Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 164

my favorite beauty products and the best facial in LA!

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Kind Lifer Rachel recently asked me about my favorite beauty products and where to get the best facial in LA. For the facial I hands down recommend Terri Lawton in West Hollywood! She's expensive but so worth it. If you are needing serious skin help go to Terri.

If you just want yummy regular facials to feel nice and clean your skin the best lady in town is Sophia Marzocchi in Venice. She uses pretty darn all-natural stuff - not 100 but pretty close! She is lovely and pretty and has amazing hands. So if you are a facial person see her. If you have skin issues that are just driving you crazy see Terri. 

Terri Lawton
931 1/2 La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90069
T: 310.855.0895
TerriLawton.com

Spa Sophia
1027 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Ste. B
Venice CA 90291
T: 310.564.6676
SpaSophia.com

For your at-home beauty routine these are links to my past blogs about some of my favorite products:

Hair Styling Products
Shampoo and Conditioner 
Facial Cleansers
Face Creams 
Toiletries 
Body Care 
Makeup 
Nails 

Have you discovered any new kind beauty products that you love? I'm always looking for recommendations and I know all you Kind Lifers are too so share your beauty product picks in the comments below!

book club: kind lifers get inspired to go green!

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Our book club selection for June was Girls Gone Green by Lynn Hirshfield. Many of you said you were planning to share this book with the young girls in your life and a few of you also shared ways in which you've gone green! Check it out:
 
From Karen:
 
"I have been trying to be green for a long time...I bought a sewing machine on sale so I could make my own cloth reusable bags...the cloth bags I have already made are so nice to use...so much better than plastic bags and more durable...I am always trying to find ways to be more green...waste not want not...that is my motto."
 
From Kat:
 
"I had Styrofoam banned from my school district when I was in the 6th grade. My daughter started a recycling program at her school that raises more and more money each year to help the school be more green. I even received a phone call today to help a local preschool start a green program there. I think it's great she Lynn Hirshfield did this book to get young girls boys etc. involved with becoming more green."
 
From Krystal:
 
"I read the book at my local library. It's definitely a book for young girls and it is inspiring to see them take charge and fight for what they believe in. Sometimes I wonder with the Internet phones video games and other distractions if young people actually care what is going on around them. This book gives me hope that they do."
 
I'm so glad you all enjoyed Girls Gone Green and if you haven't yet I highly encourage you to give it to the kids in your life! I wish we could get this book into the hands of all young people especially to inspire those who might not know about a green lifestyle. If your kids read this book please have them post a comment!

Stay tuned for our July selection – I'll be posting it next week!
 
How have you "gone green"?

sponsored post: gain financial independence and do good with DailyWorth

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Happy 4th!

In honor of Independence Day we at DailyWorth want to help entrepreneurs in third world countries gain financial independence through microloans. Here's the best part: we want you Kind Lifers to choose who you'd like to help out.
 
How it Works

We've partnered with JoinFITE Financial Independence Through Entrepreneurship a platform powered by microloan pioneer Kiva.org. The first 180 Kind Lifers who sign up for DailyWorth will receive a coupon code that you can redeem at JoinFITE.com.

That means 180 winners will have the opportunity to help entrepreneurs in need around the world in fields including food and restaurants weaving and clothing retail and professional services. You choose who to help and as a subscriber to DailyWorth you'll get the free financial advice you need brought directly to your inbox by savvy women on the financial frontlines.
 
So gain your own financial independence and help someone else do the same. All you have to do to is sign up for DailyWorth here. We've also reserved twenty microloans to give away to current subscribers - if you've already signed up leave a comment below telling us your favorite DailyWorth tip so far.

Independence Day just took on a whole new meaning.

happy fourth of july!

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I hope you're all enjoying a kind holiday with your loved ones! I'm spending it with Christopher and Bear in New York.
 
How is everyone celebrating today?

the great yogurt myth...

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I've always wondered why Americans particularly American women are obsessed with yogurt! People seem to think it's a magic health food but as you'll read in Chapter 3 of The Kind Diet dairy including yogurt is bad news for your body and dairy cows.
 
Probiotics
 
Perhaps the most widely marketed component of yogurt is probiotics. Is yogurt really the best place to find these "good" bacteria? According to Christina Pirello the answer is no. Once yogurt is pasteurized as most commercial brands are the probiotics are destroyed by the heat. In raw products the probiotics have a hard time withstanding the heat of the small intestine so the benefit is minimal.
 
The best sources of probiotics for women in food is miso shoyu other fermented foods like sauerkraut but only the raw unpasteurized ones that you buy in the fridge and natto a fermented soy product - although I find natto disgusting! I know it's good for you - but I can't bear it. I admire those who can - some even like it!
 
Outside of these foods there are some pretty wonderful supplemental probiotics out there that are vegan. Christina's favorite is Eden Foods bifa 15 which can be purchased here.
 
Why do we need probiotics?
 
