Living Cruelty Free

So lately I’ve been reading up on ICCVAM — the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods. It started with my finding an editorial on the Doris Day Animal League website — there’s a section where Members of Congress, public policy experts, and federal regulators express their thoughts on current animal welfare issues. One of the contributors, Representative Ken Calvert (Republican), writes about how he introduced the ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000. This legislation was aimed at making ICCVAM create guidelines that promote alternative-to-animal-testing-methods, and required the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and other federal agencies to comply with the guidelines (ICCVAM was created in 1993 — it unites representatives from 17 federal agencies and programs for the coordination of the development and review of alternative-to-animal-testing-methods. It was hoped that when it was created it would ensure that the lives of millions of test animals were not “taken needlessly.”) (Though, disturbingly, Colgate-Palmolive, Gillette, and Procter and Gamble, which are huge animal-testing-offenders, supported the bill as well — although it saves animal lives, it also saves chemical and pharmaceutical companies millions of dollars by eliminating some tests that involved animals and were very expensive. I guess that’s a win-win situation.)

I was very excited by this, and I was so pleased Representative Ken Calvert was doing this sort of thing, until I remembered that most anti-animal-testing organizations hate ICCVAM. Apparently it’s been totally taken over by animal-testing-offenders like Colgate-Palmolive, Gillette, and Procter and Gamble, and has managed to approve only one alternative testing method in the whole ten years of its existence. Can you imagine? Think of the huge amount of taxpayers’ money spent just to fund one totally ineffective organization that has only managed to do one thing in 10 years. This is especially disturbing since ICCVAM’s (competent) European counterpart has managed to approve 20 alternative-test-methods, so Europe is far ahead of us in terms of saving lives of laboratory animals. Even the U.S. National Academy of Sciences — a fairly conservative organization — has called for ICCVAM to approve the use of more alternative methods. Some people even argue that ICCVAM is jeopardizing peoples’ health, since non-animal -testing-methods have been demonstrated to be more accurate, more sensitive, and more protective than using rats (I think this boils down to people aren’t rats — you can do better tests if you use synthetic human flesh instead of live animal flesh).

If you’d like to send a letter to your congressperson or senator about how ineffective you think ICCVAM has been, or see a really unpleasant video about the horrors of animal testing (hosted by James Cromwell! I’m so pleased he’s against animal testing — I love him as Jack Bauer’s evil father on 24) please click here.

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Shampoo is from Paul Mitchell’s smoothing line of hair care products. It is supposed to smooth unruly hair using an exclusive super skinny complex that penetrates deep into the hair shaft where it displaces water and constricts the hair. It is supposed to soften hair through the use of mild surfactants that thoroughly cleanse without stripping or plumping hair, and it is supposed to reduce drying time.

I really like it — it cleans my hair so it’s not greasy at the roots without stripping it so its dried out at the ends, and my hair does seem to have less of a pouffiness issue without losing body since I’ve been using it. It has a very mild, clean scent — sort of a chemical apple fragrance. (It is cruelty-free, but it is not organic or vegan.) It’s also relatively inexpensive — it’s $8.95 for 10 ounces — which I really like. It’s a good daily shampoo (I still use a stronger shampoo once a week).

I looked it up on MakeupAlley — people seem to either love it or hate it. So if you do buy it, be prepared to either love it or hate it.

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Shampoo (10oz) is available for $8.95 from Folica, and many local salons and beauty supply stores.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Sodium Myreth Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Isoceteth-20, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, PEG-150 Distearate, PEG-3 Dioleoylamidoethylmonium Methosulfate, Trimethylsiloxyamodimethicone, C11-15 Pareth-7, C12-16 Pareth-9, Glycerin, Trideceth-12, Polyquaternium-10, Triethyl Citrate, Bisamino PEG/PPG-41/3 Aminoethyl PG-Propyl Dimethicone/Algae/Aloe Barbedensis Leaf/Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile)/Henna/Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba)/Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary)/PEG-12 Dimethicone, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Iodopropymyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance (Parfum), Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool.

So, there’s this television show I occasionally watch (because it has new episodes! in the summer!), called Eureka, which is about this seemingly-normal small Pacific Northwestern town that is actually a huge secret scientific think-tank. The paperboy looks like a perfectly normal paper boy, but he has a robotic arm attachment that throws papers from his bag to the front lawns of his customers. The lawnmowers look like normal lawnmowers, but they have a hover feature, the kids write with chalk on the sidewalk, but they write mathematical equations instead of childish scribbles, etc.

