The JOON Blog

I’m a member of CEW, Cosmetic Executive Women, an organization that was founded in the 70’s to “promote the contributions of women in the cosmetics industry.”  Their mission now includes “education, philanthropy and industry development.” (remember this, because I’m going to come back to it a little later!)  It is a wonderful organization filled with women who have made incredible achievements and contributions to the cosmetics industry.  I often get upset that I don’t live in NYC or LA where many of the incredible events that CEW puts on take place.  For example, Christina Carlino, founder of Philosophy, will be speaking about building a beauty brand in Santa Monica on June 15th.  Too bad I live way across the country!  How I’d love to hear about her accomplishments and how she started from scratch and grew the business into a renowned beauty brand.

I could go on and on with wonderful things to say about CEW, but I have to speak up about something that I wasn’t so pleased with.  Each year companies can enter products for the CEW Beauty Awards which “recognizes the most innovative beauty products of the year”.  I had been waiting with baited breath for the announcements of the 2010 winners.  First, I was curious to see whether or not there was going to be a new brand for young girls!  (always keeping an eye out for competition!)  Second, I was curious to see who was doing what in the natural space given all of the information that we’re now armed with and the dialogue about many of the toxic ingredients in conventional beauty products.  So, when I go back to the CEW’s mission of “education and industry development” I have to ask myself why “natural” is missing from the education track.  Maybe it’s not?  Maybe I’m missing something?  And, when I think of “industry development”, I think of progress.  How is the industry progressing  not only to expand as an industry, but to meet changing consumer demands in this new progressive environment in which we live.  How is it responsibly progressing?  Imagine my surprise when I saw the list.  I checked out the finalists (not the winners) and saw that a couple of the biggies were on the list – Burt’s Bees (yay!), Aveda (LOVE!), Yes to Carrots. But, none emerged victorious.  Now, I’m not a judge so I’m not privy to the judging criteria, but as far as innovation goes, in my opinion, these are the companies that are innovating.  They are the ones who are creating products that are setting the standard for what I believe will be there norm in the future.  That future may be 5 or 10 years off, but it is the future, nonetheless.  Feel free to check out the site to see winners.

https://www.cew.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?webcode=CEWBAWList&Reg_evt_key=b70c321f-d7c7-4891-96e9-cbe19a3eff63

I’m disappointed because the CEW is made up on industry leaders, people who should be at the forefront of this conversation.  Perhaps I should hop on a plane and fly to NYC or LA to see what the conversations are really about and voice my opinion.  That’s how things happen, right?  It has to start somewhere.  If there are any women at Burt’s Bees, Aveda or Yes to Carrots who would like to join me, I’d appreciate the help!

Hopefully this post won’t preclude me from ever winning a CEW Beauty Award!

I’m back from the Greening Our Children luncheon that was held in Connecticut yesterday and I’m on even more of a mission to spread the word to all you moms out there about doing the best we can to provide our children with the safest and healthiest environments.  That is our job primary job after all – to keep our children safe and guide them to grow up to be healthy and productive individuals who contribute to the whole of society.   It starts with us and it starts in our home.

Over the past few years, I have been immersed in research about the effects of toxins on children.  But, my access to research is limited – first off, I’m a mom, not a doctor or epidemiologist; second, though the internet is vast, it doesn’t necessarily provide me with all of the cutting edge research studies that have taken place or are imminent.  So, yesterday I listened intently.

Dr. Phillip Landrigan presented to the group of 400 – yes, 400 people in attendance, mostly moms! – “The Exquisite Vulnerability of the Developing Human Brain to Toxic Chemical Exposures”.  Dr. Landrigan pioneered research on lead toxicity that led to the removal of lead from gasoline and paint.  His credentials are amazing!  Now, he is focusing his studies on chronic diseases that our children face that are on the rise- obesity, ADHD, asthma, diabetes, pediatric cancer.  Medical studies have shown that exposure to certain environmental toxins contribute to such chronic illnesses.

