Thicker, Fuller Hair is YOURS – Introducing AVEDA’s Invati System!

97% naturally derived Invati is AVEDA’s solution for thinning hair. This Exfoliating Shampoo, Thickening Conditioner and Scalp Revitalizer work together to reduce hair loss by 33%! The Exfoliating Shampoo removes build-up that clogs pores and renews the scalp with wintergreen-derived salicylic acid. The Thickening Conditioner restored strength and improves hair elasticity and reduces breakage with arginine derived from soy protein and sugar beets.  Last but certainly not least, the Scalp Revitalizer with turmeric and ginseng helps energize and rehabilitate the scalp around the follicles.


Turmeric is an amazing spice that can be used for many differently things and boasts amazing medicinal qualities (you should Google it!).  So, what’s so special about the organic turmeric found in Invati? AVEDA taps the power of Ayurveda – the ancient healing art of India – with the organic turmeric that they source from an Indian Farm called Nisarga (which mean “Nature” in Sanskrit).  Ayuvedic specialist, Dr. Kusum Upadhyay says, “In Ayurveda, turmeric has many uses and benefits…it beautifies the skin and scalp.”  In Invati, it helps to give you thicker, fuller-looking hair.  AVEDA’s partnership with Nisarga is helping them to convert more farmland to organic – which is better for the earth, the farmers, all of us!
Stop in to see the system and let us know if you have any questions about this amazing system!
 

WASTE FREE – What a Beautiful Idea!

AVEDA was the first beauty company in the United States to embrace “Cradle to Cradle” and they have Gold-level certification for nine of their products, including:

 

Invati Exfoliating Shampoo

Invati Thickening Conditioner

Invati Scalp Revitalizer

Dry Remedy Moisturizing Shampoo

Dry Remedy Moisturizing Conditioner

Men’s Pureformance Shampoo

Men’s Pureformance Conditioner

Smooth Infusion Shampoo

Smooth Infusion Conditioner

 

The Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM program is a multi-attribute eco-label that assesses a product’s safety to humans and the environment and design for future life cycles. The program provides guidelines to help businesses implement the Cradle to Cradle framework, which focuses on using safe materials that can be disassembled and recycled as technical nutrients or composted as biological nutrients. Unlike single-attribute eco-labels, MBDC’s certification program takes a comprehensive approach to evaluating the design of a product and the practices employed in manufacturing the product. The materials and manufacturing practices of each product are assessed in five categories: Material Health, Material Reutilization, Renewable Energy Use, Water Stewardship, and Social Responsibility.

 

This is just another way AVEDA goes above and beyond to set themselves apart! Buy more than just “green” this year…give a gift that impacts our world!

 

Happy Holiday!

Discover AVEDA’s Ingredients

 

I often find myself explaining to people that AVEDA is “more than green” – the AVEDA philosophy is the foundation of the company and the company is built around safe and sustainable practices.  I tell people “they source their ingredients responsibly” or “their packaging is minimal and as recycled as possible” – I can never quite explain it well enough. The great news is that there are 1000 of these little facts that when added together create the picture of a company conducting their business as well as they possibly can. AVEDA isn’t satisfied with the “newest innovation” in “environmentalism” – they are always looking to do more.  So here are a few facts for the week:

AVEDA’s Sandalwood is purchased at a fair price from indigenous farmers in Australia

AVEDA continuously strives to increase their use of naturally-derived ingredients

89% of their raw herbal ingredients are certified organic

Find out all there is to know at http://www.aveda.com/discover/index.tmpl 
Feel great about each purchase you make and every product you use – never settle!

Cheers!

 

 

The Power of Offering

When I was younger my mom told me to never loan a friend or family member money unless you were okay with not receiving it back. When someone asks you to borrow money, or give them a “loan” (in particular, because in the case of a necklace I think we can be less critical!) you must consider if in you will truly be content and not harbor ill feelings toward someone that doesn’t pay you back. I HAVE since loaned money to friends or family and have generally been paid back (YAY!), but in the few cases I wasn’t or didn’t get paid back I was able to move on from it because I had “wrapped my brain around it” before I loaned it to them in the first place. I still have a great relationships with the few people who at one point never paid me back. This is one example of the many ways she taught me not to live a life of “tally marks” – life is not a constant exchange to insure that everything is fair. When I read the following article it reminded me of how my mom taught me to give to others – what can we offer the world, the people around us? How can we make an impact?

 

“…Let me tell you a little story to illustrate my belief in the power — and empowerment — of a more modern sort of offering. My mother once wore a beautiful pearl necklace out to dinner with some friends. During the meal, a woman my mother had just met admired her necklace, and paid her a compliment. Instantly, without a second thought, my mother unhooked the necklace and placed it in the woman’s hands, saying, “Here, it is now yours.” Amazed, the woman reluctantly took the necklace, stammering that she wished she knew how she could repay my mother — asking what she could give her in return. My mother turned to her and said, “it’s not a trade, it’s an offering!” When my mother came back home, my sister and I asked her why she gave the necklace away. “My darlings,” she said, “there is no explanation for such a thing. It is in the spirit of offering in the moment.” This concept has had a profound impact on me ever since I heard it as a little girl. In a world that is so used to trading, to exchange — I’ll give you this and you give me that–we have lost one of the most precious free gifts, and means to empowerment, the gift of making an unprompted offering. This sort of offering is not a planned, wrapped gift, but a spontaneous offering, without a box, without a bow, and without the expectation of something in return…”

 

This was excerpted from an article by “Agapi Stassinopoulos:The Power of Offering:How Offering Can Instantly Unbind the Heart” and can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/agapi-stassinopoulos/the-power-of-offering-how_b_1096055.html.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

AVEDA Holiday Gifts: Fighting Poverty with Paper

Our purchase of lokta bark paper for our holiday gift boxes is:

 

HELPING WOMEN – Women are 80% of the workforce who make our paper. It helps the whole village when women earn income, because they give back to their families and communities.

