Q. I have sensitive skin and I’m prone to breakouts. Will I be able to wear mineral foundations?

A. PoshOrganix.com only sells mineral foundations that avoid pore clogging, petroleum derived ingredients such as mineral oil and paraffin wax. As a general rule plant oils and waxes are non-comedogenic. Additionally, our mineral foundations are found to be soothing and healing for problem skin as the minerals soothe inflamed skin and have lasting oil control benefits. Since our mineral make-up doesn’t contain irritating ingredients found in conventional cosmetics such as talc, dye, perfume and bismuth oxychloride customers notice a healthy improvement in their skin .

TIPS:

Clean your cosmetic brushes regularly to ensure they are clean and bacteria free.

Use a gentle exfoliant once or twice a week (no more) to keep pores clean.  Here are some great exfoliants:

Mod. Skin’s Samurai Scrub Rice & Enzyme Face Polish

Manuka Honey Vitalising Exfoliant by Living Nature

Pangea Organics Egyptian Geranium with Adzuki Bean & Cranberry Facial Scrub (Coming Soon!)

Wishing you beautiful, healthy skin!

Life Force Energy - Natalia Rose

Natalia rose is a top Manhattan Nutritionist and Author. She has worked with models, actors and media personalities to help them attain their healthiest most beautiful version of themselves. In our conversation, Natalia discusses the importance of a cleansing diet for beauty, and shares the secrets she teaches her clients on attaining beautiful, glowing beauty.

In the foreword for Natalia’s book Raw Food Detox Diet, Steven Pearlman, M.D. , Cosmetic Surgeon, addresses the importance of a cleansing diet to maintain a youthful look. He states, “Not everything can be accomplished by surgery, peels, and injections. Additionally, Frederic Fekkai a celebrity stylist and beauty industry pioneer says, “I believe that natural, healthy living is the secret to inner and outer beauty. There is no question in my mind that health maintenance must be at the core of any beauty regimen.

(SR): What is a cleansing or raw food detox diet?

(NR): A cleansing diet uses raw foods to cleanse and detoxify. This is a lifestyle which is simply bringing us back to a more natural way of eating. We are using foods (primarily raw fruits and vegetables) to remove the waste matter that has accumulated over time from an unfit lifestyle (eating processed foods, smoking, etc..) and removing it from the body. Processed foods deposit unnatural food additives in the form of toxins into our body causing premature aging, and loss of energy and vitality. When our bodies build up these toxins and poisons from food that is not fully eliminated, raw, cleansing foods help to detoxify our systems by flushing out these toxins and setting us on course toward clear, glowing skin, shiny hair, a healthy weight, and vibrant energy.

My clients use green vegetable juices, food combining rules, and lots of raw salads while forgoing heavy dense clogging foods. The principles are easy to follow as you are still eating delicious, convenient and deeply satisfying foods such as a wide variety of seafood, high quality grains, root vegetables like sweet potatoes, avocados, raw goat cheeses and much more!

(SR): Is it possible to change our skin and hair through the foods we eat?

(NR): Absolutely! When we remove the blockages that exist because of the accumulation of unfit food wastes we allow the life force energy of the fresh foods to flow through the body. Perfect weight and a youthful appearance are the result of clean, waste-free cells. Healthy glowing cells produce healthy glowing skin and hair. Dark under eye circles, cellulite, and dead skin all come from a body not receiving the life force of fresh unprocessed foods.

Fruits and vegetables nourish our cells and do not leave residue behind. Adding these fresh, healing fruits and vegetables to our diets awaken the old matter and help release it. However, it is very important that when one begins a cleansing diet they are helping their body eliminate the old waste through colon cleansing, dry skin brushing and sweating. You are cleansing ONLY if the waste is leaving the body.

When the body is clogged the body cannot receive the electro-magnetic current that makes it beautiful, vibrant and healthy. Kids have vibrant skin because they have not accumulated the waste matter that adults have over the years of eating processed foods that are clogging the body.

(SR): How soon can someone expect to start seeing the benefits of a cleansing diet?

(NR): You will see immediate benefits when you start lightening the burden of digestion by following the principles outlined in my books (proper food combining, quick exit foods, green vegetable juices, raw salads). You will notice benefits anywhere from the first meal to the first few days definitely measurable improvements by the first week. Your tissue quality will improve right away. As the cells cleanse the skin tightens. This is the only way for those carrying lots of extra weight to ensure that their skin will be toned and taut when they lose all their excess weight because your skin will actually tighten up as new, healthy cells take the place of old, imbalanced, toxic cells.