It’s a pretty interesting show, with a great premise — though a few of the plotlines appear to be recycled from other science fiction stories and others are just a little . . . strange, plotwise.

But anyway, I really like the free-range reference I found in an episode I just watched — it’s called “E=MC . . . ?” It’s about a bank-robbing super-genius (and why do all the characters have to be super-geniuses? Aren’t there ever any normal nongeniuses involved in scientific research?) particle physicist who comes to Eureka to be part of a team of scientists to recreate the Big Bang. Since the particle physicist (Zane) has a bank-robbing record, the sheriff, Carter, is keeping an eye on him. They have this exchange after Carter gets Zane a chicken sandwich for lunch:

Sheriff Carter: (hands Zane a chicken sandwich).

Zane: “Um, I’m not eating that.”

Sheriff Carter: “What? It’s chicken.”

Zane: “Do you know how chickens are raised?”

Sheriff Carter: “Don’t — just let me enjoy my meal.”

Zane: “Jammed together. In a windowless warehouse. Wading in feces until they get decapitated. Or pecked to death. When you eat that chicken, you’re eating all that hate.”

Sheriff Carter: (Sets his chicken sandwich down. Looks a little perturbed.)

(Later in the plot, it turns out all the people who ate the chicken sandwich become stupid. (Really. That’s the plot. I am not making this up))

I’m moderately psyched by this development — it’s nice to see a pro-free-range dialogue on TV. Though this one is definitely undermined by the fact that the speaker has a thinks-bank-robbing-is-morally-acceptable-if-you-steal-from organizations-you-dislike attitude. I’d prefer it if that sort of statement were made by a less morally ambiguous character like the sheriff, instead.

Though I’m less psyched with what happens later in the show — the nice veterinarian character mentions how she (cruelly) irradiates animals in the name of scientific progress. It always annoys me to see how if you hurt animals at home, you’re considered an animal-abuser, but if you do so in a laboratory, you’re a scientist. I thought it was especially interesting how the (cruel) veterinarian character is also supposed to be a vegetarian. If she doesn’t mind exposing animals to high levels of cancer-causing radiation, why is she a vegetarian? For health reasons? Is she just very cognizant of the tradeoff between scientific research and humane-ness to animals and feels inhumaneness is okay if scientific progress is furthered? And why is it that the criminal character is against cruelty to animals, but the nice save-the-world character is an animal irradiator?

Another not-so-great thing — the plot develops, and it turns out the chicken was being grown in independent parts from chicken stem cells by an insane-genius-free-range-obsessed chicken farmer (really — I am not making this plot up). I just found this insulting because it portrays people who won’t support battery-farmed chicken as lunatics.

Anyway, I’m glad this show is at least discussing farm animal cruelty to some extent. Getting the message out. So overall, I think it’s a good thing.

I’m a fan of Doris Day — I love her movies, her songs, and her compassion for animals. I once watched a TV biography of her life, and they had filmed her saying how she really didn’t want to go to Morocco to film one of her movies, because she knew she’d see many homeless and mistreated animals there. I thought that was very endearing — most movie stars go to Morocco for the luxury five-star resorts and wild nightlife, don’t they? But not Doris Day — she’s concerned about the homeless and mistreated animals. (They never put mistreated animals in travel brochures, do they? Stay at this fabulous resort for very little money, but ignore the many suffering homeless and emaciated animals that will swarm around you if you ever venture outside of it?)

Anyway, the Doris Day Animal League is a “nonprofit, national, citizen’s lobbying organization working to improve the humane treatment of animals.” It’s an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, and it works with “the U.S. Congress, government agencies, and state and local officials, to pass new laws and enforce existing laws that reduce the suffering of animals anywhere they are mistreated.”

Similarly to the American Humane Association, the Doris Day Animal League has a page devoted to legislative updates where you can go to read about upcoming animal-welfare related legislation (If you’re interested in that sort of thing, you can sign up for e-alerts). There is an interesting subsection to that page where Members of Congress, public policy experts, and federal regulators write in about their feelings on supporting pro-animal welfare legislation (I thought that was interesting). There’s also a nice subsection with summaries of all the pro-animal-welfare acts that passed in the last year.

