Introducing Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil

        I now have a brilliant response to the oft-asked question “what should I use to moisturize my skin?”  That response is: “argan oil.”  Not because it’s the latest thing (which it kind of is) but because this pure, multi-tasking moisture is lovely to use, effective and reasonably priced.

   Amal Oils 100% Organic Argan Oil isn’t tested on animals (really) and is preservative, paraben, fragrance and toxin free. It is also very high in essential fatty acids (for moisture retention), sterols (compounds that have softening and anti-inflammatory properties), tocopherols (vitamin E) and polyphenols (another antioxidant).  This is good stuff.

    In addition to offering argan oil of the very highest quality, Amal Oils is a woman-owned company whose production of a beauty product actually supports the economic independence of Berber women in Morocco.  In a labor-intensive process, these women extract oil from the nut of the endangered but now protected argan tree.  Truly a tree worth hugging.

    Argan oil has a mild nutty fragrance that doesn’t linger and can be applied morning and evening as a  facial moisturizer.  Use it on the body, particularly on hands and to moisturize nails and cuticles, or on your hair, to add moisture and shine.

    I’m so excited to be the only resource in the Philadelphia area for this product – contact me to schedule time to come in and give it a try.  $35 for 2 ounces.

Brilliant Bride: Carrie Ann Theisen

 Most of the brides that I work with are looking for a classic, natural look.  But then, most brides I work with are not Carrie Ann Theisen, the beautiful Ph.D. candidate who wafted into my studio one fine day…

The first time that I was contacted by Carrie, who was referred by friend and photographer Jenna Stamm, we determined that I wouldn’t be available because of another wedding I was doing earlier on that October day.    She contacted me again a few months later, asking if I could teach her how to do her own make-up for the wedding (Saints, preserve us!), and she also mentioned that her ceremony time had changed.  Hallelujah! I could now make it to Bechtelsville in time to save her from herself.  And I was so thrilled to be working with Jenna again, who was the perfect photographer for Carrie; quirky with an edge, and an eye for all of the rustic and whimsical details that made this wedding the stuff of editorial spreads.   

Carrie, a tall, waifish beauty, is also a talented cognitive scientist who earned her doctorate from the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh.  Her dissertation was on “arbitrariness and systematicity in emergent communication systems” (Light reading?  I think not….).   She is a master of the German language and has studied Japanese, and was the recipient of a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study in UK, an award that’s given to only 40 graduate students yearly.  Now that’s what I call a “brilliant bride.”

So… back to more weighty things.  On the day of her trial run, Carrie explained that she wanted to look ethereal, and that she wanted tons of clumpy….yes, “clumpy”….lashes.  She also wanted a nude, matte lip.  Bringing her unconventional hopes and dreams to reality was a blast for me.  I combined a purple-based neutral  (Jane Iredale Taupe) and gunmetal (MAC Club) shadows with diffused black liner to produce her wide-eyed bohemian look, then added the boatload of mascara and long, spikey false lashes required to achieve the desired clumpiness.  The nude matte lip was courtesy of Jane Iredale Lip Fixation in Craving - just perfect and I color I have a hard time keeping in stock.  Cheeks to match using MAC Lilicent Cream Blush.

 

The drive to Bechtelsville on that October day was spectacular – I only wish that I’d had more time to explore, but Carrie’s wedding was #2 of my three-wedding-in-one-day extravaganza, so no luck with the antiquing, etc.  The wedding was held at Carrie and fiance Jeremiah’s home in the middle of the woods.  The early fall sun filtering through the trees was magical. 

 

 

My favorite wedding ceremony shot of all time, because of the very well-behaved “Best Dog.”

And of course, my favorite of the lot:

 

 Thank you, Jenna Stamm, for introducing me to Carrie, and thank you, Carrie, for letting me be a part of your charming, woodland fantasy wedding!

Clean and Green: Harmony Cleaners

I love it when one of my jobs has an eco-conscious angle, and this feature in Bucks Life Magazine (July/August 2009) is no exception.  Sisters Debi Sarandrea and Vicki Brown founded Harmony Clean in 2003 and the products they use in their home cleaning services are non-toxic and safer for inhabitants and the environment.

I had a lot of fun doing make-up for these two eco-entrepreneurs.  You can visit their website at www.harmonyclean.com.