(SR): Does someone need to be eating 100 percent raw/cleansing foods to reap the beauty benefits?

(NR): The goal would be to try to eat 75% cleansing food and 25% foods that are not. An example of a daily eating plan would be:

Breakfast - Green vegetable juice

Snack- fresh fruit (amount can be adjusted each day based on desire)

Lunch - a large raw salad with a whole avocado and a baked sweet potato

Dinner - Non-cleansing meal that will support the program like cooked vegetables with fresh fish (ideally starting with a green/raw vegetable salad for best results)

For those eating very few if any cleansing foods now, simply ramping up your intake of raw fruits and vegetables to achieve a 50% cleansing food diet will create visible improvements.

(SR): What kind of transformations have you seen in yourself and clients who’ve adopted this lifestyle?

(NR): I’ve seen incredible transformations. One of the most amazing was a woman whose facial structure actually changed as she cleansed. It’s very common to see dark circles and facial puffiness disappear. All of the typical reasons people visit dermatologist resolve themselves such as dry skin, pimples, eczema, premature aging, and wrinkled skin.

(SR): How would you differentiate a raw food diet from a cleansing diet?

(NR): Raw food insinuates you are eating only raw foods heated below 118 degrees; however, a raw diet typically (not always) includes a lot of dense nuts, seeds & dried foods which are not actually cleansing foods and can be much more clogging in the body than light cooked foods like steamed vegetables and fresh fish. Cleansing implies that you are eating in a way that 1) awakens old waste and 2) are attentive to removing it (through colonics/enemas, body brushing, sweating, etc.). A raw food diet does not ensure that you cleanse (it’s more like a “potential cleanse).   Basically, cleansing is an active method of removing the accumulation from all those years of eating foods that the body could not fully eliminate. Cleansing encourages the use of high vibration fruits and vegetables without excluding high quality cooked foods like fish, steamed veggies, sweet potatoes, and raw cheeses.

(SR): Can we reverse the damage caused by eating unhealthily in the past?

(NR): Yes, when we remove the waste through the dedicated implementation of a cleansing-regenerating diet with the support of skin brushing, sweating, colon elimination, you are able to undo many years and even decades of damage.

(SR): Do you have a favorite recipe that includes lots of beautifying ingredients?

(NR): Lately this has been my favorite salad:

5 ounces of baby romaine lettuce

1 cup of chopped tomatoes

1 clove of diced garlic

3 packets of stevia

1/3 cup of lemon juice

3 oz of raw cheddar style goat cheese, grated

Sea salt to taste ( optional)

Fresh basil (optional)

Fresh rosemary (optional)

Simply place all ingredients in a mixing bowl, toss well and serve! Don’t hesitate to eat the leftovers the next day, it gets better after a night of marinating in the juices!

To learn more about Natalia Rose and purchase her books please visit her website at http://www.therawfooddetoxdiet.com/.

The Raw Food Detox Diet Book

Organic and natural skincare and makeup products have come a long way. Once thought of as only the tools of hippies, many modern products are designed with a more modern customer in mind. There are still lines that cater to a more “granola lifestyle”, and we don’t knock that! However there are some new, exciting lines that offer amazingly effective products that are both posh and luxurious. What can we say; nature and luxury are a perfect combination!

The following are some flawless examples:

Mod.skin Labs collection

Mod.skin products are both modest and luxurious. Exotic ingredients and subtle scents combine in honest and holistic whole-face care. Mod.skin is like a perfect black dress, minimal, classy, chic.

Afterglow Cosmetics

Afterglow Cosmetics has successfully produced natural formulations with high-fashion appeal. Choose from a wide variety of color palettes that will outperform traditional cosmetics. This amazing line is ideal for women with sensitive skin and other skin issues such as acne, and rosacea. Afterglow uses natural and certified organic ingredients free of petro-chemicals, preservatives, dyes, harmful fillers, and parabens. Experience the glow!

Wishing you beautiful, healthy skin!

Use makeup to play up your best feature - and downplay the others.

For example:

If you have a full pout but small eyes, use a rich color on your lips and go light with your eye makeup. The same applies to beautiful eyes and small lips - simply play up those eyes and use a nude color on your lips. Playing up one feature draws attention away from features you don’t like. Just remember keep it simple! Makeup application for a day look should never take more than 5-7 minutes.

Anthony Anderson, resides in New York city while working as a full time Model. He began eating a raw, vegan diet initially by the desire to lean up and lose a little weight for his modeling career. He saw many physical changes almost immediately in addition to experiencing profound bursts of energy, happiness, and mental clarity. He became convinced through his own trial, errors, and further research that eating raw/living foods is the way human beings should eat and live for beauty, health, spirituality & more.

