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Discover Nature’s Youthful Radiance with Pangea Organics’ NEW Radiance Gift Set – a Website Exclusive

Get ready to spruce up your skincare routine! For $100, get started with the best of Pangea Organics’ award-winning Ecocentric Skincare line with the new Radiance Gift Set –a $167 value, available exclusively online at www.pangeaorganics.com. FREE shipping on all PRE-Orders placed online now thru June 15th.

The star products included in the new Radiance Gift Set are packed with plant-based ingredients, powerful antioxidants and key minerals, vitamins and essential oils that work to balance, nurture and nourish your skin from the inside out. As the leader in the organic skincare category, the efficacy and performance attributes in all Pangea Organics products never strays from the company’s vision of Ecocentric Skincare: Always Beneficial, Never Artificial.

TWO-TIME, AWARD-WINNING FACIAL CLEANSER – $28 SRP

- Get ready to love your face and take the first step towards healthy, glowing skin. Specially formulated to wash away impurities without stripping essential oils, the Egyptian Calendula & Blood Orange formula is good for all skin types and leaves skin refreshed, revitalized and renewed.

TWO-TIME, AWARD-WINNING FACIAL SCRUB – $32 SRP

- Restores and balances the skin with a powerful blend of antioxidants, cell-regenerating and clarifying elements that leaves skin polished, healthy, radiant and especially soft. Suitable for all skins types.

SIX-TIME, AWARD-WINNING FACIAL MASK – $40 SRP

- The ultimate multi-tasker. It does everything from detoxifying, deep-cleansing and exfoliating, to toning, moisturizing, and even helps to reduce wrinkles. Contains unique ingredients such as Acai, Goji Berry and Matcha Tea – a powerful blend of antioxidants and anti-aging elements leaves skin polished, glowing and radiant.

TWO-TIME, AWARD-WINNING LIP BALM – $12 SRP

- Rich in vitamins, nutrients and essential fatty acids. Provides powerful healing properties and features deep-moisturizing, organic oils that offer tremendous staying power while nourishing, protecting the skin.

BRAND NEW EYE CREAM (Just released: APRIL 1, 2009) – $55 SRP

- Packed with antioxidants, cell regenerators and anti-inflammatories, combat the signs of aging while providing much needed moisture and nourishment. Designed to work with the daily cycles of your skin, prevention and protection during the day while cooling, soothing, nourishing and regenerating at night.

Pangea Organics was born out of the desire to do right by the planet, and is continually looking for more ways to live up to that dream and let you in on the fun, too. Hence the idea behind the new Radiance Gift Sets. Just when you think you’ve received a lovely box of organic skincare products — surprise! You’ve also been given the gift of giving back to the earth by way of a spruce tree. Inside the fibers of the Radiance gift boxes, there’s a Spruce Tree just waiting to be planted.

Americans emit, on average, five (5) tons of carbon per year per person? While a single tree will absorb only one (1) ton of carbon dioxide in its lifetime. If everyone plants their gift box this year, there will collectively be 2,500 trees planted – that’s equivalent to NOT driving roughly 615,000 miles in one year! The average lifespan of a spruce tree is 75 years, that’s an energy savings of approximately 46 million miles. What a difference you can make in your very own backyard!

The gift boxes are 100% compostable, biodegradable, plantable and made from a Zero-Waste process using 100% post-consumer newsprint, without glues and dyes. The outer labels are made of uncoated Monadnock’s Astrolite PC 100 paper (100% post-consumer, FSC-certified, elemental chlorine free, and printed with vegetable based inks).

What we choose to consume today, directly impacts how we – and future generations – will live tomorrow. With that in mind, 5% of net profits will go towards helping build the Pangea Institute, an emerging non-profit organization dedicated to researching and teaching all aspects of sustainable living and business practices. Choosing to buy Pangea Organics means you, too, are positively impacting the future.

The Pangea Organics Radiance Gift Set is available for pre-order exclusively online at www.pangeaorganics.com – offer expires June 15, 2009. All orders will ship on or around June 15th and will arrive on or around July 1st.

