North American Hemp Co.

I was looking for a new lotion to soothe my suddenly extremely dry  winter skin. Having moved from a damp climate to a dry one my skin suddenly went haywire and became very dry and flaky. My requirements where natural ingredients, paraben free,animal ingredient and cruelty free. I came upon the North American Hemp co. at the drug store and decided that since my skin was so dry it could probably use the wonderful properties of hemp. I purchased Hemp Holy Grail unscented body lotion at $9.99 for 342ml.
The body lotion is nice and thick with a pleasant slightly nutty aroma. I use it everywhere- on my body and my face and have noticed that since I have used it my dry scaly skin is no more, yet there is no greasy residue afterwards.

In case you are unfamiliar with hemp's wonderful properties it contains loads of Omega 3,6 & 9 oils which makes it wonderful for skin dryness and elasticity. A little goes a long way so this lotion will last you forever- ok maybe not that long but a few months for sure. I use it everyday right out of the shower from tip to toes.

The North American Hemp co. is based out of Ontario, Canada which also fits my criteria of trying to purchase Canadian made products. They make a whole range of hair and skin care products from body lotion, face cream, hair serum and styling products. Each contains certified organic hemp seed oil.  For whatever your needs there is a product out there for you.  You can also visit their web site and find some fun facts about hemp's history and skin benefits.

http://www.northamericanhempco.com/home.html

Organic Hair Colour and Care

I recently relocated to a very small town in Alberta- pop.3000. Needless to say that can sometime make it quite difficult to find products that are vegan so imagine my immense pleasure when a local salon opened that is all organic and vegan! I mean everything- all hair dyes and styling products are vegetable based with no chemicals and completely cruelty free. Their bottles are also made of an organic biodegradable plastic that contains tree seeds so that when disposed of creates a fertilizer for tree
growth. How cool is that?

The hair care line the owner uses is simply called Organic Systems. They make hair colours, perms, straighteners and hair care products. They are ammonia free, certified organic and PETA certified
 vegan and cruelty free.http://www.organicsalonsystems.com/

Vegan Etsy!

If anyone out there hasn't discovered this hand made market place they should hop on over right now for some very unique hand made goods and killer finds. http://www.etsy.com/?ref=si_home

As I have mentioned before in previous posts you can find all sorts of up and coming indie designers on a budget. It is a great place to find clothing and accessories made in eco friendly materials like bamboo, hemp, soy, organic cotton and upcycled reclaimed clothing..

Here are some of my pics for items that are good for the earth yet don't make you look like one of those "crunchy granola types" as I know some women do not want to look like what a "vegan" or eco friendly person stereotypically looks like..

The Love Root tshirt by Thelotusroot. Hand screened water based ink on an organic cotton and bamboo tshirt. $28.00

100%Hemp bag lined with 100% organic cotton with poppies made by Uzura $58.00

The Black & White Paisley Leggings are made with eco friendly modal knit. Made by FineThreadz $26.00

This dress is made from ridiculously soft Organic or Eco jersey fabrics (see colour chart below). Upcycled twill fabric make up the "suspenders" that cross in the back and have upcycled large Buttons in the front! Made by Alterecoclothing $70.00

Rock Star Zipper Ankle Boots w/ gold studs and spikes. Black vegan leather with a 5" wedge heel. Each pair is custom made to order by JennyFallsDown. $115

There's something that really irks me about being vegan.The price tag. It seems that these days clothing designers are really adding a sky high price tag for quality items that are Eco friendly and cruelty free. I think this could be a huge deterrent for someone who simply doesn't have that extra cash flow to spend on such items. I recently saw a really cool veggie leather coat that was $570. Now that is more then what I pay for my part of rent! So having said that there are so many small designers that are up and coming who are promoting a cruelty free lifestyle are affordable and they also donate part of the proceeds to charity! One such designer is on Etsy: Love Peace Vegan clothing. Every item you purchase goes to help support such charities as farm sanctuary and the price range is from $3.99-39.99.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lamotif01?ref=seller_info