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  • Home
  • Book
  • Categories
    • Healthy Living
    • Mommy Greenest Approved
    • Eco Beauty & Fashion
    • Natural Parenting
    • Latest Buzz
    • Green News & Events
  • Mommy Greenest Guides
    • Guide to Going Green
    • Guide to Eco-Friendly Fashion
    • Guide to Healthy Eating
    • Guide to Natural Parenting & Pregnancy
    • Guide to Green Beauty
    • Guide to Healthy Cleaning
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  • inclusive beauty
    Eco Beauty & Fashion

    Perfect Skin Doesn’t Exist – Inclusive Beauty Does

    August 8, 2022 /

    I’ve been a big fan of JUNOCO ever since I discovered their plant-based squalene, which delivers a shark-friendly, vegan and natural twist on one of skincare’s favorite ingredients. But their recent #ToBeHuman campaign — which recently popped up on a San Francisco street to prove that perfect skin doesn’t exist (but inclusive beauty does) — made me a fan for life.

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    Rachel Sarnoff 2 Comments

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  • Eco Beauty & Fashion

    Oil Cleansing Skincare Miracle

    March 30, 2022 /

    Decades ago, I complained to my friend Vanessa about the blackheads on my nose. She recommended washing with oil, but I ignored her advice. More oil on my oily skin? It didn’t make sense. Now I wish I’d listened to her, all those years ago. Because oil cleansing is a game changer. Over the past few weeks, the practice has DRAMATICALLY changed the way my skin looks and feels. But I had to learn how to do it — the right way.

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    Shop Drop 2015

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  • Slugging is a beauty trend that’s trending on TikTok, where petrochemical products are promoted. Try my vegan slugging solution for natural beauty!
    Eco Beauty & Fashion

    Vegan Slugging, Naturally

    February 28, 2022 /

    My great-grandmother always had a jar of salve on her dressing table — she would slather it on her face before she went to sleep. This ritual was something she learned as an actress in Hollywood, a hundred years ago. Today, it’s been rebranded as the “slugging” trend that’s trending on TikTok. But can you slug without petrochemically derived products? In a word, YES! Try this inexpensive, all-natural vegan slugging solution.

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    Mommy Greenest Approved

    Mommy Greenest Loves: Superfood Facial Oil

    November 17, 2020 /

    As hormones plummet and cells stop renewing, skin becomes drier with age. The only thing that seems to restore moisture is a pure, natural facial oil. I’ve been using certified organic argan facial oil for a while, but recently upped my game by switching to seriously rich Superfood Facial Oil from British natural beauty brand PHB Ethical Beauty. My skin drinks it up!

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    Mommy Greenest Approved: Saison Beauty Natural Skincare

    September 28, 2015 /

    Remember when you were in high school and your grandma’s friend was “having her colors done” and you learned you were a Spring? Okay, maybe that’s just me. But I was fascinated by that cool little color wheel and how it finally made sense that I still loved pink even though I was 16. That’s kind of how I felt when I discovered Saison Beauty, which takes the seasonal concept and applies it to natural skincare. Genius!

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    Mommy Greenest Approved: Earth Kiss Natural Face Masks

    September 14, 2015 /

    I remember the first time I had egg on my face. I was about nine, and our family friend—a gorgeous woman with ridiculously high cheekbones and poreless skin—showed me how to separate an egg, whip up the white with a fork, and apply it as a natural face mask. I idolized her, so I sat with that egg shriveling and prickling up my skin for what felt like an hour, until she remembered to tell me to wash it off. People, masks have come SUCH a long way since then. Case in point? The AMAZING new, individually packaged, 100% natural face masks from Earth Kiss. I’ve got 10 sets to…

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    Mommy Greenest Approved: CV Skinlabs for Sensitive Skin

    May 5, 2014 /

    Are you sensitive? Many of us are. According to a study conducted by the International Society of Dermatology, more than 50% of women and nearly 40% of men identified themselves as having sensitive skin. I found a truly natural line that can help, and scored you 15% off—or win some free in our giveaway!