Suki Organic Skin Care makes a great anti aging moisturizer for mature skin. Intensive Brightening Cream contains natural active collagen to regenerate the skin and help stimulate collagen production, while antioxidant rich organic rose oil and green tea extract fight free radicals and provide essential nutrients to keep skin looking and feeling young. This rich and creamy daily moisturizer evens skin tone and brightens your complexion with vitamin C glucoside, which makes it a great choice for those with rosacea as well. Perfect for anyone with normal to dry skin. Yet another great organic skin care product from Suki…

Olive oil for your cuticles, honey for your zits, and now apple cider vinegar for your hair? I know I’m making it hard to tell your medicine cabinet from your pantry, but this stuff works just as well if not better than expensive facial products, for a fraction of the price.


Apple cider vinegar makes a natural great hair rinse for a variety of reasons. It gets rid of residue build up from all your hair styling products, balances the scalps pH, controls dandruff, and stimulates hair follicles to encourage hair growth. All this in one easy step: mix one half cup of apple cider vinegar (I prefer Braggs brand as it is unfiltered and full of enzymes) with one cup of warm water. Use this on wet hair before you shampoo, and massage it into your scalp for a couple of minutes. Then shampoo and condition as usual and you won’t have any lingering scent of apple cider vinegar on your hair thoughout the day. I do this every 6 weeks or so, just to get rid of residue build up (it makes my hair super soft and shiny) but you can do it several times a week if you have issues with dandruff or dry, itchy scalp.


Coming soon: the many uses of sea salt in your beauty routine. With that, the honey, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar, you can look fantastic and whip up a lovely little vinegrette while you’re primping…anyone have any beauty secrets involving fresh cracked pepper or romaine?


a few bonus uses for apple cider vinegar:
*since it’s naturally rich in alpha-hydroxy acids, it’s great as a gentle exfoliator…just soak a cotton ball and swipe it over your clean face before bed…enjoy silky, smooth skin in the morning!
*Sunburned? Add a couple of cups of apple cider vinegar to your bath water and soak for at least 15 minutes. (For more intense sunburn, apply undiluted apple cider vinegar directly to skin with a cotton ball). This reduces discomfort, peeling and itching…though you do smell a bit like a pickle….

Life on the high wire, a good gin and tonic, and healthy radiant skin all have one thing in common: it’s all about finding the right balance. Pangea Organics uses sustainable manufacturing to produce skin care products that are all about creating balance in both mind and body. That’s why their organic products contain essential oils with aroma-therapeutic qualities for your mind as well as your body.


They also take green packaging as seriously as their organic products when considering the environment. Using a Zero-Waste process, their cartons are made from post consumer paper and embedded with organic seeds (like edible basil, which I have actually grown from their carton…and even more amazing, not killed…perhaps they are magic seeds?) so all you have to do is plant the box, wait a few weeks, and start making pesto! The skincare products are packaged in glass, which is infinately recyclable,and their body care products are packaged in recyclable plastic and screen printed (instead of paper labels) for less waste. Love that green!


Based in Boulder, Colorado, Pangea is progressive in offering living wages for their employees. They source fair trade ingredients wherever possible, support sustainable agriculture, and their facility is 100% wind-powered. Green down to the last detail, the carpets in their offices are made from recycled soda bottles and the paint on their walls is non_VOC! Being ever mindful of the environment and their daily impact on the planet is more that just a slogan at Pangea…it’s their mantra. In fact, a portion of their profits go toward building the Pangea Institute, a non profit organization dedicated to researching and teaching all aspects of sustainable living and business practices. Hopefully, it will spawn loads of Pangea-structured business all over the place….the world could use a few (!!) more.


