Good to Know: Six makeup chemicals to avoid

You've likely seen the names of the following chemicals in the list below; they're ingredients contained in a variety of widely available beauty products. Read here to see why you might want to seek alternatives to the products you may currently have in your very own bathroom. Of course, weigh the pros and cons (ie. price, availability, family health history), verify information, and assess how these products affect your lifestyle and health, then make your choices in what you consume. I personally have been slacking and have been buying what is readily available at the supermarket, so for hair maintenance we're currently using "Down Under Naturals" products to wash and condition our hair. After reading this article, I think we'll go back to our Jason's and Nature's Gate hair washing products.

Six makeup chemicals to avoid:

1. Phthatale family or di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di(2-ehtylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)

2. Lauryl sulfate(SLS), Sodium laureth sulfate(SLES)

3. Paraben preservatives or alkyl-p-hydroxybenzoates (methyl, propyl, butyl, and ethyl)

4. Formaldehyde family or Diazolidinyl urea, 3-diol Imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM Hydantoin , Quaternium-15, Nitropropane-1, Formalin , Methanal , Methyl aldehyde, Methylene oxide, Morbicid acid, Oxymethylene

5. Amine family Diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), amonoethanolamine (MEA)

6. Propylene / Butylene Glycol (PG)

Article here: http://www.greenlivingonline.com/HealthNutrition/six-makeup-chemicals-to-avoid/

new mineral makeup from physician's formula

yes, it's a blurry photo.

love this makeup line! even though i'm pretty crunchy, i still love my makeup.

btw, i just read that physician's formula is on sale (40% off) at shoppers drug this week. (for all you local lovelies)

mac is even coming out with mineral makeup (so i've heard). good news! i can replace my (old) mac w. their new talc-free products!

Fantastic news for Torontonians!

I am happy to provide a link to some wonderful news! Here: http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070514toronto.asp

News: "Van Valkenburgh to Remake 2,400 Acres in Toronto"

Why does this news please me?


Reason 1: I studied architecture at Ryerson for a year, before I went back to art college where I had already attended for two years (I was really eager to go back, and anticipated that I'd return to arch. school, which it looks like is potentially in the works). Basically, I have a deep appreciation for sound design, and both good landscape design and urban planning. I am critical of architectural, urban planning, and landscaping 'mistakes', like the Toronto waterfront.


Reason 2: I grew up in a city that is a 45 mins. drive from downtown Toronto. When I started studying at art college (I went to OCAD, but there was no "D" when I began my studies there, heh) I moved to Toronto. First I lived just off Queen and Dufferin (the nicer part of it, which was not exactly dingy Parkdale, but near enough), then moved slightly east of Dufferin onto Queen (which is now an extremely 'hip' area with progressive galleries/restaurants/etc. Afterwards, I moved to the heart of Little Italy and adopted two cats Toni and Cleo (btw, hello Sneaky Dees! I spent a lot of time there), and then moved eastward to the Beaches neighbourhood, and then after that, just south of the gay village of Church St. Then, I found a place with my then boyfriend (now husband) in a house that was immediately beside Trinity Park. After a few years, we bought a house in East York (close to my beloved Beaches) and lived there for about 2 years before we moved to BC.

I moved around a lot within the city, I wanted to experience each neighbourhood, I guess. This has left me with a deep connection with the city as I spent my 20s there studying, working, partying, exploring, and socializing.

Hopefully, I will be able to visit Toronto when the waterfront project is completed. I'll be keeping a close eye on how it's development progresses.

No more dents in my bottle

i'm working on a bottle cosy for my stainless steel water bottle. when full this bottle can get heavy (it holds 40 oz.) and yes, it is then prone to getting dented when dropped. luckily, the bottle hasn't fallen onto anyone, it's only fallen to the ground and this is when the bottom dents. so far, i have two slight dents in the bottom edge of the bottle.

pictured here, is an inside out view of the cozy i'm crocheting with wool of two different dye lots of shades of narnia sprinkle dyed roving that i had spindle spun.


i'm using the shades of lavender/purple skein for the top portion of the cosy. this is the skein as seen to the right. details on this skein in this blog post here.

the bluish wool used for the bottom of the cosy is pictured to the left on the spindle. this is how the wool looks on the spindle as it is wound up on an Ashford Turkish spindle. the two piece of wood that cross can be taken apart and out of the ball of wool then off the centre of the spindle, leaving a lovely centre pull ball! at first i thought this was an unnessessary perk, but then as i've come to use the spindle more, i've noticed that i'm enjoying this feature as it keeps the spinning process that much neater.

Good Vibes...Thom and the Sunset

This evening's sunset and view of crane (from my bedroom). The kids are busy crafting and we are listening to Thom on The Hype Machine.

knitted cowl

it was rainy on my daughters' birthday just this past thursday.

this is me just before i went out to buy party treats (and cake) on that day. i'm wearing a newly knitted (by me) cowl made with single ply wool (spindle spun by me - my first skein done up a few months ago!, it's made from roving dyed by shades of narnia). cowls are really fun to make and circular knitting is awesome.

recently spun wool

shades of narnia dyed roving spun on an ashford turkish spindle. guage swatch and skein of bulky one ply yarn that will soon see itself knitted into a cowl on 8mm Clover Takumi 29" circular knitting needles.

this is what the roving looked like before it was spun by me.