Narelle Chenery's Green Smoothie

Narelle Chenery

Narelle Chenery is the founder and creative director of research and development for Miessence, the worlds first extensive range of internationally certified organic skin, hair, body, cosmetic, oral and nutritional products. 

Like myself, Narelle is a huge fan of green smoothies and this is her nutrition packed version that serves 2.

1 x baby green coconut (juice and flesh)
1⁄2 cup of fruit of the season (paw paw, mango, peaches, pears, berries)
1 x banana
1 x handful of goji berries
1 x tsp bee pollen granules
1 x tsp maca root powder
2 x tsp In-Liven
2 x tsp Berry Radical
2 x tsp DeepGreen
2 x tbs soaked chia seeds
1 x big handful of spinach (or other leafy greens)
1 x tbs flax oil (or evening primrose or hemp, or good EFA blend)
4 x tbs hemp protein (or protein powder of choice)

Narelle's Green Smoothie

"This is a variation of a summer morning smoothie meal that keeps us going until lunchtime. It's got everything you need it in.  Loads of phyto-nutrition! Greens, antioxidants, probiotics.  Plus the macro-nutrients (protein, oils, fibre).  Plus it's delicious"    Narelle Chenery

More about Narelle and Miessence

The Miessence story began almost 20 years ago when Narelle Chenery, at home with two young children and pregnant with her third, started to question the ingredients in her personal care products. Her quest to find a truly natural product range failed, so she started her mission to create her own. After numerous mould growing and exploding experiments in her kitchen, Narelle developed a range of products she sold at markets and by mail order.

Her products were discovered by a pioneer on the organics industry, Alf Orpin. He challenged her with his help, to make her products certified organic. In February 2003, Miessence was born as the world’s first extensive range of certified organic personal care products to food standards. Miessence produces products for skin, hair, mouth, body, men and baby as well as perfumes, essential oils and nutritional products.

Organic products are well known to be better for the environment, safer and more nutritious. However Miessence is more than a company producing and selling certified organic products. Their vision is ‘to be an outstanding enterprise of inspiration, conviction, and integrity that is a force for change towards ethical and ecological business practice’. Cool huh?

For more info about Miessence please visit:

www.onlinesales.miessence.com

For more info about green smoothies please visit:

www.greensmoothiecommunity.com

What is Greenwashing?

Green-wash (green’wash’, -wôsh’) verb:
The act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

1: Sin of the Hidden Trade-off
A claim suggesting that a product is ‘green’ based on a narrow set of attributes without attention to other  important environmental issues. Paper, for example, is not necessarily environmentally preferable just because it comes from a sustainably harvested forest. Other important environmental issues in the paper-making process, such as greenhouse gas emissions, or chlorine use in bleaching may be equally important.

2: Sin of No Proof
An environmental claim that cannot be substantiated by easily accessible supporting information or by a reliable third-party
certification. Common examples are facial tissues or toilet tissue products that claim various percentages of post-consumer recycled content without providing evidence.

3: Sin of Vagueness
A claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the consumer. ‘All-natural’ is an example; Arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all naturally occurring, and poisonous. ‘All natural’ isn’t necessarily ‘green’.

4: Sin of Worshipping False Labels
A product that, through either words or images, gives the impression of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement exists; fake labels, in other words.

5: Sin of Irrelevance
An environmental claim that may be truthful but is unimportant or unhelpful for consumers seeking environmentally preferable
products. ‘CFC-free’ is a common example, since it is a frequent claim despite the fact that CFCs are banned by law.

6: Lesser of Two Evils
A claim that may be true within the product category, but that risks distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole. Organic cigarettes could be an example of this sin, as might the fuel-efficient sport-utility vehicle.

7: Sin of Fibbing
Environmental claims that are simply false. The most common examples were products falsely claiming to be Energy Star certified or registered.
Some Notable Findings from the 2009 Report…98% of products committed at least one of the Sins of Greenwashing. Greenwashing is so rampant that a Seventh Sin has emerged.  The Sin of Worshiping False Labels is committed by a product that, through either words or images, gives the impression of third-party endorsement where no such endorsement actually exists.

Source:
http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/findings/the-seven-sins/#fibbing


For products without green washing click here

Cosmetic Environmental Responsibility

I am a fan of voting with my dollar and not buying into the hype of mainstream marketing and advertising. Because I value my health and the environment, I am willing to pay a bit extra for certified organic products given the real cost of the alternative is so much more. If buying with your dollar is important and you like to lead a low impact lifestyle then Miessence ticks all the right boxes. Miessence has set the gold standard worldwide for certified organic to food standards in the cosmetic industry, is totally transparent as a company and is incredibly environmentally responsible.

