Logical Harmony » Your guide for living an animal friendly lifestyle!

Jan

NYC Cosmetics is Not Cruelty Free

When it comes to drugstore beauty, we would all love to find animal friendly items at affordable prices. However, the drugstore is one of the trickiest places to find animal friendly items! One of my goals with Logical Harmony is to provide you with up-to-date and honest information about whether or not brands are animal friendly. This means completely cruelty free (as in no testing at any point during production as well as no testing on the ingredients) and/or vegan (not only cruelty free, but also not containing animal ingredients). I have learned the hard way that a lot of word-of-mouth information about brands isn’t necessarily the truth. So I verify each brand myself to make sure that readers of Logical Harmony are getting the truth.

As stated in the post How To Find Out if Products Are Animal Friendly, I consider a confusing response from a company to mean that they may not be telling the whole truth about their stance on animal testing. One company that I’ve gotten an unclear response from is NYC (New York Color) Cosmetics. I’ve seen products from this company on several cruelty free and vegan beauty blogs. But, as said before, I’ve learned the hard way that not all of these blogs verify that the brands they are promoting are actually animal friendly. Wanting to be sure that I got the truth from NYC itself, I searched their website for answers and tried to get in touch with their brand reps as well.

Posted on January 17th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
1 Comment »

Jan

Thanks For the Mention, My Life as an Esthetician!

Have you read the beauty blog My Life as an Esthetician, yet? If not, then you definitely need to! I first met Kathleen at an iFabbo event well over a year ago and have since been a reader of her blog. It’s full of great skin care and beauty tips from a really reliable source that you can trust – Kathleen is a licensed esthetician! Recently, My Life as an Esthetician featured Logical Harmony in the post What Does Cruelty-Free Mean? with coverage of the How To Find Out If Products Are Animal Friendly post.

Thanks for the mention, Kathleen!! I really appreciate it!

Posted on January 17th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
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Jan

How to Lose 5 Pounds in 5 Days

Old flame coming into town and need to de-bloat fast? See the 10 ways to drop 5 pounds by this weekend

This is a TotalBeauty.com weight loss diets article

Working out and eating right is the proper way to lose weight in the long run. But when you need to look stunning asap, look no further than this guide. These surprising tips will get you back in those skinny jeans in less than a week.

Get tips

Editor’s note: This post contains sponsored content in the form of links to a third-party website. Logical Harmony has a previously standing contract with Total Beauty. I cannot control any content provided in this article from Total Beauty or in the advertisements on their site. There may be items featured that aren’t cruelty free and aren’t vegan. Please note that many, if not all, of these items can easily be replaced in your beauty routine with items that are cruelty free and/or vegan.

Posted on January 17th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
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Jan

Reader Poll : What Brand Information Do You Want To See?

As you all know, I have an in depth process that I go through to verify that brands are truly animal friendly before I will promote them on Logical Harmony. Through this, I have confirmed that a lot of great brands are animal friendly (either completely cruelty free and/or vegan). Unfortunately, through this I have also found out that a lot of well known brands aren’t animal friendly either. Sometimes it’s a straight up confirmation from the brand, sometimes it’s a refusal to answer my questions, and other times it’s an intentional confusing answer.

I’ve been trying to just share the animal friendly brands with readers, but am now wondering if people would also like to know about the brands that they should avoid too. I really wanted Logical Harmony to be a positive toned blog, but am now thinking that it would be good to make more people aware of the brands that aren’t animal friendly. I’d really love your input on this!

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Images : WeHeartIt

Posted on January 16th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
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Jan

Sunday Link Love

Check out some of my favorite blog posts and articles that I discovered this week!

What Not To Do When Eating Vegan from FitSugar – For some reason, a lot of people seem to think that eating a vegan diet means you can somehow eat whatever you want. News flash to those people – vegan junk food is still bad for you!!!!! Use these tips to learn how to have a balanced vegan diet.
NCLA and PETA Team Up For A Rad Limited-Edition Nail-Wrap Collab from Refinery29 – Maybe I’m just stoked to see vegan beauty products in the mainstream media. Or maybe I’m stoked because I’m wearing these cute nail wraps as I type this post. Either way, check out this Refinery29 write up on NCLA nail wraps. They happen to be the only vegan and 100% cruelty free nail wraps on the market.
29 Things No One Told Me About Business from Outspoken Media – These tips can all easily be related to your blog and will help make you a better blogger.
Navy/Pink from Atlantic Pacific – I’ve been taking a break from visiting personal style blogs. The internet is just so cluttered with them anymore and I honestly find them to be more boring than inspiring for that reason. I want to see something other than 100 pictures of an individual when I visit a blog. Anyway… In recently narrowing down to the ones that actually inspire me, I found this lovely outfit post. It’s girly and classic and a bit over-the-top but totally perfect style inspiration for me.
A Clean Cut from The Beauty Department – A super simple and easy guide to help you decide how often to go in for a trim. This is something I need. The last time I got a trim was June and I’ve been cutting my own bangs ever since. In 2012, this has got to change! I’m trying to grow out my hair and I have to take much better care of it.

Images : WeHeartIt

Posted on January 15th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
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Jan

The Fastest Ways to Give Your Hair More Volume

10 Fastest Ways to Give Your Hair More Volume

Defy gravity with these hair-raising tricks

This is a TotalBeauty.com hair care article

Does your hair perpetually stick to your head regardless of how many products you use or hours you spend teasing? These professional techniques will give you that instant volume you crave. See them now.

