Oscars 2012: the eco-fashion/eco-beauty highlights

The 84th annual Academy Awards took place tonight, and some celebs decided to take the eco-fashion/eco-beauty route this year.

1. Actress Missi Pyle, who stars in the Best Motion Picture winner, The Artist, wore a pastel aqua gown made from peace silk where cruelty-free silkworms finish their life cycles before producing silk. Recycled zippers, recycled polyester, and natural mineral dyes also made an appearance in the gown, which was created by rising fashion designer and Green Carpet Challenge winner, Valentina Delfino.

Image: people.com.

2. One of the people behind GCC, Eco-Age creative director Livia Firth wore a cherry red Valentino gown made from silk and recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic deriving from plastic soft drink bottles.

Image: people.com. 

3. Three-time Oscar winner, Meryl Streep, who won Best Actress for her role in The Iron Lady, wore a glittery gold gown, the first Lanvin gown made from fabrics considered to be eco-friendly by GCC.

Image: people.com.

4. Actress Viola Davis, nominated for Best Actress in The Help, wore her natural hair minus the chemical relaxer or straightening treatment, both, when overdone, can be damaging to the hair. Davis also wore an eco-friendly pink Valentino gown at the BAFTA awards earlier this month.

Image: people.com.

Best eco-fashion @ NYFW 2012

New York Fashion Week came to a close last week as similar events are taking place throughout the globe to debut the fall and winter 2012 collections of the best designers. 

Eco-fashion designers are a dime a dozen, but they were still able to take the fashion world by storm by promoting green materials like organic cotton and recycled fabrics and still creating unique, wearable designs.

Below are some standout pieces by the biggest names in the eco-fashion designer world. Check out more in-depth coverage of NYFW 2012 (from the green perspective) at Treehugger.

Image: ecouterre.com.

Eco-fashion designer and NorCal native Leanne Marshall uses hemp and bamboo as some of the fabrics to create pieces. Her collections are available at her Etsy store.

Image: eco-chick.com.

Calling her designs "feminist and feminine," Suzanne Rae uses natural fabrics that will still give women a comfortable fit. A list of places to find her collection is here.

Image: treehugger.com.

Two of the top green fashion designers, Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapeitra are behind Costello Tagliapietra, known for easy, breezy pieces that celebs like Angelina Jolie and Kerry Washington have worn. Collections available at Barneys New York and other select boutiques.

Image: treehugger.com.

Whenever possible, Samantha Pleet uses organically grown materials to create her pieces. Her collections can be found online at Anthropologie and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Model/entrepreneur Josie Maran talks eco-beauty



Image: josiemarancosmetics.com.


Supermodel Josie Maran has landed plenty of coveted gigs, but she said finding nontoxic, natural makeup was almost impossible. To combat this issue, she started her own business, Josie Maran Cosmetics, and now is an eco-beauty enthusiast.

Read her story in Trendsetter: Josie Maran - March/April 2012 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club.

 

Report: Lead found in many brand name lipsticks



Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net.



From Everyday Health: FDA revealed hundreds of popular brands of lipsticks have tested positive for lead. Maybelline, L'Oréal, and CoverGirl all have products in the top five with

most lead content. 



Lead is a toxin, and when overexposed, can lead to damage to organs and tissues and ignite symptoms like confusion, anemia, irritability, headaches, and abdominal pain. 

Check out the article here.

Check out previous entries about eco-lipsticks: Get the eco-look: candy apple red lips & Make your lips eco-luscious.

Goodwill hunting #10: vintage chain necklaces

Vintage necklaces are standout pieces. Before the age of mass producing an accessory, jewelry designers made one-of-a-kind pieces that today are rare unless you shop secondhand.            

My mother bought me an interestingly designed green-and-blue chain link necklace made from glass beads for $2 at a local thrift shop. It made me reminisce about my other great vintage necklaces sitting in my jewelry box that I  found mainly at estate sales.

After finding a great necklace, I usually head to Etsy.com when I want to search for more unique jewelry pieces that I probably would never find in the real world. 

Vintage Wood & Bakelite Necklace, $4, etsy.com. 

Double Strand Chain Link Vintage Necklace, $23, etsy.com.

Vintage Necklace & Bracelet, $12, etsy.com.

Valentine's Day eco-fashion gifts

Valentine's Day. A day to celebrate love. And the love for eco-fashion is strong this year with clothes, jewelry, and other accessories perfect for the holiday. 

For the week of Valentine's Day, check out eco-friendly sale website, Pure Citizen, for bargains. U.K.-based eco-fashion online store, Annie Greenabelle, also has a Valentine's Day special with several wardrobe choices appropriate for the day and anytime during the year.

