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Join Kashi and Burt’s Bees for a Day of Change and Start Living Your Healthiest Life!

One of my many missions in life is to not only live the healthiest and cleanest life possible, but it’s also to help others learn to live their healthiest life possible, too, hence being a “wellness warrior.” The good folks over at Kashi are on the same mission and have hit the road this summer to help people take their first step to living a healthier life.

Kashi’s ‘Day of Change’ tour is hitting 17 cities across the U.S. this summer from Tampa to San Francisco (see tour dates). The Day of Change events are focused on education. Attendees will learn how to shop and read product labels so they know what to look for, they’ll learn how to “naturalize” recipes, take part in hands-on sustainability activities, and also learn more about natural products for both the inside and out.

What you put on your body is just as important as what you put in your body, which is why Kashi has partnered with Burt’s Bees on the tour. The Burt’s Bees team will be on hand to share the importance of using natural personal care products from skin care to oral care.

I didn’t even know that Burt’s Bees had an oral care line until very recently when they sent me a sample of their Burt’s Bees Multicare Natural Toothpaste (peppermint flavor). It’s 99.2 percent natural (contains fluoride) and is quite good in terms of texture and taste. For those of you, like me, who prefer fluoride-free toothpaste, they offer 100% natural fluoride-free toothpaste, too. The Burt's Bees oral care line consists of four products: multicare and whitening (with and without fluoride), and then two kids toothpastes, Berry Bee (fluoride-free) and Orange Wow (contains fluoride).

I’m not sure if the Burt’s Bees team will have the toothpastes on hand for people to sample at the ‘Day of Change’ events, but they along with Kashi will have sample products for people to try.

I love both Burt’s Bees and Kashi products, so I will do my best to make it out to one of the events on their 17-city tour. Hopefully, it fits in with my travel schedule, so if I make it out to one of the events, I’ll certainly report back on how it went. And maybe I’ll capture it on video, too. Hope to see you there, too!

For more information visit:
Kashi’s Day of Change
2010 Kashi Day of Change Tour - a Natural partnership with Burt’s Bees

Follow and fan them at:
Kashi on Facebook
Burt’s Bees on Facebook
Burt’s Bees on Twitter

Wear a Winning Smile this Holiday Season with GoSmile

By Miiko Mentz and Alison McNeill

The holiday season is here and with it comes lots of holiday parties. While you're out shopping for gifts and those fabulous holiday outfits, why not pick up Go Smile so you can also wear a winning smile this holiday. 

Over the summer, we attended the Face & Body Expo where we checked out the latest and greatest in lotions, potions and more, and GoSmile was one of our favorites. We tested several products on and off camera including their Touch Up ampoules, FlashLites Smile Touch ups and AM/PM Toothpaste duo.

GoSmile differentiates itself from the pack by eliminating the pain and “mess” that usually comes along with teeth whitening. Here’s our assessment of the items we tested:

Touch Up ampoules: We tested the original mint flavored ampoules and our first thought was that they’re not very minty. Other than that, we like how the ampoule makes it easy to put the solution on all of your teeth and on some more than others if needed. It’s not messy and or goopy and can be done after lunch and then just left on. It was very easy and there was no pain after using them for the week.

FlashLites Smile Touch ups: These were very similar to the Touch Ups, but are more for “instantly erase everyday stains caused by coffee, red wine and more, before they set.” Touch Ups are great to keep in your purse or car.

AM/PM Toothpaste Duo: If you have used the same brand of toothpaste for awhile, the AM/PM toothpaste duo may taste very strange at first, but after a few days of using them, you'll get used to the taste. We did. The best way we can describe it is that they taste more herbal-y.  The AM is formulated with essential oils including lemon, lime, orange, and mandarin, and is infused with peppermint. The PM has essential oils like chamomile and lavender, valerian root, and a dash of vanilla. Sounds more like a recipe than a toothpaste, but they both contain white cranberry extract (to whiten) and fluoride to prevent decay.

Now check out the video to see more!

NOTE: This post is a re-post and edited version of our original post at http://bub.blicio.us where both Alison and I contribute regularly.

Follow us on Twitter at: @miikomentz  @alisonmcneill

Face & Body Expo 2009: Eminence Organics

By Miiko Mentz and Alison McNeill

We attended the 2009 Face & Body Expo over the summer and had the opportunity to speak with a lot of great people and try out some great (and not-so great) products.

Eminence Organic Skin Care is one the companies we checked out and had the opportunity to interview Eminence's Lisbeth Boger on camera. Boger shares with us the history of Eminence, how they make their organic skin care products and she shows us the Sour Cherry Whip Moisturizer, which is great for those who have large pores and want to reduce pore size.

