A Dose of the Delightful

A Pretty Perfect Day Upstate: The Country Living Fair

2013-06-19T05:49:50-07:00

Above, a vintage Airstream turned vintage ephemera shop

When the lovely folks at Country Living invited me to join them for a special peek into their Rhinebeck fair, I couldn't think of a better way to kick off my birthday weekend. I rose at an uncharacteristically early hour (Um. It's light outside at 5:45 am?!?), schlepped to the Amtrak station, and in less than two hours, exited the Maple Leaf and was on the free shuttle to the fair. The ride up was completely breathtaking, with sweeping views of the Hudson practically the entire way. Once in Rhinebeck, my insides were happily screaming "SPACE! FRESH AIR THAT SMELLS LIKE GRASS! BLUE SKIES & SUNSHINE!"

My impression of the day, in a nutshell:

The fair: brimming with handmade goods, antiques, vintage collections, & repurposed treasures.

The music: local acts like Grass Fed Bluegrass.

The food: local organic grass-fed cheeseburgers & shakes, dairy-fresh ice cream, fish tacos, pulled pork.

The setting: Dutchess Country fairgrounds in upstate NY, gorgeous sunny day, blue skies, and a light breeze.

The crowd: friendly, creative, passionate, thoughtful.

The Fair was on the Dutchess Country Fairgrounds, home to the local 4-H.

We started the day with a nice chat with Sarah Gray Miller, CL's editor-in-chief and also one of the coolest women I've ever met in magazine publishing. Sarah was rocking the Fair's 2013 t-shirt:

She regaled us with tales of her junior high rebellion, during which she insisted on being called 'Gray' (definitely would've done that). She also confided that she was going to try and refrain from buying too much stuff because, as an example, her coffee table is so full of knick-knacks there's no place to set down a cocktail. Sounds familiar...

Next, Cari Cucksey of HGTV's Cash & Cari led us around the grounds. She was incredibly friendly and easygoing. It was so fun to listen to her opinions on vintage & antique items, their original uses (she's incredibly knowledgeable), and what she'd use them for now.

This pair of chairs was secured together & turned into a loveseat with the addition of a single cushion made from a grain sack.

There was an audible gasp in the group as we happened upon this 1940s patio furniture set. Really, this fabric is just too, too good. There was also a sofa, and I'm pretty sure it all got snapped up at the beginning of the day.

I also loved the beautiful, almost Art Nouveau feel & bright orange hue of this 1940s coffee tin.

I took approximately 87,000 more photos - enjoy!

This booth was full of hand-embroidered shoes & boots at the Velvet Road's booth - I strongly considered buying some of these psychedelic-looking loafers.

Below, vintage milk caps were converted to colorful magnets. How cool are the ones that say 'This is your usual product. We are out of our regular printed caps' ? I get a strange thrill from these fun little peeks into the past.

One of my two purchases: a vintage Knott's Berry Farm pennant (tucked below the Canada one seen below). This shop's proprietress, Jane Cantelmo, was really sweet and told a rather sad tale of how half of her stock of vintage items had been lost in Hurricane Sandy. Still, she had plenty left to sell and felt lucky nothing worse happened. Her lovely daughter popped over to direct me to their Facebook page and we commiserated about parents' general lack of social media fluency (not you, Mom!).

This is Karen Pearson, who runs a leather goods business called Lark Practical. Every item she sells is made in Rhinebeck using only American leather, and the handstiched goods are carefully saddle stitched with waxed linen thread. Karen uses a vintage Consew to construct the larger items like bags.

Also pretty cool: these Stately Tables, also handcrafted upstate.

These vintage billiard balls, cozy coat (made from a Hudson Bay point blanket), and old match boxes were some of my favorite colorful finds.

These vintage blue bottles would be so eye-catching sitting on a windowsill with sunlight filtering through them.

Pretty groovy wooden spoons handcrafted from local hardwoods - you can buy them over at Riverwood Trading Co.:

Cari had her own booth of treasures - I loved this mid-century wire chair. I'd make my own canvas cushions for it.