Narelle Chenery

The Miessence story began almost 20 years ago when Narelle Chenery, at home with two young children and pregnant with her third, started to question the ingredients in her personal care products. Her quest to find a truly natural product range failed, so she started her mission to create her own. After numerous mould growing and exploding experiments in her kitchen, Narelle developed a range of products she sold at markets and by mail order. Her products were discovered by a pioneer on the organics industry, Alf Orpin. He challenged her with his help to make her products certified organic. In Feb 2003, Miessence was born as the world’s first extensive range of certified organic personal care products to food standards. Miessence produces products for skin, hair, mouth, body, men and baby as well as perfumes, cosmetics, essential oils and nutritional products.

Alf Orpin

Organic products are well known to be better for the environment, safer and more nutritious. However Miessence is more than a company producing and selling certified organic products. Their vision is ‘to be an outstanding enterprise of inspiration, conviction, and integrity that is a force for change towards ethical and ecological business practice’. Miessence takes environmental responsibility very seriously and includes the following initiatives.

Electricity offset 100% by renewable wind energy with GreenPower

With Greenflet, Miessence is carbon negative, meaning its offsets more than its current transportation usage to plant trees. Green fleet has planted 7 million native trees in over 400 locations since 2007 and has a goal to plant 2 million this year.

Miessence is one of few companies to be Gold certified with GreenBizCheck. GreenBizCheck is a global, technology based environmental certification programme for any company with an office. Their programme helps companies implement sustainable practices to save money, conserve energy, water, resources and minimize waste. Their criteria are rigorous and audited annually. You can visit GreenBizCheck at www.greenbizcheck.com

Coming back to the concept or organics, it’s important to clarify what organic means to the cosmetic industry. Organic and natural are terms that are unregulated and as a result they are abused in the form of greenwashing. In the chemical industry, natural refers to anything derived or synthesised from nature and organic will refer to anything containing carbon. Petrochemical based preservatives such as the paraben group, that have been found intact in breast cancer tissue, are sometime referred to as ‘organic preservatives’. Natural really means ‘existing in or formed by nature’. Organic really means an ecological and sustainable farm management system that is synthetic chemical free.

Certified organic is a third party guarantee of an organic claim. Certified organic to food standards means at least 95% organic ingredients excluding water and salt, and the rest is natural and approved ingredients. All seven certifying bodies in Australia have the same regulated food standard for organics.

Unfortunately there is no such standard for the cosmetic industry. Instead each body makes up their own standard and self regulates. The problem is that the standards are not the same and they are not as high as food standards, allowing less than 95% organic ingredients and allowing some synthetic ingredients in varying degrees. Therefore a certified organic logo on cosmetics does not necessarily mean the same thing as on food. For this reason Miessence is certified organic to food standards and not to a made up cosmetic organic standard. 

If you are wondering about the quality of ingredients in your products at home, here are some guidelines to help: Split the ingredient list in to thirds. As a rule of thumb the top third will have 90-95% if the listed ingredients. The middle third will have 5-8% and the bottom third 1-3%. Some products will contain mostly chemicals and a small amount of natural listed at the bottom. Some may have mostly natural ingredients with a few chemicals listed at the bottom, usually a synthetic preservative.



You should also be aware of a method of greenwashing a product which is to say ingredients are ‘derived from’ something in nature, or putting the original natural ingredient in brackets. E.g cocamide DEA (di-ethyl-amine) is DEA added to coconut oil to create a synthetic foaming agent for products like shampoo. The amine in DEA has the potential to form carcinogenic compounds when mixed with other chemicals. These toxic by-products are estimated to be in 10-20% of cosmetic products and they increase once the product is opened.

Another labeling trick is to list first an ‘aqueous infusion of botanical extracts’ which is just water with weak addition of herbs and essentials oils. When listed first with the water, the natural ingredients infused in the water may give the impression the dominant ingredients are natural when in fact the water should be listed first, then chemicals, then the small amount of natural ingredients last. If your labels list the natural ingredients without saying ‘derived from’, list natural ingredients in the top two thirds, they are not making organic claims without  a logo, then they are a step in the right direction and are not greenwashing and misleading consumers.

