I’m such a lucky Green Girl. How often do you get to sample beautiful, sustainable clothing without having to go shopping? Well just recently Elwood Clothing gave me the opportunity to do just that.

Now I have to confess that this is breaking a bit of a fast for me. At the New Year I said I would only stick to second hand or hand made clothes in an aim to R, R & R in the wardrobe. However, I don’t need to feel guilty about these clothes because they’re made by a company who supports green fashion big time.

Gorgeous Clothing
The more I find out about Elwood Clothing the more I like them. Firstly, the clothes, made from organic cotton, hemp and bamboo; I received the Pamela Pants, the Whitney Dress and the Simone Poncho.

Having never worn bamboo fabric before I couldn’t believe how soft these clothes are, so comfortable and so flattering at the same time. The Whitney dress can be worn either as a cute little evening dress or as a top over jeans and it is the kind of classic style and shape that allows it a long life span. All the same is true for the Simone Poncho too, giving a lovely luxurious feel.

The organic cotton Pamela Pants are like your favourite pair of jeans except they’re brand new. The really great thing is that these pretty, feminine clothes are also tough and made to last. Elwood Clothing guarantee that if any of their products fall apart they will be repaired or replaced for free - Now what does that tell you?

Checking out the other products online, both men’s and women’s, you can see that all of the pieces are cool and casual. Wave goodbye to your ideas of green, affordable fashion being scratchy and unflattering, these clothes are soft and sexy.

Company Credentials
Sustainable fashion is about much more than the clothes, right? How else is the company doing their bit for the environment? I hear you ask. Well I’ll tell you.

Elwood Clothing are involved in 1% For the Planet and use innovative ways to recycle old Elwood products. To celebrate Earth Day they held an event to collect old jeans which were then donated to an organisation who uses them to create insulation for green homes. Those who donated an old pair of jeans received a new pair from Elwood.

Their past environmental and ethical schemes include donating profits to Global Green and other social projects and charities. Future plans involve further work with 1% for the Planet and supporting the work of Rational Animal, an organisation which helps homeless and working animals and wildlife in NYC.

Skateboarding Roots
I can’t talk about Elwood without mentioning their biggest love and influence, Skateboarding. In fact, if you know about skateboarding you’ll be impressed to learn that the Elwood team includes Kenny Anderson, Anthony Pappalardo, Silas Baxter-Neil and John Rattray, who are involved in the design of the clothing.

Music is also a large part of Elwood and last year these two passions went hand in hand with the company releasing their first skateboarding and music video called 1st and Hope. You can watch the video trailer at the Elwood website and enjoy the great Beck soundtrack (one of my favourites).

Elwood also tell me that they support and dress music artists such as Money Mark from the Beastie Boys, Jack Johnson, The Shins, Tristan Prettyman, Rogue Wave, Mt. Egypt and many more.

Have you ever seen so much cool and green all in one place?

Check them out at www.elwoodclothing.com

I’m a yo-yo organic skincare products user, fluctuating between just not being able to afford it and then feeling after all that its well worth the extra cost. Every time I go back to organic moisturisers and face creams I remember the difference they make to your skin and how it feels - lighter, fresher and cleaner.

This week I’ve been trying out a few of Beyond Organic Skincare’s products and not been disappointed at all.

Beyond Organic Skincare is a family-run business based Cornwall and seeing the beautiful view they have from their workshop you can see why they’re so committed to caring for what’s natural. Impressively 90% of the ingredients of their skincare products are sourced from the West Country in the UK which must be no mean feat plus all of their ingredients are certified organic by the Biodynamic Agricultural Association (BDAA). They take care to ensure they provide a healthy working environment for staff and inform us that they’re committed to various environmental and fair trade issues.

A good start isn’t it? And that’s before we’ve tried their creams.

The Beyond Organic Skincare products I’ve been using are the:

• Moisturising Day Cream
• Rescue Salve
• Rejuvenating Serum
• Regenerating Night Cream

First of all I need to point out that when the pretty little bottle & pots of lotions arrived they were contained in simple packaging of tissue paper and a card box with an information leaflet, all of which could be recycled or composted.

These products have a very similar smell which is subtle, fresh and non-perfumey and the information sheet goes into detail about the qualities of the natural ingredients in each of them.

I’ve used the Moisturising Day Cream more than any of the others which worked well either with our without make-up. It has a lovely consistency a little bit like a mousse and at this time of year where our faces are being battered by cold wind and dry central heating it moisturised my skin well without being heavy.

The Rescue Salve is the serious cream of the bunch designed to help with skin irritations and inflammation and although I don’t have any of those problems I found it acted as a great lip balm and eye cream for that bit of extra protection.

Similarly the Rejuvenating Serum seems to provide that deeper hydration and again feels good to use around your eyes (especially if you have a few laughter - ahem - lines like me!) because it’s like an oil which according to Beyond Organic Skincare’s information is very similar to human sebum in the skin.

At night time the Regenerating Night Cream is soothing and I think that’s the marshmallow ingredient. Again this one especially good for these winter months that are so harsh and drying but I imagine would work just as well after a day in the sun.

I wouldn’t say that the price of Beyond Organic Skincare’s products are that different to their organic counterparts and you only seem to need to use a little at a time so it should go a long way.

You can buy online too so those of us who aren’t lucky enough to live in beautiful Cornwall can still enjoy them. There are several more products available aside from the 4 I’ve tried, including the intriguingly named ‘Boob & Butt Pick Me Up’.

Check out their website at www.beyondskincare.co.uk.