Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

#beauty #cosmetics #makeup #skincare #fashion An eclectic collection of #music posted on #Mondays

They were tagged

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Here’s follow-up to my post I’ve been tagged! in which I tagged six people to share their six unspectacular quirks.

Retainer Girl of Soul-Piercing Reflections says “I always have to use two pumps of hand soap–but only in the kitchen. Everywhere else I only use one.” Read more …


Ondo Lady

Ronke at The Musings of Ondo Lady writes, “The first thing I do when I get up is make the bed.” Read more …

Nicole of Shop With a Vengeance! says “I am late for everything. Being on time is really ridiculously difficult for me!” Read more …

Mischo Beauty writes, “I, like The Style Page, love foreign fashion magazines! I buy French Vogue every month and can’t speak or read French (though I’m teaching myself with Coffee Break French!)… Read more…

I never heard from Kelly of slacker chic or Cristina of Marcando Estilo. Cristina is based in Spain and blogs in Spanish. I translated the rules into Spanish for her.

More on standards and certification of natural and organic products

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Recurring themes on The Style Page blog have been the standardization of what constitutes natural and/or organic personal care products and certification of products as “natural” or “organic.” I am not a purist, I write on these issues to inform consumers about the myriad standards and certification activities out there.

Standards and certification activities provide no information on how well “natural” and “organic” products perform vis-à-vis conventional products. Recently, I wrote to a woman who generously supplied me with samples from Miessence, a direct sales company from Australia, that I was disappointed with the performance of its foundation. While the Miessence foundation didn’t sting like the Organic wear™ 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer from Physicians Formula, the mixture of water, oils, and powder was not sufficiently blended into an agglomerate-free whole.

Monique of beauty girl musings published an article on standards and certification for natural personal care products announced by the Natural Products Association on May 1.

Separately, Christopher of Christopher Drummond Beauty, republished a letter that threatened to sue manufacturers and the Ecocert (which certified Physicians Formula’s Organic wear products) and OASIS certification bodies for their claims of “organic” products. Ecocert was singled out for including water as an organic product(!) The letter was written by David Bronner of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director, Organic Consumers Association (OCA). The letter is long and technical and refers to a survey that is apparently about consumers’ perceptions of what constitutes organic products.

Dr. Bronner’s and OCA has since filed suit against the manufacturers, Ecocert, and OASIS. The hyperlinked article from Cosmeticsdesign-europe.com notes what I have contended: The natural and organics cosmetics industry has long been suffering from the lack of an internationally recognizable, reputable standard

Naomi Makes Nice

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Continuing my fascination with prima donna Naomi Campbell, here’s the latest via OMG!

The caption reads:

While departing Heathrow Airport last weekend, Naomi Campbell stopped to apologize to the two officers that arrested her earlier this month. We’re not sure if the supermodel’s words were sincere, but we are sure she didn’t fly British Airways; the carrier has banned her from all flights.

Bed Bath and Beauty

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Beauty at Bed Bath and Beyond? Hair appliances – check. “As Seen on TV” stuff – check. Now, however, Bed Bath and Beyond has partnered with Harmon Discount Health and Beauty and has devoted considerable floor space to products that one might find at the drugstore, including enduring brands such as L’Oreal, Revlon, Almay, Maybelline, and Max Factor.

In this post, I would like to mention some of the more unusual beauty products that Bed Bath and Beyond carries:

Rubiglo Powder Blush

Rubiglo (along with Indian Earth) was one of the original all-purpose loose powder cosmetics. As with Indian Earth, Rubiglo comes in urns reminescent of pottery that are plugged with corks. If you’re a purist, however, you won’t appreciate that Rubiglo contains talc (which IMO gets a bad rap) and parabens.

Wonder Cloth

The Wonder Cloth is a face cloth made of cotton and plant pulps that you can use with water and your favorite cleanser to remove makeup and provide gentle (mechanical) exfoliation.

Beauty Strokes brushes

Beauty Strokes is an inexpensive line of full-size natural hair cosmetics brushes (eye brushes cost less than six dollars). If you’re like me and don’t know which end of a brush is up, Beauty Strokes features application tips in the package inserts – French and Spanish also provided. You may also find Beauty Strokes at Amazon.com.

