I sing praises for olive oil all the time. Unfortunately, I’m out of olive oil at the moment and probably shouldn’t be using too much of my nice cooking olive oil for vanity…which is why I’m happy to have a tin of all-purpose Badger Body Moisturizer to nourish my nails and cuticles. 

Badger Vanilla Coconut Body Moisturizer delivers high-impact moisture and is USDA organic. Photo Courtesy Badger.

Badger Body Moisturizer balm is a simple blend of virgin oils and extracts that deliver superior moisture to thirsty skin and nails. I use Vanilla Coconut Badger Body Moisturizer; it’s loaded with cold-pressed coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, castor oil and extracts of vanilla and rosemary. Every ingredient is USDA-certified organic, too! 

Because Badger Body Moisturizer is just oils, beeswax and extracts, the consistency is slick and oily—which is just what ragged cuticles and sun-shocked nails need. Don’t expect a creamy or thick body butter—these moisturizing balms are for seriously moisture-deprived skin and nails. I like to work the oils into my cuticles, massaging them in and then applying thick body butter on my hands after concentrating on my nails and cuticles. Badger also offers a nice cuticle and foot duet, but honestly, any of Badger’s fine balms will work for your cuticles and nails. 

Another great use: Rub a little bit of balm on your temples and sinuses for calm, relaxing sleep. Badger makes a balm specifically for sleep, but any of your favorite, calming essential oils blended into a balm would work! Try lavender, rosemary, sweet orange and vanilla. 

Badger Body Moisturizers cost $15 for a 2-ounce tin. It will last a long time, even with daily moisturizing—I slather this stuff on my hands, nails and cuticles at least three times a day. It’s a good, guaranteed-organic buy from a family-run company with wholesome, green values—and is Green America-approved.

Do you use Badger products? What do you think of this 14-year-old company? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Though I rarely blow dry my hair during the work week, I’ve found an eco-friendly styling tool for the rare mornings when I have five minutes to spare. Pure Heat Tools’ Wet-to-Dry Iron blends a flat iron and blow dryer into one nifty styling tool that offers decent results on the fly. 

Pure Heat Tools’ Wet-to-Dry Iron is made from 14 percent recycled materials (I wish that number was higher!) and is minimally packaged in recycled cardboard for easy recycling. Pure Heat Tools says that the Wet-to-Dry Iron is engineered to emit lower levels of EMFs (electro magnetic fields), which disrupt natural body rhythms. All Pure Heat Tools are also RoHS-certified, meaning they use limited amounts of hazardous substances. 

Pure Heat Tools' Wet-to-Dry Flat Iron features a digital enhancement screen to view the flat iron's temperature. Photo Courtesy Pure Heat Tools.

The Wet-to-Dry Iron features nano tourmaline ceramic heat technology (similar to other flat irons on the market—this one heats up to 390 degrees) and a high speed fan to aid in the drying process. While the Wet-to-Dry Iron is loud (imagine a soft humming of a tiny motor), it’s effective at drying and straightening towel-dried, damp hair. If you want stick-straight hair, spend more than five minutes using this iron; if you just need to look like you somewhat cared what you looked like on Monday morning, run your hair through the iron for five minutes! The result is softer, shinier hair that still has some body and volume. 

Pure Heat Tools should be recognized for creating an eco-friendly line of styling tools—the hair care and beauty industry isn’t exactly the most sustainable! Pure Heat Tools partners with EarthShare, an organization that gives environmentally conscious employees and workplaces one central place to donate money to green nonprofits; Pure Heat Tools’ donates a flat dollar amount to EarthShare each year. 

Pure Heat Tools’ Wet-to-Dry Iron is competitively priced with other designer irons on the market. It costs $129, weighs 15 ounces and comes with a one-year limited warranty. The iron also comes with a thermal travel bag. 

What’s your morning routine like? Do you air dry or get out the styling tools? Would you pay $129 for a greener styling tool? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

I've spent most of the summer poolside, and the sun and chlorinated pool water have not been nice to my skin. To combat dryness, I've been moisturizing with Garden of Eve Hand and Body Cream for the past few weeks—it's the perfect after-sun, natural lotion because it's light yet it really sinks into your skin to deliver much-needed after-sun moisture.

