Us and the Stars

08/28/2017

Helping those in need is a beautiful thing to do. NPR has a list of ways to help and organizations you can donate to.

As the storm continues to dump rain on the Gulf Coast and floodwaters rise, many organizations are doing vital work to help save lives and give comfort. Here's how you can support those efforts.

08/28/2017

For a free download of Environmental Working Group's Cosmetics Guide click this link. It can help you sort through the confusion of which ingredients are questionable and best to be avoided.

Confused about the ingredients in your cosmetic products? EWG's Quick Tips for Safer Personal Care Products is here to help. It's filled with tips on how to read personal care product labels, how to shop smart and other invaluable information.< />

08/27/2017

Have you heard of EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database (ewg.org/skindeep)? It's a great resource for finding clean products of all sorts - beauty, food, cleaning, baby - and researching the safety of the ingredients in the products you already use.
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Featured in this repost is W3LL PEOPLE and their fantastic Bio Tint Multi-Action Face Moisturizer with SPF 30. It's an EWG (Environmental Working Group) verified product, which means it meets their strict criteria for clean products. I use it and I love it! Goes on smoothly, doesn’t feel dry or heavy (zinc-based sunscreens can be drying and/or feel heavy), and leaves my skin looking even and natural (not pasty), with a lovely glow. And they are now at Target, so they are easy to find, too!
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What resources do you use to learn more about clean products and ingredients?
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Instagram repost from

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08/15/2017

CARROTS! Straight from the garden, in all their dirty glory! Sometimes we forget about the tried-and-true vegetables with all of the new, exciting super foods popping up all the time. But that's a huge mistake. Carrots, for example, should definitely not be forsaken. The tops are full of goodness and I'll put them in a salad or a smoothie for a blast of Vitamins A & C, and chlorophyll. (They're missing from the ones above because we had some bunny visitors who had had a an all-you-can-eat sesh. 🐰) And coming straight from the garden, full of rich, organic soil can help support a healthy gut microbiome, which is good for just about everything, including your skin. Don't be afraid of a little (garden) dirt…
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Carrots are a great skin food because they're full of beta-carotene, which our bodies convert to vitamin A (think: retinol). Getting good doses of vitamin A on a regular basis helps protect your skin from sun damage, fights wrinkles, hyper-pigmentation, uneven skin tone, and aids in the repair of damaged tissue (that means heals scars). It may even help with combating oily skin and acne (again, think: retinol).
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Topically, carrot seed oil and essential oil (those are two different things) are also a POWERHOUSE of nutrition for your skin, giving you much of the same skin benefits of eating them, but in a much more direct way. I keep some of the essential oil on hand and add it to my body oils and lotions, and also to my facial moisturizers. But it’s a strong scent - bright and herbal - so start out small and add a drop or two at a time.
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Try a mask at home. Use grated, fresh carrots or carrot juice, with plain yogurt and/or honey and/or lemon juice (just a tad) and/or avocado and/or olive oil, and leave on for 5-10 minutes. Rinse with tepid water and GLOW!
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08/14/2017

💦Drink up! 💦

Staying hydrated is one of the best and easiest ways to keep your skin glowing, energy levels up, and body running smoothly.

A few tips:
💦Start your day with a nice, tall glass of water.
💦Drink more when it's hot outside and when you're sweating.
💦Try to avoid plastic bottles as the chemicals from the from them can (and do!) leach into your water. 😰
💦Add fruit - berries, cucumbers, citrus - for a flavor and nutrient infusion🍓🥒🥝🍋
💦Ice some herbal teas - double the strength of the tea when making them - mint teas are especially refreshing in hot weather.
💦Remember that foods with high water content, like watermelon, cucumbers, and other fruits and veggies, help keep you hydrated, too! 🍉🥒🥝

18 Likes, 2 Comments - ✨US & the STARS✨ () on Instagram: “💦💦💦Hydrating is one of the best and easiest ways to keep your skin glowing, energy levels up, and…”

08/14/2017

Meal planning with some of my favorite cookbooks:

🍉 One Part Plant, by Jessica Murnane
🍓 Eat Pretty, by Jolene Hart
🍉 The Oh She Glows Cookbook, by Angela Liddon
🍓Good Clean Food, by Lily Kunin

As we probably all know by now, including fruits and veggies in every meal, with plenty of good fats (avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, and seeds) helps keep your body in tip top shape. Your skin is a reflection of your inner beauty and with cookbooks like those above, it's easy to be beautiful, inside and out.

