Why I Don’t Wear Sunscreen (and Never Will)

I don’t wear sunscreen and never will.

I stopped using sunblock the moment I stopped being a beauty editor a few years ago. A combination of gut feeling and research told me what I was being told to “protect” my skin with was little more than a poison (and poisonous it is).

Garden Fresh Goodies for Skin Care

Your garden is full of goodies that can be helpful not only in your kitchen, but in your home spa. Fresh plants and vegetables are full of potent vitamins, minerals and other beneficial components that can be used to create fresh beauty treatments at home.

7 WAYS … TO IMPROVE YOUR DIET

1. Clean out your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards. Read the labels of every product in your home that you deem edible. If you cant pronounce it, or it has more ingredients than words in the bible, chances are your body isnt meant to digest it. Are there foods in your cupboards you feel guilty just looking at? Guilt is the greatest destroyer of emotional energy-therefore you dont need it, or the Snickers bar in your life. Nature provides some of the most delectable treats you could ever imagine. Head to nutritional expert David Wolfes website www.davidwolfe.com, for the low-down on one of natures most incredible gifts: raw cacao. The cacao bean is natures number one weight loss and high-energy food.

Health+Happiness=Beauty: Be Genki

Beauty buff and holistic entrepreneur Sam Sample follows a simple philosophy when it comes to beauty and believes you can ‘be’ it, rather than ‘achieve’ it.

“Beauty comes from within,” she says. “Being happy and healthy on the physical, emotional and spiritual level is what I believe makes a woman truly beautiful.”

With her natural approach and holistic know-how, Sydney-based Sam developed her beauty range, Be Genki. The collection brings together her deep interest in aromatherapy, well-being, meditation, and beauty care into a holistic synthesis to “promote optimum inner health and harmony amidst the fast pace of contemporary life”.

Each element of Be Genki, she says, has been carefully and thoughtfully selected for its excellence in design, quality, healing benefits, and ability to capture the senses.

“Be Genki is the only bath and body care brand to offer a complete 360 degree approach to holistic well-being, identifying four key areas that contribute to an individuals well-being and providing products that help create balance with a lifestyle approach,” Sam says.

CLEAN BODY, THE HUMBLE ART OF ZEN-CLEANSING YOURSELF by Michael DeJong

Why its great: Rather than harping on about how our toxic household cleaning and beauty products are slowly killing us, Michael DeJong offers solutions that are right there in your kitchen. Using just five pure, natural ingredients-baking soda, lemon, olive oil, salt and white vinegar-he shows you how to wash, scrub and rinse with complete peace of mind, all while saving dollars and the environment. Not a bad deal, eh?

Whos reading it: Those who are discovering their allergies are directly caused by harsh chemicals that lurk in most mainstream cleaning and beauty products. It’s also a favorite of parents who want to give their littlies the most pure start to life, and of those who understand that what goes onto the skin gets absorbed into the body.

What youll learn: How to mix baking soda in varying amounts to use as a shampoo, facial scrub and foot scrub; why olive oil is a superb make-up remover and moisturizer; how lemon will get you salon-perfect streaks and why salt is great for scrubbing away dead skin on elbows and knees.

Want to know more? Head to www.zencleansing.com but not before disposing thoughtfully of all those hazardous products in your cupboards.

How Toxic are your Beauty Products?

Did you know that companies can put just about any ingredient they like into beauty and personal care products? Alarmingly, in the US, the government doesn’t require safety tests before these items hit the department store shelves.

Considering your skin is your body’s biggest organ, there’s something very wrong with this careless (and deadly) practice carried out by many manufacturers that make up the multi-billion dollar beauty industry. Just as the skin absorbs nutrients, it is also a sponge for toxins-including chemical-laden beauty creams, serums, scrubs sprays, body washes and the like.