SF IN BLOOM

SF IN BLOOM

SF IN BLOOM

By Loulou Piscatore
Photos courtesy of: sfinboom.art

PROFILES

WEB SPOTLIGHT KIA MILLER
Maybe you have already seen one of their “flower bombing” videos. Phoenix and Shalaco McGee of @SFinBloom call it “guerrilla gardening.” They walk, bike, and occasionally skateboard around San Francisco in bee costumes, scattering native wildflower seeds with parmesan shakers. On TikTok, they document their seeding trips, give gardening tips, and talk about the importance of native plants for pollinators like bees and butterflies. They even sell native wildflower blends on their website, as well as Bee-Friendly Low-Mow lawn mixes. Inspired by their work, I chatted with them about the importance of local flora and fauna, and what we can do to help.

Tell me about what you do and what inspired you to do it?
We are all about democratizing gardening and sowing native wildflower seeds to help support the pollinators in our ecosystem. We have always loved bringing plants into our lives and into our environments. While we have been doing these things for over a decade, we only recently started sharing our plant adventures on social media, and the response has been amazing! The excitement and curiosity of our followers inspire us to do even more, and the desire of people to find what’s native to their area and to plant native wildflowers in their regions inspired us to offer native wildflowers for the continental US.

Why is it important to support pollinators?
Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35% of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. North America has approximately 3,600 species of native bees, and 1 in 4 species populations are in decline, with many becoming endangered. So if you like food and plants, it’s a good idea to support pollinators!

Why is it important to only use native wildflowers from your region?
Our native pollinators are an essential part of our ecosystem, and they most often rely on native plants to thrive. With the loss of our local ecosystems and the decline in native pollinator species, it is more important than ever to support these fragile systems so they can hopefully thrive once again. If you plant native plants, you can be confident you aren’t spreading invasive species that can be harmful to the local ecosystem. 

What can we do? How can we help?

  • Prioritize the planting of plants that are native to your region.
  • Sow native pollinator seeds in underutilized areas around where you live (it’s so easy!).
  • Protect land with native plants from development.
  • Join and/or donate to your local native plant society.
  • Gift native pollinator seeds to those hard-to-shop for people in your life (and go on sprinkling seed adventures with them!).
  • Upgrade your lawn to a low-mow, low-water, eco-friendly yard with low-growing native wildflowers with our Native Bee Lawn Mix.
  • Grab a native wildflower seed shaker kit for your region and plant wildflowers this fall for spring blossoms.

  

Where are the best places to sprinkle seeds? 

  • Your yard.
  • Underutilized areas around where you live.
  • Cracks in the sidewalk.
  • Freshly turned soil or underutilized irrigation. 
  • Into healthy soil (as opposed to areas with gravel) but you can try sowing seeds wherever.

Beware of blends that say “wildflower blend” because they most often contain plants that are not native to your region. Packets that say they grow in your region are not necessarily “native” to your region, and some may even contain plants that are invasive in your area that can compete with native plants. 

Find native wildflower seeds for your region and more tips, tricks, native plant searches and DIY resources for planting at sfinbloom.art

Lash & Brow Love

Lash & Brow Love

Lash & Brow Love

By: LouLou Piscatore
BEAUTY
Photos:

Tal Shpantzer

Makeup:

Briana Halm

Models:

Natalie Mauney
Shanna Ossi
Bre Scullark

I am in lash extension recovery. After about three years of continuous use, I made an unwelcome pandemic discovery. My own lashes had suffered. They were short, sparse, and in a word, sad. So I did some research. Apparently, the added weight of the extensions can stress the hair follicles and shift them into a premature shedding cycle. Over time, this can result in shorter, finer lashes. I immediately swore off extensions and began lash rehab.

You may have experienced the same thing with your eyebrows, which thin as you age. It’s tempting to try microblading, but it cuts the skin to deposit pigment. Over time, this can permanently damage your skin and kill your existing hair follicles. It can even lead to infection and permanent scarring.

