Living An Organic Lifestyle

Summer is the time when our skin gets an airing, especially in the UK. We hardly get a chance to reveal our skin normally, as we shelter from wind, rain and cold weather most of the year. You maybe planning on a vacation abroad or just want to get the sun kissed look, so now is the perfect time to get yourself pampered and looking fabulous.

If, like me, you’re feeling a tad pasty and unconfident about revealing your winter body for the whole world to view on the beach, then take a few vital steps to create a confident new you. Not only will you look healthy on the outside, you will genuinely be healthy on the inside as you can easily achieve the look without the use of loads of nasty chemicals that could compromise your health, cause allergies or skin sensitivity.

Some of our recommendations are classic favourites that are time tested and really do work, rather than the latest new fads on the market!

It’s really important to get your skin ready for receiving new products that are going to revitalize and energise, so getting rid of old built up dead winter skin cells is an important first step; with this all important natural beauty care treatment, you’ll find your skin glowing and ready for the sun. This step is called exfoliation and can be done easily through some home made treatments such as granulated sugar. But for those of you that prefer all the aromatherapy oils formulated into an invigorating and beneficial ready made scrub, you must try our Spiezia body scrub, or Eselle Organics luscious and invigorating Lime and Coconut organic body scrub. Exfoliate your whole body from toe to décolletage (cleavage) at least once a week to keep your skin looking healthy throughout the summer. Don’t forget the hard to reach bits. Exfoliate gently but regularly for optimum results, its really important to follow with a moisturiser so that your skin doesn’t dry out, that’s why Eselle’s Lime and Coconut Body Scrub is so good, it’s a two in one that leaves you smelling fabulous and silky smooth afterwards.

If you have let the body lotions slip, then make sure you don’t forget this all important step now. Dry, flaky, greying skin will not look healthy and will easily damage under the sun. To get your skin beautifully primed, moisturize everyday after you shower or bath, with an all over organic body moisturiser. For lotions, try Essential Care Hand and Body lotion or Green People’s No scent Hand and Body Lotion, but if you really love to pamper yourself try Organic Apoteke’s Body Cream, one of our Raw Gaia or Eselle Organic Body Butters.

The next and final stage before hitting the beach is getting the tanned look. Wise sun worshippers will know that tanning beds are not such a good idea and increase the chance of skin cancer dramatically. So getting that tanned look in a healthy non-damaging way is essential if you are looking for the sun kissed look this summer. Even if you’re not going on holiday but want to look like you’ve been on the beach, then we have the natural, healthy alternative to getting the perfect tan. Green People’s Self Tan Lotion, like all of our products, has no parabens, phalates, petrochemicals, colorants or nasties, and can be applied 2-3 hours before needed. To build up your tan, you will need to re-apply again after 3 days. If you’ve followed the first two steps to getting your skin primed well, then the self tan stage will be easy!

When you finally do hit the beach, make sure you use organic sun protection, start off with a high factor such as Green People SPF22 and then reduce down to SPF15 as your natural tan builds. This will prevent you burning and also from damaging your skin. John Masters Sea Salt Mist gets your hair in the mood for the beach by protecting it and giving it extra Body and wave. Use a healthy bronzer such Inika’s Mineral Bronzer on your face along with a luscious lip gloss from Sante, and Zoya’s fabulous Kylie 299 Coral Pink nail polish to complete your summer look – and all without exposing yourself to one nasty chemical, how clever is that!?

New to our shelves is the wonderfully natural, pure and certified range of organic skincare by Trevarno. Hand made in Cornwall, these luscious products will have your skin looking amazing, protected from the sun and all naturally!! Their special formulations are designed with the most sensitive skin in mind to retain the skins natural beauty but also to help cleanse tone and replenish skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

Trevarno’s first organic soaps were launched in 1998, followed by their skincare range in 2000. Their organic skincare is a high performance and sustainably produced range, which is competitively, priced which means that you no longer need to sacrifice or compromise luxury, style or affordability in choosing the natural skin care option.

At buyOrganics I am particularly pleased that, with increasing awareness of the benefits of choosing Natural and Organic products, and the escalating health concerns over the inclusion of synthetic ingredients found in the majority of high street beauty products, Trevarno’s organic skin care range is a tribute to their philosophy of producing chemical free, truly organic skin care. Trevarno’s ethical focus is on taking beauty back to its natural roots using long established, traditional ingredients and sustainable, production methods.

