If there’s one person we’d trust unreservedly with our punim, it’s Lina Hanson, green makeup artist to the stars and Ecouterre’s resident beauty guru. It’s not a question of nepotism, either. Her clientele, which includes actresses Morena Baccarin and Ellen Page, speaks for itself. (Have you seen the glows on those complexions?) So you can bet your sweet …

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In a world saturated by marketing jargon, the labels on products aren’t always easy to decipher. While the term “organic” is regulated—to an extent, anyway—phrases like “all-natural,” “hypoallergenic,” and “cruelty-free” are not. One Hollywood actress, however, has mounted a crusade against companies that don’t mean what they say on their labels, particularly when it comes to our critter pals. As a spokeswoman for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit health organization that opposes testing cosmetics on animals, Kristin Bauer (Pam the vampire in HBO’s True Blood) wants to expose brands that exploit semantic loopholes for their own purposes.

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HONEY-PEACH MASK
1 ripe peach
4 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of natural plain yogurt

Mash the peach and mix it with the yogurt and honey. Spread the paste on your face and leave it on your skin for about 20 minutes, then wash off with lukewarm water. Honey not only heals wounds and downplays inflammation, but it also promotes the growth of new …

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Finally, some good news to report! The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics announced Wednesday that 321 personal-care companies, from mom-and-pop operations to some of the largest names in the industry, have met the goals of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a voluntary pledge to not only eliminate chemicals banned by health agencies outside the United States but also fully disclose the ingredients in their products. “These companies have truly broken the mold,” says Janet Nudelman, program director of the Breast Cancer Fund, a founding member of the campaign. “They are leading the cosmetics industry toward safety, showing it’s possible to make products with full transparency and without using hazardous chemicals.”

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DR. HAUSCHKA
Although Dr. Hauschka is better known for its holistic skincare products, it also carries foundations, blushes, eyeshadows, and lipsticks that are just as natural and effective. I’m partial to the good doctor’s volume mascara, which makes your lashes look lush and full without any harsh chemicals.

+ Dr. Hauschka…

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Think that toxic chemicals are bad for you? It’s all part of a smear campaign, according to a new report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based conservative think tank with documented ties to oil companies like Exxon and Texaco. The chief sources of misinformation, according to the nonprofit, are the Environmental Working Group and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, two “environmental extremist groups”—per CEI—that are inciting fear through “outrageous and bogus claims” about chemical-laden cosmetics and personal-care products.

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Photo by Kim Love

PUMPKIN BODY SCRUB
¼ cup cooked pureed pumpkin
¼ cup brown sugar

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Apply the mixture to your body using a damp cloth. Scrub your body using circular motions and wash off with warm water….

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Ever eaten too much garlic, then smelled it wafting through your pores hours later? Imagine then, imbibing a concoction that produces the scent of aromatic flowers, herbs, or spices, much like perfume does. A new company out of Amsterdam is developing a “digestible scented capsule” that turns your epidermis into an atomizer. Swallowable Parfum, according to founders Lucy McRae and Sheref Mansy, uses the body’s natural processes to excrete fragrance molecules through the skin through perspiration, leaving tiny droplets of scent that are unique to the individual’s physical and emotional state. Although still in its salad days—and pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, of course—the technology could revolutionize the fragrance industry by personalizing scents based on your body chemistry.

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PHYSICIAN’S FORMULA ORGANIC WEAR
If you’re looking for quality natural makeup that won’t empty your bank account, the Organic Wear range by Physician’s Formula offers myriad powders, tinted moisturizers, bronzers, eyeshadows, and lip glosses that are 100 percent free of harsh chemicals, synthetic preservatives, and parabens.

+ Physician’s Formular Organic Wear…

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Luxuriate in your favorite lager with soap from NYC’s own Brooklyn Brewery. Lovingly crafted on the brewery’s wind-powered premises, each two-ounce puck comprises a different variety of tipple (brown ale and black chocolate stout, included) and a host of sudsy ingredients guaranteed to give you flashbacks of every drunken bender you’ve ever had. Not that you’ll actually get …

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YES TO CARROTS
This affordable line of natural products is completely free of parabens, phthalates, petroleum, and sodium laureth sulfate. In addition to products that smell amazing, Yes to Carrots also offers everything from haircare to sunscreen in “flavors” such as cucumber, tomatoes, and blueberries.

+ Yes to Carrots…

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Never mind the goopy, streaky mess that sunblock leaves in its wake; a pill that prevents sunburn could be available in as little as five years, according to British scientists. The secret lies in coral, which produces natural sunscreen compounds to shield itself from harmful ultraviolet rays. By analyzing samples from the Great Barrier Reef, researchers at King’s College in London are beginning to identify the genetic and biochemical processes behind the sunscreen-manufacturing mechanism. The next step? Synthesizing them in digestible tablet form to protect human skin and eyes.

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SLEEPING WITH MAKEUP ON
Leaving your makeup on night can clog your pores and cause acne. If you absolutely cannot wash your face before bed, make sure you use a facial cleansing wipe to remove most of the makeup. At night, the skin breathes and restores itself, so it’s very important to be makeup-free.

USING DIRTY MAKEUP …

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From bird-poop facials to human-placenta hair serums, the astonishing lengths people will go to thwart the aging process knows no bounds. The latest miracle ingredient being touted? Snail slime. And we’re not talking about scarfing down the occasional escargot. Slathered on in cream or gel form, mollusk mucus is said to cure a variety of ills, including acne, scars and burns, and of course, wrinkles.

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When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened over a year ago, Brooklyn resident Tippy Tippens was confronted with horrifying images of the animals caught in its wake. Her background in industrial design couldn’t be further from ocean ecology, but Tippens was determined to help. A trip to New Orleans soon birthed BirdProject, a line of soap molded to resemble the worst victims of the disaster. The soap is more than a visual reminder; 50 percent of all profits goes to the Gulf Restoration Network and International Bird Rescue.

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We’re not exaggerating when we say that Dr. Alkaitis is good enough to eat. The skincare company concocts its certified-organic cleansers, toners, crèmes, and face masks out of mouthwatering ingredients like wild fennel, sweet potato, grapes, strawberries, and olives. Only biologically active ingredients are used, which means you won’t find any synthetic chemicals, genetically modified organisms, or even so-called plant-derived constituents. We had the good fortune of meeting founder Saulius Alkaitis’s granddaughter and in-house rep, Alexandra Conn, at her booth at this year’s Designers & Agents Green Room, and in the interest of science, decided to put the brand’s claims to the (taste) test.

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Photo by clarita

The beauty industry is one of the few industries where harmful ingredients such as formaldehyde, heavy metals, and lead are allowed as ingredients. This current trend of consumers educating themselves, however, has finally forced the government to take action. A bill that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 24 may give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to keep our personal-care products free of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, neurological disorders, and other ailments. With the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 (H.R.2359), we may at last witness a shift from a policy that hasn’t been updated since 1938.

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