To eat or not to eat?

Got a new schampoo,  conditioner and deep condioner from John Masters Organics. Needed to try something new after years of using ABBA. My scalp was getting dry again.

The schampoo is with zinc and sage and has the most delicious smell of hot fudge. Made me want to eat it instead of use it in my hair. Have only been using it for a few days so I don't know exactly how I feel about it yet, but my hair feels very clean. The conditioner is with citrus and neroli and that's also a lovely smell.

I read about the deep-conditioner in several fashion magazines and they were right! It left my hair feeling all silky and smooth.

As usual I got it from eleven.se. If you live in the U.S you can order directly from the website, and they have distributors all over the world.

Most of their products are vegan, and none of them are tested on animals. They have a lot of information about their ingredients and their eco-certification on the website if you want to find out more.

Fun fact: They even make schampoo and conditioner four your furry friends...

It is a bit pricey, but I've tried going back to cheaper, (organic and non organic) shampoos and skincare, and they made my skin itch and I had a breakout in my face. So Ill stick to the good stuff.

Another toothpaste

Decided to try a new one. Went for Weleda Salt Toothpaste this time.

The sea-salt is what's cleaning your teeth in this toothpaste, there's no flouride in it. There's also no preservatives, colourants or synthetic flavours.

It really doesn't taste great, but my mouth and teeth feels really clean after brushing. Since it's developed in collaboration with dentists it should work properly.

They have other ones to try if you don't like the taste of this one.

Read more about other Weleda products I've tried here.

Bioutiful

Yasuragi Hasseludden is a hotel and SPA in Stockholm. Situated close to the city but yet in the archipelago with a fantastic view it's a must to visit when you're in Stockholm. They are working intensely with sustainability issues, from leadership to organic food and products. For example; the house-keeping department only uses eco-labelled cleaning products and recently the restaurant started with Meat Free Mondays. Why not try their body-peel with green tea and jasmin or a bambu-massage?

Eco Sense Salong is a SPA in Stocholm that specializes in organic skincare. They offer all the treatments you can expect from a SPA using products from Dermanord, Lakshmi and Q for skin. All of them with natural ingredients, and Lakshmi is developed according to auyrvedic principles.

How about treatments like Hot Stone Massage, C-vitamin Treatment or a Chocolate Overdose Wrapping?

Olive Organic Spa in New York is a small retreat from the busy citylife. Using Eminence Organics skincare line you'll be able to try the Red carpet Ready Facial or a Mimosa Age Defying Body Treatment to name a few.

You can find Panpuri Organic Spa in Bangkok, Sydney and Madrid. Now, this is pure luxury. Just to look at the pictures on the homepage gets you relaxed. Try the Mali Moonlight Massage or treat yourself to the 2h kombo Pan-Vimarn Touch of Paradise.

Mascara

I've been using Korres Abyssinia Oil Mascara for many years, and it's a great mascara. Good colour and stays on without smudging. Greece is the birthplace for the Korres brand, and a lot of the herbs used in this natural brand are from the Greek islands.







Just recently I changed my mascara, and I've finally found the best mascara ever! 100% Pure Black Tea mascara is fantastic. The best brush I've ever tried, and I've tried a few... Gives my lashes perfect length and volume to match. Feels almost like I'm wearing false lashes, without being over the top.

100% Pure products are organic, contains no synthetic chemicals, no detergents, no parabens, no phthalates, no chemical preservatives, no artificial fragrances or colors. All products are completely vegan and only fruit and vegetable pigments are used to give the products color.



As usual I bought mine at eleven.se. You can find 100% Pure stores in California only, but if you live in Europe (EU) you can order directly from the website.

Eat!

Eat! Ekostore is a fantastic little store in the centre of Stockholm that has everything you need, just as your regular supermarket. You can find milk, meat, juice, vegetables and grains. They have a selection of schampoos, detergents, baby-products and sunscreens as well as chocolate, candies, nuts and much much more. So there is nothing you can't find in here. It feels good to know that you don't have to check for the organic labels, instead you just buy what you need and you'll know it's not harmful in any way. They are open 7 days a week with really generous opening hours, so there's no reason to shop anywhere else. It's also nice to support the local community and to make sure we keep wonderful places like this one open.

If you're a company they're able to deliver fruit to the office; a nice and easy way to care about your employees. They will even bring coffee, milk or other products if you want to. Of course your shopping will be delivered in a car that runs on biogas.

As an ECOmmunity member you'll get special deals and invitations to events, and if you're on Twitter or Facebook you'll get all the latest news and offers. Also, check out their website were you can read their blog and find some delicious dinner inspiration in the recipes section.

Eleven.se

I buy almost all my skincare products from eleven.se. It's such a great place to shop! They have a fantastic range of organic products including many I've written about here; Burt's Bees, Bulldog, Naturligtvis and Luxsit

It's easy to find out which products are organic and there is a great variety of make-up, skincare, nail-polish, perfumes, shampoos, brushes etc.

You get your products within a few days - I've never had to wait more than three. Even if you have questions or special requests you get a reply from them in just half-an hour, and they listen to suggestions about products that you would like on the site. The prices are good and you always get samples of products with every purchase. Check it out!

