Will yours be a green 2011?

With the excesses of Christmas behind us but New Year's celebrations just around the corner, this is the time to reflect on 2010 and consider what 2011 holds for us.

Most of us are getting quite good at being green and hopefully you have already been converted to organic skin care and make up!

However by doing just a little bit more, you could help 2011 be an even greener year for you than 2010.

Here are some suggestions:

• Take home plastic bottles and cans to recycle instead of disposing of them in public bins
  
  
• Don't leave your mobile charging all night - pop it on charge when you get home and it should be done in a couple of hours. Remember to turn off the charger afterwards!
  
  
• Switch to green cleaning products and buy some reusable cloths rather than using throwaway kitchen towel
  
  
• Switch to a green electricity supplier, like Ecotricity
  
  
• Set your computer to hibernate after a short period of inactivity or buy an eco button
  
  
• Sign up to a mail preference service which will remove you from junk mailing lists
  
  
• Get on top of those jobs around the house which can cause wastage - fix that leaking tap and dripping overflow pipe!
  
  
• Install a water butt linked to your guttering system and use the water for your plants or topping up your pond

Roz Savage: adventurer of the year?

National Geographic are searching for the People's Choice Adventurer of the Year and we are delighted to see that Roz Savage, ocean rower, is in the last 10.

If you haven't heard about Roz before, she is a remarkable lady who one day decided to give up the life of a management consultant and row across oceans. What's more, it is her birthday today - Happy Birthday Roz!

This year, she became the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean, a feat to build on her previous conquering of the Atlantic in 2005. To date she has rowed more than 11,000 miles and cumulatively spent almost a year of her life at sea.

Her slogan, "Rowing towards a greener future," sums up her eco ethos, and she has also been named a United Nations Climate Hero.

In 2011 she plans to row from Freemantle to Mumbai, and after that, she will brave the ocean crossing from New Jersey to London in 2012.

National Geographic - vote for Adventurer of the Year!

Green People has long supported Roz in her various adventures, supplying organic sunscreen and other ocean-friendly toiletries for her to use whilst at sea for weeks at a time.

Please join us in supporting this amazing lady by voting for her to become National Geographic's Adventurer of the Year.

Green People make-up - vote

Green People's organic make up has been put forward for the Beauty/Bodycare category of the Natural Lifestyle awards.

If you can't live without our concealer or think our powders are perfect, please vote for us!

Simply vote here by scrolling down the page and then ticking the box next to "Green People - Organic Mineral Make Up" in the Beauty/Bodycare section.

Thanks from all of us at Green People.

Are you getting your beauty sleep?

Getting a good night's sleep really does make you more beautiful, a new study has found.

Nearly everyone has stayed up late and thought the next day that they aren't looking their best but scientists have now proven this with a simple experiment.

They sent their 23 volunteers to bed for a good night's sleep - 8 hours - and photographed them the next day. The following night their sleep was restricted to just 5 hours, 2 hours less than recommended, and they were photographed once more.

They were then rated on a 1-10 attractiveness scale by members of the public.

The participants were rated as less attractive and less healthy when they were tired than when they were well rested.

Scientists from the Surrey Sleep Research Centre believe that the effects of 'beauty sleep' could be even more pronounced if the photos had been taken at a different time.

"The photographs were taken during the daytime when the biological clock promotes wakefulness.

"Can you imagine how sleep loss makes you look at night or early in the morning when the circadian clock (body clock) promotes sleep?"

Fresh mind = fresh skin

Just as the night time hours are vital for reviving your mind, they are also important for your skin.

During the night your skin 'breathes' to rid itself of waste as well as repair any damage caused during the day.

By allowing yourself a good 8 hours a night for sleep and treating your skin to a nourishing night cream, you can give your skin a boost.

Try also sleeping on your back, rather than on your side. Resting your face on the pillow in the same way every night can lead to sleep lines. Over time, these lines become etched onto the skin and do not disappear when you get out of bed.

Beeswax/berry wax vs petrochemicals

Green People is proud to use berry wax and organic beeswax in its natural skin care products instead of petrochemicals like paraffin.

They both perform a similar role - creating a protective barrier on the skin - but why should you use one over another?

Here are a few reasons:

1. Beeswax and berry wax are both truly natural ingredients. They do not need intensive industrial processing, like paraffin, which causes harm to the environment.
   
   
2. Beeswax and berry wax are both renewable resources, whereas the mining of fossil fuels cannot be reversed.
   
   
3. Beeswax and berry wax nourish the skin whilst protecting it, whereas petrochemicals create a clingfilm-like barrier that prevents the skin from breathing.
   
   
4. Beeswax and berry wax rarely cause irritation to the skin, whereas mineral oils (a form of petrochemical) are a common cause of break outs.
   
   
5. Beeswax can be certified organic (which is what we use in our natural skin care products) whereas petrochemicals never will be. Berry wax is totally natural but is not yet available in a certified organic form.

Here are some of our products which contain organic beeswax:

• Mineral make up
• Adult's No Scent SPF25 Sun Lotion
• Sensuous Body Butter

and berry wax (suitable for vegans):

• No Scent Soft Lips
• SPF15 Sun Lotion
• Aloe Vera Hand & Body Lotion

Day 12 of Advent Offers

Finally we have come to the end of our special Advent Calendar...but we've got one last treat in store.

Click the calendar to see our final special offer!

Don't forget we have free delivery until the end of the month too! (UK mainland only)

Day 11 of Advent Offers

Don't miss out on today's special offer! Take a peek behind Day 11 on the calendar now...