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  • Mommy Greenest Approved

    Steamcream

    December 16, 2013 /

    1.2.14 Editor’s Note: After being alerted by a reader (see comments below), I was disappointed to discover that Steamcream does in fact contain parabens, which are absolutely not Mommy Greenest Approved. I apologize for not doing a more thorough job of researching this product. When I investigated further, the company told me that, “”The parabens we use are esters of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid which occur widely in the plant and animal worlds (for example, in barley, strawberries, blackcurrants, peaches, carrots). Ours has a mineral origin that is synthetically refined and does not contain any material from animal sources. We buy it in powder form and dissolve it into our formula.” When I asked…

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Welcome! I created this blog in 2008 as a resource for healthier living with less judgment. I'm a mother of three, former journalist, and co-founder of the (shuttered, sniff) sustainable beauty and fashion site EcoStiletto. I was Executive Director of the nonprofits The 5 Gyres Institute and Healthy Child Healthy World and appeared as a sustainable lifestyle expert on "The "TODAY Show" and "CNN Headline News," among others. Oh, and have you checked out my TEDx talks: Trash is Ruining Recycling and Can One Straw Change The World? Today, you can find me here. Let's keep in touch! xoRachel

https://youtu.be/sOol1MIgois

rachellincolnsarnoff

Sometimes you have to just go climb a rock. #joshu Sometimes you have to just go climb a rock. #joshuatree #joshuatreenationalpark #amrelaxing #amnotwriting
What’s on your cookbook shelf? I usually go off What’s on your cookbook shelf? I usually go off script when it comes to meals (sometimes it works, sometimes not so much) but I do love reading these beautiful books. My stack started with The Joy of Cooking, which my aunt gifted me when I graduated from high school and is now held together with tape, next to the copy that I gave my daughter when she left for college (and may have inspired some of her @jujusdujour recipes). The newest addition is a truly gorgeous and inspirational cook/help/poetry/amazingness book by @julesbdavis #TheKitchenHealer out now from @soundstrue. It’s about cooking and healing and community and women and accessing our power both individually and communally. Plus a little bit of memoir from this amazing author and inspirational human. #AmReading #julesblainedavis #thekitchenhealer #cookbooks #books #bookstagram
These #vintage records include classic tracks like These #vintage records include classic tracks like “Lonely Little G-String” and inspire serious #MadMen vibes. Sadly missing the instructional booklet. You can’t make this stuff up! #amwriting #amlistening #60sstyle #60smusic
Late last year, I read an essay by @elizabeth_gilb Late last year, I read an essay by @elizabeth_gilbert_writer in which she described her process when she first began submitting stories for publication. It was like tennis: Every time a story was lobbed back to her she sent it back over the net to another potential publisher. One in, one out. I took that to heart and each time I received a no, I swung harder. I still haven’t placed a story, but last year I published three nonfiction pieces. More than 50 agents passed on my novel, but 11 requested the full manuscript and responded with detailed notes. (After enough time in the slush pile, querying writers like me gauge success by the detail of the rejection.) No, this work is not lucrative and yes, it is a privilege to carve out the time and attention that it demands. Last spring, I was inspired by @jamiattenberg’s #1000wordsofsummer to schedule hour-long writing sessions, often at 5 a.m. before work, in order to chip away at a new novel that just topped the 50,000-word mark huzzah! Cheers to all the creative people who can’t stop won’t stop trying to make sense of this reality through art. I am inspired by all of you.
#AmWriting #Memoir #Essay #Nonfiction #Fiction #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #PacificUniversity #MFA
So excited for this double feature! @deshawncharle So excited for this double feature! @deshawncharleswinslow co-led our fiction workshop @pacificmfa in January and his insight was AMAZING. Can’t wait to read these books! #amwriting #amreading #deshawncharleswinslow #decentpeople #inwestmills #pacificmfa #writersofinstagram
Every year, it’s like a living painting outside Every year, it’s like a living painting outside my window. Lula likes it too. #losangeles #pearblossom #socal #spring  #dogsofinstagram
