Stevia – what’s the deal?Posted on April 29th, 2009 @ 8:13 am
I remember years ago talking to my husband’s friend about stevia as a sweetener. He had been using it but I was skeptical. It seemed outrageously expensive and hard to use (you only needed this tiny amount and if you put too much in it got too sweet). Not to mention the fact that it wasn’t approved by any health organizations. But now, word is out about this intriguing sugar substitute. It shows huge potential!
We have been trying it in our house, but we got it at Trader Joe’s and I think it is the “old school” kind. Now there is apparently a new process that isolates the sweetest of the 2 glucosides – rebaudioside A – that are found in the leaf of the stevia plant. The brand names that use this new process are Truvia and PureVia.
Now Coca Cola and Pepsi will be using stevia, and it has been used as an alternative to artificial sweeters like Equal and Sweet&Low for many years in Korea, Japan and China.
According to an article from
UC San Diego Medical Center, stevia has been used for centuries in Brazil and Paraguay for treatment of type 2 diabetes. It has almost no effect on blood sugar levels and it is natural so it is a very attractive sweetener option for diabetics, people watching their carbs and just generally people trying to reduce sugar in their diet.
In 2006 the World Health Organization found stevia to show no carcenogenic activity, and it has been used for centuries in places like South America without any apparent harmful effects. But as with everything, it should be used in moderation – and there are now ongoing studies to determine if there is any potention for long term risks.
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healthy eating ·
stevia
FREE Pucker Up!Posted on April 26th, 2009 @ 6:46 pm
This week’s sale is in celebration of a product that has gotten so many great reviews recently! Pucker Up Coconut has been featured in beauty blogs and Body+Soul magazine. Our scrub is different from most sugar scrubs that you’ll find. Not only does the lime and coconut scent smell heavenly, but the scrub is rich and thick – almost creamy – because of the blend of shea butter, apricot kernel oil and jojoba oil. So it isn’t drippy like so many other scrubs. Plus it has just the right amount of turbinado sugar to exfoliate gently and effectively.
And now, whether you are already a huge fan or you are dying to try it for the first time – here’s your chance to get it for FREE!
We will send one Pucker Up for every order of $75 or more – that’s a $22 product for FREE. And don’t worry – even if your order is under $75, we’ll send you a free 1/2 oz. sample of Pucker Up.
So get your skin into tip top shape for shorts and T’s – and as always, you can feel good knowing Garden Girl products are free of parabens, sulfates, petroleum products and phthalates!
To take advantage, simply go to:
and place an order of $75. To get the free 8 oz. Pucker Up Coconut scrub write Free Pucker Up Please in the Comments section at the very end of the checkout. If your order is under $75, then write Free Pucker Up Sample please.
Have a GREAT week!
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petroleum-free ·
sulfate-free ·
weekly discount
The Black Sheep Earth DayPosted on April 22nd, 2009 @ 10:46 am
I didn’t realize that there are really two earth days. One that was started by an activist in San Francisco named John McConnell in 1970. According to
an article by Alex Beam of the Boston Globe:
“We had Christmas and Easter,” McConnell, now 94 years old, told me. “Why don’t we have a day just for earth? We’ll call it Earth Day, dedicated to peace, justice, and the care of the earth.”
McConnell chose the spring equinox as his day – clearly because there was meaning there. But then apparently the late US Senator Gaylord Nelson and activist Denis Hayes came along and suggested that he move it to April to coincide with their “environmental teach-in”.
This “environmental teach-in” was Nelson’s brain-child that had been developing for many years. According to Nelson’s own words from his history of
Earth Day:
“At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters.”
So there are still a few who celebrate the equinox Earth Day but the media and the corporate world have glommed onto the more popular April 22nd. In
Alex Beam’s article he even points to some of the irony of the “green” companies trying to jump on the bandwagon.
What I say is why not join efforts and focus on the real end-game? Geesh – we certainly have enough environmental issues to spread around! So anyway – whatever day you choose to celebrate (or even both) – Happy Earth Day!
I’ll leave you with the lyrics of the song that my son’s Kindergarten teacher taught them in celebration of Earth Day. I have to say listening to his little voice singing it is very cute!
