Each summer, I begin a quest that ultimately leaves me frustrated and my lips dry: the quest for a lip gloss with SPF. Yes, you can find lipsticks with SPF, or chapstick types with SPF. But gloss? Good luck.
Last summer, I thought I had found the gloss nirvana in TheBalm's BalmShelter (pictured at left). This gloss smells great, has an SPF of 17, and comes in a wide range of colors. However, it's $20 for a skinny little tube, and the brush mechanism leaves much of the product untouchable.
Furthermore, this product contains Octinoxate, a sunscreen ingredient that has earned a hazard score of 6 from the EWG. Personally, I'm not wild about putting something on my lips (that I will invariably end up eating) which has "strong evidence" that it's an endocrine disruptor.
My attempt at green parenting has been a precipitously slippery slope. I started out with cloth diapers, a natural rubber mattress, all organic clothing, homemade organic baby food and exclusively non-plastic toys. But what I've ended up with is 7th Generation disposables/part-time (like, when the mood strikes me) cloth diapering, a mix of pricey organic cotton and $2.97 Target specials (made, probably, by kids only slightly older than mine), frozen "all natural" chicken tenders & Whole Market taquitos, and more plastic toys than I can shake a stick at. So much for my lofty green ideals.
What happened between then and now?! Well, lots of things, like gag-inducing encounters with the diaper sprayer, the sheer economics of dressing a rapidly growing kid in $30 shirts, picky eating, and, of course, my kiddo's preferences in toys.
We recently had a green toy coups, however, when I discovered Sprig Toys, a Colorado-based eco-friendly toy line. For Huck's big 0-2, I purchased the Dolphin Explorer Boat (because anything to do with water is an instant win with the boy wonder) for $29.99, the dump truck and the loader, both $14.99 at Real Baby in Denver. All three toys are paint-free and made of Sprig's proprietary SprigWood, a delightfully satisfying-to-the-touch bio-composite material made of reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. If your little one isn't a classic dump truck/loader enthusiast, check out DuneBug's Sand Truck, which includes an adorable DuneBug character and wild flower seeds.
The little man especially adores the Dolphin Explorer set, spending nearly an hour at a go on his step ladder at the sink and in the tub with his boat, captain and dolphins, and we're looking forward to spending warmer spring days at the playground digging and dumping sand. For my part--and considering kids are spending record-breaking time in passive play with battery operated toys and electronic media--I adore how active he is in his play with these items--Sprig Toys are, as a rule, "kid-[not battery-]powered," which is just what this pseudo-green mama wanted.
Next Sprig Toys acquisition: The Discover Rig. Lights, motor sounds and songs are powered not by batteries, but by a generator triggered when your kid moves it. Also of interest, Sprig's Storybuilders: four classic story books with block-and-panel sets that allow kids to build and re-enact classic storylines. If I had a little gal, I might even do Princess Penny's Story Building Palace. I wish it weren't so. . . pink. . . but it would be a blast to build a little castle (as long as she can build skyscrapers out of normal blocks, too!) and hey, who doesn't like a pointy princess hat on a cute little faceless figurine?
I'm slowly transitioning away from plastic. Our plastic bags have been replaced by Envirosax Bags (to read all about my love for them, click here), plastic sippy cups never stood a chance against my Sigg bottles (despite the recall, I'm still a fan) and at long last, I've found a solution that makes those annoying little plastic baggies obsolete: Lunch Skins.
Lunch Skins are the creation of Three Green Moms, who wanted to come up with an answer to your "plastic baggie blues". Three Green Moms were concerned with amount of landfill waste the modern family was contributing, and knew they could come up with a product that was safe, affordable and cute. Working with patisseries and bakeries in Europe, they created Lunch Skins out of a thick cotton fabric coated with a food-safe polyurethane lining (read: no plastic-leaching worries) that could also withstand high heat: Voila! An environmentally friendly, dish-washer safe, and very cool alternative to the plastic baggie.
NOTE: They have been certified as lead, Bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalate-free.
