Siobhan is not around this morning because she’s in New York shooting The Doctors, yes this Doctors! So, let’s all send her good thoughts and in the meantime read her awesome post on GOOD, with equally awesome art from Brianna. Is it me, or do these not look like Matisse for yoga postures? (Also, any yogis here?) Ok, here we go:

You’d need several pairs of hands to list all the benefits yoga can have on your health, but what can it do for your looks? Turns out, a whole lot. Those who have been reading this column for some time will know that we advocate lifestyle and diet changes as much as we do using nontoxic cosmetics; the three are inseparable when it comes to living a cleaner, more sustainable lifestyle. A natural shampoo is great, but it won’t do much for your stress level, which can wreak havoc on your skin if it’s not kept in check. Similarly, you could chow on the best organic produce available, but if you’re using a petrochemical-loaded moisturizer, we’re going to bet your skin won’t be as supple or silky as it could be.

When it comes to exercise, stress relief, and overall health, very little beats out yoga. Here’s why: Contrary to the belief that yoga is a lot of lying around and ohm-ing, it can be a rigorous full-body exercise regimen that strengthens the body (and the mind!) and brings with it all kinds of unintended side benefits—like glowing skin, slower aging, and, yup, better sex.

It makes you better at other sports Yoga is proven to help prevent injuries by increasing flexibility and focus—but it’s also proven to bebetter than some sports in its ability to reduce anxiety and bad moods. The fact that it complements so many other sports—from dance and hockey to soccer and basketball—makes it a great supplemental workout for athletes and gym rats alike. And for those of you who think yoga is for wimps, look no further than Shaq and Amani Toomer—yogis both.

It helps you sleep better And sleeping better makes your skin (and your entire body) function more efficiently. A study at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center came to the conclusion that just 20 minutes of yoga a week helped cancer patients fall asleep faster and sleep longer. More sleep means giving your face muscles a rest, while also promoting cell turnover—which happens more at night that during the day.

It helps your sex life There are some obvious benefits here like strength, greater flexibility, and more comfort with your body, but there are some real studies behind the idea that yoga can better your bedroom life, too. One study showed that 75 percent of the women who practiced yoga experienced better orgasms, and a recent Harvard study found other sexual benefits. For men, a 2007 study where men were offered Prozac or yoga as a tool to counter premature ejaculation, those who chose the latter “had both subjective and statistically significant improvements” as compared to the guys who picked the drugs (though those helped, too).

Keep reading over at GOOD.

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This is our favorite makeup application trick because it appeals to our completely lazy side while also working and looking nice. Here goes: Instead of layering on your lotion or sunscreen (or both) and then finishing with mineral powder, foundation or heavy concealer, try a two-fer! Squeeze some lotion, argan oil, coconut oil or suncreen into your palm, then sprinkle about a quarter teaspoon of loose mineral powder into the goop. Rub your hands together to blend, and then sweep your hands over your face, starting at the center and moving outward.

You basically get the effect of a nice tinted moisturizer (with SPF!), but with a few perks.

First, because the minerals market is so huge, it’s easier to color-match perfectly to your skin tone. It may take some doing, and you might want to combine two different colors to get it just right, but it’s doable.

Second, the pure oils and the minerals are known quantities. There won’t be any surprise reactions to mystery ingredients.

Third, because minerals can look like garbage on dehydrated skin, this eliminates that problem altogether by building in the moisture and adding a little sheen.

And finally, because you get a nice light coverage, you don’t have to worry about the maskface that sometimes comes with foundation or poorly applied powder.

As always, make sure your minerals are clean—no parabens, silicone or extra crap in there—and same goes for whatever you’re mixing it with.

Have you tried it? Got any other application tips to share?

Since Alexandra shared her new amazing face wash with us, I thought I’d throw something else in the mix. It’s the easiest body scrub in the entire world, and the best part is you probably already have the ingredients in your kitchen. Let’s call today DIY Wednesday or, um, Scrubby Wednesday, maybe. Though that’s a bit weird because actually, we’re both totally anti-scrub.

Those of you who have read the book may remember we have a pretty strong take on manual and chemical exfoliation on the face. You can check the face chapter for a refresher (we talked about it on NPR too) because as a general rule, we’re not fans, and we found some pretty compelling reasons why you shouldn’t be either—especially if you have rosacea, acne and other issues.

That being said, the honey wash is as gentle as can be, and mine? Well, sometimes you just want a good scrub. Instead of spending 30 bucks on some fancy one, or seven bucks on one loaded with plastic beads (seriously—they’re plastic), try this instead. As for the amounts, just eyeball it. Rocket science, this is not.

