We've been having lots of candlelit outdoor family dinners on the farm, and Pinterest is loaded with inspiring ideas for livening up our outdoor decor. Check out my picks for a fun, boho supper al fresco.
With love and lanterns,
Josie
Images via:
House of Design & Style
I love being outside so much, I gave birth to both of my daughters in the great outdoors: Rumi in the peaceful garden of Ali's sister's house in the LA hills, and Indi on our Pennsylvania farm. Being among the birds and the flowers, and taking a slow hike, never fails to get my blood flowing. A few of my favorite ways to get active in nature? Outdoor yoga, canoeing, creek-wading, and walking. What's your fave way to get outside and break a sweat?
With love,
Josie
Did you know? JMC is all about “Luxury with a Conscience” because our products are made from good-for-your-body-and-the-planet ingredients. But there's more good to JMC than meets the eye (or the skin): we also give back to the community. Being kind and conscious really matters to us, and we know it matters to our customers, too. Here are some of the ways in which your JMC purchases help make the world a better place:
City of Hope & GOGO Mascara
Prettifying your lashes can help cancer survivors feel pretty too. For every tube of GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara purchased, our Give One Get One campaign donates another mascara to a City of Hope cancer patient or survivor. After 5,000 mascaras have been donated, the campaign continues to donate $1 per mascara to women’s cancer research at City of Hope.
Bear Naked Wipes
With the ice melting under their big, furry paws, polar bears need a little human help. You can give them that helping hand when you buy a pack of Bear Naked Wipes. A portion of each sale goes to the Natural Resources Defence Council’s Polar Bear SOS Initiative.
Moroccan Women’s Co-Ops & Sustainable Harvest
In 2002, the Moroccan government helped establish women's cooperatives to manufacture Argan Oil--while providing Moroccan women with a steady income, fair wage, and healthy working conditions, as well as literacy and education classes. The co-ops also give women a sense of empowerment in a traditionally male-dominated society. Dedicated to responsible harvesting practices, reforestation projects, and environmental protection policies, this program helps preserve Argan forests and women's jobs. The purchase of Josie’s 100% Pure Argan Oil contributes to their success.
Marocavie
Each time we source our 100% Pure Argan Oil, we donate a portion of our purchase price to Marocavie, a charitable organization in Morocco dedicated to improving economic, social, and environmental conditions in the Southwestern regions of Morocco, where Argan Oil is harvested. The organization works to improve education for children, provide socio-economic opportunities for families, and prevent the spread of the desert and rural exodus.
We know that you, our beloved customers, are out there doing good things for the world too. Tell us how you contribute to the well being of others, and you’ll have a chance to win your shade of Argan Matchmaker Powder Foundation SPF 20. Just type your answer into the comments section. We'll announce our world-changing winner on Monday, July 30.
It's so fun to play with your kids' looks when they're still too young to express their own tastes! Rumi Joon is definitely her own stylist, but Indi Joon is still my little dress-up doll.
With love, socks, sneakers, and hats,
Josie
Our lovely Product Development Coordinator, Taunia, is always rockin’ some fresh and fab lip looks using different shades of our Magic Marker Lip and Cheek Stain. Yesterday she came in looking all kinds of fierce, and we asked her to recreate her look for us today. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting Taunia’s look, including those siren-red lips.
1. Apply your shade of Matchmaker Serum Foundation to face to create an even canvas. (Taunia is Light/Medium for reference.)
2. Using your fingertips, apply Argan Color Stick in Rosey to the apples of the cheeks, blending toward your temples.
3. With an eyeliner brush, swipe the darkest shade from the Argan Beautiful Eyes in Beautiful Nudes palette onto your lower and upper lashlines, creating a soft wing at the outer edge of the eye.
4. Blend the lightest shade in the Beautiful Nudes palette onto the inner corners of your eyes to make you look wide awake.
5. Apply a rich coat of Magic Marker Lip and Cheek Stain in Flamenco to your lips, using the tip of the marker to line the lips before filling them in.
When you’re “chicological” and you care as much as we do about being chic and ecological, it can be tough to find outfits that fit the profile. That's why Jonäno's line of fashion-forward clothing for mom and baby caught our eye. Cut from luxurious, organic fibers like bamboo and hemp, Jonäno's simple silhouettes are cool and comfy.
No wonder we love Jonäno; its founder and chief designer, Pittsburgh native Bonnie Siefers, sounds a lot like a certain beauty brand founder who we happen to love. "I began the Jonäno brands at a point in my personal life," Bonnie says, "when I took pause to reevaluate what is really important to me in life. True happiness does not come from without but instead from within." Jonäno's mission: "Removing the guess work out of what is good for your family, saving you both time and headaches. Whether shopping for yourself, your family, or choosing baby gift, we want you to know that the natural products you are choosing are also items we are using in our home." Now that's a credo we can get down with.
xo, The Chicological Chicks
Images via Jonäno
Eco Fashion, Eco Style 
Hello, my Argan Beauties.
I don't know about you, but my hair really takes a beating in the summertime. Between dips in the ocean and the scorching sun, my hair starts looking real crazy by the time September rolls around. I developed my new Argan Hot Oil Self Heating Hair Treatment to save my tresses and yours. I loved the old-fashioned hot oil, but scurrying back and forth between my microwave and the shower to get it hot—not so much. My Hair Treatment self-heats in the shower, which seriously cuts down on the hassle. Here are my secrets for maxing the benefits of this lock lifesaver.
1. If your hair is fine or thinning, apply half an ampule to the ends of hair only, and then massage a few drops into the scalp. You don't need as much product as the thicker-haired ladies do, so you'll get more than five treatments out of one kit.