Below, a wall of seed packets from the Landreth Seed Co. booth. It's the oldest seed company in America - it's been around since 1784. Since they've been doing it for so long, they see no need to use any GMOs, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or synthetic treatments of any kind. Two thumbs up.

I learned the difference between these Adirondack guideboats (made by the Adirondack Guideboat Co.) and canoes: they're rowing vs. paddling boats, much less likely to tip even in messy water, extremely lightweight, and allow rowers to face each other. They were just exquisitely crafted.

My favorite vintage/antique booth was this one full of the most random finds, like the matchboxes a few photos up, these reflective letters, deadstock Converse sneakers, vintage train & movie theater signage, shell collections, you name it.

There are also CL Fairs in Columbus, OH (September 13 - 15) and Atlanta, GA (October 25 - 27) in case you can make the trip!

I'm 29! 29 Things I've Learned & Observed So Far

2013-06-12T02:00:00-07:00

Awhile ago, I wrote about the lessons this year has taught me. As I entered my 30^th year of life on Sunday, June 9th, it felt right to think about and share some of the stuff I’ve learned in life so far, in no particular order. These are probs nothing groundbreaking to most people. Many are ideas I’d known intellectually, but only recently have learned practically – jeez Louise, what a difference it is between the two.

My most important relationship is with myself. I can’t make the most of any of my other relationships unless I’m happy with me. This especially involves paying attention to my intuition, which until recently I wasn’t all that good at doing.
Spending a lot of time, either in my work or in my personal life, trying to figure out what people think is ‘cool’ and how to project ‘coolness’ is a great way to be super unhappy. To quote Devo (oh hey, Mom & Dad), I’m through being cool.
Pursuing my own very specific, weird little interests without regard for how others may perceive me is a great way to be super happy.
When I’m happy, as I am extremely so these days, I feel awesomely young and alive. I recently talked to a 50 year-old man who told me he still felt 19 inside – that’s what I’m shooting for.
It is uncanny how many wonderful things can enter my life once I’ve made the room to let them.
The lesson that we aren’t in control of much of anything is one I must be vigilant about continually re-learning. It’s an easy enough concept to grasp intellectually, but not as easy to be confronted with in real life. During stretches when I ‘get’ it, I feel much lighter and freer about life in general.
I have a love/hate relationship with technology and social media. While they enable me to do things like, say, write and share this post, in general, I think both encourage spending a lot of time focusing on external perceptions, usually at the expense of looking inward.
It’s much, much easier for me to be the truest and best me when I avoid toxic and negative people and situations (when within my control).
Running marathons is less about the training and more about attitude. I’m no speed demon by any stretch of the imagination, but this year, I ran my best marathon because I was just so happy to be running it. Before the race started, I decided I was just going to enjoy it rather than fretting over a time goal. I never dreamed I’d be smiling uncontrollably the entire time and speeding up all the way to a dead sprint down the finish chute. Incidentally, I got my best time ever – not impressive by the world’s standards, but felt freakin' good by my own. I look forward to seeing what I can do when I train more than twice a week.
My best understanding of death so far (courtesy of J.R.R. Tolkien): “End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it: white shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."
My best understanding of life so far (also courtesy of J.R.R. Tolkien): Frodo: “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
My best understanding of how to approach my career:
-“What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Here is the key to your earthly pursuits.” — Carl Jung
-This speech by Alan Watts. It's been instrumental in the major changes I’ve made this year. I return to it often as a reminder.
I love color. At my core, I’m just not one of those aloof, all-black wearing New Yorkers, and I never will be.
There are few things more exciting to me than being around someone who is unabashedly passionate about his/her interests, whatever they may be.
I wish more people were open about seeking out therapy when life gets tough. I am more grateful than I can really properly express for Leslye Noyes, the woman with whom I’ve spent the past few years sorting out some tough stuff. She is a fantastic therapist who has been my mirror for personal reflection. She's been one of my greatest teachers.
Being vulnerable can be one of the toughest but most rewarding things.
Kindness and understanding are absolutely the most disarming things in the world. It’s harder but much better to expend the emotional energy and time to genuinely put myself in someone else’s shoes, especially someone who’s been rude, hurtful, or otherwise negative. I feel so much better when I remind myself that everyone is fighting a hard battle. More often than not, acknowledging that someone must be having a hard day or a rough time makes any conflict or negativity dissipate. Interestingly, this works with myself, too: when I find myself irritable and make a point of acknowledging it and trying to understand how I got there, I’m usually able to easily let it go.
Often, people who achieve dizzying heights of material success and fame aren’t very happy or nice people. Many of these folks also spend a lot of time trying to convince other people of their worth or coolness (see #2).
Shout out to Albus Dumbledore: eventually, we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy. I’ve done it both ways, and so far, only one has made me happy.
To borrow from It Still Moves, “All great {American} music comes from the South.” Sorry, but it’s true. Sorry, I’m not sorry.
The hardest part of change is acknowledging the loss of what I’ve gotten used to and just starting the new thing. Doesn’t matter whether I’m switching to a new, non-toxic shampoo or making a major life change. We’re so very adaptable, and pretty quickly get used to the new way of doing things. It isn’t worth clinging to a favorite product that happens to be unhealthy or a personal relationship that no longer works just to avoid experiencing that moment of loss and unfamiliarity. The reward far outweighs the momentary discomfort.
Parents can be fairly frustrating, but it’s worth listening to them. They really do know a shit ton. Of course, I usually (quite stubbornly) have had to learn things on my own.
I am my own biggest obstacle. Self-limiting thinking has been responsible for pretty much every instance of keeping me from doing something I'd like to do.
I believe absolutely that we have a basic human need to create things. We used to have to do it just to survive; just because now we don’t doesn’t mean we don’t need to satisfy that desire. I find it’s a lot easier for me to be happy when I get to make things every now and then, even though I don’t have to. There is something sacred about the handmade.
When something, doesn’t matter what it is, is the right thing, my intuition will tell me so. If it doesn’t, it’s not.
In this country, the best way to support what you believe is with your wallet. It's worth it to me to pay a fair, not falsely cheap, price for healthy, untainted food grown by people who care about closing the loop as much as possible vs. corporations perpetuating an unsustainable, completely linear monoculture. Sadly, this concept used to just be known as ‘agriculture.’
Actions really do speak louder than words.
Poop jokes are always funny.
Love is the thing.

