Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!! For another hour and ten minutes at least ;) Today's theme for the April Nail Art Challenge is in fact Earth Day. I was really excited about doing something for today because I really do love this planet. It's pretty amazing what we have available to us in nature and all to often I am awestruck by the vastness of it all. 

I wanted to do something that showed my love of this planet while also portraying part of the beauty of it. I did an homage to what earth looks like from space (the ocean and the continents) and put a little bit of a spin on their shape...and number ;) 

The base color for this is China Glaze's Man Hunt - which I love by itself - and I used plain old painters/masking tape to create the heart shapes. To add the varying colors within each heart, I dabbed out China Glaze's Def Defying, Desert Sun and Kalahari Kiss along with OPI's Don't Mess With OPI onto my palette. Using a damp makeup sponge I dabbed the polish onto my nail to create "continents."

 Happy Earth Day to you all! I hope you got to appreciate some little bit of awesome-ness that the earth has to offer today :)

Happy Polishing! 

Zoya's Earth Day Nail Polish Exchange

Hiya everyone! I wanted to share a really awesome offer with you all. It's possible you've seen this floating around the internet already, but the lovely folks over at Zoya are holding an awesome Earth Day Nail Polish Exchange Promotion! 

So what is this promo about?? Well, the idea is to get rid of your old polishes that are not Big 5-Free. The "Big 5" refers to the chemicals used to make the polish - Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, DBP and Camphor - and they are all around yucky for the planet (and you!). Since Earth Day is tomorrow, Zoya (whose polishes are all Big 5-Free) is offering 50% OFF your ENTIRE purchase through April 26th!

Their only request? That you send them back some of your old polishes that aren't Big 5-Free so that they may dispose of them in the proper way. The exchange process is done entirely on the honor system. From their website:

To clarify the exchange: You do not have to send us the exact amount of bottles that you are ordering. You can send any quantity up to that amount. You can also donate. If you decide you don't want to do either, it's ok "Offer is not contingent on customer returning polish" - we will still love you and will ship the Zoya polishes... we'll just send you on a guilt trip for a while :)

I think this is such an amazing idea and so great to see a company caring about the environment just a little bit ;) 

If you haven't made an account or purchased from Zoya before, I have a code that can get you a bottle for free! I've mentioned their Share the Love Program before, but it's worth mentioning again. Basically, if you follow the link below and make a new account, you'll find a coupon code for one free polish! Pretty awesome if you ask me :) 

http://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/0159A8BA

Let me know if you end up getting anything! I'm still trying to narrow down my choices...so indecisive! 

Happy Polishing :)

10 Tips to Green Up your Yoga Practice for Earth Day

Sunday will be Earth Day so here are 10 Tips to Green Up your Practice

via http://pinterest.com/cosmiclila/

1. Carpool - better yet, ride a bike, walk, or practice at home.

2. Upgrade your mat to a natural rubber model. (Donate or Upcycle the old one)

3. Stop buying bottled water. Drink your water from a reusable bottle like a Klean Kanteen.

4. Choose clothing made from organic or recycled materials.

5. Go to a non-heated studio sometimes. It takes energy to artificially build that much heat all day.

Source: http://www.michellemyhre.com/

6. Keep your post-yoga shower short, or at least buddy up.

7. Go online for your magazines, books, etc so trees can create oxygen not trash.

8. Use potted flowers instead of cut, so they don't have to die for you to keep sunshine on your altar.

9. Don't buy crap for your practice that you don't need. That's really the best option.

10. Practice outside to connect with nature.

Canadian Sign via http://pinterest.com/cosmiclila/

Yoga Journal Free Digital Issue for Earth Day

Earth Day is still a while away (April 22nd), but there's no point in waiting to read the April/May issue of Yoga Journal for free online. Digital issues are perfect for Earth Day since they kill no trees and spend no energy being shipped about. Yay!

Get your digital issue here.

Fun fact: If you click the article titles on the cover page it'll take you directly to them.

Recycled Post - Supporting the Source

Happy Earth Day!! Earth day is a great time to start recycling (Reducing, Reusing, Recycling, and Repairing actually) and in support of that grand theme - I'm having a recycled post. Last year I wrote about "Supporting the Source", and it's just as relevant this year, so check it out >>>>> Here. <<<<<

It's the EARTH - kind of