—Some oil you like (coconut, jojoba or my favorite, extra virgin organic olive oil)

—Some sea salt (leave this out if you have a sunburn or eczema)

—Some brown sugar (I prefer a coarse sugar to balance out the super-fine salt, but it’s basically up to you)

—Vanilla extract, the most amazing smell in the world (if for some weird reason you don’t like vanilla, use any other oil you like the smell of, or none at all)

—Combine it in measurements that seem right to you, stir and then hop in the tub

Couple things to know though: It makes the shower slippery, and I have a nasty bruise to show for it, so be careful and use a bath mat. I like to make enough it for a single use, but if you have some left over, seal it in an airtight container in the fridge, being sure not to get any water into the mixture (bacteria central). It’ll keep in the fridge for two weeks. Just take it out about 10 minutes before you want to use it, since some oils congeal with they’re cold.

That’s it!

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I haven’t exactly hidden my love of honey—I pretty much mention its antibacterial wound-healing powers every chance I get. But, truth is, I only got turned onto its magic in earnest a few months ago…

See, back in May the lovely Simone invited me to join her at a natural beauty house party—yes, this is how we roll in Los Angeles—where guest speaker Dae Williams sat at the center of our cross-legged lady circle, expounded on the many benefits of natural ingredients, made us laugh, and made us blush. For real. Dae is what you’d call a character, and she takes her act on the road, peddling her lovely clean products and educating women about their bodies. A hippie after my own heart.

That’s where I first tried Dae’s honey face wash, which I immediately bought and fell in love with. Now that my bottle has run out though, I’ve been playing with my own version.

It sounds weird but you can essentially just wash with honey if you’re very sensitive and looking for a really gentle cleanse. Lately I’ve been adding a little baking soda to the mix for a subtle scrub—as in helps with circulation but doesn’t tear off your top layer of skin. This is what I do:

—One tablespoon raw organic honey

—Combine with one teaspoon baking soda in palm

—Rub together and then massage gently in circular motions on face

—Let sit for a minute (or don’t) then rinse thoroughly with warm or even cold water

If this is all sounding a little crunchy, consider this: Last week we were guests on Dr. Doris Day’s Sirius XM radio show, and even she—dermatologist to the stars (and Siobhan)—was going on about the benefits of using honey topically. It’s also popping up in some of our new favorite natural brands, but more on that another time…

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For every study, there is usually another one that says the exact opposite. But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research seems to indicate the unthinkable: Heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers.

As reported by Time:

“Even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables — socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, number of close friends, quality of social support and so on — the researchers (a six-member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin) found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who had never been drinkers, second-highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers.”

Say what? Sure, moderate drinking—for women that means one to three drinks on any one day, and no more than 7 a week—has long been heralded as a boon to health. Especially, though not exclusively, when that drink is red wine. Until now, though, conventional wisdom argued that once you tipped out of the moderate zone, all benefits would reverse on you. In fact, we asserted as much in the book—and while we may need to revisit aspects of that theory due to new evidence, we’re not going to be changing our whole tune. When it comes to beauty, excessive alcohol consumption will do you no favors, longer life or not.

Nonetheless, this new data makes for some interesting musings about what really consummates good health, no? The verdict is far from in, but could the stress-reducing benefits of alcohol be at play? Is relentless sobriety responsible for some uknown health risk? Fun to ponder, hard to prove. Got any good theories?

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We’re going to tell you about that later this week, but first we want to tell you about a woman we met named Wendy. She lives in South Africa, and she wrote us an email with the subject line “Vaseline shmazeline!!” Who could resist replying?

She said:

Three weeks ago, Vaseline convinced me with their new television campaign in South Africa that Vaseline is the way forward—you know good ol’ fashioned petroleum jelly, only now it’s even better for you because you can have it with healthy vitamin E, or cocoa butter or aloe…

So off I head to the shops so excited that I think I have found the cure for dry skin, I spend three weeks lacquering it on…and then I start noticing little red dots on my legs!

I’m getting pimples, kind of ingrown hairs, that I never had before. Duhhhh of course my poor skin is suffocating, and hence I have stopped using it. Thank you for making me put two and two together. I suspected it but doubted myself, but when I read your blog I realized exactly what was going on.

So, couple things. Wendy is awesome, clearly, and she knows how to title an email. Second, we totally get that feeling she describes where you know something is just off with a product, but the marketing dragons get you anyway, and then you end up with some nasty rash or whatever. And finally, we need to have a serious chat about petroleum jelly.

In the meantime, have you had an experience like Wendy’s?

Image (cc) from Flickr user Hellabella

This is only slightly off topic. Via GOOD I came across a post this morning about the Happy Meal Project by New York photographer Sallie Davies. So far Davies has followed the life of an untouched happy meal for 137 days, though she plans to continue until something happens.