On a personal note (some would vilify me for sharing information about my son on the internet, but I think it’s pertinent to the dialogue and important for moms to know)…my son was “diagnosed” with a gross motor developmental delay.  To make a long story short, my husband and I, as well as his teachers, noticed that he was “awkward” or clumsy in his movements.  He has excellent verbal skills, and we noticed that he was basically getting out of doing certain activities that were difficult for him by talking his way out – a compensatory strategy that he developed.  We had him evaluated by an occupational therapist who confirmed that he did, in fact, have issues with the integration of his vestibular system and gross motor skills.  But why?  He’s a perfectly healthy child, he’s bright, he reads, he writes (and he literally just turned 5), he plays tennis pretty well, he skis.  But, still, he has a deficiency, for lack of a better word, that definitely needs intervention.  Again, why?  After yesterday’s luncheon, I’m convinced that there are environmental factors at play.  According to Dr. Landrigan, there has to be a perfect storm, so to speak, for an issue or illness to arise – (1) exposure to environmental toxins (2) genetic vulnerability or predisposition (3) timing.  My son is 5.  As I mentioned in a previous post, there wasn’t a loud dialogue around toxins when he was born.  I was a first time mom, thinking I was doing everything right.  I shopped at Whole Foods as a novelty – back then, it was a pretty nice shopping experience.  (It still is, but it’s now one with a purpose.)  I don’t recall there even being BPA free bottles.  I made all of his food from scratch, but didn’t focus my efforts on organic ingredients.  Fresh and homemade was top of mind.  I even slathered cream on my pregnant belly several times a day to prevent stretch marks.  And, it certainly wasn’t by any means natural.  So in went all the phthalates, SLSs, and whatever else that was in all those creams I experimented with every single day, multiple times a day.  Who knows what was coursing through my bloodstream.  Perhaps he had (or has) a vulnerability to toxins. Certainly, there was exposure.  And, as far as timing goes, we do most of our neurological development from birth to early childhood – so talk about timing.  Now, he has an issue that stems from a neurological “glitch”, so to speak.  Granted, it’s something that therapy will “fix”, but it gives me pause as a mom.  A feel a tinge of guilt, but I realize that I can’t allow that to hold me back.  I must move forward and do what I can with the knowledge that I am now armed with to continue to guide my children through childhood to early adulthood so that they can continue to lead healthy and productive lives.

I am going to continue to follow the studies conducted by Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center led by Dr. Landrigan and continue to educate myself.  Every day there are more and more findings that we moms need to be aware of.  We need to begin taking small steps.  Perhaps that means clearing our kitchens of plastics and replacing them with safer alternatives such as glass.  Maybe that means shopping only on the outside aisles of our grocery stores and staying out of the center aisles, which are filled with processed foods.  One step at a time.

We all need to become activists on behalf of our children.  This conversation needs to become as loud and popular as last night’s results of American Idol. You will hear more from me on this topic, I promise.  This is not about guilt, it’s about moving forward as a society.

I get lots of comments on these posts, but I’d really like to hear from you on this one that is so incredibly important.  I’d love for you to respond with ideas of ways (just tell me and our readers at least one way), that you can work towards making a change.  We can all learn from each other.  Let’s keep the dialogue going.

One of my all-time favorite books is On Beauty by Zadie Smith.  Now, the plot has nothing to do with my post, but I just love the title so much and that I think it warrants a bit of re-purposing for this blog post.   A little creative license on my part:-)

My thoughts on motherhood.  First, it’s certainly not easy.  The day-to-day can get you down or, most of the time, leave you feeling simply spent.  On top of your real job, you’re required to raise a baby, child or teenager into a respectable, honest, caring, empathetic, strong (of mind, body and spirit), smart adult.  Oh, and it’s also your job to keep this child safe from harm, teach him/her right from wrong…shall I continue?  I’m sorry, but all of that is much more difficult that launching a successful business, if I do say so myself.  Every day, I question whether or not I’m doing the right thing.  Have I made the best decisions for my children?  Are they happy?  (because at this age, their happiness is pretty much dependent upon me, right?)  Am I the best mom I can be?  Am I too hard?  Too soft at times?

