer, Sticks & Stones Accessories, actually used shed deer antlers, gathered by hand in the forests of the US and Canada! The designer’s also known to use fossilized walrus and wooly mammoth ivories, gathered by permit from Alaska, Holland and Siberia.  All of the pieces that incorporate wood, antler, fossil and vegetable ivories are hand carved, sanded and finished at their in-house studio in Portland. 

Gen Art was hosted in part by smart car, which happen to have ultra-low emissions, are 85% recyclable and are produced in a low environmental impact factory in France.  The cars at the event (like the one in the image above) were covered in prints designed by some of the featured fashion designers.

Even Gen Art’s gift bags contained some eco-friendly bonuses — like discounts on vintage clothes from Just Say Native Vintage Studio. While certain aspects of the event — like the plastic cups — could have been much more eco-conscious, this event made it clear that the fashion world, particularly amongst the trendsetters and forward-thinkers, is starting to incorporate more consideration of the human relationship with our environment. To browse through Gen Art’s Fresh Faces in Fashion featured designers, check out the event website.

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>> BREATHE LA’s Green Salon considers the latest advances in diesel use and examines new policies that mandate a shift to cleaner practices.  Event includes a drawing for four free pairs of Metrolink Weekend Passes.  BREATHE LA will be hosting events throughout the day, so check their website for more details.  The Green Salon takes place Thu., Oct. 27 from 9-10:30 a.m. at The California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda Street, Los Angeles. Cost: free. Email info@breathela.org to register.

>> EarthFlow Design Works, Fais Do Do and The Los Angeles Permaculture Guild present Harvest the Rain, a book signing and talk with Nate Downey, author of Harvest the Rain. “Every drop of rain is an opportunity, every storm a resource.”  Come out on Fri., Oct. 28 from 7-9:30 pm at Café Club Fais Do-Do, 5257 West Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. Cost: Free.

>> Come out this weekend for the first Green Festival in Los Angeles.  Listen to experts talk, check out eco-friendly products, taste delicious organic foods and beverages, try out yoga and movement classes, and mix and mingle with other forward thinking minds!  Event takes places Sat., Oct. 29 from 10 am – 7 pm and Sun., Oct. 30 from 11 am – 6 pm at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.  Cost: free for minors and folks that cycle to the event, or $15 at the door.  See website for more details.

Image via Green Festival

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Some environmentalists celebrate the high-end eco-luxe beauty products that turn hippie hair into eco chic; others bemoan the consumer culture that pushes expensive shampoos when good old baking powder and vinegar can do the job.

Well, here’s one hair care line for the former. Rare Elements International Hair Collection will luxe up your locks with exotic natural ingredients combined into silky, safe formulas — and put you back a whopping $110.

That’s right — The Pure Shampoo alone costs an eye-popping $34. But this is no ordinary shampoo. We’re talking about a rich and creamy moisturizing mousse made with amino acid rich blackseed, soothing ylang ylang, and marula, aka Africa’s miracle oil.

In fact, all three products get their potent power from unique natural beauty ingredients collected from all over the globe. The Essential Conditioner‘s ingredient list — which includes everything from cupuacu butter from Brazil to phulwara butter from Nepal — reads like a tongue twister of exotic extracts.

And El’ Treatment — a nourishing hair serum with the strength of 13 beautifying plant oils — is the fanciest of all. Omega 3-rich emu oil from Australia? Check. Omega 6-rich borage? Check. Moisturizing protection from baobab? Check.

All three products smell amazing — lightly floral with a buttery base note. And of course, Rare Elements’ products contain none of the bad stuff like parabens and sulfates — a feature that’s won the collection a low hazard 1 on Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database.

Do the products work? In a word, yes. My hair isn’t dry or damaged (I don’t dye and rarely blowdry), but I could still feel the difference. The light and silky El Treatment remedy left my hair and scalp deeply nourished and pampered — and when I followed up that treatment with the shampoo and conditioner, my hair became noticeably easier to manage in the rather humid weather we’ve been having this summer.

Of course, at $110 for the set, they better work. I was lucky enough to get this trio of products for review, but I’m not sure the marginal improvement in manageability and the luxe factor (the products really do smell and feel good) is enough to get me to actually part with that much cash (or credit).

