Everyday Minerals

I just got in the mail my 15 samples of everyday minerals makeup. I really liked the makeup.   Definitely worth it since I love trying new products.  I am about to run out of my bare minerals makeup and think I will switch over to everyday minerals since the makeup is so much cheaper and looks just as good if not better than bare minerals.  They have really affordable brushes too!  They have around 40 different colors for your face with a guide to help you find the right shade.  I just love that you only pay 2.50 for 7 samples because I hate more when I get the wrong shade and waist a ton of money on it.  Everyday minerals is an organic all mineral makeup line.

Everyday minerals website: http://www.everydayminerals.com


Here are some of my favorites

Everyday Bronzer $8.45

Eye Shadow Brush $8.99

Flat top brush $8.45

Flourish eye shadow $7.99

Light-Matte foundation $12.99

Light olive matte foundation $12.99

How To Choose Safe and Natural Products

Being pregnant makes me think about what I'm putting into my body more than I usually do.  I'm affecting someone other than myself by the way I choose to eat.  I buy only organic produce right now because the pesticides in food can affect your baby.  Recently I started looking into ways to wear more natural and safe makeup products.  My first purchase was to switch my makeup to bare minerals a couple months ago.  I love it!  The other night I went through everything in my bathroom and typed everything into the EWG's skin cosmetic database.  They rate all cosmetics on a scale of 1-10 and tell you what chemicals are in your product and how safe they are.  I definitely had some stuff in my bathroom to chuck.

EWG skin cosmetic database: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
This website is seriously awesome!  You can look up almost any product.

Green beauty guide website: this is an awesome site with a lot of good information on toxins in your beauty products and natural beauty tips: http://thegreenbeautyguide.com


Here is a list I found on the green beauty website of the worst chemicals in skin products:
-paraffin
-propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol
-polypropylene
-bronopol
-isopropyl alcohol
-cationic surfactants (stearalkonium chloride, benzalkonium chloride, certimonium chloride and cetalkonium chloride)
-Triethanolamine(TEA) and diethanolamine(DEA)
-synthetic wax and coal tar
-parabens and diazolidinyl urea
-quaternium-7,15,31
-Triclosan
-Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate
-Fragrance

Here is some of the stuff that I am not using anymore.  On average they had ratings of 4-5, I wanted to stay in the 1-2 on EWG website at least while I have this baby cooking inside me.

Here is my list of safe and natural products!  

For Baby

For Christmas I got a fifty dollar gift card from my parents to babies R Us.  I used it all today to buy the baby some burts bees and organic soaps.  Burt's bees definitely has some of the best products out there. They are all really safe and have a low rating of 1-2 on EWG.

-Baby bee shampoo and wash fragrance and tear free

-Diaper ointment

-Dusting powder

-Calming lotion

-babyganics bubble bath

-babyganics daily lotion

Shampoo/Conditioner

-Trader Joe's refresh citrus body wash

-citrus shampoo/conditioner

-avalon organics shampoo/conditioner: score of 2

Lotions

-Aveeno active naturals daily moisturizing lotion

-J.R Watkins naturals aloe and green tea lotion

-Burt's bees milk and honey body lotion

Skin Care

-Alba botanica natural very emollient sunscreen spf 20

-Alba botanica facial toner

-Burt's bees peach and willow bark deep pore scrub

-Burt's Bees soap bark and chamomile deep cleansing cream

-Burt's Bees citrus facial scrub

-Earth science eye makeup remover

Other Products:

-Avalon organics moisturizing cream shave

-Burt's bees natural toothpaste

-Alba Botanica tea tree deodorant

-Burt's bees cuticle cream

-Alba Botanica pineapple quench lip palm

-Alba Botanica coconut cream lip gloss

-Desert essence therapeutic chapstick with tea tree oil

-Peacekeeper nail polish

For Men

-Burt's Bees natural shave cream

-Burt's Bees natural deodorant

-Giovanni hair gel (men or women)

-Giovanni shave cream

-Desert essence therapeutic tea tree oil chapstick

-All of the products that I listed are very safe and have really good ratings.  There is no such thing as the perfect product but there are some that come pretty close.  So far I am loving my coconut cream alba botanica lip gloss and my trader joe's shampoo/conditioner.  I have been using Burt's bees for a while and definitely think it is the way to go.

Some great websites to shop for products:

100 percent pure

Burt's Bees

Bare Minerals

every day minerals

Don't forget about Sprouts and Whole Foods

What natural products do you buy? I would love to hear!

GMO corn linked to cancer tumors!

  Eating genetically modified corn (GMO corn) has caused rats to develop horrifying tumors, widespread organ damage, and premature death. That's the conclusion of a shocking new study that looked at the long-term effects of consuming Monsanto's genetically modified corn. The study was published in The Food & Chemical Toxicology Journal and was just presented at a news conference in London.

You would hope that most people agree that genetically modified food is bad for you.  Especially since all of Europe banned them from their country.  Do you know what is really amazing to me?  That the USDA and FDA claims that genetically modified foods are safe for us when they have never actually done studies on them.  Hmm....interesting.  This study was led by Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caein.  It is the first every study to examine the long term effects of eating GMOs.

Findings from the study:
-up to 50% of males and 70% of females suffered premature death
-rats that drank trace amounts of Roundup had a 200 to 300% increase in large tumors
-rats fed GMO corn suffered severe organ damage including liver and kidney damage
-The study fed these rats NK603, the Monsanto variety of GMO corn that's grown across your corn-based breakfast cereal, corn tortillas and corn snack chips.  

Here is an abstract of the study: http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm
Read the original article here:http://www.naturalnews.com/037249_GMO_study_cancer_tumors

And if thats not enough to make you mad, here is some more great news! READY?

California's Prop 37, a ballot initiative that would make it mandatory to label genetically modified foods did NOT pass.  Can you believe that?  People don't want to know if there food has been genetically modified.  Are they stupid?  I want to know where my food is coming from.  53% of California voters voted against it.  Monsanto (aka the worst company in the World) spent an enormous amount of money to try to sway people's votes and convince them that labeling genetically modified foods would cause the price of food to increase.  Thats a bunch of crap.  Monsanto spent 46 million dollars knocking prop 37.  Only 8 million was spent on proponents for the bill.

I seriously can't believe that a company and politics are controlling the kinds of foods we eat and feed our kids.  It makes me so mad whenever I think about it.  My husband is used to my crazy rants by now.  I told him that I am going to travel the US and convince people about genetically modified foods, I should probably wait until after i get my masters in public health.  Or maybe I'll just move to Europe where they don't allow genetically modified foods.

What you can do:
Try and buy organic foods whenever you can.  Trust me it is worth investing in.  Corn and soy are the most modified so maybe stat by buying organic corn and avoiding soy or choosing organic.  Canola oil is another highly genetically modified food.  Dairy should definitely be avoided unless buying organic. Personally I just avoid milk completely and buy almond milk.  Use the dirty dozen list for buying organic produce.  I hope that in the future the entire US bans genetically modified foods and we will no longer have this problem.