Organic Girly

A beloved gave to you…

the greatest gift of all.  Love. 

We wish you and yours the most beautiful holidays filled with lots and lots of LOVE!  With that, we send you peace, joy, happiness, smiles, hugs and everything sweet that comes straight from the heart!

With love & holiday cheer,

Organic Girly

(Photo compliments of “My Life Such as It Is”.  Thank you for sharing this beautiful message!)

A TRUE love gave to you…

the most versatile, beautiful scarf.

Scarves often get a bad gift-giving wrap (no pun intended) this time of year.  Maybe that’s because we haven’t seen more ingenious scarfs like this one, the hand-loomed Lexus Tube Scarf from Lara Miller.  In going through my holiday list, I haven’t thought of one person whose eyes wouldn’t light up at the very site of this joyous creation.  Wear it from season-to-season, outdoors or in.  And if you need some creative inspiration on just how to dress it up or down, watch this short and sweet video:

Lexus Tube Scarf/Piper Stripe Tank Dress by Lara Miller from Lara Miller on Vimeo.

Beyond its pure beauty, what makes this piece ever more endearing is the designer herself and her sustainable approach to fashion.  A true artisan, Lara is devoted to recycled and sustainable materials (as in the 75% cotton and 25% bamboo content of this scarf) and local production.  Through it all she’s maintained her indie roots, creating each of her pieces in Chicago and supporting others in pursuing their craft.  She runs the Chicago Fashion Incubator to help burgeoning designers set-up a workspace and connect with resources “like,” says Miller, “textile sourcing, manufacturing and all the pieces they really need to start up and grow.”

A beautiful piece with a beautiful story—that’s love! 

Lara Miller at a recent trunk show at Kaight

The Lexus Tube Scarf is available direct from Lara’s site, $110 U.S.

(Top two photos compliments of Lara Miller.  Bottom photo compliments of Organic Girly and Lara Miller, the lovely model. Thank you!)

Detoxing is sometimes given a rough rap.  Spoken of as a repenting-of-sins of sorts, the idea of detox screams an utter lack of life’s pleasures—an absolute act of punishment.  The truth is, it can be. 

Every time I begin a cleansing juice fast (once a year is what I can muster), I feel just this.  “Why oh why did I eat that chocolate chip cookie last night,” I ask, as my blood sugar begins to plummet.  Yet, I still crave another.  Instead, I pick up my green juice and visualize all the good health, energy, life and love I’m giving myself.   Priceless.  Miraculously, a few hours later (NOW) my head feels flooded with a rush of clarity although admittedly, my stomach is a little less satisfied.   Having done this before, I know it will keep getting better.  So, I’m focusing on loving this moment. 

Isn’t that what detoxifying, cleaning, housekeeping—whatever name you choose to give it—is all about? Loving and living in the moment with complete consciousness.  For Day 1, that’s what I’m focusing on.  My energy isn’t in the kitchen cooking or put into my mouth chewing, it’s right here, right now—hitting the restart button before the New Year.

Detox Du Jour

The Master Cleanse was my first go-to detox.  I did it as a little team building exercise with my boss and a colleague.  “Fun!”, I thought.  14 days of “lemonade” sounds exciting—at first.  And at first, it was.  After several stints and years going back to this basic recipe, my body knew, it was time for something new.  So, a couple of years ago I dove into the Organic Avenue LOVE Deep cleanse—a three to five day juice fast. What I truly love about this type of detox is the diversity (every day you get to try different juices) and the dedicated discipline it gives you.  Plus, the reusable glass bottles, the hangtags that tell you what your sipping, and the bright orange reusable tote it all comes in help me feel, well, happy.  And, it’s completely organic, which surprisingly, is hard to come by in the world of pre-packaged cleanses.

For the next three days (today’s the first), I’ll be sharing a snippet of the experience—to inspire, to share, to restart.  Because juice cleanse or not, we can all detox by hitting our restart button—mentally, emotionally, physically.  And, we can simply love ourselves… and smile. 

 With love,

Organic Girly

(Photos Compliments of our Friends at Flickr: Elenahneshcuetphotogpraphy (Top), IM elsewhere (Bottom)

Blush, Blush, Blush…

I recently sat down with Brandie, the fabulous, inspiring and all around beautiful founder of Organic Beauty Talk.