According to Christina Pirello anyone who eats a typical modern diet needs probiotics. Processed foods and excessive sugar deplete our micro-villi and the enzymes naturally produced in our intestines. Those with weak digestive or compromised immune systems anyone who has recently been on antibiotics and those who are just beginning to change their diets to superhero need probiotics until their digestion improves and their intestines become more alkaline. Those who are chronically tired should try probiotics as well as fatigue is often related to digestion.
 
Superheroes should note that miso soup natto sauerkraut and other traditionally fermented foods reduce the need for probiotics. But in a world where it can be impossible to completely avoid environmental pollutants probiotics are helpful for strengthening our digestion. In the end probiotics will never hurt and can only help.
 
Yogurt Alternatives
 
So back to yogurt...when I was little I loved it. I would eat the plain kind and add tons of raisins...soo yum. But I got over that! I don't miss it one bit. And when I do I go for the vegan versions as a treat. If you eat yogurt for the taste I recommend Nancy's Yogurt which is made without cane sugar or Wildwood only the plain flavor is sugar-free. In my early veg days I ate soy yogurts and they were really good! M Cafe also has a yogurt granola and fruit cup that's pretty yum.
 
Do you have a favorite brand of vegan yogurt? Where do you get your probiotics?

check out city repair!

I found out about City Repair through one of Larry Santoyo's Permaculture classes a long time ago and I think it's the coolest thing. Make sure to watch the video above it's really good!

City Repair is a group that educates & inspires communities & individuals to creatively transform the places where they live. They focus on the interconnection of human communities and the natural world and have a huge volunteer staff as well as volounteer citizen activists. Here is a word about City Repair from their website:

"City Repair was formed in Portland Oregon in 1996 by citizen activists who wanted a more community-oriented and ecologically sustainable society. Born out of a successful grassroots neighborhood initiative that converted a residential street intersection into a neighborhood public square City Repair began its work with the idea that localization of culture of economy of decision-making is a necessary foundation of sustainability. By reclaiming urban spaces to create community-oriented places we plant the seeds for greater neighborhood communication empower our communities and nurture our local culture."

I love this concept of people taking back their cities for themselves and ultimately using far less energy! I dream of getting involved with one of their projects or at least seeing them in action.  

One thing that struck me most about City Repair was the way that they get people from cities together and track how they would drive from their home to drop their kids off at daycare and then to work or to the doctor.... Whatever the day brought them. And they would see how far people would travel and how much gas they were using up. Then they started tracking who lived on their street and they would find a daycare a doctor a plumber or something else that they might need right next door or down the street! By discovering people who lived right around them their lives became way more eco and much more cost effective. I love that they bring people together in neighborhoods and create real tight-knit communities. I dream of creating or living in a neighborhood like that one day!

Check out their website and you can see a ton of photos of what they've been able to accomplish. City Repair is making the world better!

sponsored post: help us choose the daiya grand prizewinner!

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Over the last few months the Daiya team has received some amazing "Get Cooking" videos that we have been excited to share with fans on our Youtube channel. Now the time is running out! With only two weeks left in the contest it's almost time to announce the winner of the Apple iPad - but not without everyone's help!  
 
Help Us Pick a Winner and Pick Up a Prize of Your Own!

Here is your chance to win cool prizes of your own and help us find the grand prizewinner. The video with the most views wins so we need you to vote with your views!
 
Bonus: When the contest closes on July 15 we will also award three free bags of Daiya products and a Daiya golf shirt to one lucky Kind Lifer who comments below and shares their favorite video on Facebook!
 
So here's how to participate:

Visit the Daiya Youtube page
Share your favorite video with friends and family on Facebook and Twitter
Write us a comment below and tell us who you think should win and why!

Of course if you'd like to enter your own video you still can here! 
 
So what are you waiting for? Watch the videos share your favorites and let us know what you think below. You just might find the inspiration you need for your next delicious dinner!
 
What's your favorite Daiya-licious video?

lacy and her doggie diapers

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My dog Lacy is getting way up there in years and turning into quite the wacky old woman. well maybe she always was! She's going grey and now completely deaf but is still the sweetest little thing. She is 17 years old so it's amazing to think back to when I rescued her all those years ago. At that time she was just under 2 years old and cowering in the shadows at the back of her cage at the Lacy Street pound in Downtown L.A. She was a heartbreaking sight – it looked like she was laying in poop although once we got her out of the cage it turned out she just had distinctly spotted brown paws. However we might have taken that first impression as a sign that this was not the last time we'd have bathroom issues with her.
 
We know that Lacy was definitely abused when she was a puppy as the first few months and years I had her she used to drop to the floor every time I reached out to pet her. Sometimes she would hide under the house for days without coming out of hiding. However over time she became a lot more spunky and years of love made her into a very happy camper.
 
