Mom2Mom Sale

I haven't done one before, but tomorrow I'll be out at the Mom2Mom sale in Leamington. Check out the info here. They have been wonderful to work with from a vendor point of view, and I am looking forward to being there. I will have Gold Canyon as well as Only Green products out for sale and I will be taking home party bookings. Bonus: if you order any Opal Cosmetics you will get 15% off! There will even be a draw for a candle as well. Hope to see you all there.

Opal Cosmetics Sale

I love using makeup I know is safe for both me and my daughter. Too many cosmetics companies don't seem to care about the long term safety of their products. I wrote a lens on cosmetics safety you can read it here. It links to all sorts of studies on the effects of cosmetics in our bodies. Pretty scary reading if you ask me. I've written about each of the Opal products as well. Read about the individual products here and find out why they are my favourite makeup product on the market. Just want to shop and save 15%? This is a limited time offer that is only in effect until the end of October. Shop Now.

Only Green is a Canadian company with all eco friendly products. Their Opal line and Vada line are made in Canada and are natural and organic. I love my Opal cosmetics and I think you will too!

I Learned Something New Today

It's always a good day to learn something new. Today I learned that I have an RSS feed for my Squidoo account. The RSS feed can be found here if you are interested. Actually I think that is kind of cool. What is a feed? According to Internet Explorer a feed, also known as RSS feed, XML feed, syndicated content, or web feed, is frequently updated content published by a website. It is usually used for news and blog websites, but can also be used for distributing other types of digital content, including pictures, audio, or video. Feeds can also be used to deliver audio content (usually in MP3 format) which you can listen to on your computer or MP3 player. This is referred to as podcasting. How do I view a feed? When you visit a webpage, the Feeds button will change color, letting you know that feeds are available. Click the Feeds button, and then click the feed you want to see. If the website offers Web Slices as well, you'll see the Web Slice button . To get content automatically, you should subscribe to a feed. Why should you subscribe to a feed? Well for me, there are some blogs that I would like to know when they get updated. Sometimes it's the daily coupon or just news or something I enjoy that puts a smile on my face. This looks like a way to make it easier to keep track of and get to the stuff I love. Hmm something to think about as I try to generate traffic. Now I just have to figure out how this can work to my advantage. Any thoughts?

Occupy Wall Street

I first heard about what was going on in New York from a friend, who found it in an off topic WoW forum. I was incrediably surprised to see how little informatiopn was out there about the violence of the protest other than what Occupy Wall Street was posting on it's website. It made me start to think about all of the ways things get kept out of the media and why they are kept from public consumption. Media blackouts have been occurring for at least 100 years. Famously during WWII and the attacks by the Japanese on american soil. While the US government in this case figured that with the Japanese not knowing how damaging their fireballs were, would eventually stop sending them. While this did work over time, I think more lives could have been saved by letting the public be aware of the attacks so they could better prepare themselves. Just my opinion. So feeling this way I decided to make a Squidoo lens on the topic of media blackouts. Check it out if you don't believe that media blackouts are still occurring each and every day around the world. See my Squidoo Lens here. Btw this is not just a third world or communist country thing. Media blackouts are happening in the US and Canada as well as Europe. Everything from court trials to sporting events gets affected by gags in the media. These days it's harder to keep control though with Fabebook and Twitter and YouTube allowing anyone at all the chance to speak their piece. How much would we be hearing from main stream media about the violence the police in New York are perpetrating if it wasn't for these social media networks?

Pictures

I've decided to share more of the pictures I have taken. Yep I know my camera isn't the greatest but I think I get some good photos anywway. I started by adding some more pictures to my Flickr account.

I have a few sets there now. My favourite are the bugs and insects though, so I wrote about them on Squidoo. Not that I gave seriously detailed information but I did cover the basics of taking insect photos. At least how I manage to take mine. I may think about posting some more of my pics on istock or a similar website, but I'm just not sure yet. I may wait for this step until I've gotten myself a good DSLR (I want the Canon for sure).