Tierra Mia Organic Nail Spa

Getting “nailed” has a whole new meaning in Philadelphia, now home to an innovative spa that, according to co-owner Justin Mitchell, is the first of its kind in the country.

Mitchell, an architectural lighting designer by training, and his partner Karina Restrepo, a former engineering student who previously ran the nail services at Rescue Rittenhouse, spent one year renovating a space on South 17^th Street that “no one wanted to touch.”  The result is Tierra Mia Organic Nail Spa.

Walk into this space and the first thing that you may (or may not) notice is that the flower-lined room is utterly devoid of the fumes normally associated with a nail salon.  And it’s not just because of the Columbian-style clay wall treatment that works to improve the spa’s air quality.  The polishes used are all water-based, and the remover, made in Germany, is 96.7% natural.

The name of the spa (“my land”) is a nod to Restrepo’s South American roots.  Her journey has taken her from a salon in her native Columbia, where doing nails was “a hobby,” to owning a business that is breaking new ground in the beauty industry. 

Mitchell designed and renovated the entire space, incorporating moody lighting elements that lend to the overall soothing and earthy-but-not-crunchy atmosphere.  The back of the spa houses the “Rolls Royce” of pedicure chairs, a quiet room for reflexology and hair removal, and a courtyard where herbs used in the spa rituals are grown.  The only original element they kept was the kitschy linoleum floor in the bathroom.

Nail services with names like “Tilling the Soil” and “Bagazo del Coconut” incorporate edibles such as organic rice and fresh coconut meat shredded on the spot.  What one normally thinks of as “waxing” is done with a soy-based, non-wax, non-sugar, antibacterial and antimicrobial system—a mouthful, but the result is an uncomplicated and skin-friendly way to be smooth.   The spa also offers mineral make-up applications using Honeybee, a natural cosmetic company based in Pennsylvania.

Mitchell and Restrepo are both dedicated soldiers in the green movement.  They have two blogs: “Pioneers in Organic Nail Care keeps readers up-to-date on innovations like their “polish free” manicure, while “Nail Industry Exposed” dwells on the darker side of the nail industry.  Mitchell points out, for example, that “3-free”—the buzz phrase for the recent shift on the part of larger nail polish manufacturers like OPI and Avon to remove the chemicals dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene from their formulas—doesn’t ensure a safe product.  But it does allow these companies to market the polishes as “natural” without much further scrutiny.

No such scrutiny needed at Tierra Mia: the spa is, above all, a business with a conscience and a mission to inform women about environmentally-sound grooming choices.  As manicurist Rosie puts it, “the flowers stay alive at Tierra Mia.”

Tierra Mia Organic Nail Spa, winner of this year’s “Best of Philly” title for manicures, is located on 328 South 17^th Street and is open seven days a week.  Call 215-735-7980 for more information.

Brilliant Green: The Return to Origins Recycling Program

This is my latest article as Philadelphia Green Beauty Examiner - there is no excuse for not taking advantage of this resource, courtesy of Origins:

Walking through beauty aisles and specialty stores like Sephora makes one wonder—what is the environmental cost of packaging products so that they catch our eye and make us think we need them?   The correct answer is “very high.” Empty bottles, tubes and compacts don’t just end up in landfills; they could also find their way to the recently discovered Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a floating mass of waste twice the size of Texas. How’s that for glamour?

One brand, Origins, owned by cosmetics giant Estee Lauder, has committed to doing something about disposing of items like spent make-up containers and skin care jars that don’t qualify for your recycling bin. Beginning in April 2009 (Earth Month), they launched their Return to Origins Recycling Program. They will accept clean primary packaging—meaning the jar, not the pretty box it came in—from any brand.  This is taking the idea of not being threatened to a whole new level.

Danielle, Assistant Manager at the Suburban Square Origins store, says that the response to the program has been “really positive.” The big wicker basket in the front of the store attracts a lot of attention, prompting shoppers to come in and ask about it. When they find out what the receptacle is there for, they vow to return with their empties. 

 Does the recycling place any burden on employees? No, according to Danielle; “nobody minds taking the extra five minutes…it’s for a good cause.”

 You’ll find freestanding Origins stores at the King of Prussia, Exton and Montgomery malls, Suburban Square and counters in all of our local Macy’s stores.