But if you’ve got dry, damaged, or hard to manage hair — and haven’t had much luck with the other greener hair care products in the market — Rare Elements is definitely worth a try. See if they work for you by plunking down just $15 for the trio sample kit. You can find Rare Elements at Evolue, The Detox Market, and a few other high-end beauty stores in the L.A. area — as well as online at Rare Elements’ web store.

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Wish you could get your eco-facial — in nature’s outdoors? Venice’s Abbot Kinney district isn’t exactly a lush jungle or overgrown forest, but it now has a new green oasis where you can escape from the urban stress and get pretty while enjoying the ocean breeze.

Just stop by The Odacite Garden Spa, a new pop-up pamper spot at The Detox Market, Abbot Kinney’s pop-up-store turned permanent eco-friendly boutique shop. Located in a breezy curtained structure in a peaceful courtyard behind the store, the garden spa offers all-natural facials using the pure, potent beauty products from Odacite. “The idea was to integrate the spa experience with Nature in a natural and eco-friendly setting,” says Romain Gaillard, founder of The Detox Market.

Each treatment at this spa promised to include “healing energy work” — which piqued my curiosity, so I stopped by to try out a facial for review. Sure enough, the facial started with the friendly aesthetician asking me to to pick a flower from a card showing six blooms — then sprayed a corresponding Lotus Wei energy mist above me, letting the scent waft down — to start off the treatment on the right emotional note. As you know, I’m not convinced of the power of floral essences — but the spray certainly added a nice sweet scent to the treatment!

I needed a facial pretty badly, since four days spent in over-air conditioned spaces at the BlogHer conference hadn’t done my skin any favors. The aesthetician said she’d customize my facial to clear away the dullness, then started by giving my face a deep cleanse and soothing massage. This facial massage, I have to say, was my favorite part of the hour. In addition to energizing and rejuvenating my skin, it was decadently relaxing.

After this came the unique, customized part of the treatment — Each facial at this spa includes a fresh skin infusion, adapted to your skin’s needs and freshly whipped up by the aesthetician. For my AC-dulled skin, that meant a Pumpkin Peel Infusion — a fruit acid peel that smelled like delicious pumpkin pie! I could feel the powerful treatment work as soon as the aesthetician smoothed it on; my skin started getting warm and tingly!

Then came a second skin infusion — The Rose Calming Gel-Gommage, an astringent and regenerative treatment that soothed my post-peel skin. And while both these infusions did their work, the aesthetician treated my neck, hands, and feet to gentle massages. After all that healing relaxation, the facial ended with a nice final moisturizing treatment.

The result? My skin definitely got its glow back, with the dead skin cleansed and peeled away.

The one thing I missed at The Odacite Garden Spa was the pore-opening and relaxing steam treatment common to many facials. This outdoor spot doesn’t have a steam machine — or running water, from what I could tell by the aesthetician lugging around a giant bowl of water before my facial — so there was no steam treatment to open my pores for an extraction or a steamed towel for my face while the skin infusions did their work. [Update, 8/23/11: Romain tells me that the spa does indeed have a steam machine; why the aesthetician didn't use it remains a mystery.]

Still, the spot boasts a breezy outdoor setting, customized eco-friendly skin infusions, and a lot of fantastic hands-on massage treatment. Want to try a treatment? A facial will run you between $68 for a half-hour Quick Fresh and Clean Facial to $138 for an Ultimate Skin Rejuvenation and Lifting Facial. Book your appointment now, because The Odacite Garden Spa is a temporary pop-up spot that’s only open until Oct. 21.

The Odacite Garden Spa at The Detox Market. 1524 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice. 310.909.7277. 9 am to 7 pm daily.

Earlier:
>> Premium Skin Care by Diana: Eco-friendly facials meet hi-tech treatments
>> Purity Organic Spa: Eco-luxe facials with a personal green touch
>> Raksa: Unique organic facials meet reflexology and ayurveda

Photos courtesy of The Detox Market

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>> Get a reusable bag already. Burbank and Laguna Beach are the next cities expected to ban the disposable plastic bag. Earlier: Styrofoam and the City: The fate of plastic bags and polystyrene in LA.

>> Ditch the blowdry. The girls at No More Dirty Looks are throwing down The Summer Hair Challenge: “Some time in the next week, when you get up in the morning, shower, shampoo and condition your hair using nontoxic natural products, comb it when you get out of the shower, and that’s it. No leave-ins, no heat. Once it’s dry, send us a pic.” That’s pretty much how I “do” my hair every day, so I’ll just need to snap a pic and send it in by Aug. 21. Yes, there’s a prize involved. Earlier: Book review: No More Dirty Looks — Get pretty by ditching ugly chemicals.

