More green and girly

Hi everyone! Fancy here!

Boys, you may want to look away!


So, by now you all know that I use the Diva Cup...not even for the environment, but for me (even thought the environmental aspects of it really appeal to me). In addition to the cup I use panty-liners. Not just for back-up, but also often at other non-menstrual times of the months when I feel like I need something extra for...um...moisture.

About 6 months ago, I started to feel very guilty aobut the waste my liners were causing, so I began to look into reusable liners. I know, a lot of you may be thinking "gross", but remember this is for back-up and everday protection, not full on menses (not that I think that is gross either, but it is a little beyond my laundry abilities, I am a big fan of Avoiding Laundry Creation).

So, I got me a nice little collection of cloth liners, and have never turned back...I am now proud to announce that my cycles are waste free. Using cloth liners is really easy, since they are not for heavy flow (though I have started to use them instead of fiddling with my cup on very light flow days at the end of my period) they do not get very soiled at all. No need to pre-wash or pre-soak them, I just toss them in the laundry bin, and wash them right along with my normal load. They go in the washer and dryer ,and since no folding or hanging is required, they really don't add to my work at all! Also, they are soft and comfy, can be used for a long time, and no more last-minute runs to the drugstore!!

There are two types of liners, winged and not. I find that the winged to tend to be heavier (except the tuition ones, see below), so I use those for days when I atually need protection, as back up for the Diva on heavy flow days, or on their own on lighter days. They do great and are very comfy, but definately bulkier than your typical lighdays and more like a pad.

As for wingless, these are more like you're average panti-liner. They come in some different sizes so I have some that are verysmall and light (for every day) and some that are a bit more heavy-duty. The only problem with these is they can fall out when you pee, so make sure to grab it when you pull down your dainties, or you may lose it in the potty (yes, I have done this...at a wedding no less!)

Anyway, I will share some of my favorite site with our faithful green readers:

Vaj-Pads (I know, gross name, but great liners, shop the in stock shop for deals!)

LunaPads (Pricey, but every size, style and design you could want...and Canadian!)

Tuition on Etsy (these are small and comfy, but with wings, so they don't go plop. Also, very very cheap!)

Other Etsy Sellers (Etsy is a great place to get home-made cloth pads for a good price!)

Pretty, yes:

This is about YOUR BEAUTY

Do you know that in our lifetime, an average woman absorbs two kilograms of chemicals from conventional beauty products? That's a tub full of antifreeze and petroleum oil poured all over your face and body. And you wonder why you just look worse after you start using makeup? It's not just the aging.

Our skin is our largest organ - and once you pay attention to the ingredients in these skincare and cosmetic products that you use on your face - you'll realize the short term gratification doesn't justify ruining your health, your beauty, and spending all your hard earned money.

This post is not about being a tree-hugger. This post is about you, your beauty and the necessary steps we need to take in order to protect yourself. And it is only common sense that our nature has provided us the best for our skin all along.

Years ago, I finally found my perfect RED LIPS in an AVEDA store. I tried the lipstick and right away - bought the lipstick and lipgloss that creates the most gorgeous red pouts I've always dreamt of since I was a little girl. I wasn't thinking about the green message that Aveda was carrying. I was simply amazed at how natural and incredible the colours come about. It was perfect... and to me, it was icing on the cake that the packaging is environmentally sound. It was wonderful to learn the ingredients are natural and actually good for me, but the most important thing was, I got the beautiful red lips that I wanted for so long.

That got my attention on Aveda, and other organic and natural beauty products.

Gone is the old era where the words "organic skin care" is the home-made lumpy oatmeals and sticky honey on your face and mayonaisse in your hair (not that there's anything wrong with it! If you are a natural natural girl, bravo!)

But like most city girls, I'm hooked on luxury products that includes all the fancy ingredients that we're convinced are necessary. Besides, there's nothing like unwrapping the beautiful packagings and conveniently glossy face powders and lipsticks. When I see matching set of pretty bottles in my bathroom, it makes me wanna spend more time to treat my face.