Touring the HGTV/ADT Smart Home

2013-05-28T08:26:58-07:00

I admit it: every year, I enter to win the HGTV Dream Home. They’re always located in an interesting place, executed with thoughtful & locally-inspired design, and full of unique details. This year, there's also a Smart Home!

A few weeks ago, I was really excited to be invited to a dinner hosted by ADT – a company that you probably immediately associate with security systems – but which actually creates smart homes as well. The purpose of the dinner, which took place in a lovely restaurant called L’Apicio in the East Village, was to introduce the 2013 HGTV Smart Home to us – which also happens to be located in Jacksonville Beach, FL - my hometown.

The peeps from ADT could not have been more gracious, and filled us in on all of the ins and outs of what exactly puts the ‘Smart’ in ‘Smart Home’. The ways in which the home can be controlled remotely are pretty remarkable - I definitely felt a little bit like I'd stepped into The Jetsons. One potential conflict preventer: a toilet seat that automatically goes down when you leave the bathroom.

In a lucky coincidence, I was actually headed back to Jacksonville for 10 days on the day following the dinner, so the ADT team set me up with tickets to see the Smart Home in person! I took along my mom – she's a self-described HGTV nut, so this was certainly an afternoon up her alley.

I took plenty of photos, although the quality isn't the best because they're from my iPhone.

Just after entering, this pretty alcove was located to the right, just outside the master bedroom.

The anchor in the center was made of layered starfish and looked fantastic in a floating frame; the square pattern was constructed of painted wooden planks.

The “garage” was ridiculously beautiful – I’d hate to actually park a car in it. I first noticed its elevated ceiling outfitted with a giant skylight through which sunlight streamed in freely. The walls were planked in cedar, and these beautiful banners, which once hung from beach lampposts, were displayed in floating frames.

There were a few surfboards mounted to the walls, but the coolest feature by far was the pulley system by which several more boards were suspended from the rafters.

