Life is so much more enjoyable with a few indulgences every once in a while, and what a better way to indulge than to to enjoy a luxe (vegan) skin care treatment? You don’t need a lot of money nor do you need to spend an entire day at a spa. Just purchase a few of your favorite vegan spa products and use them at least once a week(preferably on a weekend evening when you have time). Here are a few must-have vegan spa products to get you started!
08.27.2010
08.17.2010
One hard thing about being vegan is not being able to use certain types of material or cloth. This includes makeup brushes, which is something you can argue as one the most important parts of vegan beauty or eco-friendly products for skin care. You may feel limited and to be honest, it can be tough finding soft man-made brushes that can stand up to traditional brushes, but it can be done. So what vegan products are out there, in the market, to pamper vegan skin that can stand up to regular makeup brushes.
Taklon is an animal-friendly kind of brush to use. Not only are they soft, but they also blend very well. The material is 100% man made fiber, yet maintains softness. It is very good choice for those who prefer soft brushes and are willing to pay a little more money for a quality.
Nylon is another option, and while they are not as soft as Taklon they still do the job well and usually can be purchased for a cheaper price.
These two are the most common types of vegan beauty makeup brushes, but you may also find a few rarer types as well.
Never trust a company that does not state what the bristles are made of. Even if the company says their brushes are synthetic, the keywords are “100% synthetic” and “not tested on animals”. This is important. So always double check labels for more info or do your research online.
08.05.2010
Even though we’ve still got quite a few months before we start our holiday shopping, its never too early to start thinking about gift ideas. As a matter of fact, many of us buy a few gifts from time to time at least several times a year. Birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Graduation are usually the occasions in which we give and receive gifts. Of course this may create a slight problem for those of us who are searching for that vegan friendly gift but it also gives us the opportunity to be a little creative. So here are some smart tips and ideas!
Vegan Beauty Products: Your friends will thank you when you send them luxurious bath sets, skincare regimen kits, and scentsational fragrances. As a bonus, wrap up your gifts in pretty recycled wrapping paper.
Make Your Own Soaps: If you’ve got serious soap making skills then why not make your own soaps and give them as gifts? As for the rest of us, there are online stores where you can buy products you can trust. Lush is a beauty retailer that specializes in handmade vegan soaps. Lush also sells a wide variety of vegan skin care products, fragrances, and cosmetics. Foreue is a natural and vegan skin care retailer that specializes in handmade vegan soaps and many other products that clean, hydrate and relieve skin problems well.
Vegan Gifts For The Home: Who wouldn’t love a vegan candle? These make great small gifts for anyone you want to express your appreciation to! You’ll find a wide range of vegan candles on Etsy.
Other Gift Ideas: If none of the above ideas sound appealing enough, you might look at other options like a gift certificate to a spa that specializes in vegan skincare or holistic methods of beauty and relaxation. You can find a list of these spas at the Green Earth Travel website. For other smart vegan gift ideas, think recycled stationary, bamboo sheets, or canvas tote bags. There are lots of great options, so check these out and keep on looking for more.
07.19.2010
Foot problems are relatively common as most people depend on their feet, continuously. All that standing, walking, and running on a daily basis can really wear down your feet. That is why it is so important to spend an hour every week to massage, exfoliate and pamper your feet. The best way and most vegan friendly way is to begin by cleaning your feet well. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to effectively soak, scrub, and pamper your feet.
1- Soak Your Feet
Buy a small plastic tub that is large enough to soak your feet in. Fill it up with luke warm water and soak your feet in the tub for 10 to 15 minutes.
2- Exfoliate With The Pumice Stone
After you have soaked your feet in the tub for 15 minutes, take your feet out of the tub and start exfoliating. Using gentle force, exfoliate in downward motions while keeping your feet near the tub so the dead skin cells fall into the tub(which you will wash out later).
3- Smooth Down Calluses and Corns
Once you’re done removing the dead skin, wash your pumice stone with soap and water, then pat it dry in a clean towel. Next up, use the pumice stone to soften up the rough spots on your feet.
4- Rinse Your Feet
Step into the big tub and rinse off your feet with lukewarm water. Keep the water warm but not hot because that tends to dry out your skin. Step out of the tub and dry your feet with the towel.
5- Give yourself a quick round of reflexology
Even if you don’t know the precise acupressure points, you can still benefit by applying pressure to the bottom of your feet, from one spot to the next until you have covered the entire surface of both feet. Don’t be shy, you can do it.
