Meet Eleanor the esthetician. After struggling with her skin for years she came to learn that some of the most effective brands were natural. She now puts Kahina to good use, along with other favorites like Dr Alkaitis, Dr Hauschka, Arcona and more. She’s also seriously piqued our interest in In Fiore (we’ve heard their scents are beautiful too)—who here has tried it?

Name: Eleanor

Hometown: Oakland CA

Age: 25

Profession: Esthetician (at International Orange)

Weather: cold but sunny

Hair: long thick and wavy

Skin: I have battled with skin issues through out my life. Acne being the main domain of my problems—but as we know that causes many more issues like pigment, blotches, uneven texture and scarring. In tying to find the balance I experimented with many products and treatments. I never went as far as accutane but paid visits to the dermatologist and used products with benzoyl peroxide and went on antibiotics. Sorely disappointed I saw an Esthetician who helped get a proper routine and acne facials to help correct my skin. This intrigued me into the skin care world. I am a working Esthetician now and have finally found things that have worked for my skin. Pleasantly surprised I found most if these products I’ve used over the past 10 years have been natural/organic options.

Favorite star: Kate Moss

In the shower…

I flip flop between showering in the morning or evening. Most mornings I climb in the shower half awake, trying not to be indulgent as I have limited time before work or before my boyfriend kicks me out. I usually brush my teeth in the shower with my favorite hard-to-find toothpaste from France called Botot. It’s a fennel-flavored toothpaste. I like this because it’s different than your average toothpaste and makes brushing your teeth feel special. In the mornings I won’t wash my hair everyday I just rinse my wavy tresses and use a good amount of Kahina argan oil throughout my hair to seal and calm the frizz. When I do wash and condition I mix in up between Rare Elements (very natural) and Davines love line (not so natural) these keep my long hair in line. I always leave in my conditioner while shaving or washing my body and then comb through with a wide-tooth comb. This really ensures that the product reaches every strand and conditions deeply. While my conditioner is setting in I usually suds up with a sea sponge and body wash from Everyday Shea that has coconut oil and ahea butters as well coffee extracts for a little stimulation to hopefully prevent any unwanted dimpling down the line. If I shave I use pure coconut oil or Aveno shave cream. I know it’s not the best for you but I have very sensitive legs and this one creates a nice barrier. Always unscented! In the mornings I don’t like to use a harsh face wash. If my skin’s OK and I’ve cleansed your face at night already I don’t like to use anything too striping for day. I use In Fiores Treate cleanser that has pure Aloe Vera and Bulgarian rose waters. Smells divine! If I’m showering at night I like to throw in the works with a full dry brushing session and my favorite body scrub by Suki and even a nighttime facial mask. I like Kahina’s antioxidant mask because it’s purifying but also doubles over as a exfoliator with its micro silica particles. After that I use a gel face wash like Dr Alkaitis purifying cleanser to take off the day.

Outside the shower…

I usually finish off with an all over body balm like In Fiores Dayala filled with the aroma of jasmine and lemongrass. For the face it’s an application of Kahina’s argan oil mixed with their brightening serum. I also use a cooling depuffing eye gel from arcona that has anti-aging ingredients. In the mornings I am religious about using in Fiores vitale toner. Its not just a toner it’s really more like a serum that delivers nutrients and water to the skin. I always also always use a sunscreen mixed with Dr Hauschkas translucent bronze concentrate to blend my own tinted sunscreen. I have three different lip balms I cannot live without… Fresh lip care stick in honey, rms lip balm in vanilla and the Dr Hauschka lip care stick and a new favorite is the In Fiore velouté that comes in a beautiful brass compact with a mirror—you can’t go wrong!

Finishing touches…

I actually don’t wear makeup often. After battling with acne for so many years I pretty much wrote it off. I believe in a great pair of earrings, well groomed eyebrows, and I cannot live without an eye lash tint! If I have somewhere to go I usually give in to a little lip to cheek by rms because its so simple and fast and a little water to canvas highlighter by Vincent longo and my fresh lip balm with the tint honey. I also love Arcona’s mineral brushes for a quick all over fix. I regularly take vitamin c, probiotics and a herbal immune supplement to keep me healthy and happy. :)

Who were we kidding, Friday is the real fun day! Especially when you have a great Friday deal like this one from NuboNau. They’re highlighting some classic faves like Intelligent Nutrients (shoutout to this hairspray) and Arcona (shoutout to those Triad Pads, especially for summer) along with Arcona for men (happy Father’s Day boys) and Erbaviva (a brand we’ve gifted many a time to expecting moms). As for Ituri, we’ve yet to try it (have you?), so looks like we’ll be placing an order too. Jasmine rose? Yum.

You know the drill: Enter NMDL at checkout, and this month you get 20% of all those brands, plus free shipping with orders over $95 (US) or $150 (Canada). You can also mix in non-offer items to get you there—and the deal runs until next Friday June 8th.

It’s a killer selection, isn’t it? Which of these products have you tried? It’s review time!

Other fun stuff: You will also receive 5 loyalty points for every dollar you spend and a lovely sample set is included with every order! And and you can request FREE, gorgeous gift boxes and a handwritten card for Father’s Day, simply request it at the checkout.

Happy weekend. Make it count!

And, of course to the gents out there, what would you ask your lady friends to change?

Last night Evolue hosted an event for Pregnancy Awareness Month (PAM) and it got me thinking: What would be left to change in my routine if I were to get pregnant?

I gave a little talk with two of my favorite women in green beauty (precisely because they couldn’t look less green!): Anya Sarre, who told her hilarious a-ha story and gave great tips for looking and feeling good while knocked up, and Bethany Wojteck from Arcona (a great line, especially for anyone with problem skin!). Anya is about 7 months pregnant, and Bethany has a 9 month old (though you’d never know by looking at her) and while both women have been super conscious and careful for some time it was interesting to hear the additional sacrifices they made during pregnancy.

Now, it’s not like I’m planning a pregnancy right this second, but I’m well aware that the time before one gets pregnant is very important, and while the baby is cooking it’s downright critical to be careful of chemical exposure—especially given the new science emerging around endocrine disruptors.

BPA has now been shown to permanently change gene expression, a subject I made Siobhan explain to me in extremely explicit laymen’s terms over gchat yesterday (she’s so good at this stuff!). Basically this means, and correct me if I’m wrong S, that if a fetus is exposed to BPA in utero there is the potential for it to change the signal a given gene is supposed to send. A gene that was meant to do X, may now do Y (pun intended on this one), and it won’t change back again. While this research is still very new and we can’t say for sure how these fetuses will be affected as adults, we know that BPA—which is mildly estrogenic—has been linked to things like obesity, early puberty in women, infertility in men and so on.

Ugh. Which takes me to what I would change in the months prior to trying, and in the event that I got pregnant. I would definitely avoid all canned things (which is really tough for me) because the liners almost always contain BPA, including my favorite sardines (sad face) and the  ”natural” soda Zevia that I love, who at least address the issue on their site. I’d also probably avoid any salon treatments—nails and hair—even though I know it’s really important to feel pretty and pulled together during those pregnancy months! Some women just go once or twice for a little pick-me-up, and I totally get it.

Oh, and I’d probably get really annoying about fragrance and ask people I work with not to wear any. And I’d throw out the last few cleaning products I have that are totally toxic (hello Ajax). I would also try to drive our old Jeep more, because I think (though I’m not sure) that older cars have less chemical crap in them.

What am I missing? Surely something! What did you change during your pregnancy, or would you give up if you were planning to get knocked up?