I’ve never understood the desire to chemically straighten one’s hair, perhaps because my wavy locks can go either way, and natural tricks for my hair type work just fine. Even so, many curly-haired friends have paid a bundle for this service, which promises to leave your tresses looking lovely for months. As the popularity of the treatment has grown, so too have the concerns. Some of the chemicals found in the products are linked to not so eco-sexy health risks including birth defects and spontaneous abortions.

A growing body of scientific evidence indicates there is reason to worry about chemicals found in salon products. According to Women’s Voices for the Earth, an activist organization in the US, there is an ‘ugly side to this kind of beauty’.

“One recent study has shown that nail salon workers have higher levels of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), a reproductive and developmental toxicant, than the general population. Another study found that beauticians and hairdressers are likely to have significant exposure to solvents that are linked to birth defects. Other studies have found cosmetologists are at a higher risk for having spontaneous abortions and low birth weight babies.”

Part of the problem is that many of the products like the Brazilian Blowout are unregulated in the United States and other countries. It is banned in Canada, France, Germany, Australia and Ireland.

The Brazilian Blowout company settled with the California Attorney General in 2011, and it is now required to state on package labels that the product contains formaldehyde. However, the products remain on the shelves and a class action lawsuit by salon workers has been filed both in the U.S. and Canada.

We were unable to find any references to similar concerns in the Middle East.

Image of beautiful hair by Shutterstock

Read More Health and Beauty News:
RECIPE: Eco-Sexy Summer Solstice Lip Balm (Natural)
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The author is a regular contributor to Greenprophet.com and blogs at www.tinamariebernard.com.

The post Are Brazilian Blowouts Putting Kinks in Health? appeared first on Green Prophet.

The beard that saves. Judaism, Christianity and Islam encourage faithful believers to grow an environmentally friendly beard. Now with added eco-value.

Beards are timeless. Eons ago, a beard was an integral part of manhood for religious reasons and in the 21st century it still carries a sign of religiosity. We have seen the most iconic faces sport a stylish beard and the trend is still being passed down from father to son, generation to generation. Now that we know in Islam, the beard is in pursuit of a prophetic tradition, the question you’ll no doubt ask is, “Well, how is that connected to saving the environment?”

Growing a beard protects the earth’s resources by firstly cutting back on excessive water usage, currently a dwindling source of life in the Emirates. Although society promotes a clean-shaven look, growing a beard eliminates a need for not as eco-friendly grooming products. Ask yourself, is my bathroom eco-conscious? A properly maintained beard is also conducive to increased hygiene (in most men).

To encourage bearded living, Budweiser’s ‘Grow One. Save A Million’ campaign was an annual celebration of World Environment Day, 5th June, focusing on water management.

By asking adult men across America to not shave, the ‘Grow One. Save A Million’ program enabled consumers to save 5 gallons of water for each shave they skip.

“Every gallon of water that we save makes a difference to our communities, so when thousands of people get together for one common cause, great things can happen,” said Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands & Waters and the face of the program on Budweiser’s Facebook page.

“By pledging to skip shaving and ‘grow one,’ guys can literally wear their commitment to conserving our most valuable natural resource.”

Such environmentalism has a core place in the Islamic worldview of aesthetic harmony. A Muslim’s personal hygiene is easily incorporated in his daily routine of ‘Zuhd’ – an Arabic term loosely translated as ‘living lightly on the earth’, which defines how our low ecological footprint secures a healthy planet. Even ‘greywater’, the waste water after a shave, is recycled.

So, how is growing a beard eco-friendly?

• The average home uses nearly 11 gallons of water a day from running taps alone (faucets) and the average shave can use more than 3 gallons of water. Cutting out a morning shave significantly reduces this amount.
• Replacing brand named grooming products for environmentally friendly cleaners such as natural beard care shampoos means a beard produces ‘healthier’ waste into our water systems.
• Not only does a beard reduce product quantity and water used, it will reduce you annual bill, meaning it’s more affordable to maintain. FTW!

And to my sisters – recruit your men to save one, grow one!

Take more enviro-action:
Knit Your Own Sustainable ‘Sunnah’ Beard
How To Live A Car-Free Existence
6 Tips for Conserving Water in Israel and the Middle East
How To Wash Your Car In A Water-Parched Desert
Go Green This Ramadan – 6 Steps

The post Grow a beard – save a million gallons of water appeared first on Green Prophet.

“In that pure moment of orgasm, nobody thinks of their utility bills,” jokes relationship experts and Tantra practitioners, Ben and Efrat, world-renowed teachers who reside in Israel.

A two part series on sustaining love with sacred sexuality

Ben and Efrat are world-renowned relationship coaches who incorporate a deep knowledge of tantra in their practice with couples, individuals and small groups. Perhaps best known to non-practitioners of sacred sexuality as the relationship experts on a 2010 episode of the Israel version of The Bachelor, Ben and Efrat have created a new series of at-home CD based lessons of love: Tantra Nights to Remember: Guided Intimate Evenings for Couples.

Intrigued by their emphasis on “Touching love through loving touch,” I recently asked them to share their philosophies with the readers of Greenprophet.com. In particular we explored the connection to the newest philosophical expression of love – eco-sexuality – with one of the world’s oldest: Tantra. Below is part One of our two part series on sustaining love with sacred sexuality.

Greenprophet.com: Tantra is an ancient practice that intuitively seems connected to the values of sustainability and caring for oneself, one’s beloved and the planet. In your opinion, how is Tantra ‘eco-friendly’ and eco-sexy?