6- Moisturize and Pamper Your Feet
After reflexology, now you can use a vegan body lotion to moisturize your feet or something like foreue lavender butter cream that has lots of shea butter, etc. to hydrate and soften. If its before bedtime, throw on a pair of soaks over your freshly moisturized feet to keep the moisture locked in for 6 to 8 hours. When you wake up in the morning you can take off the socks and enjoy your super soft feet!
Natural foot care in your own home spa is worth all the time and effort. Your feet will look good and feel even better!
07.16.2010
Two of the most commonly known natural moisturizers are shea butter and olive oil. Both shea butter and olive oil have been around for centuries, they are both safe to use and vegan friendly. You can use either product in pure form, in soaps, or other skin care products. But with all the similarities, one is left to wonder what are the differences between shea butter and olive oil.
Shea butter is a natural fat that is used to moisturize skin, fade unsightly scars and stretch marks, diminish wrinkles, and more. You can even eat shea butter as sometimes its used in chocolate based products. What is more amazing is that this multi-purpose beauty and health remedy is actually derived from the seeds of the African shea tree. To produce the butter, The flesh of the karite nut is removed and the seed or nut is dried, roasted, pounded into a paste, mixed with water and then customarily kneaded by hand. The thick mass is boiled to separate the natural oils that later yield beige or yellow shea butter in various qualities. Note: Unrefined shea has the real natural healing and moisturizing properties. Refined shea is bleached (white) , deordorized and heated to over 400 degrees.
Olive oil is derived from the olive plant. Making this is a rather complex process as the oil is extracted after the olives are milled until a paste is formed . Then it goes into a press that separates the liquid from the paste. Like shea butter, olive oil has many useful purposes in beauty, skin care, and food preparation. There are many different types and grades of olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil has the highest quality, therefore in food consumption, of course it is best to choose extra virgin olive oil and organic when you can. For beauty needs also use the best quality olive oil that you can find when formulating your own skincare recipes. Olive oil can be use as a moisturizer, bath oil, lip balm, or for treatment of minor skin wounds.
In the end it is important to know that both shea butter and olive oil based products have a place in your vegan skin care routine. Both are natural based moisturizing remedies that have worked for ages, so you know that they work. There are even a few vegan beauty products on the market that contain both ingredients, so if you decide to give them a try in your own formula try them together to get the benefits of both all natural carrier oils.
06.23.2010
Getting older is a fact of life, and as of right now there is no medical cure for it. The best thing you can do for yourself is to live well and age gracefully. This is a hard task for anyone in general, but more so for vegans because most of the anti-aging skincare products on the market contain unknown chemicals which often contain toxins. Also, many popular dermatological injections such as botox are tested on animals which makes it an unethical choice. So how does a vegan age with grace and style if they can’t use a conventional remedy? Read further to find out how.
1- Go Organic
If you’re already incorporating organic fruits and veggies in your diet, good for you! The next step is to seek out organically vegan anti-aging solutions like Franca Organics. Many of their beauty and skin care products contain antioxidant properties which provide numerous benefits.
2- Change Up Your Skin Care Routine
Aging is nothing but a series of changes so it only makes sense to roll with the changes. If you find a product that really works you can stick with it, but don’t be afraid to switch up a few products every season or two. You might discover that you completely overhaul your skin care routine at least ever year and a half.
3- Avoid The Midday Sun
While its impossible to avoid the sun completely, it is possible to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful effects. Use a natural or vegan sunscreen(Kiss My Face is a great brand) on a daily basis, even in the winter. And get your sunshine during the early morning hours (before 10 or 11am) are late afternoon (after 5 or 6pm).
4- Moisturize Daily
Dry skin is one of the tell tale signs of aging, so make sure you moisturize religiously. Use a rich lotion of your body, and moisturizing face cream for your face. And don’t forget to condition your hair.
5-Get Rest
Getting rest does not always mean sleeping. What many of us forget to do is to just relax, in between our comings and goings, our tasks and after meals. Being kind to ourselves is too often easy to forget, especially while we take care of our families, jobs, homes, hobbies, errands, etc.
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06.10.2010
Beauty is what you make of it. You already know that its really what is on the inside that counts, and that philosophy holds true with most everyone. What you choose to eat and how you live your life impacts your image in a great way. Unhealthy habits like smoking, tanning, and eating tons of junk food will age you fast and damage your body.
And all the vegan skin care products in the world won’t erase the damage caused by these habits, that is why its wise to stop the any bad eating habits. Taking care of yourself is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Read below for the top tips on caring for yourself both inside and out.