31 Likes, 4 Comments - ✨US & the STARS✨ () on Instagram: “⭐️Meal planning with some of my favorite cookbooks⭐️ 🥑 One Part Plant 🍉 Eat Pretty…”

08/14/2017

Having trouble finding a good natural deodorant?

I did too, but I found three that actually work to keep my pits smelling great and feeling fresh.

⭐️ 's rose deodorant is a really great option, but it may sting a bit if applied right after shaving, as alcohol is its base. But this helps kill odor causing bacteria and also acts as a natural preservative.

⭐️ has fantastic stick deodorants, and the geranium scented one for sensitive skin (without baking soda) is just as good as the original formula. (I haven& #39;t tried the paste or roll on yet. Have you?)

⭐️And the sport version from really gets the job done, too. Their regular formulas are also great, but the sport takes it up a notch for really sweaty days.

⭐️But remember, natural deodorants aren't necessarily formulated to keep you dry, as sweating is a normal and healthy bodily process. While they may have ingredients like clay, arrowroot, or baking soda to absorb some wetness, the ultimate goal is to keep odor at bay by killing the bacteria that cause it, and these three formulas deliver better than any I've tried.

⭐️Tip: reapply more than once on days you sweat a lot. Lavanila and Weleda both offer travel sizes of their deodorants.

Do you have a natural deodorant that you swear by? If so, please share!

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08/14/2017

Happy National Lipstick Day!

In recognition of National Lipstick Day, I encourage you to consider your lip products. Are they clean? If not, you are likely ingesting and absorbing harmful ingredients, such as heavy metals, petroleum, fragrance, and “flavor”, to name only a few. The skin of your lips is thinner than other parts of your body so you will more easily absorb a good deal of what you apply to them. But that’s not all! When we eat and drink and lick our lips we swallow what’s on them, some sources say up to 4 pounds in a lifetime! Even if that is greatly exaggerated, it adds to your toxic load, so, why not use lip products that are clean?

Clean lip balms without color are easy to find; just make sure you check the ingredient list and know what all the ingredients are. They should be mostly, if not all, oils. Pass on it if there are chemicals, that includes chemical SPF.

If you’re looking for color on your lips, look for products that use natural dyes. 100Percentpure uses fruit to dye their makeup. Other great lip colors to try are Rmsbeauty lip2cheek (I love Modest and Beloved) and W3LL PEOPLE Nudist Colorbalm (N**e is beautiful). They use iron oxides for color, which is common in clean cosmetics and are a great improvement on synthetic colorants, many of which are made from petroleum and coal tar.

What's your favorite clean lip product?

17 Likes, 2 Comments - ✨US & the STARS✨ () on Instagram: “Happy National Lipstick Day! In recognition of National Lipstick Day, I encourage you to consider…”

08/14/2017

Have you tried Jun yet?

⭐️It’s a cousin to Kombucha, one of my favorite drinks. But while Kombucha is traditionally fermented with black tea and sugar, Jun uses only green tea and honey. It has a lighter flavor than Kombucha and a slightly higher (around 2%) alcohol content. Wild Tonic has some beautiful flavors, and this one with lemon and rosemary was delicious!

⭐️ While there isn’t a lot of research on the health benefits of Jun yet, it reasonable to say they are similar to Kombucha. And as many of us know, incorporating fermented foods and drinks into your diet can help balance gut microbiota, which, in turn, can help keep skin issues, such as acne, wrinkles, dullness at bay. So, if you love Kombucha, why not mix it up a bit with some Jun? And if Kombucha isn’t your thing, maybe Jun will be.

⭐️ So, tell me, have you tried Jun, yet? And if so, what did you think?

25 Likes, 1 Comments - ✨US & the STARS✨ () on Instagram: “Have you tried Jun yet? It’s a cousin to Kombucha, one of my favorite drinks. But while Kombucha…”