For more information visit www.onlinesales.miessence.com

Chocolate Face Mask Challenge

It is said that masks should be done about weekly. It is tough to do so. We do go through stages don't we? I may go months without and then have the urge to slap some goo on my face. I have been caught at the front door with a mask on, thankfully it was a girl trying to sell me something so it was not too embarrassing and an easy one to palm off!

Masks are good for deep cleansing and if they are mineral based and great for re-mineralising the skin. Cleansers, exfoliants/scrubs and masks are all part of the cleansing step of skin care. Cleansers help remove makeup, dirt, pollution, sweat etc. Exfoliants help keep our skin bright by removing the top dead skin layer that can make our skin look dull. Masks are great for pulling out deep impurities.

Miessence masks are based on clay and come in four different types to suit your skin. Balancing for normal to combination is a pink clay, soothing for sensitive skin is an red clay, rejuvenating is a white clay for mature/dry skin and purifying is green for oily/blemished skin. These masks come as a powder that you mix with water.

My secret weapon is to combine the mask with chocolate. I mix 1 tsp of Miessence mask with 1tsp of raw cacao powder. (You can buy raw cacao in good health food stores, however if you can't use normal cocoa powder and  preferably organic). Cacao is rich in magnesium and extremely high in antioxidants. Magnesium is an important mineral for relaxation of muscles so I figure it may work like botox without the extreme loss of facial expression. Antioxidants fight free radicals which are known to lead to chronic diseases and the aging process. So  my anti-aging, re-mineralising and facial relaxing mask was applied today. I should put my feet up for 15mins and relax while it is on but as a typical busy woman, I did 50 million other household activities while it was on! At least 30 mins later I figured it was time to have a shower. The effects of the cacao in the mask significantly raise circulation so my skin was red after the removal of the mask. The redness faded in less then an hour and would likely have been less if i had left it on for a smaller time frame! Today my skin has felt fabulous and I know when I mask every week my skin is in better condition.

This increase in circulation will be particularly helpful to skin that is blemished or dry/aged. The increased circulation will assist healing and it can help to plump up the skin. Miessence purifying and rejuvenating masks already have this quality and the addition of the cacao supercharges this effect.

To be even more decadent, a tsp of Miessence Berry Radical Superfood can be used with the mask. Berry Radical is an antioxidant superfood powder containing cacao powder with freeze dried berry powders of coffee berry, acai, goji and more.

Take the mask challenge with me and do a chocolate clay mask twice  a week for the next 6 weeks and see what the result is.

Why use a three step skin care system?

Three step systems are common with many skin care brands and involve a cleanser and mosituriser to start and finish, and a step in the middle which may be called a toner, conditioner, re-balancer or other name.

Miessence has a three step system which involves the following:

Step 1: Cleanse
Cleansing removes the top layer of dead cells, oil, perspiration and pollution. If your skin is not cleansed properly it becomes dull, flaky and the oil glands block up with dirt and cellular waste, causing breakouts and congestion. Miessence cleansers are a world first because they use yucca juice to cleanse, not soaps or detergents. Yucca juice contains natural plant saponins that gently remove dirt and oils on your skin. Miessence cleansers contain organic cold pressed, unrefined plant oils to soothe and nourish your skin, and organic herbal extracts and essential oils to suit your skin type.

You will need:
• Cleansing cloths or face washer
• Cotton pads
• A bowl of warm water (ceramic or glass)
• Cleanser (balancing, rejuvenating, purifying or soothing)

Gently press the face with a warm (never hot), soft cleansing cloth to open pores and soften the surface of the
skin cells. Apply 2 pumps of cleanser to the palm of your hand and massage gently into the face and neck. Remove gently with water and cotton pads. If wearing make-up, a second cleanse is necessary. (First one to
remove makeup, the second to cleanse the skin).


Step 2: Skin Conditioner
Skin conditioning is a vital step in the Miessence skin care regime. Conditioning has a two fold purpose; firstly to feed the skin with nutrients in the water soluble botanicals, organic herbs and essential oils, and secondly, to provide a hydration base for the moisturiser to lock in. Miessence skin conditioners contain organic herbal extracts and essential oils to suit your skin type.

You will need:
• Skin Conditioner (balancing, rejuvenating, purifying or soothing)

On clean moist skin, massage 1-2 pumps of conditioner gently onto face, throat and décolleté. Leave for a few seconds to absorb into skin before moisturising.