I recently tried their organic facial cleanser and organic exfoliating scrub, both part of their “love your face” regimen, which is a simple formula of cleanse, tone, and moisturize. They only make one cleanser: Egyptian Calendula & Blood Orange Facial Cleanser, suitable for all skin types, versus one for oily, one for sensitive, etc. I have to admit that I was skeptical. The cleanser was creamy and seemed like it would be too rich for my oily skin. I know that all skin types need moisture and I know that cleansers that leave your skin feeling stripped are not at all good for you (and that your skin isn’t extra clean…just damaged!). I KNOW all this. But years of scrubbing my face with Sea Breeze soaked cotton balls made it’s mark on me (or maybe it was the fumes?!?!?)…old beliefs don’t go down easy. Even though my head knew better, my hands were super stubborn about putting this cleanser on my face. Eventually, my head won out and I gave it a try. I have been using it for 3 weeks now and my skin is great…no break outs, no excessive oiliness. It feels, ummmm…balanced! The key is in the ingredients. Calendula is anti-inflammatory, anti-septic and soothing (making this a great cleanser for acne sufferers) and the blood orange is cleansing and degreasing and provides essential antioxidants to your skin. The moisture rich formula provides enough for dry skin without being too rich for oily skin (in fact, providing proper moisture to oily skin can actually reduce oiliness). This really is suitable for all skin types.

The facial scrub uses adzuki and cranberry seeds, ground down to a fine scrub, as a gentle exfoliant…gentle enough for everyday use. The geranium oil works on multiple fronts: it boosts circulation and invigorates the skin, while having a general cleansing action. It also balances the production of sebum and helps to improve skin elasticity. The scrub also contains blood orange oil (cleansing, degreasing, nutritious) and carrot seed oil which is revitalizing, toning, and anti-aging (and also very helpful with eczema). I loved this scrub both on it’s own and mixed with the cleanser, and recommend it for everyone, even those with sensitive skin. With products like this, eco beauty is made easy~

Finding a way to exfoliate super sensitive or irritated skin can be tricky since exfoliation itself can sometimes be irritating to the skin. Try this simple fix: grind up 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats in a coffee grinder or in a blender. Mix with one tablespoon of almond oil and gently massage onto face and neck for 1-2 minutes. Then leave the mixture on the face as a mask for at least 3-5 minutes (longer if you choose) and rinse with warm water.


The oats will slough off dead skin, while also calming any irritation or sensitivity. The almond oil is naturally cleansing and soothing. For extremely irritated or sensitive skin, open a tea bag of chamomile tea and add the tea leaves to the oat and almond oil mixture before applying to skin for added anti-inflammatory properties. If you don’t have almond oil or have oily skin, mix the oats with a small amount of water (to keep the mixture a thick paste consistancy) instead.

Parabens are used as low cost preservatives in cosmetic products: shampoos, conditioners, cleansers, lotions, and most makeup contains parabens. Take a quick look at the labels of most products in your bathroom and you will see parabens in the ingredient list, often more than one variety (methyl-, propyl-, butyl-,and ethylparabens are the most common).

There is an ongoing debate about the safety of parabens in topical products. While there is suspicion and minimal evidence of it’s dangers, there is no hard prood that they ARE NOT dangerous either. And I believe that until someone can prove that they ARE NOT dangerous, it is better to take a precautionary route and avoid them. The suspected effects of parabens are too great to take them lightly.


Explained so well I can’t compete, here is an excerpt from Terressentials Organic Natural Bodycare website:


“The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their report “Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: Agents of Subtle Change?” reported that parabens showed estrogenic activity in several tests. This means that these chemicals mimic your body´s own hormones and can have endocrine-disrupting action when they are rubbed into your body or washed down the drain into your drinking water. These disruptors interfere with your body´s endocrine system: your hypothalamus, your ovaries, your thyroid—virtually every system in your body. The EPA also stated that “continual introduction of these benzoates (parabens) into sewage treatment systems and directly to recreational waters from the skin leads to the question of risk to aquatic organisms.” Scientists in Europe found other endocrine-disrupting body care chemicals in the bodies of fish that humans are eating, and in human breast milk.