The good news is that there are easier, healthier, and more cost-effective alternatives. You can condition and grow your own lashes and brows with a little help. Eyelash serums hydrate and condition the lash hair and stimulate the follicles to grow by keeping them in the growth phase. Eyebrow serums strengthen and moisturize the brow hair, prevent fallout, and improve growth. Just a heads up – It takes about a month to see results, and about 3-4 months for dramatic growth, but they do work! Apply daily, and preferably at night on clean lashes and brows to give the serums plenty of time to absorb.Have patience, it took about 4 months for me to see a big difference, but now my lashes and brows have never been fuller or healthier.

If your lashes and brows are at their best, you really don’t need much else during the summer months (maybe some lip gloss). To get you started, here are some of our favorite lash and brow serums. For more lash and brow products, check out our website yogalovemagazine.com

Lash & Brow Love

LASHES

Joy Beauty: Joy Brow and Lash Rejuvenator
myjoybeauty.com

InstaNatural: Eyelash Enhancing Serum
instanatural.com

The Ordinary: Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum
theordinary.com

RapidLash: Eyelash Enhancing Serum
rapidlash.com

Pureauty Naturals: Biotin Eyelash Serum
Pureautynaturals.com

Lash & Brow Love

BROWS

Ginger Beauty: Gingel
wearegingerbeauty

Joy Beauty: Joy Brow Tinted Brow Gel
myjoybeauty.com

Revitalash Cosmetics: Revitabrow Advanced Eyebrow Conditioner
revitalash.com

Lash Spell: Brow Spell Enhancing Eyebrow Serum
lashspell.com

Wen by Chaz Dean: Botanical Brow Enhancing Serum
Chazdean.com

Sunscreen Safety

Sunscreen Safety

Sunscreen Safety

By: LouLou Piscatore
BEAUTY
Sunscreen Blog - Yoga Love Magazine
Every summer we slather on sunscreen to protect ourselves from the negative effects of the sun (and the depleted ozone layer) But how safe is your sunscreen?

It’s important to get to know what’s in your sunscreen. For starters, sunscreens are either mineral or chemical based. Some sunscreens contain both. Mineral sunscreens, which often contain zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide, sit on the skin’s surface to deflect the sun’s rays. Chemical sunscreens penetrate the skin and absorb the sun’s rays. This is where the problems start. Recent studies have shown that many of the chemicals used in chemical based sunscreen are absorbed into the body’s bloodstream at levels much higher than the FDA’s safety threshold. According to Yale Medicine (2021) at these levels, the chemicals have the potential to cause cancer, disrupt the hormone system and cause harm during reproduction and development.

As reported by the Environmental Working Group, “when the federal Food and Drug Administration proposed its most recent updates to sunscreen regulations, it found that only two ingredients, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, could be classified as safe and effective.” Last year, the European Commission published opinions on the safety of three other common ingredients in chemical sunscreens, oxybenzone, homosalate and octocrylene. It found that hundreds of sunscreens manufactured in the U.S. use them at concentrations that far exceed safety levels. In addition, last May, benzene, a known carcinogen, was found in 78 sunscreen and after-sun care products, many from well known brands.

Chemicals in sunscreen may be harmful to other forms of life, too. According to the Coral Reef Alliance (2021) there are an estimated 14,000 tons of sunscreen deposited into the ocean annually. Studies have shown that chemical sunscreen is toxic and has “significant impacts to coral health and their reproduction.” And it can be harmful to other marine life too, like fish, dolphins, green algae, and sea urchins, causing problems like deformation, decreased fertility, and impaired growth.

