Let me start off by saying, this won’t be the last meeting we cover the topics of beauty and cleaning products and recipes. We had about 12 sisters show up at Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park and each brought their best finds.

Now to be clear with our promotional policies, only some of the items mentioned with be linked from here. The others you will need to search for yourselves from the names we provide. Our goal is to provide the most local and sustainable products available and we haven’t researched them enough to feel comfortable promoting them. There are many other sites out there that can tell you about the national and international options. We will leave it up to you to search the product names (they usually came up first in the results) and examine the ingredients and sustainability factors you feel comfortable with.

Recipes

Jeannine started off by telling us about her recipes for fizzy bath balls and salts. Two local shops that carry the ingredients are Dandelion Botanical Company and Zenith Soap Supply in Wallingford. Sandra told us about the simplicity of using oatmeal and water to make a face mask. Or just holding your face (at least 8-10 inches) above boiling water for a lovely steam. Love that! Even almond, jojoba, coconut and olive oils can be good for the skin.

Local Products

Our fellow sister, Rebecca, offers Country Meadow Soaps which smell just heavenly! For those with sensitive skin, there is Bienella Eczema Butter Skin Therapy line or their regular BienElla. And make sure you don’t miss Ballard Organics and Moon Valley Organics who also provide honey and beeswax candles.

Products

The subject of using Vaseline was brought up, but we quickly had to point out that it is in face petroleum jelly and don’t condone using it as a petroleum product. Jeannine mentioned purchasing Kimbery Sayer at Stylus in Belltown as well as other paraben-free products they have in stock. Cynthia brought all kind of products from Melaleuca, Tracy mentioned her Arbonne products and Enjo, Amy mentioned Origins, Debbie brought her Pureology line of hair products and Ecover cleaner.

Helpful Websites

Trish brought some very helpful sites that not only can help you pick out sustainable beauty products, but also some other handy sites for finding all sorts of green products (via Newsweek):

• goodguide.com: This well-organized site rates personal-care and household products. Seventh Generation’s Natural All-Purpose Cleaner gets top marks. Info on packaged foods is coming soon.
• cosmeticsdatabase.com: The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic-safety database scores personal-care products based on their potentially hazardous ingredients.
• climatecounts.org: This site evaluates companies that produce apparel, food, beverages, electronics and household products for their impact on global warming. Results: Nike scores high.
• healthytoys.org: Billed as “the consumer action guide to toxic chemicals in toys,” this site lets you look up toys to find out how they rate in lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and PVC.

Spotlight Sister

Amy Woidtke of EcoKind Design gave a great presentation on some simple eco-styling and repurposing we can all do. CD case coasters, cork tile placemats, flower pot wine chiller, and creative ways to use draperies and tie-backs. She also brought beautiful organic cotton fabric swatches from Live Textiles made locally in Seattle.

Attending Sisters: Jeannine, Cynthia, Tracy, Amy, Julie, Meghan, Trish, Marlo, Sandra, Debbie and Kaytlyn.

Let me know if I missed anything!