Who else is reeling from reading this incredibly p Who else is reeling from reading this incredibly powerful and terrifying book? Let’s discuss. #amreading #barbarakingsolver #demoncopperhead
My local dog park has been transformed into a pet My local dog park has been transformed into a pet cemetery. Spoiler alert: the duck dies. #onlyinla
Last week, my husband asked me what experiences we Last week, my husband asked me what experiences were on my bucket list. Today he surprised me by checking one off. #falconry #hawking #bucketlist #bucketlistadventures #valentinesday
Things I learned recently. 1. Ritual works. A r Things I learned recently.
 1. Ritual works. A room, a desk, a coffee shop. Paper and pen or antique typewriter. Someone changes his shoes like Mr. Rogers before he sits down at his desk, another does visualizations. For months, I switched into writing brain by exiting my office, where my work desktop lives, and sitting with my laptop (wifi off) in a chair next to the window in my bedroom. I now recognize this as a ritual.
 2. Quality, not quantity. Maya Angelou rented a hotel room and wrote in it for six hours a day. (She asked the staff to take all the art off the walls, so she wouldn’t be distracted. And she drank sherry.) But many of us are working writers - by this I mean working at something else while maintaining a writing practice. We squeeze it in where we can. Currently, I get up at five so I can write for an hour before starting work at seven, a luxury made possible by remote work. I rarely have a concentrated stretch of time, and yet I keep chipping away at my novel, one paragraph or page (on a good day) at a time. 
 3. It’s a practice. Until recently, I didn’t believe that writing every day was that important. I would sit down and write for eight hours and then not for weeks at a time. (I was also a working co-parent of three children. So there’s that.) Now I’m trying to write every day, even just for 30 minutes. And what that means is when I’m doing something else — working or driving carpool or yoga or walking the dog or cooking or watching television — a part of my brain is still with those characters and re-entering the scenes is easier. 
 4. Writing is a tap you can’t shut off. Waking up in the middle of the night to scribble in the dark. Dictating a note to Siri in the car. Pinching your arm in a dark movie theater so you’ll remember a word when the lights turn on. Today I realized that one of my main characters has freckles and another needs to find a credit card and a third is smelling vanilla. All of these realizations happened while I was doing other things (see above). That’s writing, too. 
Right? 
#AmWriting
Exiting the @pacificmfa womb and headed into the w Exiting the @pacificmfa womb and headed into the world, proud of brilliant graduates including @allisuuunshines and @krazykenzer14 and honored to be on this path with @kburmz_ and @katiesumers and @rwrowe21 and too many others to name “jumping and dancing and skipping” and writing and reading and listening and thinking. I am profoundly grateful for this community and fellowship that is truly life-changing, and I read this poem TODAY which is further proof the universe is listening.
THE DAYS (abridged)
If only I could live my life, not write it,
I’d have double the experience
and be better at nothingness, at being present.
The page, I once believed, offers permanence,
sanctifying time, making it longer,
but now I see my words as susceptible,
even if digital, to fire, flood, misplacement.
To misinterpretation. To accidental
download by enemy. I don’t yet want them 
to be lost, but I dread the possibility
that they won’t self-destruct at the end
of my life, or the end of my lucidity.
Maybe I’ve been using paper all wrong,
committing to ink what should live in my head,
which is part of my body, which will not last…
Each night, I had written Here is what happened
like a kid whose pen makes her small life exciting,
then gone on mistaking the plot for the story,
as if the point of writing were writing.
-Adrienne Su “The Days” published in the New Yorker January 2/9 2023 (abridged)
#AmWriting #Memoir #Essay #Nonfiction #Fiction #WomensFiction #Stories #Story #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #PacificUniversity #PacificMFA #MFA
Searching for the sleeper wave. #amwriting #amread Searching for the sleeper wave. #amwriting #amreading #fiction #writer #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #mfa
