Ask Diva
July 31, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Ask Diva
Dear Diva,
My wife and daughter use BareMinerals. What can you tell me about this product?
Thank you,
Victor
Jacksonville, FL
Victor,
I was able to find Bare Eccentuals – Bare Minerals in the EWG Database, that is likely what they are using. This line is one of the more common “mineral” brands in the marketplace.
Overall, their product line has an EWG safety rating of 3-6 (which they classify as a moderate hazard. It’s actually the product my local beauty supply “sold” me at the store as their safest/most natural brand last time I was shopping without a list – I know better.
IMO – it’s not the best and it’s not the worst.
Overall, choosing a mineral brand over other make up types – is likely going to result in lower chemical & toxin exposures. However, because there are so many other choices in the market that have lower scores, I would look to do even better in this product category.
Brands – that have lower overall better ratings:
Everyday Minerals EWG 0-3 Low to Moderate Hazard with 125 products analyzed – PND just did a review of Everyday Minerals, they are a great company with a nice quality product line. I feel comfortable recommending this line as a safer alternative to what your wife and daughter are currently using.
Other brands with very low toxins that PND has not yet reviewed:
Rejuva Minerals – EWG Score 0-1 Low Hazard with 62 products analyzed.
Bare Organics EWG Score 0-2 Low Hazard with 25 products analyzed.
To be safest I would check products individually in the EWG Skin Deep Database or Ask Diva for specific advice!
Tri State Journey
July 25, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Diva Musings
Diva friends,
I hope you missed me. I have just returned from a visit to my sister’s home in Santa Fe, New Mexico with the children. What an adventure! Then on our way home we stopped at one of my favorite places, a small dude ranch in the Arizona Desert – Stage Coach Trails Ranch.
I have so much blogging to catch up on, while I did blog when I could during my trip. I did want to spend as much time with my family as I could. And The Dude Ranch is pretty cut off, although my ATT phone worked fine, no WiFi equals no blogging. Not to mention, my sore buttocks from riding and waking up at 5:30 AM to beat the 110 degree heat. Yes that was 5:30 AM – I am nuts!
On my travels I found a great organic vodka, nice organic wines, a hotel chain that uses reclaimed water for flushing and recycles prominently. I’ll be sharing about this and more in the coming weeks!
Big Hugs!
Diva
HypnoBirthing Statistics
July 25, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Natural Childbirth
A few statistics on HypnoBirthing.
If you choose HypnoBirthing you may still require a C-section, you may still need an epidural, you may still need medical intervention, but the statistics show it will be less likely!
In 2007 15.5% of US HypnoBirthing® mothers birthed via C-Section, compared the the national average of 32%
12% of HypnoBirthing® mothers chose to birth in the comfort of their homes. The national average is less than 1%.
6% of HypnoBirthing® mothers chose to birth in freestanding birth centers. The national average is less than 1%.
Over 70% of HypnoBirthing® mothers birthing vaginally had unmedicated births.
To view the full report.
To learn more about HypnoBirthing.
To read the story of my own births.
Hairdryers – Do You Love Yours?
July 17, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Better Beauty
I love, love, love my Hair Dryer!
Did you know that they release 57 lbs of Carbon Dioxide per year, just under the 59 lbs that our dishwashers release! I was surprised that either they were so bad or our dishwashers have gotten so good!
I have long hair and I used to hate blow drying it, it would take forever, and my arms would get tired holding the brush, spin, pull… I’m tired just thinking about it.
One day I was complimenting my girlfriend Samantha on how great her hair looked. And asking how it looked so great with a newborn baby on her lap, she started to rave about the hair dryer she got for Christmas.
I had to try it. That was over a year ago and I still love this hair dryer. It’s the Conair Infiniti Hair Dryer
I wash my hair the night before I’m going to give myself a blow out. Pin my hair on top of my head. In the morning I have damp hair. It takes me 6-8 minutes to blow it out.
One of the best things about this dryer is that when you use it you don’t need to use a brush, you style your hair using the dryer and your hands. I usually comb it out before I clip it up, that’s all. I section my hair using a giant clip, then work one piece at a time, pulling the comb’s of the dryer through the section of my hair.
I sometimes use a little serum once it’s dry, nothing else goes in my hair. When I’m done, it looks almost as good as when my stylist does my hair. Seriously.
The blow out also last me 4-6 days depending on what I’m up to. Everyone’s hair is different, so I don’t know how it will work for you, but did I mention… I love my hair dryer!
Less time with the hairdryer – means less emissions and great hair without a lot of product even better!
I wish Conair was paying me to write this, if someone’s in touch with them,let them know.
Diva Recipe: All Purpose Green Cleaner
July 16, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Clean House, Diva Recipes
There are a ton of green cleaners on the market, but my favorite cleaners are the ones I make at home.
One thing you know for sure, when you make it – you know every ingredient.
You will also save a lot of money, the ingredients are so inexpensive, no wonder the companies that manufacture cleaning products have so much money to spend on advertising! It costs so little to make a batch – it’s crazy!