Kingfisher Toothpaste

After a tip from a friend I just recently bought my first organic toothpaste from Kingfisher. This toothpaste contains no artificial colourings, sweeteners or preservatives and the flavours come from natural lemon, fennel or mint for examle.

I choose the fennel one without flouride, and it really tastes great and leaves that fresh feel that you expect a toothpaste to do. It should do it's job properly, it's approved by the British Dental Health Foundation to do as good a job as any of the regular ones.

Bulldog - for men

Bulldog is an organic skincare brand produced especially for men. I got it for my dad as a
Christmas-gift last year and he really likes it.

It includes the whole range of products you may need; shaving-cream, eye roll-on, shower gel, scrub, face wash and different kinds of moisturizers. There's even a specific Fair-trade range.
Bulldog don't test on animals and they use as much natural contents as possible, which means no synthetic dyes or perfumes and no parabens.

In the spring of 2012 they've won awards for best skincare products in both U.K and the U.S, so it's well worth to try out. The prices are good too.

In Sweden their products can be found at for example NK and Åhléns. In Denmark at the newly opened Sephora (the first Sephora in Scandinavia). In U.K they can be found in several stores as well as in their own web-shop.

Organic Toothbrush

30 million toothbrushes are disposed of in Australia alone each year. Used toothbrushes produces 1000 tonnes of plastic landfill that won't degrade for generations to come.

The environmental toothbrush is made of bamboo and is 100 percent biodegradable. The use of bamboo causes no deforestation and no pollution since it's a fast-growing grass and sensitive to pesticides. These toothbrushes lasts for as long as your ordinary ones. When you're done with it you can put it on your compost and the entire brush will turn into soil.

The toothbrushes are cheap, 36AUD (SEK255 or USD37) for a pack of 12, and they ship worldwide.

Check it out and order your own at environmentaltoothbrush.com.au

Neutral

Neutral is a Swedish brand approved by the Swedish Asthma and Allergy foundation. They have a lot of different products from skincare to laundry detergent. There are also special products for children and infants.

All products are free from perfume, synthetic dyes and unnecessary additives and some products are marked with Svanen ecolabel (the Swan).

On their web-page you can find good tips on how to prevent allergies.

You can find Neutral in your regular supermarket.

Power of consumption

Nobody can do it alone, but with the small steps and choices we make every day, we can all do our part. That's the most important thing I want to show with this blog. We can really do it together. All consumers of food, drink, clothes, fuel, skincare etc etc can put the pressure on our governments and all companies to work for a better and more sustainable future for all of us simply by choosing what we spend our money on.

-Buying organic milk/wine/juice/coffee instead of regular shows our farmers that we don't want to drink chemicals and hormones.
-Buying toys painted with non-toxic paint or made of non-toxic plastic shows our toy-stores that they need to produce and sell things that won't give off poison when our children put them in their mouth.
-Buying organic skincare will tell the producers that we don't want to rub chemicals on the biggest organ we have; our skin.
-Using public transportation whenever possible and buy cars with alternative fuel-sources will show the oil-industry that enough is enough.

If we keep asking at our local stores for those products and keep buying the things that are good for us those things will be produced in a larger scale. We can make the power of money work in our favour.

Yes we can!

Origins Skincare

Origins is a fantastic skincare brand. Not only do they have a lot to choose from, they also care very much about our environment. Some of their products are certified organic ones, but all of them are produced with a lot of respect towards the environment and the people meant to use it. They are mixing science and nature together beautifully with their organic ingredients and natural essential oils. Plants from all over the world are being used and their labs research each and every ingredient and mix them toghether. Some of the ingredients used are white tea, ginger, mimosa, mint, basil and vitamin C.

None of the products contains phtalates, dyes, mineral oils, PABA (chemical sunscreen), parabens, synthetic fragrances or petrolatum and the end result is tested on volunteer human panels. 

In North America (and more countries to come) they have a program that encourages their consumers to bring their used cosmetic bottles and jars (Origins brand or any other brand) to their nerest Origins store to be recycled and reused to help reduce the landfill.

I recently bought a brightening serum that Origins produced together with Dr Andrew Weil. They have made a comlete range of skincare-products together with carefully selected ingredients. Knowing that Dr Weil is a fantastic botanist this is really something to try.

The Origins homepage is a treasure-chest where you can spend a long time trying to decide what to try next. You can read all about the products and their commitment to purity. It is also a great that you can place comments about their products and to read what everybody else thinks.

Well worth a visit and a trial. Unfortunately you can not shop on their homepage outside of the US or Canada. In Sweden you can find them at some of the bigger department stores, or go wild when you travel.

