At Home

From top:
Fresh plums from the Santa Monica Farmers' Market...
A wonderfully warm 100% wool throw woven in Argentina, from luxurious brand Alta Pampa. So expensive but so worth it - as I may be moving very soon to a freezing cold place, I really need this...
Bill's Bees is a tiny local Los Angeles company that offers, in addition to honey, a few all-natural natural skincare products such as this magical almond-scented balm.

Watches

I don't usually wear a watch - do you? The two exceptions are when I'm traveling (no one wants to miss that connecting flight...) or when I'm teaching. I've recently taken up tutoring again, which is code for "having fun with little kids at France Exchange in Los Angeles," so I pulled my watches out of the drawer.
Both are very precious to me. The elegant yet sporty Tag Heuer model was given to me by my generous parents on the occasion of my 20th birthday. The other one is an Omega that is quite ancient since it goes back to the days when my father was a young man - he bought in 1965, in Dakar, Senegal, where he was then living... Unlike the Tag, this Omega is a mechanical watch, meaning that it's powered by the energy from your wrist rather than a battery; every time I use it, I just adjust the time, shake-shake-shake my wrists and it's good to go. Very environment-friendly. Magical.

My Stainless Steel Canteen

I am always on the lookout for new stylish vessels to carry some water around without having to resort to plastic bottles - for one thing, plastic containers are now thought to be dangerous for our health, and I'd also avoid participating in the piling up of discarded plastic bottles in landfills.
Last year, I showed you my cool Swiss-made Sigg I still use at home all the time. My latest find is by Us Canteen, an American brand that creates beautiful stainless steel bottles inspired by the design of military canteens. These sleek bottles come with a fun No Plastic trinket (above), and carriers such as the Como (right), complete with a cell-phone compartment and a zipped pocket. I love it.

Green Green Green

When people find out that I try to buy only natural beauty and hygiene products, I often see eyes rolling - after taking over my kitchen, has the green frenzy reached my bathroom too? Well yes. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that our skin absorbs about 60% of the ingredients from cosmetics; also, in 2007, antifreeze was found in Colgate toothpaste manufactured in China and sold around the US - it wasn't clear whether the toothpaste was counterfeit or not, but either way it was sold at your local drugstore as a trusted brand.
That's why I use Tom's of Maine toothpaste and, after what I can only describe as a life-long quest, I have found a body moisturizer that leaves my skin smooth and is free of such harmful ingredients such as parebens - Kiss My Face's Olive Oil & Aloe lotion, recommended to me by my dear friend Adrienne.

There have also been some made-in-China pet food recalls in the past few years, including for such reputable brands as Hills, and pets have died, so I feed Benjy all-American organic dog food. Its name? Party animal.

I am aware that all this is a luxury, a costly one. Filling my kitchen with local farmers' market produce and organic yogurt would be too expensive if I had to feed a family. What a shame.

Small Macch' For Here

Located a couple of blocks away from my place in Venice, Groundwork is a tiny coffeeshop where I often head, Benjy in tow, for a macchiato (which they call a "macch'"). I sip it on their mini terrace, with a book or paper and sometimes, one of their delicious chocolate cookies.
Old coffee tins, silver coffee pots and ancient items such as rusty scales are displayed around the place, and they also collect funny coffee-themed comics cut out of newspapers.

And now it's time for a design challenge:
Groundwork also sells big burlap bags. I can sense these have a great design potential for the home - bringing some recycling/eco-style spirit into my home... What would you do with them?

Clean-Burning Scented Candles

I love scented candles but stopped buying any some time ago after I read about the release of toxic substances into the air when burning; some are carcinogenic. Synthetic scents, lead in the wick, paraffin wax and other ingredients are to be avoided if you want your candles to burn "clean". Make sure you buy soy- or beeswax-based candles, scented with essential oils.
I found two wonderful options.
At Soaptopia, a wonderful place I told you about where everything is handmade and natural, they offer scented candles that are really exceptional: shea-butter based, they melt into a hot massage oil. So sensuous!
I also got a lavender & lemongrass one at Whole Foods. So fresh!

My New (As Yet Nameless) Bike

As you know, I just moved to California's Venice. With the beach 6 blocks away, the super cool Abbot Kinney boulevard's trendy vintage stores (and my favorite bakery) about as close, with nearby yoga studios and with a huge Whole Foods supermarket a couple of blocks away, I thought that it may be a good idea to get a bike. On Craigslist, I found this used black Schwinn Beach Cruiser - a cult model. I love its sleek, curvy lines.
Though LA is known to be the city of car life, it is also pretty eco-conscious. Buses for instance, many of which run on natural gas rather than on oil, feature kinds of racks at the front, allowing you to load your bike on the bus as you commute.
I have always named my bikes. My favorite ever was a classic Raleigh I bought from an Irish girl in Paris; I named it Ulysses after Joyce's divine novel: a reference to my bike's Irish origins and urban voyage nature - Joyce indeed fetes the city of Dublin in the book. Now I'm wondering what to name my Angeleno beach cruiser; any suggestions?

