Should organic personal care products be held to the same organic standards we use for food? Or should personal care products have different standards, since they're not meant for eating?

The FDA still hasn't stepped up to make sure chemicals used in our personal care products are safe -- but yet another new independent "certification system" seems to pop up every day. How's an enviro girl to navigate through them all?

When it comes to makeup, I am equal parts minimalist and junkie; I want the appearance of perfect skin, every day, with as little effort and as few products as possible. I am also torn between wanting to use only cosmetics that are healthy and safe and really really wanting my mascara to last all day without flaking or smudging.

Last week, I mentioned how pleased I was that douche no longer seems to be a mainstream product in the United States. I thought that this might be a sign of progress: women are no longer accepting that their natural vaginal scent is something to be covered by perfume. A comment from Julie Artz of Chezartz.com stopped me in my tracks. She asked:

The BBC is reporting that Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick, 64, died yesterday. A statement issued by the hospital said that Roddick died of "a major brain haemorrhage." Roddick is being mourned by environmental groups and animal rights activists world wide, as well as by women who were won over by her back-to-basics approach to beauty and her rejection of the fashion industry's emphasis on perfection.