Through all of this hard work and doubt, I find beauty.  I find beauty in figuring it all out for myself.  I am, after all, trying to raise two individuals who can do just that – figure out how to best navigate life.  I find beauty in the “time outs”.  I can’t believe I just said that, but it’s true.  I can sit and reflect, and sometimes chuckle (depending on the crime), about the lessons that I’m instilling in my children.  I find beauty in the laughter that I hear from my children multiple times on a daily basis.  It’s validation that I am raising them to smile, laugh, be happy, enjoy life.  I find beauty in my son saying “May you please help me?” instead of “Will you…”  I find beauty in the small things every day and I make a point to mentally celebrate them each and every day.

I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful Mother’s Day.  I know I did!

P.S. If you follow this blog, you’ll get it when I say, “Don’t we all look a bit ‘whiter shade of purple’?” in that photo.  (ha ha!)

I picked up the latest issue of Cooking Light while standing in the check out line at the grocery store.  The cover images always look so amazing and I feel compelled to buy the magazine with the thoughts that I, too, will make this delicious meal for my family.  (Unfortunately, the recipes for those cover images rarely appear in the 30 minute dinner section, which are the only recipes that I usually have time to make!)  When I got home, my daughter was napping and my son was in the pool with my husband, so I had a few minute to sit down and breathe and read, a rare treat!  I came across an article entitled “Good News:  You can ease up on superfoods – What’s hyped isn’t necessarily healthy, and the fuss about “super” nutrients is much ado about…not much” Really? Because for the past few years, all I’ve been hearing about and seeing are top 10 lists for the best superfoods.

Well, if you’re not eating superfoods (acai berries, green teas, etc) or you’ve simply missed the conversation, no need to worry.  As the article said, “the superfood concept suggests a magic way to get the nutrients you need”.  And, as we all know, there are no magic bullets in life.  There’s no magic diet pill, no magic success pill…we just have to do things the old fashioned way – hard work and careful planning.  I got caught up in all the marketing about superfoods.  Shame on me!

Here are a few highlights from the article that I feel are important to share: (verbatim from the article)

1.  The humble canned bean has loads of antioxidants – which are often the focus of superfood virtues – plus lots of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.  But I don’t see Great Northern beans edging out goji berries anytime soon.

2.  Antioxidants are the focus of a lot of superfood hype.  Substances that inhibit cell damage caused by oxidation are thought to play a role in the prevention of many diseases.  But, science has a hard time saying which of these substances help the body, and in which quantities, let alone isolating a single one for superpower.

3.  Less-hyped (but more fully researched) antioxidants, like vitamins A, C, and E, don’t receive as much love.  Think, grapes, cherries, blueberries, and wine.

4.  The FDA sent a warning letter to POM Wonderful for making disease-prevention claims – not on the labels of pomegranate juice, but on the POM web site.

So, let’s get back to basics.  Let’s stop buying into the hype and pull out our old food pyramids that show us that it’s about variety and nothing more or less.

I believe that there is a parallel here to body care, as well.  There are so many claims made and so many ingredients that are hyped and research just doesn’t bear out that we’re going to benefit from them.  When we formulated JOON, we went back to basics. We followed the ingredients guidelines set forth by the Natural Products Association to ensure that our products met their standards.  We used ingredients that would make our products work – our washes lather, our sparkle shine (naturally, of course) and our products smell good.  For little girls, it’s about the basics.  It’s about establishing good routines and knowing what to avoid – what’s actually bad for you.  Along our journey, many people gave us advice – a product with acai berry would sell like hot cakes because that’s all the rage.  But we’re not about being all the rage.  We know that what you put on your body works in concert with what you put in your body.

