It seems that every time I visit a salon it’s not actually as pleasant an experience as I hoped. My scalp winds up breaking out in a rash–which stylists usually freak out about and do not want to tell me, so I wind up wondering why they’re acting that way.  Or my scalp becomes super sensitive and I’m left wondering why the stylist is brushing so hard.

Turns out, it’s all about the gluten.  Since I am topically sensitive to gluten, salon shampoos containing high levels of this protein from wheat, barley or rye tend to cause negative reactions for me.

This week I also getting a bit bored with my blond highlights, so on a whim, I bought a box of L’Oreal’s Natural Match Hair Color.  It is ammonia free and a bit less chemical-laden than some alternatives, but still, I hesitated to even read the ingredients, which range from ethanolamine to toluene-2–even to check for gluten.

It did take two different shades and a call to their support line for color-correcting advice, but the results are in: I LOVE MY NEW COLOR, and NO BAD GLUTEN REACTIONS!

I called back to ask L’Oreal, and guess what, this product is even confirmed gluten-free!

Of course, whilst all this drama (that I’m not sure I agree with) has been going on–Elaine Monarch of The Celiac Disease Foundation announced that: the inaccuracies in this book are potentially dangerous and detrimental to celiacs and to those yet to be diagnosed if people self diagnose and start eating GF–I have been busy on my quest to find a safe gluten-free dog food for our adopted GWP Waylon.  Waylon seems to be better off with less gluten in his diet, but I am also being a bit selfish in the matter and trying to avoid contaminating myself three times a day as well (via handling his food).

Isn’t it just amazing when you consider all of the small and unexpected ways in which you can get glutened?

Anyway, it’s a bit off topic from gluten-free beauty, but handling your pet’s food can most certainly cause you to ingest some amount of gluten, so do be careful!

Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser-This is a product I’ve sampled before. After a solid recommendation I once purchased a trial kit of Suki’s very highly regarded products. While there were some hits and some misses, this was one product that I did like, but just did not love. It’s a unique product in that it is a sort of sugar scrub for the face, which also foams. But in my opinion the sugar could be ground finer and I believe I’d prefer if this product were more of a paste than it is now. As far as the ingredients state, this product is gluten-free, though I would contact the company to be sure.

The other samples that I’ve recently tried out are some from Ann Marie Borland. I tested out the four part Regeneration Series and was actually quite impressed. What I am not impressed with, however, is a) the fact that I’ve contacted their company and had great difficulty in reaching anyone to verify that these products are in fact gluten-free, and there are enough ingredients in each to want verification and b) if shopping online, you cannot simply order from Skin Botanica, but have to use Drugstore.com or the Borlind Boutique which frankly, is not quite so easy to find.

1. We are currently in San Francisco, but very happy about moving to North Carolina this summer!  Since we are from the south we will be happy to be closer to our families, and we are thrilled for the gluten-free dog to finally have a backyard to roam in!

2. My fav. new toy–a coffee grinder. I have been grinding things like crazy for the past two weeks. Best recipe yet is to grind equal parts of macadamia nuts, flax seeds, sesame seeds and almonds, adding in 1 tsp. vanilla extract, almond extract and a few Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I pat it down into a 1/4 thick on a greased pan, then bake on 220 for 20 minutes.  YUM!

3. In my earlier 20s, I wrote nightlife reviews for AOL–for fun! The pay was unfabulous, but it was great fun, an excuse to go out every night and earned the occasional free drinks.

4. We had a wonderful day at the beach today, and it was actually the first Saturday in a while that I have put work/ the computer down.  It was really, really nice.

5. The one product I really cannot live without–okay, two products: 100% Pure’s Healing Balm (for face, and even sunburn) and Amelia’s Soaps. Can’t live w/o great moisture!!

6. My g/f “idol” is Shauna of Gluten Free Girl. She is so talented on so many levels, and has helped bring gluten-free to a level that I am not sure any author before her had.

7. On a whim, we drove 9 hours north to Oregon to adopt our gluten-free dog after learning about him via Petfinder.com  We met (and adopted!) him on Saturday, and turned around and drove right back home to get our boy situated that same night.