After the recent announcement of the fusion breakt After the recent announcement of the fusion breakthrough at Livermore — where my grandfather once worked as a chemist, that’s him on the right — many messaged me that the “climate crisis was over.” At the lab, lasers fused two forms of hydrogen into helium, which released more energy than it took to make it. And yes, this is amazing: Nuclear fusion releases no greenhouse gases and the waste is less problematic than what’s produced by nuclear fission, which is what my grandfather worked on. But the Livermore experiment — among many others — was able to produce just a small amount of energy and scaling its ability will take a lot of time, which we don’t have. Here’s what we do have: Wind and solar and regenerative agriculture, which are all eminently scalable now. As my grandfather might have said, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Photo: Bonestamp
#Climate #ClimateJustice #KeepItInTheGround #CleanEnergy #Motivation #MommyGreenest
I’m not big on resolutions, but I do believe in I’m not big on resolutions, but I do believe in ritual. Every New Year’s Day — and my birthday — I try to do the things that I want to be doing for the rest of the year. I spent the morning writing and then did some yoga and went for a walk with my family. I made posole for my son’s birthday party and ate said posole and it was delicious. I prepped a bit for work and played my guitar. All in all, an excellent start to another year. How about you? #happynewyear #newyear #resolutions #ritual
I have always been a writer. Published? Not so muc I have always been a writer. Published? Not so much. I published myself, obviously — MommyGreenest since 2008 woot! — but with other projects I tended to give up after a pass and internalize the rejection. But late last year, I read an essay by @elizabeth_gilbert_writer in which she described her process as tennis: Every time a story was lobbed back to her she sent it back over the net to another potential publisher. One in, one out. I took that to heart and each time I received a no, I swung harder. I still haven’t placed a story, but this year I published three nonfiction pieces — in the @washingtonpost, @nwreview, and @hippocampusmag. With encouragement from Kate McKean’s @agents_and_books newsletter, I submitted to over 50 agents who passed on my novel, but 11 requested the full manuscript and responded with notes (this will mean nothing to most people, but after enough time in the slush pile, querying writers gauge success by the detail of the rejection). No, this work is not lucrative and yes, it is a privilege to carve out the time and attention that it demands. Last spring, I was inspired by @jamiattenberg’s #1000wordsofsummer to schedule hour-long writing sessions, often at 5 a.m. before work, in order to chip away at a new novel that just topped the 50,000-word mark huzzah! Next week, I’ll join @pacificmfa peers in Oregon for my first in-person residency on the slowest train ever to an MFA. Cheers to all the creative people who can’t stop won’t stop trying to make sense of this reality through art. I am inspired by all of you.
#AmWriting #Memoir #Essay #Nonfiction #Fiction #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #PacificUniversity #MFA
Finally c-positive, which is a negative, but the p Finally c-positive, which is a negative, but the plus side is a cozy blanket, knitted with love by a friend, and this amazing book, sent to me by my mother, which includes this wisdom: “…it strikes me as a particularly dangerous fantasy…that someone might be able to live without…heartbreak or sorrow. Which I’m pretty sure you only get to do if you have no relationships, love nothing, are a sociopath, and maybe, if you’re enlightened. I don’t know about you, but I check none of these boxes.” Love love LOVE. Who else is reading/has read? Let’s discuss! #amreading #rossgay #essay #nonfiction #inspiration
Los Angeles is full of magical places, especially Los Angeles is full of magical places, especially this time of year. We got dressed up and went to one of them. Highly recommended. Happy holidays, everyone!
When your daughter is doing the crossword puzzle a When your daughter is doing the crossword puzzle and you know both the answer and the person in the clue.
#JennaJambeck #Plastic #CircularEconomy #BreakFreeFromPlastic #Motivation #Health #Wellness #MommyGreenest
Obsessed. #Natural #NaturalBeauty #CleanBeauty #Be Obsessed. #Natural #NaturalBeauty #CleanBeauty #Beauty #Perfume #NaturalPerfume #HenryRose #NotSponsored
Slow and steady wins the race. #SlowAndSteady #Ha Slow and steady wins the race.
#SlowAndSteady #HappyHolidays #HappyHolidays2022 #AmWriting #WomensFiction #WritersOfInstagram #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity
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