Showing posts with label beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beauty. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

GREEN BEAUTY: Zoya Nail Polish

You can totally GO GREEN with Zoya this summer! Zoya Nail Polish, a professional nail lacquer is my favorite nail color right now. Zoya Nail Polish is formaldehyde, toluene and camphor and DBP free. I recently ordered a pack of Zoya polish, which I received when I exchanged (and mailed to Art of Beauty, their parent company) my old, mostly chemical ridden nail polish to receive the same amount of Zoya polish. Zoya comes in delicious shades of red, orange, browns, greens, and even blue, silver and gold! What am I wearing on my toes right now? ZOYA "Trixie" a fabulous metallic silver shade!

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier

Thursday, August 21, 2008

GREEN BEAUTY: Natural, alternative nail color!





If you read my last post on giving yourself a natural manicure and pedicure at home, well check out this latest post on some of the natural nail color!
PeaceKeeper Nail Paint is a vegan line of nail polishes for which all profits, after taxes, are used to support women's health advocacy and human rights issues. All PeaceKeeper beauty products fund projects such as breast and reproductive cancer research, osteoporosis research, clinical depression research, domestic violence prevention, gender equality advocacy, infanticide prevention, and rape prevention.

My favorite PeaceKeeper Nail Paint, (which I purchased at Whole Foods and I paint my toes with it) is "Paint Me Grateful". It is a rich purple color, one I liken to the hue of grapes, and it's absolutely divine. I enjoy supporting PeaceKeeper because their proceeds go toward health and human rights issues that are truly important in our world. Visit their website for more information.


No Miss Nail Polish does NOT contain: Formaldehyde * Toluene * Dibutyl-Pthalate or Camphor. Cosmetic Colors, come from earth. No Miss Nail Polish NEW and IMPROVED ingredients are: Nitrocellulose-a fiber used for viscosity. Ethylacetate, N. Butyl Acetate, Isopropyl Alcohol-solvents used to dissolve Nitrocellulose. also may contain: Mica, made from sand, cosmetic titanium dioxide, (white),cosmetic iron oxide blue, (indian paint pot grey/blue), iron oxides, earth born colors made from rocks, zinc oxide, from the earth, used to promote drying and to deflect harmful UV rays from the sun.

No Miss Nail Polish colors are absolutely beautiful. I first started using their nail color back in 1998. My first bottle (which I totally used up, it was my favorite) was a bluish silver nail color and I wore it with everything! I bought my first bottle at Wild Oats in St. Louis (my hometown). Most recently, I've been sporting the sassy hot pink No Miss Nail Polish "Wakulla Watermelon" which I purchased from Whole Foods. This is a great summer color for your toes, it really pops with sandals! Visit their website for more information.

HONEYBEE GARDENS , Honeybee Garden Waterbased Nail Color is an alternative to solvent-based nail enamel. The water-based polish is odor-free, and:


· Non-toxic: no toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate
· No FD&C colors; only natural mineral pigments
· Water-based, not solvent-based like traditional polish


I have not personally tried Honeybee Gardens Nail Color, but I see that the colors are beautiful and this product does not contact many of the harmful chemicals we have come to know in other mainstream nail color brands. I will certainly order one of their nail color products in the near future and see how I like it! Visit their website for more information.

Yours in a sea of green,
DuEwa Frazier

Monday, June 30, 2008

GREEN BEAUTY: Strawberry Cleanser for Your Face


A precious, green beauty isn't complete without her daily health and beauty regimen! Whether you have been using the same beauty products for years or you have recently switched to more natural, non-toxic products, you know that your skin is going to show how well you take care of it. Years ago, I purchased a wonderful little paperback handbook, titled The Herbal Body Book by Stephanie Tourles, filled with natural beauty tips and recipes. Inspired by many of the recipes, I began making a few of my own beauty products at home. One of the things I did, was to experiment with natural ingredients to create facials for myself. Here is one of those fabulous recipes!

STRAWBERRY CLEANSER
  • Good for: normal or oily skin
  • Use: daily - when strawberries are in season
  • Follow with: astringent or toner
  • Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes
  • Mix with: mortar and pestle, spoon
  • Store in: Do not store. Mix only as needed.
  • Yields: 1 treatment
  • Special: The strawberry juice can also serve as a tooth cleanser and whitener. Very refreshing!

Ingredients: 4 very ripe medium-sized strawberries, sliced , 2 drops essential oil of yarrow or peppermint

Mix/Prepare: Mash the strawberries and press through mesh strainer or squeeze through cheesecloth or panty hose. Catch juice in small condiment bowl. Add essential oil and stir to blend. Apply to face and neck with a saturated cotton square and massage with finger tips for about 1 minute. Avoid eye area. Rinse with cool water.

