Back-to-the-Land Beauty

Let the sun shine and the gardens grow--
beauty companies are into feeding our skin
with fruit and veggie extracts now.
 [Please ignore the fact that this is a photo of a matchbook.
Smoking is bad for your skin.]  

Went into NYC today for an intimate little press lunch at TLCommunications on Broadway and 21st.  Elie Foster, marketing director for the "YES to" line of skin and hair products, was in town from San Francisco to announce the launch of five new products [targeting hands, body or face] that will be available on the company's website February 7. We got to sniff and touch and try them, and they smelled fresh and lovely.

We writers and editors had to sign a form on the way in saying that we would not report on these five products on the internet prior to their release. That was a first for me, but I'm glad the rules were clear, or else I would have blogged about them here. Two of them [in the Yes to Tomatoes line] seem like great innovations for teen girls, one of whom lives under my roof. In fact, she wanted it as soon as she saw it on the table. It is pretty cool.

Orange Extract

I loved the carrot-colored details--Elie's business card, the napkins, the bouquets of  fat orange roses in mason jars on the table. Most of all, my heart warmed at the sight of a towering, tiered platter of demure beauties from Georgetown Cupcake, which TLCommunications also represents. Based in DC, the bakery has a delightful website: http://www.georgetowncupcake.com/. The cupcake flavor was Carrot [with notes of cinnamon and apple], in slimming dark pleated paper wrap skirts--I mean wrappers--with nice caps of vanilla cream cheese frosting and dainty, fashionable fondant carrots on top. Oh, and also found it charming that the Yes to Carrots sample products we took home were in farmy mason jars with fake paper grass inside. Very homespun and clever.

Feeding the Masses

You've probably seen the "Yes to" line. In addition to http://www.yestocarrots.com/, the tubes, pumps and jars are in Target, Walgreens, Duane Reade, Ulta and on http://www.soap.com/, and are making their way into Whole Foods. They're priced affordably and contain organic fruit and vegetable ingredients such as fruit juice and flower/leaf/stem extracts. I like that the company makes Yes to Baby Carrots, gentle products for babies and toddlers.

And I admire that a portion of all product sales goes to the Yes To Carrots Seed Fund, a nonprofit that gives grants to schools nationwide to grow gardens and promote sustainable agriculture. In poorer L.A. areas, it's a way for kids to teach their parents about healthy eating, too, said Elie as we sat around a table.

Time to go wash my face with Yes to Blueberries Age Refresh Soothing Daily Cleanser. Maybe apply a dab of Overnight Hydrating Cream, too. The blueberry samples were in my bag. Would have been a perfect outing if I could only figure out the damn Muni Meters--this is the second time in a row that I got a parking ticket. Ouch. Those meter maids don't fool around. Good night.

P.S. Subliminal seduction? I bought a bag of organic baby carrots @ Stop & Shop tonight.

Photo by Figgy: One of the old matchbooks H. collected in the 1970s. Figgy really loved that one, and so did her friends. The flip side has a rainbow and the words 7up, STRIKE ON BACK COVER and UNCOLA LAND.