What’s even more delightful is that Trevarno’s skin enriching creams are blended with fully certified organic flower waters and deliciously scented essential oils to produce light and easily absorbed beauty essentials that you will not be able to do without. As well as these daily facial products, the organic sun care range from Trevarno has been developed to provide essential daily protection without the need for all the chemicals that go along with sun creams providing any shelter from the sun. With Trevarno’s Day and Rose & Jojoba moisturising creams both being available with SPF15, you will be able to easily nourish as well as defend your skin against the sun and its aging effects. These two products are highly effective in any natural anti aging organic skin care routine.

Certified by The Organic Farmers & Growers, Britain’s longest established organic certifier, Trevarno have met strict standards to gain formal organic certification which guarantees the range as pure, ethical and sustainable.

Trevarno is committed to sourcing ingredients of the highest quality, from, socially just and ecologically responsible suppliers for their skin care range. Just a few examples of these practices includes buying locally grown West country herbs and obtaining sustainable Palm Oil from a producer who works closely with the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

“Trevarno’s creams are actually creams not balms! Their cleansers are effective and remove all of the daily grind you expect them to and your skin is left feeling completely amazing in the morning after having used the night cream. Trevarno definitely gets the thumbs up from me; otherwise I certainly wouldn’t sell it!”

Sonia Kalia-Sagoo
Founder of buyOrganics

New to the buyOrganics shelves are Sante’s beautiful range of natural makeup and cosmetics to have you looking beautiful and stunning without harsh chemicals or toxins.

Made with sensitive skin in mind, Sante Naturokosmetic's mild ingredients are great for allergy sufferers and sensitive skins, all the makeup has been dermatologically tested and approved without testing on animals, only on willing humans! All products are also BDIH certified as natural and reasonably priced.

Sante, the company is also very ethical, and is committed to caring for the environment, and producing products in harmony with nature. Their range is one of the most comprehensive makeup and cosmetic ranges on the market, with the collection covering natural foundation, eye makeup, blushers, lipsticks and natural nail polishes to compliment the look.

Our favorites in the collection are the eyeshadow sticks, lip gloss pots and cover sticks as well as the liquid eyeliner!!

With Swine Flu on the increase, you will already be familiar with the governments take on washing hands frequently in-order to combat viral germs. Other methods also suggested are to keep away from crowded places, unnecessary airplane travel and to use face masks.

Although many people will rush out to buy face masks in coming months, or many popular brands of antibacterial hand soaps in an order to keep themselves and their family safe, there are natural alternatives for these.

Research has shown that essential oils of Eucalyptus Oil (Eucalyptus globulus), Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia), Lemon Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora), Radiata (Eucalyptus radiata) and many others have Antibacterial, antiviral and anti -fungal properties. Ecosoapia have cleverly formulated Tea Tree and Eucalyptus into Soil Association Certified Organic Liquid Castille Soaps

The use of them can be widespread and varied. Burning the pure oil in an oil burner can aid in the sterilizing of the home or office environment naturally, also use of them in a hand wash is effective and easy. By making sure you are washing frequently you can ensure that the bacterial spread is minimised.

Ecosoapia Eucalyptus soaps and Tea Tree Liquid Castille Soaps will provide all the properties of the essential oils necessary for being safe whilst also ensuring that your increased hand washing doesn’t mean increased toxicity through harsh and dangerous chemicals. Win:Win.

Ecosoapia Soaps 5.87 available at buyOrganics online store

Contrary to what some might think, organic make up is not a product that is reserved only for fashionistas, divas or wild women hugging trees! Organic cosmetics and make up has largely come into its own over the last couple of years and is no longer inaccessible to the majority of the population. It is no different in application, quality or performance to regular make up, in fact it’s superior in its purity and wellbeing factor for you and your body.

Price, is no longer an issue! Prices rival beauty houses with fancy packaging and synthetic fillers, the only difference is that this is the Real McCoy! You can’t get more luxurious than this.

The looks for this spring have been set on the catwalk. Flawless foundation, smokey and sultry eyes, nude lips and pretty pastels are the look for this Spring. So if you’re looking for purer versions of your all time favourites or the current shades they are all available from the latest organic make up beauty houses.

For instant spring appeal, Inika’s natural mineral foundation applied with a Kabuki brush will give you a flawless matt finish, whilst not being cakey and heavy; Inika’s natural foundation has literally been flying off the shelves. Sample colours are available online at buyOrganics so can you can find your perfect flawless skin shade before you invest in a bigger pot. Inika’s illuminisor, also adds that special touch of radiance just where you need it, on cheek bones, shoulders, collar bones, but completely naturally.