Here's the laundry room - suffice it to say I'd have a much easier time getting to laundry if I did it in a space like this:

Retro photos from the Beaches Museum lined the hallway to the kitchen, dining & living room.

The outdoor space was pretty amazing, and came with a solid outdoor kitchen. Not pictured: the giant temperature-controlled pool.

Below, a room for two kids:

In the kids' bathroom, a framed antique lifeguard uniform was super cool:

I took zillions more photos, but those were some of my favorites.

Being very optimistic and extremely unrealistic, my mom and I have already discussed what we'd do if we won the grand prize (incidentally, you also get $100,000 cash and a car).

You can still enter here and here once a day through May 31st.

Good luck!

Mexicana Mama: Inspiration from South of the Border

2013-05-03T10:46:02-07:00

I've always been a fan of West Elm, but I especially love the way they've made a point of working with independent artists and artisans lately. Whether this comes from a genuine love for craft, is a play to make a giant company feel more friendly, or a little of both, I don't care. It's really a win-win: talented independent designers get fantastic exposure, customers delight in becoming acquainted with artisans and more special, less mass market-feeling pieces, and handmade culture is celebrated.

Recently, they collaborated with designer and illustrator Paulina Reyes (she's also Design Director at Mother New York) on a collection of throw pillows. The pillows feature a vibrant, painterly patterns which were inspired by Mexican Talavera pots.

Cinco de Mayo (fondly referred to as Cinco de Drinko by a friend of mine) is this Sunday, and I'm feeling inspired by Mexican handicrafts! Here's a roundup of some fun things I found, using Paulina's pillows as an inspiration:

1. Paulina Reyes for West Elm pillows here, here, here. 2. Vintage Mexican dress, The Hunter Gatherer on Etsy. 3. Hand-screened Otomí print, Scout & Lilly shop on Etsy. 4. Small Succulent Planters (fair trade and handmade), SERRV. 5. Glass Sunburst Mirror, Direct from Mexico

Read on to

Color with Confidence: A DIY Challenge with Pantone, Valspar & Lowe's

2013-04-30T08:27:11-07:00

This past weekend, I got to do something CRAZY fun. But first, a little back story.

Ever since I started getting to do a little design work in my job several years ago, I've been pretty obsessed with Pantone. You might remember the roundup I did when they announced the color of the year. Since I am obsessed with color, this should not be a surprise, since Pantone is pretty much the worldwide color authority. Pantone books may not be all that thrilling for seasoned, formally educated designers, but for me - someone who's more of a self-taught enthusiast - they're still so exciting. Something strange and amazing happens to me when I get to flip through one of those fan books full of color chips - the same thing happens to me when I pick out paint. Colors do something good to my brain - it's as if my brain suddenly wakes up and says to itself, 'WOO!!! COLOR!!!' I can't really explain it, so it probably sounds a little bizarre unless you have the same reaction. Several years ago, I used to think about (and talk about) the fact that Pantone should expand into, well, everything - from makeup (nail polish!) to tights to paint. Fast forward several years, and they've done tons of those kinds of collaborations!

This time, they've created a paint line. To celebrate the launch of the Pantone Universe Valspar collection, which is available exclusively at Lowe's, the three companies invited a bunch of bloggers and editors to check out the paints, as well as participate in a DIY upcycle challenge. Needless to say, when I got this invite, I responded in approximately one billionth of a second. Color AND DIY AND upcycling??? What more could I want?

Read on for the full recap of a delightful two days, plus the how-to on these upcycles.

This was a full-on two day extravaganza of color and inspiration! During day one, we were treated to lectures by Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute (!!!), Elaine Griffin (interior designer whom I've had the pleasure of meeting before), and designer Nanette Lepore (tons of color + pattern in her collections).

Elaine and Nanette's talks were wonderful, but I was nothing short of enthralled by Leatrice. She is a color specialist: her whole job is helping brands and companies choose colors for logos, packaging, products, you name it. I didn't even know a job like that existed! She had so many inspiring things to say about color, but the most profound was that "Color has the power to change mood." My favorite observations of hers were that yellow draws us in and makes us happy, and that emerald, the color of the year, is the color of unity & balance.