I make it in batches that make 4 28oz bottles.
13 1/4 cups of Water (1 hot)
1/4 Cup of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Liquid Soap– I like Citrus for the All Purpose Cleaner
1/4 Cup of Borax
1/4 Cup of Vinegar
Borax Free – The Vinegar & Baking Soda reaction is fun for kids!
NOTE – Cleaning with the following recipe requires rinsing. I’m working on a reformulation and will leave this posted with this caveat until I have a borax free option that doesn’t require rinsing.
10 1/4 cups of water (5 hot)
1/4 Cup of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Liquid Soap
1 1/2 cups of Baking Soda
3 cups of Vinegar
Mix the hot water with the borax or baking soda until it disolves.
Once dissolved pour into a bucket – make sure that you have a bigger bucket – the next step will give you a little foaming action!
Add the remaining water, vinegar & Castille Soap.
Use a funnel to pour the solution into the four bottles.
I used to use the Method Products, so I have reused the spray bottles & taken the labels off. Using the handy label maker, made my own labels so I know what’s in each bottle and it looks organized.
There are rumblings about the safety of Borax and while it certainly appears to be a better option than the chemicals in commercial cleaners, there are people who would prefer to avoid it.
Click here to read what they say at Chemistry.com.
I have posed the question about Borax to the EWG. I’ll be curious to hear their response.
Diva Recipe: All Purpose Green CleanerCloth diapering 101: What you need to know – Part One
July 15, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Infant & Childcare, Parenting
You’ve seen them before. Probably even wore them. But in the case of what’s on the market today, it’s not your mother’s cloth diaper. Gone are the flat white prefolds, pins and plastic pants of the baby boomer generation. In are creations that are easy to use, come in a variety of styles, colors and prints, which appeal on a whole new level. Who knew you could dress your baby’s bottom in pink and purple leopard print diaper?
I grew up around cloth diapers. I have a distinct memory from when I was about 11 years old, of dunking my baby sisters soiled diaper in the toilet and chanting “I will never cloth diaper my baby!” Over ten years later, I rediscovered cloth diapers when I was pregnant with my daughter and was so impressed with the new direction they had taken that I decided it was something I should at least consider for my baby. When I found out that I could buy diapers in fun animals prints and funky colors, I was sold on the idea.
The benefits of using cloth far outnumber the perceived inconvenience. If the visual appeal isn’t enough to have you switching from disposables to cloth, here are some more serious things to consider:
Health: Disposable diapers contain numerous dangerous chemicals. The three main offenders are Dioxin, Tributyl-tin and sodium polyacrylate. Dioxin, one of the more dangerous chemicals, is a toxin that has been labeled by the EPA as the most toxic of all the cancer-linked chemicals. In fact, it’s so dangerous, it’s been banned in most other countries – but not in the U.S. Tribuyl-tin is a chemical that is also present in disposable diapers. It can be absorbed through the skin and has been linked to hormonal problems in humans and animals. Sodium polyacrylate is the chemical that is added to the diapers inner layer to make them absorbent. Ever notice little crystal-like beads sticking to your baby’s bottom? That’s sodium polyacrylate. It’s now illegal for use in tampons because it can cause toxic shock syndrome, a deadly condition, but it’s still legal to use in diapers. There is also research that links disposable diapers with the sharp rise in male infertility over the last 25 years. For more information on the health risks associated with disposable diapers, please visit The Real Diaper Association.
Cost: Unless you plan on creating a stash of hundreds of premium cloth diapers, using cloth will certainly be cheaper than using disposables. The initial investment is a little painful to your purse, but the long term savings are significant, especially if you plan to cloth diaper future children. You could easily diaper your child through the age of two for less than $500. For detailed cost comparisons of cloth vs. disposables, check out Diaper Pin and Diaper Decisions.
Environment: More than 27.4 billion disposable diapers end up in a landfill every year in the U.S. alone. As if that’s not bad enough, consider that disposables take an estimated 250-500 years to decompose. We’re talking about 6,000 diapers you will personally be responsible for dumping in a landfill by the time your child is two. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that the sheer volume of the waste disposable diapers create is reason enough to use cloth. For more information on the environmental concerns created by disposable diapers, please visit The Real Diaper Association.
Many people consider using cloth to be an inconvenient, unnecessary option. Quite to the contrary, using cloth is simply as easy as fastening the diaper on your baby, storing the soiled diapers in a pail and then doing and extra load of laundry every few days. After reviewing the facts, I think that anyone would be forced to agree that it’s not only a healthier choice for our children, but a kinder choice for our planet and our pocketbook. A win-win for everyone!
And really, what baby doesn’t need a leopard print diaper in their wardrobe?
Stay Tuned – Part Two is coming soon!
Molly is a wife, mother and natural living enthusiast who enjoys writing about her adventures in parenting an active toddler. You can follow these adventures and find other tips and ideas for raising healthier, happier families over on her blog, Momma Molly.
