O&N Collective

In addition to a bunch of other features (like an in-app store that’s supposed to launch soon), this brand new app’s Toxins List tool offers a pretty comprehensive list of ingredients to avoid in both personal care products and household products. Overwhelmed by trying to keep track of the icky ingredients you want to stay away from? Just break out your smartphone and check the Toxins List. You’ll find common uses for each ingredient and their related concerns—making it much easier for you to decide on the spot if a product contains ingredients you can live with, or if you should leave it on the shelf. Available for iPhone or Android.

Organic Spa Skin Guide

The app from Organic Spa magazine, this Skin Guide offers a massive list of natural and organic cosmetics companies. It hasn’t been updated for 2012, but it’s still a great way to discover new natural and organic companies and their product lines. You can also mark your favorites for easy reference. This one seems to only be available for iPhone.

Organic Beauty

If you’re a DIYer, snap up this app for tons of skincare recipes, and even a few health remedies, like a headache fix with ginger juice—straight from your smartphone. Recipes are easy to share via email, Facebook, and Twitter. Download for iPhone.

…SPORT that Pink Fetish Mineral Eyeshadow from Inika ($25)

—Aleigh

(Images via Tieks and Inika)

Here’s the truth. Facial oils are typically pure plant oil blends, and sink deep into your skin. That means you can see the impact quickly. They’re also good for all skin types, even oily or combination skin. (I promise, promise, promise.) Even models say so!

So. I’m a fan of facial oils, and when Mira at Co-op 108 asked if I’d be interested in testing out one of their natural and organic facial serums*, I snuck a peek at the ingredients list and sent her an emphatic, “Yes, please!”

You guys, I’m so glad I did. My skin is absolutely loving this stuff.

What I tried: Balancing Facial Serum from Co-Op 108, $26.60. It’s a lightweight serum that promises to help clear pores, while firming, smoothing, and maintaining a healthy complexion—best for combination and oily skin types.

First impressions: The ingredients list? Love. Hazelnut, grapeseed, jojoba, evening primrose, and carrot seed, oils, plus essential oils of cypress, lavender, lemongrass, lemon, and rosemary. That’s it. Plus, it feels pretty amazing as it sinks into my skin.

What caught me by surprise: This is going to sound strange, but hear me out. This serum smells (pleasantly) like Fruit Loops. Enough so, in fact, that when I asked my husband to smell my hands after I applied it the first time, he immediately said the same thing. I assume that’s the lemon and lemongrass in the serum. Honestly? I kind of love that about it.

Bonus: Sometimes when I’m stressed (deadlines aren’t easy on my skin!), I get a patch of psoriasis on my face, just in front of my right ear. The only thing that seems to calm it is a soothing facial oil, and the Co-op 108 serum has been healing it extra fast. (Side note: if you have psoriasis, you should absolutely try a facial oil.)

Do you use facial oils? If not, what’s keeping you from trying them? —Aleigh

*Disclosure: This sample was sent to me for review, but I only write about the products that I think are truly worthy of being shared with you. View my full disclosure here.

Did you get a good look at the supermoon this weekend? I checked it out, but…am I the only person who felt like it just looked like a regular full moon? Either way, I missed you guys last week (work and deadlines sometimes have to come first, I’m afraid)—but I had already compiled a whole list of links to share, so I decided to to a Link Love Monday instead. Enjoy!

• From No More Dirty Looks: Models love plant oils for skincare. Side note: so do I! Do you use facial oils?
• Jolene at Beauty Is Wellness did a great roundup of her new favorites for spring. If you haven’t tried mache, you should—it’s delicious!
• Alexandra at NMDL is raving about white eyeliner…and I might need to try it, since my quest for a skintone shade has not been successful.
• The lovely Christy Coleman shared the latest beauty trends.

What are you reading+enjoying this week?

—Aleigh

(Image via Kydynt2099)

i’m looking for some sort of tonic, gel, etc. to put on before blow drying. my hair is baby fine (but there is a LOT of it), slightly wavy and i live in really warm and damp climate. if i don’t use something to smooth it and provide a bit of hold it turns into a weird mass of frizzy, limp, yet somehow frighteningly bushy, hair. i would really appreciate any suggestions!

Tricky, tricky. Baby-fine hair, lots of it, plus a warm and damp climate. Here are two product suggestions for you, Katie.

First: Yarok Feed Your Roots ($18), a leave-in conditioner spray. It has lots of great ingredients like organic evening primrose and jojoba oils, but it’s a light enough formula to offer a bit of light smoothing and hold without weighing down your fine hair. It was created to protect your hair heat damage, and is meant to be used pre-blow dry.

Second: Innersense Sweet Spirit Leave-In Conditioner ($20). This is a good product for using with your hair dryer or for those days when you’d rather air dry. It’ll smooth your hair and give a little control, and it can be used on dry hair, too. Plus it has some yummy ingredients like Tamanu oil (an oil that Polynesian women have been using for many years), and a touch of honey for volume and manageability.

If you haven’t already tried it, I also recommend Julie’s apple cider vinegar hair rinse technique. The ACV will help clarify your hair without stripping it of moisture (and make it shiny). Plus, it should help with the frizz and limpness.

