cruelty-free

Apricot Freesia Soap

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Since I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2000, I have been shopping at The Soap Factory. Supporting a local, woman-owned business is a pleasure, and using the store's products always feels indulgent. Prior to finding this company, I had given up on scented personal care products, due to allergic reactions. What I learned from The Soap Factory's owner, Dawn Gregg, is that cheap chemical ingredients were likely causing a bad reaction with my skin.

Based in Longview, Washington, the shop offers products that are cruelty-free and made on-site. The Soap Factory uses high-quality ingredients that don't disturb sensitive skin. Most of the soaps and lotions are also free of animal products.

Another perk that comes with ordering from The Soap Factory is that you get a gift with every $50 you spend. My last order came with a bar of Apricot Freesia Soap, which retails for $4.25. That may seem costly, but it's worth it. I have enjoyed every bar of soap from this store, and the Apricot Freesia Soap was no exception.

An olive oil-based soap, the Apricot Freesia Soap was soft, buttery, long-lasting, and gentle enough to be used as a facial soap as well as body soap. The scent was pleasant without being overpowering or smelling “too girly,” as my partner put it. The minimalist packaging was environmentally-friendly, and the shipping was very prompt – my order went out on the same day I sent it.

The business has grown quite a bit since Gregg started it out of her house in 1997, but she has kept the personal touch that makes supporting her business a pleasure.

Written by: M.L. Madison, April 14th 2010

Rhubarb N Blueberry Spice Soap

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:58:00 +0000

By Vegan Soap Kitchen

I am a soap snob, but not without good reason. I don't want to imbibe chemicals into my skin, and just about everything with scent tends to make my skin dry out or cause an allergic reaction. For these reasons, I usually order olive oil soap from my favorite woman-owned business online, but using Rhubarb N Blueberry Spice Soap from Vegan Soap Kitchen definitely made me want to try more of their goodies.

Owner Deborah Dana has all kinds of cruelty-free skin care products (did I mention my partner and I buy only vegan personal care products?) on her Etsy site, some of which sound good enough to munch. Pink Grapefruit and Pineapple Cilantro soaps and Chai Tea lip balm are just some of her offerings. Unlike some specialty shops, they're reasonably priced.

My soap arrived in environmentally-friendly packaging (the smallest amount of stiff paper wrapping) and a cute, lime green gingham ribbon. She had me at gingham, and the package also listed all of the non-toxic ingredients. I could pronounce all of them!

The soap itself left behind a nice and not overpowering scent when I bathed with it. Think more musky than fruity, with the rhubarb adding a bittersweet scent. My partner is very finicky about our care products—he won't use them if they smell too “girly”—and he didn't complain.

The blueberry seeds offer a mild exfoliant that's not too harsh, although they did tend to get all over the place when the bar neared its end. Still, this was a delicious product, and I'm definitely going to shop for more goodies at Vegan Soap Kitchen.

Written by: M.L. Madison, November 4th 2009

BooBoo Unisex Wrist Bracelet, Woven

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:48:00 +0000

By Truth

The story behind a company and its products really makes or breaks my decision to purchase. Yes, aesthetics are a key determining factor, but my criteria goes beyond this alone. I want to know the who, what, where, when, and how behind it so that my money supports my values. Truth, as it turns out, is a company with a great product and a great story.

I’d heard a bit about this Canadian company, but didn’t know what they were all about, so I was especially excited to review Truth’s Woven Wrist BooBoo. Given the unisex cuff style and my extra-dinky wrists, I hoped I’d be getting the S versus the other size, L. Indeed I got the S woven style Booboo in the “brown/pink” combo and instantly loved the contrast between the serious snaps set in a pewter-colored faux leather and the soft baby pink, raspberry pink, and ivory threads tightly woven with burgundy, brown and taupe threads.

I like that it’s not woven into a perfect checkerboard-like basket weave. It’s totally cute, but has an edge. Browsing their website I could see a range of tastes going through their wares, from preppy to punk. The materials are all vegan and their line includes several style of wrist cuffs, belts, bamboo fabric t-shirts, and clean, simple necklaces.