I added some pics of myself to Picasa...not sure how I go about sharing those yet on here though. I think my profile pictures are available though. I know I have been asked to see my smiling face. For now...that is me. Oh well, hope you enjoy the pics...and please share with me your pics too. I don't just enjoy taking them I also like looking at them.

Upcoming Election 2011

I admit to following politics somewhat. I know the platforms for each party that runs in my riding and I decide ahead of time who to vote for. I believe everyone has a responsibility to vote as long as they are competent and of age. Here's a quick overview of each party's platform for the upcoming election October 6th and links to each party's website for more information. I will be voting Green again this year, but how you vote is entirely up to you, as long as you get out there and do it!

The Green Party of Canada has Strong Economy, Strong Communities and True Democracy on their platform. Check out their website for a detailed platform.

The Conservatives have Ecomomic Recovery and Growth as the main stay of their platform. See their website for more information.

The Liberal Party website doesn't have alot of information about thier current platform. Most is about their new leader Bob Rae. Since Bob Rae actually was Premier of Ontario under the NDP, and he really didn't do a great job of it, well I know he won't get my vote in any way shape or form. Make up your own mind though.

The NDP has also lost it's leader Jack Layton this year. The are the current official opposition in Canada. The most up to date platform information was supplied by Layton and the basics are in the image above. Check out their website for more party information.

Go to the Elections Canada website for any other election information you may want or need. For more information on and links to the 17 registered Political Parties in Canada check out this article.

Natural Hair Care

We all put our hair through alot each and every day. Whether like me you don't use a lot of products but live in a humid summer and dry winter area, or you are the type who fully styles your hair daily. Weather, heat, styling products, blowdrying, pollution and more all can cause havoc with your hair. So why would you use anything that is full of chemicals on your hair? Your revitalizing daily shampoo might have been formulated to add volume and shine, but consumer watchdogs say the scads of chemicals used in cosmetics aren't adequately assessed for safety by either the federal government or the manufacturers. Similar health concerns were echoed in a study presented Sunday by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine neurobiologists at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in Washington, D.C. In tests on rats' brains, Pitt researchers have found that prolonged exposure to low levels of a common shampoo ingredient called methylisothiazolinone (pronounced METHYL-lie-so-THY-a-zole-a-nohn) dramatically restricts the growth of neurons. Methylisothiazolinone -- shortened to MIT for obvious reasons -- is often added to water-based shampoos and hand lotions to prevent bacteria growth, said Pitt neurobiologist Elias Aizenman, the study's senior author. The chemical also is used widely as an antimicrobial agent to kill germs in industrial water storage tanks and cooling units. Read more about chemicals in your shampoo including information that they may contribute to Parkinson's Disease as well as Alzheimer's on ewg.org . "The good news is: Hair-care products are better than ever before," says Paula Begoun, a former makeup artist who writes extensively about the cosmetics industry. "It's really hard to buy a bad product, but you can get conned by products that are overpriced or bad for your hair." There are many unrecognizable ingredients on a shampoo bottle label. Propylene glycol (which inhibits freezing). Ethylparaben (a preservative that prevents bacterial growth). Cyclopentasiloxane (smooths the hair). It's hard for a curly haired girl to figure out whether the ingredients back up what's promised on the label and support the $25 price tag. Basically, all shampoos have the same recipe. Lathering agents. Cleansers. Preservatives. And fragrances. So do all conditioners. OK, maybe most of them don't have butane, a pressurizing agent that helps force the mousse out of the can. (It doesn't harm people, just the environment, Begoun says.) So if it's harming us or the environment, what is the difference? There is no real safety check on ingredients in personal care products including make up, shampoos, conditioners and all of the styling products we use everyday. "The key for consumers is to look at the ingredient list, because the first is what's most in the product, and clearly whatever comes at the end, there's not much of it in the product," says Marie-Pierre Stark-Flora, assistant vice president for global product development at Kiehl's. (see ewg.org for full article) The best way to see what is in your hair product is to find out the ingredients yourself. Use natural and organic hair care products as much as possible to avoid having extra chemical buildup in your system. Also stick to mineral makeup (about my favourite brand)so more chemicals do not get into your bloodstream through your face. If you have long hair then this article on long hair care may be a big help too.