Miessence (ONEgroup) is an Australian based company who creates and manufactures the world’s first Certified Organic skincare, haircare, personal care, health care and cosmetic products. ONEgroup’s range of products stand in a class of their own by being independently certified to international food grade standards by some of the world’s most respected organic certifying organisations, namely, Australian Certified Organic (ACO), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and IFOAM (Europe).

Years ago, as in 2000, when I lived in Sydney Australia, I remembered seeing a little salon that sold the Miessence products. I think I even inquired about getting a job with the Salon and I am pretty sure it was actually with the owner of the ONEgroup company! Fast forward 10 years and they are now a company who sell all over the world.  Their products are known to be things that once you try, you never want to try anything else. So effective and incredible, that people just fall in love with the brand.

Pizza……ahhhh…………who doesn’t love pizza? As I write this I am seriously craving my Vegan Cashew Cheese pizza I tasted last Thursday.

I actually had not had a cooked pizza before this,  in a very long time, I think about 10 months actually due to them being usually super unhealthy and full of dairy!

So for me who likes to stay away from all animal products, I thought my pizza days were over. Whilst Raw pizza’s can be delicious, I still crave the cooked kind.

Otto, a super new Pizza Restaurant in London, has been open for business over the last 2  1/2 months and is the talk of town.

The restaurant, owned by Tom and Rich, who met during University, remained good friends but never imagined they would one day open a restaurant together that would quickly become such a great success.How they got to this point is q uite interesting…..

The award-winning natural and organic beauty brand MÁDARA, known for its fantastic skincare products, today launches its first ever natural and organic hair care range, which comprises of three different types of shampoo and conditioners designed to combat common hair problems. Put away your hats to reveal glossy and bouncy hair, courtesy of MADÁRA!

MADÁRA gloss & vibrance hair care collection – for normal hair

v  Shampoo (RRP £9.90): This shine enhancing shampoo cleanses and strengthens hair, while adding radiance and silkiness to your locks.  It contains linden flower and chamomile, both known to calm the scalp, as well as hop and cranberry, which nourish the hair and prevents dry ends.

v  Conditioner (RRP £9.90):  This shine enhancing conditioner deeply nourishes and strengthens hair, while helping to detangle your locks and enhance shine. Hair becomes silky smooth and easier to style. It contains linden flower and chamomile, both known to calm the scalp, as well as hop and cranberry, which nourish the hair and prevents dry ends.

Working in an office can be more than just hard work, it can be bad for your health!

Here are some tips by Frank Arrigazzi to stay healthy whilst at work!

If you work in an office make sure that you have a glass of water on your desk “only” for the radiation that the computer, and all the devices that produce waves, generate. Otherwise your body fully absorbs these emissions, which creates tiredness and health imbalances. Also, have a plant; try to find a strong one. It can also help to deal with the radiation and mitigate the amount of waves that get to you.

Drink a lot of water. Try to have a bottle close to you. If it is winter, try to drink some “hot” herbal infusions to avoid ending up feeling very cold by only drinking cold water.

Try not to breathe nicotine! The purpose of this “office lifestyle” that I’m proposing to you is to try to regain balance and harmony in your body and in your daily life. Nicotine will only produce symptomatic imbalance, although you think you are releasing some stress smoking you are doing exactly the opposite. Smoking raises your heart rate and temporarily stimulates your brain and nervous system adversely.

A few weeks ago, I said to myself, ” I really want to get into yoga, but not just go to a gym and do it, I want to learn it properly from someone who really knows what they are doing!

Well wouldn’t you know that the universe heard my request and granted me with that wish!

About a month ago, I attended a raw food party with some raw friends.  Whilst lining up in the queue, I began to chat to the people around me, they were after all, probably here for that very reason, to meet new friends!

As I gave Frank my card and he told me what he did, I thought, wow, what a cool person to come across!

We swapped details after a brief chat and both said we would be in touch.

The next day I received an email from Frank saying he would love to teach me yoga and give me some one on one lessons at my house!!!!

You can bet I was surprised and excited because it cemented yet again, if you put things out in the universe, you really do attract what you want.

I love getting beauty products sent to me to test out,  but when I get food that is sometimes even better!

I had a wonderful package arrive last week that made me want to do a little dance! Inside were some wonderful goodies from the well known ‘Gourmet Raw’ organic food range.