Anthony Anderson Raw Model

If there is one question I get asked more often than any others, it is this:

“What kind of beauty care products do you use?”

Ironically enough, I guess I would have to say…”Just my diet”.

Make-up artists and hairstylists always tell me how easy I make their job, and they ask me what I use as well. I tell them that I am a raw vegan, and they just don’t believe that it could be the answer. IT IS.

Even in the realms of the organic beauty industry, I believe there is one fundamental piece missing.
As long as you put poor foods INTO your body, nothing that you put ONTO your body will really matter.

No cremes or lotions or magic potions ever made a difference for me. It was not until I cut out dairy and cooked oils that my acne cleared up. Everyone talks about putting cucumbers on their eyes to reduce puffiness…how about EATING the cucumbers? I try to eat at least 1 cucumber a day, maybe 2.

I do believe the external products can help a little. But if we’re feeding our skin, hair, and nails nothing but nasty foods, no topical raw, organic or vegan product will help us.

When we get into the cycle of using products, its hard to get off. Here is an example. We take lots of showers and usually always wash our hair. We strip out the natural oils by doing this. Then we have to re-condition our hair. Same with facial products. We use cremes to help with acne but by doing so, dry our skin out, and then we have to buy expensive moisturizers. Let the body do its thing… know what I mean?!

A big “Ah-ha!” moment about this subject happened before I went raw. I was eating healthier at that point, but was not quite there yet. I was on a road trip out to Oregon and lived on mostly peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and some carrot juice. Probably 32 oz of carrot juice a day. My feet, hands, and face started to turn orange.

Simple logic demonstrated that what I was consuming through my mouth was showing up on the surface of my skin. At last, I made the connection. So what happened when I drank 32 oz of milk a day? Oily, pimply skin.

When I was a teenager, my dermatologist told me not to take my acne medication with milk because another patient of his drank milk with his medicine, and the doctor figured that the milk was blocking the medicine from being absorbed, therefore halting any progress he would have made.

When I look back, I think just drinking the milk in general was keeping him from the clear skin. Not the simple fact that he was taking it with his medicine. An interesting thought.

For some it may be a little more complex. I know hormones affect the skin as well, especially in estrogen imbalances (high estrogen increases sebum production and taxes the liver). The roots of imbalances can be caused when taking oral birth control (though it works, the body doesn’t understand what it is and what to do with it), eating soy products (gmo + high in estrogen), and a overworked liver which detoxifies everything (support your liver with dandelion, artichoke, milk thistle- when your liver is over worked- your body will use the skin as organ of elimination). Also, for women as they age they tend not to drop an egg every month- which also is a culprit of throwing the hormones out of whack (when an egg is dropped a corpus luteum is formed which is the natural progesterone to balance out the estrogen).

So yes, it can be a little more complex, but on the whole, the use of beauty foods will consistently make a strong difference, much more than a bad diet coupled with beauty products ever could in my opinion.

So, what to eat?

Like I mentioned before, cucumbers seem to do wonders for me, and there are many female actresses that swear by them as well. I would also recommend awesome raw plant fats that will moisturize from the inside out.

Coconuts and avocados are amazing, and I’m big fan of hemp products too. Every so often I put coconut oil on my face and in my hair for some extra shine, maybe once every 2 weeks.

Any spicy greens like arugula and mustard greens. We are looking for sulfur. Sulfur is the element that is mainly responsible for building hair, skin, and nails. That is why taking MSM is so helpful for people with joint and skin issues.

And believe it or not, anything with fiber is good. It helps you eliminate more which will push toxins out through your colon instead of out through your skin. If you can get to the point of 3 eliminations a day, there should be some big changes happening in your outside appearance by then.

Beauty must come from the inside out. You have to cultivate beauty, just like you have to cultivate disease. We choose our path, whether consciously or not. When you realize that you are beautiful, you will treat yourself that way and eat that way.

We are beautiful, and beauty must be how we define ourselves. We are beauty. Make it your mantra. Cultivate it from the inside-out, and use some external products for “icing on the cake”.

Just remember… it comes from within…

Peace and Love,
Anthony the Raw Model

Did you know that the European Union has banned many cosmetic ingredients that are currently in use in the United States? Approximately 1,200 ingredients have been banned in the EU. Are you ready for this? The FDA only prohibits 10! The EU has spent substantially more in resources than the US to ensure the safety of skin care products. Unfortunately, many consumers are still under the impression that the FDA regulates cosmetics, when in fact, there is no regulating governmental body in place. The FDA will only get involved if an ingredient causes obvious harm to consumers. This makes it so important for us as beauty consumers to actively seek out the products that adhere to EU standards and educate ourselves on what is safe. Skin Deep cosmetics safety database is a great resource and has made remarkable strides in raising awareness about cosmetic safety issues.

