eco beauty: the wonders of dry shampoo

in phoebe waller-bridge’s brilliant series, fleabag, she proclaims in a convincing + comical monologue on tresses, “hair is everything. it’s the difference between a good day and a bad day.” in the end, we learn that life is not about our hair, but hygiene, personal expression + self confidence certainly matter + shape our days.

the secret to my shiny, healthy hair is quite simple: i don’t wash it regularly, friends.

before you raise a finger in curious protest, i have answers for your inquiring minds! today we’re talking about one of my favorite eco-friendly products: dry shampoo. dry powder shampoo, what a mystery it was to me only a few years ago. how does one use it, and more importantly, why does one use it?!

dry powder shampoo allows us to refresh our hair without a wet wash in the shower, saving both time + water. it’s a wonderful natural product for removing excess oils while adding texture + volume: simply rub gently into your roots, work through your dry hair + style. voila!

now, know that i do use natural, botanical oils to add shine + soothe frayed ends {the same magical plant-based oils i use for face + body} and i use dry shampoo. with ingredients plucked from nature, this product is sweet-scented, eco-friendly + compact {so easy-to-pack}. here we have 4 fab vegan, non-toxic + cruelty-free choices:

green + gorgeous

green + gorgeous has a fantastic, light + organic powder to freshen + revive your lion’s mane. beautifully scented, with eco-friendly, cardboard packaging. ingredients include arrowroot powder, rice powder, shavegrass powder, natural clay + essential oils.

on hot summer days, this little pocket-sized, powerful product was always by my side; it’s both convenient + effective.

their petite travel sizes are perfect for nomadic hearts traveling with carry-on luggage only!

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little barn apothecary

little barn apothecary offers a nurturing dry shampoo to help refresh our scalps and rid our strands of grease + grime. a light, flower essence, corn starch + pink clay make for glory days.

what exactly does a nurturing dry shampoo mean? dry shampoo allows us to wash our hair less because wet washing often can strip our skin + our locks of their natural glow + luster by washing away natural oils needed to keep dry hair + skin hydrated. but we want to keep our bath + beauty products clean + toxin-free: so just say no to harmful ingredients like talc, silicone + phenoxyethanol.

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captain blankenship

captain blankenship if it’s good enough for the mermaids of the world, then it’s good enough for yours truly.

i’ll admit, it took me a while to remember the name of this all-natural and organic bath + beauty label. but they do make out-of-this-world, efficacious hair care products. formulated with organic + non-toxic ingredients in sustainable, reusable + recyclable packaging. ingredients include arrowroot powder, kaolin with palmarosa oil + rose geranium essential oils.

it’s okay to want a good hair day, my friends; the captain gets you to where you want to go on your hair voyages!

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alder

alder is a new-york-based, plant-strong brand that makes fantastic natural products, and this texture powder restores volume to lazy locks while helping to nurture your scalp with ingredients like sea clay, kaolin, shavegrass powder, rice powder and eucalyptus + lime essential oils.

herbal extracts yield high-performing products that will perk up even the most taxed locks. and they smell like a summer breeze! who doesn’t want to smell like summer {before the sultry subway ride, that is!}? here a good hair day, there a good hair day!

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{don’t forget the tip} why choose a “clean beauty” product with fair trade, vegan + organic ingredients? conventional products are made with hazardous ingredients like paraben, sulfate, mineral oil, petrolatum, and formaldehyde. these ingredients bio-accumulate in our bodies leading to illness, infertility and cancer. choose natural products with certified organic ingredients free of synthetic fragrances and free of man-made chemicals. good for your hair, good for your health!

remember eco boys + girls, we speak not of dry shampoo in aerosol cans. aerosol cans deplete our ozone layer + end up in our landfills. we are most definitely talking about the dry shampoo powder, found in little cylindrical cardboard containers + sometimes in recycled plastic bottles, but jump on that paper-based, biodegradable container always first. want to learn more about clean + safe products? click here! and follow made safe on ig.

until next time, stay green dear hearts!

eco beauty: akamai basics for good clean fun

try as you may, you’ll be hard pressed to find a gal who loves and lauds the benefits of botanical facial oils + natural skin oils more than me. akamai basics is an american, indie + small-batch skincare company, founded by vincent cobb and marni shymkus, and they’re bringing to life clean + green products for boys and girls who love the simple things in life.

akamai makes one of my new favorite vegan, cruelty-free and sustainably sourced face + skin oils, skin fuel.