Garden of Eve is a small, Virginia-based natural cosmetics company founded in 2003 by health consultant Eve Stahl. Garden of Eve offers natural personal-care products that are free of parabens, phthalates and other synthetic ingredients. Committed to safe personal-care products, Garden of Eve is a member of the Green Products Alliance, American Botanical Council, is a signer of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics and is Green America-approved. Garden of Eve products are also cruelty-free. Not every natural beauty company has those kinds of green beauty credentials!

Peace & Calm lotion is light and luxurious on your skin. Photo Courtesy Garden of Eve.

Garden of Eve offers 10 natural lotions and creams for all of your needs and tastes. I tested eight different hand and body creams (packaged beautifully in a fair-trade, bamboo-woven box), but my favorite was Peace & Calm Hand and Body Cream. It blends the essential oils of blue tansy, tangerine, orange, ylang ylang and patchouli with a hydrating base made of organic coconut oil, organic beeswax and vegetable glycerin. All of the hand and body creams slide onto and blend seamlessly into your skin. These natural lotions are great on hands, elbows, knees and other rough spots. Your skin is left feeling smooth, nourished and hydrated—but never greasy.

Try eight different natural lotions in the hand and body sampler kit. Photo Courtesy Garden of Eve.

A 3-ounce pump bottle of natural lotion costs $30. The hand and body sampler kit, which contains eight 0.3-ounce jars of hand creams, costs $37. While the prices are a little steep, keep in mind that you're also paying for the guarantee of natural, organic ingredients for your sun-beaten skin. I'm willing to shell out a little extra for natural beauty products that carry those kinds of green beauty credentials.

I’m continuing my search for the best natural shampoos. I’ve been using Eco Nature Care Natural Hair and Body Wash this week. 

Eco Nature Care natural shampoo appeals to the masses and is priced accordingly—$10.99 for 10 ounces. Photo Courtesy Eco Nature Care.

Eco Nature Care’s packaging is neat. This natural shampoo is housed in a thick aluminum, cap-topped container that adds an industrial look to your shower. The labeling is thorough, though the type is tiny. I appreciate Eco Nature Care’s willingness to list all ingredients on the label. 

While I admire the sleek design of the container, I do find the material choice inconvenient because this thick aluminum container is not squeezable—how will I get the natural shampoo out of the bottle when it’s running low? This also isn’t a container that is conducive to storing upside-down to let the natural shampoo slide to the opening for easy dispersal. The twist-off cap is a nuisance to me—it may seem hypercritical or lazy, but a pump would be more convenient than a twist-off cap. But, as Eco Nature Care points out on its website, pump tops are difficult to recycle, and making a product in easy-to-recycle material from top-to-bottom is more beneficial to the earth.

Eco Nature Care’s natural shampoo formula is pure. Eco Nature Care pledges that its products contain no parabens, phthalates, SLS or petroleum-based ingredients (what we like to call “the bad stuff").

“Natural aroma” is low on the ingredients list. This “natural aroma” consists of benzyl alcohol, limonene, citronellol, geraniol, linalool and citral. Benzyl alcohol is linked to allergy concerns and is a common ingredient in hair color, mascara and shampoo. It has a “high hazard” score of 7 from the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. (The EWG also scores products as a whole, but Eco Nature Care has not yet been submitted for review.)

Though this is shocking, Eco Nature Care makes no attempt to mask this—the ingredients that are potential allergens are marked with an asterisk. The other ingredients in the “natural aroma” are perfuming agents that may irritate sensitive skin. Use caution when considering products that contain perfumes and fragrances, but remember, even natural and organic essential oils can be irritating—and the ingredients in this “natural aroma” may occur naturally in essential oils.

Eco Nature Care has a convenient ingredients list and descriptions online that details possibly irritants. Eco Nature Care points out that benzyl alcohol is on the UK Soil Association’s list of preservatives approved for use in organic cosmetics. (Check out the Soil Association’s list of non-organic health and beauty ingredients to get an idea of what ingredients to avoid.)

Overall, I think Eco Nature Care Natural Hair and Body Wash is a good, green product for a new company (founded in 2008). This company’s puts the health of the planet and the consumers first.

How do you choose your natural beauty products? What ingredients are you allergic to? Tell me your standards for evaluating personal-care products.