So what do you do to protect yourself? And the environment? Use a mineral based sunscreen. Back in the day these used to turn your face white (remember putting Zinc on your nose?) but not anymore! Now there are plenty of safe, clean, and fun (glitter!) options. Here are some of our fav’s:

Sunscreens we Love

Sunscreen Blog product image - Yoga Love Magazine
Larkly
SPF 30 powder sunscreen with a brush. Easy application. Reef safe and chemical free with resveratrol and green tea.
Sunscreen Blog product image - Yoga Love Magazine
Sea Star Sparkle SPF 50 Glitter sunscreen by Sunshine and Glitter
Made with biodegradable glitter! Reef safe, water resistant, paba and paraben free.
Sunscreen Blog product image - Yoga Love Magazine
Black Girl Sunscreen 

“Made by women of color for people of color because we get 

sunburned too.” Mineral sunscreen with no white residue! Ozybenzone and Octinoxate free, with avocado, jojoba, cacao and carrot juice to moisturize and heal skin

Sunscreen Blog product image - Yoga Love Magazine
Monat Sun Veil Daily Mineral Protection 

SPF30

Sunscreen and serum in one with hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, arnica

Sunscreen Blog product image - Yoga Love Magazine
Salt and Stone 

SPF 30 

Face Stick and Lotion 

Zinc based with no white residue, water and sweat resistant and reef safe with vitamin E, hyaluronic acid and ashwagandha.

Sunscreen Blog product image - Yoga Love Magazine
Dune The Bod Guard and The Mug Guard

Reef friendly, paraben free, oxybenzone and octinoxate free, 72 hour hydration, inclusive – invisible on all skin tones.

COCONUT PROBIOTIC Sport Sunscreen
Pacifica Coconut Probiotic Sport Sunscreen

SPF 50

Water resistant, oxybenzone and PABA free, no parabens or phthalates

Resources:

 

MacMillan, C. (2021) Is my sunscreen safe? Yale Medicine. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/is-sunscreen-safe#:~:text=The%20researchers%20tested%2016%20octocrylene,sunscreen%20over%20time%2C%E2%80%9D%20Dr.

Sunscreen 101: Protecting your skin and coral reefs. (2021) The Coral Reef Alliance. 
https://coral.org/en/blog/sunscreen-101-protecting-your-skin-and-coral-reefs/

The trouble with ingredients in sunscreen. Environmental Working Group. 
https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/the-trouble-with-sunscreen-chemicals/

 

Common Chemicals Found  in Sunscreens 

Oxybenzone
The most worrisome sunscreen active ingredient is oxybenzone. It is readily absorbed through the skin (Matta 2019, Matta 2020) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found it in nearly all Americans, with higher levels in those who report applying sunscreen (Zamoiski 2016). Oxybenzone behaves like an endocrine disruptor in many studies (Krause 2012, Ghazipura 2017) and is potentially of greater harm to children (FDA 2019). In an evaluation of CDC-collected exposure data for American children, researchers found that adolescent boys with higher oxybenzone measurements had significantly lower total testosterone levels (Scinicariello 2016). Female exposures to oxybenzone and related chemicals have been linked to an increased risk of endometriosis (Kunisue 2012).

Four studies published in 2020, support previous findings that oxybenzone can act as an endocrine disruptor and may increase the risk of breast cancer and endometriosis (Kariagina 2020, Peinado 2020, Rooney 2020, Santamaria 2020). In addition, the National Toxicology Program found equivocal evidence of carcinogenicity in rats after observing increases in thyroid tumors and uterine hyperplasia in females with high exposure to oxybenzone (NTP 2020). Recently, the European Commission found current human exposure levels to oxybenzone to be unsafe and proposed a concentration restriction of 2.2 percent (SCCS 2020) – lower than the limited amount allowed in U.S. sunscreens, which is up to 6 percent. Several countries ban the sale of sunscreens that contain this ingredient, because it may be harmful to aquatic life.

EWG recommends that consumers avoid sunscreens with oxybenzone.

Octinoxate (Octyl methoxycinnamate)
Octinoxate is an organic UV filter. It is readily absorbed into the skin and continues to be absorbed after the sunscreen has been applied. It has been found in blood 16 times above the proposed FDA safety threshold (Matta 2019, 2020). Animal studies have shown the chemical has hormone effects on the metabolic system and affects thyroid hormone production (Seidlova-Wuttke 2006), with some evidence for other endocrine targets, including androgen and progesterone signaling (Krause 2012). Several countries ban the sale of sunscreens made with octinoxate, because they may be harmful to aquatic life.