See, in case you didn’t notice, the above picture taken on day 137 looks shockingly like the one from day one—there’s no mold, no dinsintegration… I’d wager that, for all intents and purposes, that Happy Meal isn’t even food.

I bring this up for two reasons. One, what we eat (and how we feel) is inextricably bound to how we look. Two, nothing we put on or in our bodies should last indefinitely. While it’s not an argument without some merit, I’m so sick of hearing how important preservatives are and how the real danger is bacteria. Ok ok I get it, but can my freaking burger biodegrade on day three, guys? Does my hand cream have to last ten years?

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We’ve invented a word because Canada is having a great week on toxics regulation. According to Environment Canada, BPA has been added to the agency’s toxic substances list—a big, big deal, especially after the disturbing revelation last week that 90% of the people tested had the hormone disruptor in their urine. (A similar study in the United States found it in 93% of those sampled.)

The American Chemistry Council is predictably miffed, and last year said that classifying it as a toxic is “pander[ing] to emotional zealots.” Well, color us emotional zealots because we are thrilled.

BPA, in case you have been living under a rock, has been linked to obesity, neurological issues, impaired thyroid function and other hormonal issues. Humans are exposed to it from soda cans, canned foods, baby bottles, school lunches, in plastics and more.

This is pretty game-changey. We’re excited to see what happens next, and we hope Environment Canada is ready to duck, because we imagine there’s going to be some mudslinging.

Luca with a BPA-free bottle (and Siobhan)

That’s right, this week over at GOOD we’re talking about your face—and what you don’t want near it. For those of you who have read the book, this top-10 list of bad chemicals will likely be familiar. Hey, nothing wrong with a little refresher, right? Here’s the repost:

A quick skim of this list reads like a prescription from Dr. Obvious. Clearly nobody wants lead or petroleum on their faces, right? But if you’ve been reading this series, our blog, or our book, you know that the cosmetics industry uses all kinds of ingredients in its products—some dangerous, some just plain confusing. What many of them have in common is that that don’t belong anywhere near our largest organ.

Here’s why: Many of them have pretty damning scientific data on record. They’re also not doing anything for your appearance—and in some cases they may be making matters worse. And thus, here is our mantra: If you can’t be sure a product is safe, and it isn’t doing your looks any favors, why bother using it? With that in mind, here’s a top-10 list of common ingredients, contaminants, and byproducts that are bad for your health and duds for your face.

	1. Petroleum and related petrochemicals The danger risk for this group of ingredients ranges from a mellow yellow to code red. Petroleum distillates are toxic solvents used in mascara, hairspray, and callus treatments. But your run-of-the-mill moisturizer probably contains something like mineral oil or paraffin in it, which are not considered dangerous per se, they’re just really, really bad for the environment and they suffocate the skin and may interfere with perspiration.
	2. Lead-tainted lipstick In 2009 the FDA discovered that of 20 lipsticks it tested, 20 were contaminated with lead. In many cases, the lead levels exceeded those set by that same FDA for candy—and since they don’t set restrictions for cosmetics, this feels like a fair model of comparison, right? Not so according to the FDA, which claims that we don’t eat our lipstick. Lead is a neurotoxin and lipstick goes on our mouths, which combine to make this debate officially ridiculous. Go for organic small-batch lipstick lines, or kiss a beet instead.
	3. Formaldehyde-leaching preservatives Our crusade for clean cosmetics started after the discovery of formaldehyde in a hair treatment (and later in our nail polish), but this known carcinogen is also “donated,” as the pros like to say, by preservatives such as quaternium-15, DMDM-hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, and diazolidinyl urea. That means it’s both pervasive and often unlisted, not appearing as an ingredient on labels. It’s considered a human carcinogen by many health agencies worldwide, and when it’s not giving rats nose cancer, it might still be giving you a rash.
	4. Fragrance It’s broken-record time, but here goes: Fragrance is in everything from your fancy perfume to your face wash. It represents a concoction of mystery ingredients, whose secrecy is protected by industry-ass-kissing trade laws. Lab studies by the EWG have shown them to contain a whole cocktail of hormone disruptors(among other things). Which is nice, since our hormones regulate, oh, everything: genital size, fertility, weight, acne, and beyond.
See the next five Images by Brianna Harden	5. Parabens This popular preservative group used in more than 10,000 products became very controversial when their presence was discovered in the tissue of breast tumors. What that data actually means is hotly debated but studies have shown that certain parabens mimic estrogen, the female sex hormone. This could be bad news for both men and women. Look for ingredients on the label with “paraben” as a suffix to avoid these bad boys.