CEF's Product of The Week - earthscience deep conditioning mask

I had been on what seemed to be a never ending pursuit for a natural deep conditioning masque that could stand out against it's synthetic opposers for about 2 years now. Of course, just when I started thinking that it might be a lost cause and just one of those things I couldn't replace with a green alternative, it hits me in the head (literally.) I was at my local Whole Foods and the answer to my green haired dreams fell off the very top shelf  when I was perusing the area for some new coconut oil (def would recommend the Jarrow Formulas certified organic variety)  and actually hit me on my head. It was  a true serendipitous moment and my pursuit had finally ended. I found my new hair care obsession! Or in some ways it found me- Earth Essential's earthscience olive & avocado deep conditioning mask. It works like magic! It instantly smoothes your hair, penetrates your hair shaft to repair long-term damage, and re-builds it with natural silk protein. Then, it coats your hair shaft to give it amazing shine and a super-sleek look.Whenever I use it, within minutes my hair feels soft like buttah and becomes incredibly manageable. Have you noticed that  most conditioners make hair smell amazing when you air dry it but if you blow dry it it looses its scent? Well, another reason I fell for this conditioning masque is because even when dried it leaves my hair smelling like I just sprayed some lavish floral perfume on it.
The only downfall to this amazing hair treatment it that it is not 100% natural. As us eco freaks know- the words natural, organic, and the phrase "all natural" are used very loosely when it comes to marketing "green" products. However, it is vegan, paraben free, and is never tested on animals, so I'm not about to give it up anytime soon!
Buy a trial packet for $1.25 or make any purchase on the Earth Essentials website and get one for free! Here is the link to the page where you can find it: http://www.shopearthessentials.com/pd_deep_conditioning_masque_for_hair_1_oz.cfm Full sizes available for purchase on website as well. 

Chic Eco Tip #1

Swap out your old toxin ridden nail polish remover for a much healthier household alternative. Tea tree oil pads! Yep...they really work, and tea tree is a natural antiseptic, so it prevents fungus (typical polish removers wreak havoc on your nails and the acetone in many of them can cause fungus! yuk!) These tea tree pads by Desert Essence can be found at most health food stores, including Trader Joe's. I always keep these bad boys stocked as I use them for everything from removing make-up to fighting breakouts. Now I can add nail polisher remover to the list!  Tip: considering this is a natural alternative... apply more pressure than you normally would while removing your polish, and have a little bit of patience. These things are good but they are definitely not as potent as chemical removers.

Blow Green!

A Stylist favorite: Professional hair care brand Barbar recently came out with a green blow dryer called the Barbar Eco-8000. The Eco-8000 uses a fully ceramic heating system to negate radiation while making your hair amazingly soft and shiny. Who would have thought you could help save the planet by way of your daily blowout? The Eco-8000 saves electricity by converting 90% of all power used into heat. Whereas coil-heated blow dryers convert most of the electricity they use into harmful radiation and toxins! Standard blow dryers emit 200-400mgs of EMFS (electro-magnetic fields.) That is more EMFs than a microwave emits!! Now that is seriously dangerous! Thank the green gods for the Eco-8000 which only emits 1.9mg of EMFs (a much safer alternative.) The Eco-8000 is as powerful as an 1800 watt dryer but is only 1000 watts, and it's clean heat is gentle on hair so you can use it everyday without having to worry about getting that over fried look (not. hot.) It is also built to last about 5xs longer than your coil heat dryers. 

I have to admit I was hesitant to order this $150 dryer before trying it for two reasons 1) my abnormally thick head of hair that takes over an hour to dry 2) The last dryer I ordered (the Chi Nano) was a total let down and almost doubled my drying time. To my surprise the Eco-8000 lives up to it's claims. Now that I started to use it I actually have time to blow dry my hair before work and it doesn't wind up looking like I sucked every bit of life out of it. I even found a great deal on it...I got mine for only $79.95 total by using a coupon code and got free shipping. If you want to start blowing green...click on the title of this post and enter code ECO at checkout. 

CEF's Product of the week- Alba cocoa butter hand and body lotion

Cocoa butter has always been one of my favorite moisturizers. It maximizes and extends my tan, smells yummy, absorbs naturally, helps my skin retain moisture, and even prevents and diminishes the appearance of stretch marks. Before I became the Eco Freak I am today, I used all of the typical drugstore cocoa butter brands like Palmer’s and Queen Helene. While both of these labels use real cocoa butter and are most definitely wallet friendly, they also contain carcinogens and other chemical contaminants such as parabens (see upcoming post). The following is a full list of ingredients present in one of these popular cocoa butter lotions: Deionized Water, Cocoa Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Coconut Oil, Mineral Oil, Stearalkonium Chloride, Cetyl Alcohol, Cocoa Butter, Palm Oil, Petrolatum, Dimethicone, Fragrance, PEG 8 Stearate, Methylparaben, Tocopheryl Acetate, Propylparaben, CI 19140, and CI 15510. Wow! It looks like a whole other language right!? Ingredient lists like this can be intimidating so people typically just choose to ignore them (twenty bucks-you just scanned past this one!) Trust me, I totally get that most of us have very busy lives and just don’t have the time to stop and read labels or research ingredients all day, and I understand the whole ignorance is bliss adage... but in the case of prolonged exposure to carcinogens and other toxins, ignorance can equal disease or even death! No need to worry though... that's why I created The Chic Eco Freak. So I can break it all down for you. So stay posted for in depth descriptions of the dangers of many of the above ingredients and more. In the meantime try out this paraben free, 100% vegetarian cocoa butter lotion by Alba Botanica (summer essential #7) that still won’t break the bank. Not only is it safe for daily use but it smells and works even better than its predecessors. Bonus: it’ll keep that summer tan you’ve been working on glowing well into fall! Cop some today @ Vitacost.com

Out with the Deadly, In with the Eco-Friendly

When I first learned of the dangers of the hundreds of synthetic products I owned I had to ask myself this question...Do the benefits outweigh the risks? The answer was obvious...Absolutely not! In my mind health not only comes before but is necessary in attaining real beauty . While I became uber concerned with the health risks of my current beauty regimen, I was definitely not about to start growing out my leg hair, stop wearing deodorant, or live off a diet of strictly granola and sprouts. I have always been on trend and well maintained and there was no way I was going to give that up! But could I really still be as appealing and current without my Nars make-up, Fake Bake Self Tanner, and Chi hair products!? The answer is Yes! In some aspects I actually look and feel much better than before! After much trial and error, I uncovered hundreds of green alternatives for all of my elaborate beauty routine needs that are not only free of harmful chemicals and other menacing ingredients but are just as addicting and fabulous as my old products. Actually, green products are even more fabulous! They not only make you look great but by ditching all of those preservatives you will feel liberated, all the while making a positive impact on the environment. How many of your everyday products can do that? Being that I love to write and I haven't been able to stop bragging about my amazing eco-friendly finds I decided to create TheChicEcoFreak.By way of this blog I will clue you in on the best of the best eco-friendly goods, display links to websites where you can purchase some of my fave products, and of course give you all the dirt on what's hiding in yours! So Stay Tuned...