Homosalate
Homosalate is an organic UV filter widely used in U.S. sunscreens. Homosalate has been found to penetrate the skin, disrupt hormones and produce toxic breakdown byproducts over time (Krause 2012, Sarveiya 2004, SCCNFP 2006, Matta 2020). A recent opinion from the European Commission found that homosalate was not safe to use at concentrations up to 10 percent and recommended a maximum concentration of 1.4 percent, because of concerns for potential endocrine disruption (SCCS 2020). The FDA allows U.S. sunscreen manufacturers to use it in concentrations up to 15 percent.

Octisalate
Octisalate, an organic UV filter, readily absorbs through the skin at levels 10 times more than 0.5 nanograms per milliliter, the FDA’s cutoff for systemic exposure. This cutoff is the maximum concentration that may be found in blood before there are potential safety concerns. A case report showed that the chemical has been linked to allergic contact dermatitis (Singh 2007). Analysis of high throughput screening assays by the Environmental Protection Agency suggests octisalate may have endocrine effects, weakly binding to the estrogen receptor.

Octocrylene
Octocrylene readily absorbs through the skin at levels about 14 times the FDA cutoff for systemic exposure (Hayden 2005, Matta 2020). Studies have found that octocrylene causes relatively high rates of skin allergies (Bryden 2006). It has been linked to aquatic toxicity, with the potential to harm coral health (Stein 2019), and it is often contaminated with the known carcinogen benzophenone. According to a recent study, its levels can increase when it is stored (Downs 2021). 

Avobenzone
Avobenzone is a widely used organic filter that provides protection from UVA rays. Avobenzone can disrupt the endocrine system and has been shown to block the effects of testosterone in cellular studies (Klopcic 2017). In one study, avobenzone was detected in serum samples at levels nine times above the FDA’s cutoff for systemic exposure (Matta 2020).

Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide
Mineral sunscreens are made with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, usually in the form of nanoparticles. The FDA proposed that both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide be classified as safe and effective. Evidence suggests that few if any zinc or titanium particles penetrate the skin to reach living tissues (Gulson, 2012, Sadrieh 2010).

Titanium dioxide is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, because of the potential of exposure through inhalation. For this reason, powdered or spray formulations containing titanium dioxide are of concern. In general, mineral sunscreens tend to rate better than chemical sunscreens in the EWG sunscreen database. 

The trouble with ingredients in sunscreen. Environmental Working Group. 

https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/the-trouble-with-sunscreen-chemicals/

Keeping Abreast of It

Keeping Abreast of It

Keeping Abreast of It

By: LouLou Piscatore
Photos: Sari Goodfriend

BEAUTY

Breast care - Boob balm
Are your breasts getting enough attention? I mean, apart from your yearly mammogram and the occasional exam, how are you caring for them? We massage lotions and potions into just about every body part, but our breasts are often left out of the wellness routine…and they deserve our attention.

For starters, the body’s lymphatic system is highly concentrated near the breast and underarm. The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that help rid the body of toxins, waste and other unwanted materials. It also transports lymph — a fluid containing white blood cells — throughout the body, and is an important part of our immune system.1 Wearing a bra (especially underwire) can cause stagnation in the area and interfere with lymph circulation. Taking off your bra and massaging your breasts at the end of the day can help drain the stagnant lymph fluid and support detox and circulation to the tissue.

Breast massage can reduce hormonal tenderness and reduce swelling, Not to mention, the skin on our breasts and chest is thinner than the rest of our body and needs moisturizer (and natural sunscreen!) to prevent signs of aging. Perhaps most important of all, it is an effective preventative care measure. Regular breast massage will keep you familiar with your own body, so you’ll be the first one to notice any changes. Courtney Kinnare of Noniko Natural Skincare recommends using a breast specific product, and making it part of your self-care routine. “You are not only moisturizing your décolletage, but you are also familiarizing yourself with your ‘normal.’ Early detection is one of the keys to beating breast cancer and by getting to know your body, you are increasing your chances of noticing any differences.”