On May 13th, I will be attending the third annual Greening Our Children luncheon in Connecticut.  Their mission is ” to gather like minded people and to educate others on the effects of environmental toxins which have been proven to cause life threatening illnesses in children and adults.” My sister is involved with the organization – she’s pretty hard core when it comes to all things green for her daughter – and was kind enough to invite me to the event.  Throughout the years of developing our JOON products, and just from being a concerned and, admittedly, overprotective mom, I’ve learned so much about what’s good for our children and what’s not.  There are so many things that are coming to the forefront of conversation and consciousness that weren’t even considered just a mere decade ago.  In fact, I remember that there wasn’t  a strong dialogue about BPA and phthalates just five years ago when my son was born.  Now, it’s all over the news and now we certainly know better – we know that there can be (are, I believe) chemical connections to a host of developmental problems and illnesses that could potentially effect our children.  I know what I know and I don’t know what I don’t know.  And, every day I learn more.  I’m very excited to hear the perspective of the medical community about the consequences that our children face.  There are so many groups out there who have an opinion and perspective, but I believe that those who are treating and studying the actual effects of environmental factors, ingredients, products that we consume, etc. will not only inform me as a parent, but will inform our company and our future product development.  I look forward to sharing with our JOON Girls, Moms and followers the information that’s out there that we all should be armed with.  To learn more about Greening Our Children, visit http://greeningourchildren.wordpress.com/about/.

Thanks for the invite, sis!

When I first had the idea for JOON, I gathered a group of tween girls to get their feedback.  Why bother moving forward with the idea if girls simply weren’t interested, right?  We had a pretty interesting conversation about age (what it means and how it feels to be a young girl), beauty (how they define beauty because at the end of the day, it’s all about them), body image, fitting in, the environment, natural products, etc.  I was amazed by their perspective and eloquence.  Sometimes getting young people to talk is like pulling teeth, but these girls willingly opened up about themselves, their lives and the products they use (or would like to use).

As I review products on this blog, I always find myself wanting to send products for girls to our panel to try out and give their feedback and opinion.  But, when I go to the store – whether it’s Target, Whole Foods, or even tween retail stores in the mall, I can’t find anything.  Literally, there’s NOTHING available to the masses  (specifically for girls) that’s natural and free of the NO-NO ingredients (parabens, petrochemicals, phthalates, sodium laurel/lauryl sulphates) for me to pick up. It’s not that we don’t have competitors; we do have a handful who are available solely online, in limited distribution or trying to get distribution.  I have to say that I am surprised that mass retailers aren’t seeking out healthy products for young girls.  We all seem to underestimate the intelligence of the very young.  They are smart, they are savvy and they are growing up in a world where the word “green” isn’t a trend or a category, but a way of life.  If I go to mass retailers and look for products for tween girls I can easily find a rack of Lip Smackers, some sparkly body cream (sans the natural mica for sparkle), or maybe a Hanna Montana body care or make up kit for girls.  When I was a kid, i used Lip Smackers and made perfume with my Barbie perfume maker, but that was because we didn’t know any better.  There wasn’t a dialogue about things such as parabens or petrochemicals.  But, now we do know better, but the selection hasn’t seemed to change much.  I long for (and am working my hardest toward) the day where I walk in a Target or any other mass retailer and alongside the other products, there is an alternative – there is a world of JOON – body care, skin care, sustainable clothing, accessories.

My quest continues to find an affordable natural product for adult skin.  Yes, I know that JOON is for young girls, but this site is for the girls and their moms.  And, let’s face it moms, we all need something good for our skin, too.  Before heading out to the store, I decided to do a little research first.  I happened upon MyChelle Dermaceuticals and it received great consumer reviews.  I made my weekly trip to Whole Foods to stock up on my essentials and took a stroll through the Whole Body section.  I have to take a brief moment to commend Whole Foods on their selection of health and body care products.  Much better than my experience at Sephora or my local CVS.  (One comment, though, it would be nice to have everything organized by brand as opposed to category.  My Weleda Rose Day Cream is in one section and my Weleda Rose Body Wash in another.  Sure I can walk to the next aisle, but I’m just sayin.)

