Have you ever checked out the amazing DIY tutorials on Pinterest? That site is a treasure trove of goodies from friendship bracelets to celery stalk art. Which has me thinking about doing some DIY posts here on Chicological. What do you want from the creative minds here at JMC?
With homemade love,
Josie
A few of my DIY faves:
We love a good bath and body care tip, like the great DIY scrubs that our October guest blogger shared with us on Tuesday. Inspired by her tips, we’ve been looking into how to make our overall grooming a little greener. Check out our finds!
Go Reusable: Most of us probably have a little unwanted hair that we like to say sayonara to at least once a week in the shower. But, according to the EPA, we toss 2 billion disposable plastic razors a year! Try a reusable razor instead to cut back on your footprint. And instead of buying shaving cream, try using your regular hair conditioner or body wash. Anything that really coats your skin will protect you from razor burn.
Cool Off: Nothing feels better than a really hot shower, especially as we enter into the colder months. But, did you know that your extra steamy temp could be wreaking havoc on your skin? The skin naturally produces special proteins and fats that protect and lock in moisture. Hot showers remove this protection, leaving skin dry and itchy. So turn down the heat! You’ll do some good for your skin and your energy bill.
Baby Your Skin: Okay, so we talk a lot about not stripping your skin here at JMC. But really, don’t do it! Use very mild soaps on the body or an oil body cleanser like our Argan Cleansing Oil for Body. You want to avoid products with harsh detergents which can leave your skin dry, and aren’t so great to wash down the drain. After showering, gently pat skin with a towel. Then, apply a thick moisturizer to seal in hydration. Extra dry types should try our Argan Balm, while we recommend Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter and Moroccan Argan Body Oils for more normal skin types.
Can you believe that my little Indi Joon is already 3 months old? She’s already smiling and cooing, and has even had a few rather adorable cases of the hiccups. While breastfeeding has helped me lose a lot of my baby weight, I’m still struggling to find time to devote a few minutes to exercise. So, I’ve been doing some reading up on postnatal exercise to find a few tips and tricks that I can fit in to my schedule. By now, I’m all healed and ready to go, but you should always check with your doctor to make sure your body is ready to jump back into your exercise regime (especially when it comes to workouts for your abs.) Enjoy these tips!
Try Some Gentle Yoga: Yoga can be a soothing way to get back in the game and get your body pumping. You may want to avoid some poses, especially inversions and intense ab work, but you can probably do most of the poses in a beginner class. Let your instructor know that you’re a new mama, and she’ll guide you to the right poses for your body.
Play with Baby (and break a sweat): This is a great tip for moms with babies who can already hold their heads up (3-4 months). Try dancing around with your baby. Put on some rockin’ tunes and keep your abs drawn in as you hold baby close. Or, if you’re good-to-go on working out your abs (ask your doc!) do a few curl ups with your munchkin sitting on your lower belly as you lie on your back. Lift your head, neck and shoulder blades. It becomes a fun way to play peek-a-boo and work out your belly.
Join a Mommy Group: Having the support of other moms can be so helpful with getting back into shape, not to mention all the good advice you’ll get. A few of my best girlfriends just had babies too, and we’re constantly sharing tips and tricks, even when we can’t always be in the same city. Try a postnatal yoga class or a group like Stroller Strides to find some friends with little ones.
With lots of mama love,
Josie
Images via: Fit Pregnancy
You know we like a good DIY beauty recipe over here at JMC. So when Teri Cosenzi, the creator of beautifulmakeupsearch.com, shared her must-have body scrub recipes, we were running-not-walking to the kitchen to whip some up. As a busy mom of four, Teri is an expert on makeup and skincare that not only works, but fits into her sometimes-hectic schedule. Teri’s been living, breathing, and blogging beauty for the past 11 years—bringing a whole lot of know-how to her avid readers. Take it away, Teri!
Simple Sweet Sugar Scrubs
There is no denying that fall is coming. Beside the drop in temperature, I notice a big change in my skin around this time of year.
Over the summer, I spent a lot of time outdoors in the sun, in the pool and in the ocean. With the little color I soaked now up fading, and my self tanner routine over; my skin is very dry and uneven. Sure, it has been neglected for the last few weeks, and it needs to get back to it’s better, soft self.
To help my skin along the way, I give my whole body a nourishing scrub at least once a week. My favorite scrub doesn’t come from the store; it comes right from my kitchen shelves.
My DIY Skin Care Scrubs are simple and sweet. Each scrub requires just two ingredients—sugar and oil.
DIY Light Body Scrub
For a light scrub, I mix one cup of granulated white sugar with enough Vitamin E Oil to make a thick paste. I take it with me to the tub and scrub it in circular motions all over my body. The simple-to use scrub helps rid my skin of dead cells, allowing it to take in the nourishment of the Vitamin E Oil. If you have never used a body scrub before, this easy and gentle.
DIY Coarse Body Scrub
For a heavy-duty scrub, I mix one cup of dark brown sugar with olive oil. Again, I use this in the tub and scrub it in circular motions all over my body. This scrub is best for skin that is use to body scrubs, can handle more exfoliation and needs more hydration.