A Sailboat Sail

Isn't this sailboat sail just spectacular against Malibu's sunny sky?

It reminded me of Reiter 8, an Etsy store that offers bags and pillows made with recycled sails - you can also watch a video to see how the designer makes them, or check out her blog.

Makool's Wrap Skirt

With my discovery of blogs came the discovery of many, many talented designers who sell their amazing, handmade creations via such sites as Etsy. I like the idea of buying from individuals rather than from chain stores. It's not just about wearing something unique, but also about sustaining a community of like-minded individuals who share their skills and ideas with us, and work with a ferociously independent vibe.
Among those many designers, Makool immediately became one of my favorites, and I have at long last ordered one of her items. This denim wrap-skirt is actually made of bamboo - pandas' favorite snack is also one of fashion's favorite earth-friendly new fabrics. The skirt arrived a couple of days only after I placed my order, wrapped in paper and with a sticker to funny that I debated whether or not to actually open the package - I always have the same problem when I order from super tasteful Artycho.

What are your favorite Etsy stores?

Small left photo by Makool

Smells Like Soap

On Venice boulevard in Mar Vista, there is a place called Soaptopia where they handmake soap right in front of you, with all -natural ingredients, before giving their products quirky names such as Staying A'Lime, Sage Against The Machine, Walt Mintman and LA Squeeze...
I find that the heavy duty detergents in regular soap really makes my skin dry and itchy, so I have become very partial to detergent-free cleansers - Neutrogena's classic Cleansing Bar is also a good choice; if you want to avoid aggressive agents, make sure you use something that is free of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or its close relative Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES).
No such ingredients at Soaptopia. I visited them today and bought a rosewood soap as well as some Lavender moisturizing oil - regulars on AUREA know about my everlasting quest for the perfect moisturizer... I bravely stayed away from other goodies, such as their natural sponges, lip balms, and shea massage candles.

What You Get For $3

I love going to yard sales and on weekends I always visit a couple in Venice or Santa Monica on my way to my ballet class. Home-made brownies or cookies are also often for sale, and I never even attempt to resist them.
Buying second-hand clothes is not only cheap, it is also a good way of, well, recycling...
This Sunday my yard sale foraging was very successful, albeit brownie-less. Here's what I got for a mere $3: a Levi's plaid shirt (the tag reads: 99% cotton, 1% metal), a cream silk Banana Republic top with exquisite details such as those discreet pleats, an a very soft long sleeved black Roam tee.

Fashion Buys

It's been pouring in Southern California so I've been wearing a Banana Republic peacoat I bought last month during another stormy spell. I love this coat's elegant detailing.
I wear it with the striped cap I bought from my dear Artycho.

But the major fashion thrill in the Los Angeles area right now is Barneys New York's humongous warehouse sale (details here). I bought a very simple James Perse black skirt I'll wear as soon as it stops raining.
It's made of Tencel®, a new, natural eco-friendly fabric that's super soft. And I bravely resisted a divine Yamamoto skirt - way marked down, but still a plump $400.

Sigg Canteen

Did you know that plastic baby bottles have just been banned in Canada? Over the years, there have been increasingly worrying reports about the health hazards of plastic. Reheating a dish in the microwave in a plastic container for instance, especially if the dish contains any fat, will cause plastic molecules to migrate into your food, while refilling plastic bottles over and over again, as I used to do in order to not use too much plastic (a petroleum-based material...) will have the same effect; the ingestion of plastic molecules has been shown to cause hormonal dysfunction in rats.
And if the Canadians banned plastic bottles for babies, all I'm saying is, it can't be good for us grown-ups either.
On the basis that when it comes to health I'd rather be safe than sorry, I have been trying to shun plastics around the kitchen for a long time and as an ever-thirsty creature who always schleps around a bottle of water, I had been looking for a clean and light container for my water. I finally found a stylish answer with Sigg's aluminum canteens. They're very light, plastic-free, safe, can be used over and over (and over) again and they're stylish, too!

Nathalie Lété Organic Cotton Tee

Monoprix, the French equivalent of Marks & Spencer, asked a line-up of artists to design Organic Cotton t-shirts. I bought one by Nathalie Lété (marked down from €20 to €6! It's the sales, hurray!). Don't these cotton flowers look great? Yes, yellow is indeed the color of the season...
For more on eco-fashion, check out Chloe's stylish and informative post.

I'm really an all-cotton girl - synthetics give me itchy rashes, so I'm thrilled that so many brands now offer eco-friendly cotton and such great designs. What's your emblematic fabric? (Benjy's, as you know, is cashmere...)