However we wonder if that early abuse is part of the reason she has always been incontinent. Over the years we've developed a whole system for Lacy and her dog diapers. We have to put her in diapers whenever she's in the house because she pees all the time and is totally unaware of it. This took a while to figure out...for years we just lived with her peeing everywhere. The kind we generally use are these funny little cloth diapers that look like denim from Four Paws. They have a hole for her tail to go through and are fastened with Velcro on the sides. However the diaper itself doesn't absorb everything so we cut up old t-shirts and towels into little rectangles and fold them up inside the diaper for extra padding. The diapers and the homemade pads all get washed once a week and we keep them stocked in the laundry room so they're easy to grab whenever she comes inside.

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The only aspect we've had to experiment with is which size diapers to use. Lacy used to be super-skinny but in her old age she's packed on a few pounds. Now the mediums are a bit snug on her so she walks funny with those on. However the size large diapers hang a bit too loose and tend to fall off. It's an imperfect system but we've been working to try and perfect it.
 
Given this you can imagine how thrilled I was when we tried some new diapers from Dog Quality a company based out of Canada and discovered they fit her perfectly! These new diapers come in stylish lady-like colors she may be old but what woman doesn't want to look her best?. They also make the little insert pads for the diaper as well. This is big news around our house! 
 
Because we use old rags like shirts towels etc. as our diaper inserts we don't buy our inserts online but there are  
Either way I encourage anyone out there with incontinent pets to go the reusable diaper route instead of using disposables.  Sure it's a tad more work to do the laundry and such but once you get a system in place it's really easy and sooooo worth it!

a primer on protein

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Perhaps the most common question vegans get is "…but where do you get your protein?" Concerned mothers incredulous friends or curious coworkers all want to know! So my mission with this blog is to give you a clear simple answer that allays any concerns you may have about the issue and allows you to respond thoughtfully to those who ask. When people ask you this question it might also be a good idea to suggest a book or site for them to read themselves so you aren't stuck trying to explain it to them or asking them to take your word for it. Instead you can say "Here is what I know works for me and if you want more info read this amazing book. It will change your life and answer all your questions."
 
Back To Basics
 
First protein is made up of amino acids. When you eat protein-rich foods these are the nutrients your body is after. In all you need twenty amino acids and your body can make twelve of them on its own. The other eight "essential" amino acids come from food. Now here's the crucial part: All eight of these essential amino acids can be found in plants! This bears repeating: You can get all of the amino acids your body needs on a plant-based diet. That's right no meat required! Quinoa and soybeans are two examples of plant-based foods that contain all eight essential amino acids. It's that simple!
 
Many other plants have five out of the eight amino acids. As long as you eat a diverse diet you will easily get all you need. For example when you eat rice with beans you get the full complement of amino acids. That said you don't have to get all eight amino acids in the same meal. Just eat a colorful plant-based diet with lots of varieties of grains and beans and you should have no trouble fulfilling your nutritional requirements.
 
Too Much Of A Good Thing
 
Protein is not a nutrient your body can store so if you eat too much of it your blood gets acidic and you get sick – this is the case with many people who follow a typical Western diet. We live in a culture of excessive protein consumption hence the fear of eating too little of it. The truth is it's actually difficult to eat too little protein. Just about every food we eat contains it including grains and veggies!
 
How Much Is Enough?
 
Of course the amounts of protein each food contains varies but you may be surprised by how little your body actually needs. One protein dense food per day tofu tempeh seitan beans as part of a meal that is roughly ¼ protein ¼ grain and ½ veggies should be enough. The rest of your meals can be a 50/50 ratio of grains to veggies. If you follow this plan you should be getting all the protein you need. There's no need to get anal about the ratios – these are just rough estimates to keep in the back of your mind.

Also if you work out a ton or you just really love the idea of eating tons of protein it's easy to do. You can eat beans nuts tempeh tofu and seitan as much as you want to. It won't hurt you the way animal-based protein will. There are also protein powders but of course food is the better choice if you want to be superhero.
 
All of this information is in my book and if you'd like to delve even deeper into the science about protein check out T. Colin Campbell's seminal book The China Study.
 
What other common questions or misunderstandings do you get from your veg-curious friends?

sponsored post: kindness for your skin

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Summer is officially here and it's only going to get hotter! As for your skin well it's starting to beg for hydration.

Juice Beauty is fortunately here once again to rescue your skin from the summer heat this time with our 100 vegan Hydrating Mist! This bestselling not to mention ridiculously refreshing mist gives a burst of moisture that balances and tones the skin. A harmonious blend of certified organic antioxidant-rich white and red grape juices soothing aloe vera nutrient-rich rosehip and grapeseed oil restores your fresh radiant complexion - yup that's right; it's vegan organic and effective! Still skeptical? Check out the customer reviews here.
 
The Deal
 
We're giving away a free full size what?! Hydrating Mist and free shipping with any and every purchase you make of 50 or more today through July 3 or until supplies last! That's a complimentary 22 gift that'll last you three months! Just make sure to use code ALICIA when you check out at JuiceBeauty.com.
 
What's your best summer beauty secret?