The very thin layer of polyurethane has also been tested and found not
to migrate into food or leave a “plastic” odor behind, and meets EU
requirements for food contact (typically stricter than US laws).
I've filled these baggies with popcorn, chips, pretzels, cut fruit, cheese, sandwiches, peanut butter crackers, and, in a pinch, a rolled-up clean diaper and wipes when I needed to downsize my diaper bag to better match an outfit. My husband regularly steals them for his own lunch, and I've been known to swipe some for toiletries while traveling.
Lunch Skins now come in three sizes - a smaller size, shown in the pic of
Raines happily snacking, a larger sandwich size bag, and a "sub bag". Best of all, they come in some pretty cool fabric choices (see below for pics).
We don't do cutesy in this family. We don't do clothing with puppies, kitties, bunnies, or even happy little hammers with slogans like, "Daddy's Little Helper!" I can't do it. I.....just....can't....do it.
I'm also not a fan of anything too sporty, too preppy, too scratchy, too stiff. I'm starting to sound like Dr. Seuss.
I do not like them on the street.
I do not like them out to eat!
I do not like that cutesy crap!
I do not like them (gasp) heart-attack!
Anywho. These requirements of mine also extend into hats for the kiddo. Perhaps it's because the little man has virtually been bald for his entire life (all two years of it) - even now, through his dandelion fluff hair, I can easily see his scalp. So hats are a way of life.
What I'm looking for are soft, comfy hats with a hip, urban feel. And they are out there - it just takes some looking. Here are my current favorites for babies & older kiddos (both boys and girls).
So,
you’re having a baby.And you love
hearts, teddy bears and pastels.Congratulations, you’re in luck!A
lot of what’s out there in the kids’ design world is still pretty
traditional.But even though the last
time I did this whole nursery design thing was only two years ago, I have
been pleasantly surprised this time around by how many more options are out there for new ‘rents
with less traditional taste.And, having
the experience of spending a year-and-a-half using my boy’s former gear and
furnishings (now donated to babe no. 2), I knew where to cut corners and where
to put my coin according to my tastes.
The Rocker In
an earlier post, as you may recall, I coveted the IKEA Karlstad swivel
chair in Ullevi Orange.Well, this is indeed the rocker that landed in my boy’s room and which perfectly complements
his organic cotton Pixel Organics Lions
Tigers & Kitties bedding from HappyGreenBaby.com.This chair is everything I’d hoped and, with the addition of a lumbar
pillow, is super comfortable.Huck loves
it, gleefully spins in it and it’s possibly the best story time chair ever with
great elbow support for wide board books and the like.The footstool adds seating for parental guest
appearances (we’ve been using the divide & conquer method since Boy Wonder
Too arrived so we can eat dinner together before 10 PM).
One of my pet peeves as a mom is that every company designing items for baby seems to think that babies require bright colors, happy faces, and perky puppies/kittens/trucks/flowers on everything. So I have to wonder: do these people even have children? My son can't be the only kid who is completely obsessed with my plain-Jane car keys and remote control. And my very non-cutesy iPhone? Don't even get me started.
Once he started teething, I caved and bought him various insufferably "precious" teething devices in an attempt to soothe his aching gums. The nimby-pimby Baby Einstein "Teeth and Tug Pal?" We have both the lion and the frog. He teethed on them for approximately 40 seconds each, then went back to stuffing his mouth full of anything unembellished yet terrifying - rocks, keys, a butter knife on one occasion. If only I had heard of the Toofeze Teether.
I believe that I, S, have found the secret to fabulous, shiny hair: get pregnant.
The problem with that philosophy is that it eventually ends. No matter how long you breastfeed, your hormones eventually stabilize, while your fabulous hair falls out and goes back to it's normal dull, limp, frizzy state. (I should know - I've been testing the limit on breastfeeding to prevent the return of crap hair). So my consolation prize? John Master's Organics shampoo and conditioner. It is the closest approximation I have found to fabulous pregnancy hair. I have tested this completely unscientific survey on myself and my mother. Here are the "facts":
I have long, sometimes veering on tragically-long colored hair that is otherwise in pretty good condition for living in the high altitude desert that is Denver. John Master's Evening Primrose Shampoo For Dry Hair and the Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor leave my hair soft, shiny, and almost pregnancy-like. Seriously.