Dr Weil

Dr Andrew Weil is a Medicine Doctor from Harvard and a world-renowned botanist. He has a holistic approach towards health and wants to join together traditional medicine with alternative medicine. Some see him as highly controversial and don't agree to this "mix" of traditional and alternative medicine, but for me it's just common sense and about finding the best solutions for yourself. He calls his perspective Integrative Medicine and he has written numerous books about healing as a human being and given advice on food, exercise, mind and spirit and overall health. His daily newsletter provides you with a short version health tip each day. Dr Weil promotes a lifestyle were you live your life to the fullest and best of your ability. I've been reading his newsletters for a long time and also some of his books. Read more at Dr Weil

Weleda

Weleda was started in 1921 by the founders of anthroposophical medicine, Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman, and has been producing organic skincare ever since. Anthroposophical medicine is about improving a persons ability to heal herself and they believe in a close connection between human beings and nature. This philosophy is still at the very core of Weleda.

Weleda products are free from parabens and synthetic dyes and of course not tested on animals. A lot of their products are also certified through Na True.

My favourites are their Citrus Creamy Body Wash that smells great and their Birch Body Scrub that really works wonders softening your skin.

You can find their products in many drugstores, health food stores or supermarkets and you can also find them in their webshop.

Buzz about Burt

Burt Shavitz used to work as a photographer in New York but wanted do something different with his life. He moved to Maine and started to sell honey made from his hives up in the hills outside of Dexter. A woman named Roxanne approached him at a local flea market and they decided to join forces and started to produce and sell candles made from Burts stored beeswax.

What started out as selling honey and candles of beeswax is now the largest company for organic skincare in North America and it finally arrived in Sweden in 2011.

Burt's Bees products contain no sulfate, parabens, perfumes or phtalate and the ingredients are 99 percent natural. They belive action speaks louder than words and applies this approach in every part of the company. From recycling the packaging and not testing on animals to educating consumers and taking good care of their employees. They also have a strong local committment and are involved in several different projects working for a more sustainable community.

I use the lip-balm with acai-berries; smells great! I've also tried the Naturally Ageless facial moisturizer with pomegranate and the Radiance Body Lotion.

Check ot Burt's story here.

Nordic Light Hotel

I spent last night at the Nordic Light Hotel in Stockholm. It's a beutifully designed hotel. The lobby is trendy, and yet very welcoming.

The hotel is marked with Svanen (the swan) which is a Swedish eco-label also used for laundry-detergents, paper etc. In the bathroom you can find products from the Swedish organic brand Luxsit. Luxsit is developed in Sweden and uses primarily Scandinavian plant extracts their products.

Nordic Light is also the first hotel in the world to introduce Meat Free Monday. On Mondays they don't serve any red meat in their restaurants. This is made as an inspiration to reduce the meat-consumption in the world.

Read more and book your own stay at; Nordic Light Hotel
Find out more about Luxsit and about Meat Free Mondays.

Eco Friendly hairdryer

When my old hairdryer went up in flames a few months ago I went shopping for a new one. I had no idea there was actually such a thing as an eco-friendly hairdryer. I found mine online and decided to try it. It really good! Well, my old one had only one temperature and one speed so I guess anything would be better that that...

Anyway, my new hairdryer is a Parlux 3800 Eco Friendly. It's made by Parlux in Italy and is developed for professional use. The hairdryer is made of fully regenerable components, painted with non-toxic paint and there are no emissions harmful to the ozon during drying. The packaging is made of recycled paper that is biodegradable. It's also very silent and saves energy by accelerating drying.

It has four (four!!!) temperatures and two speeds. For someone that dries her hair almost every day this is heaven.

Read more here.

ABBA Hair Care

I've been using the Moisture line for a few years now, and it's fantastic. I've tried a lot of different types of schampoos and conditioners for my sensitive scalp, but nothing worked. This product is completely different. It mousturises your scalp, and leaves your hair very shiny and in a really good condition. I get best results when using all three products (schampoo, conditioner and leave-in treatment). Once a week I use the Detox-schampoo that really cleans out every build-up in my hair. The thing to remember, that differs from other brands, is that the conditioner and the leave in treatment is to be used also on the scalp to help calm the skin.

It can be hard to find this brand in stores or at the hairdressers, but more and more people seems to find out how good it is, so it should soon be easier to find.

The products are completely vegan and free from DEA (diethanolamine), sulfate and synthetic dyes. ABBA work hard to improve their products but still keep their purity.

Six Senses

Apart from beeing absolutely amazing resorts, their spas and hotels are something out of the ordinary when it comes to environmental issues, and they are highly involved in reducing the impact of their activities.

There is a very extensive program to try to achieve this in every possible way; from waste management to energy saving, from environmental concerns during constructions to raising awareness among staff, guests and the local community.

Apart from the smaller things, they are also involved in sustainability issues on a larger scale.

They have a fund, SERF, that is to be used primarily for social and environmental projects and initiatives in responsible development. All of the resorts and spas contribute 0,5% of their total revenue to this.

Six Senses is also dedicated to a water saving project. Half of the sales of water on their resorts are invested in organisations that helps to provide clean water for people around the world who doesn't have access to that.

In 2008 they started a symposium called Slow Life. The hope for this is that politicians, philosophers and influential people, sharing insights and making connections, can make way for a better and more sustainable future. Some of the speakers on the 2011 symposium were; Daryl Hannah, President Mohamed Nasheed and Richard Branson.

Read more and dream away at; Sixsenses