Show you care by finding the best product, the one that stands out, the most perfect gift among all those in the market—the one that gives you more than just the item when you buy gifts this season. Your time and energy will mean much to the person who receives the gift.
If you want to give a gift of beauty to support a person in her quest to become ever more beautiful, for example, it may seem daunting to choose the right products as you scan the makeup aisles. Can you find a product that really does what it is meant to do—enhance beauty and yet not make the user or the planet unhealthy at the same time?
Too many companies have written off that goal, saying it is too expensive or not realistic. If we want to give the best gift, we need to seek out the outstanding companies that hold to our high principles.
My first suggestion is for you to do your research before you shop. Find out which companies stick to ingredients that are healthful and manufacturing practices that protect the environment.
You can go to a company’s Web site and see what it says about corporate values and responsibility. Then you can look at environmental groups’ Web sites to see what they say about different companies, and you can follow Dori Patrick’s suggestion [see Beauty Box] to check the Web site www.safecosmetics.org to see if the ingredients in a product are safe.
Lumiere Cosmetics is one example of a cosmetic company offering natural mineral makeup that is loose and can be mixed to get the exact color you want. And Anokha Skin Care also offers natural products developed to improve your skin in tune with Nature.
We tend to think of natural products as coming from local companies in the United States, so as we buy those products we are doing two good things: getting the natural products we want and supporting our local economy in producing green products.
But if you want to support environmental efforts in other parts of the world, you can do that too. L’Oreal reports its success in Libramont, Belgium, in producing all the energy needed by its factory through a green system. And many cosmetic companies in Brazil use natural ingredients that can give the local people a source of sustainable income.
So you can find products that suit whatever your values are—just spend a little time looking. This holiday season can become one of long-lasting giving, with the gifts and the information you have gathered providing continual reminders of support to those values you and the recipient hold dear.
If you want to give a gift of beauty to support a person in her quest to become ever more beautiful, for example, it may seem daunting to choose the right products as you scan the makeup aisles. Can you find a product that really does what it is meant to do—enhance beauty and yet not make the user or the planet unhealthy at the same time?
Too many companies have written off that goal, saying it is too expensive or not realistic. If we want to give the best gift, we need to seek out the outstanding companies that hold to our high principles.
My first suggestion is for you to do your research before you shop. Find out which companies stick to ingredients that are healthful and manufacturing practices that protect the environment.
You can go to a company’s Web site and see what it says about corporate values and responsibility. Then you can look at environmental groups’ Web sites to see what they say about different companies, and you can follow Dori Patrick’s suggestion [see Beauty Box] to check the Web site www.safecosmetics.org to see if the ingredients in a product are safe.
Lumiere Cosmetics is one example of a cosmetic company offering natural mineral makeup that is loose and can be mixed to get the exact color you want. And Anokha Skin Care also offers natural products developed to improve your skin in tune with Nature.
We tend to think of natural products as coming from local companies in the United States, so as we buy those products we are doing two good things: getting the natural products we want and supporting our local economy in producing green products.
But if you want to support environmental efforts in other parts of the world, you can do that too. L’Oreal reports its success in Libramont, Belgium, in producing all the energy needed by its factory through a green system. And many cosmetic companies in Brazil use natural ingredients that can give the local people a source of sustainable income.
So you can find products that suit whatever your values are—just spend a little time looking. This holiday season can become one of long-lasting giving, with the gifts and the information you have gathered providing continual reminders of support to those values you and the recipient hold dear.