Eminence is a Hungarian company that handpicks only the finest organic ingredients for its products. What sets it apart from mainstream skin care brands is that Eminence products are not mass-produced and are made by hand in small batches without any heating or hydrogenating processes. This keeps the integrity and efficacy of the ingredients.

Another unique aspect is that they take a farmers market approach in that they come out with new products every three months, which makes sense since fruits and vegetables are seasonal. If you’re going to eat seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, why not also use seasonal fresh organic skin care, too. Because what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in your body.

Eminence is a very popular skin care line for those who want a higher end organic line that produces results. They have products for all skin types and have a wide range of products. Since it's a professional skin care line it’s only sold in spas and salons. To find out where you can buy Eminence in your area, visit their site at http://eminenceorganics.com.

Sadly, they are not a brand that’s hip to social media and do not have a twitter handle, nor do they have much activity on Facebook or other social networking sites. Hopefully, they will soon engage in the social economy because they sure have a lot of fans (their booth was packed); but until then, check them out at the Eminence Web site and watch our interview with Lisbeth.

And lastly, we have to say that Eminence wins for cutest booth because the booth was an adorable fruit stand surrounded by great smelling cleansers, moisturizers and scrubs. The products smelled so good that we could almost taste the fruit in them.

NOTE: This post is a re-post of our original post at http://bub.blicio.us where both Alison and I contribute regularly.

Follow us on Twitter at: @miikomentz  @alisonmcneill

Lather's Delicious Cranberry Sugar Scrub

This is truly the best sugar scrub on the planet!! Trust me, you will fall in love with it and will want to share it with all your friends (it makes a great gift).

There are lots of great sugar scrubs on the market, but one element that I find with other sugar and salt scrubs is that they tend to be too oily and slippery. This one contains wonderful therapeutic oils without being overly oily and slippery.

Lather's Cranberry Sugar Scrub provides therapeutic benefits from its many botanical oils such as sesame, sweet almond, kukui nut, macadamia nut and sunflower seed, which moisturize and soothe your skin.

The pure turbinado sugar granules and cranberry seeds provide gentle exfoliation to remove dead skin cells, leaving your skin silky smooth. This delightful and delicious sugar scrub polishes your skin and rinses clean. It's the best sugar scrub you'll ever try!!

It retails for $38.00 for 10.0 oz and is available online (www.lather.com) or at any Lather boutique:

• San Jose, CA: Lather Santana Row
• Pasadena, CA: Lather Historic Old Town
• Scottsdale, AZ: Lather Kierland Commons
• New York City: Lather Spa

A splash of color with TerraTints

If you're anything like me, you don't have time to fuss with lipstick on a daily basis nor do you want to wear it everyday. Don't get me wrong, I love lipstick and the fabulous colors it offers, but on a daily basis, I prefer my SPF lip balm.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about staying healthy and doing my best to watch everything I put in and on my body. But in the world of cosmetics and personal care products you almost have to be a detective to decipher what's good and what's bad.

In general, I stay away from petroleum-based skin care products, which includes my lip balms. I favor three in particular. For daytime, I like Arbonne's BefoRE Sun Lip Saver, SPF 30, or my newest favorite Dermalogica's solar shield SPF 15, and at night I use Alba's Passion Fruit Nectar Lip Balm by Avalon Natural Products (Avalon was recently acquired by the Hain Celestial Group).

All three are great lip balms that hydrate, protect and nourish your lips; and they are vegan and not tested on animals.

The reason I wear lip balm daily is because I love to keep my lips hydrated, nourished and protected, but sometimes it would be nice to have a little color without having to wear lipstick. The solution: Alba's TerraTints.

Alba's TerraTints are lip balms that come in six colors: Blaze, Bloom, Dawn, Garnet, Kona and my favorite Sienna. They have a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 18 and contain no petroleum or petroleum-derived ingredients. TerraTints are botanically-based, naturally-tinted from minerals, and offer long-lasting protection and moisturizing benefits. Alba's TerraTints are a great alternative to wearing lipstick and are healthier than lipstick.

Your lips are skin and all skin needs protection from the sun's harmful and damaging UVA and UVB rays, so it's important to make sure your lip products contain sun protection ingredients. Like most lip balms, TerraTints contain chemical sunscreens for its sun protection. It uses 7.5 percent Octinoxate and 6.0 percent Oxybenzone.

There are those who believe sunblocks (physical) are healthier than sunscreens (chemical), but for me, the jury is still out. I'll have to research it further before casting my vote on this issue. Plus, I haven't really found a lip balm that only contains sunblock ingredients. If you know of one, let me know.

So if you're like me and want a little color without having to wear lipstick, then next time you are at Whole Foods or Wild Oats (Whole Foods announced it will acquire Wild Oats), swing by the skin care and cosmetics section and pick up Alba's TerraTints. You can also buy them online directly from Avalon Natural Products.