Feelgood Style

Hot Eco-Couture Wedding Gowns from Bridal Fashion Designer Adele Wechsler

Gina Munsey — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:13:39 +0000

Designer Adele Wechsler, a South Africa native and current Toronto resident, doesn’t see green weddings as merely a passing trend, but “as more of a movement that’s here to stay.” Adele’s newest Eco-Couture Collection transcends preconceived notions of eco bridal wear by seamlessly blending high fashion luxury with organic fabric and fair-trade labor.

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Suey’s Scents: Awesome Aromas In Soy

Wenona Napolitano — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:07:11 +0000

Suey’s Scents offers highly scented candles and bath and body products made with soy and high quality essential oils. The results are awesomely fragrant products that smell amazing.

I love Suey’s Scents because they are a small company and the products are all handmade with care about the environment. The soy is sourced from US farmers and the ingredients are as pure and natural as possible.

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Fleur D’Amour Phthalate Free Fragrance

Wenona Napolitano — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:53:36 +0000

Sylvie Beljanski, owner of the Beljanski Wellness center in Manhattan, has created an indulgent phthalate free and very sophisticated French fragrance named Fleur D’Amour.

Sylvie worked with French perfumer Jean Pierre Subrenat to create a distinctly French scent, subtly floral with top notes of bergamot and bourgeons de cassis, middle notes of lily of the valley, Moroccan jasmine, pink peony, and Bulgarian rose and bottom notes of white amber, modern musks, Australian sandalwood, and a drop of Madagascar vanilla.

The result is a very light and feminine scent perfect for night or day.

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skinnyskinny is for “Seriously Organic” Bathing Beauties

Lucille Chi — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:21:57 +0000

I am simply smitten with my new organic skinnyskinny soaps and beauty items!

skinnyskinny features bath, beauty and eco-home items, all created with sustainability in mind. They offer so many wonderful organic handmade soaps to choose from, so if you can’t decide, try their affordable sample set of eight.

My favorite aspect of the company is that their packaging for the gift boxes is intentionally un-branded (there is no company logo or name anywhere on the box making them simple and fun to re-use. This made them the winners of the Best Green Packaging HBA award because:

all soaps are wrapped in 100% recycled and reclaimed materials.
the box is made from sustainable wild-grass and with fair labor.
skinnyskinny is 100% carbon-neutral (wind-power & carbon credits).
all printing is soy ink on 100% PCW recycled paper.

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Cliff Drill for Splaff Inc Wins Best Sustainable Footwear Designer Poll

Delia Montgomery — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:51:48 +0000

The contest winner of Chic Eco’s 2009 footwear designer poll is Cliff Drill for Splaff Inc. Perfected simplicity is where he’s at with only three style offerings for men and women. Read the previous entrepreneurial story and company history here on FGS.

Cliff has lots of supporting fans who took the time to write sincere favorable comments with their votes. A few of many testimonials follow.

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Be Your Own Greenwashing Brigade: A 4-Step Guide to Sniffing Out Eco-Smoke (& Mirrors)

Terri Bly — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:18:48 +0000

As consumer demand grows for safe beauty products, marketing departments get better at making their products sound less synthetic without actually delivering the green goods. As a result, rather than increased transparency, we get layer after layer of…er…let’s called it mud. The typical advice is to read labels. I don’t know about you, but for me that can feel like a full time job. In chemistry. Without a degree. I’ve found other ways to detect the washing of the green, and thought I’d pass along what I have learned.

1) Are the ingredients clearly displayed on the label?

If the answer to this first question is a no, you’ve almost certainly happened upon a company engaged in greenwashing. When ingredients are hidden, it almost always means there is something in that list they want to hide. A great example is Victoria’s Secret’s Pink body care line, the contents of which are hidden beneath a white sticker with a nondescript black arrow, discretely placed underneath the bottle. The ingredients are not anywhere on the website, another bad sign (see Tip #4). A brand promoting a natural line that is indeed organic and/or natural will proudly display their ingredients where a consumer can easily find them.

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Stinging Nettle Upholstery Fabric

Delia Montgomery — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:44:17 +0000

The BCE Environmental Leadership Awards recently praised Camira Fabrics as a major innovating business for a low-carbon economy. Their Sting Plus fabrics were featured. Four years research for development was funded by UK’s government with academic and scientific input.

The BCE intention is to honor businesses that meet current commercial demands without compromising the environment for future generations. It is UK’s most prestigious environmental award to be had.

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It’s Bonus Time at The Nature of Beauty

Terri Bly — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:12:44 +0000

I like to think I’m not the only woman who kept an eye and ear on constant alert for the various Bonus Time events at the cosmetic department of Macy’s (and Nordstrom’s, Bloomingdale’s, you get the idea). Like a July mosquito to the bug zapper, I was drawn in each and every time to the big sign displaying the funky little cosmetic bag next to little tubes of lipstick and other novelties. It didn’t matter that I already had 42 bags containing half-used eye makeup remover from previous Bonus Time affairs; if it was happening, I immediately felt compelled to participate.

So it’s really no surprise that I created one for The Nature of Beauty. As they say, once an addict….But I wanted to make this one a bit more meaningful, to give me and you a legitimate excuse to get excited about this particular Bonus Time.

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Looking for a Sexy Eco Swimsuit this Summer? See this Soy and Organic Cotton Mociun Bikini…

Lucille Chi — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:46:29 +0000

This Mociun bikini has got to be one of the most stylish organic suits out this season. It is designed with an adjustable halter neck, cute low-cut bikini bottoms, and is fully lined in neon orange on the flip side.

Caitlin Mociun, is the founder and head designer of this label. She is a graduate of the RISD textile department and actively utilizes natural materials like hemp, organic cotton, and soy blends for her fashion collections.

Devidoll explains: “Though created with literature and art in mind each Mociun piece speaks to classic fashion as if it were created only for this purpose. This is intelligent, honest and striking fashion at its best.”

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Yurt Living - Climate Comfort Part 2

Delia Montgomery — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:19:44 +0000

Let’s talk climate further. That will provide insight for add-ons necessary to achieve year-round comfort.

Yurts appear logical for my tropical climate where elements of nature aren’t so severe. Well, surprise, but no worry. Just know that maintaining yurt warmth can be an easier task than keeping cool.

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