1- Pamper Yourself
Its important to always make time for yourself. Utilize that free time to indulge in a little aroma therapy or soak in some relaxing sea salts. If you have to, schedule some relaxation hours (preferably twice a week) on your calendar or day planner.
2-Defend Your Skin
Over exposure to the sun will only wreck havoc on your skin, so take the time to use a natural sunblock on your body and face before going anywhere. Better yet, use a vegan skin care lotion on a daily basis to protect and moisturize your skin.
3- Eat Smart
The saying “You are what you eat” holds much truth to it. Eating healthier and drinking plenty of water benefits you both inside and out.
4- Accept Your Hair
There are certain things in life you’ll have to accept, your hair is one of them. Leave the hair dryer, hair dyes, and styling appliances alone. Instead, get back to the basics with vegan shampoos and conditioners.
5- Smile More
A genuine smile will not only make you look better, but feel better too! Take good care of your teeth with vegan based toothpastes and mouthwashes.
06.02.2010
At one point or another, we all will have oily skin. Besides using special natural vegan products such as the LeMudd Clay Masque by foreue mother nature offers other interesting alternatives.So here, we will take a look at a few uncommon natural vegan ideas that you can use to help control your oily skin.
Tomato Paste
This may sound like a rather odd idea, but it is a proven zit cure that is vegan and animal friendly. A can of regular tomato paste can dry out a zit and slow down your oily skin with the help of lycopene. Lycopene is a natural byproduct of tomato’s that helps control your oil pores. You can use it right out of the can or add herbs to it and use it like a regular face mask.
Orange Rind
This sweet smelling vegan option is a good choice for those who like high scented options that most stores sell. Rubbing the rind in water and splashing it onto your face will sooth and dry out the zit or skin with the acid in it.
You can also use lemon juice as well, diluted or not with water. Again, it works much like an orange rind does only with a bit more acid in it.
Garlic
This may sound like a unpleasant option, but garlic is a known blood stream cleaner. You can rub pure and raw garlic on the zit or oily skin, which cleans the pores plus skin. This is a good option that can be bought locally and is ready with little to zero prep time. Great for in a hurry rush answer to excessive oil.
Cucumber
Slicing or grating cucumbers and placing them all over, the skin absorbs the oil that causes breakouts or blackheads.
The Conclusion
These are simple vegan and cheap answers to your oily skin problems. Not only are they animal friendly, but many also give your skin that extra something that only natural plants can give to your skin.
Have fun with these solutions!
09.03.2009
Oatmeal, it’s not just for breakfast. Oatmeal Promise became part of my morning and evening beauty routine the last 2 days.
Upon receiving my foreue Oatmeal Promise (OP) vegan soap, I immediately smelled it. To me, a scent will either “put me off” or “put me on” toward the product. It smelled light and woody~very subtle. It’s a good start! Next, I looked at the color and felt the texture of the bar. Perhaps I’m more tactile than most people. I like holding my soap and feeling the bumps, lumps and smoothness. The bar wasn’t overly hard because it yielded to gentle pressure.
08.26.2009
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Natural Skin Care |
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Like every parent, you only want what is best for your baby. You read the best parenting books, buy intelligent toys, and religiously consult the Consumer Report Guide for Baby Products before committing to any purchase. And when you feel really confident that you’re doing the best you can, it suddenly hits you that your baby is still in danger from poisonous chemicals and other threats. Wherever you go, whatever you buy, your young child is being exposed to poisonous chemicals on a daily basis. From processed baby foods to the cleaning chemicals we use, we’re only putting our children in danger. Here are a few steps to help you along the way.
08.18.2009
The best way to show your love, appreciation, and respect for animals and the wildlife, next to adopting a vegan diet, is to use 100% organic natural products, natural skin products and plant essences. Every choice we make in life has an immediate direct effect on Mother Nature. These choices can affect Mother Nature in either a positive or negative way.
08.12.2009
As I have said before, many products that claim to be natural, like natural skin lotion, are really not. Sure they may contain emollients, emulsifiers, and humectants, which can be derived from natural sources, but sometimes they are chemically made(read: not from natural sources). How do you know the difference? Do your research and read the labels. Here is some information to help you.
Emollients are often found in lotion in skin care products, like natural skin lotion. The difference is that natural emollients are biodegradable and synthetic emollients are not. Natural emollients are found in plant oils (such as avocado or rosehip oils), shea butter, or cocoa butter.
