Eco-Tools Review and Giveaway

January 12, 2010 By Anne

In keeping with “green” product reviews I give you eco-Tools!

Eco showers bring green power! Bring the green into your shower with the new bath and body products form eco-Tools. eco-Tools, the enormously successful collection of eco-friendly cosmetic brushes, bath, brow and nail accessories, launched athis new line of bath products in the summer of 2009. the entire collection is 98% from nature, parben-free,phthalate-free, dermatologist-tested and cruelty-free to show respect for you and the planet.

Here’s what I got to try:

“Clean Skin, Cleaner World” Body Wash. An uplifting botanical and biodegradable cleanser, gentle and not over drying. Just tried this last night. Very nice, not too strong of a scent.

“Blooming Planet” Body Mist. Transports you to a blooming botanical garden with a bright and fresh floral scent. Very nice smell.

“One Hand Helps the Other” Hand Cream. A hard working cream features jojoba oil which helps hydrate and repair dry skin. Wonderful hand cream.

Bamboo Nail Files – Very Earth friendly. Bamboo center has low impact on the earth’s resources as it is a highly sustainable plant.

Alicia Silverstone has her own line with eco-Tools! She’s designed a line of earth friendly cosmetic bags made entirely of natural from hemp and recycled plastics. They are so pretty check them out here.

You can also buy eco-Tool products at Wagreens.

About the company, from their website:
Founded in Chicago in 1947 by Robert Zall, Paris Presents began as a general sundry distributor selling to drug stores, hospital gift shops, bath boutiques, department and specialty stores.
Today, Paris Presents creates and distributes comprehensive brands of makeup tools, bath and body liquids and accessories, travel accessories, nail and niche beauty products.
EcoTools has joined with 1% For the Planet® to donate 1% of annual sales to environmental organizations that create a healthier place to live. We recently made our annual donation.
In 2007, Paris Presents started an internal initiative to make our products and daily business practices more earth-friendly. We launched an entire line of bath and cosmetic accessories that are eco-friendly, using sustainable resources that minimize the negative impact on the environment (such as bamboo, cruelty-free taklon bristles and recycled/recyclable materials). Internally, we are continually evaluating simple ways we can help the environment.

eco-Tools has recently been seen in People!

Eco-Tools also proudly participates in the 1% For The Planet. 1% for the Planet is a growing global movement of 1165 companies that donate 1% of their sales to a network of 1927 environmental organizations worldwide.

eco-Tools has kindly offered one Mommy Has to Work reader a Body Wash and Body Mist set for their very own!

To enter visit eco-Tools and tell me what else you would try if you could.

Additional entries are as follows:
2. Follow this blog.
3. Subscribe to my newsletter. ( you will need to activate your subscription in order for entry to be valid)
4. Grab my button and place on your blog.
5. Post this giveaway on your blog or website, or tweet about it. Please leave a link to post.
6. Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com (leave a comment telling me you did so)
7. Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend on Facebook
8. Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends January 25th at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. US only. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive the above mentioned products.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

My "Green" New Year

January 11, 2010 By Anne

Last year my family has really stepped it up when it comes to going green.

* I started a recycling center at my work and take home all the plastics and cans and take the paper to a nearby paper bin.
* I signed up for Terracycle and started collecting for 4 different brigades.
* We started a compost.
* For Christmas I used almost all recycled boxes from work and product reviews.
* We stopped buying bottled water bottles and only use reusable water bottles.
* We stopped using plastic bags and now use cloth totes.

But how can we do more?

* Educate others about going green.
* Stop buying products that have a lot of packaging. ( I was just telling my husband that the good deal I got on Target wipes awhile back was very wasteful. As far as plastic goes. To get the best deal, I bought individual wipe bins, instead of refills. So I will have to think about it next time and way the “deal” against the “environmental effects”)
* Use a rain barrel. We’ve been wanting to try this for awhile now. Maybe this is the year!

I’m sure I’ll come up with more, but it’s a start.