Dr. Elizabeth Smith has written that “It is a known medical fact that estrogen stimulates breast cancer” and that “anything absorbed through the skin may be as high as 10 times the concentration of an oral dose.” (Think about how nicotine and birth control/hormone patches work—the chemicals are absorbed through the skin!) She also reported that, in one study, a paraben was injected under the skin and was found to have an “estrogenic response on uterine tissues.” Scientists observing these harmful effects on the uterus remarked that “it is suggested that the safety in use of these chemicals should be reassessed.”


Endocrine disruptors are transported into the body, daily, via absorption through the skin and hair follicles when using personal care products.”


Playing around with ingredients that may spur breast cancer and wreak havoc on our endocrine systems, not to mention poisoning our water sources, is just too risky for me, given the growing field of paraben free choices. Do you have to immediately throw away everything you own containing parabens? Not neccessarily. Are parabens more dangerous in skin care products that soak into your skin than hair care products that sit on the hair shaft and later wash away? Definately. Do you have to vow to never use anything with parabens again? No. Would it be wise to limit the amount of parabens you are exposed to with whatever products you can? I think so. Just sayin.

Keeping lips soft and supple can be a challenge, especially in the wintertime. Think slathering on lots of lip balm will save your lips? Not neccesarily! Some lip balm formulations can actually dry out your lips even more. Ingredients like petroleum jelly (mineral oil) signal your body to stop producing its own moisture for your lips, while flavors, perfumes and colors can also be quite drying.


Instead, opt for lip balms with natural ingredients like shea or cocoa butter, coconut oil, or sunflower oil. My favorite lip balm of all time is the Burts Bees Beeswax lip balm which uses natural beeswax to seal in moisturizing lanolin and coconut oil. They also make a delicious Honey Lip balm to sweeten your pucker naturally (of course).

Another favorite is Carol’s Daughter Lip Butter, a petroleum, paraben, mineral oil and artificial color free balm that goes on smooth and rich, not greasy.

To restore chapped lips, generously coat them with a NATURAL lip balm before bed. In the morning, use a damp warm washcloth or a soft bristled toothbrush to gently slough off dead skin. Reapply natural lip balm to moisturize and protect, and generously smooch all your loved ones with your super soft lips!

Inspired by a trip to my local farmer’s market this morning (where I saw the most luscious looking strawberries), here is a great treatment mask for exfoliating/smoothing the skin:


1 fresh strawberry
2 teaspoons plain whole milk yogurt

mash the strawberry in with the yogurt. If you have oily skin, acneic skin, or clogged pores you can add half of a teaspoon of cosmetic clay (inexpensive and available at most drugstores in dry powdered form) to the mix, which will help soak up excess oil and draw impurities out of the skin. If your skin is super sensitive or irritated, add a drop of lavender essential oil, which will help to calm it down. Yogurt is soothing and contains skin smoothing lactic acid, while the natural hydroxy-acids in strawberries are an added gentle exfoliant. Leave on for 20 minutes and then gently remove with warm water and a washcloth.

*Use your eye cream on and around your lips. Eye creams are formulated to plump up the skin and smooth out fine lines and wrinkles, and will do the same for plumping, moisturizing and smoothing the lips and any fine lines around the mouth!

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Suki Skin Care (see more about the Suki Skin Care line in the “great product” archives). This organic line has done amazing things for my troublesome skin. I love the these gift sets for a couple of reasons. First, they are a super way to introduce a quality, natural line from an amazing company (that matches it’s natural products with environmentally friendly practices throughout the business model) to your friends. And that’s what good friends do! Not only will they get beautiful skin out of the deal, but you’ve just shown them how easy it is to bring some green into their beauty routine. I also love gift sets as a gift to yourself! If you’re new to the line, this is a great, affordable way to get a sampling of their products….or a handy travel size set!

This Suki set comes with lemongrass exofoliating cleanser, moisture rich cleansing lotion, toner, facial serum, velvet hand and body cream, velvet facial cream (my favorite!), and either a lip repair cream or a butter cream healing salve.