>> Milk the raw food debate. In case you haven’t heard, Rawesome — the Venice food club that hooks locals up with raw milk and other raw goodies — is in big trouble with the government. In Grist, David Gumpert writes “last week’s multi-agency assault on Rawesome Food Club in Venice, Calif., marked the first time individuals associated with a food club or a small farm had actually been thrown into jail, in this case charged with 13 felonies and misdemeanors, and held on high bail (requested between $60,000 and $130,000).” Read the whole article to see how the foodies are fighting back. Earlier: Farmageddon: Raw cheese (and other eco-foodie) debates hit the big screen.

Photo by Kate Ter Harr

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When eco-aesthetician Diana Ralys soothed my skin with argan oil at my last facial, I was convinced to start using the luxurious skin saver every day. Calming and hydrating with a gentle smooth, silky feel and mild nutty scent, pure argan oil’s a great natural moisturizer that can be used as a simple serum — no additives, preservatives, or fragrances required.

That’s why I was ecstatic to try out La Bella Figura‘s beauty line. This boutique all-organic, chemical-free beauty company uses pure, organic, fair trade argan oil — sustainably and ethically sourced from Morocco — as the base in all its eco-luxe products.

Its signature product: Moroccan Face Gold — which is simply 100 percent organic argan oil. This pure beauty product’s about as clean and healing as you can get — especially for those with sensitive skin. The luxurious oil’s super gentle, but powerfully moisturizing and soothing.

Though super sensitive types might just want to stick with pure argan oil, your skin can get a bigger beauty boost by adding a few other natural ingredients. Diana says though argan oil does a lot, she still recommends a few extras “Regardless of the skin’s type or condition antioxidants, like Vitamin C are essential,” she told me. “Antioxidants help to decrease skin’s stress and support overall skin’s health.”

Want that Vitamin C with your argan oil? Then get La Bella Figura’s Tesoro Mediterranean Blend. This serum also has argan oil as its base but also boasts bergamot fruit, lemon, neroli flower, and grapefruit oils — which give it both an antioxidant kick and a fragrant citrusy scent. “It’s got an extra boost of Vitamin C, even more antioxidants and polyphenols to help hydrate the skin, regenerate skin cells,and smooth out fine lines,” says Karen King, co-founder of La Bella Figura. “The added essential oils help tone and detoxify the skin. The chamomile and bergamot act as anti-inflammatories, helping to calm breakouts and skin redness.”

I often let my face serums double as my eye moisturizer too — since the products are gentle enough for the most sensitive skin spots — but La Bella Figura also offers a special eye serum, dubbed Découverte Under Eye Repair Serum. This potent potion combines organic argan oil with barbary fig oil for anti inflammatory power, coffee bean oil for moisture retention, and wild-crafted tomato seed oil to heal dry skin. Karen credits it with helping diminish dark circles and puffiness around the eyes. I’ve noticed that putting on Découverte every night before going to sleep really deep-moisturizes the skin around my eyes — an area that easily get dry from putting on and taking off eye makeup everyday. Now, the skin there feels healthier and plumper!

Want to treat your skin to argan oil? La Bella Figura’s eco-luxe beauty line’s available at its online store. For a half ounce in a glass pump bottle, Morrocan Face Gold and Tesoro Mediterranean Blend cost $27.50 and $40, respectively. Try both plus the company’s lip balm without breaking the bank with La Bella Figura’s The Perfect Traveler Kit, which gives you trial sizes of all three products for $20. Découverte isn’t included in that travel pack though — and costs an eye popping $115 for a third ounce.

Earlier:
>> Odacité: Gentle green skin care for sensitive eco-beauty seekers
>> Tata Harper: Skin care that’s uber green — and costs a lot of green
>> Golden Path Alchemy: Pure green beauty line with a truly natural scent

Photo via La Bella Figura

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Do you carry both lip balm and lipstick in your purse — because lipstick alone’s too drying? Me too — Lipstick on chapped lips looks strange. But last week, I found a new eco-friendly lip color that’s letting me leave my organic lip balm at home: Ilia Lip Conditioner.

