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What would you like other EcoMom Alliance members to know about you ...: While trying to get pregnant, I was very concerned about the chemicals and toxins in our daily beauty products. Simple things like washing my hair, now seemed a risky task to take. My sister Liz and I sat down one day here in Marin County, and decided to collaborate with Natural formulators from Europe and Israel, and create a line of pregnancy products that would protect the baby-to-be, but still be on a luxury level. We are called, "Generation to Generation Pregnancy Products". We have been scored a fabulously safe score from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and are ready to launch! We carry the PETA mark on our label, and are paraben-free. We are so happy to also be pledging to the amazing SF charity "Project Night Night" for homeless children in shelters. www.ggpregnancy.com

What is your favorite tip for finding "me time"?: Check your products that you currently use on yourself or your kids at The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Skin deep database. You will be surprised to see that many products have a high hazard score, even if they are labeled as "Natural". It all comes down to a couple of major ingredients we should all know about.
-Parabens- I think most moms know to look for these on the ingredient list. They are listed as "Methyl Parabens, or propal parabens, etc"
-Fragrance- believe me, I know alot about what companies use for fragrance. The fragrance itself may be approved for use in cosmetics, but the individual ingredients in the fragrance may not be approved. The levels of thse ingredients may be very small, but how many times are we applying it on skin, or the hair of our kids?
-Scare tactics- we see alot of them, especially in California. I don't want to worry. But, the truth is, if you had a choice to by a safer product, why not? Of course you would. I dont think we need to feel frightened of what is being put into our products anymore, I think we are past that as moms. I think the next step is to choose what you feel is simply a product without carcinogens or reproductive toxins. They are becoming more mainstream every day. It's great us moms to know, that it's cheaper for a company to create a shampoo, etc, with toxins than it is to not. So they do. "No one is trying to poison us" I like to say. But I will always tell my friends, that we do have safer alternatives, and we should choose them. For instance, go online to buy non toxic nail polish for you and your daughter. Our moms did not have that option with us.
-What's my pick for baby shampoo? -Until we come out with our line of baby products, I have always liked and used California Baby.
-Hair Care/ Salon Gossip? - I heard that Karatisse is coming out with an organic line. I don't know though if it will still contain parabens and other toxins like it does now, or has in the past.They also have a strong fragrance.
-If ever in doubt about a product, just type it into the Skin Deep database. It will tell you if the company has signed a compact with them. If you see a green zero score, 95% chance they have not been scored yet. Skin Deep will score companies even if they refuse to comply to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetic's regulations for cosmetics safety. They will track down companies, and test their products, and score them based on empirical international studies of the ingredients used. They really are a watch dog group. It takes so much safety substantiation to get reviewed and scored by them. If a company is not a compact signer, that is a sign to me that they have something to hide.