Some other tips for breast wellness? Rethink your underwire bra. Ideally you want a bra that offers support without cutting off circulation. And use natural deodorant. Your underarms are right next to your breasts and packed with lymph nodes. Standard deodorants contain aluminum and hormone-disrupting preservatives like parabens, both of which pose health concerns.

Need some inspiration? Try one of these multi-tasking, non-toxic, breast-positive products, and add some breast care to your self-care.

1 – When Beauty and the Breast Bio Cellulose Breast Mask
www.whenbeautyus.com

2 – Hatch — Nipple and Lip Rescue Balm
www.hatchcollection.com/

3 – Noniko — Boob Balm
https://nonikoskin.com/

4 -Mega Babe — Bust Dust
https://megababebeauty.com/

5 – Dirty Girl Farm — Boobie Butter
www.dirtygirlfarm.com

6 – Aroms Natur — Love Your Breasts daily firming massage oil
www.aromsnaturskincare.com

7 – Banyan Botanicals — Breast Care Balm
https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/

8 – Lansinoh — Organic Nipple Balm
https://lansinoh.com/

9 – Simply Divine Botanicals — Keeping Abreast Of It
www.simplydivinebotanicals.com/

Breast care - Boob balm
Head to Toe

Head to Toe

Head to Toe

by

BEAUTY

Head To Toe Beauty products

Your skin is a living, breathing organ. It is your largest organ, and it needs the same level of care as other organs. It needs nourishment, hydration, sleep, oxygen and apparently lots of moisturizer. For thousands of years, Ayurveda has associated aging with “drying out.” Now western science is catching up. According to recent research, some of the systemic inflammation associated with chronic diseases of aging has been linked to — dry skin!

In a recent article, Mariana Lenharo documents the research going on at the University of California, San Francisco, and the links between dry skin and inflammation.The inflammation response is part of the body’s immune system and plays an important part in healing tissue damage and fighting viruses and bacteria. But chronic, low-level inflammation has been linked to common age-related degenerative conditions (like Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease). As you age, the skin barrier deteriorates, and is unable to keep the skin hydrated. So the skin sends out signals to the immune system to try and repair itself. Those signals, and the immune system’s response, creates systemic inflammation, which can lead to chronic disease.

This creates exciting possibilities. They found that if you improve skin function, you can reduce inflammation. Basically If you moisturize your skin, you can improve your health. And one of the most exciting findings is that treating even part of the skin has enough of an impact to make a difference.

So skin care is health care, and Ayurveda was right all along. Stay moisturized. Pick a body part and start with any of these great products:

 

Belly Mask, Belly Oil

hatchcollection.com

Lip Serum, Lip Mask, Citrus Hand Cream

henneorganics.com

Smooth Operator Intimate Serum

itsquim.com

Line-filling Eye Balm

alpynbeauty.com

Ad Astra Nighttime Eye Cream Emulsion

Kyprisbeauty.com

Precious Sea Hand Saviour

ediblebeautyaustralia.com

Thigh Rescue

Megababebeauty.com

Happy Pits

megababebeauty.com

Stretch Mark Cream, Stretch Mark Serum,

loveanybody.com

Founders Blend Scalp and Hair Treatment

rahua.com

Foot Treatment

aylabeauty.com

Lip Patch, Eye Patch, Foot Mask

lapcosusa.com

Butt Masks

Bawdybeauty.com

Himalayan Body Buff

Osmiaorganics.com

Barrier+Triple Lipid-Peptide Cream

Skinfixinc.com

Body Cream

ayuna.co

Body Butter

mutha.com

Stone Crop Body Oil

emstore.com

 

 

Body Salve

sparitual.com

 

 

Creme No. 3

lamarue.nyc

 

 

Ceramide Refuel Soap Jel

bodybarrier.com

Head To Toe Beauty products
Head To Toe Beauty products
Head To Toe Beauty products