Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Fairtrade Della Bags Connects Online Shoppers with the Women of HoeHoe, Ghana

Della Bags are a perfect compliment to this Summer and Autumn’s mad-plaid pattern-on-pattern trends. Well executed, with colorful, African-inspired motifs, they are quick and inexpensive anecdote to The Boring Tote, but crafted with a simple shape and strap so all the busyness is self-contained in a basic package, which is the key to working with extravagant colors and patterns.

Each bag is signed on the inside of the strap by one of the women-artisans of HoeHoe, Ghana who made it. This direct trade project enables the women who sew the bags to “gain financial independence by providing jobs, education, and skill training.” All the hobo bags (pictured here, and see more colors and patterns on the Della site) are made with vegan, sustainable, West African textiles.

Win Two Tickets to See The Flaming Lips from the American Express Zync Card

I’m loving my new American Express Zync card, not only cause it looks supersleek, but because it’s a charge card, NOT a credit card, which means that I HAVE to pay the bill every month (which is a good way to keep out of debt! Or at least not get any deeper, right?). I’m also a fan because I get to choose my own bennies, like discounts on green merchants (see below) and exclusive access to music events. And all cards come with American Express’ protections like replacement of lost or stolen items that are bought with the card, and automatic travel insurance.

The deal with the Zync card is that you get to put together your very own personalized card, choosing from the packs available and adding those you want (I chose the Eco pack, the Style pack and the Go pack for travel) and ignoring the ones you don’t (there’s also a Restaurant pack, a Connect pack, and more). Some of the packs are free (like the Eco one, and the Give Back that helps you hook up your favorite charities), and some of them have a fee attached, with the idea being that if you use the benefits, you will more than earn what you pay in rewards back.

This year marks SPIN’s 25th anniversary, and to celebrate, the magazine has teamed up with ZYNC from American Express to put on a series of five concerts over five nights in New York City, July 26-30. The shows will feature some of rock’s most exciting performers, including the Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins, the National, Spiritualized, and the Black Keys. Additional tickets are on sale now by visiting Facebook.com/ZYNC and are going quickly!

To win 2 tickets to see The Flaming Lips at Terminal 5 in NYC on July 27th, leave a comment below telling us which AmEx Zync pack you would choose if you got the card and why. When you fill in the comment field, it will ask for you email address. This is the address I will use to contact the winner, so use a real email. Tickets will be provided courtesy of ZYNC from American Express.

Deets and Promises: Eco Chick does not sell, lease or lend any email addresses we collect. Contest ends midnight EST, Wednesday, July 21st, 2010. Good luck!

Disclaimer: I’m consulting with American Express on this card, but I only agreed to do so because I believe in its benefits and promises, and because it’s a charge card and not a credit card.

Rock the Reactors Event at Hiro Ballroom, July 14th

Model/green makeup artist May Lindstrom holding Philips’s new EnduraLED 60 bulb for McGraw-Hill’s Green Lighting book in their Green Guru Guide series. copyright: McGraw-Hill
Photographer: Courtney Dailey

Meet Seth Leitman and Brian Howard, the authors of Green Lighting, McGraw-Hill’s new book in their Green Guru Guide series during the Rock The Reactors benefit at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City on July 14, Bastille Day, 88th 9th Av. starting promptly at 8pm.

Rock The Reactors, an anti-nuclear group dedicated to the shut down of the Indian Point nuclear power plant 30 miles North of Manhattan, which includes many ex-Indian Point workers working green jobs in the solar and LED industry, is inviting the anti-coal and anti-nuclear leadership to meet trend setters in the green fashion and design community, creating a strong coalition in support of the work done by dozens of IPSEC member organizations to prevent another catastrophic accident.

Anyone and everyone with something to say, something to sing, will have three minutes on stage. Commoners and celebrities alike. Poets, musicians, activists, dreamers, salesmen, dancers… three minutes to express your dismay, desire or involvement in shutting down Indian Point! (or BP)

Bastille Day at the Hiro Ballroom is sponsored by the Project Green Search modeling competition, in partnership with Greendrinks, GreenMUA and Global Green USA. Sonic soundscapes provided by Martin Ear. Performance by C.B. Heinemann.

For all the information on the event, sponsors, participants, visit the Rock The Reactors website and the Greenloop blog.

Skin Deep Moisture: Yamerra Shea Butter

Sun and swim leaves skin parched on these uber hot days. Recently a friend turned me onto an organic line of shea butters that leaves skin smooth and hydrated. Using organic raw shea butter, essential oils, vitamin E, and organic nutritive botanicals, Yamerra has created a homemade line of body products that provide moisture and lightly fragranced skin.

In flavours such as honey vanilla, tangerine grape, mango, and jasmine sage, these unique body butters are unlike any naturally scented creams or butters I’ve tried in the past. The honey vanilla is my favorite. There is nothing reminiscent of synthetic vanilla in this mildly woodsy blend of honey, vanilla, and jojoba.

I love to support local, small-batch production that avoids preservatives, parabens, phthalates, and artifical fragrances. Yamerra manages to avoid all the bad stuff, and you come out smelling like a jasmine sage or vanilla honey dream. Yamerra is super yum.

Summer Skin: Smooth and Gorgeous, Naturally

Don’t let summer get you melted and messy; try some natural skin care to enhance what you’ve got and keep it simple. Nature’s Basin is a new online store for natural and organic skin care products and makeup; here’s what Kendra Smith of the site recommends for the steamy months.

Wear sunscreen: It’s the number one skin care tip all year round, but especially in summer. Even with all the recent hubbub about people being deficient in Vitamin D (which the body synthesizes with sun exposure) sunscreen is essential protection. Since there are concerns about many synthetic sunscreen ingredients as well as mineral ingredients that have been broken down into nano particles, go for a mineral brand that doesn’t contain nano-ized ingredients, like SPF 30 Sunscreen from Soleo Organics.

Fake it, don’t bake it with bronzer. A mineral powder tinted to color skin like the sun instantly wakes up the face and makes you look “done” with little effort. Apply it in double C shapes on each side of the face, from the forehead around the eye to the cheekbone, and then down and around again to the jawline. You can follow up with a bit applied to the nose, if you like, since this replicates how sun falls naturally on the face. Add blush to the apples of the cheeks to complete the look. We like Christopher Drummond Natural Makeup Bronzing Powder.

Switch to lighter daily moisturizers and makeup. Increased sweat in the summer heat can make for skin that’s more supple and moist than in winter, but sometimes more clogged and dirty as well. Lighter makeup and daily moisturizer can help skin keep its natural balance. Trade foundation for a tinted moisturizer, like Suki Tinted Active Moisturizer, and be sure to keep up with your cleansing regimen.

On the other hand, continue to use the super-emollient hand and foot creams you employed to keep your skin soft in winter. Because your hands and feet are more exposed now that summer’s here, extra-moisturizing creams will keep them looking pretty. Exfoliate hands and feet first to get them ready to receive the moisture (extra dead skin can get in the way). Products to try: Weleda Birch Body Scrub or Suzanne Aux Bains Gentle Body Scrub, Weleda Organic Foot Balm, and Suzanne Aux Bains Nourishing Hand Cream.

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