This Pretty Planet (a 3-part round)by Tom Chapman and John Foster
This pretty planet spinning thru space
You’re a garden,
You’re a harbor
You’re a holy place
Golden sun going down
Gentle blue giant, spin us around
All through the night
Safe till the morning light
Save 50% on Garden Girl Face Creams!Posted on April 20th, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
Your face has to take so much! On any given day it can be exposed to sun, wind, rain or snow – not to mention pollution. Oh – and don’t forget just the regular old aging process (ugh). This is why it is so vital to give it some love and pay a little attention to it. The rewards are amazing – you’ll be so glad you did!
So this week’s sale is all about keeping your face hydrated. As I always say, there are just a few simple steps that you should take each morning before you put on makeup and each evening before you go to bed to take good care of your skin: 1) Wash 2) Exfoliate (1-3x per week) 3) Tone and 4) Moisturize. (Please see the previous blog post about SPF products)
Moisturizing is the last step – and some might argue it’s the most vital. So this week we are offering our 3 face creams at drastic savings! This means you can get any of these 3 products for HALF OFF!!!!
NatureNurture face cream for normal to oily skin. NatureNurture is packed with fruit (alpha hydroxy) acids from lemon, apple, sugar cane, and orange to reduce fine lines and leave skin fresh and new. A healthy dose of hyaluronic acid helps replenish moisture deep in the skin, while organic aloe and jojoba and shea butter deeply hydrate and keep skin soft and smooth. Last but not least, Nature Nurture has tons of antioxidants from vitamins A, C and E plus green tea. You show those free radicals who is boss! This is the perfect cream for day and night use. This offer is valid on Refills as well!!
No Worries face cream for dry, sensitive or mature skin – and also for acne-prone skin. No Worries has developed an almost cult-like following among people with sensitive skin. Garden Girl understands how hard it is to find products that don’t cause redness or reactions, and we developed this product with you in mind. No Worries has the same deep moisturizers as Nature Nurture but stays away from any ingredients that might be a challenge for sensitive skin like alpha hydroxy acids. So we still have the benefits of the gentle but incredibly effective organic aloe and jojoba, plus the shea butter and hyaluronic acid. Then, we added a fabulous ingredient called Zinc PCA (a derivative of zinc) which has natural properties that help keep skin clear and free of bacteria and irritations. Oh – and don’t think we left you high and dry without antioxidants! Those are packed in there too! Not bad, eh? Give it a try and see what all the fuss is about. The Refills for this product are also eligible for the discount!
Bright Idea skin brightening cream. I get asked about this product all of the time. People wonder – is it a bleach cream? What will it do? This is what I tell them – Bright Idea is a gentle brightening cream. Using a blend of extracts from plants like mallow, cowslip, lady’s mantle, speedwell, lemon balm and yarrow this cream gently brightens skin, bringing back a glow that young skin has but that we lose as we age. This is especially effective for “mature” skin. These extracts are then blended with a highly effective combination of organic aloe, organic jojoba, shea butter and hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate and trap the moisture so you are left with soft, super hydrated skin. And because we are such big fans of antioxidants, they are in there as well! Because it is not a harsh bleach, the skin brightening occurs over time. Watch for a gradual improvement over 3 weeks or so. It has become an incredibly popular product as people try it for the first time, then are hooked!
As always – this is a great opportunity to stock up on your favorite – or try something new! To get the discount simply go to:
www.gardengirlskincare.com/facecare
then place at least one of the products above into your cart and then when you are done shopping, use coupon code
APR20
You have until SATURDAY APRIL 25th at MIDNIGHT (I’m a day late this week!)
Have a great week! And if you are in the northeast let’s do a big dance to the warm weather gods. PLEASE! This is getting ridiculous. Watching our kids sporting events (and the Boston Marathon today) in winter parkas and leather gloves is just plain wrong! C’mon sun – warm us up!
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face cream ·
face products ·
weekly discount
Officially PETA Approved!Posted on April 15th, 2009 @ 9:27 am
Yea! Garden Girl has received notification that we are officially approved by PETA and are now members of their Cruelty Free program. We were just notified so we are not yet listed on the website, but you can check out the site here:
BTW – that’s supposed to look like a smiling bunny because he’s not being used to test cosmetics. Not sure it really worked but I thought he was cute anyway. We haven’t paid the fees yet to officially use the PETA Caring Consumer bunny image so this was the substitute!
How big is YOUR footprint?Posted on April 13th, 2009 @ 5:41 pm
No, not your actual FOOT-print. But your carbon footprint. I don’t know about you but I keep hearing people talking about carbon footprints – mostly referring to businesses and celebrities trying to be “carbon neutral.” Then a co-worker sent me a link to calculate your own household’s footprint. Cool!