Do you have a question about natural or organic beauty? Ask in the comments or email me directly: aleigh AT indigoandcanary dot com.

—Aleigh

(Image via Horia Varlan)

This week I’ve added a few new products to my covet list. Remember a few weeks ago when I interviewed Karen Behnke of Juice Beauty? At the end of the interview, she mentioned that Juice Beauty would be launching a new celebrity collaboration on Earth Day. Well, the collection is here, and the celebrity is Alicia Silverstone. (And I have my eye on the Irresistible Glow Facial Highlighter…)

Here’s what else I’m reading+enjoying this week:

• The Clean Beauty Blog posted a great infographic: What’s Your Skin Eating?
• Crunchy Betty is genius, as usual: she created quinoa shampoo with the water left over after rinsing her quinoa. Brilliant. (And easy!)
• The Saffron Rouge blog interviewed Suki Kramer, founder of Suki Skincare.
• The Natural Beauty & Health Blog shared Kimberly Snyder’s recipe for The Glowing Green Smoothie. (Kimberly knows what she’s talking about: she’s the author of The Beauty Detox Solution.)

Happy Friday!

—Aleigh

(Image via Juice Beauty)

Until, that is, I found the organic dry shampoos from SkinnySkinny. When I discovered that the packaging is entirely eco-friendly (the labels are biodegradable, the paper tubes are recyclable, and SkinnySkinny is a 100% carbon-neutral company), I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

What I tried: Black Pepper & Rose Organic Dry Shampoo by SkinnySkinny, $32*

First impressions: It smells delicious, in a unisex way. Slightly peppery (in a great way), only a little bit rose-y. SkinnySkinny also has Grapefruit & Cardamom, Lavender & Rosemary, and Jasmine versions—all scents I think I’d enjoy. And the ingredients list makes me happy:

Cornstarch*, brown rice powder*, white clay, horsetail powder*, baking soda, orris root powder*, essential oils *certified organic 100% Vegan

What caught me by surprise: Before I switched to natural shampoo and conditioner, I had a big problem with oily hair. I had to wash my hair every day to avoid a mess of greasy strands on my head. What I discovered when I switched was that my scalp had been over-producing oil to compensate for being stripped of moisture by my harsh synthetic shampoos. Now that my scalp has settled into a natural routine, I can go a lot longer in between shampoos—but I still have a tendency to greasy hair on my non-washing days. Just a tiny bit of this dry shampoo at my roots gives me a bit of volume and keeps my hair fresh—it really doesn’t take much.

Bonus: Without fail, people tell me I smell good when I use it. That’s never happened with any other dry shampoo I’ve tried.

What do you look for in a dry shampoo? Do you have a favorite?

—Aleigh

*Disclosure: This sample was sent to me for review, but I only write about the products that I think are truly worthy of being shared with you. View my full disclosure here.

(Image via SkinnySkinny)

It only comes around once a year, but there’s no reason you can’t celebrate Earth Day all year long—even when it comes to your cosmetics. Here are four things you can do today—and every day—to show some love to Mother Nature.

Choose organic when you can. Organic ingredients are grown by farmers who care about supporting the earth’s health through sustainable agriculture.

Choose your cosmetics carefully. Support companies that have policies that benefit the planet. Here’s a list of six sustainable beauty companies I put together for Breathe magazine.

Recycle. Many natural and organic cosmetics companies use recycled—and recyclable—packaging. Make sure you clean them out and drop them in your recycling bin when you’re finished with them.

Drink lots of water (it’s great for your skin!). But make sure you’re drinking from a re-usable water bottle. Those plastic water bottles are often made with BPA—but even if they’re BPA-free, they’re bad for the environment (and bottled H2O is no better for you than tap water).

Are you celebrating Earth Day? What do you have planned?

—Aleigh

…SPORT that Ilia Shell Shock Lip Tint in Coral ($24).

—Aleigh

(Images via Piperlime and NuboNau)

This month's Birchbox.

Monthly beauty samples subscriptions are all the rage right now, and luckily for me, a good friend got be a Birchbox subscription for my birthday back in March. (I have the best friends!) I was super excited to see that Birchbox has a natural and organic cosmetics selection, and I’ve been eagerly anticipating my monthly samples ever since.

So far, it’s been an interesting experience.

My first box was a disappointment—a bottle of perfume arrived shattered (and a tweet to Birchbox received no response). The other products were mostly faux natural, containing some natural ingredients but also some icky ones that I try to avoid. My second box arrived on Friday, and was a bigger success: a yummy tea sample, a mini lipstick from Vapour Organic Beauty (one of my favorite brands!), and a salt scrub from dirt (a new-to-me brand).

The other samples included ingredients I try to stay away from: the infamous “parfum” ingredient, plus phenoxyethanol, which I will sometimes compromise on, but not if the ingredients list also include things like PEG-150 and methylchloroisothiazolinone.  (There are plenty of great, natural products on the market that don’t include these ingredients.)

On the whole, however, I’m mostly pleased with the natural brands Birchbox partners with—and I hope to see more truly natural products in my box next month! I’m always sure to fill out the feedback surveys to help prove there’s a market for natural products.

But, I’m curious: Do you have a Birchbox description? What has your experience been like?

Please share! I’d love to know what my other natural beauty junkies think of their boxes! —Aleigh