Here’s an excerpt from our all-about-organic-beauty (and organic living) chat.  You can read the whole interview on her uber educational site. 

OBT:  How long have you been using organic and natural products?
Jennifer Barckley:  My true, organic journey began seven years ago. Many famous philosophers say that we encounter a new life stage every seven years, so in my mind, it was no coincidence.

OBT:  What made you decide to start using organic and natural products?
Jennifer Barckley:  I’d been working at Jane Magazine in the beauty department—destined for a glossy career in fashion and beauty. Days were spent covered in every shade of magenta lipstick—my editorial research.  It was at that time that I began to have a shift in consciousness. I began to seek out companies, brands and products that were doing something really meaningful and good. One day a cobalt blue bottle landed in my hands. It didn’t say natural; it didn’t say organic, but somehow I knew it was very special. One sniff and touch of that product (Weleda Wild Rose Body Lotion), and I fell in love. Three months later, I was working for that company—one of the world’s oldest and leading natural skin care and medicinal companies—heading up their PR and Communications. With that, I fell deep into the world of natural, organic and Biodynamics, and there was no going back. From beauty, to food, to cleaning products, to clothing I was an outright Organic Girly.

OBT:  What are some of your favorite organic and natural products?
Jennifer Barckley:  I’m partial to European brands because they generally follow more stringent ingredient and manufacturing guidelines. Naturally, I love Weleda products. Dr. Hauschka also makes beautiful products. I use their cosmetics. Two somewhat new (to the U.S.) brands, Sante and Logona are among my new favorites. Sante makes very nice, well-pigmented makeup. From the U.S., Dr. Bronner’s is great—especially their Peppermint Castille Soap—so fresh! Pangea is another nice, clean brand. I also love Primitive’s lipsticks and glosses. I’m starting to do some work with a brand called Puremedy. They make really efficacious herbal skin care products that are deeply healing. That’s the beauty of natural products—they work so well naturally with your skin and your body for true, lasting health.

OBT:  What do you hope to accomplish through Organic Girly?
Jennifer Barckley:  I’d like to help elevate our individual and collective consciousness and help others make simple, gratifying everyday shifts toward living the most vibrant life possible.

Read the complete interview here… thank you Brandie & Organic Beauty Talk!

Ask any woman to name her still-very-in-the-closet, coveted addiction, and chances are 9 of 10 that names like Jimmy, Christian, Manolo, Alexander, Diego (who commonly goes by Tod) and Louis will simply roll off her tongue.  Dashing men?  Yes, if the most desirable man is the one who knows exactly what a woman wants—at least materially speaking.  And these ones do.  They have ignited passion—hot, high, lustful, leg- (and arm-) accentuating identity pieces.  Footwear is no longer a mere mode of transportation just as purses and pocketbooks are less for carrying cash (or rather well-worn credit cards) as they are for purely making styling status statements. 

 At last, publicly, I confess.  I am this upper-90-percent of a woman.  The woman who collects shoes like art and hangs handbags for interior décor (and while we’re being so honest, let’s add all fashion fixations to the list—from dresses to hats to pencil-thin pants.)  

But wait, there’s a problem.  My love (‘err, addiction) seems to be slowing down.  How can this be?  I was on such a role!  Here’s the thing: I opened my eyes and saw what it all really meant, and I realized the meaning that it missed.  It was the beginnings of true, conscious awakening and with it, conscious consumerism.  First came beauty—all the toxins had to go; then food—from nearly 100% organic (and even Biodynamic®) to vegetarian to vegan and even all raw for a stint; and finally, fashion.  All these shifts happened in a very un-muddled matter of weeks.  I began frantically researching sustainable, organic and responsible designers—no easy feat—and shopping at Kaight, a beautiful eco-centric boutique in New York City.  My closet steadily filled with new consciously constructed clothes, and old ones ready to retire made their way to friends and donation drops.  And, it was all going really well, or so I thought, until last week…

 * To be continued…

 (Photo courtesy of Flickr - Paranoia86.)