So here are the seven bloggers who I am tagging:

1. Gluten Free Optimist

2. The Gluten Doctors

3. Gluten-Free Inspired

4. Buen Provecho

5. Gluten Free Travel Site Blog

Back to Naturally Dah’ling

First of all, I checked the ingredient list and there are no ingredients that raise any “gluten flags.”  Here is a pretty comprehensive list of gluten-containing ingredients: http://naturallydahling.com/ingredients.html

Next, I called the company and they said that they do not use or add any gluten to their products, but they cannot guarantee that the raw ingredients are not contaminated on some level.

This might sound like an indefinite reply, but it is not an unusual one.  Many companies do not want to risk  liability for causing harm to a person’s health; therefore, they do not label or guarantee that their products are gluten-free.

My advice is to see how your eyes react.  Some people do have itchy eyes after eating gluten, so first eliminate it from your diet for a month or so.  If your eyes still bother you, then you may want to consider trying another brand.

Though there are some amazing gluten-free resources out there, I don’t typically take the time out to mention them.  I just wanted to recommend taking a look at some of these excellent gluten-free news resources.

Celiac-Disease Author Kyle is very much in tune with celiac new and happenings, his site is updated remarkably often, linking to blogs, articles and resources alike that you may not yet know about.

Texas GIG’s Google News Feed For newsworthy updates of global gluten-free information, this site is certainly worth bookmarking.

GIG or Gluten Intolerance Group of North America is a site I recently learned about, with is great for staying in the national loop of all events gluten-free.

And if you haven’t yet, please check out a new site that my boyfriend, Search Engine Consultant (and Expert) and I recently built.  GlutenFreeFox.com is the world’s first gluten-free search engine, customized to give better, more helpful gluten-free results than your average Google Search Engine.  I also welcome any feedback and suggested sites to add to our search engine!

Have a wonderful New Year’s!!

Kristen

This does have me thinking, obviously gluten-free is going to be a big food trend in 2009, but what about make-up trends?

So here are some of my favorite picks for make-up tips in 2009:

-Lengthened Brows

-Exaggerated Eyeliner

-Pop Lip Color

I’ll be working on some video demonstrations and pics to upload soon!

My boyfriend and I have been working day and night to create a brand new, gluten-free resource site.  The site is called Gluten Free Fox.  It is the world’s first gluten-free search engine!

So now, instead of blind internet searches that don’t always result in the best or most current gluten-free results, when you simply visit www.GlutenFreeFox.com, you can type any gluten-free search term into the search box and will find the most applicable, valid search results in answer to your questions.

Now that the site has launched, I will be back to posting regularly, but do be sure to check it out!  Also, we are SO excited about the organic and natural fiber t-shirts being sold though the Gluten Free Fox Store!

Yesterday was very exciting, I recorded a YouTube video as I tested my Dr.Hauschka Lipstick
for any traces of gluten using ELISA’s EZ Gluten Test Kit.  The test kit is so easy to use, and detects as little as 10 parts per million.

Representatives at Dr. Hauschka had previously confirmed that the product contains no gluten, but because as little as one milligram of gluten per day can prevent intestinal healing, it’s better to be safe than sorry.  The most exciting part of the process was that as I was testing, and filming, I did not know for certain how the test would come out.

It was a successful negative, the Dr.Hauschka Lipstick is absolutely safe for those with celiac and gluten intolerance!

Here is my link to the video:

Dr. Hauschka Natural Lipstick: Is It Really Gluten Free?

As I left the house yesterday I felt quite good about the state of my completely make-up-less skin. I opted to forego even a swift application of mascara or concealer in order to demonstrate to the esthetician my skin in it’s most natural state. My tried and true product routines have done me well, I have discovered a few new masks for deeper cleansing, and I really have no complaints. So when I sat down with an esthetician from Dr. Hauschka as we formulated my ideal Dr. H skin care routine, everything sounded hope-filled and wonderful, but I still came home questioning whether I really can achieve all that I want with just one product line.

Last night I began my new system, and this morning was eager to continue this new routine. Here is what I am using:
Lavender Bath
Cleansing Cream
Facial Toner
Moisturizing Day Cream
Normalizing Day Oil

I am told that the oil will train my T-zone to stop producing excess oils throughout the day.  And that the toner–a product I often forego, is quite essential to balancing the PH levels of the skin post-cleansing.

I will certainly keep you posted on my progress.