The story behind Truth is especially interesting. When owner and designer Renia Pruchnicki started the company in 2001, she was used to working with technical fabrics as an outerwear clothing designer and naturally gravitated toward a “technical” faux leather fabric. Truth's "leather looking" belts became very popular within the vegan community and their website reads: “When I started this company, I was not a vegetarian and was not even thinking of pursuing anything along those lines in terms of a market. But the path that I took opened my eyes to many things and over the years and my diet slowly became mostly vegetarian.”

As an activist-minded consumer it’s heartening to find such a great example of the power consumer demand has to actually change the marketplace. In this instance not only did demand directly influence the company’s products, the personal values of the company owner were also affected. And for this I love wearing my stylish, comfy, cruelty-free Woven Wrist BooBoo even more!

Written by: Matsya Siosal, November 2nd 2009

The "Happy" Collection

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:19:00 +0000

By LUSH

As if anyone needs an excuse to spend more time under a hot shower—well, here's another, or five others—each a more compelling reason to recreationally cleanse. LUSH produces fresh, hand-made cruelty-and-lard-free and frequently vegan personal care products. All bathbombs, gels, soaps, shampoos, and other innovative items are individually made by skilled suds people—Sara, Czarina, and Reggie contributed to my 'happy' package. They offer over ten score individual products—currently made and sold within four months, or available online as 'retro'—have their own superhero in a bright green leotard, and like baby harp seals.

Seeing that Clorox owns Burt's Bees, Estee Lauder owns Aveda, L'Oreal owns the Body Shop, Unilever owns Ben & Jerry's, and Cadbury's owns Green & Black, it's refreshing to find a small, organic-product organization that appears to own their own. As Billie Holiday sang, “... God bless the child.” This kid was happy to lather with the 'Happy Hippy' shower gel—the bodywashes also work as shampoos, and LUSH sells some shampoos as bars in a mission to keep packaging to a minimum. Over two-thirds of their products are unwrapped and unboxed, and one of their news releases posits that if twenty percent of the United States population started using solid shampoo, twenty-two million plastic bottles would be removed from landfills.

I did stockpile some buy-one-get-one hair cleansers and products, but once they're depleted, if I need an ecologically sound rationalization for self-care, there's another, not to mention that the bracing citrus scents in this set made me—well, if not happy, at least punctured existential malaise and effectively combated ennui. I wonder if they have an enlightening moisturizer or helpful hand lotion?

Gift set pictured is foot care collection. The Happy Collection is another combination of products.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, July 2nd 2009

Earthy Cosmetics and Eco-Friendly Applicators

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:34:00 +0000

By NVEY

NVEY is an Australian cosmetics manufacturer. Apparently you say NVEY as "nah-VĀ," and after repeated uses, I say it's "Ō-kā," or definitely exceptionally good, in terms of durability and vibrancy. The organic line claims six years of testing and forty-six years of cumulative cosmetics experience. Application is smooth and even, not flaky or powdery, and the spectrum available includes a bracing lime green and rich eggplant, and some shimmers, in addition to a refined range of tans, taupes, and pinks. Ingredients include natural beeswax and rose absolute, and vitamins, and they also exclude an impressive array of potentially harmful substances.

However, if you're going to be health-conscious and environmentally aware enough to use organic cosmetics, it might occur to you that packaging and application are issues. All those extra boxes, some of which are wrapped in cellophane, or foam sponges on little plastic sticks accumulating in landfills. Fortunately, there are natural-materials reusable cosmetic applicators available from Ecotools: individual applicators, eye shading and foundation brushes, cleansing sponges, an eyebrow grooming kit, and—my favorite—a Kabuki brush with "cruelty free" taklon bristles (“no plastics were harmed in the making of this brush”). The Kabuki is of a large professional caliber—"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille"—and fun to use. The wooden stems of the brushes are even unpainted, eliminating an unnecessary use of potentially toxic chemicals. Inasmuch that femininity is construct, the freedom to play with a wider range of costumes—including make-up—is one of the few advantages available to women in our culture. It's nice to have the right toys—or tools—if you choose to use the paintbox.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, June 4th 2009