The Doris Day Animal League also runs some animal-welfare campaigns — one is to decrease the use of animal testing in favor of alternatives, one is to add a bittering agent to all antifreeze sold in the US so fewer dogs and cats die from eating it each year (antifreeze is really sweet yet toxic, so thousands of pets and wild animals eat it and die each year from it), one is to stop the practice of slaughtering horses and sending the horsemeat to Europe where it is eaten, one is to stop puppy mills, one is to encourage pet trusts, which are trusts set up to care for pets after their owner dies, and one is to encourage people to buy animal-friendly license plates, which are special license plates with pictures of cats and dogs on them — part of their purchase price goes to spay/neuter funds.

The Doris Day Animal League also has a “how you can help” section, where you can sign up to join DDAL for $10, donate to DDAL, sign up for e-news and e-alerts about animal welfare legislation, or learn how to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper or member of Congress about animal-welfare issues of your choice.

The Doris Day Animal League also has some publications — Animal Guardian magazine, Basic Guidelines for Operating an Equine Rescue or Retirement Facility, Best Friends for Life — a guide to your rights to pets in rental housing, and Animal Fact Sheets 2007 – a series of fact sheets on animal protection issues.

There’s also an interview with Doris Day about her commitment to animal welfare.

Overall, the Doris Day Animal League looks like a great pro-animal-welfare organization.

I really like Paul Mitchell products. They’re cruelty-free, they’re innovative, they have a huge selection, they’re available at many salons, and a lot of hairdressers use them. (They are not organic or vegan.) So I ordered a bottle of the travel size volumizing spray a while ago.

Paul Mitchell Volumizing Spray is supposed to add maximum lift through a blend of naturally-derived heat activated resins that provide extra volume to blow-dried styles. It has panthenol to help thicken hair and add body, it has a light mist pump spray that allows for an even application, it is highly concentrated, so you get more volumizing for your buck. You’re supposed to spray it on (sparingly) and then blow dry your hair.

Reviews on Makeupalley for the volumizing spray are mixed — 3 people give it glowing reviews, saying it volumizes their hair beautifully, 3 people give it terrible reviews, saying it did nothing for their hair, and one gives it an average review. Unfortunately, I’m with the bad reviewer-givers. It really didn’t volumize my hair very much. I experienced a slight increase in volume, but then my hair fell flat again after about an hour. Though this really didn’t surprise me — my hair is very limp and I’ve never found anything that increases its volume. I suspect I just have hair that doesn’t work with volumizers, and that if your hair isn’t quite as limp as mine, Paul Mitchell Volumizing Spray will work well for you.

Paul Mitchell Volumizing Spray (3.4 oz) is available for $5.78 at USA Beauty Supply (it’s also availabe in an 8.5oz and a 16.9oz sizes there as well). It’s also available at a lot of beauty supply stores and local salons.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), VP/VA Copolymer, Metha-cryloyl Ethyl Betaine/Acrylates Copolymer, PPG-5-Ceteth-20, Propylene Glycol, Bisamino PEG/ PPG-41/3 Aminoethyl PG_Propyl Dimethicone/ Glutamine/ Tyrosine/ Leucine/ Cysteine/ Glycine/ Symphytum Officinale/ Plantago Major/ Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Protein/PEG-12 Dimethicone, Linoleamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Triethyl Citrate, Carbomer, Methylparaben, Triethanolamine, Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Salicylate, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Citronellol.

I looked up the next organization on the Coalition for Consumer Information in Cosmetics member organization list, and it is the American Humane Association, which I’ve written about before in my post on Clover milk. Quick recap: the American Humane Association is not the American Humane Society or the Humane Society of the United States, which are two entirely different pro-animal-welfare societies. Instead, the AHA is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting both children and animals (I find this interesting because I’ve seen numerous situations where child-welfare-activists and animal-welfare-activists end up opposing each other). It’s been around since 1877 and is headquartered in Denver. Its focus is to develop policies, legislation, curricula, and training programs to protect children and animals from cruelty, abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Many community humane societies, animal control agencies, and SPCAs are member organizations of the AHA. The AHA also raises awareness about animal abuse, the link between animal abuse and other forms of violence, and the benefits of animal-human interactions.