What are you doing to be green? I’d like you ideas.

Anne

CeleryStreet Journal Review/Giveaway

January 4, 2010 By Anne

Okay so here I go with the paper products again! I LOVE PAPER!

Want great eco-friendly gifts, purses, jewelry or writing journals? Check out CeleryStreet.com. They have so many wonderful eco items. I love finding these great companies that pride themselves in finding green products, that actually research how the products are made, to make sure they’re really “green”

CeleryStreet has so many different and unique items. Vases, housewares, office products, purses and so much more!

From the website:
From our assortment of stylish purses, apparel, bath products, journals, desk accessories, gardening and kitchen supplies, these items are all made from organic, reused, refurbished, and/or recycled products.

We have met so many enthusiastic and creative artists, manufacturers, fair trade charities, and entrepreneurs from all corners of the US sharing the green. Standards in the “green” world are very difficult to discern. Many different symbols, organizations, and causes all claim eco-friendliness, but we take pride in the fact that we listen, learn, and build relationships with our partners. It is important for us to know all the dirty details about each product. How is it made? What is it made of? Where is it made? Who makes it? And lastly, what is the intent? A great resource for determining how green you want to go is www.coopamerica.com. There is no perfect green…but we’re trying, with you, to make a difference in the world!

CeleryStreet sent me this wonderful “green” journal. I used it to keep track of my Christmas shopping. CeleryStreet would like to send you one too!

To enter visit CeleryStreet and tell me about it.

Additional entries are as follows:
2. Follow this blog.
3. Subscribe to my newsletter. ( you will need to activate your subscription in order for entry to be valid)
4. Grab my button and place on your blog.
5. Post this giveaway on your blog or website, or tweet about it. Please leave a link to post. ( Please link back to CeleryStreet, as well)
6. Email a friend about this giveaway and CC mommyhastowork@aol.com (leave a comment telling me you did so)
7. Follow me on www.twitter.com/mommyhastoworkand/or
become a friend on Facebook
8. Follow me through Networked Blogs.

Contest ends January 18th at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a free product.

Anne

A Wild Soap Bar Review and Giveaway

January 1, 2010 By Anne

I’ve extended this to Jan 18th!!

Want a great place to get handmade soaps? A Wild Soapbar is that place.

Their handmade soaps are specially formulated to deliver the very best in skin care while using only safe, truly natural ingredients. They never use solvent extracted pomace olive oil (even though it’s much cheaper), harmful synthetic chemicals, preservatives, petroleum products, artificial dyes, or synthetic fragrance oils. Why? Because natural matters! With so many companies falsely claiming to be “all natural”, they’re proud to say that their commitment to natural is real.

From the site:
We handcraft our soap using the slow cold process method, which means no external heat is used so the goodness of the natural ingredients are preserved for you. Each bar begins with a high percentage of skin-loving cold pressed olive oil to which we add food grade coconut, organic palm, high oleic sunflower and castor oils for a rich creamy lather that nourishes as it moisturizes. Next we add responsibly wildcrafted and organic botanicals, vegetable butters, and cleansing earth clays for their exceptional skin care benefits. Finally, we scent our fragrant olive oil soaps with only pure essential oils extracted from plants . . .fresh clean scents, the way mother nature intended.

When you visit A Wild Soapbar you can sign up for their newsletter and get skin care tip.

A Wild Soapbar sent me a sampler pack to try out and one to give away!
Each pack includes: eight popular 1 oz. wild soap bars (bluebonnet, desert sage, prickly pear, horsemint, mustang grape, sassafras, cedarwood, yucca root) wrapped in corrugated and tied up with raffia. Tag identifies soaps by color. A fragrant and colorful assortment for travel, special guests, or the soap connoisseur.

Want to win a sampler pack? Visit A Wild Soapbar and tell me about it.

Contest ends January 18th at 9:00pm EST. Winner will chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond. US only. I was not paid to do this review, however I did receive a free product.