Get volume

Posted on January 15th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
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Jan

How To Make Your Own Dry Shampoo

One product that many women can’t live without is dry shampoo. Celebs like Lauren Conrad have talked a lot about how great dry shampoo is, and if you’ve tried it before odds are that you agree. Using dry shampoo is a great way to keep your hair looking fresh in between washes. Dry shampoo is also a great way to add volume to fine or limp locks. I’ve tried several that I’ve loved, but the cost of using a commercial dry shampoo really adds up. I prefer to save them for special events now and have learned how to make my own dry shampoo for daily use. In this post, I’ll show you How To Make Your Own Dry Shampoo. Best of all, you’ll know that it’s animal friendly.

What you will need to make your own dry shampoo :

1 cup cornstarch (To be completely animal friendly, please make sure that you are buying a brand that doesn’t test on animals. Clabber Girl and Rapunzel are two great vegan corn starch brands.)
1 tablespoon baking cocoa powder. This is optional and best for people with dark hair as it will help the corn starch blend with your hair color. (To be completely animal friendly, please make sure that you are buying a brand that doesn’t test on animals. Navitas Naturals and Equal Exchange are two great vegan cocoa powder brands.)
A spare jar or old powder container. I like to use old loose powder containers.

How To Make Your Own Dry Shampoo :

If you wish to add cocoa powder in with your cornstarch, mix the two together in a bowl.
Add the powder mixture into the container of your choice.
Apply the cornstarch mixture to your hair, focusing on your roots and around your scalp. Massage it in as if you were actually shampooing your hair.
Depending on how many days it’s been since your hair had a real shampoo, you may wish to leave the cornstarch in for a few minutes.
Brush out the cornstarch mixture. A nylon bristle brush works best for this. A nylon bristle brush is the animal friendly version of a natural bristle brush, which uses animal hair. As you brush out the cornstarch, all the dirt and oil in your hair will come out with it.

Do you make your own dry shampoo? What are your tips for making it? If not, what is your favorite store bought dry shampoo?

Images : WeHeartIt

Posted on January 11th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
3 Comments »

Jan

Venus Williams Now Follows a Vegan Diet

Tennis star Venus Williams has now adapted a vegan diet. After being diagnosed with the immune disorder Sjogren’s syndrome over the summer, Venus is now eating a vegan diet for the health benefits. Not only is she going vegan, but her diet will be mostly raw vegan food as well. The former meat lover recognized that having a vegan diet could help keep her symptoms under control. In support of her sister, Serena Williams is now also eating a mostly raw vegan diet.

A raw vegan diet means that nothing is heated above 116 degrees. This helps to keep all of the nutrients in the food so that hardly any are eliminated during the cooking process. It’s definitely a great way to get the most health benefits possible out of your diet.

We hope that spending some time on a raw vegan diet is what the girls need to realize all the long term benefits of having a vegan diet. There are plenty of successful vegan athletes out there, and there are more than enough ways to get all the nutrients you need for a healthy diet. We also hope to that Venus is able to get back out on the tennis courts as soon as possible!

Source & Images : The Post Game & People Style Watch

Posted on January 9th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
1 Comment »

Jan

Sunday Link Love

Check out some of my favorite blog posts and articles that I discovered this week!

Single Serving Chocolate Chip Cookie from Vegan Heartland – The perfect recipe for when you want just one (or two… Or three…) vegan chcolate chip cookies.
8 Must-Read Organization Tips To Get Your Act Together In ’12 from Refinery29 SF – How many of us always say we’re going to be more organized this year? This article gives you some great tips to actually follow through on that this year.
How To: False Eyelashes from Cupcakes and Cashmere – This guide offers enough pictures to make it effective. I can’t wait to find some vegan false lashes and give them a try!
Sequin Photobooth DIY from Oh Happy Day -This is such a fun idea for a party! Or even everyday use as a fun way to spice up your living room and personal pictures.
10 Blog Investments Under $100 from International Fashion Bloggers – Would Sunday Link Love be complete without a post from IFB? It’s doubtful! This article gives a lot of helpful tips on things that really are worth investing in. There are only a few things I would say to do differently than this guide : learn how to make your own WordPress theme (or at least modify one) vs spending the money on it, get hosting from an affordable to reliable host like Surpass Hosting, and try using a free online photo editor like Pixlr.

Images : WeHeartIt

Posted on January 8th, 2012
Posted by Tashina
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Jan

How To Deal With Dark Eye Circles

Let’s face the facts here – there’s a reason that there is such a huge market for concealer. Many of us have issues with dark eye circles. They are one of the most annoying things to deal with because it often seems like nothing you do will make them go away. Genetics are usually the main culprit behind dark eye circles. Age also comes into play because they often get worse as we get older and our skin cells start to weaken. So while that means you might be stuck dealing with them, there are several ways to take care of your eye circles without spending a fortune.

Remember that the skin around your eyes is extremely delicate and treat it correctly. Gently remove your makeup, don’t rub your eyes, and don’t pull the skin around your eyes when applying your makeup. These small habits can all make dark eye circles worse.
Make sure that you are using a good eye cream. Beautisol’s Bright Eyed eye cream (check out my review!) is great and I also really like the Yes to Blueberries Brightening Eye Roller (review coming soon!). Reviva Labs’ RevitalEyes Serum looks like a great product too. Derma e also makes several eye creams as well. All of these products are both cruelty free and vegan.
Try green or chamomile tea bags. Brew it as normal, then let the tea bags cool (stick them in a freezer for some extra help!) and sit with them on your eyes for 10 minutes. Some say that the caffeine in green tea helps with your eye circles more, while others prefer chamomile. Ultimately, it’s up to you.
Try potato or cucumber slices. Cut thin slices of either vegetable, let them cool in the fridge, and let sit on your eyes for 10 minutes.
Stay hydrated!! Drinking more water will help with any and all of your skin woes. This also means avoiding a lot of caffeine and salt since they dehydrate you.