After listening to these lovely ladies speak and enjoying a delicious spread & some tasty cocktails, we got to experience the paints themselves! First up was a tutorial on the proper way to paint. I've painted my apartment several times and didn't really know ANY of the stuff that Jill from Valspar taught us.

How to Paint Properly (What I Didn't Know)

When putting up painter's tape, use the handle of the brush to make a seal
Choose a wood handled brush because it absorbs paint drips
Keep the original brush packaging to put the brush in after washing it - this will help maintain its form
Always use a canvas drop cloth for floors; plastic is too slippery and canvas absorbs paint drips immediately. Plastic drop cloths are best left for furniture.
First, cut in (knew this one), which means painting all the edges and corners
Always maintain a wet edge - new paint should be added next to the wet edge
Paint in a 4 x 4 section
Apply paint in a W form, then go back over W to fill it in.
Paint like you own the paint company: load your brush with A LOT of paint, way more than you think you need
Before applying to wall, roll brush a few times over a cardboard box
After you've painted a wall, strike it off: roll from the top to bottom in one continuous motion
Use a church key, not a screw driver, to open paint
When done painting, you'll likely have a lot of paint left on the roller. Rollers can store up to a quart of paint; invest in a roller scraper to avoid wasting paint.
The lip around the paint can is called a chime. After painting, to avoid having the lid dry to the chime, take small finishing nails and puncture the chime in several places to let paint flow back into the can.
Cover the can in cellophane before putting the lid on and paint will stay fresh for a year.

Next, we got to pick some of our favorite colors from the collection. This was seriously difficult; I loved them all but gravitated toward the most saturated, vibrant ones.

Colors from left to right: Nectarine, Zinnia, Deep Green, Turkish Tile, Cabaret

After we picked our colors, we got to mingle for a bit, then went home and rested up for the very eventful day to come.

Day Two meant the DIY Challenge! We started off with breakfast and coffee, then were taken by bus to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, where we were supposed to find the pieces we were going to upcycle. After that, we'd stop at the Salvation Army for good measure. Making a focused effort to find something specific wasn't easy for me; flea markets are like catnip to me and I generally like to wander around looking at and touching things. However, I found this awesome handmade jewelry chest; it wasn't in the best condition, so I did a little bargaining and had some money left over for the Salvation Army.

There, I picked up these two terra cotta vases for a total of $6.

When we got back, we were a bit tight on time, so it was time to start prepping and painting right away. The first step on the chest was to sand - I picked a raw wood so I wouldn't have to do too much prep.

Next, I picked Tangerine Tango for the color, and got to painting! I learned not to freak out if the paint doesn't look perfect before it dries; the key is not to go over it too much each time you add a layer. Like with nail polish, the ridges or uneven spots smooth themselves out.

Here's the final product! I'm going to switch out the brass pulls that came with it. I might also do a fun contrasting color inside the drawers.

As each layer dried (I did 4 total, I think), I got to work on my vase. I only had time to do 1, so I needed to keep it simple. I wrapped a piece of painter's tape around the middle of the vase, where I wanted the terra cotta to show through. For the bottom, I chose Deep Green, and for the top, Princess Blue. I love how this looks, and it literally took 20 minutes. It's going to be my new kitchen utensil holder!

My hands were kind of a mess - I'm not that lady who can paint and be spotless when it's all done. I usually have it in my hair, all over any exposed skin, and on my clothes.

These paint lids were so pretty I had to snap them.

Here we are at the end of the day - tired, but happy.

There were so many wonderful bloggers and publications who participated:
Design Crush
Curbly
ManMade
I Spy DIY
Tater Tots & Jello
Casa Diseno
House Beautiful
Country Living

And I think I'm forgetting a few but can't remember the exact names! Everyone was really nice and seemed to be excited to get the chance to spend the day making something out of not-quite-junk. It helped that the ladies from Pantone, Lowe's, Valspar and Edelman were incredibly sweet, helpful, and gracious - not to mention hardworking and talented for pulling off such a fun two day event.

If you've got an itch to liven up part of your space or do your own upcycle like we did, definitely check out the Pantone Universe paint collection - the colors are all beautiful and incredibly vibrant.

Here's to life expressed in COLOR!