Check out the products you commonly use at: http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com

Search for specific products or ingredients.

Natural & Organic Beauty Products

After a bit of a rough start on a different host & ecommerce software, PoshOrganix.com is open for business!  PoshOrganix.com now utilizes award-winning Yahoo Store eCommerce platform, hosting, & security.  Yahoo Store will keep our website up & your information secured at above industry standard encryption levels.

We ship orders out 9-5 M-F Mountain Time, excluding major holidays.  All international orders, please email us at customerservice@poshorganix.com for an accurate shipping quote.  Order by December 15th to ensure delivery before the holidays!

This year Afterglow cosmetics made their first appearance at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The celebrity gift bags included Afterglow’s organic mineral eye shadow, organic lipstick, & vegan cosmetic brushes

Afterglow also participated in charity events and makeovers at the event.

Find what the celebs are wearing at www.PoshOrganix.com

The word “natural” on a product label does not ensure that the product is truly safe or natural:

Currently, “natural”‚ is not a regulated term.  “Natural” could simply mean that just one ingredient is derived from a natural source while the other 40+ ingredients are all toxic.

What to do?: READ the ingredient label
and research any unknown long scientific sounding names at our handy

beauty product ingredient glossary

Wishing you beautiful, healthy skin!

1. Drink water

Eight to ten glasses of water each day will keep your skin looking its best.

2. Eat right

Even with all the best beauty products in the world, your skin needs to be nourished from the inside out to be healthy. Think of your diet as the cake and products as the icing. Incorporate as much fresh, nutrient and enzyme rich fruits and veggies into your diet as possible. This will ensure your body is receiving all the important beauty vitamins and antioxidant protection. Also, incorporate foods which are rich in essential fatty acids such as almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, & salmon. These foods help restore moisture to the skin from the inside out.

3. Sleep

I’m sure you’ve heard this enough by now. Sleep 8 hours a night. They call it “beauty sleep” for a reason.

4. Avoid metallic makeup

Avoid wearing metallic eye colors or shimmery face makeup. Shimmer and shine make wrinkles stand out, which make you appear older.

5. Use a clay based mask or exfolliant

This one doesn’t seem very intuitive. However, if you are like many of us you’re battling breakouts and blackheads at the same time as wrinkles. It is very important to use clay-based masks for removing impurities and pulling up blackheads. When blackheads are allowed to sit in our pores, the pores will elongate. This leads to larger pores thus poor skin texture. If clay based masks are too drying for your skin try using a gentle exfoliant to create the same results. We love the nurturing effects of Mod Skin Labs Alchemist Mask or the luxurious Chocolate Face Pack by Raw Gaia. If you are looking for an exfoliant try Mod. Skin Labs gentle Samurai Scrub or Living Nature’s Vitalising Exfolliant.

6. Use a hydrating mask

The best type of mask for younger looking skin is one that will rejuvenate, moisturize and enliven your skin. Try Living Nature’s Hydrating Gel Mask it is scientifically proven to stimulate fibroblasts (structural skin cells) to increase the production of collagen and elastin. Moisturizers and hydrators are essential because aging skin dries out quickly.

7. Tighten sagging skin

The loss of firmness affects women as they age. Because so many women strive to have a youthful appearance, losing that firm youthful looking skin can be frustrating.
Anti-aging skin care treatments, such as Mod. Skin Labs Facial Sculpting Serum with DMAE & Blue Green Algae, can help strengthen and tighten the sagginess in the skin. Results are seen in just 20 minutes. This anti-aging treatment intensely restructures the skin and strengthens the elasticity which makes it no surprise that it is one of Mod. Skins global best sellers. An at home quick and easy way to tighten skin, is to rub fresh aloe vera over clean skin. Leave it on for 10 minutes then rinse with warm water.

8. Refrigerate under eye cream

Place your under-eye cream in the refrigerator to help cool and soothe puffy eyes in the morning.

9. Use cream blush and foundation

Use a cream blush instead of powder since powder tends to settle into fine lines.

10. Use a lip plumping gloss

Try Mod Skin’s Chilean Lip Panache to plump and smooth lips for a more youthful appearance.

Bonus: Use Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn’s secret. Fill a large bowl full of ice cold water and soak your face in the morning. This trick is sure to banish all signs of puffy, saggy skin from a long night.