Scent of a Catwoman

The cosmetics world needs more heroes. Fortunately, we have Catwoman (well, a woman who has portrayed her on screen).

Michelle Pfeiffer, whose great acting career includes her movie-stealing performance as Catwoman in Batman Returns, grew tired of trying to find fragrances with safe chemicals. Just like Catwoman, she took matters into her own hands, and earlier this month, she launched Henry Rose, a brand of five genderless fragrances with safety certification from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Watch the video below to hear Pfeiffer discuss the brand.



Pfeiffer has worked with the EWG before by helping promote their work to make cosmetics safer, work that includes their product-evaluation site, Skin Deep. Seeing no satisfactory options in the perfume/cologne industry, she decided to make her own, and for guidance, she turned to EWG. The result is an EWG-verified fragrance line that avoids the organization's ingredients of concern, provides full transparency about its ingredients, and adheres to EWG manufacturing standards. For more information on the certification, click here. Henry Rose also receives gold certification from Cradle 2 Cradle for health and sustainability. To learn more about the brand, click here.

With the weak oversight (especially in the United States) of the cosmetics industry and the difficulty in finding safe brands, Pfeiffer's creation of Henry Rose is a welcome development. She saw a way to help people and took action.

It's the kind of thing that heroes do.

Time for Organics

Organic food may not be as trendy as it was a couple of years ago, luckily.

More than a trend, organic farming appears to have enough demand to sustain the industry even if individual organic farmers are subject to the same fluctuation in fortune as regular farmers. This news story provides insight into the world of organic farming in Washington state.

What stood out most to me in the article is that organics are no longer a novelty--the story is less about introducing the reader to them and more about checking in on their current state. That's encouraging. Another positive sign is that prices for organic produce are dropping. This suggests that more people are buying organics and that more people will have the chance to do so.

If you haven't made the switch to organic yet, now might be a good time to get your feet wet. You can start slowly by identifying the fruits and vegetables that are exposed to the most pesticides through regular farming. The Environmental Working Group ranks produce by pesticide content, a list topped by apples.

With the EWG list to acquaint you, organic produce might just become an old friend in no time.

All About Stuff

Ever wonder why you want stuff? Sometimes, we need things, and other times, we just want them. Why?

Researcher and organizer Annie Leonard has some thoughts about it, and she has put them together to create The Story of Stuff. It started as a film and expanded into a book, and of course, there is a Web site, on which you can watch the film. The Story of Stuff makes some interesting points about consumerism, happiness, and our relationships with the planet and with each other. The film is 20 minutes long. You can watch it on the Web site by clicking here. Take a look.

Since The Story of Stuff came out, Leonard and her associates have put together additional videos, including The Story of Cosmetics, which ties into my earlier post about the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Web site, The Story of Bottled Water, which connects to my post about reusable water bottles, and The Story of Cap and Trade. Those videos can also be viewed on The Story of Stuff Web site.

Badger Me

In the previous post, I talked about Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group's database of information on the safety of cosmetics. If you visited Skin Deep after reading the post, you probably noticed a special area dedicated to sunscreen; and if you explored that section, you may have noticed one of EWG's recommended sunscreens is Badger.

I switched to Badger sunscreen this summer. The physical barrier provided by its zinc oxide has worked well: no burning or tanning. On top of that, it does not seem to take as much of a toll on my skin as other sunscreens I have used: It has not left my skin itchy or dried out.

One possible drawback of Badger applies to those who don't wish to appear too white. The zinc oxide does leave skin looking whiter than usual. However, because of the importance of keeping both UV rays and hazardous chemicals off my skin, I am willing to rock the white look.

Badger also makes lip balms, moisturizers, and a bug repellant. I have not yet tried any of those products, but most of them are very highly rated by Skin Deep with regard to low chemical content. I did purchase some lip balm but have not yet tried it (perhaps that review will become a later post).

You can visit the Badger Web site by clicking here.

Badger products are also available on Amazon.com, and sometimes, you can find better prices for them there.

Skin Deep Thoughts

Lately, the chemicals in cosmetics have received a lot of attention. Because most of these chemicals have highly technical names and the science behind them is even more complex, it is hard to know exactly what is in the stuff we put on and in our bodies.

The Environmental Working Group makes understanding the safety of cosmetics a little easier with its Skin Deep database. After reviewing products' ingredients, the EWG rates their safety and explains its analyses. It's a nice tool to have. You can check out the products you currently use as well as the alternatives.

Visit Skin Deep by clicking here.