Green Beauty – Celebrate Earth Day, April 22nd, with these Eco-Friendly Beauty Brands

We have compiled brands that are taking initiatives to celebrate Earth Day, as well as brands who have philosophies that are all about being eco-friendly.

ELEMIS: On April 22nd, in recognition of Earth Day, Elemis will plant a tree for every guest that has an Elemis spa service in any spa on land, at sea or when an Elemis product is purchased online at www.timetospa.com. The trees will be planted through the Arbor Day Foundation, the largest tree planting organization in the world! For a full list of 185 spa locations participating in this Earth Day event visit: www.timetospa.com/earthday. Their goal is to reach 10,000 trees!

KIEHL’S: Kiehl’s celebrates by giving the first 50 customers who turn in empty Kiehl’s bottles to one of our free-standing stores for recycling to receive a Kiehl’s reusable canvas tote bag. Please visit Kiehls.com to find the Kiehl’s free-standing store (or stores!) near you.

OJON: is donating 10% of all online sales through www.ojon.com during the month of April to MOPAWI, which is a non-profit dedicated to promoting sustainable development in the rainforests of Honduras.

PHYSICIAN’S FORMULA: has becoming greener throughout the year, but they are also having a fabulous giveaway to celebrate Earth Day by giving away 1,000 Organic Wear bronzers. To enter, go here!

PAUL MITCHELL:celebrates Earth Day with their Tea Tree Lavender Mint Moisturizing Shampoo ($10.95) and Conditioner ($11.95), sales of any Paul Mitchell Tea Tree products generate proceeds for non-profit organization American Forests. Locate a salon near you at www.paulmitchell.com.

LUSH: is known as a brand that is really trying to give back to the environment and save it at the same time. Check out their Charity Pot hand and body moisturizer, where 100% of sales are donated to environmental charities, such as Oceana and Ocean Conversancy. Learn more at www.lush.com.

TARTE: is offering 20% off all tarte purchases until May 2, 2008 with code EARTH08 at www.tartecosmetics.com.

BUTTER LONDON: celebrates Earth Day by allowing people to turn in 3 nail polishes that contain either Formaldehyde, Toluene, or DBP (the “Big 3”) to receive a free butter LONDON “3-Free” lacquer. “Turn In Your Toxins” runs from April 15th to May 15th at Butter London locations and boutiques. Check www.butterlondon.com for a location nearest you. (I wish they had more locations, unfortunately!)

CARGO: PlantLove Lipstick is a lipstick line you’ll love to wear that the environment will thank you for. The lipstick tube is made entirely out of corn, while the outer packaging is made of flower paper that has real flower seeds–plant your box and enjoy the flowers. $2 of each sale of PlantLove tubes are donated to St. Jude’s Pediatrics Research Hospital. I adore the consistency, texture, and feel of PlantLove lipsticks–Sam is one of my favorite shades (a great, sheer red). Check out www.cargocosmetics.com for more information.

L’OCCITANE’S: philosophy is that of respecting its environment. They work closely to use active ingredients of plant origin, and when possible, from organic agriculture. They are conscious of their packaging material and work to reduce it and use paper from sustainably managed forests. They also do not test on animals, try to support traditional production methods that include ingredients certified by Ecocert, and co-development. Learn more at www.loccitane.com.

LIZ EARLE: believes strongly in reducing the environmental impact that beauty brands have. They work hard to use high quality, naturally active ingredients. They do not test on animals, use non-chemical sunscreens, opt for plant oils over mineral oils, and go organic whenever than can. Learn more at www.lizearle.com.

FACE BOUTIQUE: began as a brand trying to find products that worked well without harmful chemicals–and still looked great. I adore their Water Baby bath soak for an ultra relaxing and pampering bath (and be sure to enjoy it, if you’re going to use the water!). Learn more at www.faceboutique.com.

AVEDA: is a brand that truly focuses and works towards making beauty greener and giving consumers products that are eco-friendly and work. For Earth Month, they campaign and fundraise for grassroots organizations that work towards bettering the environment. You can learn more about their initiatives here.

KORRES: focuses on in-depth research and development to find the best of natural ingredients while using environmentally-safe methodology to create their products. Learn more about their philosophy at www.korres.com.

CAUDALIE: uses no parabens, maximizes their usage of natural active ingredients, do not use ingredients with animal origins, nor mineral oils or SLS. Their mission is to create great natural beauty products that respect the environment. Learn more at www.caudalie.com.

Beyond Beauty for Earth Day

Since Earth Day is about doing good, make sure to check out A Girl’s Gotta Spa! and their fundraiser for Meadow, a young girl with Neurofibromatosis, and they are trying to raise $70,000 so she can join a feeding clinic program. There are several eBay auctions full of beauty goods that you can bid on to help raise funds, so you can feel good about doing good and look good doing it!

Clean up your toxins! Shaklee makes it so easy to go green when it comes to your household cleaning products. As a beauty addict, hygeine and cleanliness top my list of “must do” chores. Who wants a bathroom that’s covered in various powders and general accumulation of all that is yuck? If you’re an Oprah fanatic, you’ll know she already recommended it (which means it’s flying off the shelves, ha!). I received the Basic H2 Super Cleaning Concentrate ($11.95), which makes up to 48 gallons of cleanser. I also got the Get Clean Spray Bottles ($7.95), which are SO convenient, because you get one for all-purpose cleaning, windows/mirrors/glass, and degreasing. Each bottle tells you exactly how much concentrate and water to add. Why is this great? Because I’m forgetful as all get out, and I hate hanging onto leaflets/info sheets because I always lose those, too! This cleaner works just as well as my brand-name totally un-earth friendly cleansers, but Get Clean H2 is nontoxic and biodegradable. With just a small apartment, this cleaning system is pretty good for me, and if you’re trying to phase out your toxic cleaners, moving, or going through cleansers quickly, try the Starter Kit.

Also going on is this petition to stop selling shark meat (including the better known shark fin, a Chinese delicacy), which may interest you!