Ben and Efrat: When viewing the world through the Tantric spectacles, we believe Tantra is one of the most eco-friendly principle based systems. The idea of eco-* came into life when scientists began to realize in the early phase of the previous century that natural systems are not separate, but are inter-related with each other. The emergence of the ecological idea was slow at first, because it relied on intellectual concepts that required research based evidence.

Relatively speaking, the evolutionary process of the scientific basis for ecology was very slow. It is only in recent decades that quantum physics reveals an eco-based universe in levels, which are far deeper than the whole organism level.

Greenprophet.com: Please explain the Tantric Principle of One, and how it relates to the principle of sustainability.

Ben and Efrat: Tantra is based on the idea of a total eco-system. The most elementary concept of Tantra is the principle of the one, which determines that the creator and the creation are one in all aspects, including the physical aspect.  If the creator is sacred and all is one, then everything must be sacred or the principle of the one is broken and duality is introduced.

If one lives by Tantric principles, one understands the eternal nature of the ever-expanding creation. One of the many meanings of the word Tantra is “expansion”. In Tantra’s view, we are eternal, sustainable beings who keep coming on and off the Samsara – the everlasting wheel of life and reincarnation.

For a Tantrika (one who practices Tantra as a holistic set of principles for life) if you harm a flower, you have harmed the entire Universe.

Tantra is a life of total freedom. Freedom is one of the highest values for Tantra, because without freedom there is no expansion.  Practicing total freedom while avoiding any harm to the environment is the ultimate dream of any eco-supporting person.

Greenprophet.com: Tantra has a very ‘sexy’ reputation in many minds. Please comment on the sexual aspects of Tantra, including the experience of orgasm, and how these might relate to eco-sexuality.

Ben and Efrat: Tantric sexuality has many aspects. The ideas are derived from the principle of the one. Again, we are looking at the eternal desire to reach enlightenment (and get off the wheel of Samsara).

The most basic observation is that throughout a very deep and loving bonding between two persons, one’s partner becomes a mirror to one’s inner or higher self. Since all is one, that is also a mirror to the divine and to the entire Universe. Hence, Tantric sexuality is an open gate, a shortcut to obtaining enlightenment.  In other words, it is a manner of binding and uniting with the entire Universe.
What can be more eco-sexy than that?

The idea behind Tantric view on orgasm is not very far from that either. It has been observed that the precise, pure moment of orgasm, is actually a deep meditative moment. It is a moment in which one is in total connection with the divine energy and the entire Universe.

We jokingly claim that in that pure moment of orgasm, nobody thinks of their utility bills.

If this is so, then extending the moment of orgasm will extend the period of time of total connection with the divine. This is the ground for establishing methods for extending the energetic-spiritual phase of orgasm to as much as possible. It is also the source for the myth, which is widespread in the Western world, that Tantra equals a method for avoiding premature ejaculation.

So again, Tantric sexuality is all about sustaining the ability to be in a total connection with the entire eco system, which is actually the divine itself.

For more information about Ben and Efrat and their program, Tantra Nights to Remember, please visit the website and let them know that you read about them at Greenprophet.com.

More eco-sexuality news:

Sex Up Sustainability: Five Ways to Make Love to the Planet in 2011

The Ecology of Sustainable Love

Making Love with the Five Percent Rule

Tinamarie is a regular contributor to Greenprophet.com. You can follow her on @ModernLoveMuse and facebook. She blogs at www.tinamariebernard.com. Photo credit: Ben and Efrat

The post INTERVIEW: Eco-Sexuality of Tantra with Israeli Relationship Coaches and Couple, Ben and Efrat (part 1) appeared first on Green Prophet.

Your green love columnist at Green Prophet wants to give readers a simple gift this year: a recipe for an eco-sexy lip balm you can make in your own kitchen.

All you need is sweet almond oil, rose petals, rose absolute and beeswax. Choose organic ingredients if you can and prepare your lips for healthy and sweet kisses.

Recipe:

In a double boiler pour 1 cup + 1 oz sweet almond oil.

Add 1/4 ounce of dried rose petals.

On low heat infuse rose petals for 1 hour.

Remove from heat, and strain the oil.

Put the infused oil back into the cleaned double boiler and melt into it 1 3/4 ounce grated or small cut beeswax.

When the beeswax is completely melted remove from heat

Add a few drops of rose absolute.

We suggest you store this in a small glass jar, and keep it near your bedside to use before you go to sleep. Rose essence used in Middle East cooking (prepare your own rose essence here) has long been used as an aphrodisiac because it’s scent reduces anxiety and helps calm lovers who may be feeling anxiety. Contrary to popular belief, Roses aren’t an English contribution to matters of love and gardening. The rosebush actually finds it’s origins in the Middle East.

The Middle East Connection

Roses originally came, not from England, but either from the Middle East or from China via the Middle East. From BellaOnline comes the following historical account of how a rose by any other name still smells sweet all the same:

The rose is a common motif in early Persian and Babylonian art. Written records of roses go back to 3 to 4 thousand years ago to tablets found in modern-day Iraq. Rose oil for perfume has been made in Iran since ancient times and Cleopatra is reported to have soaked the sails of her boat with rose perfume so that the winds would become love drunk and do her bidding. Persia (Iran) today is still famous for it’s rose water and rose oil. Even today, the Kabba is washed annually with Iranian rose water.

In the language of flowers, Roses symbolize love and beauty…This flower symbolism actually comes from Persia, via Turkey to Victorian England where it was popularized throughout Europe and the Americas. (source)

Read more Eco-Sexy posts:
GM Foods Shrinking Sexual Health in a Womb Near You
The Ins and Outs of Eco-Friendly Vaginal Lubrication
Green Pillow Talk: Healthy and Sustainable Choices for Your Bed

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