Anyway, back to MyChelle.  I found the MyChelle products and was so excited that each product had a tester so I could smell and feel the product before buying.  I love natural products, but I’m really not a fan of hippie, for lack of a better word (and certainly not to offend) scents.  Unfortunately, most natural products smell a bit too earthy for me.  I’m outdoorsy, but I’m still pretty girly and I like to smell that way.  I purchased the Fruit Enzyme Scrub, Pumpkin Face Wash (creamy, just like JOON Happy Face Wash!) and Fabulous Eye Cream.  I’m pleased to say that I didn’t spend a fortune on these products and I’m excited about all of the  yummy ingredients.  I’ll keep you posted on how they work.  Off to wash my face!!!

As a “tween” or a teenager, finding a good role model or something to aspire to can be pretty difficult.  One thing that really inspires me to do things and look at the world from different views is people. Just the other day, I read an essay that Natalie Portman, an actress, had written about a book she read. The book was about why humans shouldn’t eat animals. What she had said was really powerful and it made me think. Since then, I decided to cut back on my eating of red meats (I could never give up chicken.) I’m sure plenty of girls say that Miley Cyrus or Demi Lovato inspires them because they want to become singers and actresses just like them. Maybe inspiration comes from the little things in life. It’s also possible that a movie director finds the plot of his movie simply by sitting in a coffee shop, quietly observing others.  You never know what can be thought up from something so simple!

I woke up at 4:15AM on Saturday morning to get ready for my first duathlon (run, bike, run).  It was completely dark outside, yet there were men, women and children (yes, children!) of all ages readying for the start of the race.  I found my place in the transition area and set up my bike and my gear and waited for the race to begin.  About 5 minutes before race time, my family arrived just in time to see  the start.  I needed all the support I could get!  But, enough about me!

What was truly inspiring were all of the kids who were racing.  I’m not sure how old the youngest participant was, but by the looks of it, it seemed like there were kids as young as 7 on the race course. As I was finishing my final run, I saw kids riding their bikes toward the finish line.  I so badly wanted to post a photo of the kids starting the race, but I didn’t want to do so without the permission of the parents.  (getting permission would be impossible as I have no idea who these kids are!)  But, I want them to know what amazing role models they are to kids and adults, alike.  Let’s all raise  a glass of apricot lemonade (ha ha!) to these incredible kids, their parents, and to all who participated in the race.

Last Easter ended with a visit to the emergency room. Hmmmmm…what could have possibly happened?, you may wonder. Well, my son ate too much candy – that’s right…there is such a thing! – and we awoke to the sound of him vomiting…IN HIS SLEEP! Very scary for a parent. My husband thought maybe he put a poisonous plant in his mouth at a play date that he had. Nope. It was simply a case of too much candy. An egg hunt at school (plastic eggs filled with candy) followed by a class party (not sure what they ate because I was at home on strict bed rest) followed by a play date where I’m sure some more sweets were had by all. So, this Easter, Andros (my son) told me that he no longer celebrates Easter. He still hasn’t forgotten the trip to the hospital in the middle of the night. Fine by me. I absolutely allow my son to eat sweets, but in moderation. One piece of chocolate, a cupcake every now and then. We certainly don’t deny ourselves. But, our pantry has never seen a box of sugar cereal, boxed cookies, etc. We eat and snack healthily, but do allow for an occasional indulgence. You may wonder what I’ve been feeding my daughter from the looks of her thighs. I assure you that this child eats better that I do!  Everything is made from scratch – broccoli and cheese, sweet potatoes, chicken and rice, cauliflower w/ tomato and cheese sauce (amazing!), lots and lots of fresh fruits and milk. Not a single sugary sweet as touched her lips. But, she will have a cake for her 1st birthday!

So, instead of egg hunting, we spent the day at the beach basking in the sun (for the vitamin D, of course!), digging holes and burying each other, shelling, and just enjoying our time together. No big brunch for us. No giant chocolate easter bunnies. Just time together. I couldn’t ask for a better Easter.