2. Extra dry hair? Skip shampooing entirely for a few days, and do one hot oil treatment instead. You'll be nourishing your hair with Argan and Jojoba Oils without stripping hair of its own beneficial oils. The bergamot-geranium scent will refresh your locks--no shampoo needed.
3. Have a spa day with your friends! Each set of treatments includes 5 ampules, so you have plenty to share. Although you’ll get full benefits in only 60 seconds (hair up to 4 times stronger!), leaving the treatment in longer will pamper your strands. Saturate wet hair in the treatment and put it in a shower cap while you and your girlfriends do facials or pedicures. Share the love!
With love and luscious locks,
Josie
Images Via:
One of my favorite "quotes to live by" is a Native American proverb that says, "We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
When my first daughter was born, I became obsessed with that message. I wanted to do everything possible to make the world beautiful for my baby. Since Indi Joon arrived ten days ago, I've become obsessed again. I really want my girls to grow up loving and respecting nature. Here are the eco-warrior mama tips I came up with. I'd love to hear yours, too.
Teach the Birds and the Bees.
I grew up in a green household with parents who always recycled, and took my brother and me on nature hikes, and questioned where things went when we threw them "away." Their attitudes helped make me into the earth-mom I am, and I'm raising my girls the same way. Rumi doesn't get scared or grossed out when she sees a spider or a mouse or a bee, because she's never been taught to fear nature. I'm teaching my jellybeans to love all creatures, even if they're a little hairy and have eight legs.
Grow a Garden full of Goodies
Believe it or not, one of Rumi's favorite foods is Japanese Shishito peppers. Luckily for us, they're super easy to grow in a hot, sunny climate like LA. We grow as many of the foods she loves as we can, so she has a first-hand appreciation for the benefits of doing-it-yourself in the garden.
Read and Learn
There are tons of kids' books available that teach children to be good to the planet and kind to other people. One of my all time favorites is a book I had when I was a kid, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees!"
With love,
Josie
Eco Tips, Living + Wellness 
Back in April, when I was VERY pregnant, the JMC photo crew and I drove out into the wilderness to take pix for the launch of my Argan Hot Oil Self Heating Hair Treatment. Between hair and makeup touch-ups, we had fun exploring the nearby creek, finding frogs, and searching for pretty river rocks as the sun set behind the mountains. Take a behind-the-scenes look at this JMC adventure.
Here's to big bellies and muddy toes!
Josie
Here at JMC, we like to be as natural as can be—even when it comes to the fragrances we use. We prefer natural fragrance not only because it's better for our bodies and the planet, but also because we adore the delicate and wholesome experience that natural aromas provide. We reached out to fragrance-enthusiast and beauty blogger Carrie Meredith of Eyeliner on a Cat to give us her take on the beauty of going au naturel with fragrance.
When Perfume is Not Just a Smell: Exploring Naturals
Natural perfume is one of the most beautiful, simple and necessary pleasures in my life. It is intimate by nature; I only wear it for me. It’s not showy, it doesn’t speak out of turn or too loudly, and it will never give you a migraine or bother anyone around you. When it’s made with the highest quality essences from across the globe, it is the true (and new) definition of modern artisan luxury. It has the power to quell anxieties and to turn negatives into positives. Little bursts of random positive energy happen all the time, and for some, fragrance is where it all begins. At least that’s where it begins for me; close to the skin and close to the heart.
The next time you feel stressed or sad, try a natural perfume made from jasmine and blood orange essences (such as Aftelier Candide). It’s the closest thing to nirvana I have discovered in the physical world. Find the grouchiest person you know and spritz or dab them with a bit of jasmine and blood orange. Watch the unfortunate but all too common emotional side effects of city living dissipate. Anxiety, grief, depression, manic behavior and their physical manifestations can often be abated or at least somewhat altered by scent. While jasmine and blood orange take me swiftly to my happy place (it also works for just about everybody I know), it might be something totally different for you. Play, sniff, and follow your instincts.
Artisan luxury perfumer and author Mandy Aftel’s popular book Essence and Alchemy is widely regarded as mandatory reading for fragrance enthusiasts, covering many aspects of natural perfume, including how to smell it. You might be wondering if there’s something to smelling perfume that’s beyond the obvious, and AfteI would say yes, definitely: “Natural perfumes are best experienced on your skin, rather than in the bottle or on a perfume blotter. They have an idiosyncratic relationship with your body chemistry, blossoming on your skin.” Perfumes with synthesized components wear very differently on skin and have a stronger scent trail and longer lasting power. Natural perfumes are more fleeting, which makes them all the more special.
Writing about natural fragrances has become a multi-sensory experience for me. I visualize images, feel textures, fabrics. I see swathes of vibrant colors, patchworks of different styles of visual art. As all my senses are exercised, so too, are my emotions. Reviewing natural perfumes is an engaging and challenging experience for me, a sort of self-guided therapy with an ode to mother nature.
Ayala Sender, natural perfumer and owner of Ayala Moriel Perfumes in Vancouver, BC, describes the magic of scent: “Natural essences tell the story of where they come from. Perfume is always greater than the sum of its parts, and to me, that makes it nothing short of magic.” I wholeheartedly agree. The best natural perfumes are imbued with the soul of the perfumer; each essence painstakingly selected and sourced, hand-blended and bottled to order. Try it once, and you’ll understand why this kind of indulgence could only be natural.
Images via:
Carrie Meredith, Aftelier Perfumes, Natural Health Chiropractic