The USDA’s organic certification program is designed to help protect consumers, to some extent, from misleading advertising.  If a product has a label that says it is 100% organic, then it had better be organic.  These products are often very expensive, compared to available non-organic alternatives.  Contributing factors to the high prices of 100% organic products include extensive time, effort and costs to ensure the products have rightfully earned the right to wear their badge of honor.

In short, the USDA regulates package labeling based on the percentage of organic ingredients in the product.  Directly quoted from their website, “The percentage must reflect the actual weight or fluid volume (excluding water and salt) of the organic ingredients in the product. Four categories of organic content are established: 100 percent organic; 95 percent or more organic; 70 to 95 percent organic; and less than 70 percent organic.”  If you are interested in learning more, click here for details.

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While we have all become more conscious of the importance of conservation, green living can get expensive.  I would love to buy organic 100% of the time, but on a recent trip to my favorite health food store, I got repeatedly zapped by sticker shock.  Perhaps I’m just feeling the pinch of the current state of the American economy, but has a pint of blueberries always cost $8?  And those raw food delicacies I’d love to toss into my cart…..$6 for 4 raw date balls?  $14 for a pound of goji berries?  $6 for 4 organic muffins?  And how about that $30 Noni juice?  Ouch!

On the fashion front, I won’t mention prices on Stella McCartney’s awesome fashion and skin care lines.  My husband would choke on his omega fatty acid pill if he saw the price of facial cleanser!

But anyway, today is Earth Day.  If you didn’t get outside to plant a tree, then how about honoring our planet, while stimulating our economy, experiencing retail therapy AND getting some great deals!?  What a treat to actually have a few greenbacks left in your vegan wallet for a couple of goji berries or a 1/2 oz of Noni juice?!

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Summer is just around the corner and I predict it’s gonna be a scorcher.   So why not prepare by arming yourself with some tools to keep you healthy, cool, comfortable and beautiful all summer ?

Germ Prevention:

Add a few drops of grapefruit, lemongrass and marjoram essential oils to a 2 oz. bottled mixture of grain alcohol, vegetable glycerin and distilled water.  Shake it vigorously and use a few drops as a hand sanitizer. This is a much better alternative to the sanitizers found at mass retail because it will not kill the good bacteria your body needs for a strong immune system.

Quick Health Tips:

Did you know that peppermint essential oil (EO) has a variety of therapeutic uses in the home?  If you have a headache, moisten a washcloth with water, add a few drops of peppermint EO and use it as a compress on your forehead - the pain should be eased within a few minutes.  If you’re feeling that dreaded feeling of nausea, place a few drops of peppermint EO on a tissue and hold it near your nose to breath in the vapors - it can bring you some great relief from that icky, awful feeling we all hate.

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One extremely fragrant essential oil (EO) is grapefruit (both white and pink).  In my opinion, it is one of the best essential oils for generating smiles - so uplifting, bright and happy!

There are many fragrances available that include notes of grapefruit, such as Clinique’s Happy, Jo Malone’s Grapefruit Cologne and Antica Farmacista’s Pompelmo.  I have sampled all of these and each is quite pretty.  So with the wide variety of available grapefruit fragrances, why would anyone even care about pure grapefruit EO?

Try this at home:

If you happen to have a real grapefruit nearby, you can get an idea of what the EO smells like by scratching a little of the fruit’s peel and then breathing in the scent (ideally, try this test with an organic grapefruit because the scent is less likely to be tainted).  Because of its intensity, it is nearly impossible to not react to the smell.  When I smell grapefruit essential oil, I think of happiness, fun, freshness, youth, energy and health.  Just imagine the sun bottled!!!

Perhaps you have a fragrance or two around lying around with some hints of grapefruit.  If so, see if your nose is able to detect the difference between the faux and the EO.  Grapefruit is also a unisex scent, which makes it a nice choice to use around your home.

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One example of an extremely valuable customized service is the one provided by three custom color.  I became aware of their service through a national fashion / beauty magazine several years back.  While I can’t remember the exact year, I know they launched their business long before the internet was up and running at full throttle.  So kudos to them for developing and executing such a clever idea the old fashioned way!

Three Custom Color’s (TCC) core business idea was to create a solution for the never-ending dilemma caused when your favorite lip color suddenly becomes extinct.  Just send TCC a smear of your beloved pinky-brownish-mauve on a piece of scrap paper and they will re-create the exact match for you, send you a couple of tubes and your formula stays on file for future reference.  Now that’s what I’m talking about!!!

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We live in a world where virtually anything can now be customized.  Our me-centric culture is becoming so out of control that customization is ironically becoming mainstream.  Huh?  What’s up with that?  Is that even possible?

Customization used to be more of a “once in a lifetime” concept.  Maybe your husband might have a custom piece of jewelry crafted for your 10th wedding anniversary.

In the first half of the 20th century, it’s true that houses were much more customized.  But once you had your “dream home” built, you pretty much stayed there for the rest of your life.  Clearly, lifestyles are very different now and few people are able to, or want to, remain in once spot.  So while new homes built today are not customized as they were in the 1940’s, our transitory lifestyles may allow us to try a wider variety of home styles.  So it could be said that this is somewhat of a more customized living experience, comparitively.

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I have become extremely sensitized to synthetic smells.  Walking through the fragrance counters in department stores has become a real headache-generator.

There was a time I used to buy the entire line of a fragrance, so I could perform the whole “layering” ritual the fragrance industry experts often recommend:

1)  First, you exfoliate with the scented scrub

2)  Then you shower with the scented gel

3)  Wash your hair with the shampoo and conditioner in the same scent

4)  Pat dry and slather on the matching scented lotion

5)  Once you’re dry, follow with a dusting of the matching body powder

6)  Spritz on the eau de parfum, cologne spray (and / or dab on the perfume oil)

7)  etc., etc., etc.

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Initially, I was surprised by the fragrant intensity of essential oils.  Some essential oils smelled so different from the kinds of fragrance aromas I’d become accustomed to.  In fact, I was initially turned off by some of the new scents I was experiencing.  But as I continued to study and experiment with a variety of essential oils (EO), I realized my nose had simply grown up on - and become accustomed to - synthetic scents.

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I came across Jonathan Adler’s book called My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living, full of fabulous bright pictures and vintage, yet contemporary, decor.  While much of the decor may not be for everyone, the book is fun, upbeat and happy, which seems to be Adler’s objective.  I can relate to Adler’s message because I share a similar philosophy.  Design is a form of personal expression.  And creative souls often find it necessary to customize their environment, surrounding themselves with things that make them feel good.  Color, decor, architectural style and scent are extremely important elements in my home.

Bright colors are vibrant and upbeat.  Pastels are typically more serene.  And there are g’zillions of shades of “whites” because of the seemingly unlimited number of undertones available.  Depending on the type of material walls are made of, they may be painted, wall-papered, tiled, textured or acid-treated - just to name a few.

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Despite being spoiled rotten, my two dogs bring me endless joy.  My dynamic due consists of a 17-1/2 year old beagle, Holly, and a 7 year old welsh terrier, Jonah.  While I am not excessively over-the-top with dressing them in daily outfits, they do each have a couple of cute t-shirts from SimplyFido.

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