For Nude lips we love Nvey Eco’s Nude Lip Gloss. This season it’s all about going back to your natural lip colour and making the most of your eyes. For cheeks our top make up tip from leading make up artists is to mix some of your favourite organic bronzer with a little pink blush. Nvey Eco do a great compact bronzer, which is great for carrying around in your handbag, alternatively you can find your perfect bronzer shade from Inika’s range and mix with a little of their illuminsor or kiss-kiss blush, a neutral pink shade that suits every one, just for the apples of your cheeks.

For eyes, try either Nvey Eco’s cake black eyeliner or Inika’s black pencil eyeliner, along with any of our natural mascara’s. Long lashes are in, thanks to Cheryl Cole, false lashes are on every ones shopping list and can easily be combined with natural mascara for volume and that wow effect. Follow with Inika’s Thunder eye shadow and blend with either Forest Gold, or Nvey Eco’s Gunmetal or Grey shimmer eye shadows, or any other dark organic eye shadow shade to give a smokey allure.

Nail trends are not to be forgotten this Spring either, a variety of trends have been going around this season, some are opting for the blues and greys whilst hot pink colours are also proving to be summer favourites, try Zoya’s spring collection for a little bit of everything that gets you in the mood.

With relatively little effort, and a couple of additions to your shade wardrobe, this seasons spring collection of makeup can be organic and natural, who said you can’t be sexy and pure all in one go!!!

Many people think that organic and natural means the same thing and to some extents and in many instances it does. If something is billed as organic, then it is also natural; it uses natural organically grown ingredients, now the problem is that if something claims it is natural, it does not mean it is automatically organic in nature, or organically made; this is most apparent on cosmetics.

Currently cosmetic companies are not required to meet any formal standards when it comes to using the term “natural” on their products. This has led to many companies touting their cosmetics as natural to cash in on peoples desire to use healthier, chemical free organic makeup.

Marketing your products as organic cosmetics, along with other organic products such as organic skincare or organic mattresses for example, is regulated by organisations such as the National Organic Program in the USA but regulations in other parts of the world are only just coming into fruition.

So how do you avoid all the scam products and only choose the real deal when it comes to organic makeup or organic skin care? Well there are organisations that have their own standards that many companies in the organic products industry consider to be the benchmark for organic guidelines.

The Soil Association (UK), BDiH (Germany), Ecocert (France), Cosmebio (France), ICEA (Italy) and Ecogarantie (Belgium) have developed common standards for natural and organic cosmetics. So a stamp of certification from these on a product is a good guideline. However not all organic cosmetic manufacturers will have signed on with one of these, and that does not mean they are doing anything wrong.

So if you can’t find one of these standards on your product then see if it comes from one of the very reputable and recommended organic product producers. Some of the most respected, trusted and known brands include:

Inika – Providers of quality organic cosmetics such as blusher, eyeliner and foundation.

John Masters – Specialists in organic shampoo, organic conditioners and organic haircare.

Zoya – THE brand for toxin free, safe and natural nail polish.

Organic Apoteke – Leaders in organic cleansers and toners and other organic skincare.

Nvey Eco – Some of the best organic makeup and cosmetics on the market today.>

Earthbound Organics – Organic skin care including facial scrubs and creams which are kind to your body.

Eselle Organics – One of the best known brands of organic skincare for the face and body as well as other great organic products.

Raw Gaia – Amazing organic beauty products to pamper yourself with.

Essential Care – Pure organic washes, tonics, lotions and more as well as eczema treatments.

Spiezia Organics – Unique organic creams, ointments and soaps.

Green People – Cleansers, washes and organic toiletries along with Green People organic shampoo and conditioners.

One Group/Miessence – The One Group manufactures the Miessence range and is one of the most trusted brands of organic skin care, organic shampoo and hair care and many other organic products for your body.

Sticking to these brands will ensure you are not being duped into buying products which are not as organic or natural as they claim to be. There are of course many other reputable organic brands out there, and it can be trial and error, but these are a great place to start as you know you are in good hands.

Finally you could always drop an email to us at buyOrganics (mail@buyorganics.co.uk) and we will try to advise you as best we can and make sure you are getting what you deserve; true organic products.

Many stock lines reduced up to 50%. All excess stock must go in-order to make way for new lines.

Many of our women’s and men’s organic skin care lines are reduced, along with organic cosmetics and makeup, baby clothing, and maternity wear. The offer is only on current stock, so when it’s gone, it’s gone!

For the last few years we’ve been operating from home with the assistance of a pick and pack service to deliver your goods to you, but now all’s changing at buyOrganics in order to make things more efficient, provide better quality service and make some positive steps to provide you with more all round benefits. To begin with, we’ve moved into offices and are reclaiming the picking and packing, and lots more is planned to follow.