Organic Original Rice Nectar

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:14:00 +0000

By Suzanne’s Specialties

A gift box arrived at my home several weeks ago, origin unknown until my partner came staggering through the door, trying to balance the behemoth shipment he’d fetched from the post office. “It’s from Jaimie and Sabrina!” My kind, thoughtful acupuncturist and psychiatrist back in Boston—who share an office space, an affinity for holistic treatment, and unending support for my international move—had sent a care package after receiving a card from us. I nearly cried.

Instead, after removing our curious cat from atop the parcel, I tore into the massive cardboard container, revealing one of the most outstanding vegan supply kits of our modern age. In Copenhagen, among people—Danes—who generally see vegetarianism as a “those people who only eat fish” and who almost never know what a vegan is, replenishing my supply of dairy substitutes and meat-free options is a constant struggle. Team Brittany, as I think of my healers back home, had read my discouraged words, and despite their history of acting with diligence and speed on my behalf, had gone the extra kilometer. If you need needles for your qi or pharmaceuticals for your mind and live in the Commonwealth, I will be happy to provide a referral.

Among the many indispensable nonperishable products within my basket—vegan chili base, a canister of fake Parmesan, and even an organic materials squeaky catnip mousie for said curious cat—was Suzanne’s Organic Rice Nectar, in honey and chocolate flavors. Not a vegan who spends my days fraught with anxiety over the so-called honey debate, I was nevertheless thrilled to have a cruelty-free substitute for the sticky stuff.

Faux sweeteners can be used as just about anything, from a tea compliment to a cake batter ingredient replacement. Suzanne’s rice nectar is also the very best thing to hit my oatmeal since brown sugar, with a satisfying sweetness sans the chemical aftertaste.

Suzanne’s Specialties is the purveyor of many vegan, organic, gluten-free, and all-natural sweeteners and dessert toppings. A comparative substitute list is available on their website should you wonder how much one cup of rice nectar equals in molasses, maple syrup, or fruit juice. The first to make a marshmallow substitute—Ricemellow Crème—the company’s products are available at a variety of independent and chain grocery and health food stores across the U.S.

A few questions for the general public, not affiliated with Suzanne: Why must we call alternative but necessary food items “specialty?” Is it really so hard to consider the need for additional honey-type options, if for no other reason than we’re running out of bees? Could it be that we forced them into extinction through mandated labor so we might enjoy luxurious breakfast toast? Wouldn’t be the first time humankind has made such a critical error.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, May 17th 2009

Demeter Fragrances ½ oz. Purse Spray

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:29:00 +0000

By Demeter Fragrances

Demeter Fragrances now offers a half-ounce purse spray for girls who can't have just one, need variety, and find it impossible to make up their minds. With over one-hundred scents to select from, the small size is in this case a positive—these petite cylinders are both portable and convenient. At a reasonable ten bucks per "flavor," you can choose to reek of anything from angelfood to ylang ylang (a much-missed pal once had an allergic reaction to some ylang ylang in a massage oil, and the subsequent rash... nevermind). They do not use unnecessary packaging, and they don't test on critters.

Demeter has always appealed to me because they're willing to offer a scent of the unconventional, the suggestion that females need not be "sugar and spice and everything nice." The world also contains bamboo, beet root, black pepper, dry champagne, cypress, dust, hay, smoke, lobster (everyone: read David Foster Wallace's collection of essays Consider the Lobster while listening to “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s) and smoke and tobacco. What is the scent of a feminist? You get to choose. Their plain label and basic design also always struck me as a pleasant respite from some of the insulting fairy-tale frippery the pervades the fragrance industry. Wear Demeter to smell good in a variety of ways, either scent du jour or eau de moment: this purse size slides conveniently into bookbag, backpack, or pocket.

Written by: Erika Mikkalo, May 12th 2009