Step 3: Moisturise
This step creates a protective barrier against free radicals and moisture loss (one of the main causes of wrinkles). The special ingredients in our unique organic base have demonstrated significant and lasting effects on skin hydration and smoothness, and have shown to actively restore and strengthen damaged skin. Miessence moisturisers contain organic cold pressed unrefined seed oils and butters to soften the skin and increase elasticity. Our unique anti-wrinkle olive extract protects from free radical damage and aids in the formation of healthy new skin cells, while neutralising the effect of environmental pollutants and toxins. Organic herbals extracts and essential oils are incorporated for each individual skin type.

You will need:
• Moisturiser (balancing, rejuvenating, purifying or soothing)

Apply 1 pump of your moisturiser to the palm of your hand and warm to skin temperature. Pat and press gently onto your face, throat and décolleté.

Miessence has four skin care systems to suit all the different skin types out there including:

Balancing - Normal/combination profile 
Even skin tone, fine to average pore size, some enlarged pores , some T-zone oiliness occasional breakouts, some blackheads.

Rejuvenating - dry mature profile
Loss of elasticity, varying pore size, some dry patches, no sheen/dull complexion, can feel tight and dry, may have surface capillaries

Purifying - oily problem profile
oily sheen, breakouts/blemishes, congestion/clogging, open pores, blackheads, redness

Soothing - sensitive profile
May have surface capillaries, can feel irritated, itchy and hot, can appear blotchy, may have flaky patches, allergic reactions common, flushed and red easily

Miessence products are designed around four different skin profiles. You may find you’ll want to mix-and-match different products from different profiles to perfectly suit your skin, which is fine. By browsing through the profiles you can ascertain which one you feel is most compatible with your skin right now.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Conventional hair care products are an industry worth millions if not billions. Look at the amount of shampoo ads on TV and in magazines and you get a taste of the money that goes into marketing products. The worrying thing is that way more money is spent on advertising than on the product ingredients themselves. The ingredients would be lucky to be worth more than a few cents per bottle. But why? Because they are made of cheap, synthetic chemicals. Chemicals are used to create texture, smell and colour. Chemicals are also used to clean the hair, treat the scalp, add the gloss…..all chemical processes. ‘But my shampoo contains aloe vera and essential oils’ you say. Yes they may, but in what quantities?

You need to become an ingredient detective to sort out the truth on a labels. Let me show you how.

Split an ingredient list into thirds. As you can see, the top third contains the bulk of the product and the bottom the least. The top will contain water or ‘aqua’ to sound fancy, followed by ingredients like silicone derivatives (e.g. dimethicone) in hair conditioners, which create gloss and coat the hair. In shampoos this will be water and the surfactant chemicals like SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) which are the harsh cleansing agents that create bubbles and foam.  Some companies mislead consumers by listing  'aqueous infusions' at the top of the ingredient list. These are simply tiny amounts of essential oils and herbal extracts in what is mostly water. This effectively hides the synthetic surfactant ingredients that make up the core of the product further down the list. Labelling the 70% water component of the herbal mixture as organic, is prohibited under International Organic Standards. This practice artificially inflates the organic content in order to make a deceptive 70% organic claim.

Ingredients to look out for

Anything that looks like a chemical name will be.

Anything that has a natural ingredient in brackets after it is still a chemical.

Anything that says ‘derived from’ is a chemical.

E.g. the foaming agent Cocamide DEA is made by adding the chemical DEA (Di-ethyl-amine) to coconut oil. The process is synthetic and can be contaminated with cancer causing nitrosamines due to the reaction of the ‘amine’ in the DEA with nitrogen based chemical co-existing in the product.

Why are these chemicals no good?

Harsh cleansers and fragrances are potential irritants to the scalp, and also the eyes, skin on the face and body (given they are rinsed over these regions) and airways. Recent studies have indicated that prolonged exposure to silicone derivatives (that coat hair, and also found in night creams, cosmetics and hair waxes) causes skin irritation. Some are known tumour promoters and accumulate in the liver and lymph nodes. They are also non-biodegradable, causing negative environmental impact. Preservatives such as parabens have an association with breast cancer as they have been found intact in breast tumours. Other preservative s such as Methylchloroisothiazolinone are known to cause allergic reactions.

What's the alternative? 

Miessence Shampoo and Conditioner has a base of Organic Aloe Vera which has proven healing and soothing properties. The Energy of Certified Organic Ingredients, 100% Beneficial Ingredients. Also in non-leaching polypropylene packaging. Shampoos are 71-75% organic and the hair conditioner is 90% organic. 