The move hasn’t been easy, we’ve been loading and unloading boxes, setting, up desks, shelves, computers, new systems, and trying to run the business with as little disruption as possible! Of course we haven’t managed to keep everyone happy, but we are working on making things better for you in the long run.

Orders are getting back to normal now and hopefully over the next few weeks you’ll see your orders being turned around a lot quicker than before. We will also be re-developing the website, bringing in new product lines, and bringing back the newsletters and competitions, all of which have suffered due to space and software issues!

So if you have any suggestions about changes you wish to see, and products you would like us to stock, or services you think we should offer, now is the time to tell us so that we can plan them in this year. Without your suggestions we cannot tailor our business to suit your needs and provide you with the service you expect, so your help is invaluable in making BuyOrganics a store where you want to shop. Every suggestion will be read personally by me and written into our action plan where feasible.

In the next few weeks we will be sending you all a little questionnaire as we try to get to know your needs better. I hope you will help us help you by sending this back to us.

In the meantime, please contact us at mail@buyorganics.co.uk with suggestions and improvements, or use the feedback feature on our site (top right hand corner).

Sonia x

It’s been a busy week for buyOrganics in the press department – we have had a great response from journalists rising to the turn you or your man organic challenge, with several requesting the organic men’s grooming products we talked about in our blog recently, plus lots of off-the-cuff requests for samples as our reputation in organic skincare, beauty and lifestyle excellence continues to rise. But in amongst all the success, thrills and excitement, I’ve had a stonking cold, and, not feeling up to my usual organic skincare routine and care with my makeup, started to feel very skanky and slummy indeed. So this morning I finally decided, enough is enough!!!

But what to do? How do you go about perking yourself up when you feel like, well, to put it mildy, just plain ugly!

Of course, the answer is organic makeup. Yes, a rendezvous with your cosmetic bag really is the answer. When you look good, you feel good, and putting on a new, fresh face using organic cosmetic products can have a huge influence on the way you feel inside. But of course, there’s a flip side to this. What you put onto your skin can also affect your body in a different way – and now of course I’m talking about toxins in beauty products.

Regular, non-organic cosmetics, as with skincare products, usually contain a host of synthetic ingredients, mainly preservatives, which quite frankly aren’t all that wholesome when you consider how much of it gets slapped onto skin and gets sucked into all manner of pores and orifices. For example, the average woman will actually consume several kilos (yes, kilos!) of lipstick and lipgloss during her lifetime, and considering the fact that most lip products contain parabens and phlalates as important preservatives, makes you wonder what the accumulative effect of all these chemical nasties could actually be?

Toxic overload has been implicated in several unwelcome conditions – not only cancers, but quite interestingly in ME sufferers, who sadly often find their only respite from their debilitating conditions is a complete swap to organic and natural foods, clothing, personal care products and household cleaning products. Already down in the dumps thanks to their illness, putting on makeup can be a welcome solution to cheer sufferers up, but with symptoms exacerbated by the hormones and manmade ingredients in skincare products and cosmetics, such a treat often falls by the wayside.

Choosing organic, natural cosmetics and makeup can really be the answer, not only safer and gentler, but usually not tested on animals and often mainly vegan, ie. containing no animal products whatsoever (did you know that mascara and lipsticks for example, often contain ingredients derived from the byproducts of slaughtered animals), and with just as stunning results.

My favourite organic makeup brands are Nvey Eco and Inika. Inika in particular does a spectacular range of eyeshadows and gorgeous lip glosses, and having been a Clinique girl for many years until I finally saw the light, can honestly say the quality of the two are easily comparable. Organic makeup is also perfect for teenage girls and pregnant women, as well as chemotherapy and ME sufferers, due to the lack of toxins which may have more effect on these groups of people, organic makeup can not only make you look good on the outside but keep your entire body and immune system healthy as well.

So now although I’m still sneezing and coughing, I feel so much better inside, with my lips healthily and gorgeously glossed and my skin flawless and glowing.... ready to face the world safely and beautifully!

Is your mattress all worn out? Is it saggy, stained or ripped? Or is it a brand new toxic smelling beauty that you really aren’t sure about? Then read on..

Our bed is the one bit of essential respite we get everyday. It’s the place where kids crawl in to join us in the night, where we can rest our days worries away, let passionate sparks fly or treat ourselves to Sunday morning breakfast. Either way our bed is an essential part of our daily lifestyle! Not only that it has to contend with looking after our back, supporting our spine and making us feel just right, just the right temperature, just the right firmness, just the right amount of blissful sleep!

