Cinco Vidas

As we become more aware of the dangerous chemicals plaguing many of our favorite skin-care products, we find ourselves looking around for alternatives. Where are the more conscientious companies that use organic ingredients, avoid potential cancer-causing chemicals, give back to charity, think green, and shun animal testing?

In addition to some of the other brands we’ve mentioned in this post (including Burt’s Bees, Jason Natural Products, and Avalon Organics), we’ve come upon a new player in the game with a healthy hand of good sense. (more…)

Author Robert Alden is quoted as having said, “There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle.” For some reason, that single, teardrop flame atop a cylindrical body of wax has the power to bring peace and tranquility into almost any atmosphere. Candles have become so popular, people are now going beyond the traditional uses for romantic settings and emergency lighting, and firing up the wick for meditation, relaxation, aromatherapy, and home air freshening. Scents range from the citrus-based orange mango and lemon dream to nature-reminiscent ocean spray and evergreen forest to sweet-treat cinnamon apple and chocolate cherry.

If you’re a candle lover, we’re not here to put out your light. We just want to warn you that it does matter what kind of candles you buy, as some can release harmful toxins. (more…)

It’s been only a short while now since Patrick Swayze, actor and dancer, lost his battle to pancreatic cancer and passed away, leaving behind his beautiful wife and an inspirational love story that lasted over 30 years.

“She’s a tough woman,” says Bill Rotco, co-creator of Swayze’s final project, the A&E series The Beast, “but she’s lost her best friend.”¹

It’s one of the hardest things to hear, that a loved one may soon no longer be with us. But when the doctors have done all they can do, the disease is taking over the body, and death seems more of a blessing than a thief, what are we to do? (more…)