Organic Wear Rebates – Free Make-Up
July 14, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Diva Savings
A new line from Physicians Formula
They are offering rebates for:
The rebate will cover typical rebate cost on the purchase of the item.
So if free sounds good to you… give it a try.
I’ve already received my mascara rebate!
Organic Wear Rebates – Free Make-UpBottled Water? A Water Filter is the Better Option!
July 11, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Diva Musings, Greener Living, Health & Wellness
By Tania Reuben
We’ve been sold.
Didn’t we know it the whole time, really?
Many years ago, when the trend towards bottled water began – I can recall thinking people are really paying for water, then it became, I’m paying for water. It became a habit. An expensive habit at that.
About four years ago we moved into a home with a water filtration system and unless I was going out, that became my water source.
A year ago I bought my first reuasable water bottle
Environmentally – the impact of plastic water is up to 1,000 times as bad as that of tap water. There is a sea of plastic in the middle of the pacific ocean and just because the bottles are recyclable, doesn’t mean they end up being recycled. In California less than 16% of water bottles are recycled. The rest end up in land fills.
But what’s the real story on the actual quality water?
Well, that it turns out is the question. The bottle water companies don’t really make that available to consumers. Unlike all city waters, which are tested multiple times daily, Water companies are only required to test weekly.
Bottem line:
Find a bottle or two that you love (fancy for me please), get a water filtration system and become your own water bottler.
Reusable Stainless Steel Water Bottles
For the EWG full report: Is Bottled Worth It?
How Safe and Effective Are Sunscreens?
July 8, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under In the News
Sunscreens are improving – but three of five brand-name products either don’t protect the skin from sun damage, contain hazardous chemicals, or both, according to a report by the watchdog organization Environmental Working Group.
Check out the Diva Guide to Sunscreen:
http://www.purenaturaldiva.com/2009/06/summer-is-coming-which-sunscreen-will-you-slather-all-over-your-skin/
To read the full article at Web MD:
How Safe and Effective Are Sunscreens?.
Why Choose Whole Grain Bread and Other Whole Grain Products?
July 8, 2009 by Tania Reuben
Filed under Food & Nutrition
By Tania Reuben
When feeding my family I buy 100% whole grain and 100% whole wheat products almost exclusively.
White flours and breads act much like sugar when they enter your body. They cause your blood sugar to spike. One article I read said it like this - White Flour–The Other Sugar.
On occasion we eat white flour products, primarily at restaurants (most of them) that doesn’t offer alternatives. They are treat, for my calories, if I’m going to have a treat I would much rather have an actual sweet treat, rather than something my body interprets that way. I say skip the white bread and pass the ice cream.
It’s all about your glycemic index – keeping it low and steady. White flour products spike it, like sugar. Whole grain products break down slowly and release the sugar into your body in a slow and steady manner. Good.
It’s shocking to me that approximately 80% of Americans haven’t made the switch to Whole Grains. It’s so easy! Yes, some of the products will taste a little bit different at first, but if I can get my husband, my Jewish In-Laws, and two toddler’s to eat them, anyone can do it.
Things I do:
- 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread
- 100% whole grain cereals
- 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread
- 100% whole wheat or whole grain tortillas
- 100% whole wheat or whole grain pasta – BTW – these are $1.29 at trader joe’s.
If Whole Grain Pasta is new to you, consider, the Barilla Whole Grain – it’s not 100% whole grain, but it has a good amount and it’s a great transitional product. The elbows are good for pasta salads too.
- 100% whole wheat no boil lasagna noodles.
- 100% whole wheat stuffed pastas, tortellini, raviolis
- Whole Grain bread crumbs – I make my own – but you can buy them.
- Rice – we use brown basmati rice – organic when I can find it in bulk otherwise regular.
- Whole Grain Pancake Mix, I also like buckwheat pancakes, which are a great whole grain, their dark color and nutty flavor aren’t for everyone.
For baking & cooking I use 100% whole grain pastry flour – a lighter texture than wheat, with whole grain benefits. I don’t bake cakes, so I can’t speak to it’s effectiveness for a light and fluffy cake, but I bet it could be done!
Some of the items I regularly purchase are not available at every grocery store, like the lasagna and the ravioli’s, so I purchase quite a few when do find them. You can also find some of the products online.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE LABELS!
It can be tricky to decipher the whole grain market. Look for the 100% whole grain logo on products for simplification. Pay attention to how many grams of Whole Grain per serving – you’ll want to find a minimum of 8gm. If you are choosing whole wheat which can be considered a whole grain – only select %100 Whole Wheat. Read the ingredients – wheat flour is not whole wheat flour – it’s plain white flour (which is made from wheat – thus wheat flour)!
There are so many choices for Whole Grain products on the market – there really is something for everyone’s taste buds.
The whole grain item that was probably the most difficult to track down was Whole Wheat No Boil Lasagna. It’s listed here my amazon selections, so you know what to look for or can purchase from Amazon and support Diva in the process.
Why Choose Whole Grain Bread and Other Whole Grain Products?