i’ve learned over the years that oils can seem quite alien as a bath + beauty product; we cook with coconut, avocado and olive oil, but did nature intend for us to use these vitamin + mineral-packed oils on our faces + bodies? the answer is unequivocally yes!

skin and facial oils go beyond the daily duties of a traditional moisturizer, my friends: oils heal, repair and regenerate skin. of course, not all oils are created equal! a well-crafted oil supports the skin’s bicrobiome and the body’s ecology by delivering key nutrients to your cells and body. oils deliver peace and harmony by balancing the pH of your skin. you’ll find only natural, organic + unrefined ingredients at akamais.

weird science

“We know far too many people who have died of cancer, or who have battled and won, at great cost to themselves and their family. While a small percentage are genetic, 85% of all cancer is caused by the environment and lifestyle choices. ”

— Vincent Cobb and Marni Shymkus

here i’m going to hit you with a little science, stay with me: the chemicals and synthetic ingredients that can be found in conventional, big-brand moisturizers have negative effects on our bodies, both short-term effects like psoriasis, and long-term effects like endocrine disruption, immune dysfunction, birth defects and cancer. if you can’t figure out what’s listed on an ingredient label, put the bottle down and step slowly away from the shelf. parabens, pthalates, sulfates {foaming agents, preservatives, dyes and synthetic fragrances}: you don’t need them and you don’t want them. parabens, a preservative found in makeup, shampoo, conditioners and lotions, mimic the hormone estrogen and have been found in breast tumor tissue.

just as ingredients are the starting point for a great meal, they’re also the foundation of a fantastic and effective product. skin fuel has six simple ingredients: coconut, jojoba, argan and olive oil; trace mineral/fulvic acid concentrate {for proper cellular metabolism}; and rosemary essential oil for a soothing and aromatic experience.

the oil

akamai's skin fuel is like a protein smoothie for the skin. it’s the first product i reach for after a shower, and the one i want by my side when i’m traveling because it does it all. i use it to moisturize my face, my hands and legs. fun tip: mix it with your fave lotions for a rich, hydrating experience + for the perfect amount of body glow. just a touch adds a healthy shine to my hair. i also swipe a bit across my lips as a light lip balm.

the toothpaste

i’ve been brushing my pearly whites with the akamai mineral toothpaste. first thing’s first: it’s a natural, clay-based paste; the color of the paste might surprise you. it’s a gray hue. i do not shy away from the new; in fact i was quite intrigued. i love this formula and i offer one small caveat: it’s not as sweet as those you might have used, so keep that in mind. i personally love it. i don’t like to wake up and have a slosh of extra sweet in my mouth. like all products in my green routine, i do rotate for variation. this paste will remain in the mix!

the bar soap

i really do love shampoo bars. i love any company that thinks outside the bottle. this is a 3-in-1 product: a shampoo bar that can also be used as a soap bar, and a shaving oil. i use this as a facial cleanser and shampoo. it’s grrreat for traveling. think no-spill magic. as a gentle reminder, i always use a conditioner along with a soap bar for best results {this combo is best for my parched hair + scalp}. this product adds volume to my hair, which i quite like on dry, winter days. i just ordered these as stocking stuffers because everyone deserves good hair days!

my goal is not to slow down the natural and beautiful results of aging, but rather to look and feel healthy, my very best every day. akamai allows me to feel confident about what i'm putting on my body each day. check out akamai for some of that natural glow.

don’t forget the tip: from no more dirty looks, “awareness about cosmetics [and personal care product] ingredients is on the rise. all of a sudden it’s ‘sulfate-free’ this and ‘paraben-free’ that. as consumers get savvier, so do cosmetics companies. in response to the chatter, many companies are reformulating to omit one or two of the ingredients that have become buzzwords, and then they mount advertising campaigns bragging about it. that is what we call marketing—but leaving out one ingredient and replacing it with a lesser-known or chemically similar substitute is not necessarily what we call clean. neither is boasting about its absence when your products are packed with a dozen other dirty chemicals.”

often healthy skin is a result of what we put in and on our bodies. follow the environmental working group to learn more about the important work that they do to keep citizens healthy and informed. akamai donates 1% of all sales to ewc to support their mission to empower people to live healthier lives.

eco mode: wearing boxy tee made of organic cotton from wildlife works with earrings from fair trade label abel. hair by akamai and facial oil by akamai.

green crush: meet yenny of eco chic beauty

yenny dang is known as an upbeat, approachable + authentic critic of organic skincare + beauty products. she is to the world of natural + nontoxic beauty what roger ebert + gene siskel were to the world of film critique. 

