Vivesana organic sun care

Vivesana Suncare

Vivesana calls itself "the planet's first 100% natural, 70% organic high performance and baby sunscreen." It seeks to blend safe, sustainable ingredients with style.

Vivesana provides:

* the first 70% organic baby and high performance sun care on the market.
* the first 100% natural sun care with strong protection SPF (40 & 42)
* the first sun care - as far as it knows - to use exclusively US-grown organics and domestic, sustainable, BPA-free packaging.

Its products include Solar to Polar Baby and Solar to Polar Ultra sunscreens.

It's no surprise that the active ingredients in Vivesana sun care were titanium dioxide and zinc oxide minerals, both barrier sunscreens. Plant oils and extracts are "carrier" ingredients.

Be prepared: Vivesana sunscreens are as thick as ointment. Its sunscreens are packaged in metal squeeze tubes, which are less common, as companies move to plastic squeeze tubes.

Some might not like the thick consistency and the white cover that Vivesana provides. However, for those people who have sensitive skin and/or who want an organic, natural product that performs and has style, then Vivesana is a very good choice.

Belegenza Extraordinary Hair Care

Belegenza Extraordinary Hair Care advertises its products as silicone-free, paraben-free, phthalate-free, sulfate-free, mineral oil-free, petrolatum-free, and urea-free. Its web site focuses on silicone, particularly its occlusive properties, in conventional hair products. Belegenza argues that silicone “suffocates” the scalp and has published testimonials from customers who claimed that their hair began growing out by using its products. See my article on silicones.

When I try products described as natural and organic, I want to find out if they work as well as conventional products. To compare, I checked the labels of shampoos and conditioners from L’Oreal and Joico. L’Oreal and Joico had some silicones and parabens, and if there were oils, the oils were plant oils.

Styling products, particularly pomades, often contain petrolatum. I don’t use styling products. My hairdresser is obsessive about the hair cut and eschews styling products, which he calls “glue.”

Ingredient lists aside, how well do Belegenza products perform? I tried GrowOut Shampoo and Strengthener, EnCore Leave-in Conditioner, and RoMANce Deep Conditioning Treatment. The shampoo is milder than conventional shampoos, so I do “rinse and repeat.” I apply RoMANce Deep Conditioning Treatment and cover my hair with a shower cap while I’m shaving or soaking in the tub. I use the EnCore Leave-in Conditioner, when I’m pressed for time.

Am I dreaming, or is it real, that my hair is bouncier and looks more voluminous after using Belegenza? Whatever, I like the results and I’ll continue using Belegenza products.

Josie Maran Cosmetics

Former Maybelline model Josie Maran wanted to create an eco-friendly cosmetics line with glamour and sophistication. Josie Maran Cosmetics are formulated from organic ingredients. Even the packaging (pink-gold metal) is recyclable.

Josie Maran Lipstick

I tried Josie Maran Lipstick and Concealer.

The lipstick went on slick, even wet, spread beyond the lips, and dried down to a lip stain finish, complete with a tingling sensation. I used Mysterious, described as a sheer wine, but it is deeper and more matte than shown on Josie Maran Cosmetics' website. On one hand, Mysterious seemed to shrink the size of my lips; on the other, it was so dark, it looked goth.

The stick concealer is dryer than other stick concealers I've tried. I used Butter, which is indeed yellow, for light skin tones. This spring, Josie Maran has added two additional shades of concealer: Creme for very fair skin tones and Espresso for for rich/deep skin tones.

You may shop Josie Maran Cosmetics online at josiemarancosmetics.com, Vert, or Sephora.com.

More on standards and certification of natural and organic products

Recurring themes on The Style Page blog have been the standardization of what constitutes natural and/or organic personal care products and certification of products as "natural" or "organic." I am not a purist, I write on these issues to inform consumers about the myriad standards and certification activities out there.

Standards and certification activities provide no information on how well "natural" and "organic" products perform vis-à-vis conventional products. Recently, I wrote to a woman who generously supplied me with samples from Miessence, a direct sales company from Australia, that I was disappointed with the performance of its foundation. While the Miessence foundation didn't sting like the Organic wear™ 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer from Physicians Formula, the mixture of water, oils, and powder was not sufficiently blended into an agglomerate-free whole.

Monique of beauty girl musings published an article on standards and certification for natural personal care products announced by the Natural Products Association on May 1.

Separately, Christopher of Christopher Drummond Beauty, republished a letter that threatened to sue manufacturers and the Ecocert (which certified Physicians Formula's Organic wear products) and OASIS certification bodies for their claims of "organic" products. Ecocert was singled out for including water as an organic product(!) The letter was written by David Bronner of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director, Organic Consumers Association (OCA). The letter is long and technical and refers to a survey that is apparently about consumers' perceptions of what constitutes organic products.

Dr. Bronner's and OCA has since filed suit against the manufacturers, Ecocert, and OASIS. The hyperlinked article from Cosmeticsdesign-europe.com notes what I have contended: The natural and organics cosmetics industry has long been suffering from the lack of an internationally recognizable, reputable standard