Day 10 of Advent Offers

Day 10 of Advent Offers has arrived and yet again, we've got a super offer for you. Click the calendar to find out!

Don't forget to check our special offers page over the weekend for days 11 and 12!

Day 9 of Advent Offers

What does Day 9 of Advent Offers have in store? Click the calendar to find out!

Anti- Aging Skin Care .Do You Need It ?

by Marion Greenfield

One of the most interesting topics on skin care is 'anti -aging skin care'. As one gets older, the natural defence of our skin (and in fact of the whole body) weakens. 'Anti aging skin care' is about protecting your skin from the negative effects of aging process. 'Anti -aging skin care' helps in maintaining a young and fresh look for a longer period of time. However, 'anti -aging skin care' doesn't end just here. Besides maintaining your looks (good looks), 'anti- aging skin care' is also about retaining the resistance to disease. Though the awareness about anti- aging has increased over a period of time, still a lot of people are unable to recognize the aging symptoms (and hence are unable to determine if they are in need of additional anti -aging skin care measures).

Here is a list of visible anti- aging symptoms that will help you in the planning and execution of your strategy for anti- aging skin care: baldness, forgetfulness, greying hair, wrinkle formation, loss of eyesight or hearing loss and menopause. The occurrence of one or more such symptoms is an indicator for upping the ante on anti -aging skin care.

Note that we are talking about introduction of additional measures for anti- aging skin care, we are not talking about starting 'anti- aging skin care' altogether. 'Anti- aging skin care' actually starts much before the symptoms of anti -aging appear. Serious anti- aging skin care is building and following a proper skin care routine much earlier in life (say in your teens). Anti- aging skin care doesn't mean adoption of any special skin care procedure but just following a normal procedure in the right earnest. Eating a lot of fruits, avoiding stress, drinking a lot of water and using natural therapies can delay the aging process.

Once the signs of aging start showing up, you should start using some additional measures in the form of anti- aging skin care products. The market is full of anti aging skin care products. In fact there are so many anti aging skin care products that they will probably find you even before you find them. Also, with age, the skin undergoes significant change. So you will need to analyse your current skin care procedure to check if it still holds good i.e. if it is still suitable for your skin.

You should remember that aging is a natural process and there is nothing that can stop it from happening. All these anti- aging skin measures just help in delaying the aging process .for a while .But NOT Forever. There will come a time when you will love the skin you are in. Below are some suggestions for Anti-Aging products that do help.

Anti- aging skin care products remind me of the song '18 till I die'. Indeed, anti- aging skin care products are very popular today; and why not, who doesn't want to look young for ever?

Talking of ant- aging skin care products, the first thing that comes to mind is vitamin C based anti- aging skin care products. These products work by enabling the synthesis of collagen (a structural protein that is found in skin). This category of anti -aging skin care products is related to anti-oxidants. Ant-i aging skin care products that are based on vitamin C are, however, posed with the danger of getting oxidised themselves (as they come into contact with air during their usage). So some anti- aging skin care products are based on the derivatives of vitamin C, which are more stable and less expensive. However, the effectiveness of such anti -aging skin care is not as much as it is for vitamin C based ant aging skin care products.

Besides vitamin C, vitamin E and lipoic acid are anti-oxidants too. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble anti-oxidant that is found in human blood and helps in building resistance against infection. Vitamin E is also known to inhibit cancer. Liponic acid is known to combat the signs of aging very effectively by reversing the skin damage caused by the aging process.

Phytochemicals form the other category of anti aging skin care products. Phytochemical are special chemicals that are extracted from plants. There are a variety of phytochemicals that are in use today. Phytochemicals prevent occurrence of cancer of certain types; these include prostate cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer. That is why they find their place in anti- aging skin care products.

Some B-vitamins like B5, B6 and B12 are also in use for anti -aging skin care products.

The field of anti -aging skin care products is vast and needs a lot of research. Though the currently available products are effective, they still have challenges to combat. Hopefully, these challenges will get resolved in due course and help get better and cheaper anti- aging skin care products.

However, anti- aging skin care products should be used only as a supplement to the natural ways of skin and body care. So, drinking a lot of water, getting a good night sleep, exercising regularly, maintaining healthy eating habits and keeping stress at bay are essential means of delaying the aging process. No anti- aging skin care product can replace them really.

And finally remember EVERYONE has their own Natural Beauty whatever their age.
8yrs to 100 yrs.
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Marion Greenfield

"How To Live Forever!"
(Or At Least Longer Than You Would Have Otherwise)
Just click here :
http://tinyurl.com/yp2hhj


About the Author

Born in London, and Born within the
Sound of 'BOW BELLS', which makes me a Cockney Sparrow.
Have been writing since I can't remember when. Am A Published Poet
And a Western Freak. (John Wayne etc)

Day 8 of Advent Offers

Day 8 of Advent Offers is here...click the calendar to see what's behind the door today!

Day 7 of Advent Offers

We are very sorry, we missed a few days of announcing Advent Offers on the blog! Don't worry - they have been live on our special offers page.

The white stuff fell heavily here last week and we have been working hard to get all your orders out as quickly as possible.

However, we are now happy to reveal what's behind Day 7 of Advent Offers:

Just click the calender to see today's offer. And don't forget - it is FREE DELIVERY! (UK mainland)

Day 2 of Advent Offers

What's behind Day 2? Click the calendar to find out!

Day 1 of Advent Offers

We are excited to announce 12 days of AMAZING offers at Green People! Each offer lasts just 24 hours, starting and ending at midnight.

It is FREE DELIVERY to all UK mainland addresses all month long so you don't have to worry if you want to order more than once!

What's behind Day 1? Click the calendar to find out!