A product called “lip conditioner” makes me think of lip balm, but Ilia Lip Conditioner’s actually more like a balm and lipstick in one. Put Ilia on, and you’ll get a smooth coat of color — that’s less opaque than a lipstick but more intense and matte than a tinted gloss, Plus, Ilia’s got organic moisturizing power — and a sleek, chic recycled aluminum case to hold it all together.

I discovered Ilia at eco-boutique Evolue’s party for Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database — so unsurprisingly, this lip color scores a relatively safe 3 on Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database. Made with 85 percent organic ingredients, Ilia’s full of moisturizing ingredients found in many organic lip balms — like jojoba oil, cocoa butter, and beeswax — as well as botanicals like pomegranate and grape seed extract. My favorite part: The comforting, mellow smell of cocoa butter, vanilla, and other delicious ingredients combine to give Ilia a delicious caramel-like scent.

Ilia offers six shades — from the pale pink Nobody’s Baby to the bright red Bang Bang. I got the darkest of the lot — Arabian Knights — though the hue isn’t quite as dramatically dark as it looks on Ilia’s website. The stick itself is a fairly deep burgundy-violet — but the color goes on light, thanks to the balm-meets-lipstick formula.

Arabian Knights is now my go-to lip color. I like how a light swipe gives me just enough color — no mixing or blending with other lipsticks and balms required — while keeping my lips moisturized under the summer sun. The box warns that the lip conditioner could melt when exposed to heat — but so far my Ilia has held up just fine in sunny L.A. weather.

Want some summer color of your own? Find your best shade of Ilia at Evolue — or shop on Ilia’s web store. A tube costs $24.95.

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Green beauty seekers already know to avoid the ingredient “fragrance” in products — since that one word can mask a whole slew of scary chemicals like phthalates and musks. That’s why, if you look at the ingredient lists of many eco-friendly beauty companies, you’ll see “fragrance” followed by a note that the scent is created with only essential oils. In fact, a growing number of products have gotten rid of the word “fragrance” altogether, instead detailing every single sweet-smelling ingredient in tiny print for full disclosure.

And a few brave companies not only don’t list the word fragrance — but also omit all scent-specific ingredients — organic or otherwise — altogether. I’ve discovered one growing eco-friendly company that’s going down this fragrance free path: Golden Path Alchemy.

Golden Path Alchemy, started by two green gals in Los Angeles, simply don’t seem to add ingredients to improve scent — instead opting to let the natural smell of the beauty potions shine through. Here’s one truly green beauty company serious about beauty. Golden Path Alchemy combines only natural ingredients like therapeutic grade essential oils, Chinese and Western medicinals and botanicals, and organic herbs and flower essences grown locally in Montecito, Calif., at Golden Path Alchemy’s own farm.

Those raw ingredients are crafted fresh in small batches, bottled in glass, and sold box-free to prevent unnecessary waste. All that eco-work not only makes for potent beauty products — but also a fantastic safety score on Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database.

I actually consider myself rather sensitive to fragrances and so was curious to experience this unscented beauty line. What I didn’t expect, though, was that my nose would get a pretty pungent surprise! (more…)

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If you’re like me, you refer to Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database before you buy any beauty or personal care product. The easy-to-search database provides quick safety scores for thousands of products, warning you if the mascara you’re considering’s full of toxic chemicals — and pointing you to safer, greener options.

And if you’re like me, you get emails from Environmental Working Group all the time — asking for money. Each time I delete one of these I feel a small pang of guilt — because I use the Skin Deep database a lot more often than I give money to support the nonprofit that makes it.

Well — Tonight’s a good night to both assuage guilt and get pretty if you live in the Los Angeles area. The Skin Deep database recently relaunched after a cosmetic makeover, making searching for and self-education about beauty products a lot easier. And to celebrate the new do, Environmental Working Group’s teamed up with green beauty boutique Evolue in Beverly Hills to throw a celebratory relaunch party.

When: Wed., June 29, 7 pm to 9 pm

Where: Evolue, 357 1/2 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills

Cost: $20 donation at the door to Environmental Working Group

For your generosity in supporting Environmental Working Group, you’ll be rewarded with organic cocktails, snacks, and music from a live DJ. Plus, Alexandra Spunt, author of “No More Dirty Looks,” will introduce Skin Deep and stick around to sign books and answer your pressing green beauty questions.

Hope to see you there!

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