Standards-setting and certification for organic personal care products

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In several posts (here, here, and here) on The Style Page blog, I’ve highlighted various activities to set standards and certification rules for what constitutes “natural” or “organic” personal care products (note that “natural” and “organic” are not necessarily synonyms). Vendor participation in these programs is voluntary.

Mischo Beauty posted an article about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program, or NOP. According to the USDA,

The National Organic Program (NOP) develops, implements, and administers national production, handling, and labeling standards for organic agricultural products. The NOP also accredits the certifying agents (foreign and domestic) who inspect organic production and handling operations to certify that they meet USDA standards.

In another article, Mischo Beauty highlights another voluntary program to certify products as “biodynamic.”

Bottom line: Given the plethora of standards-setting and certification activities, an international voluntary standard that specifies what constitutes organic personal care products should be established through ISO.

Eco-friendy housecleaning tips

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

When something gets overhyped, I tend to tune it out. So it is with Earth Day.

Nonetheless, here are some personal tips from Rachel Lane of Barcelona Bath & Body (via her email list) on eco-friendly housecleaning that are worth passing on:

~ Sweet Orange Essential Oil is an awesome adhesive remover. My husband gave it the ultimate test recently by using it on a soft cloth to remove the residue from all the dealership stickers he’d taken off his new car. Passed with flying colors!

~ Hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle has taken the place of bleach sprays for kitchen surfaces. I even clean my cutting boards with it before running them through the dishwasher.

~ Vinegar is my glass, surface and faucet cleaner of choice. It works well in the dishwasher additive reservoir to leave your glasses sparkling. It also makes a great tile floor cleaner that leaves no sticky residue behind to attract dirt. My husband hates the smell, so I just finish up with a spritz of Room Refresh!

~ Baking soda and salt take the place of scouring powder. For example, if there’s still discoloration on my cutting board after I use hydrogen peroxide on it, I use baking soda and salt to scour out any remaining residue food may have left behind. Then I put it in the dishwasher and give it a final spritz of hydrogen peroxide.

~ Water in a spray bottle and a soft rag have taken the place of aerosol dusting sprays and dusting wipes. Let’s face it. Dry dusting doesn’t work! But spritzing a soft rag with a little water works well and is safe to breathe.

Bonus tip~~Conventional wisdom tells us to sort laundry first by color, then by soil level. Washing heavily soiled items with lightly soiled items causes unwanted soil transfer. I save my rags for a separate load from my regular laundry. When my husband comes in from mowing the yard, I take the dirty yardwork laundry and toss it in the wash with my rags to make a fuller load. This would also work great for sports uniforms or work uniforms if you happen to have those in your household.

I like Bon Ami scouring powder, as it’s not chlorinated. Vinegar and salt is also great for removing tarnish from pots and pans, but you need “elbow grease.”

I’ve been tagged!

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I’ve been tagged by the beautiful Monique of beauty girl musings!


Monique

My 6 unspectacular quirks:

* I watch the O’Reilly Factor every night, even though there are ??? about the settlement on that sexual harassment suit filed against Bill O’Reilly. He’s entertaining, and I tune out when someone is filling in for him.

* When I go to a room, I forget why I went there and have to take a few moments to recollect

* I tend to scatter things across the top of my desk or the top of the vanity

* I buy cute stationery that would help me organize my life and time better … but only if I’d use the stationery regularly!

* I buy the exclusive CD compilations at Starbucks, even though cashiers tell me that the CDs don’t sell well

* I look at foreign women’s magazines, even those in scripts I can’t read, like Arabic (Sayidati) or Korean. I pretend to understand Arabic by reading back to front (at least by our orientation).

To play tag, here are the rules:

1. link the person who tagged you.
2. mention the rules in your blog.
3. tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. tag 6 random bloggers by linking them at the end of your post.
5. leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.
6. once your post is up, notify the person who tagged you.

I’m tagging Soul-Piercing Reflections, Ondo Lady, Marcando Estilo, Shop with a Vengeance!, Mischo Beauty (although jennifer beat me to it), and slacker chic!

Diane von Furstenburg Gazara Foil-Print Silk Dress

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I love ethnic prints. This Diane von Fustenburg strapless dress features gold tribal designs printed over a dip-dyed skirt in black and green. The jackard bodice features ruffles and gold beading. Great details that make a whole.

I definitely prefer the Giuseppe Zanotti sandals (top) to the flip-flops (bottom). Flip-flops are too casual.