According to its website, the American Humane Association is involved in numerous animal welfare projects. It has developed the “free farmed award” which is given to farms that are certified to have a commitment to the well-being of farm animals — their farm animals are raised humanely in cage-free environments, live and grow in a humane environment under conditions and care that limit stress, enjoy a healthy life, benefit from disease and injury prevention and rapid diagnoses and treatment, have ready access to fresh water and a diet that maintains full health and vigor, and are free to “express normal behaviors and live in an appropriate and comfortable environment that includes sufficient space, proper facilities, shelter, a resting area, and company of the animals’ own kind.” The free farmed certified farms are: American Grass Fed Beef (Doniphan, Missouri) (Beef), Morris Grassfed Beef (San Juan Bautista, CA) (Beef), Nature’s Premier Organic (Frankenmuth, MI) (Chicken), Springer Mountain Farms (Baldwin, GA) (Chicken), Clover Stornetta Farms (Petaluma, CA) (Dairy), Kleinpeter Dairy (Baton Rouge, LA) (Dairy), Humboldt Creamery (Fortuna, CA) (Dairy), Rumiano Cheese Company (Crescent City, CA) (Dairy), Loleta Cheese Company (Loleta, CA) (Dairy), Gemperle Farms (Turlock, CA) (Eggs), Leidy’s Nature’s Tradition (Souderton, PA) (Pork), and Plainville Farms (Plainville, NY) (Turkey).

The American Humane Association also runs Red Star Animal Emergency Services, which coordinates temporary shelter facilities and rescues stranded animals after disasters happen, the Second Chance Fund, which provides financial assistance to shelters to cover the costs of veterinary bills for their rescued animals, and a number of public awareness events — Pets and Pals Photo Contest, Adopt-a-Cat Month, Be Kind to Animals Week (only a week?), Every Day is Tag Day, and Adopt-a-Dog Month. It is also involved in some kind of television joint venture with Animal Planet called ROAR, and is the authority behind the “No Animals Were Harmed” End Credit Disclaimer in movies.

The American Humane Association also has a Public Policy Office with an interesting “take action” section — right now it has a list of federal animal-welfare acts you can write in to support such as the Dog Fighting Prohibition Act — 2007 (HR 3219) which will help eliminate the horrific practice of dogfighting, the Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Act of 2007 – which will establish a national public health campaign to prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome, the Human and Pet Food Safety Act of 2007, which will reform safety measures to protect the nation’s food supply for humans and pets, the Pet Safety and Protection Act, which will ensure that all dogs and cats used in research facilities are obtained by legal means, and the Kinship Caregiver Support Act of 2007, which will support grandparents and other relative caregivers. It also has a bunch of state animal-welfare bills you can write in to support.

The American Humane Association has a free e-newsletter (if you sign up for it you get a free keychain). It also has a Visa card that you can buy which will benefit the American Humane Association and give you points, and a Cafepress store where you can buy t-shirts with the American Humane Association logo on them.

You can also join the American Humane Association — it has both animal welfare and child welfare membership programs ($59 per year for an individual, $119 for an agency). If you buy the membership for animal welfare for $59, you get a subscription to American Humane’s Protecting Animals and Humane Review, free access to research, best practices, benchmarking reports, and statistics, access to their email discussion group ShelterTalk, a 15% discount on registration fees for training workshops and the annual conference (which is taking place in Alexandria, VA September 27-29th this year), along with a bunch of other stuff.

Or you can donate to the American Humane Association. The AHA is part of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, has been awarded the Independent Charities “Best in America” Seal of Approval, and has received a 3-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Overall, I think the American Humane Association sounds great — I hope it creates more animal-friendly awards, that businesses try to win those awards, that its public policy objectives all go through, that the Animal Emergency Rescue Service and the Second Chance Fund keep providing their services, and that its Animal Planet and its “no animals were harmed during the making of this movie” projects continue to go well.

I’m finally back from visiting my relatives on the East Coast!

I had a very nice time, but I’m glad to be back in a cooler climate (with internet!). It’s so nice to be able to drive around with the windows down letting in the breeze (it’s beautifully sunny and clear here — I hope this lasts more than a week), and not keeping the windows sealed at all times and the AC on high. Though I will miss the warm summer evenings — it was really nice to go for a walk at 10pm and have it be a nice temperature out (though still frighteningly humid) — it gets way too cold here as soon as the sun goes down.