How to Work Better (Otherwise Entitled How to Be Happy)

2013-04-29T03:00:00-07:00

Have you guys heard of Kollabora? If not, hop over there before you even read another word. Created by Nora Abousteit, the woman responsible for the success of BurdaStyle.com, Kollabora is a social platform that empowers you to make original projects and inspires you to bring your own creative DIY ideas to life. You can go to Kollabora, find a project you want to make, learn how to do it, as well as post your own projects. Currently, you can find sewing, knitting, jewelry, and home dec projects, but soon, you'll be able to find just about any sort of crafty thing.

I'm so excited to be helping out and doing some consulting work there; the office is a really inspiring and homey-feeling environment with tons of natural light. Aside from being chock full of craft supplies (heaven!) it's punctuated with inspiring decor, such as the sign above.

I was struck by how true this is both at work and in life in general. It's certainly my goal to pay attention to each of these more closely, thereby connecting better with others and myself.

Happy Earth Day! 5 Small, Everyday Ways to Make an Impact

2013-04-22T03:00:00-07:00

Watering (A Life Into Itself) print by Budi Satria Kwan, available on Society6

If you’ve been visiting here long, you probably know that our family is preeeeeeetty big on Lord of the Rings. So, fair warning – nerd references abound in this post!

“What can men do against such reckless hate?” This was the excerpt from Lord of the Rings that popped into my brother’s head after we learned about the tragic events surrounding the Boston Marathon.

It’s true – it’s sometimes hard not to succumb to that nagging thought, that occasional idea that maybe we can't really do all that much to combat the negativity and violence that can sometimes seem so pervasive in our world.

In searching for an answer to this question, originally posed by King Theoden when faced with an increasingly grim outlook on an impending battle, I thought of something Gandalf says to Galadriel in The Hobbit:

“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

I can’t think of a message more appropriate for Earth Day. It can be easy to sometimes think to ourselves, “What difference will it really make for little me to do this one thing?” I believe it truly makes a world of difference. Small acts add up fast, and in honor of that idea, I wanted to share five little things we can all do to be kinder to Earth on a daily basis.

Try doing one, a few, or all of these for a few weeks, and you’ll be astounded at how many times you have a chance to not contribute to the ever-growing waste stream, as well as how very easy it is to change your routine & develop them as habits. They’re not novel or ingenious, but rather quick reminders of how simple it can be to make a change for the better.

Refuse a bag, plastic or otherwise, whenever you’re offered one. Most of the time, it’s just as easy (if not easier) to carry something in your hands or put it in your handbag or work bag as it is to carry it in a bag. Before accepting a bag, ask yourself if you can carry it or stow it elsewhere. Plus, there are so many more appealing ways to carry stuff around if you're planning a bigger shopping trip. Baggu is my favorite source for super stylish reusable bags.
Change your coffee routine. If you don’t want to carry your own coffee mug around (I understand there’s certainly a limit to how much we want to tote with us on a daily basis), there are still plenty of things you can do to cut down on the daily waste that cups from the morning caffeine fix. Skip the sleeve and bring your own (tons of options on Etsy), skip the stirrer stick if you’re only adding milk, and don’t opt for a splash stick unless you anticipate a bumpy journey.
Carry a water bottle, especially when traveling. I prefer glass options these days – they don’t leach strange metallic or plastic-y tastes (or anything strange chemicals), plus they’re completely recyclable if they ever break or you grow tired of them. I have a Lifefactory bottle currently, but I’ve been eyeing these BKR bottles for quite some time. For some reason, I used to carry a water bottle around daily without ever thinking of taking one to the airport – but that’s an ideal place to bring them, especially considering that’s one of the only places I now ever buy bottled water.
Choose compostable/biodegradeable garbage and produce bags. Regular plastic bags take hundreds and hundreds of years to break down, if they ever do, and even then, they don’t biodegrade. Instead of getting broken down naturally by microbes and being reused by our environment, they simply get broken down into smaller and smaller bits of plastic that gunk up the ecosystem and food chain. Exhibit A: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Choose personal care products without petrochemicals or plastics. We use these products every single day, sometimes multiple times per day, for a lifetime. Luckily, there are tons and tons of options out there, now even in regular grocery stores and drugstores, that don’t include petrochemicals. Examples of these ingredients are petroleum jelly, mineral oil, paraffin, propylene glycol, acetone, all phthalates (often disguised as ‘fragrance’ or ‘parfum’), toluene, isopropyl alcohol…the list goes on. Obviously, petrochemicals come from crude petroleum, a nonrenewable resource. Plus, there have been quite a few reports & studies about them being bad for sking & causing premature aging.