The link is a companion to the Low Carbon Diet Workbook – a fascinating book that helps you find easy ways to reduce your household carbon emissions. Here’s a description of the book from the website:
This “30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds” is a fun, accessible, easy to use guide that will show you, step-by-step, how to dramatically reduce your CO2 output in just a month’s time.
So they also have a calculator for you to figure out your household’s emissions – it’s easy and quick (just grab your last electric and heating bills so you know what you use per year).
I was very curious. We have a family of 4 living in a 2200 s.f. house that has been renovated so it should mostly be efficient. We have low flow toilets, a new/efficient dishwasher and a front-loading efficient washing machine. But we also have 2 boys who leave lights on all the time (grrr), we do have air conditioning and I run a business largely out of the house. We have one mini-van (bad gas mileage – around 19) and a Prius (that we use whenever possible). We also don’t take airplane trips (except for work which I didn’t calculate in).
So all in all I had no idea where we were going to come out in all of this. I was very happy to see that we did come in at just under 46000 lb – about 9000 lb below US average. Sounds good, right? Well – then I looked and saw that Germany’s average is 27700 lb per household, and Sweden’s is 14600 lb. It looks like we could make some major improvements still!
Check it out and see what you come up with:
Let me know if you do it – it would be great to see people post their results!
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going green
Weekly Sale – save 20%!!!Posted on April 12th, 2009 @ 6:37 pm
This week’s sale is just plain and simple – oh and BIG! Save 20% on ALL purchases. Yep, that means no minimum. Wahoo!
Enjoy these savings on ANY of our paraben-free, sulfate-free, petroleum-free and phthalate-free products.
That means you could save $10 on Break Free – our fantastic fruit acid gel that has been getting rave reviews from customers. Here is our description of this customer favorite:
Break free of breakouts and other skin irritations. This is some serious dermatologist-grade stuff! It’s a straight shot of fruit acids that removes the outer layers of damaged or thickened skin leaving your face fresh, clear and smooth.With prolonged use, Break Free has been found to be beneficial in improving dry skin, in treating age spots, improving oily and acne prone skin and decreasing fine lines and wrinkles.
We have found that it works well not only for oily or acne-prone skin, but also on skin that is flaky and dry. It removes dead skin cells and reveals incredibly soft and smooth skin. And with a 20% savings, this is a great time to try it out!
OK – so here’s how you can get this 20% savings on your order. Simply go to
and place your order between now and Friday April 17th at midnight. Then when you check out, use coupon code APR13. Enjoy! And have a great week!
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weekly discount
Weekly Sale – A Customer Favorite!Posted on April 5th, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
This week’s sale is one of the most popular – FREE SHIPPING on any order! We bring this offer out every month or so – and I have to say, I have been seeing it all over the place these days. It seems like every other day I get a free shipping offer from Land’s End and LL Bean. Times are tough, for sure – and I think everyone likes to avoid paying shipping charges!
So take advantage and replenish what is running low, try something new, or replace products that have been open for awhile. If you read the green tea posting below you’ll know that products – particularly face care products – that have been open for 3 – 4 months or more begin to lose their effectivenss as their active ingredients have begun to deteriorate. (This is true for all products, not just Garden Girl) So this would be a great time to take stock of what you have that has been around for a few months and think about replacing it.
And because Garden Girl products are all free of parabens, sulfates, petroleum products and phthalates you can feel good about what you buy!
APR6
Well – tomorrow is Opening Day for the Red Sox and I have to say the Garden Girl house is all excited. We can’t wait to go to our first game of the season! Go Sox!!
Have a great week – and enjoy the guilt-free shopping.
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one day sale ·
weekly discount
Giveaway WINNER!Posted on April 4th, 2009 @ 11:10 am
My son just reached into the football helmet that held all of the entries from our giveaway and pulled out our WINNER!!
Congratulations to Edean! She has chosen You’re Fresh herbal cleanser with tea tree oil, Even Ste(pH)en toner with skin-firming DMAE, and Nature Nurture face cream with alpha hydroxy acids and organic herbal extracts.
Hopefully she sees this so she can get back to me to give me her address etc. So Edean – please email us at info*at*gardengirlskincare*dot*com.
YEA! Check in next month – I think I’m going to make this a monthly-ish thing!
