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The name Miessence has popped up in a few places I’ve been recently, from the Skin Deep database to greenhome.huddler.com. And since I’m very nosy and need to know what the hub-bub is about, I went directly to miessence.com to get the scoop.
Miessence (pronounced MY-essence) is the skin-care division of Organic and Natural Enterprise Group (ONEgroup), manufacturer of the first certified organic lines of health-, skin-, personal- and hair-care products. Many organic advocates recommend that you look for the USDA Organic label on organic items — and Miessence products are independently certified organic by the USDA, the Australian Certified Organic organization and Europe’s International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). While not all products are certified by all three organizations, many are certified by at least one or two. (To be labeled “organic,” the USDA requires that a product must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients. A pretty rigorous standard compared to most.)
The certification standards alone were enough to get me interested in trying some of the products. However, I thought about the environmental repercussions of ordering online from a company based in Australia — the shipping alone leaves a rather large carbon footprint, despite the fact that its U.S. distribution center is in Nevada. Apparently ONEgroup is just as concerned as I am, if not more. All freight-shipping activity is offset by tree planting through Greenfleet, and the manufacturing plants are powered by wind sources to reduce CO2 production. Plus, product packaging is PVC-free and made from recycled glass and plastic. While I’m still not crazy about ordering items that require shipping, these factors eased my mind about the impact it has on the environment.
So, yes … I did indeed order a handful of items. I’m saying goodbye to my Method hand soap and body wash, my Kiss My Face deodorant, my Avalon Organics moisturizer, and my Aveda Tourmaline Charged exfoliating scrub, and replacing them all with the Miessence equivalents. I was happily surprised to discover that I’m not required to buy the products through a local rep. The option to sign up with a rep is available, but unlike other home-based-business companies, I didn’t have to know someone who sells Miessence before I could order.
I received my order yesterday (UPS 3Day Select shipping: awesome!) and promptly tried the foaming hand wash upon opening my package. I’ve never had cleaner or nicer-smelling hands. Plus, there’s a refill available, so I can reuse and refill the pump. Love it. The garnet exfoliant was remarkably effective, and I am one tough cookie when it comes to evaluating face washes and scrubs. And the purifying moisturizer was light, oil-free and absorbed quickly. No greasy buildup in my T-zone. Again, I’m ruthless about moisturizers working properly. Lastly, my delicate underarms stayed dry all day thanks to the Tahitian Breeze roll-on deodorant. I smelled a little bit like a pine tree this morning — from the moisturizer and deodorant — but it’s a pleasant scent I can handle, and the scent from both dissipates rather quickly. It’s reminiscent of times spent at the cabin during my childhood. And hey, if the products work, who cares if for 10 minutes I smell like I (lightly) rolled in some pine sap?
I’m very pleased with what I’ve tried so far, and I’m super impressed with ONEgroup as a sustainable, environmentally conscious company. I will certainly be ordering more Miessence.
Organic skin-care products that are safe and that work — who knew?
[Edited 3/20/09. I inadvertently said I purchased the purifying skin conditioner, when I actually purchased the purifying moisturizer. Error corrected.]
I found a new resource — well, new to me, anyway — to research the ingredients and safety of mainstream, natural and organic skin-care products. The Environmental Work Group, a non-profit that informs and works to institute national policy change to protect public health and the environment, maintains a skin-care and cosmetics database called Skin Deep. Combining a host of toxicity and regulatory databases with ingredient lists and consumer reviews, Skin Deep offers safety ratings on a scale of 0 (low hazard) to 10 (high hazard) for more than 41,000 products.
Some people have a very sensitive panic button when it comes to understanding the possible health hazards of makeup of skin-care ingredients. You trust a company to produce a safe and effective product, right? And you wouldn’t put something on your skin if you knew it was hazardous, would you? Since the government doesn’t tell manufacturers what they can and can’t put in their products, consumers have every right to be suspicious. But I can’t live in fear and suspicion, and I know there are products out there with little to no hazard — if you’re not a brand loyalist, it’s pretty easy to switch. So I plan to use Skin Deep to enhance my understanding, not to jump on a boycott bandwagon.