If your bed is more than 10 years old then it really is time to seriously consider changing it. Not only will it have sagged, the covering may have ripped exposing the fabrics underneath, dips from lack of turning won’t be providing your back the support it should have to keep your spine in optimal health at night, and lets face it, the amount of dust mites it will have picked up from sitting there so long could probably house a mites zoo! Also old mattresses have a lot more chemicals in. Antimony, flame retardants and petrochemicals are common place in many mattresses sitting in homes for many years, even new mattresses have them in, so investing in the best available mattress can only lead to an organic choice. These harmful chemicals contain heavy metals and other toxins that can be absorbed as we sleep affecting our health in many negative ways.

So if there’s one really special thing you can do for yourself or your children this March its treat yourself to a new pure, natural, organic mattress and restore amazing, restful, supportive, healthy sleep back into your life.

As it’s National Bed Month again. How time flies! It’s time for our annual organic mattress offer again. So if you want a really pure, really exquisite Soil Association Certified Organic Pocket Sprung Mattress, or a pure Natural Latex Mattress at an amazing price then pick up the phone and ring us now to find out about our unbeatable offers, or email us with your requirements and we’ll get straight back to you to help you through making this essential purchase.

Email us at mail@buyorganics.co.uk or call on 0208 952 1424 Monday- Friday 10am to 2pm, to find out what fantastic offers we have in store with no obligation to purchase what so ever!!! Offers only on until end of March so email us now!

With all eyes on Jade Goody, many will not associate themselves at all with her experience, whilst others may find the idea of a young mother desperately trying to live up her last few days and sort out her children’s future a fearful prospect and one that, let’s face it, could happen to anyone of us.

As I look around I am finding increasing numbers of people being plagued by Cancers in various shapes or forms; it used to be people I didn’t know, now it’s friends and family, and as I have just prevented my daughter from taking the latest cervical cancer vaccine, I hope I’ve done the right thing by her.

Cancer is alarmingly common, with an estimated quarter of a million people being diagnosed with cancer each year - the figures are earth shattering. Now I’m not a doctor but part of me cannot help but think that this is a disease caused by our modern lifestyle. Stress, obesity, poor diet, poor lifestyle choices, age and alcohol all can be factors in the development of cancer. Evidence shows that the biggest problem people face is changing habits. Even if they know they have to change, or want to change, 8 out of 10 people would rather die than change their habits! With over 10,000 new synthetic chemicals in the Earth’s system in the last 10 years can we really be surprised that Cancers are not growing; with our stressful 21st Century lifestyles; with our food and air polluted, is it really that surprising that something’s come back to bite us!!

I am a firm believer that we should try and make things as natural as possible in our current synthetic lifestyles and help prevent illness in the future. I recently read a book called the Tao of Detox, fascinating book and in it the author points out that a grown man can carry something like 2lbs of sludge like residue in his bowels that resembles nothing organic at all. This is echoed by a friend’s experience who went for a colon cleanse treatment and found (sorry to be gross!) kernels of popcorn being cleansed from her system. She had not eaten popcorn in 3 years. So the amount of rubbish that lines our stomachs is not good for us, and it originates from poor eating and diet.

So here’s a plan to do your utmost to prevent Cancer naturally:-

• Turn towards a healthier diet of home cooked organic foods, raw foods, vegetables, fruit, organic staples, and as little artificial rubbish as possible. Make sure you’re only having organic dairy products, cut down on meats and eat as little processed food as possible.

• Regularly detox your body with a proper programme and ensure you are nutritionally armed with the right nutrients, probiotics and factors that lead to good health. Visit a nutritionist for the best advice. Just because you’re not ill, it doesn’t mean you’re healthy!

• Get rid of the multitude of chemicals that fill your house such as formaldehydes, triclosan, heavy duty detergents and bactericides. Ridding our environment of all germs is not healthy; it’s not good for us. The obsession with eradicating germs (good and bad) is the reason for MRSA and other super bugs! We need healthy bacteria in our environment to fight our daily fight for us. Switch to eco friendly cleaning products such as Bio-D.

• Throw your chemical laden toiletries and cosmetics in the bin. The multitude of chemicals we use in our daily routines lowers our immunity and creates more for a liver to detox. Switch to natural organic skincare products and cosmetics and makeup wherever possible.

• Respect your body clock and ensure that you are not overburdening your body.

Don’t forget to enjoy life. Laughter and joy, low levels of stress, and plenty of love are what the doctor ordered. Make time for rest and relaxation such as Yoga, walking and also finding and keeping your faith in a higher being.