I hope you'll consider trying out some of these small, everyday acts of kindness to our one & only Earth!

Smoothest Gams EVER, the Natural + Non-Toxic Way

2013-04-10T11:09:16-07:00

That’s my grandmother above, enjoying a nice day on the porch in her playsuit. Isn’t she a knockout? Now that warm days are here again (both in NYC and in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, from where I'm happily posting this), I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time just hanging out outside like she did. Of course, with balmier temperatures comes sparer clothing (I’d love to make a copy of what she was wearing here) and lots more leg.

I’m not sure what the ladies used back then when they shaved – probably just good old fashioned soap, and certainly nothing like ‘Skintimations Pomegranate Mango Dream Smooth Shaving Cream’ or any of the other similarly ridiculous-sounding stuff that abounds these days. No joke, I actually once saw a scent labeled 'Frosted Velvet.'

You can pretty much tell just by looking at the packaging on one of those crazy bottles that they’re loaded up to here with the grossest, most artificial junk. From parabens to phthalates to petrochemicals to the fakest fragrances ever, they tick off almost every bad ingredient on my list. I’d bet good money they’re not great for our skin in the long term, and I know what’s in them certainly isn’t good for our bodies.

Good news: you don’t have to stick to plain soap and water if you want to avoid shaving creams. In fact, since I’ve used this magic stuff, I’ve never had such smooth, soft legs after shaving – and they hardly require any moisturizing either. For someone whose skin tends to get pretty dry and suck up moisture like a sponge (thanks, Mom), that’s pretty remarkable.

So what’s my secret weapon? Once again, coconut oil saves the day! Is there anything this stuff can’t do? I cook with it, use it for moisturizing, use it as a deep conditioner – the list goes on.

I’m a huge fan of multi-use products, and I think it’s almost comical how many hyper-specialized items there are out there these days. I often think about the fact that when my grandmother was young, pretty much everything was multi-use, from vinegar to baking soda to food scraps. No one suffered for not having one type of lotion for extra dry skin and another for super duper dry skin. I’m convinced most of that labeling is simply marketing, especially when comparing ingredients. It can actually be fun and pretty informative to go to the grocery store, pick up a few bottles of conventional shampoo that all claim to be remedies for specific hair issues, and comparing the ingredients. Plus, I hate being a sucker – my mama didn’t raise no fool! Picking a multi-use product helps cut down on waste and says with your wallet that you don’t want to perpetuate a wasteful culture.

Some tips for shaving with coconut oil:

In case you’re not familiar, coconut oil is solid at room temperature. I usually run the jar under hot water and let a little bit melt, then pour it into my hand.
It may seem weird at first, especially if you’re used to a thick lather or foam. Give it a few tries! You’ll get used to it and love it.
Shave after you’ve already scrubbed down. You don’t want to wash away the moisture left by the coconut oil after you’re done shaving.
Because coconut oil solidifies at room temperature, you’ll need to shave with hot water, or use a glass filled with very hot water to rinse your razor as you go along.
I buy a giant tub of this stuff – it’s my favorite brand and it’s of superior quality. When choosing a coconut oil, pick one that’s cold pressed, extra virgin, generally un-messed with. It shouldn't be deodorized and the label should specify hexane-free (hexane is a solvent that is also a neurotoxin). I also like to stick with organic. Especially if you’re going to use your oil for many purposes, as I do, you may want to consider these guidelines.
I also like to transfer some of my coconut oil from the giant jar into a smaller one, keeping it reserved specifically for the shower. This way, you can keep your coconut oil for cooking free from contamination and feel free to put your hand in the jar used for shaving.

What do you think? Would you ever try shaving with coconut oil? Too weird for you? I’d love to hear!