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

GREEN CLEAN: Dr. Bronner’s Classic Soaps


I can remember as a little girl, the strong smell of peppermint in our family’s bathroom on the second floor of the house. Was the smell coming from peppermint candy? No. Or how about peppermint room spray? No, not at all. It was the scent of Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap, a product that has been around since 1948! Dr. Bronner’s makes several scented, non-toxic soaps which can be used for a variety of things. I love the peppermint soap because of it’s fresh, clean smell. Sometimes I use the soap to clean the bathroom and I also use it as a hand soap. You can definitely use Dr. Bronner’s soaps in place of any toxic, chemical ridden, cleaning product that you have in your home. One thing is for sure, this soap is strong! My bottle of peppermint soap states, you must “dilute, dilute, dilute” the soap with water before using. If you’re a vegetarian, you’ll be happy to know that Dr. Bronner’s soaps are 100% Vegan! Also a little bit of the liquid soap goes a long, long, way! My second favorite Dr. Bronner’s soap is lavender. Lavender is probably my favorite natural scent of all time (followed by rose, orange, patchouli, honeysuckle and ylang ylang). I love lavender bath salts, lavender room spray, lavender satchets and hair products with lavender. If you have a favorite scent, you may find that Dr. Bronner’s makes a product that is just for you!

Additional green info. to make you smile: All oils and essential oils in Dr. Bronner’s soaps are certified organic to the National Organic Standards Program. Dr. Bronner’s liquid soaps are packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.

TIPS to Help You Get the Most Green Use Out of Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Soaps:
  • Wash your face and body with the soap
  • Wash your hair and scalp with the soap
  • Wash your baby
  • Use it to shave
  • Wash your delicate clothing
  • Wash your hands and feet
  • Clean your car
  • Wash your pet
  • Dilute in water and mop your floors
  • Dilute in water and wash your sink, counters and dishes
  • Wash your make-up/beauty tools
  • Wash your children’s toys

Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier


Thursday, June 12, 2008

INTRO: Hey Beauty - We're Going Green!



I named this blog Mocha Beauty Goes Green because as a woman of color I know that women of every shade and hue do care about issues toward saving our earth, living healthier, raising children to be strong and healthy, and maintaining our unique beauty. I am a woman with so many interests and passions and being more conscious about how I live and the environment around me has increasingly become more important to me. I know that people of color have not always been widely represented in the discussion of how to live a more environmentally conscious, natural and non-toxic lifestyle. But just recently two magazines which are geared toward our diverse community, Essence and Black Enterprise have featured articles about going green! How fantastic! We have to be a part of this dialogue. Whether you are a Hispanic woman, an African American woman, a multi-racial woman, or a Caribbean American woman, I desire to share tips and all the wonderful things I have learned about going green to help you enhance your life!

"Going Green" is a new phrase, not necessarily a phase but a lifestyle choice and an effort to undue what we’ve come to know as a wasteful, unconscious and toxic way of living. Over ten years ago the environmental movement was but a whisper to many, now none of us can remain ignorant to this cause. From Al Gore’s recent Nobel Prize win for his outstanding push to bring environmental issues to the forefront, to the popularity of mega health food stores like Whole Foods, and the widespread promotion of World Earth Day, to help save natural resources, more and more people are awakening to the idea that going green is actually doable and imperative. If you take it one step at a time each, one of us can do something toward helping our environment and our bodies heal from the pollution, disease, decay and neglect that have become a standard way of life for most. As a woman of color, I care about the environment. I care about what I put into my body and how I live just as much as anyone else. I think at times, we only get a picture that certain groups of people care about earth issues and living naturally, when in fact it’s on all of our minds. Many of us may be hesitant toward giving our attention to these issues because we either think it will take too much time, money and effort to live more consciously or we think this whole eco-friendly movement is a fad. Well if you had the chance to see Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth”, or read any of the numerous online and print articles which talk about our need to recycle, reuse and buy natural and organic produce and other products to save ourselves and Mother Earth, then you would know going green is no joke!

It’s amazing that in my years on this earth I have gone through many phases, times in my life when I was extremely conscious and strict about my diet, my activity outdoors, my support of certain causes and times in my life when I’ve been immersed in the hustle and bustle of the daily career grind, paying bills, budgeting, traveling, shopping, etc. So at times, I haven’t been the greenest sister I could be, but somewhere lingering in my mind has always been the thought that I could be so much more of a champion for living a more natural, non-toxic lifestyle and to inspire others to do the same. I think back to 1997 when I began making my own natural body products and the only people who got a chance to use them were a handful of people close to me. And I think about a time when I had a friend and healer visit the class of third graders I was teaching, to talk with them about eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, spending time to meditate, exercise and take good care of their young minds and bodies. This is championing natural and non-toxic living. Great memories, but no more reminiscing for me, the time is now; we can all have our own revolution to add to the greater good. Mocha Beauty Goes Green is going to talk about what we can do as beautiful, aspiring, smart and creative women to go green and still live a fabulous life filled with all of the things that make us feel good about ourselves. It’s about starting where you are right now with what you have. Each one of us can do something, one or two small things to make a difference in the way we live. No one is perfect, but Mocha Beauty, we’re going to strive for our own sense of perfected wellness, beauty and harmony in our lives.

I want to share with you what I am doing to go green, as well as fabulous products to enhance your life, ways of caring for your home in a non-toxic way, organic recipes, issues in greening and more!

It’s all about you Mocha Beauty! Get ready, because today we’re going green!


Yours in a sea of green,

DuEwa Frazier
The “Green Diva” Writer