 

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES – Income from making the paper we buy for our gift boxes means fewer fathers need to leave home to find work. More women can invest in their families. More families can afford to send their children to school. We’re helping give 1000 families a brighter future.

 

EDUCATING PEOPLE – Guma Pun, a 23 year old whose parents never went to school, is now head of the enterprise that makes our gift box paper. With her income, she’s sending her brothers to school – and helping her sister fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher in their village.

 

PROTECTING FORESTS – Our lokta bark paper comes from forests in Nepal. Scientists say that up to 25% of greenhouse gases are caused by deforestation. Protecting 34,000 acres of forest fights climate change.

 

SUPPORTING THE ART OF PAPERMAKING – Royal decrees have been printed on lokta bark paper since the twelfth century. It’s still made for our gift boxes in the ancient way – pressed, dried and dyed by hand. The Nepali people say this strong and beautiful, acid-free paper can last for 1000 years.

 

Ashka Salon & Spa is proud to support the Nepali people and offer exclusive gift sets this year – available exclusively at our salon at special discounted prices. Make your holiday budget stretch and support your local company as we support the global one!

 

Cheers!

10 Easy Tips for being GREEN!

Around Ashka, we often take “going green” for granted – after all, AVEDA has been “green” for over 30 years! Every product that shows up is made with organically grown and sustainably harvested ingredients. The packaging is minimal and recycled. It’s paraben-free and safe for our babies and to go down our drain. Being environmentally responsible is so common place now that I often forget about it! Not good… So here is a reminder that when something becomes the “standard” it begins to lose passion and priority. It often flies under our radar.

 

So today I am giving myself and sharing with you a “refresher” course!

 

1). Carpool

 

If your drive to work is 25 miles each way and at least half is in typical stop-and-go traffic, you’ll save almost 10 percent of your monthly carbon emissions by carpooling. Not to mention the gas dollars you’ll save and the fun you’ll have sharing office gossip with your friends. Aside from carpooling, combining your errands and minimizing your drive time in general all helps too!

 

2). Pay Bills and Bank Online

 

Save natural resources by enrolling in online bill-paying options. Paperless billing not only saves trees, it also eliminates the fossil fuel needed to get all those billing envelopes from them to you and back again. Plus, you’ll save money on stamps. Most billing services will send you a digital copy you can download to your computer or back-up on a flash-drive (so it’s a space-saver too!)

 

3). Sign Up for Green Energy

 

More than half of all electricity consumers in the U.S. now have the option of purchasing green power from their utility company. Find out how you can buy it by visiting the Department of Energy’s state-by-state list of providers at. You can also check with your own utility to see what’s available.

 

4). Turn Down the Thermostat

 

It definitely pays to give a thought to your heat and thermostat, since most households shell out 50 to 70% of their energy budgets on heating and cooling. For every degree you lower the thermostat, you’ll save between 1 and 3% of your heating bill. Do the same thing in reverse with air conditioning.

 

5). Stop Idling

 

Every moment you spend idling your car’s engine means needlessly wasting gas, as well as rougher wear on your vehicle. Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than is needed for startup. Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion.

 

6). Opt OUT of Junk Mail and Solicitations

 

Around 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used to send junk mail to Americans every year, according to greendimes.com. You can stop 75% of unsolicited mail by registering on the Mail Preference Service on the Direct Marketing Association Website (for a fee of $1). Within 90 days, most unsolicited mail will stop.

 

7). Choose Hormone-Free Milk & Dairy

 

Look for milk that has been certified organic or carries the words “no artificial hormones.” Conventional dairies inject cows with synthetic recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), aka bovine somatotropin (rbST), to boost production. The practice has been implicated in udder infections, requiring more veterinary antibiotic use, and is banned in many countries. Some scientists worry the hormones may affect consumers.

 

8). Print on Two Sides

 

Know what? It’s not that hard to print on both sides of the paper. But even though most software programs give that option, most of us still print only on one side of the page. Consider this: the U.S. alone uses 4 million tons of copy paper annually, about 27 pounds per person. Save dough and your local landfill. Print on two sides.

 

9). Wash your Laundry in Cold Water

 

An easy way to clean green is to turn the dial on your washing machine to cold. Most loads don’t need hot water, and 90% of the energy used by washing machines goes into heating. The higher the water temperature, the higher the cost to you and the planet.

 

10). Turn Off your Computer

 

Save energy and wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night. You’ll save an average of $90 of electricity a year.

 

Get more ideas at www.thedailygreen.com. Saving money, saving the environment – CHEERS!