The cruelty-free L’Occitane Verbena Ice Hand Cream Gel I took with me actually turned out to be fairly useful in the insanely humid and hot weather. I bought the ice gel almost two years ago as part of a trio of travel sized L’Occitane lotions that were half off at the time — I used up the mini lavender hand lotion and the mini shea hand lotion almost immediately (I don’t remember them in much detail, but I vaguely remember they were nice, and perfectly sized to carry around in my purse), but I never ended up using the verbena ice gel because it doesn’t really ever get that hot in the Bay Area. But during the last few weeks, when I was stuck outside in really hot and humid conditions (the few times, thankfully), I tried the hand gel, and it was kind of nice. I’d say it provided a 1-2 degree drop in temperature. Not a lot really, but refreshing.

L’Occitane states that the Verbena ice hand cream gel is a hand lotion that turns to a “matte, powdery finish, reducing perspiration and swelling sensations.” It is “enriched with organic verbena extract and tapioca powder to soothe and absorb, leaving hands feeling dry and cooled.” It has an aroma of verbena, orange, geranium, and lemon tree that should appeal to both men and women. While it is cruelty-free, it is not organic, (but it has organic verbena extracts in it), and it is not vegan.

I wouldn’t say it had a powdery finish — it felt kind of like an alcohol-based gel to me — but it did dry fairly quickly. I liked the scent a lot — overall it had a nice, soft lemon fragrance. Though I offered some to a friend of mine and she said it smelled like lemon pledge to her. I didn’t think it smelled acidic and harsh the way pledge does, but she disagreed (though she did like the cooling sensation).

I looked up Verbena Ice Hand Cream Gel on Makeupalley, but I could only find the verbena ice body gel — which is a little different, but is cooling as well, and it received 4.5/5 stars (from 11 reviewers), which is fairly high marks. A lot of people seemed to like the scent, and think it’s a good alternative to normal lotions in humid climates.

I don’t think I’ll repurchase the Verbena ice hand cream, but that’s just because I live in an area where it’s just not that useful, so I think the 1oz bottle of it I have now should last me for the next ten years since I only plan to ever use it if I go on vacation. If I ever move to an area with hot summers, I will definitely buy more ice hand cream and also pick up some of the ice body gel as well.

L’Occitane Verbena Soothing Ice Gel (2.6oz) is available for $18 at the L’Occitane online store.

Ingredients: WATER, ALCOHOL DENAT, TAPIOCA STARCH, CYCLOMETHICONE, GLYCERIN, GLYCERYL POLYMETHACRYLATE, MENTHYL LACTATE, AMMONIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYLTAURATE/VP COPOLYMER, PPG-26 BUTETH-26, PEG-40 HYDROGENATED , ASTOR OIL, CHLORPHENESIN, FRAGRANCE, METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, OCTINOXATE, AVOBENZONE, LIPPIA CITRIODORA FLOWER EXTRACT, BUTYLPARABEN, CITRAL, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, OCTISALATE, ETHYLPARABEN, LIMONENE, GERANIOL, TETRASODIUM EDTA, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, HEXYL CINNAMAL, GARDENIA FLORIDA EXTRACT, BENZYL , ENZOATE, LINALOOL, BENZYL ALCOHOL, CITRONELLOL

Well, I’m vacationing again, in a small town outside of Philadelphia. I’m visiting some of my relatives. So far it’s been very nice, though I’m spending all my time indoors enjoying the air conditioning because if I go outside I wilt from the heat. Though it’s lovely here — so green and lush and there are all these pretty farmhouses. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me the Brandywine Valley area was so beautiful?

Anyway, I was told there would be internet, but it’s very slow so I’m not going to be blogging until I get back to the cold, overcast Bay Area. (You know that quote by Mark Twain? About how the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco? It’s completely true. Those of you who are reading this from actual 4 season climates will never believe me, but in the Bay Area weeks go by in August where the thermometer hits 60 degrees and stays there, and the skies are overcast. Then we get one day of 90 degree weather and declare a heat wave. And it’s not even a humid 90 degrees. It’s the equivalent of about 70 Pennsylvania degrees.)

But once I do return on the 20th, I’ll blog a lot about anti-animal testing issues and cruelty-free products. I’ll definitely be writing a review of L’Occitane cooling hand gel — I brought some along with me and this will be the ultimate test. Will it be “cooling” when it’s 90 degrees and insanely humid out?

The Coalition for Consumer Information in Cosmetics (which I’ve written about before), is the company I use to determine most of my cruelty-free lists and the creator of the leaping bunny logo that promotes a single international Humane Cosmetics Standard. The CCIC is made up of eight member organizations. I was just checking out the member organizations to see what they were like, and I thought I’d write up summaries and post them in this blog so other people can see what they’re like as well. The first CCIC member organization is the American Anti-Vivisection Society.

