Friday, July 27, 2007

Random Fridays: Clear Conscience Vanity

It’s one thing to give up meat with the knowledge that it’s parts of a dead animal you’re eating but, one of the biggest surprises Brian taught me was that pretty much everything around me is made of some animal part. Even if a certain company’s conditioner wasn’t poured into a bunny’s eye, unless it says otherwise, I was probably shampooing with animal parts. While I understand that many, many people are not going to give up meat (hell, I almost caved in yesterday when I smelled the grocery store rotisserie chicken, which I used to devour on hungry after-work nights), it seems unnecessary, and kinda gross to be slathering on cow fat. I just didn’t know. I guess they have to do something with all the leftover animals parts but, if I can avoid it, I try to buy vegetarian or vegan beauty products. There are so many good ones that are pretty much identical to their animal-derived counterparts (except Pantene, which is far from vegan but is the only thing that really cuts through my tangle of corkscrew curls). Most of them can also be found in any major supermarket so no trekking to distant stores is necessary.

Nature’s Gate: I use their lotion and just found their persimmon and ginger conditioner for more than half off at Marshall’s. Readily available at big chains like Stop and Shop and Wegmans, as well as your local health food store.

Shikai: Just found their cucumber and melon body wash at Wegmans. What a concept—a cucumber melon bath gel that actually contains cucumber and melon! Lathers up nicely and smells delicious. For about 6 bucks, it’s less than the Bath and Body Works stuff and other major brands.

Alba Botanica: Their minty deep conditioner does a good enough job if I don’t allow my curls to get too dreaded. Otherwise, only Pantene will do. Pantene is some magical stuff. I don’t think I’ll give it up. Oh well, it’s an imperfect world. Alba has an extensive line that includes lip balms, facial moisturizer, and many other beauty products, none of which are animal-derived (although some may contain milk).

This weekend I'll be in Philadelphia to be a part of celebrating Brian's grandmother's 90th birthday. We're going to try to hit up Headhouse Farmer's Market on Sunday morning before I head over to my hair consultation at Juju Salon, an organic hair salon, to figure out how to layer and nourish my very long and parched curls.

1 comment:

Vegan_Noodle said...

I love the Alba shampoo and conditioner, but my favorite has to be their kukui nut lotion, it smells fantastic and is so thick and creamy. Also really like Nature's Gate toothpaste. Cool to hear about other products I haven't tried! :-)