Hair detox

You may experience a hair detox in the first few weeks using Miessence if you have been using hair care with silicone derivatives e.g dimethicone, cyclomethicone, anything ending in ‘cone’. As the silicone coating comes away it can leave your hair feeling rough and dry and the shampoo will struggle to foam up. This is temporary and can be assisted by making a paste of bicarb soda with the shampoo, massage it generously into your hair and leave for 10-15 mins, then wash out and condition as normal. You will have silky, baby soft hair again before you know it. 

Miessence hair care is available at  www.kristine.miessence.com  

The problem with Deodorant

Humans have a tendency to sweat, and this is frequently associated with unpleasant odour. Hence our love affair with personal care items that include deodorants, antiperspirants and perfumes, to prevent and cover unwanted smells to keep ourselves nice. Unfortunately, the ingredients in these items are far from friendly and include possible links to Alzheimer's disease, birth defects and breast cancer.

So what ingredients do we need to be worried about specifically?

Aluminium
Aluminium is a metal and is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. It is mined for a variety of commercial and industrial uses and aluminium compounds such as aluminium chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium, are used in most commercial brands of antiperspirants. These compounds are readily absorbed by the body, and once there, the aluminium portion separates and becomes a free radical. Free radicals are known to cause cell damage, and this is concerning because the aluminium free radical freely crosses cell walls including brain cells. Aluminium has been found in high levels in the brain plaques that are associated with
Alzheimer's disease, and also in breast cancer tissue.

Parabens
Parabens are synthetic chemicals used as preservatives. They are usually labelled at the bottom of an ingredient list and includes propylparaben, ethylparaben, butlyparaben and methylparaben. Parabens are known to disrupt hormone function because they are xenoestrogens. This means they mimic the actions of estrogen, a female sex hormone. Parabens are just one type of xenoestrogen that women are exposed to and it is estimated that parabens can be found in over 13,000 cosmetics products and not just deodorants. What is clear, is the more estrogen (including xenoestrogens) a woman is exposed to in her lifetime, the greater risk she has of developing breast cancer.

There is however, no proven link between the use of parabens or aluminium in deodorants/anti-perspirants and the risk of developing breast cancer or Alzheimer's. However, aluminium can be absorbed by the body via other means too, such as from cookwear, aluminium foil and some cosmetics. Similarly, parabens are found in nearly all conventional personal care items regularly used on a daily basis. Given that these chemicals are not only in deodorants makes it hard to prove the link. What we do know for certain is that alumin-ium and intact parabens have been found in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, nearest the underarm in women with breast cancer.

Other chemicals in deodorants and anti-perspirants

BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) is used as a preservative and believed to be a hormone disrupter and toxic to the nervous system.
Fragrance can be made up of hundreds or even thousands of synthetic chemicals potentially capable of a myriad of reactions such as skin irritation, depression, hyperactivity and breathing difficulties.
Propylene glycol helps the deodorant go on smoothly, however it is linked to skin irritation, nervous system and major organ damage. It is also used commercially as a paint remover, as antifreeze and to remove barnacles off boats.
Phthalates are use to soften plastics and are used to help the fragrance stay on the skin. They are known associations with phthalates and birth defects especially in male genitalia which may affect future reproductive ability.

What to do instead
Use deodorant instead of antiperspirant, since sweat is normal and blocking the pores is not. If you wish to reduce your exposure to the chemicals listed above then use no deodorant (if you dare!!), or use a natural deodorant. I recommend and use Miessence deodorant.


Miessence deodorants are 100% natural, with a very effective formula even for the most active people. There are no aluminium compounds or chemical antiperspirants. Instead, based on the traditional remedies of bicarbonate of soda to eliminate odours and aloe vera to soothe. For a week or two you may experience increased odour due to the
absence of aluminium compounds in the products. Aluminium compounds block your pores, preventing healthy elimination of toxins via perspiration. Normal deodorants prevent this from happening, and you get a backlog of toxins. When you start using Miessence deodorant , your body can then begin eliminating.
If you are still using a conventional deodorant or anti-perspirant then its better to begin using the aroma free deodorant. The essential oils in the scented product can sometimes sting the armpits when going through the initial detox. While detoxing you may need to use the deodorant 2-3 times during the day to assist with odour control, which will only be a temporary experience.
  Available at www.kristine.miessence.com