Recently, more and more doctors, researchers, and women are questioning and testing the over the counter skincare and beauty products - for the efficiencies, the ingredients, and whether there had been any false marketing. Intelligent women from all the world are recognizing a lot of the skincare may not necessarily be good for us.

Sure, quite alot of these over-the-counter products smell great and feels nice... but how would you feel when you find out they were all just marketing schemes to get your cash? The chemicals in these products are actually hurting you and destroying your natural beauty!

To make sure we are all investing in the right products, I employ you to join me in your future visits to the cosmetics counter. Invest in yourself, and invest in your future - by investing a range of loving products that are good for you, and is beautiful inside and out.

With these products, we can't lose.

• Care by Stella McCartney - 100% organic active ingredients - it has taken YSL Beaute 3 years to develop an organic skincare range. This brand really knows about luxury.
• Green People - natural hair and skincare products for men, women, children, and babies
• Aveda - the largest brand (funded by Estee Lauder) for natural skin care, cosmetics, haircare - organic when possible.
• Origins - full line of plant-based skin care, makeup, and body care products. It is wellness based beauty brand. It now has a very first organic line of skin care products that carries 95% organic USDA certification seal.

If you have any suggestions or ideas, please feel free to leave a comment or email C.K. at find.curiosity@gmail.com.

Green Girly Thing

Hi everyone! Fancy here!

The first "green" change I made was 2 years ago and was probably the most hard-core, and I didn't even originally make it to be green. Men, you may want to avert your eyes. Ladies, I am talking about the one, the only, the amazing...Diva Cup.

See, I started using the Diva Cup not to be green, but because the alternatives were no longer working for me. After having my daughter, I found that tampons...umm...seemed to go south as my day went on. Not very effective, or comfortable, huh? As well, they seemed to irritate my cramps. As for pads, well, I had not used them in over a decade and had no desire to go back.

In researching this problem, I kept coming across an item I had never known existed, menstrual cups, cups made of silicone or rubber that go into the vagina to catch the menstrual flow, and then are cleaned out and re-used. Unlike many women I know, the idea did not ick me out at all. Since I had used OB applicatorless tampons for years, I was accustomed to getting close and personal with my menses. So once I read about how they work, I was eager to try it and bought a Diva Cup (the common one in Canada. The Keeper, The Lunette and The Moon Cup are others you may come across) at Noah's right away, then waited eagerly for my flow to...flow.

It was love at first use, if love for a menstrual product is possible. I will admit it took me a couple cycles to get it in right quickly and easily, but following the directions really helped, and now I have no problems at all with insertions or removal.

The things I love about the cup are that it greatly reduces my cramps, stays in place, needs to be dealt with less than a pad or tampon, is clean, is affordable (about $40, that is less than a year of tampons, and it lasts 10 years!) reduces midnight runs to the drugstore, reduces overflowing toilets once a month (whoever said tampons are flushable lied...but I refused to throw them out!) . Of course, the best thing about the sups are that they are reusable so they reduce the waste that disposable menstrual products lead to, as well as the energy used for producing and transporting and endless supply to meet an endless demand for the disposable products.

To answer a few common questions:

1. Does it hurt?

No, now at all. You don't feel it. Unlike a tampon, it sits at the lower part of your vagina, so it is in the wider area, and does not press against the cervix.

2. Is it messy?

Well, if you fling it around, it may be. But with normal usage, not at all. It sits vertically, so when you remove it it stays vertical, so you can just tip it out into the toilet with no spills or mess.

3. How do you clean it in public bathrooms?

Well, I rarely have to. Most days cleaning it right before I leave the house and first thing when I return is enough. If I do have to though, I just dump some water from a water bottle in my purse into it, swish it around, and dump the water in the toilet. Voila, clean.

4. Does it leak?

Well, like any menstrual product, you have to get a feel for what it can manage and keep and eye on it on heavy days, but I have never found leaking to be a big problem and I definately find it leaks way less than tampons. I do wear panty-liners for back up (cloth ones, but that's for another post!) just in case.

Go ahead, try it! Be a Diva Like me!! Many heath food stores or natural product stores sell them, as wel as Ebay (yes, there are new ones on Ebay!)