Month: July 2012

13 lush eco beauty tricks

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I have a troubled past with makeup. When I worked in magazines I was beholden to the beauty industry, forced to get excited about skin whiteners and lash extenders. It killed me. Well, it wore me down, one blush stroke at a time (previous to editing Cosmo, I’d never worn makeup, never had a blowdry, never plucked my brows). Then, a few years later, I wore toooo much of the gunky stuff while working in TV and literally poisoned myself.  When I got unwell I realised I had to do something about this and swerved to chemical-free beauty and makeup products. To read about my favourites, click here and here.

tumblr lyn2j7a0Ny1qh9m2eo1 500 large 13 lush eco beauty tricks
image via Lyns Tumblr

But there’s also the eco argument that’s worth considering in all this. Not all chemical-free products are ecologically sound. Not all organic products are chemical-free. It’s like food shopping: a knotted ball of competing messages.

But boiled down, it can be simple.

Yes, keep it simple and you generally land at the most organic, eco and chemical-free option.

But to be sure, I asked Maria Hannaford to give her take. Melbourne-based Maria works for an environmental organisation that’s all about sustainable food, and her site Econest keeps popping up on my radar in all the

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perhaps you’d like to get some cute business cards like these ones?

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I know business cards are very 2005. But I’m still amazed how many people ask me for one. And how many people still want to fax me something. And how many people use the word “stet” when they suggest I make a copy of something. A copy??!! To file. Who files??!!!

But. To my business cards.

card2 perhaps you'd like to get some cute business cards like these ones?

I thought you’d like to know how I got these done. I get asked all the time because they’re just a little bit cute.

In a link, I use Moo.com.

I’ve used Moo for a few years now. It works thus: you design your own cards in a few clicks. You press “done”.  They’re posted to you in a neat little box.

They’re ace for anyone who just needs a bit of hard copy on which their deets can be shared in the old-school mano-a-mano manner. But who also wants something a bit unique and non-corporate.

I get clever and opt for the mini cards. And hunt down some cool illustrators (you can choose from their list).

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why you should eat sardines…and how to avoid mercury in your fish

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I love sardines. They’re good for cardiovascular health, joints, skin, memory, and energy levels. But also, they’re sustainable and low in mercury.

ENDIVE SARDINE 070 why you should eat sardines...and how to avoid mercury in your fish
Endive boats, photography by Marija Ivkovic

In my I Quit Sugar Cookbook I feature the above recipe – my favourite endive boats. You can buy my cookbook by clicking on the button below.

gb6 why you should eat sardines...and how to avoid mercury in your fish

I know a lot of you are confused about the mercury thing. I’ve recently been told I have really high levels of it in my system.  If you have auto-immune disease, it’s VERY important to check your heavy metal levels. I kind of think that heavy metals can cause AI, but they can also mean we are less able to process them when they do enter our system. Either way, it’s something we have to be mindful of.

I’ve now had every possible test done (blood, urine and hair mineral) and the results are the same – I’m hanging on to mercury. And lead. Not good. So avoiding high mercury fish is crucial. (What do I do about it? At this stage I’m not chelating…it will muddy the waters. Instead I’m trialling a course of glutathione recycler called

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