The American Anti-Vivisection Society:

The American Anti-Vivisection Society is a “non-profit animal advocacy and educational organization that unequivocally opposes and works to end experimentation on animals, and opposes all forms of cruelty to animals. Founded in 1993, AAVS is the oldest organization in the United States devoted to ending the use of animals in research, testing, and education.” AAVS works with “students, grassroots groups, individuals, parents, educators, the media, and members of the scientific community to legally and effectively end the use of animals in science through education, advocacy, and the development of alternative methods to animal use.”

AAVS members can become active in AAVS campaigns, which are announced in AV Magazine, the AAVS bi-monthly newsletter Activate for Animals, and on the AAVS websites. AAVS is running several campaigns right now — one to end animal cloning, one to stop animal patents, one to grant money to researchers who come up with non-animal-using testing alternatives, one to offer a computer-simulated alternative to animal dissection in the classroom, one to ban the release of shelter animals to research facilities, and one to ban pet cloning.

It’s interesting. While I think the campaigns to grant money to researchers who come up with non-animal-using testing alternatives, and ban the release of shelter animals to research facilities are absolutely fantastic, and I think the campaigns to offer alternatives to dissection in schools, end animal cloning, and stop animal patents sound good, I’m a little ambivalent about the one to ban pet cloning. I mean, one the one hand, I have had pets I would have liked to have cloned. Don’t a lot of pet-owners feel that way? On the other hand, there are a lot of lonely animals in shelters who need homes, and apparently cloning technology is very new and results in a lot of dead cloned animals. Not good.

All in all, I think AAVS is a great organization. I hope it continues to successfully fight animal cruelty, and I shall read its webpage occasionally to keep up with anti-animal-testing news.

I’m a big fan of Alba Botanica products. They’re cruelty-free, relatively inexpensive, and available almost everywhere. I ordered a bottle of Midnight Tuberose Bath & Shower Gel online, and so far it’s been great. It’s made with a blend of elderberry, aloe, and chamomile, which will “refresh and revitalize your bathing routine” while “natural emollients and soothing aloe vera will nourish, moisturize, and gently cleanse for soft, healthy skin.” It’s hypo-allergenic, pH balanced, has no sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate, no synthetic colors, it is paraben and phthalate free, and EU Cosmetics Directive compliant. Supposedly it is excellent for all skin types, and can be used as a shower gel or as a bubble bath. It’s not vegan, but it is 100% vegetarian. It’s not organic, but if you really want to buy organic Alba Botanica products, you can purchase stuff from their “Avalon Organics line,” which is completely organic.

Alba Botanica Bath and Shower Gel can be bought in tuberose, lavender, honey mango, island citrus, or sparking mint (though Alba Botanica also makes a “body wash” in coconut milk, papaya mango, or passionfruit). I’ve always liked tuberoses, so I picked it instead of the other scents. It is supposed to smell “exotic and irresistible” and evoke the scent of a tropical garden. I’d have to say it does smell sort of tuberose-like, though not as good as a real live tuberose. But I suspect that’s difficult to recreate in a bottled product. It does smell slightly chemical-y, but it’s not overwhelmingly acidicly chemical-odored, so it doesn’t bother me. I ordered it online, and I was surprised by the size of the bottle — I was expecting a small bottle, but I received this giant bottle (I guess 12 oz is pretty large), so the $7.95 goes pretty far. I like the design of the bottle — it’s pretty plain, but attractive. And as a shower gel it works pretty well — it gets me clean anyway, that’s all I ask for.

It also gets fairly good reviews on MakeupAlley — an overall rating of 4.5/5 (out of 19 reviewers). A lot of people seem to be fans of tuberose . . .

Alba Botanica Midnight Tuberose Bath and Shower Gel (12 oz) is available for $7.95 from the Alba Botanica Online Store

Ingredients: Purified water, sodium lauryl sulfoacetate, disodium laureth sulfosuccinate, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium cocoyl isethionate, vegetable glycerin, glyceryl stearate, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, certified organic rosa canina fruit, sambucus nigra (elderberry) fruit, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) flower, melissa officinalis (lemon balm), calendula officinalis flower and chamomilla recutita (chamomile) flower extracts, citric acid, sodium chloride, ethylhexylglycerin, phenoxyethanol and fragrance.