I first tried something from this range when I discovered Planet Organic which is near me in North London.

I was about to watch a movie and as I was slightly hungry, I knew that I had to find something fast before I got sucked into wanting the Popcorn! Luckily there was a massive Planet Organic right next door and I rushed in to find something that felt like a treat but was not going to go straight to my butt and make me sick the next day!  I chose the Cocobanana Chocolate Brownie and sat down to enjoy the movie whilst everyone around me had their big sugar and aspartame laden coke and soft drinks and munched on GMO Popcorn (yes you heard right, your popcorn at the cinema is Genetically Modified!) whilst I sat back and felt zero guilt!

This was the first time I had tried a Gourmet Raw product and I could not believe how it tasted.  What is incredible about this brand is that they do not taste RAW. This brownie had the texture of a cooked brownie, soft and chewy and dense.  I was really surprised and couldnt believe I was eating something so healthy!

They are also very rich and decadent that eating half is very filling.  I saved half of mine for later after the movie!

I learnt a VERY good lesson on the weekend, and felt that I of all people should know better. What did I do? Well, I saw the word, ‘Natural’ and assumed, like so many people do, that this product meant that it was natural.

Tom’s of Maine, have a range of toothpastes that have great ingredients, all except for one and its a very bad one!

They have Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in their toothpaste!

When I was in the shower brushing my teeth (don’t worry its a five minute shower) I had a look on the back, to see what lovely ingredients they used to make this toothpaste.  When I saw that it said Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, I nearly dropped the tube.

This was so shocking to me and got me quite angry. This misleading use of word ‘Natural’ is exactly what is wrong the beauty industry.

Sure, this particular type of SLS is not the worst one and the makers will say that its derived from Coconut which is a natural source, but after lots of reading many real natural health advocates say ZERO SLS makes a product safer.

To be fair to this brand, you can get SLS free toothpastes from their range, but I do not understand why they are not ALL SLS free?  And should they be allowed to put ‘Natural’ on the packaging when this so called ‘Natural’ ingredient is linked to cancers?

All in all, even if it didn’t have SLS in it, its not a very nice toothpaste, very chalky and tastes weird.

I don’t know why I didn’t buy a new toothpaste from my own online shop!

Always always, check the labels before you buy!

Ingredients:

Calcium Carbonate, aqua (water), glycerin, xylitol, mentha viridis and mentha piperita, chondrus crispus, Sodium Lauryl sulfate, commiphora myrrha, propolis cera.

GOOD HEMP

Fantastic news. Here’s our new dairy free alternative to milk. It’s creamy, nutty, tastes delicious and its made from hemp – really!

The world’s first shampoo with caffeine from certified organic coffee strengthens hair roots and re-activates circulation in the scalp.

Male pattern hair loss can be such a worry for some men, even young men these days are tending to lose their hair earlier than they perhaps should be.

Whilst there are some pharmaceutical based products they can use, goodness know what the side effects of those will be!

Alva Natural Cosmetics, have just released a new shampoo for this very problem!

Caffeine from organic coffee beans is the key active component in For Him ReActivate Shampoo. Its efficacy for hair loss prevention is based on an in-vitro study done where follicles were treated with a caffeine solution. It was found that caffeine blocks the effects of DHT, the hormone that causes Male Pattern Baldness and damages the hair follicles.

This is a very important subject that means a lot to me. Simply because, I was affected by paint exposure when I was young.

I applied house paint to my body as a kid for fun! Weird sense of fun, I know and god knows why I did it but it’s something that I really regret because I spent many many years getting sicker and sicker which left me with Severe depression and Chronic Fatigue. Thank goodness I am much much better now but I will certainly never be around typical house paint again.

Back when I applied it to my body, it contained Lead which is a dangerous chemical to have in your body as it effects the brain.

Whilst today, the majority of  paint’s don’t contain lead, they still contain a variety of really toxic chemicals, which is obvious because of the way it smells!

So, whenever I have to use paints, I always make sure they are free of all nasty chemicals.

Eco’s Organic Paints, are I think, the best paint company that I have come across. They have a huge range of  safe, high quailty paints for walls, floors, roofs, sheds which includes the undercoats and top coats and there is a large range of colours