Frankie Dress Rose (organic cotton), $52.70, anniegreenabelle.com.

Hovey Lee Allott Necklace (recycled metal/genuine shell), $76, hoveylee.com.

Find It In Your Heart Handbag (vegan), $47.99, modcloth.com.

365 Sinela Ballet Flats in Pastel Blue (eco-leather), $88, yoox.com.

Goodwill hunting #9: spring tote bag

Though I'm not in the sunniest part of California, the weather is already turning warmer, meaning more days outside at places like the flea market or the beach. So the time to carry a cloth tote bag is edging closer as winter comes to an end.

Last weekend, I found a cute Bijoux Terner cloth tote bag with faux green leather straps decorated with green flowers at a thrift shop. It was only $3 maybe because it's not warm yet, but I'm excited for the springtime, so I can flaunt the bag with my outfits.

Floral and patterned totes will bring life to any ensemble and be a convenient place to house the three lip gloss tubes and other paraphernalia we have to take everywhere. 

Below are a few totes perfect for the upcoming season from Etsy, the online shopping mall for vintage, handmade, recycled, and other eco-friendly goods.

Pleated Tote Bag, $39, etsy.com.

Citrine Jute Basic Tote, $72, etsy.com.

Classic Large Tote in Magenta & Creme Floral, $30, etsy.com.

Argan oil seeps into major beauty products

Some major companies have injected argan oil, the popular natural beauty resource on the scene, into their brand new product lines. 

The rich oil originally from a variety of tree grown in Morocco contains fatty acids which strengthens the hair and softens the skin. 

Below are a few products hoping to generate sales with the guarantee of improving beauty through argan oil.

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine promises to soothe the frizz and condition the hair with the addition of argan oil. 

L'Oréal Paris Colour Riche Lipcolour in Sea Fleur 630 retails around $8.95, and the argan oil keeps your kissable smile moisturized for hours.

Dove Nourishing Oil Care focuses on giving hair extra attention with the argan oil repairing damage from root to tip.

Hobby-inspired eco-handbags @ ModCloth

The handbag is a must-have accessory, so if it can reflect our interests through design, we should definitely carry it. 

Below are some faux leather handbags from eco-friendly online retailer, ModCloth, where hobbies like traveling and writing come alive in an eco-handbag.

Traveling Translator Tote, $99.99, modcloth.com.

Sweet Music Clutch, $54.99, modcloth.com.

Shoulder Bag of Notebook, $54.99, modcloth.com.

Gleaming Cube Handbag, $52.99, modcloth.com.

Harmless chemicals vs. natural ingredients

For the past week, there has been a major media blitz surrounding the Simple natural skin care line with digital billboards across news websites and a commercial throwing harsh paint at a rose. But after looking at the ingredients, there were still so many chemicals, though many virtually harmless, inside the products.

So the question lurks in all our products: Would we rather like the harmless chemicals or real natural ingredients that we could actually pronounce?

The skin care line carries facial cleansers, beauty wipes, and moisturizing creams and has built quite a reputation in the U.K. There are recognizable ingredients like algae extract, glycerin, and xanthum gum---all relatively harmless in beauty products---but some of the items include methylparaben, methylsothiazolinone, and cocamidopropyl betaine that have good to fair ratings in ratio to its toxic properties on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Parabens are considered to be bad for natural beauty products even when there's a small dose. 

The chemical names on the labels of our products are mostly used to preserve the product for a long shelf life.

Unfortunately, very few of my products are all-natural like my chapsticks and soaps. The ingredients in my lavender hemp Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap are water, organic coconut, jojoba, lavender and olive oils, lavender extract, citric acid, and Vitamin E. The bottle is even made from post-consumer recycled plastic. 

All-natural products seem to be a dime a dozen, but other products advertising natural beauty care when it's not 100% seem to get the attention. With sensitive skin, try to find the products with limited ingredients that have natural property names involving fruits, oils, and extracts.

Goodwill hunting #8: bamboo pajamas

When I go to the Goodwill Outlet Store, I'm really stretching my level of thriftiness. It's literally dumpster diving inside a building, and all the enthusiasts looking for a bargain are there diving with you.

On my last super-thrifty shopping experience, I found a pair of adorably patterned pajamas with purple, black, and white---a fun combination. I found a brand new Victoria's Secret pair of pajamas a month before, so it was cool to find more sleepwear. 

Before I thoroughly washed it in the machine, I discovered it was mostly made from bamboo rayon, an eco-fashion fabric that's still rarely used in clothing, particularly the ones you find in a recycled place. 

It's a double take with shopping at the thrift store and finding an item of clothing made from an eco-fabric. It's exciting to see certain terms like 'organic,' 'recycled,' or 'bamboo' on clothing tags. Hope to find more.