My mother uses the same conditioner, but she also uses his Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructing Shampoo. Her post-chemo hair grew back curly, and is now going a bit gray, so she ends up with frequent coloring in a very humid climate. As a result, her hair texture is coarse. The changes this shampoo-conditioner pair wrought were virtually tear-inducing. In a happy way, of course. NOTE: I started with the Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructing Shampoo, but it was too heavy for me. This is a serious shampoo for seriously dry or coarse hair.
I'm a huge Envirosax bag fan. They are lightweight, durable, and come in the best patterns and colors (my current favorite, pictured left, is from their Planet Green line). I always keep at least one in my diaper bag, lest I should ever find myself in Whole Foods without an environmentally friendly way to transport my groceries. The Whole Foods cashiers are usually pretty understanding, but I still can't deal with the guilt. I can only imagine what they would say after I left:
Checkout Girl1: "OMG this TOTAL mess of a mom came in this morning! Her kid was only wearing one shoe, had gross cereal bar smeared in his EYES and HAIR and was eating chocolate chips. And the worst part.....she actually asked for a paper bag! Checkout Girl2: "OMG - NO! She clearly doesn't love her son enough to want to leave him a cleaner planet." Checkout Girl1: "I know, right? I feel sad for him. Hey - have you tried the new vegan white chocolate blended latte? Totally gluten free."
In addition to being a fabulous option when buying groceries, I use my Envirosax bags when shopping in the mall, at the Farmer's market, I use them to transport dirty or wet clothes/shoes/blankets/etc and I've started using them at the pool or the beach. As beach bags, they are genius.
So, you’ve decided to get your eco-freak on and go cloth?
Nice! I successfully cloth diapered my son for his first 10 months, until solid
foods (and my gag reflex) really kicked in in full force.By his 9 month birthday, I was wondering what
in the world these insane environmental types were talking about when they
indicated I could somehow “flick” the “solids” into the toilet.Diaper spraying had become an eye-watering,
dry-heaving torture and I hated the LIES!I couldn’t take it anymore.To
make a long story short, I abandoned cloth diapering and started down the
slippery slope of ease, comfort and extravagant waste.And I liked it.A lot.I call it The Fall.
Some kids have all the luck. And Esther Croak's kids will, thanks to their very talented mom, always have cool in spades. Meet Esther Croak, aka Chinny Chin Chin. Chinny Chin Chin is a clothing line for kids made from re-purposed and vintage fabrics. Her new Spring 2009 line, Almost Famous, launched at last week's Hopscotch Hustle Benefit (a hip mom and baby fashion show that I had the honor and pleasure to be a part of). I'll have more coverage on the fashion show in the days to come, but I was so taken with everything Chinny Chin Chin that I simply couldn't wait. Her line is a little big boho, a little bit rocker, but SO chic and clean. It's so good, in fact, that it's almost wasted on the kids! Almost. What I find so refreshing - besides the use of re-purposed fabric - is the fact that she manages to infuse a children's line with chic, never veering into the realm of cutesy, fussy or trying to hard. She just offers great design, great lines, and great fabric. It's a recipe so deceptively simple that you almost miss the genius behind it. And the fact that this line is also so ridiculously affordable (prices range from $6 - $44) is simply the icing on the cake. Now if she would just offer these looks in slightly larger sizes....say a kid's size 20?
All of the items from the Almost Famous line are available in Chinny Chin Chin's recently launched online store! Lucky, lucky us. To tempt you even further, I've included more pics from her new line. Usually, little girls' clothing options far outshine the boys' clothing options, but in this line....hmmmm. I'm kind of partial to the rockstar vest and pants (below). I haven't seen anything like it. It would be SO adorable at a wedding. And the little girl wearing the dress with the scarf and sunglasses? I hope to someday look that cool.
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