After using each scrub in the tub, I carefully rinse off (careful--it does get very slippery in there when using oil) and just blot my skin with a towel. I do not fully dry. To seal in the moisture, I slather on some of my favorite body moisturizer.
After a few simple sweet sugar scrubs, my skin is already looking better and feeling softer.
Not a DIY girl? Check out our brand new Argan Sugar Balm Body Scrub, exclusively at QVC. It’s loaded with yummy, glowing skin ingredients like Shea Butter and, of course, lots of Argan Oil. Your skin will thank you!
Brown Sugar Image via Family Dinner Book
Our Argan Oil Hair Serum has been getting some serious love at Sephora lately. What makes this frizz-fighter and shine-booster so special? A whole lotta love and care (oh and some very special ingredients.) Play the video above and read below to get more details!
Free of synthetic dyes: We keep dyes out of the formula so that it doesn’t react with your natural (or maybe not so natural) hair color. So it’s super safe for color-treated or extra blonde types, which are extra sensitive to added color.
Loads of Argan Oil: A lot of hair serums on the market claim to give you all the yummy benefits of pure Argan Oil, but in reality their formulas contain only a teensy bit—not enough to actually nourish your strands. Our formula not only contains unprecedented amounts of Argan Oil, it also contains other beneficial oils like jojoba and avocado. Our serum not only styles hair—it treats it!
Alcohol-free: We don’t add any alcohol to our formula, so you never have to worry about it drying our your strands. Alcohol not only dehydrates hair, it can make it weaker and more brittle. We say, no thanks.
“The land is our mother, the rivers our blood.” –Mary Brave Bird
This Sunday is World Rivers Day, a global event dedicated to celebrating and protecting the world’s beautiful waterways. The event brings attention to a wide array of issues surrounding rivers, including the decline of fish population and the construction of dams that harm wildlife.
DO GOOD
Volunteer or donate this Sunday! There are great organizations that support rivers in the U.S. such as the American River Conservancy and the Western Rivers Conservancy. No pennies to spare? There’s a ton that you can do to protect your local rivers. For starters, avoid washing your car near storm drains or pouring any kind of chemical or pollutant into the drains. If you live near a river, organize a cleanup crew for its banks, or work with a local group to plant vegetation to avoid erosion.
Do Good, Eco Living 
If you’ve ever given JMC a call, you’ve probably had the great pleasure of speaking to Iesha, our resident product expert and customer service goddess. Not only does she take care of all of you, she also takes care of all of us here at the office—like any good office mom, making sure we’ve washed our dishes and taken a break to watch at least one funny youtube video during our hard work day. Iesha’s been breaking out her big cozy sweaters and her snazzy ankle boots lately, inspiring us to ask her to share her signature autumnal makeup look (using all her fave JMC goodies of course.)
We know how to PARTY here at JMC. This weekend, Ali and I held a beach party at Paradise Cove in Malibu for all the JMC employees to celebrate five years of Argan beauty. We played in the water, got messy in the sand, and had lots of yummy cake. (And then had a cake food fight with Rumi Joon.) Here are some snapshots of our fun in the sun!
Toward the end of the day, I had everyone play a game where they all stepped forward in the order they were hired. It was crazy to see how quickly our little family has grown. When the sun finally started to set behind the sea, Ali, Rumi Joon, Indi Joon and I made our way back home, feeling so lucky to have such amazing people to work with. And I’m so grateful for you, too! I couldn’t do what I do without all of you—together, we really are changing the world one lipstick at a time.
With love and gratitude,
Josie
Fact. Fresh flowers actually improve your mood and chase away anxiety and depression. Plus, nothing instantly brightens a room like a beautiful bouquet or a pretty plant. Here are our tips for doing flowers the eco way!
Buy Local: Did you know the majority of flowers in the US are imported? That’s a huge carbon footprint for a few tulips! Ask your fave flower shop if they buy local. Chances are, they might have a mix of domestic and imported flowers at different times of the year. Buy what’s local and in season to keep your arrangement earth-friendly.
DIY!: Who cares if your flowers aren’t perfectly clipped, snipped and sorted. Pick your own favorites from what’s growing in your backyard and throw it in a vase! Or, if you don’t have a bunch of blooms in your yard, ask your florist for some of the leftovers from her arrangements. You might get a few crumpled petals, but you’ll have an eclectic mix of colors and textures that looks perfectly bohemian.
Be Creative: Don’t limit yourself to roses and ranunculus. What else do you have on hand? A few sprigs of dill or rosemary add delicate bursts of green to your arrangement and smell so yummy. Or fill a vase with kumquats before adding your flowers. Just don’t forget to compost your leftovers.
Images via:
Eco Living, Eco Tips 
As the sister project to Awamaki, a Peruvian non-profit that works with Quechua women weavers to improve their quality of life, Awamaki Lab is doing some real good in the world while providing fashion forward types with some serious style. Awamaki Lab is a four-month fashion residency program that places up-and-coming designers with Quechua weavers. The designers are mentored by fashion leaders, and collaborate with Peruvian artisans to incorporate hand-spun Andean textiles into contemporary designs. The program not only fosters burgeoning design talent, it also revitalizes an endangered weaving tradition and supports its weavers with a reliable source of income. Love that!
Xo,
The Chicological Chicks
Eco Fashion, Eco Style