The first product I researched was deodorant. I’ve been looking for an aluminum-free product that doesn’t leave me itchy and require reapplication after a few hours. From what I understand, aluminum and aluminum derivitives actually plug your pores to stop you from sweating — this is the antiperspirant action that most mainstream products offer. However, bodies are meant to sweat, and if you prevent that from occuring naturally, it’s not entirely healthy. Since I’m not a horribly sweaty person, I don’t have to wear deodorant every day, thankfully. But on the days that I do wear it, I don’t want to plug up my pores. But I also don’t want to sweat through my shirt. So where’s the balance? I’ve tried a few natural and organic deodorants — Tom’s of Maine and Jason Natural Cosmetics – which were somewhat effective but not the ultimate solution for me. Neither contained aluminum, but I had a slight allergic reaction to the Jason Tea Tree & Melaleuca deodorant stick. The Tom’s Long-Lasting Lavender stick deodorant was more comfortable to wear, but didn’t last long. I checked both in the database, and Tom’s has a rating of 2 — a low hazard — while Jason is a 6 (moderate hazard). Since I didn’t care for the Jason product, I have no reason to use it again anyway, but a 6 would give me cause to stop using it even if I liked it. I also tried a roll-on to see if it was any better than the stick options, and it works just fine; Kiss My Face Liquid Rock is rated a 2, which isn’t bad, but surprising since it contains the aluminum derivitive potassium alum. Hence, my deodorant search continues.
I may also continue my search for the ideal facial moisturizer, since my product, Avalon Organics Vitamin C Oil-Free moisturizer, has a rating of 6. While I really like that it seems to help prevent breakouts, or at least doesn’t instigate new ones, I’m put off by the number of ingredients in it and their links to potential health concerns. I’m not freaking out by any means, but I’ll probably finish what I have left of it and look for something else.
I’m encouraged by the information I’ve found, as well as the number of safer products available. There are quite a few well-known natural companies that are more easily accessible to most consumers, but that doesn’t mean they offer the safest products. I’m not fearful that I’m at risk for cancer or other health issues because I use moisturizer every day, but at least I know there are other choices and I don’t have to stop using skin-care products altogether.
Holy cow. Add another hash mark in the “love it!” column for invitesite.com. I requested a sample invitation on Friday and received it yesterday — how’s that for a quick turnaround?
Not only that, but I absolutely love the invitation style, so much in fact, that I’m looking no further. I posted a link to the Orla save-the-date booklet on Friday, but ordered a sample of the standard invitation — which actually uses less printed paper, surprisingly. One piece of cardstock, that’s it.
Mom and I decided that it will be best for InviteSite to do the printing, as well, so the invitations will be offset-printed with vegetable-based inks. The outer paper is made from tree-free mulberry and mango leaves, and the card stock is 100% post-consumer recycled content. (I could say, “You can’t get more green than that,” but I guarantee someone would come up with something to beat it. Nevertheless, it satisfies my criteria for green.)
This is the invitation in its “packaged” form:
And opened:
Gorgeous, and green! Love it.
I resisted wearing makeup for a long time — until I hit my 30s, in fact. Most cosmetics were messy, clogged my pores and wouldn’t stay put where I applied them. Besides, dramatic colors looked silly on me, so I just didn’t bother at all.
And even now, I don’t wear makeup every day, or that much, for that matter. But on a whim, I decided to give Aveda’s Uruku Eye Accent a try, in an attempt to brighten my eye area. I’m much more aware of the dark circles and fine lines appearing around my eyes now. And eye treatments and creams don’t do a thing to erase them. So in my moments of vanity, I cover them up.
The Uruku Eye Accent is a cream-to-powder eye shadow that amazingly stays put, and the acacia shade is perfect for a touch of golden-peach color that just lightens the lids. (There are four “Earth-inspired” shades — all are very pleasant). There are no synthetic pigments or dyes, which satisfies my desire to keep manufactured chemicals off my skin.
Best of all, you can apply it with just your fingertip — no need for makeup brushes or those annoying little padded applicators that are automatically packaged with other commercial eye shadows (that don’t work well anyway). I tried the fingertip application this morning, and it went on smoother than using a brush.
And for days where I’m completely fed up with my complexion and want to hide it, Arbonne’s About Face Mineral Powder Foundation is just the thing. The coverage is natural-looking, even and long-lasting. And for people like me, who are extremely sensitive to and about breakouts, the mineral powder foundation is a dream come true. Not once have I had a breakout from wearing it.
I’m slowly transforming from a product-hopper to a single-product shopper — because the product actually works! Imagine that.
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