over 4 years ago i decided to make the switch to clean beauty products. i walked confidently into a corner pharmacy in america, determined to pluck a healthy alternative off the shelves. no petrochemicals or phthalates for me, thank you. these ingredients may be good enough for vinyl flooring + building materials, but they are not good enough for our faces + bodies. i found a lotion with the letters "organic" scrawled across the top of the bottle in bold letters. i paid + went home with product in hand only to find out that there wasn't a single organic or natural ingredient inside. 

this life lesson is called reading the labels.

i scratched my head. this wasn't as easy as i thought it was going to be. fast forward to 2015; i have finally amassed an array of truly organic + cruelty-free products. but there are experts that exist in our universe: people with knowledge. people with moisturizing lip glosses in their purses that taste like fresh fruit salads + remarkably effective lotions lying resplendent across their nightstands. 

these experts devote their time + energy to spraying, slathering + soaking in myriad green products, then they reveal the results. do you know who benefits? you + i do, my friends.

where are all these experts you may ask? well, right this way. 

yenny caught the attention of the ig community with her pithy posts delivering the things skincare, hair care + beauty. she gives her honest opinion about everything from label design to the efficacy of each product she reviews. she is warm, genuine + so easy to talk to. 

i had the opportunity to ask yenny a few questions about what exactly drives her passion for the perfect green product + what makes this beauty happy. dive in to learn about the one product she thinks every eco girl should own, who she admires most + what book she believe is the "green beauty bible". this is yenny:

f+d: what is one small action you might encourage others to take to live a more sustainable lifestyle {beyond recycling}?

yd: i would encourage people to think for a minute about how every purchase, decision or action they make affects the environment, animals or people.

f+d: what is your favorite eco online retailer or brick + mortar shop? 

yd: ahh, i can only choose one? ;) i love beau.tea.bar and the detox market for both their online retail stores and their brick and mortar shops. i also love follain and cap beauty for their brick and mortar stores. as for the online retailers, integrity botanicals, eco diva beauty and safe + chic are great! 

f+d: was there a book/movie/aha! moment which put you on the path to clean beauty/green living? 

yd: yes! no more dirty looks! it's like the green beauty bible!

f+d: what is one personal quality about yourself that you would never change? 

yd: i would have to say my loyalty and my big-heart. i am fiercely loyal, and i genuinely care about people, animals, and the environment. i try to help out wherever, whenever, as much as i can. i'd very much rather give than receive - i'm a huge giver! seeing a smile on someone's face, making someone's day, or doing something impactful in a positive way, means the world to me.

f+d: share four things that make you really happy. 

yd: only 4? lol. i would have to say: my furbabies {i have 2 little chihuahuas}, sunny/beachy weather {that vitamin d though!}, travelling, green beauty, good food, good music, my family and friends... i could go on and on. :)

f+d: it takes a lot of time + dedication to post regularly + create a community around that which inspires you. what motivates you to do so? 

yd: the sense of community and being able to share my passion with like-minded individuals. the admiration, inspiration and respect we have for one another is unreal. i've made so many great friendships through the green beauty + clean living community, some of whom are very close friends of mine now!

f+d: which person do you most admire and why?

yd: wow, this is a hard one, because i truly admire a lot of people, especially in green beauty. since i can't choose just one person, i'll tell you who i admire in the realm of sustainability. i would have to say elon musk and stella mccartney. elon is an innovative + creative genius; and stella makes these gorgeous pret-a-porter / runway-ready clothes. they are proof that you can make ethical, conscious, sustainable products that are both luxurious and good for the environment. conscious, eco-friendly, sustainable products don't always have to be boring or too "granola."

f+d: i'm so curious as to your fave beauty brands. what is one beauty product you would recommend that every woman should have in her purse or medicine cabinet?

yd: oh, this is too hard! there are SO many green beauty products that i absolutely love! but if i were to recommend one product, it would have to be may lindstrom's the problem solver. it was one of the first green beauty products i ever tried and it hasn't let me down since. if you've had a stressful day or have an important day coming up, this mask does wonders for your face and for your psyche! it really is like magic, it makes all of your problems go away! ;)

f+d: one last question, do you have a favorite quote or motto?

yd: do all things with love. :)

follow yenny's eco beauty adventures on instagram!

{header image + center image c/o jen jar photography// skincare imges c/o eco chic beauty // elon musk c/o nbc // artwork by ev}